The holiday season in Asturias

Asturias is a popular destination during the heat of the summer in Spain. Many Spanish people come during the main holiday period of last two weeks of July, August and beginning of September. Many leave their town and city based apartments where the summer temperatures rarely fall below 30 degrees Celsius, to come to the milder and more tolerable northern coast; Spain's Natural Paradise, Asturias.

The once quiet towns and low-key cities now buzz with extra traffic, more pedestrians and busy terrace cafes and bars. The beaches that are mainly deserted for 10 months of the year become a mosaic of sun chairs, beach umbrellas, beach towels and sand castles. The hundreds of peaceful walking routes become punctuated with walkers, ramblers, cyclists and runners, the gentle hum of the mountains ring out with cattle bells and camera shutters and the subdued markets come to life with extra stalls and animated stall-holders eager to sell their wares to passing tourists.

As you wander around the small fishing villages, farming communities and hidden towns, the aromas of cured ham, grilled fish and seafood, still cider and barbecued meats float through the air with unprecedented regularity and the haze of wood smoke intensifies the tapestry of greens, golds and blues that are typical of summer here in Asturias. During the next few weeks we will see and hear a proliferation of fiestas, music festivals, street theatres and recitals, all geared up to entertain and bemuse both the locals and the incomers; something for everyone.

It is great to see this influx of visitors during the summer months and although it can upset our normality, we realise that the economy needs it. What always confuses us is why Asturias is so quiet during the remainder of the year? We appreciate that it is the main holiday period for many Spanish workers but we feel that there is no-where better to visit in Autumn or Spring and even Winter than this beautiful region of Spain. OK the weather can be unpredictable particularly in Spring and sometimes in summer but cooler and wet weather fronts rarely last for long and after all, that is why Asturias is so green and lush. With mountains, woodlands, pastures and coast, larger cities and quaint villages all easily accessible within half an hour no matter where you stay, Asturias really does cater for all tastes.

Below are a couple of videos that show some of the beauty of Asturias, the first is a video from the hotel we first stayed in on our first time in Asturias (worth a visit) and the second is one I have featured before of the Cares Gorge; the most iconic walk in Asturias. Who knows we just might meet here one day....?

Winter walk along the Cares Gorge, Picos De Europa, Asturias and León, Spain from Tomas Millar on Vimeo.
A walk along the Ruta Del Cares in Northern Spain. Posada de Valdeón - Caín (León) to Puente Poncebos (Asturias) - Courtesy of www.casausborne.com.

Filmed using:
DJI Phantom Quadcopter
GoPro Hero 3
H32D Gimbal

Happy Christmas - Feliz Navidad

To everyone around the world who takes time to visit our blogs, we wish you a happy Christmas.

We hope you have a healthy, prosperous and fulfilling 2014 - keep it simple.

Lazing on a sunny afternoon

Having just been on an extended visit to the UK, I find that returning to Asturias takes a bit of getting used to; slowing down to the pace of life we have here at La Pasera. It seems strange to motor along main roads and motorways alone or accompanied only by a couple of cars or a lorry. It's feels odd to walk through our local town and see very few faces and empty shops and bars, the peace and quiet is a touch unnerving for the first few hours as your hearing re-adjusts to the rich array of sounds from nature. The light bathing the rich green landscapes overloads your optical nerves and is so vivid and vibrant, the autumn light is especially beautiful.

Apart from Internet access, we don't have constant contact with the outside world through TV, radio or newspapers. We don't shop more than once a fortnight or three weeks, we rarely have the need to go to a city for business and we seldom feel the need to experience the buzz of night-life for drinks or restaurants. In fact we lead very quiet lives with little distraction apart from our own pursuits and hobbies, maintaining the land, growing and processing our own fruit and vegetables and the occasional get together with friends and neighbours. Many would find it dull or boring and a few would be driven crazy but for us, it is a little piece of bliss.

