Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia – Special Anniversary Edition (with new chapter 25 years on)

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I shared the circus experience with my then Swedish girlfriend, Kjerstin (pronounced ‘chest-in’ more or less). Shortly afterwards Kjerstin met a much more reliable and suitable sort of bloke, a Swede, and very sensibly gave me the boot. I was devastated and resolved to go and work on a kibbutz in Israel to repair my wounded heart. At the last minute I saw in the local paper an advertisement seeking an under assistant pigman on a farm in Bramley, near Guildford. Now Guildford was a lot nearer and a lot less politically problematical than Israel, so I went along and, being the only applicant, secured the job.

My eccentric advertisement drew two eccentric replies: one from a ‘rehearsal and drinking’ Glen Miller band, that played every Thursday in the Hare and Hounds, and the other from Sir Robert Fossett’s Circus. I sat in a couple of times with the Glen Miller band, but my sight reading was feeble, and besides, I didn’t drink. The ability to sink huge quantities of beer seemed, for some reason that escaped me, to be the essential quality required for membership of the band. So I went off with the circus on its 1972 North of England tour. (See Parrot in the Pepper Tree). A brilliant book with the feel good factor, makes you want to escape, a great holiday read. " — Lizzie, 1/25/2014 Man. I should have loved this book. When I pulled the off the shelf at Half Price Books I knew I had to have it. It was perfect for me. Not only was it a travel memoir, one of my great weaknesses, but it was a travel memoir about Spain. Add onto that a quirky story and I'm sold. La Pepa's Alvaro and Manuel in a joint statement said: “The physical production of the show will take place in the heart of Andalusia for maximum authenticity and to bring the evocative landscape and people of the area to the screen. We cannot wait to show off our beautiful country to international audiences.” Q: You suddenly became a farmer, and had to take care of pigs and goats, not to mention the various crops (olives, lemons, etc.). Was it a tough transition, or did you take to farming right away?He is now known for his autobiographical books, Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia (1999, ISBN 0-9535227-0-9) and the sequels, A Parrot In The Pepper Tree (2002, ISBN 0-9535227-5-X) and The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society (2006, ISBN 0-9548995-0-4), about his life farming in Spain. All three are also available as audiobooks ( Lemons ISBN 0-14-180143-3, Parrot ISBN 0-14-180402-5, and Almond ISBN 0-7528-8597-9), narrated by Stewart. Q: Did you ever doubt the wisdom of buying a farm with no access, no running water, no electricity? Did your wife, Ana, believe in El Valero as strongly as you did, or did it take some convincing? But I was pleasantly surprised by the book; indeed, by the end I was thoroughly charmed. Stewart does not idealize the inhabitants Andalucia; for him, they are individuals, not bearers of ancient tradition. He enjoys farming and herding, but he knows it can be rough, tedious, and thankless work. Certainly he plays the role of the inept foreigner—this is inevitable if you’re moving someplace new—but he does not dwell on this overmuch. For somebody who began writing fairly late in life, he is a tasteful and skillful author. He is capable of rich prose, he has a good ear for dialogue, and best of all he does not stretch any subject beyond interest. This funny book is required reading for anyone who has ever dreamed of taking up the pastoral life in a foreign country.”- Travel & Leisure Then they bought sheep, and their dog chased them up the mountain, and Chris could not get them to come down. The sheep just kept going, heading for the next county or whtever it would be called in Spain. He has no sheep dogs that know how to herd, and he is afraid that they will fall off the mountain. Maybe they should have bought mountain goats instead. What else happened? Try selling their offspring at a good price. That was another fiasco.

One of my favorite travel books ever. Similar to "A year in Provence" but so much better! " — Kimberly, 9/1/2012Christopher 'Chris' Stewart (born 1951), was the original drummer and a founding member of Genesis. He is now a farmer and an author. A classmate of Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel at Charterhouse School, Stewart joined them in a school band called The Garden Wall, and they later formed another band with schoolmates Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips, called Anon. This band eventually became Genesis in January 1967. Stewart appears on the band's first two singles, "The Silent Sun"/"That's Me" and "A Winter's Tale"/"One-Eyed Hound." Although several demos from Stewart's time with Genesis appear on the Genesis Archive 1967-75 box set, he is not credited with playing on any of them. (Peter Gabriel seems to have played drums on a couple, and the Christopher 'Chris' Stewart (born 1951), was the original drummer and a founding member of Genesis. He is now a farmer and an author. A classmate of Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel at Charterhouse School, Stewart joined them in a school band called The Garden Wall, and they later formed another band with schoolmates Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips, called Anon. This band eventually became Genesis in January 1967. Stewart appears on the band's first two singles, "The Silent Sun"/"That's Me" and "A Winter's Tale"/"One-Eyed Hound." Although several demos from Stewart's time with Genesis appear on the Genesis Archive 1967-75 box set, he is not credited with playing on any of them. (Peter Gabriel seems to have played drums on a couple, and the rest do not feature drums.) Q: You learned many new traditions and customs when you moved to las Alpujarras. For instance, Matanzas — what was that like? However, intrigued by Chris Stewart's book we began to explore the Alpujarras and during the last eight years have spent many enjoyable days in that delightful region. When an author is as modest and humorous as this, his story cannot be told too often. (Elizabeth Buchan The Times)

I then turned my attention to the drums, as a way of mitigating the tedium and downright silliness of military parades with the compulsory school army cadet force. If you were a member of the "band and drums" you could at least exercise yourself a little better, clattering out your paradiddles, flams and ratamacues, than the others who had to stump about in their gleaming boots to the accompaniment of our music. If only we lived in Spain!" we each said to the other. So we came to Spain one April to see if we really did want to live in it — and we did, and after eleven years, we still don’t regret it, not one bit. I loved reading about the farm - the seasons, the beauty, the locals, and the little customs of the locals like planting on saints days. I would have liked a lot more about Andalucia in general, beyond the farm. A: No, I know what you’re driving at though. DRIVING OVER LEMONS may not have the broad appeal of Peter Mayle — it has not sold like the Provence books, and I don’t think it will; it may be a little too raunchy and earthy for the common taste, in a similar way to the fact that Andalucia is a little raunchier than Provence.This is a great book for anyone that dreams of living in Europe like Ed and I do... It is set in Spain and written by the former drummer of Genesis(?)(before the band got big - doesn't he feel stupid for quitting :). " — Judy, 5/10/2013 Bit by bit, the farm gets itself together, rain/water is controlled and the life the newfound owner expected starts to come together. He and his wife learn about the area and about the quirky residents of the nearby farms, some of whom are also foreigners. The lemons and the olives and the unexpected travails of owning any property become an enjoyable read, especially for those of us who take the travel ride in our safe armchairs. One summer day the shearers came. My job was to catch the sheep for them and roll the wool. I was so entranced by the business of sheep shearing that I persuaded them to take me with them on my free days, and in return for rolling the wool and catching the sheep, they would teach me how to shear. It was something about the grace and the beauty of the work… and the sheer physical hardness, the manliness of it, that attracted me. It was, along with agriculture itself, something of an epiphany; I suddenly knew my destiny. Stewart's adventure in Andalucia is what dreams are made of and has been an absolute delight to read about. The lush gardens set within the mountains seems an idyllic location to set up home and he'll be the envy of millions 'living the dream'. " — Tim, 11/26/2013 The UK-Spain co-production will have Dan Sefton ( Good Karma Hospital, Delicious, The Mallorca Files) write the screenplay and serve as showrunner.