I'm still not used to this device; I get so frustrated when I can't do what I want to do ... We've found an app on the tablet which allows you to write and save documents; we can't even open it! AND, although we can read emails, we have no idea how to reply - we can only do it by 'composing' a new email.
Today we were back to the kitchen cupboards; Brett making doors, me filling and sanding screw holes in the worktop, staining it with Briwax and filling and painting the doors (and doing the washing).
There was a little bit of head banging between the sheep and the goats but that soon settled down. We moved their shelter with the tractor - helped by sheep, goats and kittens!
We had some scary, spectacular fires over the weekend; the nearest was in Bemposte (2kms away) we could see the smoke, behind the village watertower, from the decking (I took pictures with the camera which I have no idea how to transfer to the tablet!). But we had to drive out to see the flames - we'd had an electric storm all afternoon and evening and think the fire might have been caused by a lightening strike.
The vegetable garden is so disappointing this year; the voles have a had huge impact, firstly by eating the seeds and now destroying mature plants - they've had six courgette plants, tomatillos, cucumbers and beans. Oh yes they ate loads of the potatoes too. On top of that fertilisation is really, really poor this year; especially beans, this time last year I was picking them by the bucket, this year I can't scrape enough for a meal once a week - I'm blaming it on the scarcity of bees and other pollinators. We're getting some courgettes and tomatoes, but they're nowhere near as prolific as last year.
On a positive note the herb bed is starting to show promise; I'm watering nightly which might be the key. I have a lovely grouping of purple basil and bronze fennel which I'm very pleased with
22nd July
Ha, I managed to pull my buttock/hamstring yesterday; so today I'm limping, moving slowly and can't pick anything off the ground (or stroke kittens!). And feeling sorry for myself.
Brett made a drawer for the kitchen units; very fiddly work, but it looks great (and it slides in and out smoothly).
What on earth are Widgets? They are multiplying on the tablet, do I need them? If not, how do I get rid of them and stop them forming?
I had a very frustrating morning trying to download Polaris Office 5 (the app that wasn't working on the tablet); of course I didn't manage to do it - I hate all this modern technology it's all gobbledygook to me!!!
Poor old Lili had to go to the vet this evening; she has a bladder infection. She doesn't actually mind going to the vet, but she hates going in the car - she does a brilliant impression of an ostrich!
23rd July
Brett made more drawers while I made a sign for J&J to commemorate the opening of The Hub tomorrow.
Another fire this evenig; Brett could smell smoke, it appeared to be coming from the village - there was smoke drifting between us and the watertower.
Andrew tried to book us (me, Brett, Andrew, Chris & Di) a taxi for tomorrow night but the village driver is on holiday and Bemposte driver is in CB - could be a problem.
24th July
Happy BIrthday Claire!!! XXX
Brett made the last drawer, we found some, non matching, ceramic knobs in the shed, so, apart from the door hinges, the cupboards are complete and looking fantastic.
Andrew managed to book a taxi, so we could 'go to the ball'! Baptiste came in the taxi with us (the taxi was 'people carrier' with room for 7 passengers); we were charged 15€ each way - so paid 6€ per person (which is really cheap but added onto the 20€ we spent on food and drink made it an expensive night out for us). It was a good night; there were lots of people, most of whom we knew/recognised. J&J had obviously put a lot of time and effort into the evening; I hope people continue to support them.
25th July
Last night was a late night home (1.00ish) so today was supposed to be a relaxing day, with not much going on. I didn't have a hangover, as I was drinking Sangria which was mainly lemonade; I merely felt tired from the late bedtime. However we ended up tidying out the shed with all our boxes of possessions and sorting through the 'kitchen' boxes - I was quite ruthless and put quite a bit into the car boot sale boxes.
Little Jasmine kitten is a hunter; she caught, killed and ate a mouse - she could be the answer to our vole problem.
26th July
40.7 degrees (in the shade); i.e. bloody hot!
The bastard voles had another courgette plant - I only have two of my original eleven left ... hurry up and grow Jasmine!
Brett started on our kitchen island; we're using the top of the table from the Barn for the top, so apart from the legs (which cost 10€) it's not going to cost much.
Trying to 'cut & paste', so that I could post blog, and somehow I've manage to delete and muddle up my writing from this point on!
27th july
Poor old Looby is on heat (and yes, she has been spade so don't ask me how!); I know she can't help it but she's pacing all the time and whining in our faces - it's bloody annoying. On the plus side Lili seems to be on the mend.
We went into CB to buy hinges for the kitchen cupboards and pick up Brett's mended laptop - unfortunately all the data was lost.
F***'ng bastard voles had another courgette plant!
28th July
The mosquitos are bad atm; I put on Deet (it's the only thing that works) every evening, including last evening, but last night my back was bitten to buggery - and it's bloody itchy, Brett thinks it was something other than mosquitos (probably something not repelled by Deet, knowing my luck😢) or even hives/an allergic reaction (probably to Deet).
Brett and Matt spent the morning on their bikes (in this heat they must be mad!), a mere 33 miles; while I cleaned and tidied the house and prepared lunch.
The kittens weren't around today; but Lili managed to find them this evening - she goes next door and encourages them to come to us!
29th July
I now have a rash on my forearm, my back is better than yesterday; Brett had hives earlier this year, looks like I might have it now 😢.
What an annoying day; first off we went to water the garden I primed the pump so many times I've lost count but we couldn't get it to function. The pump has to be primed from the pool, then started and it pumps water into the pool, then, very quickly before the water in the pipe coming up from the well is lost, the pump has to be stopped, disconnected from the pool, attached to the garden hoses and restarted. This morning the pump wouldn't restart quickly enough so the water drained out of the pipe in the well; after several attempts we gave up. Then ...
Brett put the hinges on the cupboard doors; bloody hell what a horrible fiddly job and then, once he had the door positioned perfectly, he screwed all the screws in and the door kept bouncing open - it turned out that the heads of the screws (supplied with the hinges) were too big and were forcing the hinges open ... Brett had to countersink all the holes in the hinges!
On a positive note the pool, which had turned an awful thick green colour, has cleared after being 'shocked' with a huge dose of chlorine - we thought we might have to empty it (and waste 11 cu metres of water).
Then the internet went down !!!! I think that's probably it until the start of the new month - the village has used its quota.
We managed to get the garden watered; it was hard getting the pump to pump the water from the well - we're thinking that the problem could be that the well is lower than we have ever seen it (Andrew's is dry!) so the pump js struggling to stay primed. While we were there Brett noticed that we have cucmbers growing on our new plants (the ones in furrows)😀.
We looked at pictures of our Brynaman kitchen ... our Portuguese kitchen is becoming a clone! The cupboards Brett has made are almost identical (the Brynaman ones came from B&Q and I painted them green), even the layout is similar (it wasn't done intentionally).
30th July N/I
Knobs and catches put on cupboards and it's finished; apart from the sink which will be installed in the unit next to the small fridge, once we've chosen and bought it, and the green wall tiles - it looks fabulous and it makes food preparation so much more enjoyable as there is room to work and convenient electricity points available.
Sink will go in left of fridge
Next job is completing the island; which will give us lots more storage too.The animals are always making extra work for us (Brett); today it was the geese - they keep going over to the vegetable garden and walking on/chewing the onions etc. So Brett had to make a gate to go across the track; he used a Portuguese design from the quinta next door (if it'll keep cattle in it should keep geese out!).
Another strange 'blip' on 25th July with 208 views - who are these people?
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