My first Sunday, sunny afternoon back in Asturias was lunch on the terrace comprising home-made cream of marrow soup, grilled figs with blue cheese, aubergine pate and a glass of fresh apple juice. A quick catch up with the world news was followed by bottling pickled figs, a new recipe for us from Isobel - thanks Isobel, first tasting gets a big thumbs up. We then took ourselves off to our local beach for a dip in the ocean. We had heard that the water is the warmest it had been all year so we were both up for it. The sky was broken high cloud and at around 24 degrees C it was a really pleasant and comfortable afternoon.

We walked a circuitous route from home through the country lanes to Guadamia, a long and narrow bay that is fed from a small river that originates in nearby mountains. The river flows cold all year round but the warmed waters of the bay of Biscay temper the shock of the cool. We sat on the deserted beach for an hour or so, explored a few caves and then came back via a nearby village to collect more figs; this time for drying in the dehydrator. We stumbled across a large Sweet Chestnut tree and collected a handful of chestnuts which we will roast this this evening.

Back home we had a welcome drink in the garden accompanied by the cats and caught up with the goings on in and around the village...it doesn't take long to re-adjust.

What, already? gathering fuel for winter..

We have a couple of woodburners that heat the studio and the house so a good supply of heat-producing dry wood is essential. We have just taken delivery of another load of mixed wood including cherry, oak, ash and eucalyptus. If you have a woodburner you'll know that dry wood burns hotter and slower than semi-green or unseasoned wood.

More people seem to be selling wood recently and those that have fallen trees on their land are now processing it rather than either leaving it to rot or burning it; a sign of the times I think. We coppice hazelnut on our land for use as bean poles and stakes but then will burn them as starter wood the following year or add them to the fedge (fence/hedge) if we have enough with used twiggy pea sticks.

A truckload of wood fills half of the wood store more or less. The woodstore holds a full winter and spring's worth of wood with some left for the following season. We plan to keep it replenished as it empties so we can keep ahead with dry wood.

The fedge that surrounds the compost bins and shed is really taking shape now that it has been colonised by wild plants and grasses. It really is teaming with wildlife including for the first time, nesting wrens. Just don't tell Wentworth and Gawber....

Growing and eating carrots

Carrots are a favourite here at La Pasera. Until this year our efforts have failed miserably and we have had to use shop bought carrots which on the whole are tasteless and dull. Things have changed. Since we imported the 13 tonnes of sandy top soil, all the vegetables have improved beyond expectations and for the very first time, we have carrots, variety Nantes.

The first sowing didn't do anything so we think it was a bad batch of seed. The second and third sowing are doing amazingly well and we have now begun harvesting them.

We have so little rain in the past 10 weeks the ground is extremely dry and soon hardens so before harvesting we water the carrots to soften the soil. Give them 15 minutes or so and the with a gentle twist and pull, the whole fresh carrot comes out without snapping.

The texture and sweetness of the carrots is great. Not too sweet and a clean crisp bite allowing that true carrot flavour and aroma to come through.

The culinary use of carrots is endless and we will have a great time preparing new dishes in which to use them. Raw in salads or as a snack is one of our favourite ways to eat them so I doubt we will have many to store in the long run.

This following recipe is another great way of eating fresh raw carrot that we prepare on a regular basis, it'll be a real bonus now we will use our own carrots.

Carrot, Rice, Seed and Mint Salad

6 small to medium carrots - grated
2 sprigs of mint finely chopped
Boiled rice - wild or basmati
1 teaspoon of honey
75g raisins or sultanas (pre-soaked and drained)
Olive oil
Cider vinegar
Salt and pepper
30g Pumpkin seeds
30g Sunflower seeds

The key to making this salad is getting a mix of ingredients and flavours that do not overpower each other. Mix to your own individual taste. The sweetness of the honey, fruit and carrot is offset with the blandness of the rice and the acidity of the vinegar. Adjust quantities to suit your taste and mix.

Apart from Carrots, we are harvesting loads of aubergines, cucumber, marrow, beetroot, peppers, blackberries and fennel. Our harvests this year have been so good that we are sending out gift boxes to friends and neighbours who appreciate fresh, chemical free vegetables. Fruit hasn't done that well this year with few apples, no pears to talk off and no evidence of greengage. The wild peaches are struggling but there are a few to collect and use for jam. The walnuts and hazelnuts look to be laden with fruit so we might have a better nut harvest than last year.

