Excerpts from the diary of a Londoner who moved to the Highlands of Andalucia.

Dec 20 - It’s started to snow. The first of the season and the first we’ve seen here for a couple of years. The wife & I took our hot toddies out and sat on the terrace watching the fluffy soft flakes drift gently down clinging to the trees and covering the ground. Its so beautiful and peaceful.

Dec 24 – Awoke early to a lovely blanket of crystal white glistening snow covering the Olive Tree landscape. What a fantastic sight, every tree and bush covered with a beautiful white mantle. I shovelled snow for the first time in a long while and loved it. I did both our driveway and our pavement, next door's too. Later a snowplough came along and accidentally covered up our driveway with compacted snow from the street. The driver smiled and waved as he drove happily by. I waved back and shovelled it away again.

Dec 26 – It snowed an additional 5 inches last night and the temperature dropped to around minus 8 degrees. Several branches on ours trees and bushes snapped due to the weight of the snow. I shovelled our driveway again.. Shortly afterwards the snowplough came by and did his trick again. 
Much of the snow is now a kind of brownish-grey icy slush.

Jan 1 – Warmed up enough during the day to create some slush which soon became ice when the temperature dropped again. Bought snow tyres for both our cars. Fell on my a*** in the driveway. £100 to a physio but nothing broken. More snow and ice expected.

Jan 5 – Still cold. Sold the wife’s car and bought her a Landrover to get her to work. She slid into a wall and did considerable damage to the right wing. Had another 8 inches of white s*** last night. Both vehicles are covered in salt and iced up slush. More shovelling in store for now. The b****** snowplough came by twice today.

Jan 9 – More f****** snow. Not a tree or bush on our property that has not been damaged. Power was off most of the night. Tried to keep from freezing to death with candles and a paraffin heater which tipped over and nearly burnt the house down. I managed to put out the flames but suffered 2nd degree burns on my hands. Lost all my eyelashes and eyebrows. (Car hit a f******* deer on the way to casualty and was written off.)

Jan 13 – F******* b****** white s*** keeps on coming down. Have to put on all the clothes we own just to get to the post box. If I ever catch that a******* that drives the f****** snowplough, I’ll chew open his chest and rip his heart out with my teeth. I think the b****** hides round the corner and waits for me to finish shovelling and then he comes down the street at 100 mph and buries the f****** driveway again.


Jan 17 – 16 more f****** inches of f****** sleet and f****** ice and God knows what other kinds of white s*** fell last night. I wounded that b****** snowplough driver with an ice axe but he got a way. F****** car won’t start. I think I’m going snow-blind. Can’t move my f****** toes. Haven’t seen the sun in weeks. More f****** snow forecast. Minus 20 degrees. F*** this. I’m moving back to Seven Kings & sunny Ilford