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Friday 28 July 2017

MAYBE I SHOULD BATHE IN MILK ..........

14th July
Only 43C today ....
4L of milk today, most ever!
Into Penamacor (BP check).
We watered, weeded and picked ......
Di is back in the UK, so we invited Chris for a couple of beers (three at the most) at bar do clube - we never learn! Seven beers later we stumbled home!!!!
So much for me making cheese this evening!
Then we bobbed around in the pool for a couple of hours ........

15th July
I had no choice but to make cheese today as we had 16L of milk filling the fridge and every available vessel (and that was before I milked this morning!

10L made into Halloumi and 6L trying another recipe for Mozzarella!
12 hours later, I have a big jar of Halloumi (it works nearly everytime now ) and several balls of Mozzarella (still rather rubbery) and only 4L of milk (today milking) in the fridge (tomorrow it'll be 8L).
We did have a couple of hours off when we went to visit Sarah & Greg (unfortunately Greg was working, so not at home). We've invited them to dinner Thursday evening.

16th July
Only 43C today!
Another 4L milk ......
A huge group of us went to the Idanha barragem for a picnic lunch - it was a fabulous afternoon, lots of bobbing around in the water!
We picked our first two melons today (Gala), slightly under ripe but very sweet and juicy.

17th July
40C (it's cooling down!!!).
And another 4L of milk ........
The morning was lost speaking to solicitors and writing letters (boring stuff). While we were on the phone Brett was jiggling around playing with his shorts; after the call he dropped his shorts and a centipede dropped out (I didn't see it). We have these big centipedes here (Scolopendra cingulata, also known as Megarian banded centipede, or the Mediterranean banded centipede), it has a rather nasty bite (and can cause anaphylactic shock)- fortunately Brett didn't react.
It's the time of year when harvesting produce gets boring! There's just so much to pick; then we have to eat or process it. Apart from basics like salt, pepper, sugar/honey, flour, rice, pasta etc every meal is prepare from ingredients we've grown/raised. We are eating pretty much a vegan/vegetarian diet atm (very occasionally we eat meat to make room in the freezer!). But I shouldn't moan, we came here to be self sufficient and we're more or less achieving it (it's just bloody hard, continuous, work!).
Anyway just finished dinner and we're off to the pool with a couple of beers!!!!

18th July
We are no longer using any shop bought milk but we still had 11L of goat's milk in the fridge. So today I made (a very long winded) cheddar, took me all day.
Brett harvested carrots and beetroot.
The carrots went into a tub of damp sand and the beetroot cooked for pickling.

19th July
A bit cooler today, only 31C - I can cope with this.
Pickled beetroot made.
Sundried tomatoes started.
Goat's milk yoghurt sieved to thicken.
More melons picked (and tomatoes, peppers, courgettes and cabbage).

20th July
Greg & Sarah are coming to dinner tonight, so I spent all day cooking and cleaning.
Everything for dinner is from the quinta. Starter; A meze of Presunto ham, mozzarella, melon (watermelon and Gala) and cherry tomatoes. Main: Roast chicken, smashed potatoes, ratatouille, lemon glazed carrots. Puddin': Creme caramel (made with goat's milk).
Brett harvested the potatoes, not a particularly good yield - as he said if we needed to grow potatoes to survive we'd be dead! We get blight, always have, it was here when we came - we thought we'd avoid it in a hot, dry climate.

21st July
Happy Birthday Saskia xxx
We had a good evening, sitting out on the decking; eating, drinking and talking. We didn't get to bed until gone 1.00.
Today's cheese is Creamy Feta (slow ferment method), it has to ferment at room temperature for 24 hours - I've put it in the darkest corner of the kitchen to keep it as cool as possible.
Brett is really into vegetable gardening this year and it shows, far less weeds than in past years.
Claire brought us an amazing book on fermentation (The Art of Fermentation, Sander Ellix Katz); today I prepared a bucketful of tomatoes to make Conserva Cruda Di Pomodoro (Fermented Tomato Conserve).

