Snowball Oranges: One Mallorcan Winter

It's the stuff of dreams: A Scottish family gives up relative sanity and security to grow oranges for a living in a secluded mountain valley on the Mediterranean island of Majorca. But dreams, as everyone knows, have a nasty habit of not turning out quite as intended. Being greeted by a freak snowstorm is only the first of many surprising "experiences," and it isn't long before they realize that the orange farm they've purchased is a bit of a lemon. However, laughter is the best medicine when confronted with consuming a local delicacy containing rats, the "live-chicken-down-a-chimney" technique of household maintenance, and attending a shotgun wedding. Their colourful Majorcan neighbours restore the family's faith in humanity, and help them adapt to a new and unexpectedly challenging life in this deceptively simple idyll of rural Spain. SNOWBALL ORANGES is hilarious and revealing, full of life and vivacity, set against the breathtaking backdrop of Majorca. AUTHOR: After leaving school, Peter Kerr joined the Civil Service as an Executive Officer - but given his flamboyant and dynamic nature, he found the role inhibiting and far too conventional! In the early '60s he moved to London to pursue a career as a professional jazz musician, touring with the Clyde Valley Stompers and recording for producer George Martin (who also produced for The Beatles). Peter, on the clarinet, was the leader of the band. The Clyde Valley Stompers produced many a successful hit, one of which was the great 'Peter and the Wolf'. The band appeared on several television programs including The Morecambe and Wise show and Thank Your Lucky Stars. Their music was also featured on Radio 2 in Brian Matthews' Saturday Club Easy Beat Music show. Back in East Lothian in the 1970s Peter became heavily involved in record production. His 'Amazing Grace', produced for the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, sold approximately 13 million records. In the early 80s, Peter and his wife turned to farming, and farmed barley and beef cattle. When the recession hit, they took the bit between their teeth and decided to take their farming skills to Mallorca, where they bought an old farmhouse with an orange farm, mucked in with the locals and set to work. The couple lived in Mallorca with their two sons for three years. Snowball Oranges, written on their return, hilariously recounts the early days. Peter Kerr and his wife have now retired from farming.