Hola! Three months. Three months of borders, flights, new cities, new food, and new lessons — all dictated by one rule called the Schengen.
But today? We’re going home.
✈️ Leaving the UK — A Different Kind of Departure
Leaving the UK felt different this time. Not just another travel day. The start of a new chapter. We were heading back to the farm — back to Cortijo Renacer — and the feeling was hard to put into words.
Even car trouble on the way to the airport couldn’t dampen it. (Typical timing, naturally.)
🏡 Arriving Back — The Moment of Truth
After three months away, our off-grid farm had been sitting completely empty. No one to check on it, no neighbours looking after things. Anything could have happened. Honestly, we didn’t know what we were going to find.
What we found was better than we dared hope.
The farm had done us proud.
💧 Water, Roof & the Weird Bug Situation
First things first: the practical checks.
Water tanks — lower than when we left, as expected with three months of evaporation, but in much better condition than we feared. The water looked good. We checked for leaks and, so far, so good.
The roof — this was the big one. Before we left, Callum and Jem’s dad had done a temporary repair on the holes we’d accidentally drilled through some of the tiles earlier in the year. We were genuinely nervous. Damp walls, water damage, mould — all real possibilities after a Spanish autumn.
We checked. No damp. The repair held. Relief.
The mystery bugs — they’re back. These strange caterpillar-type creatures were all over the place when we first bought the farm, and they’ve reappeared. There were more of them last time; this visit there are fewer, but they’re still around. We probably should figure out what they are.
Overall verdict: the house is in much better shape than three months of abandonment had any right to leave it. A few days of clearing and cleaning and it’ll feel like home again. Couldn’t have asked for better, really.
🌿 What Survived — and What Didn’t
The plants were a harder story.
Almost everything we planted before we left is dead. The drought, the heat, three months without water — it was too much. The oleanders especially — we counted the casualties with increasing wincing.
But then we counted again. And kept counting.
Seven oleanders survived. Seven. Out of all of them. Celebrating seven is something we never expected to do, but here we are — seven oleanders, standing, alive, and looking remarkably unbothered.
And the olive trees? The trees we spent months clearing, pruning, and bringing back from two decades of neglect? They are absolutely thriving. Heavy with olives. Greeny-black, turning, bursting with oil.
We walked the grove in disbelief. The hard work really did pay off.
We also checked in on Hayden’s almond tree — planted earlier this year and very much his — and it’s alive and well. That was a particular highlight.
🫒 The Olives Are Ready
We squeezed one. Oil ran out immediately.
They’re ready.
The harvesting gear is already on order — arriving in the next few days. Our first olive harvest from Cortijo Renacer, from trees that were choked and abandoned just over a year ago, is about to happen.
Standing in that grove, the afternoon sun on our faces, olives everywhere we looked — Callum said it simply: back in my happy place. We all were.
🔜 What’s Next
There is, as Callum also noted, a lot of work to do. The farm has been patient, but it’s ready for us now. The next few weeks are going to be full — harvest, maintenance, projects, and all the things that only reveal themselves when you walk the land again after a long absence.
We also still have travel episodes to share with you — Phi Phi Island, Krabi, and South Africa are all coming — but for now, the farm calls. And honestly, there’s nowhere we’d rather be.
If you want to follow along for the harvest, subscribe and we’ll see you next Saturday.
📺 Watch the Full Homecoming
👉 Watch the return to Cortijo Renacer on YouTube
📲 Follow Along
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¡Hasta la próxima! 🌻