LINOCUTS ........

31st October
Happy Halloween/Samhain ......
We went into CB to buy the electrical stuff to wire up the studio/workshop for lighting ready for the first spinning group meeting on Thursday.
While we were in Lidl I bought a bag of sweets for any 'trick or treaters' that might come to the quinta (well the Portuguese equivalent that they do on 1st Nov, All Saint's Day), Brett says I'm wasting my time and money!!!

1st November
All Saint's Day
Of course we didn't get and 'trick or treaters'!
Brett continueded the wiring whilst I rearranged the studio so that I have the table for electrical tools (solder iron, light box, grinder etc) close to the plug sockets - it actually looks much more spacious now.
I keep trying different ways to use the milk kefir - I find it rather acidic in shakes and cream cheese; today I made it into cheesecake (happy Brett).
By the end of the day I had usable lights (happy me!).

2nd November
Day of the Dead
I made chocolate fridge cake (for spinning club), chicken liver pate (for taking to dinner at P&M's on Friday), barbecued ribs (for tonight's dinner).
I leaded up my latest roundel (the one with a slice of agate); hopefully I'll have time to solder it tomorrow.
The Kefir cheesecake is actually ok (as I made it lemony anyway), so at last I've found a way to use milk kefir. Fortunately I really like the water kefir.

3rd November
Brett wired up the sockets in the workshop/studio ready for the arrival of the generator.
We had a few last minute cancellations for spinning and ended up with six participants (well five participants and Lola who came for the gossip and wine!) - me, Mary, Sasha, Jo & Karina. It was a jolly meeting we all (not Lola) managed to spin some wool with a potato and knitting needle. As Jo doesn't drink alcohol I gave her water kefir; after drinking a litre she was drunk!!!! It's less than 0.5% alcohol (sorry Jo!).
Brett had a male gathering, in the house (Vince, Chris and two sons); it was gone midnight when people left.

4th November
Heavy rain; we took the afternoon off, lit the range and watched a film 'Anomalisa' - weird!
We, along with Thomas & Diane, were invited to dinner at P&M's unfortunately Diane's car broke down so they couldn't come (we did offer to pick them up).
Pam had sorted all her surplus clothes to sell ready for their move, I got first choice - I spent 50€.

5th November
Karina knows of a knitting machine for sale, so we (Karina, Jo and me) went to look at it. It turned out it was being sold by an English woman (Anna) in Medelim. Unfortunately it couldn't cope with our homespun wool, so I'm a bit undecided (Karina and Jo are keener); I would be very interested in a spinning wheel though!

6th November
It's getting decidedly chilly overnight.
Jo & Gordon need some fencing doing while they are away, we took Chris to meet them this morning and talk about the job. Came away with lunch - two parasol mushrooms.
Lazy day today as Brett is working for Annika Monday and Tuesday.

7th November
Ice on the animal's water this morning.
I spent most of the morning cleaning out the fridge; Brett keeps complaining there's no space in there (it's all my milk kefir, water kefir grains and various preserves he's actually moaning about!). Anyway I threw lots out (well in the pig bucket) so it's quite roomy now.
I had an email from our estate agents asking us to contact Utility Warehouse re an unpaid bill. I phoned UW, of course they wouldn't give me any particulars, as the bill isn't in our name, but they're inferring that our last tenants left with outstanding debts. Now WE have to send UW all kinds of paperwork, to prove we're not liable for the debt and to make sure the service isn't interrupted as we have a new tenant being vetted atm.

8th November
Another icy start to the day. Brett working.
Horrible finish to the day ......

9th November
Well we weren't expecting that ..... Trump being elected as President of USA (rather like Brexit!).
It was bookclub today, but I didn't go, as I wasn't feeling sociable.

10th November
Jo & Gordon treated us to lunch at O Cave, I ate far too much (soup and bread roll, squid, chips and salad, fruit salad (which I left) and coffee - phew I was full (7€ a head everything included - I could have had a lite of wine too!).
I spent several hours shelling the walnuts that Lola gave us, it's a jolly long winded job.
This evening I tried out the long looms that Pam and I bought ages ago - I'm making some leg warmers.

11th November
I cut a linoprint design (3 plates) for this year's Christmas card and started printing it up.

Brett is getting a new area ready for the pigs (behind the studio/workshop) .

12th November
Twelve Christmas cards printed and another design (using gelli plate) started -I LOVE MY STUDIO!!!!!

Brett watched rugby - I played in studio, fab day.
We were contemplating going to the wine and liqueur festa in San Migel De Acha this evening, but, as we were eating dinner, it started raining heavily - and that made our decision!