22nd July
Every other day we thoroughly water our vegetables (the day in between we water our field of maize) and harvest all our ripe produce - today's offering: a big bucket of courgettes, tomatoes and peppers (more work for me processing this lot).
1.5L milk out in the heat, making yoghurt; it's not as creamy as Greek yoghurt, but I can make it thick by straining out some of the whey AND it's free!
24 hours later and the Feta looks as if it's going to work! Last time I used this method (slow ferment) I used a buttermilk culture (mesophilic) as my starter and it didn't work; instead of the whey fermenting and the curds sinking, the curds fermented and floated (it wasn't wasted, the pigs liked it!). This time I used active whey as my starter, saved from making the cheddar, and I have lovely soft sunken curds (which now have to drain in mould for 24 hours). This means I can now experiment with making aged Chevre.
The cheddar has had two days air drying next stage was cloth wrapping it with butter muslin (coconut oil was used to hold it together - traditionally this would have been lard). Now it'll mature for a few weeks (unfortunately in the fridge as we have no cellar or cool areas).
More tomatoes sundrying; we've nearly finished the seven big bags I made last year. Mainly blitzed up with olive oil to make a fabulous paste; great as the sauce for pizza,on toasted bread as part of a meze or simply used as flavouring in sauces/soups).
This evening we are going to the local produce festa in Penamacor, it was brilliant last year. However as the time to go out gets nearer we're becoming less and less enthusiastic.

23rd July
We went to the festa last night and it was disappointing. Nowhere near as much going on as last year, not that many people, the stalls were 'same old, same old'. We ate from a food stall (Brett had Leito cooked in bread, I had pizza), it was ok, but Brett still felt hungry. So we went to JCJ's (Brett had a burger and we shared some chips). Then we went home.
Jelisa is not up to par; she stood on the milking table not eating and spitting out her cud! She could be on heat (it doesn't feel like heat) or she could have eaten something that disagrees with her.
My Conserva Cruda Di Pomodoro has a white mould on it (it's supposed too!) I'm so excited.
Today I made a fermented salsa (tomatoes, onion, garlic, pepper, active whey and salt). It'll be ready in a few days.
The feta cheese is out of the mould and air drying for 24 hours. And I'm trying to make the slow Mozzarella again (using whey as my starter). These slow ferment recipes take days to process (but I'm not using any chemicals just natural organisms), fortunately at lot of the time is just hanging around.
Top (L to R): sundries tomatoes, yoghurt, Conserva Cruda Di Pomodoro
Bottom: sausages, mozzarella, feta
A big fire, of signifigance, between us and Escalos de Cima .........

24th July
Happy Birthday Claire! Xxx
Jelisa is back to normal, apart from a litre less milk (she obviously didn't eat much yesterday).
Mozzarella is still rubbery - I think I'll give up try g to make it
Mark is over for a flying visit, so he came to dinner and stayed overnight.

25th July
The heat is coming back! And so are the wildfires - they're in Castelo Branco region this time ......

26th
The Conserva Cruda Di Pomodoro was ready for the next step; removing the skins and seeds, then straining through cheese cloth - well my mouli sieve didn't work, a metal sieve was not much better, I ended up using the juicer (which is crap) and the amount left is pitiful!
Back to cheese making experiments; today I started an aged Chevre, Crottin (translation from French apparently is little turd!). It has to ferment for a couple of days, until a white mould grows on it (unfortunately room temperature here is rather hot).

27th July
And this morning my curds are floating, which means they have yeast fermenting away in them - I'm 100% sure it's the temperature (perfect temp for bread making), it will have to go to the pigs .....
So we decided to have a day off and go to the barragem. We left the quinta, drove along the track to the village and there's a HUGE boulder in the middle of the road,
no way around it (thank goodness we weren't fleeing from a fire!). We had to back up, go back to the house for crow bar, shovel and rope. Whilst we were moving it Joao & Hilda turned up - they thought we'd crashed the car.
LOST IN TRANSLATION: We told them we were off to Meimao (and Meimoa to eat); he was saying (in Portuguese) the 'soupa de pedra' was good, then he looked at his watch and seemed to be saying come and quickly have some soup with us ...... we said "We don't understand", but he was bring his fingers to his lips (eat food), pointing towards his house, saying "rapido" - so we said "ok" (couldn't think what else to say!). Then, as we drove to their house, we realised/decided he said 'go quickly they start serving at 12.00' (or words to the effect). Oh dear, our Portuguese 'nao es bon!'.
This evening we harvested half our black eyed beans.
Beans before harvest

Thursday 13 July 2017

SUMMERTIME, but the living's not easy .......

