13th December
This morning I had a text from Will "Update your
blog" so I did!!! We have had very 'iffy' internet for the past few days,
but it seems to be back now.
Today it rained, more or less the first 'proper' rain since
Debbie & David's visit! It makes a change for us to say "it'll be good
for the garden", but it will definitely help the vegetable plugs - they
are starting to look stronger (I didn't realise it would take so long, I don't
often use bare root plants). Unfortunately rain isn't good for the electricity,
so we didn't put on our Christmas tree lights tonight.
Brett has succumbed to the dreaded sore throat and cold, so
we spent the afternoon huddled in front of the stove; P&M took the olives
to the mill for us, as usual it was running late they had to hang around for
over 2 hours before they could unload - as Pam says "this is
Portugal"!
Oh yes, a little piece of coincidence ........ Astrid was on
a Permaculture course, in
Portugal last year, we said we knew someone who had written
a book on Permaculture (Looby MacNamarar) and she was one of the lecturers on
the course.
14th December
Brett was feeling rough, so we didn't do much today. I took
Looby for lots of walks, and then tried to make a chandelier from sticks, the
metal lids from 'Chinese shop' candles (you have to come to Portugal to know
what I'm talking about!) and tiny glass jars (mousse type desserts we bought in
summer when we had guests and I couldn't be bothered to cook! but knew I could reuse the jars!); I
couldn't find my wire so tried to use twine to attach everything, it didn't
work so now I need to buy wire.
We tried to teach Looby to fetch a ball; she's very
enthusiastic running after it, but she doesn't get bringing it back (Winnie
taught Molly how to do it).
The vegetable plugs are looking much healthier today, after
yesterdays rain (unfortunately so is the grass in the vegetable plot - so it
needs hoeing). I also have to find the enthusiasm to plant peas, radish and
more garlic.
15th December
It's very easy to forget what day of the week it is, as we
have no structure to our lives, but we always recognise Sundays as it sounds
like war has broken out! Fortunately today the hunters weren't too close to our
quinta. I can't think what they are shooting at we haven't seen any game around
here at all this year; we had a partridge on the quinta last year but she seems
to have disappeared L
and we haven't seen any rabbits (and of course we've never managed to see wild
boar, though we know lots of people who have).
We went into CB to start our Christmas preparations but as
we were both feeling a bit rough we weren't really in the mood for it.
We had said that next time we went into CB we'd go to the rescue centre and look for another dog, unfortunately it was shut.
We were all (us and P&M) supposed to be going out for a meal with Mark tonight in Penamacor, but his truck has broken down just when he's about to drive back to the UK; hopefully he'll get it fixed tomorrow.
We had said that next time we went into CB we'd go to the rescue centre and look for another dog, unfortunately it was shut.
We were all (us and P&M) supposed to be going out for a meal with Mark tonight in Penamacor, but his truck has broken down just when he's about to drive back to the UK; hopefully he'll get it fixed tomorrow.
P&M had us round
for dinner tonight, we planned Christmas day (they're coming to us) and Boxing
day (they're having 'open house' with 30+ people coming).
16th December
Brett spent the day tidying up the olive prunings, we need
to buy a shredder so we can use the chippings (waste not, want not!!!) on the
compost etc.
And I cleaned the house; I am becoming more and more fed up
with the cement floor - I don't know if it's dust from outside that sits in all
the pits of the floor or dust made from walking on the cement but it's
horrid to sweep, it creates this huge dust cloud which lingers in the air and
then settles over everything, so then I have to wash down all the shelves and
surfaces and everything on the shelves and surfaces - anyway it makes me very
cross!!! And it made me all snuffily and coughy.
This afternoon I planted two (long) rows of peas and a row
of radishes, so I'm feeling virtuous, of course the garden is pretty dormant at
the moment so I'm not getting any results for all this labour (the only thing
growing is the grass!) but come the New Year everything will suddenly take off.
Nick came with a new inverter for us to test for a few days,
all being well on
Thursday we'll swop back to our original one (the one that's
been working since we returned from UK) and then .......... we're going to be allowed to put our fridge
on!!!! I'll be gutted if it does blow the inverter, I'm sure it won't it's
just Nick that's put doubt into our heads.
