Lottie Nevin
Spain
Hello, I'm Lottie
When I was a little girl, I couldn't make up my mind whether I wanted to be a nun or a ballet dancer when I was 'grown-up'. Around the age of 13 I developed large bosoms and a hefty backside which put paid to the ballet dancer dream. No one wants to see a fat girl in a tutu and the fact that I'd never had a ballet lesson in my life was by the by. My other dream, that of being a nun (and I blame watching The Song Of Bernadette at an impressionable age for that) was shattered the day that I sat next to one on a train. She was the grumpiest and most foul-mouthed soul that I have ever met. My fantasy of a life spent doing good deeds, and losing myself in prayer and contemplation flew straight out of the train window. In hindsight it was a blessing in disguise.
As a 'grown-up', I've done many things over the years and had many jobs, but my greatest and happiest acheivement is being the mother of 5 strapping children. I am enormously proud of them, and also of my step-daughter, Izzy who came into my life, along with her father 5 years ago.
3 years ago I turned my life upside down and moved to Indonesia. The first six months of my sojourn in Jakarta were spent hovering over a squat toilet. An unfortunate side effect of my delicate Anglo/Dutch constitution getting to grips with new food, humid tropical climate, and the myriad alien pathogens of Jakarta.
Our two year stay in Indonesia was a happy time and overall a great experience. But all good things must come to an end and so when Pete's work contract finished, rather than move back to London we decided instead to set up a new home in rural Spain. In October 2013 we relocated from Jakarta to Andalucia. It is here amongst the olive groves that I write The Rioja Diaries lottienevin.com and also my new blog, Gumboots and Goats http://gumbootsandgoats.wordpress.com/ a 'mommy' blog with a difference.
I'm never happier than when I'm working on projects with Pete. Photography, painting and making short films are some of the things that we love doing together. We make a pretty good team.
I started to write a blog shortly after we arrived in Indonesia and have since been invited to write articles for expat websites and magazines.
Links to both my Wordpress blogs can be found on my about.me site and at the bottom of this page.