the story of Casa Azul

Rain! (well, drizzle)

April 12, 2012 richard Comments 0 Comment

Finally a bit of rain has made an appearance. Not much I’m afraid but I suppose you can only expect showers in April. At least it has put a temporary halt to the fires. We went for a drive last week and saw the full extent. Vast swathes of forest turned black. Here’s a photo taken from our house. Originally the hills in the distance were all green, covered in pine and eucalyptus trees. They had started cutting down some (after all much of it was managed plantations) but now all that remains is a small green patch visible on the far right, next to the village (a small white splodge on the photo) which was fortunately untouched.

However, the welcome rain has had an effect on our veggies and even the rhubarb has come through.

And we’ve been eating plenty of onions and purple sprouting broccoli.

The courtyard is also doing pretty well. Here is a bit of the herb garden and our lime tree which is about to burst into flower, as are the orange and lemon trees.

Even the plane tree which was nothing more than a stick a few weeks ago has plenty of leaves.

The animals are also doing well – the roasties are putting on weight and enjoying the grass which has started sprouting everywhere.

And of course the two hairy ones enjoy it whatever the weather.

Blossoming

April 2, 2012 richard Comments 0 Comment

We’ve been a bit quiet on the posts for the last few weeks as we’ve had some guests. First Jackie’s sister Jemma and husband Simon were here and more recently we’ve just said goodbye to Matt, whom we hadn’t seen for ten years when we were teachers in Vietnam.

However, the garden doesn’t stop and in the last few weeks everything has burst into life. We’ve eaten all the oranges and now the trees are full of small white blossoms about to burst open – as is the lime. The plum and peach blossoms have come and gone, and actually we have quite a few peaches growing already – let’s hope the harvest is better than last year. It should be as we now have four trees, mainly older ones which we renovated last year. Also the quinces, apples and pears are in flower. So fingers crossed we get some rain and our fruit harvest will be a bumper one.

We also planted some cacti and agaves in the winter – not surprisingly, they seem to be doing alright with the lack of rain and will go great guns this summer. And the fig tree has actually started sprouting figs!

We’ve also got some more fauna to go with the flora – two bee hives (let’s hope they hang around for more than one season this time) and also seven more little roasties which will be ready for the oven in a couple of months.

Meanwhile our other recent addition, Betty, is doing rather well and continues to be a joy and terror in equal proportions – a terror while awake and a joy while asleep!

Fire!

March 31, 2012 richard Comments 3 comments

Many of you will know that we have been suffering a terrible drought this winter. Here at Casa Azul we have averaged one measly shower of rain in each of the winter months. Matters were brought to a head recently with a huge forest fire which was rather too close to comfort. The tinder dry forests nearby erupted into flames. There seemed to be fires starting all over the place and a huge black cloud covered the sky from East to West. Although the fires did get quite close to us, I don’t think we were in too much danger as we are surrounded by agricultural land which doesn’t burn too well.

It seems that the undergrowth was so dry and the winds so fierce that the flames swept through areas so quickly that in the aftermath many of the trees seemed to have survived and only the forest floor affected and despite taking place over a wide area it was all over relatively quickly. However, the following morning we could still see pockets of smoke on the hillsides. It’s at moments like these that you are thankful for the bombeiroes (firemen). We saw firetrucks from all over northern Portugal and apparently there were 450 present at the biggest fire in Portugal this year. Unfortunately it will certainly not be the last.

Tiles

March 8, 2012 richard Comments 3 comments

Portugal is justifiably famous for its ‘azulejos’. Originating in Arabic times these are (usually) blue and white polished and decorative tiles which cover everything from churches to train stations and on and in many large and small houses. To give our courtyard a bit of local colour, we had long planned to add some of our own. We had bought a few second hand ones at bric a brac markets but then we found a warehouse with hundreds of old ones and the lady there was giving them away for free. Never looking a gift horse we carted a load away and my next job was to incorporate them. And here they are.

