Life in the sun

Life in the sun

I suppose we have to start with Betty. She’s had a lump on her back leg for a number of years now, it’s never affected her walking (or indeed chasing after anything) so we’ve not bothered to have it seen to. Then over the last few weeks it became larger and redder and she seemed a tad lethargic. A wound appearing meant we had no choice but to take her to the vet’s to have the lump removed. Given her…

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Garden project 1: the water tank

Garden project 1: the water tank

In many traditional Portuguese houses the ground floor was often used for non-living purposes: keeping animals, storing foodstuffs, making wine etc. The house next to our rented one was full of their produce: onions hanging in plaits from wooden beams, potatoes supported in hessian sacks, wooden boxes full of eggs, buckets and buckets of dried beans; it was choc-a block with goodies and cobwebs. This house, Casa Lima, used the ground floor for making wine. It contained huge wooden barrels,…

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A month in the country

A month in the country

So now that we have settled in, I’m using that term very loosely, our attention has turned to the outside area. We have land front and back of the house which still looks exceedingly scruffy, there’s still some builders’ stuff lying around and mounds of gravel. So perhaps, when we look up in our guide book to identify the plants coming through, we should not be surprised by the phrase occurs especially on wasteland. We also have a lower field….

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1,601 days

1,601 days

Saturday 18 May: it was raining. The car was packed, yet again, with more of our stuff but this time we had Betty with us, squidged in between boxes and bags. When we arrived the heavens opened and we all three stared at the house, rather reluctant to get out. A break in the downpour saw us leap out and into the house to be welcomed by the view of the valley beyond. It was our first day in the…

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Is that light at the end of the tunnel?

Is that light at the end of the tunnel?

I just checked when the blog was last updated: 28 March, so not even 3 weeks and yet (fanfare please) it seems a lot longer because so much has been done. First of all we have an anniversary (to celebrate?). 11 April 2023 was the first day work started on the house. Let’s remind ourselves what is looked like on that day: The crane had been up a while but the first thing they did was remove the doors. And…

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Ho hum

Ho hum

March has remained a somewhat gloomy month overall. We have had both breaks in the rain and workers back on site but we have reluctantly realised that we won’t be moving in next month. We had a long meeting with the builder last week. He seemed to suggest that most things would either get done straightaway or very shortly but that really doesn’t seem to be the case. Two big things have happened though: firstly, the windows and doors have…

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Guttered!

Guttered!

Anyone driving past the house over the last few weeks will be thinking to themselves that nothing seems to be happening. Indeed it has been a bit disheartening to turn up and once again have no workers on site. Everything has been going much more slowly since the start of the year and our optimism that we will move in next month is waning. The culprit, or at least the scapegoat, is the weather. Two internal coats of paint are…

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The dig

The dig

We are greeted, on our morning dog walk down to the river, with quite a cacophony of sounds. Leading the charge are the thrushes. There are a number perched high on top of the chestnuts, easily spotted on the leafless branches, calling out a series of repetitive screeches and squawks. It’s not at all musical, I’m not sure why they are called song thrushes. They are joined by the more pleasant warbles of the robins and wrens, the flute-like song…

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Getting plastered

Getting plastered

Happy New Year! January has already given us four seasons in one month: a touch of frost, high winds and storms, downpours, sunny spells and glorious sunshine. Today we have drizzle. Nothing has stopped us either sporting sunglasses or donning our waterproofs to brave the elements and stretch our legs. The coast is one of our favourite destinations for the weekly family outing: we have the beach to ourselves and a seafood restaurant is always near (and Betty, exhausted, is…

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Four years, but who’s counting?!

Four years, but who’s counting?!

I think they say it’s the lull before the storm but for us the lull has come after, house-wise that is. It was a quiet December for the workers with not a lot to report. The upper level has been prepped for the plastering machine but it seems more needs to be done still on the lower level. The boiler room has been been plastered by hand and is actually finished, apart from the flooring. We have chosen the style…

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