12th June CASTELO BRANCO

We arrived in the village just before 9.00 and the monthly market was in full swing all along and blocking the road we drive to get to the track to our quinta; no problem we thought there must be another way to get to our track. We browsed the market; there were chicks being sold out of the back of a lorry (we couldn’t see what type as there was such a crowd around the lorry), we found a stall selling animal food (by the sack or litre, they sell by volume here rather than weight) and we think some of the seeds were for growing too (different beans, cereals and corn), there was a stall selling basket ware, it was really cheap e.g. log baskets for 20€, there were some crappy stalls too – clothes, shoes, sunglasses, cheap kitchen stuff and a meat van. There was no fruit and veg stall, maybe there will be when things are in season.

Whilst we were looking around the market we were being ogled by the villagers; so we walked along politely saying “Bom dia” to all and sundry. We don’t know if we really stick out like sore thumbs (I understand that saying now!) or whether they have so few strangers to the village that they knew we were new – anyway they were all very friendly and smiled and said “Bom dia” back to us.

So now we had to find a route to drive to the quinta; we walked through the market and entered the village from our end; we walked through a maze of narrow twisty roads and realised there was no way we could find a navigable way to our track. We got into the truck and, using Google Earth, drove out of the village to a track that seemed to come out a little way down our track (beyond the market) – it was hairy, to say the least, the camper van wouldn’t have made it; it had boulders protruding from the stone walls and was really narrow – in fact it made our track look easy and accessible (a big sigh was heaved when we finally reached our track). Note to selves: Don’t plan any morning excursions on the 2^nd Tuesday of the month!

Brett borrowed a big crowbar from Mark which he used to move a massive stone from the edge of our track – we gained about two foot.

Big rock

Brett moved it the length of the crowbar

We constructed another compost bin from the asbestos sheeting (stop worrying Steph we’re sure it’s not really asbestos, it just looks like it; anyway it’s too late for me I took ‘A’ level Chemistry and we used crumbling real asbestos mats all the time!); then we started digging out the floor – the job I have been dreading! We dug out ten wheelbarrows of composted hay before we got to the ground level (actually it’s good stuff which will come in handy next year). The floor itself isn’t too bad to dig out, though it’s got quite a few stones in it, but there’s an area in the middle of the floor (about 2m x 1m) of solid stone; instead of being flat in the ground the strata are vertical (and they go quite deep), so it’s going to be a bloody big job!

After lunch we explore a couple of the tracks that run off the track to our quinta; there were a couple of nicely maintained smallholdings (one might have had a liveable building on it, but there was no sign of people). Then it was back to the dreaded floor!

Poor old Brett had to do most of the work today, I shovelled dirt and pushed wheelbarrows but I can’t shift big rocks or break up stones – I’m still achy and tired though.