BOAS FESTAS E FELIZ 2014

13th December

This morning I had a text from Will "Update your blog" so I did!!! We have had very 'iffy' internet for the past few days, but it seems to be back now.

Today it rained, more or less the first 'proper' rain since Debbie & David's visit! It makes a change for us to say "it'll be good for the garden", but it will definitely help the vegetable plugs - they are starting to look stronger (I didn't realise it would take so long, I don't often use bare root plants). Unfortunately rain isn't good for the electricity, so we didn't put on our Christmas tree lights tonight.

Brett has succumbed to the dreaded sore throat and cold, so we spent the afternoon huddled in front of the stove; P&M took the olives to the mill for us, as usual it was running late they had to hang around for over 2 hours before they could unload - as Pam says "this is Portugal"!

Oh yes, a little piece of coincidence ........ Astrid was on a Permaculture course, in

Portugal last year, we said we knew someone who had written a book on Permaculture (Looby MacNamarar) and she was one of the lecturers on the course.

14th December

Brett was feeling rough, so we didn't do much today. I took Looby for lots of walks, and then tried to make a chandelier from sticks, the metal lids from 'Chinese shop' candles (you have to come to Portugal to know what I'm talking about!) and tiny glass jars (mousse type desserts we bought in summer when we had guests and I couldn't be bothered to cook! but knew I could reuse the jars!); I couldn't find my wire so tried to use twine to attach everything, it didn't work so now I need to buy wire.

We tried to teach Looby to fetch a ball; she's very enthusiastic running after it, but she doesn't get bringing it back (Winnie taught Molly how to do it).

The vegetable plugs are looking much healthier today, after yesterdays rain (unfortunately so is the grass in the vegetable plot - so it needs hoeing). I also have to find the enthusiasm to plant peas, radish and more garlic.

15th December

It's very easy to forget what day of the week it is, as we have no structure to our lives, but we always recognise Sundays as it sounds like war has broken out! Fortunately today the hunters weren't too close to our quinta. I can't think what they are shooting at we haven't seen any game around here at all this year; we had a partridge on the quinta last year but she seems to have disappeared L and we haven't seen any rabbits (and of course we've never managed to see wild boar, though we know lots of people who have).

We went into CB to start our Christmas preparations but as we were both feeling a bit rough we weren't really in the mood for it.
We had said that next time we went into CB we'd go to the rescue centre and look for another dog, unfortunately it was shut.
We were all (us and P&M) supposed to be going out for a meal with Mark tonight in Penamacor, but his truck has broken down just when he's about to drive back to the UK; hopefully he'll get it fixed tomorrow.

P&M  had us round for dinner tonight, we planned Christmas day (they're coming to us) and Boxing day (they're having 'open house' with 30+ people coming).

16th December

Brett spent the day tidying up the olive prunings, we need to buy a shredder so we can use the chippings (waste not, want not!!!) on the compost etc.

And I cleaned the house; I am becoming more and more fed up with the cement floor - I don't know if it's dust from outside that sits in all the pits of the floor or dust made from walking on the cement­­­­­­ but it's horrid to sweep, it creates this huge dust cloud which lingers in the air and then settles over everything, so then I have to wash down all the shelves and surfaces and everything on the shelves and surfaces - anyway it makes me very cross!!! And it made me all snuffily and coughy.

This afternoon I planted two (long) rows of peas and a row of radishes, so I'm feeling virtuous, of course the garden is pretty dormant at the moment so I'm not getting any results for all this labour (the only thing growing is the grass!) but come the New Year everything will suddenly take off.

Nick came with a new inverter for us to test for a few days, all being well on

Thursday we'll swop back to our original one (the one that's been working since we returned from UK) and then .......... we're going to be allowed to put our fridge on!!!! I'll be gutted if it does blow the inverter, I'm sure it won't it's just Nick that's put doubt into our heads.