Tonight we watched 'Hairspray', a jolly film that was easy
to watch; Brett said he thought it was far better than ;Mama Mia', I have to
disagree - with 'Mama Mia' you know the songs so you can sing along! But I did
like the Christopher Walkin and John Travolta characters.
17th December
And now I have a chesty cough!!! It kept me awake most of
the night, I got up as soon as it was light and made myself some hot lemon and
honey and then 'googled' homemade cough mixture - it's made with lemons, honey
and OLIVE OIL!!! You can also add onion and garlic (that sounds 'yummy' -
not!). When I was young I remember we used to have a cough medicine made with
an onion, cut in half, sprinkled with sugar and left overnight, then the syrup
produced was used as a cough syrup; so it could work, after all onions and
garlic do have antibacterial properties.
We went into Fundao to do some Christmas shopping. A lovely practice
they have in Portugal at Christmas is that the shopping centres, and some of
the shops, have 'wrapping stations' - they provide wrapping paper, sellotape,
ribbon, bows etc. so that everyone can wrap the presents that they have bought
there, for free - of course you do
see people abusing it, stuffing their bags full with unused paper, ribbon and
bows (human nature, always wanting more!).
Still feeling rough so watched two films today 'Spanglish'
(Adam Sandler) and '72 hours' (Russell Crowe), both very watchable though I did
get very tense at the end of 72 hours.
18th December
I had a good night's sleep and Looby didn't wake up until
8.00 J.
Our storage box indexing system is rubbish! Practically
every time I try to find something I look it up in the 'Contents of Packing
Boxes' document, find it, go to the shed, find the box number and what I'm
looking for isn't in the box!!! It's so frustrating and I can't think why it
should be happening, we thought we were being so organised. Today I couldn't
find the cutters, slicers and graters for the food processor; we're making more
fermented food, so the vegetables had to be processed by hand which took
forever and grating onions makes my eyes water! it would have been really quick
with the processor. We did three experimental recipes; cabbage, carrot and
onion (a fermented version of coleslaw), mixed peppers, courgettes, onions and
garlic (my recipe), grated carrots and turnips (Brett's recipe). This is all in
preparation for when we have gluts of vegetables from the garden.
Poor old Mark is still having problems with his truck, it
could be ready (if he's lucky) by Friday, but that doesn't leave him much time
to drive to Calais (2 or 3 days) to catch a ferry to UK and then drive to Stoke
in time for Christmas.
19th December
We went to the Post Office in the village today, there were
Christmas cards, and even a birthday card, for us/me there; and still I don't
feel Christmasy yet!
We haven't had internet (again) for a few days, we think
it's a case of someone resetting the server! But it's jolly inconvenient, I
wanted to make some crystallised clementines today - I had to make up the
recipe!
I bought some wire, when we were in Fundao, so I had another
go at making my chandelier - I'm happy enough with it (very hard to photograph
though) as I've said in the past I'm into 'rustic'!
Nick came this afternoon ................ our fridge is
on!!!! But I'm not getting excited, now I'll just worry every time we leave the
house that when we get back the inverter will be off; if it's still working in
a week's time, then I'll start getting excited.
I bottled my orange vodka and used the vodka seeped oranges
to make a cake, I do this every Christmas using Nigella Lawson's Clementine
Cake recipe, it's very moreish.
I think I've 'broken' our dog!!!! Since last week, when she
had two other dogs to run around with, she has been very boisterous, jumping up
with her huge paws, whining to get attention, she's also started nipping at our
hands, not hard or aggressively, but one day she could catch us; most of this
was aimed at me. Brett said I was to smack her when she did it, so I tried
......... I can't hit my dog when she's so obviously pleased to see me!!! I
tapped her and said "no", she continued to be boisterous and nippy.
However today she caught me unawares, I slapped her (reflex, not even hard but
it shocked her), she squealed and ran away from me and has been 'polite' ever
since; I feel so guilty and cruel but Brett says I'll have gone up the doggie
hierarchy several steps today.
20th December
Pam and I went Christmas shopping to CB; it was a long
shattering day but I managed to buy presents for Brett (he's very hard to buy
for!) and Mark (another male so therefore difficult to buy for) - I bought
Pam's presents last week and could have carried on and on with her (see female
= easy to buy for!).
