Despite a boiling hot summer, and some terrible fires not too far away, the Kingdom of Rain has lived up to its name. The resident meteorologist tells me we had twice the normal amount of rain for November than usual. It’s pouring down now and I’m wondering whether the pots I took out from under the verandah to get a bit of weekend sun, should have been put back. They contain a variety of bulbs and I have to admit…
I called 112 last night. This was the first time I have made an emergency call. We had been sitting on the balcony, enjoying a glass of wine and the mild evening when we spotted a burst of orange light from across the valley. Just like that a fire had started, or rather a fire had been started. It began to grow and spread very quickly, so we called the emergency service. It was in a forested area and by…
The last blog post featured our walks. I suppose I need to start this one with the fact that today’s Friday walk has been cancelled. This is partly because it’s boiling hot, 35ºC, but also because the sky is heavy with smoke and it’s a bit depressing being outside. The main culprit is the monster fire in the Peneda-Gerês National Park, a 30 minute drive from us. In fact it was where we went for our latest walk. Right now…
I’m not entirely sure how Betty is still alive. The good weather has arrived which means a return to our walks into the countryside: local hikes from the house, treks further to the north, and longer trips taken in Spain. Many of which are certainly not flat. Betty comes with us each time of course. In September she’ll be 14, and it will also be a year since she had surgery to remove the lump on her leg. She no…
Well, it’s been an interesting past few weeks. The end of March saw the cobbles, at long last, being laid around the house. The men came and went according to the rain but eventually finished the area all round the house and the driveway out front. This has put us in good stead with our neighbours as the area in front of their entrance was also done. This gave Richard another job to do: he used all the tiles we…
The view of the valley from our house has two distinct parts. To the west there are olive trees and a huge pine. It remains green all year round. But to the east there are chestnuts and a variety of different oaks. Some of the oaks already have bright green leaves, others are just appearing and some are still completely bare. In the late afternoon sun they all look splendid although more autumnal than vernal. It has, it must be…
Gosh, where to start, perhaps with Happy New Year! December was a good month in many ways. The weather was kind for the main part which meant we could get out and about. Highlights included the fabulous new restaurant Richard found across the border where we can have marvellous seafood while looking over towards the coast. We spotted turnstones scuttling around on their orange legs, scavenging among the barnacled rocks. Other coastal birds we struggle to name. Back home, however,…
We had a pond at Casa Azul. The initial idea was to encourage frogs and such to take care of the slugs in the veg patch, but it became a huge magnet for birds in a way we never imagined. We also had snakes, salamanders and even deer visiting one night. It got a little out of hand in our rewilding phase during the Covid years but we have always wanted to repeat that here at Casa Lima. We have…
For those of you who thought we were a bit smug last post will be pleased to hear it has been a very wet month. We have had 365mm of rain, this is compared to 274mm for October 2023. That’s 24 rain days over the month. Fortunately, this area of Portugal has avoided the awful flash floods and storms which areas of Spain are still suffering from. One of the annual events we look forward to here is Laurear a…
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…