Tonight we watched 'Hairspray', a jolly film that was easy to watch; Brett said he thought it was far better than ;Mama Mia', I have to disagree - with 'Mama Mia' you know the songs so you can sing along! But I did like the Christopher Walkin and John Travolta characters.

17th December

And now I have a chesty cough!!! It kept me awake most of the night, I got up as soon as it was light and made myself some hot lemon and honey and then 'googled' homemade cough mixture - it's made with lemons, honey and OLIVE OIL!!! You can also add onion and garlic (that sounds 'yummy' - not!). When I was young I remember we used to have a cough medicine made with an onion, cut in half, sprinkled with sugar and left overnight, then the syrup produced was used as a cough syrup; so it could work, after all onions and garlic do have antibacterial properties.

We went into Fundao to do some Christmas shopping. A lovely practice they have in Portugal at Christmas is that the shopping centres, and some of the shops, have 'wrapping stations' - they provide wrapping paper, sellotape, ribbon, bows etc. so that everyone can wrap the presents that they have bought there, for free - of course you do see people abusing it, stuffing their bags full with unused paper, ribbon and bows (human nature, always wanting more!).

Still feeling rough so watched two films today 'Spanglish' (Adam Sandler) and '72 hours' (Russell Crowe), both very watchable though I did get very tense at the end of 72 hours.

18th December

I had a good night's sleep and Looby didn't wake up until 8.00 J.

Our storage box indexing system is rubbish! Practically every time I try to find something I look it up in the 'Contents of Packing Boxes' document, find it, go to the shed, find the box number and what I'm looking for isn't in the box!!! It's so frustrating and I can't think why it should be happening, we thought we were being so organised. Today I couldn't find the cutters, slicers and graters for the food processor; we're making more fermented food, so the vegetables had to be processed by hand which took forever and grating onions makes my eyes water! it would have been really quick with the processor. We did three experimental recipes; cabbage, carrot and onion (a fermented version of coleslaw), mixed peppers, courgettes, onions and garlic (my recipe), grated carrots and turnips (Brett's recipe). This is all in preparation for when we have gluts of vegetables from the garden.

Poor old Mark is still having problems with his truck, it could be ready (if he's lucky) by Friday, but that doesn't leave him much time to drive to Calais (2 or 3 days) to catch a ferry to UK and then drive to Stoke in time for Christmas.

19th December

We went to the Post Office in the village today, there were Christmas cards, and even a birthday card, for us/me there; and still I don't feel Christmasy yet!

We haven't had internet (again) for a few days, we think it's a case of someone resetting the server! But it's jolly inconvenient, I wanted to make some crystallised clementines today - I had to make up the recipe!

I bought some wire, when we were in Fundao, so I had another go at making my chandelier - I'm happy enough with it (very hard to photograph though) as I've said in the past I'm into 'rustic'!

Nick came this afternoon ................ our fridge is on!!!! But I'm not getting excited, now I'll just worry every time we leave the house that when we get back the inverter will be off; if it's still working in a week's time, then I'll start getting excited.

I bottled my orange vodka and used the vodka seeped oranges to make a cake, I do this every Christmas using Nigella Lawson's Clementine Cake recipe, it's very moreish.

I think I've 'broken' our dog!!!! Since last week, when she had two other dogs to run around with, she has been very boisterous, jumping up with her huge paws, whining to get attention, she's also started nipping at our hands, not hard or aggressively, but one day she could catch us; most of this was aimed at me. Brett said I was to smack her when she did it, so I tried ......... I can't hit my dog when she's so obviously pleased to see me!!! I tapped her and said "no", she continued to be boisterous and nippy. However today she caught me unawares, I slapped her (reflex, not even hard but it shocked her), she squealed and ran away from me and has been 'polite' ever since; I feel so guilty and cruel but Brett says I'll have gone up the doggie hierarchy several steps today.

20th December

Pam and I went Christmas shopping to CB; it was a long shattering day but I managed to buy presents for Brett (he's very hard to buy for!) and Mark (another male so therefore difficult to buy for) - I bought Pam's presents last week and could have carried on and on with her (see female = easy to buy for!).