I also started on the Christmas food shopping, but I lost
the 'will to live' after a few hours so we came home, we were exhausted - I
don't like crowds or queuing.
Looby is still being very civil around me, Brett said she
was very well behaved all day.
Mark has his truck back, he's bringing his caravan over to
P&M's in the morning then setting off for Calais - I think he's cutting it
rather fine.
Our internet server is still down which means that I haven't
been able to send Christmas greetings (I've written the yearly update letter)
to all the people I usually send cards to but didn't manage to this year.
21st December
Happy Winter Solstice
Well, the fridge is still on ......................
Looby is still being good .....................
All's right with the world ..................
We had a visit this afternoon from Claire, a British expat
who lives in a beautiful stone house near P&M, she's a numerologist. And for
the first time ever I made Welsh cakes, they tasted just like the ones from
Siop Laria!
And still we have no internet, it must be getting on for a
week now.
22nd December
We were woken up at 7.30 by loud and frequent gunshot! - the
Sunday before Christmas and the hunters were out in force, not a good start to
the day, especially when, several times, we heard lead pellets sprinkling down
our roof!! ? I still want to know 'what are they shooting at'? there's nothing
there no animals, no birds, nothing at all to shoot at - they seem to be
shooting up in the air, over the olive trees (Brett reckons they're shooting
the sparrows). Funnily Looby has no reaction at all to the noise, maybe she was
a hunter's dog?
I've solved the sweeping the floor/dust cloud problem - I
'hoovered' the floor today; only problem is/are (1) as the vacuum cleaner is
turned on a HUGE cloud of dust issues from the machine (what's that all about?),
so it has to be turned on outside (ridiculous) and then brought inside without
turning it off until the job is finished (or it has to be taken outside again
to start it), (2) as the beater bar can't be turn off (again ridiculous, who
designed this machine?) when I use the tubes I have to stand the vacuum on a
sheet of plywood. But it did clean the floor without leaving a layer of dust on
the furniture.
Today was dedicated to Christmas preparations (about time);
cleaning the house, present wrapping, food making (cheesecake, spiced nuts
etc.) - because tomorrow is my day off!
23rd December
Happy Birthday ME!!!!!
A miserable day, drizzle and fog - rather like Debbie's
birthday!
Brett did very well with his presents (I'm easy to buy for!), he bought me some
beautiful wine glasses and a lovely ornate box.
My Mother rang up and sang 'Happy Birthday' (it's a
tradition!) and then read me the message she had posted on Facebook which
starts 'x years ago (for x read my age) I gave birth to ........' so now ALL my
facebook friends know my age, and I can't even get on facebook to comment!!!
We had lunch in Penamacor with P&M and Chris & Di at
this very posh looking restaurant, the Menu de Dia was only 7€ a head; but it
was so cold in there, we all kept our coats on! I had some lovely presents and
cards.
We spent the afternoon watching Ghost and Splash - it was my birthday after all!
And this evening the internet came back on, I had masses of
happy birthday wishes.
24th December
Absolutely awful weather today, constant rain, strong winds
and, of course, no sun, so the solar wasn't being topped up at all. We couldn't
have the door open as it was too draughty, so we had to use candles to see by
(no point in wasting the solar we did have). And Looby was going 'stir crazy',
it hasn't been 'dog walking' weather for a couple of days, we did go out a few
times but got absolutely soaked and Looby is frightened of a towel!
I made my 'sherry' trifle and found out that I had bought
Croft's port instead of sherry! So we have port trifle tomorrow - I wonder if
anyone will notice. I had a BIG sulk earlier in the day when I couldn't find a
glass bowl to make the trifle in (stupid cataloguing system!) but Brett saved
the day and found me one.
Nick told us that the Christmas bonfires were lit at 7.00 on
Christmas eve, we planned to go to watch the one in Penamacor being lit, then go
back to see the one in the village. At 4.30 we got a text from Pam, the
Penamacor fire had been lit earlier and was still alight (what???), we raced to
the village our one had just been lit - so much for a 7.00 lighting Drove to
Penamacor, the fire was burnt low, very unspectacular, (in fact it turned out
that it had been lit on the 23rd and had been burning all night!), back to the
village and our one was actually looking quite impressive.
So much rain, the ditches were overflowing, the roads were
flooded, it was not nice to be outside.