2nd July
We spent all morning in the vegetable garden - weeding, watering, harvesting (beans, onions, beetroot, carrots, tomatoes, aubergine .........). For their first time ever we have managed to grow melons, the only problem is we don't know when to pick them!
Wow, my UK phone costs 40p/minute to ring anywhere in Europe (it used to cost 4p before roaming charges were dropped) and my Portuguese phone costs me 50c/minute to ring UK - I need to find a better deal.
This afternoon was spent making cheese (Halloumi). This self sufficiency lark is very time consuming!
Look a
Flippin' heck, I caught Brett sneaking out of the house with apple cider vinegar (bought, therefore expensive, as I have run out of homemade); he was going to use it to clean the car's windows!!!!! I 'squawked', rescued the ACV and gave him white vinegar from my studio (he refused to try my homemade red wine vinegar!).
And then he went to give the beetroot leaves, which I had washing in a bucket of water, to the pigs - they were earmarked for the curry!

3rd July
Wendy & Kevin gave us some plums, I made jam ....
Wildfire between our village and the next this evening (21 fire engines, 5 planes, 64 people); out now (phew!).

4th July
Every other day our mornings are full ......
Get up
Animals out and fed
Milk goats (3L today)
Breakfast
Weeding, watering and harvesting
Feeding goats, sheep and pigs with the weeds
Back to the house (for a well earned drink) ....... it's 12.30!!!!!
Vegetarian lunch, mostly from the quinta: carrot dip, crisps (bought), pickled cabbage/sauerkraut, goat cheese; actually Brett's wasn't veggie, he had sausage rolls (our pork).
Vegetarian dinner, ALL from the quinta: Saganaki cheese (well our version - fried Mozzarella), beetroot salad, carrot salad, beer (bought!).
Need to eat more beans .......
Made clementine cake for tomorrow afternoon.

5th July
Up at 6.30! Don't know why, I was awake ........
Another 3L from the goat's, need to make cheese but we have guests coming this afternoon (Nicky, she and her husband bought P&M's place, and Taliss, her daughter). Nicky wants me to teach her how to sew.
Ew, I saw the young Billy pee on his face!!!! He seemed to be able to control his penis, so he was peeing forwards, then he turned his head so it caught the flow. He's in with our milking females and he thinks the smell makes him attractive to them! He's only in with them because he jumped out of the sheep field .......
Nicky is hosting a beginner's fermentation workshop - I gave her my Kombucha Scoby 'hotel' (about a year's worth of spare Scobys).

6th July
Cheese making today as I had 11.5L of milk in the fridge. 7.5L made into Mozzarella
and 4L is clabbering, so I can make some Chevre ....... and that was most of my day gone! Until I discovered the whey from the Mozzarella had split - so I had to make Ricotta!

7th July
Happy Birthday Lesley xxx
So our bank (Norwich & Peterborough), in it's wisdom, has decided to close it's current accounts section. We chose it because it had no oversea fees for purchases or cash withdrawl (it did have it's limitations - €250/day cash limit). So looked around for a better deal (Money Saving Expert) and Halifax Clarity Credit card came out top (as long as you pay off the balance each month). Great, I have a Halifax current account (my money gets transferred from there into N&P each month) so this should be easy - wrong!!!! We have a Portuguese address (we have a UK one too, but we're not there obviously) and therefore not eligible for the card (EVEN THOUGH I BANK WITH THEM ALREADY) how absolutely ridiculous. And that goes for all UK banks and credit cards. My Halifax card charges 2.75% plus £1.50 per cash withdrawl (ATMs here have a 200€ limit per transaction)......so if anyone has got any good ideas?????