I also started on the Christmas food shopping, but I lost the 'will to live' after a few hours so we came home, we were exhausted - I don't like crowds or queuing.

Looby is still being very civil around me, Brett said she was very well behaved all day.

Mark has his truck back, he's bringing his caravan over to P&M's in the morning then setting off for Calais - I think he's cutting it rather fine.

Our internet server is still down which means that I haven't been able to send Christmas greetings (I've written the yearly update letter) to all the people I usually send cards to but didn't manage to this year.

21st December

Happy Winter Solstice

Well, the fridge is still on ......................

Looby is still being good .....................

All's right with the world ..................

We had a visit this afternoon from Claire, a British expat who lives in a beautiful stone house near P&M, she's a numerologist. And for the first time ever I made Welsh cakes, they tasted just like the ones from Siop Laria!

And still we have no internet, it must be getting on for a week now.

22nd December

We were woken up at 7.30 by loud and frequent gunshot! - the Sunday before Christmas and the hunters were out in force, not a good start to the day, especially when, several times, we heard lead pellets sprinkling down our roof!! ? I still want to know 'what are they shooting at'? there's nothing there no animals, no birds, nothing at all to shoot at - they seem to be shooting up in the air, over the olive trees (Brett reckons they're shooting the sparrows). Funnily Looby has no reaction at all to the noise, maybe she was a hunter's dog?

I've solved the sweeping the floor/dust cloud problem - I 'hoovered' the floor today; only problem is/are (1) as the vacuum cleaner is turned on a HUGE cloud of dust issues from the machine (what's that all about?), so it has to be turned on outside (ridiculous) and then brought inside without turning it off until the job is finished (or it has to be taken outside again to start it), (2) as the beater bar can't be turn off (again ridiculous, who designed this machine?) when I use the tubes I have to stand the vacuum on a sheet of plywood. But it did clean the floor without leaving a layer of dust on the furniture.

Today was dedicated to Christmas preparations (about time); cleaning the house, present wrapping, food making (cheesecake, spiced nuts etc.) - because tomorrow is my day off!

23rd December

Happy Birthday ME!!!!!

A miserable day, drizzle and fog - rather like Debbie's birthday!

Brett did very well with his presents (I'm easy to buy for!), he bought me some beautiful wine glasses and a lovely ornate box.

My Mother rang up and sang 'Happy Birthday' (it's a tradition!) and then read me the message she had posted on Facebook which starts 'x years ago (for x read my age) I gave birth to ........' so now ALL my facebook friends know my age, and I can't even get on facebook to comment!!!

We had lunch in Penamacor with P&M and Chris & Di at this very posh looking restaurant, the Menu de Dia was only 7€ a head; but it was so cold in there, we all kept our coats on! I had some lovely presents and cards.

We spent the afternoon watching Ghost and Splash - it was my birthday after all!

And this evening the internet came back on, I had masses of happy birthday wishes.

24th December

Absolutely awful weather today, constant rain, strong winds and, of course, no sun, so the solar wasn't being topped up at all. We couldn't have the door open as it was too draughty, so we had to use candles to see by (no point in wasting the solar we did have). And Looby was going 'stir crazy', it hasn't been 'dog walking' weather for a couple of days, we did go out a few times but got absolutely soaked and Looby is frightened of a towel!

I made my 'sherry' trifle and found out that I had bought Croft's port instead of sherry! So we have port trifle tomorrow - I wonder if anyone will notice. I had a BIG sulk earlier in the day when I couldn't find a glass bowl to make the trifle in (stupid cataloguing system!) but Brett saved the day and found me one.

Nick told us that the Christmas bonfires were lit at 7.00 on Christmas eve, we planned to go to watch the one in Penamacor being lit, then go back to see the one in the village. At 4.30 we got a text from Pam, the Penamacor fire had been lit earlier and was still alight (what???), we raced to the village our one had just been lit - so much for a 7.00 lighting Drove to Penamacor, the fire was burnt low, very unspectacular, (in fact it turned out that it had been lit on the 23rd and had been burning all night!), back to the village and our one was actually looking quite impressive.