The wild peach known as piesco

Thinking of relocating abroad? You can learn to live without baked beans.

Going back and forth to the UK on the ferry is often a good chance to catch up with other English people who spend time or live permanently in Spain. As there are few English people here in Asturias it is interesting to hear others' experiences. The past few times I have seen a large increase in the number of removal vans returning to the UK and heard many stories of how the dream has been shattered or at least tainted for some.

The economy in Spain is suffering and people are losing jobs or taking cuts in income. The Euro exchange rate for the British pound and the value of savings and pensions has suffered for a couple of years and will probably remain unpredictable for sometime to come. It is really disappointing for many but not the sole reason some are eager to return and regret relocating. I am sure that one reason for many is that they fail to readjust to life in a foreign country and never truly come to terms with a life lived differently.

Luis and I were talking about our past 6 years here and how well we had adjusted to life in a different country and we both agreed a short blog post outlining our experiences might help inform others who dream of relocating to different climes.

If you were to ask us if we made the right decision, the answer would be without doubt, yes. Of course there are continuing reservations about what the future might bring but as we are now, we feel fortunate. The grass however, isn't always greener on the other side. Things do go wrong. Understanding how things work in your new society, getting to grips with social nuances and of course the ability to communicate effectively in a foreign language is a big learning curve with many challenges and hurdles.

To succeed you have to accept that living away from everything that is familiar, can be hard. If you don't, your life in a foreign land will be difficult and will potentially erode your dreams, disintegrate your plans and possibly damage your relationships with those you love.

We can only describe our experience buying a house in a rural community, an hour from any cities but close to several small towns where the Spanish come on their summer holidays. There are few foreigners living here compared with the south of Spain and most people do not speak any English.

Here are some of the key issues that we think people should consider before relocating:

Location: What is the climate like? This sounds an obvious one but you'd be surprised at the number of people we come across who have only ever visited in summer before buying and forget that places can be cold, very cold and wet.

Dream homes in the middle of nowhere or on the side of a mountain are great when young but have you tried cutting a lawn on a 45 degree slope or travelling long and difficult journeys to shops and business. Telephone and internet connection may not be possible despite what estate agents tell you. Remote areas can be lonely places. If you are renovating a mountain house you need to consider that costs will be higher as access for deliveries of goods will be potentially problematic and expensive.

Language: Conversational Spanish is difficult at the best of times but talking about business or negotiating a mobile phone contract or ordering goods can be complex without specialist language skills. Face to face conversations are so much easier than the telephone or written word. Understanding legal documents and processes is a challenge. Expressing feelings in a foreign language is limited for many. Your social and cultural reference points are different which in it's self can hinder communication.

Medical: Unless you are retired and registered as resident then medical cover can be complicated. You can seek out treatment using your European health card but if you require longer term treatment or investigations it could prove problematic. Also, if communication is difficult, this can add to the stress and influence the treatment you may or may not receive. Even if your medical or nursing staff speak English it is likely to be as poor as your Spanish.

Social: I mentioned earlier that social and cultural references may differ. Here in Asturias people are very friendly but don't neighbour other than chatting in and around the village. It would be rare to be invited for something to eat or drink but that should not be taken as not being accepted, it is just how it is. The nuances of social etiquette are interesting to learn when living in a different culture. There are lots of groups, social gatherings for fiestas and a few cultural events throughout the year but your social life will be very different to what it was in the UK.

Family and friends back home: You miss them, of course you do. You might get more family and friends visiting but it puts your relationship on a different footing to what it was. It was unlikely that in the UK they would stay with you and certainly not for 1 or maybe 2 weeks. It is also crucial to remember it is their holiday as well as a visit to see you.

Occupation: There is one thing that is key to settling in another country and that is keeping occupied - having a sense of purpose. If you need to work then that can be difficult given the ongoing economic problems and high unemployment rate. Over 50% of under 26 year old and 22% of the general working population are unemployed here in Spain. Language, once again is an issue for many as learning specialist vocabulary related to a profession or occupation is not covered in standard Spanish courses.

