15th May CASTELO BRANCO

I was kept awake, last night, by ‘the frog chorus’ (not Paul McCartney’s version!) real frogs croaking, they were very loud; I don’t know why there’s so many around at the moment it’s too late for mating season (in Wales that’s March, I know because we used to see them when we were walking around the field at 4.00 a.m. during lambing) and I don’t think there’s any water around here either, but they’ve been at it for the past couple of nights (they’re louder than the birds and dogs!).

Flippin’ heck, we went back to the Toyota dealer to get a quote for the basic (work model) truck, without all the expensive extras i.e. Toyota ‘touch system’, Sat Nav, reversing camera, chrome accessories, steps, metal box (this would have a much cheaper slatted wooden box), air conditioning, big wheels, chunky tyres, cruise control, plush upholstery, a choice of colour etc accordingly we expected a vastly reduced price (we were hoping around 5000€) huh, the quote was for ..... 27400€, we don’t believe it (said in a Victor Meldrew accent) we might as well go for the expensive option and have all the ‘toys’ included – tomorrow, or the next day, we’ll go to Fundao and look at second hand garages there.
Since we’ve been back from the barragem I’ve been sneezing and snuffling, my eyes are itchy and I have a sore throat and headache; I don’t think it’s a cold I think it’s an allergy as it feels similar to what I had the last time I was there, I do hope it goes soon.

The estate agent phoned to say our deposit had arrived in their account, and then our lawyer texted to say the checks were fine and that Mr Luis (owner) was available to do the escritura (deeds) as soon as possible; so first thing tomorrow we’ll go to the bank to check that the money has transferred, then we will go to the estate agents to discuss completion – wow it’s not like Britain!

We washed all our bedding this afternoon, even the patchwork quilt; there’re some very deep sinks, provided by the campsite, with cold water under very high pressure which are great for rinsing the washing – you get absolutely drenched whilst doing it but that’s actually a bonus in this heat!