After several weeks in which life seemed determined to provide us with enough material for a small novel, things have been a little quieter. Relatively speaking.

The working week has been a busy one, with websites being launched, others nearing completion and a few new ideas beginning to take shape. We’ve been revisiting an old business venture, considering some new possibilities and enjoying the rather lovely feeling of seeing projects we’ve worked on for months finally coming together. There’s something particularly satisfying about completing a piece of creative work and knowing that the people you’ve created it for are genuinely delighted. It makes all the hours of discussion, design decisions and occasional head-scratching worthwhile.

Meanwhile, our various ongoing encounters with Spanish bureaucracy and temperamental technology have continued to progress. Almost. Our change of internet and mobile provider is almost arranged. Our television difficulties are almost resolved. And our bank and insurance company are almost in a position to address the rather urgent matter of our house insurance policy. Almost is becoming a remarkably familiar word in our household.

We’ve spent a considerable amount of time over recent weeks exchanging emails, examining documents, testing equipment and attempting to establish precisely what needs to happen next. And while there have been encouraging developments, we’re discovering that the distance between almost sorted and actually sorted can be surprisingly considerable. Still, we’re nothing if not persistent. And then, thankfully, life provided a very welcome distraction…

Late on Sunday night, our family arrived for a week of half-term adventures. The house, which is usually occupied by just the two of us, suddenly became a wonderfully noisy, busy place, full of people, conversation, laughter and the general chaos that comes with having a houseful. We love it. There’s something rather special about seeing our home filled with family, particularly when everyone has travelled such a long way to be together. And what a week they chose to visit.

We’ve had some absolutely glorious weather. The sort of sunshine that makes you forget we’re approaching November, with beautiful blue skies and temperatures that have made spending time outdoors an absolute pleasure. So, naturally, we headed for the beach.

Valdevaqueros, near Tarifa, is one of those places that never fails to impress us. A vast stretch of sand, enormous skies and the extraordinary spectacle of kite surfers taking advantage of the winds for which this part of the coast is famous. We spent some wonderful hours simply sitting in our beach chairs, watching the colourful kites sweeping across the sky, occasionally marvelling at the athleticism of the people attached to them. It’s quite something to watch.

And beyond it all, across the Strait of Gibraltar, the mountains of Morocco were clearly visible on the horizon. Africa, from our beach chairs. At the end of October. Every now and again, we find ourselves looking around and remembering just how fortunate we are to live where we do.

Not because life here is perfect. It certainly isn’t. There are frustrations, complications and enough administrative mysteries to keep us occupied for years. But then there are days like these. Warm sunshine, beautiful beaches, family together, the sea stretching out towards another continent and absolutely no pressing reason to be anywhere else.

The emails can wait. The insurance company can continue its deliberations. The television may or may not decide to cooperate. For a few hours, none of it matters very much. And perhaps that’s what this week has reminded us. Life doesn’t always need to be full of extraordinary events to be memorable.

Sometimes it’s simply about having the people you love around you, enjoying the place you’ve chosen to call home and appreciating the rather wonderful fact that, even as November approaches, you can still spend an afternoon sitting on a beach in the sunshine. There have been lovely little surprises, too. Our family returned from a visit to Vejer de la Frontera with the most beautiful lantern for our home. One of those gifts that makes you realise just how well the people closest to you know you. It’s already found its perfect spot, casting the loveliest patterns of warm light and shadow across the walls.

A Week in the Life of… A little less absurdity. A little more sunshine.