Another week in our little corner of Andalucía, and another seven days of attempting to make life just that little bit simpler. An ambition which, given recent experience, might be considered somewhat optimistic.

After weeks of correspondence, numerous conversations, various promises and an increasingly impressive collection of customer service representatives, our new internet provider finally arrived. An actual engineer. At our actual house. With an actual router. Quite a moment. And, even more astonishingly, it worked. The speeds now are fantastic, the connection is stable and, for a brief, glorious period, we allowed ourselves to believe that one of our more prolonged technological adventures had finally reached a satisfactory conclusion. Naturally, we were getting ahead of ourselves.

Our television in the Snug, which has already provided enough material for several instalments of this journal, took one look at the new connection and decided it wasn’t interested.

The picture began moving in slow motion. The sound disappeared entirely. Watching television became rather like viewing an experimental art installation, although considerably less entertaining. We tried various things, compared connections and eventually reconnected it to our old internet provider. Perfect…

After all the effort involved in changing providers, we now have wonderfully fast new internet and a television that prefers the old one. Progress, of a sort.

And speaking of progress, our ongoing relationship with our Spanish bank continues to provide an almost inexhaustible source of material. We’ve spent months attempting to resolve problems with our house insurance, requesting corrections to important information, chasing documentation and trying to persuade someone to take responsibility for actually sorting things out. We’ve now reached the stage of formal complaints, unanswered correspondence and a growing determination to take our banking elsewhere. Unfortunately, leaving a bank in Spain isn’t necessarily as straightforward as deciding you’d rather use another one. There are accounts to investigate, arrangements to untangle and, in our case, various administrative matters to put in order before we can finally close the door. We’re calling it The Great Escape from Caixa. At this point, we’re beginning to suspect that escaping from a high-security institution might involve less paperwork.

Meanwhile, back at home, our attempts to make the house a little smarter continue. The new internet connection has meant introducing our growing collection of devices to a different Wi-Fi network. Lights, plugs, thermometers and assorted other gadgets all need to be persuaded that the world hasn’t ended simply because the router has changed. Our house now contains an increasingly impressive number of things that communicate with one another, switch themselves on and off, monitor conditions and generally attempt to make our lives easier. At least, that’s the theory.

We have lights that know when it’s evening, dehumidifiers that know when the air is sufficiently dry and robot vacuum cleaners that have apparently developed their own opinions about where they should be cleaning. Donette, our upstairs vacuum cleaner, has previously demonstrated a rather imaginative understanding of the house, occasionally relocating her docking station to places where it has never actually existed. We’re hoping the new Wi-Fi doesn’t encourage any further creative interpretation of the floor plan.

Still, we’re getting there. And there’s something very satisfying about watching the house gradually become more comfortable and manageable, particularly as the cooler months approach.

We’ve also been making a few little changes to the interiors. Nothing dramatic, just those small additions that make a house feel increasingly like home. A couple of inexpensive rugs have turned out to be a lot more lovely than their modest price tags suggested. Proof, if ever it were needed, that spending more doesn’t necessarily mean getting something better.

Work, meanwhile, has been as busy as ever. Websites nearing completion, new projects taking shape, familiar clients keeping us occupied and the occasional idea that begins as a passing conversation and somehow develops into an entirely new venture. We’ve also been working on our own studio identity, refining our approach and enjoying the process of making things= a little simpler and more considered. Less is more. A philosophy we wholeheartedly embrace, although it occasionally seems to involve a surprising amount of work.

And then, amongst all the technology, administration and general business of everyday life, came a lovely little discovery. We’ve been looking into ordering fresh fruit and vegetables from a Spanish grower, exploring the possibility of having a seasonal box delivered to our home every couple of weeks. It sounds a relatively ordinary thing, but browsing the website led us to something that immediately caught my attention. Sweet potatoes.

Not just any sweet potatoes, but ones grown in the sandy estuary around Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Sanlúcar is a place that holds particularly happy memories for us. We lived there while our house in Jimena was being renovated, spending several months getting to know a different part of Andalucía while waiting for our new home to take shape. It’s a beautiful place, with its enormous skies, the Guadalquivir meeting the Atlantic and that wonderfully distinctive atmosphere of a town shaped by the river and the sea.

And now, quite unexpectedly, here it was again. A little connection to that chapter of our lives, discovered while browsing a website for vegetables. Naturally, I couldn’t resist. Three kilograms of sweet potatoes and a seasonal vegetable box have been ordered, with delivery expected on Tuesday. I’ve also somehow managed to acquire 88 loyalty points, despite not yet having received a single vegetable. I’m already invested in the whole enterprise. There’s something lovely about the idea of produce arriving at our door from a place that holds such happy memories. And if the vegetables are as good as I’m hoping, this may become a regular little pleasure. Although we may need to investigate approximately how many things it’s possible to do with three kilograms of sweet potatoes.

And perhaps that’s been the nicest part of this week. Amidst all the attempts to improve our technology, simplify our finances and persuade various organisations to do what they’re supposed to do, life has continued in its own lovely way. The house is looking increasingly like the home we imagined. The days are still beautifully mild for November, and we’re beginning to appreciate the quieter pleasures of this time of year. The light falling across the rooms. The changing shadows. The satisfaction of finding just the right place for something. The pleasure of discovering a little connection to somewhere we’ve loved.

None of it particularly dramatic. And that’s really nice.

So, as a new week begins, we have faster internet, a television with very definite preferences, a house that’s becoming increasingly intelligent and a bank we’re becoming increasingly determined to leave. And on Tuesday, all being well, three kilograms of sweet potatoes.

A Week in the Life of… A little progress, a little absurdity and 88 loyalty points. Just another week of attempting to simplify life in Andalucía. Which, as we’re discovering, can be a surprisingly complicated business.