13th November
I don't like to tempt fate but ..... it's the 3rd month of hunting and Sundays have been blissfully quiet so far.
We went to the carboot sale (as customers not sellers), it was very small; same bric a brac we've seen before, plus a food stall and preserve stall - bought nothing. But I have bartered a nuno felt stole for a stained glass panel!
Carried on with Christmas cards.

14th November
Brett at work
Karina and Emily came to pick up some of our Muscovy ducklings; as we were catching them I got a nasty wound on my little finger (muscovy's have sharp claws on their feet), it bled for ages (and is rather painful).
This evening we volunteered to take Judith and her dog to the vet's in Penamacor ....... after we'd been waiting for about 10 minutes (you have to arrive early) a man turned up to say the vet wouldn't be coming as he's in Argentina.

15th November
Brett at work.
I had a long list of chores to do including sending all the necessary paperwork to the estate agents; I needed to print a risk assessment form off the internet - typically, today, the internet stopped working! But I did do the washing, make bread

(sour dough, thank you Karina) make kefir cheese, design and cut a new Linocut for Christmas cards, shell acorns and leave to leach (tanning) in water, plus my daily chores.

16th November
Bloody estate agent, every year they ask us for more and more information (never keeping a copy of what they've already had) today I posted a letter that weighed 65g (4 stamps) and we use thin paper! They needed proof that we owned the house (they've been letting it out for us for 4 years!), 2 proofs of identity for Brett, risk assessment for Legionella, electrical certificate, insurance certificate, energy efficiency rating (or whatever it's called) certificate for the house, two page form filled in re all other information needed, it just went on and on, makes me very cross .......

17th November
Bloody sheep!!!! I was feeding them this morning, they had an altercation and somehow I got bashed in the side of my knee - now I can hardly walk!
Today was a bitter sweet day; we said goodbye to a friend who died last week. His ashes were scattered at his quinta. We had a nice little informal ceremony; his family said a few words, we toasted his memory and went for a meal.
My goodness be careful what you put on social media. Our estate agents wrote to us today with links to our prospective tenant and her boyfriend's Facebook pages; they have told massive lies on their application form and the estate agents 'strongly advise' that we don't approve their application unless certain conditions are met.

18th November
Brett is building a shed at the front of the house to house our solar equipment and a freezer.
I work on Christmas cards whilst limping a lot.

These are gelliprints not lino prints (the Merry Christmas is on a different card!)

Obviously ditto!

19th November
We got rid of some more Muscovys, so now they all fit in their shed - it was getting quite a squeeze.
Brett watched rugby so I spent my time in the studio on a new linocut which I hope I will be able to use on glass (if the new generator ever arrives!!!!!) and paper/card.

We had a lovely evening at Vince & Lola's, didn't get home until after midnight (which is really good for me as I usually fall asleep around 11!).

20th November
I heard two shots in the distance .......
Raining more or less all day. I worked in the studio while Brett cooked lunch, then we watched Briget Jones's Baby - very predictable! And this evening we watched The Girl on the Train - not as good as the book.

21st November
Gloomy, rainy, no solar charging going on .......
I printed some greeting cards (from my new linocut) for my craft stock.

Jolly chilly tonight .......

22nd November
The generator arrived today, all 170 kilos (that's 374lbs) of it! And we had to get it off our truck. Fortunately we bought a block and tackle the other day (in preparation for pig butchering) which made the process quite easy.
The solar shed floor is concreted; it won't take Brett long to build the walls. He'll finish the boiler shed at the same time - which means soon we could have a proper shower!!!
Some dastardly critter has eaten all our goose eggs! Mrs Goose has been laying eggs in her nest (the same nest she was flooded out of last time she tried to sit); last count there were ten eggs in there. After I had put them away this evening I looked to see if she'd laid any more and the nest was empty. Something has taken at least ten eggs; there were no shells or debris left, just an empty nest.......

AUTUMN BABIES ........

8th October
I went to feed the ewe this morning and the lamb was dead; now, of course, we're questioning and berating ourselves - why didn't we check it was feeding properly (I'm sure I saw it feeding, it had it's head up under the ewe and it's tail was wagging), not that we know why it died, it was very small and thin, very sad (but as the saying says "where there's livestock there's dead stock!). Feeling bad .....
And to make us feel worse our cat has disappeared; we haven't seen her since Monday or Tuesday - we're kind of hoping she's down at the new peoples (rather than being trapped somewhere or dead), but I've called and called in that direction so it's not looking good.

9th October
Today we went for lunch to Nicky and Rich's (they're back for a few weeks); we had a barbecue and came home laden with fruit and bread for the pigs (we took them winter squash and sweet potatoes).