Hairy one senior has obviously already schooled hairy one junior into the art of getting into the photo shot.

So that was winter

February 28, 2012 richard Comments 1 comment

I had a quick look back at last year’s February posts and it was all storms and rain. How different this February. It’s been starry nights and blue skies every day, which has meant icy frosts followed by sunburny days. Frosts and no rain is the worst possible combination for the plants and many have struggled.

Spring is now definitely on the way with warmer nights and hopefully some rain in the near future. The trees are emerging from hibernation and the blossoms are already out on the apricot and the plums are not far behind.

The daffodils have been up for a while as have these crocuses.

The wild spring flowers are also on their way and we even saw some orchids on a recent walk. We planted quite a few bulbs this winter so hopefully a bit of rain will set them off.

The biggest news of the week, however, has been the new addition to the family. Betty was rescued as a tiny puppy by some friends of friends but she didn’t get on with their other dogs so we decided to take her on. Despite her naughty puppy habits – chewing, yapping and occasional loss of bladder control, she has been fantastic. The big hairy one has already taken to her and no doubt they will soon be inseparable. Here is the new addition modelling the bench, now sanded and painted.

As it happens we were sitting on the bench the other day and saw a hoopoe in the garden, which is quite a rarity especially as it is only ever a summer visitor, and blue tits checking out the birdbox. We’ve also seen a wren looking for nesting sites near the barn, so hopefully we’ll have some more wildlife in the garden.

As the bench has now moved out of the courtyard, there is more room for another product of my recently acquired woodworking skills – a small table. And Jackie has been honing her skills by painting it blue and another small table of ours purple. Time for yet another alfresco lunch?

A day in the life…

February 17, 2012 Jackie Comments 0 Comment

Days rarely form any pattern here, there are some routines of course, but most days are different and, it seems, most months too. February this year is certainly a change from previous ones and so our time spent here is too. We wake as the sun is just nudging over the hills and usually it’s me who is up first to walk the dog and let the chickens out. The cloudless days we’ve had all this winter means that there’s a frost most mornings so hat, scarf and gloves are always donned before leaving the house. Invariably the chicken water needs to be unfrozen. Slowly but surely many of the plants in the veg patch are wilting under the regular frosts, we had very few last year.

Come elevenses the sun is in the courtyard and the first break of the day from whatever chores we are doing means a sit in the sun. The other day we decided to take the afternoon off and do some geocaching, something we haven’t done so much of recently but the weather was perfect for a walk. First was lunch, we found a great new restaurant in Santiago da Guarda and had the menu of the day: soup, lamb stew, pud, wine, water and coffees for 6.50 euros each. Stuffed we headed off for the walk – a 10km circular hike with 16 geocaches to be found. And what a lovely walk! I was so surprised that there was such wonderful, undiscovered countryside near us. There were meadows with the first of the orchids, glades, covered forests, amazing gorges with rock-climbers braving the heights, steep hills and even a pond or two for the dog to cool down.

In fact the air was so clear it was possible to see Figueira da Foz and the sea from one of the hilltops. You can see more pics and get more info (in Portuguese) from this site here. The pond in the first photo is the same one as above and yes, we did walk up the mountain in the background. Not surprisingly I was completely knackered by the end of the trip, it had taken hours, and as we headed home the sun was calling it a day too. This meant the temperature plummeting and soon, as all nights now, we were relaxing in front of a roaring fire. I’m not sure what tomorrow will bring but am certain that we’ll return to this beautiful spot in the near future.

Mr. Chippy

February 9, 2012 richard Comments 2 comments

Fences and gates done, I now moved onto a more demanding task – making a garden bench. I chose the simplest looking design off the web and so it proved not too demanding, although I must admit the measurements I followed made it rather chunky to say the least. It’s certainly not going to collapse but it may need an army of helpers to move it. It’s in the courtyard at the moment which suits us for now as it’s a real suntrap.

