Janet and John live in Asturias.
We are now at the end of our fifth year of so called retirement here and love it.
This is definitely not the Costas!

We live in Valdes in Asturias….. a county of rugged coasts with super ( but often stony) beaches. The interior (where we live at 270 meters high in the hills and 30 minutes from the nearest beach) is largely mixed forest of sweet chestnut, oak, ash and beech with plantations of northern pine and eucalyptus. The valley bottoms and tops are mainly green pasture for cattle grazing or silage with flatter fields with maize for cattle. It is beautiful – a lake district without the lakes and without the crowds.

Weather – This is green Spain so we have clouds and rain. The temperature is higher than the south of England – a greater noticeable difference in the back part of the year.

When we bought our house we wanted a house with some land to grow veggies on. We ended up with two houses (one “the barn” had no floor and was only home to spiders and cobwebs – we called it the barn because it was the oldest and still had the cattle feeding stalls), a traditional Horeo, 5 fincas (fields - one with a small maize mill – not functioning) and two Montes (bits of hillside with lots of trees on.) Thank goodness three of our neighbours keep most of the fields clean by grazing cattle, sheep and growing grass, so I am left with only the finca (6500 m2 )below the house to look after.

We have six chickens and two dogs (and a cat that adopted us). During the year we grow most of our own vegetables. John does most of the work on the land while Janet writes and directs two musical shows a year for her group of performers back in England

Asturias

1)Basic help with garden
( and animals if inclined)
2) Upkeep of property, painting in the main and cleaning the camino behind the Barn.
3) Clear the mill field ready for tree plantion ( best at the back end of the year )
4) Restore the Old Mill watercourse
5) Improve our Spanish or improve your English
6) Wood chopping (if safe with chainsaw)
7) Teach us any of your skills

All or any one of the above depending on skill set and ambition.

English with beginners Spanish

Seperate self contained house.The “Barn” is the house behind ours with the Horeo the funny thing on the left in the photo above. The terrace is just visible to the left of the Horeo. Below are photos of the interior of the barn as it now is. WIn the Barn there is a new Chestnut floor, wood-burning stove and double glazing. There is a shower room, one twin-bedded room, open plan lounge / diner and fully fitted kitchen, with a mezzanine above the bedroom. The mezzanine (which is accessed by a sturdy ladder) has a double futon. The lounge has IKEA’s best double sofa bed so the Barn could sleep up to 6 (with room for a cot) if you could cope with the open plan layout. Washing-machine and ironing facilities are also available in the garage below our house Eating is with us (we are meat eaters but have vegy friends) but breakfast could be in the Barn with your own fully fitted kitchen - or whatever is best for you. No smoking is preferred but if you are a smoker not in the buildings.