So much for summer – this week has seen plenty of rain, which is fantastic for all the plants and the well is well on the way to filling up. We’ve also had more friends staying. This time a fully fledged family. My old school friend Simon, his wife Paula and two sons Lucas and Sam. It was great to see them and there was a break in the clouds long enough to go for a very pleasant walk.
Meanwhile, the barn has been finished. Or at least sports a new roof and plastered walls. Just needs a lick of paint now.
barn when we first saw the house
And despite the hectic lifestyle there’s still time to relax…
The reassuring sound of drilling has resumed at the house. Yes, the builders have returned. We’ve also got the plumber on site and together they are knocking out holes, drilling through walls and digging up floors to lay various pipes for the electricity and plumbing. This will also include central heating and solar powered water heating. The solar heated water is certainly not for economic reasons as it won´t pay for itself for many years but it is something which we always wanted to do.
Of course, work continues on the garden. In addition to the spuds, carrots, onions, leeks etc, Jackie has now planted out beans, peas, cucumbers, courgettes, squash, tomatoes, turnips, broccoli and goodness knows what else. I must say apart from a minor slug attack on the baby rhubarb the whole crop has been remarkably pest free and looks extremely healthy. I wonder how long that will continue for. We are also preparing for our first crop which will be ´oriental leaves´. I´m not sure where we got them from but they are varieties of lettuce as far as I can see. We plan on having them at a barbie at the weekend. Let´s hope the weather is OK.
spuds leading the way top right, peas and bean top left
The weather has actually been perfect for growing things – plenty of sun and rain. In fact despite some friendly joshing from Luis who thought our water tank (see previous post) would take forever to fill, after some pretty heavy rain in the last week (thankfully mostly overnight) we have already collected over 300 litres.
While Jackie has been busy on the veggies, I have turned my attention to rescuing more of the olive trees from ivy and brambles and also some strimming (yet again) – perfect weather for veggies is the same perfect weather for weeds and grass. However, I have also been able to do some landscaping and by using quite a few discarded rocks from the house, I have created the ´peninsula´, a raised area in front of the threshing square. We’ve already planted a few decorative plants in and around it but I think it will take quite some time before it starts to look anywhere near attractive. It’s a start anyway.
´The peninsula´
In addition to all this, I’ve also made another video (it’s not surprisingly on the video page of the blog). A little update on how the place is coming along. Check it out.
P.S. plums and cherries already starting to appear!! yum yum.
That lovely spring feeling is continuing. It’s strange then to see at first glance what looks like snow, in the trees and the fields. Closer inspection reveals wild plum bushes bursting with white blossom and meadows of daisies.
So the warmer weather has seen us donning those lovely blue dungarees and doing some landscape gardening. The back of the house has a huge mound of enormous rocks and stones from the holes made in the walls so we’ve been using those to make a rockery and discovering a hidden talent for dry stone walling. Not bad, eh?
Meanwhile there are those of you who will be pleased that the first seedlings are sprouting, here broad beans and sweet peas. The leeks are up too and many others beginning to poke through. Our cold frames have been made from the old window frames balanced on breeze blocks.
Plus the super spuds are going from strength to strength, with a second batch not far behind. Helpful Luis handed over a box of some too so, if they all work, they’ll be about 40 plants – a whole bed full of tatties! The tunnel cloche over them was removed today as I decided that it was now warm enough. Not without some trepidation though – the bunnies have been seen with napkins around their necks and a glint in their eyes. The gate has been covered in chicken wire and the other entrance to the veg garden near the house has been blocked off with corrugated iron (not the prettiest of sights but will have to do for now), so fingers crossed! (And we are perfecting a wonderful Nigel Slater rabbit dish just in case…)
The second cloche remains up for the mo protecting onions and carrots although it seems to get very hot inside. I opened one end up the other day and my glasses immediately steamed up… the plastic covering is lifted when we’re around but until I’m convinced that Brer Rabbit and his friends won’t be round for a sneaky supper it’s staying put. We’re really looking forward to having a barbecue in the garden in the not too distant future – coelho kebabs, perhaps?
As predicted, with the roof completed, the weather remains fine and no rain forecast. In fact it has been glorious weather to do a bit of gardening. Jackie is now worried that it may be too hot for the spuds which are coming on great guns under the cloche. And most of the fruit trees have now burst into life with blossom all over the garden. Soon we may even be able to tell which fruit trees we actually have.
Despite threats from the builders that work would stop on the house for another break, my pleading seems to have done the trick and we still have two workers continuing on site. They have started on the rendering/plastering the walls inside and out.
living room and kitchen
We’ve also got the electrician/plumber starting soon. The forward slash is because it’s actually the same person. It seems strange to me but apparently it is the norm in Portugal. Anyway, he has been round the house with us and now knows where all the plug points, sockets, sinks etc will be. Hopefully he will be starting work very soon…