25th December
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
It rained all night and continued throughout Christmas day ......... didn't we come to Portugal to get away from the Welsh weather? And of course, just when we needed it, we had limited solar (we turned the fridge off over night) which had to be rationed.
It rained all night and continued throughout Christmas day ......... didn't we come to Portugal to get away from the Welsh weather? And of course, just when we needed it, we had limited solar (we turned the fridge off over night) which had to be rationed.
P&M came round for the day, we ate (smoked salmon on rye
bread, beef wellington with roast potatoes, sprouts with bacon and chestnuts
and glazed carrots, etc) and drank (champagne cocktails, our wine, beer) by
candle light. Then Chris and Di arrived we ate (trifle, cheesecake and orange
cake) and drank (Baileys, orange liqueur, Pedro's summer fruits aguadente (very
disappointing it tasted like slightly sweetened flavoured water) with ice from
the still working fridge) and played
Jenga. Then I went to bed!
26th December
Pam and Mark hosted a big Boxing Day party, we met some
lovely new people and, again, ate and drank too much.
Got home and Looby had chewed up my slippers, bloody dog!
27th December
Happy Birthday Megan!
And still it's raining!!! On the positive side we haven't actually run out of solar yet, we have to ration it and turn the fridge off overnight, but so far we've always been able to turn on a light and charge phones and computers (and watch films).
And still it's raining!!! On the positive side we haven't actually run out of solar yet, we have to ration it and turn the fridge off overnight, but so far we've always been able to turn on a light and charge phones and computers (and watch films).
We had a phone call from Jamie (at the olive mill) our
second batch of olives (480 kilos) made 102L of oil!!!! (our first batch of 603
kilos made 86L) and is ready to pick up.
We watched 'Wedding Daze' tonight - it's very weird!
28th December
Yay, the sun came back and the solar charged.
Today we started making a chicken house, actually I held
bits while Brett made a chicken house; Brett has strimmered down a large area
of scrub for them which we'll put an electric fence around. So next Monday we
might be able to go to the market and buy some POL hens - then we'll start to
feel like real smallholders.
I HATE the vacuum cleaner, it blows out more dust than it
sucks up, horrible bloody thing.
29th December
We had a really good day today; first we went to pick up our
second batch of olive oil, we were told that our olives had given the highest yield of oil at the mill this year,
4.6 kilos of olives gave 1L of oil (it's very variable between 5 - 10 kilos/L
is what's usually quoted) so 4.6 is exceptional!!!! (our first batch was 7
kilos/litre, which is pretty average), also the quality was graded as .4 which
apparently is jolly good too - we can't take credit, it's nothing we've done,
we just happened to buy a quinta with good olive trees. This oil is also much
greener (in colour) than the first batch, which is the opposite way round to what
we'd read on the internet: a mine of misinformation!
Then we went for lunch with Nicky and Rich (the people with
pigs, who live near Fundao), they gave us goat stew with homemade bread. They
have a proper smallholding with pigs, goats, chickens, ducks and geese; they
also try to grow all the food for themselves and their animals, they've planted
over 2000 broad beans this year!
30th December
The weather forecast for the next nine days is horrendous,
rain and strong winds. So first things first we did our washing (haven't done
it for over a week and won't have another opportunity for another week). But of
course it's not sunny or warm enough to dry it so .............. I made a
'Sheila maid' (clothes airer), out of olive branches and twine, to hang over
the range; we'll make a less rustic (prettier?) one when we have the materials
but this is working well the time being.
Brett continued making the chicken shed.
We also popped over to P&M to borrow some films for when
we're house bound!
Tomorrow we've been invited for tea at Phil & Claire's,
the people with the lovely stone house near P&M, we're very excited about
seeing inside the house.
And then in the evening Josh and Jamie are having a New
year's Eve party.
31st December
So it's raining again!! And we're back to rationing the
solar (turning the fridge off overnight and using candles to see by). But we
lit the range early so we were all snug and cosy; the washing we did yesterday
is practically all dry, thanks to my Sheila maid!
And I decided to update my blog as it's the end of the month
and I still have internet. Actually we shouldn't run out any more as one of
P&M's presents to Brett was their village wifi login details, they can't
get it from their quinta.