10th October
9.00 ALL the goats and sheep had been fed and were hanging around the troughs (hoping for seconds?).

10.00 We were taking the second lot of sweet potatoes over to the sheds for storage, as usual all the goats and sheep followed us up the track - bar one, no sign of Hazel ....... found her standing next to her new born kid!!!! Another Mini-me, very cute AND she's definitely feeding!

So Brett saw Margo in her garden this afternoon and asked if she'd seen our cat, "oh yes, she's inside asleep on the sofa" was her reply - they've bloody well stolen her!!!! Now we've got to get her back without falling out with them.

11 October
Autumn has arrived; there's a definite chill in the air and the sun has disappeared. I am wearing layers with a jumper, leggings, socks and boots. And making, warm, nourishing, soup (from our own veg - carrots, squash and onions).
Poor old Lily had to go to the vet's this evening; she's such a stoic little dog, she just stood there while he did all kinds of nasty things to her, she didn't whimper, snap or snarl - bless her. I love that little bitch .......
Yay, we have RAIN!!!!!

12th October
We had to go into CB today as Brett needed to go to the dentist; his latest filling had fallen out (he wasn't charged to replace it). I bought an umbrella (as it was pouring with rain and we needed one). Then we treated ourselves to lunch out; we actually got it half price as the kebab restaurant has a loyalty card which is stamped each time you eat there and we had enough stamps for a free meal.

13th October
Pam came round for a sewing day (I copied the pattern of a dress she bought when we went back to the UK).
Our cat graced us with her presence for about half an hour this afternoon - she's FAT!!!!! Goodness knows how much they're feeding her, and she probably sleeps all day too, I need to have words with them.
5.00 Brett started feeling queasy ........ then he started being violently ill.
I ate supper on my own (Brett went to bed 6.30ish).

14th October
I went to bed feeling fine but not able to sleep, then I started feeling queasy, 4.00 a.m. I started with the violent expulsions ........
OMG have I poisoned Pam? We had soup, bread and cheese for lunch yesterday. Phew, I checked she was fine! So I'm blaming the Kebab lunch we had on Wednesday!
We spent most of the day in bed feeling pretty rough. At 7.00 we had a slice of toast and a cup of tea. 8.30 I went to bed.
Fingers crossed we feel rejuvenated in the morning.

15th October
I had a brilliant night's sleep, got up at 8.00. Did the animals (found a sheep and her black lamb in the shed with Hazel and her kid!).
9.30 Hazel comes bleating up to the house, she's lost her kid; I searched to no avail, not worried yet as she did this last time - the kids go to sleep in the scrub behind the studio and are very well camouflaged.
10.00 went to check on Brett, who wasn't up; apparently he had a rotten night, up every 20 mins, so still feeling rough.
We checked the sheep had milk and that it was coming out, the lamb appears to be feeding and it has a round belly, so fingers crossed it'll be ok.
11.30 kid found.
12.00 kid lost ....... this went on all day, and each time she was lost Hazel came to the house to tell us!
I finished my dress and dyed it.

This evening I had a bit of a relapse, just feeling queasy and headachy.

16th October
Still not 100%!
I spent the morning in the shed finding stuff to carboot next Saturday.
Hazel spent all day coming to the house to tell us her kid was missing. We've found the kid's hiding place, behind a pallet of bags of cement in the pole barn; but, regardless of how many times we show her, Hazel never looks there!
I spent time in the studio on another sandblasted panel.

17th October
Our stomachs are still feels a bit queasy when we eat, but we're not ill any longer.
Today we foraged some Chicken of the Woods - don't know when we'll fancy eating it though!

I leaded up most of my panel, I might even get it soldered tomorrow?
Well after saying I didn't fancy it we had the Chicken of the woods for dinner, in a creamy cheese sauce with pasta twists - it was absolutely delicious!
Poor old Lil is 'not right', we'll take her to a different vet tomorrow (one who speaks English).

18th October
Happy Birthday LOOBY - today is her official birthday as we have had her 3 years today.
I didn't get any glass done as we had to take Lily to the vet.
OMG Lily has been showing symptoms for a couple of months, we've wormed her, had her anal glands emptied and today took her to a vet in Castelo Branco ....... she (the vet) says all her symptoms point to roundworms (which we had originally diagnosed) but that the worming treatment (injection) we have been getting from the Penamacor vet doesn't actually treat these worms (it is made for farm animals not pets!) - so all this time we haven't been protecting our dogs from worms! They now have to be treated every 3 months; thank goodness they're easy to give pills to.

19th October
I leaded up my first 'Hare' panel - I'm going to make a series.

Another black lamb born today - it's going to be crowded in the maternity shed this evening!