I don’t have a proper workbench so the back of the truck had to suffice.

…and here it is – ready to be sanded and painted.

I did need to get a couple of extra toys to complete the job – a sander and also as the wood was so so chunky, an extra long drill bit (seen below).

We’ve had daffodils in the garden for a couple of weeks now and they are being joined by crocuses. Can’t wait for a bit of rain then the rest of the spring flowers.

I had time to renovate the chicken run gates as well!

Don’t fence me in!

January 26, 2012 richard Comments 0 Comment

Some readers may remember that we had a marauding pack of wild pigs in the garden recently.

Admittedly that sounds a bit worse than it actually was as the only damage caused was a few nibbles out of the cacti and some bulbs were dug up. However, I’d been meaning to do something about the wall, or lack of it, which leads from the end of our garden to the fields beyond and this spurred me into action. One gate and one fence later and we are fully protected!

Emboldened by this success (i.e. surprising myself by being able to make a gate and fence), I started work on operation porco. We are planning on getting a couple of pigs in Feb/March in order to fatten them up for slaughtering in Nov/Dec. So I set to work on building a pigpen and a fenced off area of the garden for them to roam.

pigpen — bijou residence ready for tenants

It still needs a bit of work but Rome wasn’t built in a day.

But it’s not all work and no play, we’ve also managed to make the best use of what has been a very sunny January by having a few barbies and also visiting the beach. I wonder when we will be able to brave the waves!

January blues

January 16, 2012 Jackie Comments 1 comment

Well, not that bad really but it hasn’t been a great start to the new year. Along with the disappearing bees our washing machine still isn’t mended and the car won’t start very well. Plus I caught Richard’s cold and have been feeling rather sorry for myself, I haven’t felt this bad for years. At least the rain came while I was in bed all day Sunday, we haven’t had any for weeks and weeks so very welcome it was too especially as new plants and trees have been put in the garden.

Most days have been cloudless though so the frosts keep coming, not as bad as previous winters (no frozen pond) but certainly more frequent. Most of the veg patch seem oblivious to this but the cauliflowers, just getting bigger now, have brown patches although I have pegged down the leaves over the heads to protect them. The calabrese seems totally unaffected.

I’ve decided to grow more potatoes this year. There is already a bed of ‘Jersey Royals’ and now there are 64 Stemster tatties out for chitting which will be put in come March. They’re new for us, red skins and yellow flesh, and are meant to be drought resistant and heat tolerant – let’s see! The only other thing on the go are a load of turnips. I don’t grow them directly in the ground now. Last time, after so many not making it past the slugs and birds, I decided to grow them in individual modules and them pot them on and, when big enough, to transplant in the bed. It’s certainly more of an effort but on a small scale it’s definitely worth it – every turnip came through, so we’re hoping for the same success this time.

The sunny days have fooled the asparagus, quite a few shoots are popping through the straw only to be zapped by the frost. I need to put some more straw down. Today we had the first of the rocket, growing through the spring and summer has never worked, they always bolted. This winter, both in the polytunnel or in the bed outside, they’ve done fine. So of the crops I’ve tried to grow throughout the winter the swede, turnips, kale, chard, calabrese, cabbage, rocket, beetroot (and leeks of course) have all been a success. I hope I can add cauliflower to the list. The peas and broad beans are just growing but I’m really hoping for a good early spring crop.

Otherwise the hens are the happiest here. They’re on green pastures today (having escaped from their last field which they scratched to bare earth) so plenty of chuckles, and eggs, from them. I’m off now to work out which seeds I need to get for the year ahead…

Bom Ano Novo

January 10, 2012 richard Comments 2 comments

First post of the New Year and we have our first proper frost of the winter. The hens aren’t bothered. In fact after a number of weeks of only three eggs a day, number four hen is back in action and it’s four a day again.