22nd August FONTE DOS CLERIGOS

I managed to twist my ankle yesterday; I just stepped off a path awkwardly, I could feel it slightly yesterday evening, then it throbbed a bit in the night and this morning I was limping – I could hardly navigate the steps in and out of the camper, very annoying.

We started the concreting at 9.00 this morning and worked through until 3.30, with a ½ hour break for lunch; we got half a floor done – it was very hard work, but we have a better system going now. Once I’ve got one lot of concrete mixing in the mixer I fill two buckets with chippings (Brett’s occupied taking off the last lot of mixed concrete), when Brett comes back we tip the fresh mix into his wheelbarrow then HE lifts the chippings into the mixer (then he does one sand while I do half cement) and I finish the mixing while he wheels the last mix away. It’s still hard work but not nearly as bad as yesterday I was really struggling with the chippings and sand. 

Gary came round this afternoon and invited us around to his place for dinner; Brett explained that we weren’t happy eating food from skips, he looked so crestfallen, I felt really mean but of course we went. We gave him some lettuce, courgette, cucumber, tomato, garlic and olive oil so we didn’t have to eat skip food. 

Bless him, he’d tried really hard; he’d made a table out of a roofing sheet and laid it – it looked really inviting. He’d made hummus (I don’t know where he got the chickpeas from but they would have been in a tin/jar if they’d come from a skip!), mixed salad, for pudding he’d picked blackberries and figs (from an abandoned orchard he knows) and we had fonte water to drink. He needs more friends, he craves company; we’ll have him round next week and invite Pam and Mark. I can do guacamole and crudités for a starter and fruit salad for pudding and some salads to accompany the main course, but what to have for the main course? I just can’t think of anything appropriate, basically he doesn’t eat protein (unless it comes from raw fruit and veg)! But then he cheated by using cooked chickpeas, so perhaps I could cheat too and do falafels? 

On Friday we’re going round to Pam and Mark’s they’re going to make pizzas in their bread oven; I’ve never used a bread oven, I’m really excited.