Sunset across our lane

Eight years ago today I published my first post on this blog. I never intended to start a blog about living in rural Mallorca, but had previously been writing a series of columns called ‘Finca Fix-Up’ for a new local magazine. Sadly, the publication didn’t survive in what is a tough market.

The Birth of a Blog

A friend of mine was the editor and, when she told me about the magazine’s demise, suggested that I start a blog, to continue writing about our finca home in the Mallorcan countryside. And so I did. It wasn’t quite that easy, but WordPress didn’t take too long to learn.

My first post was about a messy experience of varnishing a door – whilst wearing inappropriate footwear on a stepladder. It’s not really surprising that The Boss then banned me from climbing ladders. This may keep me safer, but it means he is committed to doing jobs which involve ladders. As the prospect looms of painting another terracotta-tiled ceiling, he may be regretting that ban.

Hello World!

I’ve always been thrilled and grateful to see how many people read my posts and in which countries where they’re located. In the past five days alone, people have read posts from the following: Spain, UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland, Poland, USA, UAE, Canada, India, Argentina, Kuwait, Philippines, and Brazil.

I often wonder whether the people in the non-English-speaking countries are practising their English reading skills, or are expats like us. I find it fascinating.

Words Galore

More than 300 posts later, I must have written a couple of hundred-thousand words – providing me with plenty of material to do what I intended before we moved here and other stuff intervened: write a book about our experiences of moving to and living in rural Mallorca.

I have already written the first draft of the initial chapters, which has brought back memories that had slipped to the back of my mental filing cabinet. Writing the book is as much for my own satisfaction as anything, but fingers are crossed (which makes typing awfully tricky) that some of my Living in Rural Mallorca followers may like to read it one day. Don’t hold your breath for the moment though; I still have a novel to edit…

Jan Edwards ©2020