If you do not need to work then it pays to remember that you cannot holiday 12 months of the year.
Keeping your mind occupied with meaningful and worthwhile activities is vital. Hobbies and interests will need to be developed and maybe solitary pursuits especially if you struggle with the language.

Legal: How things work such as insurance, buying and registering a car, paying local taxes, registering and opening a business, contracting workmen, buying a house, renting a house, making wills and a hundred and one other things... are different and need to be fully understood before entering agreements, signing contracts or employing services. The law is different. Many find this aspect too complicated and choose to ignore it or cut corners which in the long run, leads to problems.

Along the way Luis and I have made mistakes, taken chances, become stressed out of our heads, laughed at some of the things we have experienced, been saddened by seeing relationships fail, felt heartened by the generosity of strangers and learned a lot about ourselves and others along the way. One piece of advice we would like to pass on is spend time in the area you eventually want to live in. Go on holiday at different times of year, live like a local, learn the language and be prepared a live a different life. If you are prepared for uncertainty, readily accept change, have the ability to problem solve, can remain positive and keep a sense of humour, then do it. It has been six challenging but very happy years for us.

Convenience food - 50 years a vegetarian

Anyone who is vegetarian or who cooks for a vegetarian knows all too well that good quality vegetarian dishes take a lot of preparation. Being vegetable based (in the main), more often than not you need to plan ahead and ensure you have plenty of basics in stock ready for use such as nuts, seeds, pre-soaked and boiled beans, chick peas or lentils. In addition, vegetables need processing and cleaning thoroughly especially when they are home-grown, fresh from the ground and not nicely pre-cleaned and packed.

In the UK during my youth, teens and 20s, the concept of fast food had not yet reached the masses and unless you cooked for yourself, you made do with whatever was available. The concept of vegetarian was vague to most food outlets. I remember when I was first training to be a nurse, along with a fellow vegetarian student Terry, we lived in the nurses home at a hospital close to where we worked. The hospital canteen was our main source of nutrition for at least two years before we decanted into a shared house. The canteen waitresses (Bambi and Cath) were always helpful and on a daily basis both parties followed the obligatory routine of "do you have anything without meat or fish?" followed by "No, but I can make you a cheese sandwich with chips". You cannot imagine the jubilation on the rare day when they could announce "We've got cauliflower cheese today". Cheese sandwich and chips, the life saver.

Vegetarian is still a weird concept for most Asturians

Here at La Pasera we both follow a vegetarian diet and therefore having something in the freezer we can pop under a grill or quickly saute, really helps. We often batch cook and this then becomes our convenience foods. One favourite for batch cooking is spicy Indian bean burgers. We make about 40 at a time and freeze them. They cook really well from frozen and make a great addition to a plate of salad or accompanying a few roast veg.

Here is the recipe:

Spicy Indian Bean Burgers 

250 g of soft cooked beans (we use aduki and black eyed beans)

Large onion chopped finely

125 g of grated carrot or swede

90 g fresh breadcrumbs

1 tsp marmite or similar

Flour, Salt, Pepper, Oil

Indian spices (to taste) (we use general curry powder or a mix of garam masala and chilli)

Frozen uncooked on trays then bagged

Sauté the onion and add the Marmite. Lightly mash beans and breadcrumbs (we use a potato masher), add grated vegetables and the cooked onions. Add spices and season to taste. Divide into 90-100g balls and shape into burgers with a light flour coating. Freeze separately on trays then bag up into usable quantities. Goes well with a nice fruit chutney. We would quadruple this recipe to make about 40 burgers.

Downsizing - less is more

Hard work pays dividends

It’s been five years since we took a conscious decision to alter our lives drastically, abandon a decent full-time salary and downsize, abroad. Asturias on the north coast of Spain had captured our imagination and hearts when we came here on holiday several years previously.

Since relocating, many people comment on how lucky we are and how idyllic our lives must be. We are and it is, but not in the way some people believe it to be. Yes you can sit on the terrace and drink gin and tonic, you can laze away your summer days on the beach and you can eat out fairly cheap, in fact some people do opt for the extended holiday type existence. The problem is those who opt for the sun and sangria approach soon get bored, they find that their social circle is, in the main ex-pats, and they moan constantly about how much better it is back in the UK.