So much rain, the ditches were overflowing, the roads were flooded, it was not nice to be outside.

25th December

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
It rained all night and continued throughout Christmas day ......... didn't we come to Portugal to get away from the Welsh weather? And of course, just when we needed it, we had limited solar (we turned the fridge off over night) which had to be rationed.

P&M came round for the day, we ate (smoked salmon on rye bread, beef wellington with roast potatoes, sprouts with bacon and chestnuts and glazed carrots, etc) and drank (champagne cocktails, our wine, beer) by candle light. Then Chris and Di arrived we ate (trifle, cheesecake and orange cake) and drank (Baileys, orange liqueur, Pedro's summer fruits aguadente (very disappointing it tasted like slightly sweetened flavoured water) with ice from the still working fridge) and played Jenga. Then I went to bed!

26th December

Pam and Mark hosted a big Boxing Day party, we met some lovely new people and, again, ate and drank too much.

Got home and Looby had chewed up my slippers, bloody dog!

27th December

Happy Birthday Megan!
And still it's raining!!! On the positive side we haven't actually run out of solar yet, we have to ration it and turn the fridge off overnight, but so far we've always been able to turn on a light and charge phones and computers (and watch films).

We had a phone call from Jamie (at the olive mill) our second batch of olives (480 kilos) made 102L of oil!!!! (our first batch of 603 kilos made 86L) and is ready to pick up.

We watched 'Wedding Daze' tonight - it's very weird!

28th December

Yay, the sun came back and the solar charged.

Today we started making a chicken house, actually I held bits while Brett made a chicken house; Brett has strimmered down a large area of scrub for them which we'll put an electric fence around. So next Monday we might be able to go to the market and buy some POL hens - then we'll start to feel like real smallholders.

I HATE the vacuum cleaner, it blows out more dust than it sucks up, horrible bloody thing.

29th December

We had a really good day today; first we went to pick up our second batch of olive oil, we were told that our olives had given the highest yield of oil at the mill this year, 4.6 kilos of olives gave 1L of oil (it's very variable between 5 - 10 kilos/L is what's usually quoted) so 4.6 is exceptional!!!! (our first batch was 7 kilos/litre, which is pretty average), also the quality was graded as .4 which apparently is jolly good too - we can't take credit, it's nothing we've done, we just happened to buy a quinta with good olive trees. This oil is also much greener (in colour) than the first batch, which is the opposite way round to what we'd read on the internet: a mine of misinformation!

Then we went for lunch with Nicky and Rich (the people with pigs, who live near Fundao), they gave us goat stew with homemade bread. They have a proper smallholding with pigs, goats, chickens, ducks and geese; they also try to grow all the food for themselves and their animals, they've planted over 2000 broad beans this year!

30th December

The weather forecast for the next nine days is horrendous, rain and strong winds. So first things first we did our washing (haven't done it for over a week and won't have another opportunity for another week). But of course it's not sunny or warm enough to dry it so .............. I made a 'Sheila maid' (clothes airer), out of olive branches and twine, to hang over the range; we'll make a less rustic (prettier?) one when we have the materials but this is working well the time being.

Brett continued making the chicken shed.

We also popped over to P&M to borrow some films for when we're house bound!

Tomorrow we've been invited for tea at Phil & Claire's, the people with the lovely stone house near P&M, we're very excited about seeing inside the house.

And then in the evening Josh and Jamie are having a New year's Eve party.

31st December

So it's raining again!! And we're back to rationing the solar (turning the fridge off overnight and using candles to see by). But we lit the range early so we were all snug and cosy; the washing we did yesterday is practically all dry, thanks to my Sheila maid!

And I decided to update my blog as it's the end of the month and I still have internet. Actually we shouldn't run out any more as one of P&M's presents to Brett was their village wifi login details, they can't get it from their quinta.