This book is the sequel to Driving over Lemons, which I have not read but do not feel that this matters. Chris's laid-back and self-depreciating writing style is very easy to read and absorb. Chris and his wife and daughter live in the Alpujarras in Southern Spain where they have a farm and a relaxed pace of life that comes across in the book.
Occasionally the books seems a bit jumpy as he addresses different topics in each chapter, rather than writing of events in a chronological order, but this should not detract from Stewart's tales.
Non-Alpujarras chapters cover sheep-shearing (and driving over ice) during a Swedish winter, not being in Genesis (whom he joined at 17, and was replaced by one Mr Phil Collins) , life with a travelling circus and Chris's love affair with the Spanish Guitar. Farm based chapters cover the troublesome parrot of the title who adopted them , volunteer land-workers, building an eco-pool and the arrival of a dam in the region.
Regardless of the topic Chris tells you exactly as it is without dressing it up for comic effect, as Chris often sees the comedy in everything (apart from, possibly, the dam) and has no need to exaggerate. All the chapters are well-written and I enjoyed all of them in spite of their diversity.
I have marked this book four stars as the sometimes random nature of the chapters can be a bit annoying, however it probably also captures the random nature of farming in the Alpujarras!
I also maked the book as 'pretty useful'. It is essentially a family biography rather then a travel or farming guide and you are unlikely to use it as a reference book - just as a jolly good read.
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