20th October
We dismantled the swimming pool - it wasn't nearly as much fun as assembling it!
Brett had his first bonfire (we were forbidden up to 16th Oct because of fire risk).
I soldered my Hare panel and masked off the sandblasting in preparation for cementing (my least favorite job).
Mini-me, goat kid (renamed Tinkerbell), is so cute; whilst we are milking her mother she insists on sitting on my lap - it drives the dogs made with jealousy!

21st October
I can't believe I'm still feeling queasy, it's over a week now.
We've had a few drab days so the solar is really low - fridge and freezer turned off.

22nd October
We were up early (7.00) to go to the carboot sale. The animals were perplexed as it was still dark (and pouring with rain) as we let them out and fed them.
We arrived to set up at 8.15, bringing Nicky and Rich with us. There were only four other stalls (Pete & Alan, Dee & Craig, Gary and a Swedish group selling milk kefir products) i.e. six in total.
It was very slow going, but picked up around 11.00, we took around 80€; although it was advertised 9.00-15.00 we (and everyone else) left around 13.00 as it had gone very quiet.
I masked off another Hare design (boxing hares) ready for sandblasting.
Sharon wasn't interested in food this evening, we think she might give birth tonight (of course it's torrential rain out there!).

23rd October
Brett checked Sharon before he came to bed, I went out in the early hours, no sign of a kid and she's eating - OMG Brett checked her over this morning - she's got blowfly under her tail! We brought her into the pole barn, cleaned her up and applied lots of products (insect killer, antibiotic etc) and she now seems much happier.
I always seem to be complaining about my woes, today it's back ache - I can hardly walk. We think it's from yesterday when I tripped at the carboot.
I cemented the Hare panel, made some wide heart lead so that I can plate a piece of glass with a slice of agate, to make another roundal.

24th October
Sharon spent a peaceful night.
We went into CB as the weather was atrocious. We didn't need much, but had lunch out (avoiding the kebab place!). I had a strawberry and banana smoothie (though it was more like a slush puppy) my goodness I got the most horrendous brain freeze ...... my head was pounding, my vision blurred (I thought I was having a stroke!), it lasted for several minutes, needless to say I didn't finish my lunch.
Evenings are now spent in candlelight as the solar isn't being charged during these wet, gloomy days.

25th 0ctober
Raining, dull, dismal .....

26th October
Happy Birthday Lawrence xxxxxx
Alfie (our friends' dog) has started chasing our sheep, today he had cornered one of the lambs; we've told them twice now, can't think how we're going to resolve this without falling out (because we've shot their dog!).
We took some of our ducklings to Alex & Karina and now their neighbours want to buy some from us.
Cut out another roundel, using the plated slice of agate as the center.
Sharon is improving daily; today she came into the workshop a couple of times and started helping herself to food!

27th October
I got up and dressed like I've been dressing for the past couple if weeks - underwear, vest, leggings, dress, jumper, socks and boots. By 11.00 I had decided I was ill, I was obviously running a fever I was sweating so much ...... then Brett pointed out it was 27C!!!!!
I made a batch of Tomatillo chutney; Jo & Gordon came for coffee, Gordon kept saying how good the chutney smelt - if we see them before they go he will have a jar for his birthday present (I like a man that appreciates chutney!).
Brett dug the footings for the battery shed
I dug up the last of the sweet potatoes.

28th October
We visited a newly arrived family, as they had bales of hay for sale. Unfortunately the hay was drenched in the rain last week. They have a fabulous plot; it's very close to Spain, bordering a lake, with far reaching views - just stunning.

29th October
Happy Birthday Gordon. X
I spent ALL DAY cleaning and cooking - I was knackered by the time our guests arrived (Andrew, Chris & Do, Stuart & Helen). We tried to make it, as much as possible, a quinta grown meal - chicken (yep) cooked in milk (goat's) with sage (yes) and garlic for the meat eaters, chicken of the woods (foraged from track to quinta) 'stroganoff' for the veggies, roasted sweet potatoes (oh yes!) and chard (it's sprung up since the rain), chocolate mousse (our eggs). They arrive before 7.00, I left them and went to bed at 12.30, I think they left around 2.00 a.m. We consumed .....17 bottles of beer, 4L of white wine and 3-4 bottles of red wine!!!

30th October
A rather relaxed day today.
We found some parasol mushroom for lunch;

we had them, cooked in garlic butter, on toast - delicious.
This evening I made chai from scratch (cardamom pods, fresh ginger, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, black tea, sugar, water, milk) it was really good.

31st October
Trip into CB to get electrical stuff to wire up the studio/workshop.
Ok Mark you can stop nagging, I've updated!!!!!