Downsizing and relocating brings with it many challenges, in fact twice the challenge of just relocating. For a starter, it can be hard work. Living on a reduced income means that you do what you can for yourself over and above hiring someone to do it for you or buying it in. Leaving family and friends behind is a wrench but on the positive side, they have a holiday home whenever they can get over...

Given the option to fell a tree, generously offered by a neighbour, knowing full well you will have to: use a lethal weapon (chainsaw) to chop down a 30 foot dying cherry tree; process it into firewood size chunks; transport it; stack it; clear up all the non-usable stuff, or to buy a lorry load from a local merchant, we opt for the former.

Growing vegetables year-round does never just happen. After 5 years, we rarely buy vegetables but they come at a price. There is ground to be dug, compost to be made, manure to be brought and added to the beds, seeds to be sown that will need daily care, pests and diseases to contend with that could potentially devastate your crop, tying and staking, watering and weeding, and hopefully, harvesting.

You have a glut of vegetable, several times a year, all requiring processing or storing. This results in full days in the kitchen making pickle, pisto, pesto and jams. Whilst you wait for things to cook, you decide to make bread, which eventually becomes routine as you rediscover the pure satisfaction that is home-baked bread. You cook fresh food and rarely long for convenience food, instead you develop your own and freeze it. Over time you become increasingly imaginative with courgettes and beans, you soon learn that there is more than one way to preserve the fruits of your hard work. Tomato jam, now there’s a first for many.

Home-made soap - nothing better...

DIY takes on a new meaning. After several bad experiences, DIY has come to stand for  “do it yourself as you can probably do it much better than someone else and considerably cheaper”. You learn new skills through trial, error and advice from great neighbours past (Terry and Bob) and present. You begin to realise that small-scale building projects and ongoing maintenance work doesn't necessarily need an estimate nor a shaking of the head that signals this is going to cost. You begin to believe that “actually, I could do that myself”.

Downsizing has never only been about having less money to spend but a conscious decision to try to be more responsible with the earth’s resources. Reduce, re-use and recycle has become the new mantra. In addition, something that was told to me by my mother on more than one occasion has become second nature as we assess our need for more possessions i.e. “Do you really need it and can you really afford it? If the answer is no, maybe, not really or possibly, then we do without. We have reduced our need for stuff considerably by leading a simpler life where it isn’t necessary to be virtually attached 24 hours to a transmitter, where television isn’t our main source of entertainment and where shopping trips are planned when real need arises. We make do and mend where possible and entertain ourselves in much more creative and productive ways.

There is no doubt that this change of direction in our lives has resulted in a complete re-think and re-evaluation of what is important in life. Gone are the days when we sit in traffic jams on our way to work for organisations that are so wrapped up in the politics of managing that they have forgotten what they are there for. Gone are the days when we would spend silly amounts of money on the latest must haves and holidays that were over before they began. Gone are the days where you sit daydreaming and wishing your life away as you cannot wait for the weekend to arrive.

Our new life isn’t perfect, but whose is? The joy of living in a place that you never tire of discovering, the taste of home-grown food, the sense of pride you feel in what you build, make and mend, the daily walks though traffic free country lanes and caminos (small lanes and footpaths), the time to pursue your hobbies and interests and the never-ending motivation to get out of bed in a morning as you are really looking forward to your day makes it all worthwhile.

Overall, it has been the right decision for us. What has become clear is that relocation has been the vehicle and stimulus for change. Downsizing is much easier when you do not have the constant competitiveness of careers, when you are not constantly bombarded with advertising telling you that you life sucks without possessions and when you can take the necessary steps to take stock and re-assess what is important. On reflection, we could have downsized anywhere and not necessarily relocate abroad. The trouble is, when you are in the thick of it, those brief moments of sanity when you think “there has to be more to life than this” are swept away by the constant stream of detritus that comes with a life of convention and expectation.

Chemical free food

Ian Hicken 2011 ©