8th July
Happy Birthday Lauren xxx
A typical smallholding start to the day, as in you never know when something unexpected is going to happen! Whilst letting out and feeding the geese I could hear plaintive bleating, so went to investigate.
The young Billy (the one who jumped out of the field to be with the milking females) had jumped back into the field overnight with the rest of the flock. He had managed to get his foot through the stock fence as he went over, twisting the second strand down over the top strand, thus snaring his lower leg. He was well and truly stuck; three feet on the ground and a back leg caught at the top of the fence. We needed wire cutters to release him (he can't put his foot to the ground atm) - of course the fence is ruined!!!
The billys and rams are in full-on rutting mode; it's mayhem in the field, they're fighting and molesting the females, egged on by Jelisa and Lucy who are flirting from the other side of the fence - they'll get their comeuppance tomorrow as they're being put in the field with the rest of the flock!.

9th July
Happy Birthday Rebecca xxx
As Brett is working next week we took today off and went to Meimao barragem.
As soon as I start wearing sandals I have problems with dry cracking feet (always have, they're fine if I wear socks). I have a pathetic, (12v) battery operated, machine that sands off the dry skin, but it's not very powerful or effective. So Brett has loaned me his mini orbital sander (180 Watts, I can only use it when the generator is on) - it's scary, but it does the job! I wonder if chiropodists use them? Ok, looked it up; Chiropodists use razor blades - I wouldn't try that myself!

10th July
Brett was up at 6.00 ....
I tried out a different Mozzarella recipe, it is a much longer method than the one I usually use (it's titled 'traditional'), fingers crossed I get the salad Mozzarella this time.
6 hours later - I didn't! It didn't stretch, it tastes and sounds (squeaky) like Halloumi, so I'll try making Saganaki cheese with it.

11th July
Brett was off before 7.00 again.
37C .......
I did all the animal chores and the washing - boring but necessary jobs.
Tomorrow we're off to CB (we have a long shopping list on our way back we're calling in on Amelia (Mark's friend) who is going to introduce us to Bill - a prospective stained glass window customer!

12th July
40+ ......
We had a successful shopping trip - I even managed to buy some sandals!
Bill wants a transom (a glass panel above his front door) but ...... he doesn't have a preference for colors or design, "You're the artist, you decide. Whatever is easiest for you", was his input! His budget? "As cheap as possible" - do I really want this commission?????
After dinner, it was so hot, we stripped off and spent an hour in the pool; it was lovely just bobbing around and putting the world to rights. Then we came in, looked at camper vans and drank beer. We're both in a good place at the moment.

13th July
It's going to be a hot one; it's 10.00 and already 34.5C (in the shade) ............
3.00 44.5C: that is hot, and even hotter if you go out of the shade. All our tubs of water were too hot to put your hand in!
We harvested a load of vegetables and went down to introduce ourselves to our new neighbour (Eloise) - Chris & Sasha were there working, they looked hot and tired.
We bobbed around in the pool again this evening, it really cools your core temperature. Then we came in and drank beer - it's the most thirst quenching drink!

Saturday 1 July 2017

WEEDING & WATERING ........

17th June
43C!!!!!!
We got 133 bales of hay (at a cost of 70c per bale = 93€) from our three fields.
As rain is forecast for the next three days Brett wanted to get it under cover (a dirty, itchy job); I drove the truck Brett did the dirty, itchy bit!
This evening was an annual village festa (actually it started at noon), everything was free - lunch, beer, dinner. We went after we'd put our animals away; Greg & Sarah had been there since 12.00! Chris & Di since 4.00! We had a lot of catching up to do!!!!! But we managed!
Dinner was bread, barbecued pork and sardines (no vegetables) and red wine.
Bap's traditional village group played, a fabulous dancing group danced (the men wore wide brimmed hats), we left when the 'Euro-pop' group were on!!!!!

18th June
Dreadful, dreadful news masses of people killed (62 so far) some in their cars trying to flee massive forest fires in the Coimbra region.
This story has dominated Facebook today; people trying to contact loved ones, updates on the 'worst wildfire' since records began, offers of food, clothes and accommodation. And around us there's a haze, we can't see the mountains, we can hardly see the village water tower. And it's only June!

19th June
Last sheep shorn! He was a big boy (last year's ram lamb, about 16 months) and a real struggler - we missed Claire's help.
Nicky & Rich messaged us, they're coming round tomorrow evening.
A fabulous electrical storm this evening; but, as the fires on Saturday were probably started by lightening, rather scary!


20th June
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEL!!!!!!!🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈xxxx
We're really hot in bed, unable to sleep; we've tried covering ourselves with wet towels and having a fan on - it works to a degree, but not that well. Brett has had an idea; as it's colder outside at night we need to bring the cold air in, so ........ we're going to put a hole in the bedroom wall and insert an extractor fan (the opposite way round to usual) so it will suck the outside air into the bedroom. Today we went into CB to buy the extractor fan and bits and pieces (came to about 20€).
We went in late-ish, so we could get worm tablets for Lily (the vet opens at 3.00). Everything took so long, we didn't get home until gone 5.00 (Nicky and Rich arriving at 6.30!).
A mad rush to get food organised (and wash the floor) and we were ready for guests! Fortunately N&R are easy guests, once they arrived we relaxed and had a good evening.

21st June
The nights start drawing in ........
Brett installed the extractor fan.
I have a new cheese book and have found a traditional (slower) method for making a creamy salad Mozzarella (the curds are left in the whey overnight to ferment) - mine is always a bit rubbery (so best used on pizzas!).

22nd June
The extractor fan worked, it was still warm (it isn't air con. so can't work miracles) but far more comfortable than of late - well done Brett.
My mozzarella didn't work - the curds wouldn't hold together, perhaps the room temp was too hot?
We should have known better!!!! "We're going to the bar at 4.00 for a quick drink" said Chris & Di - five and a half hours later (it was dark) we arrived home to put our bemused (but thankfully safe) animals away! They are such a bad influence!

23rd June
House tidying with a hangover is not fun .......
Debbie & David arrived one and a half hours late as their train broke down - it was great to see them.
We started by making them pick their dinner (a bucket of French beans).

24th June
Didn't do much, well obviously quinta chores (including lots of gardening), and erecting the swimming pool - pity the temperatures have dropped (they'll soon heat up).

25th June
Happy Birthday Pam xxx
Everyone but me spent the afternoon weeding the vegetable field. I was in my studio cutting out a large bird lino cut and then printing onto my green dress - I'm so happy with the results ......

The pink background pattern is printed from a plastic placemat!
The birds are linocuts

26th June
Started making Chevre (10L milk) from my new book (slow ferment method) before we went out.
Went to Meimao for the day, treated to lunch.
The curds were fermenting and bubbling (not supposed to) when we got home, we think because our 'room temperature' is too hot atm. Strained the curd (as it wasn't going to make Chevre) and put it into a mould to see if it could be rescued.

27th June
Lots of weeding and watering.
Yesterday's 'Chevre' is very crumbly, but it works well on tomato salad (already picking our own tomatoes).
Helped Debbie print fish one of her dresses, last time she did a linocut she was at school (a long time ago!!!!). She was very pleased with the results.


This evening it rained ........

28th June
Went to Monsanto (we did take D&D there on a previous visit, in 2015, but it was foggy!) and then we were treated to lunch in Idanha.
On our way back home we drove through Proenca a Velha: so stopped off at the Junta to ask about our oil. WE HAVE OUR OIL!!!!!! A measly 8L from 96kgs of olives, should last us a few months (probably not until next olive harvest). We also picked up D&T's oil, which we will drop off tomorrow.
This week has gone very quickly, D&D are off first thing in the morning.

29th June
Up at 6.30, in CB by 8.00 ("goodbye D&D, see you next year"), at T&D's by 8.40, back home and milking the goats by 9.30 .........
Relaxed for the rest of the day (apart for some hoovering, as Looby is shedding dreadfully).

30th June
Lots of weeding today ........
Stuart & Helen go back to the UK tomorrow so we went to the bar for a few hours, as C&D weren't with us we managed to get home before dark!

1st July
We had a lovely lunch and gossip at Wendy & Kevin's today.