OVER RUN WITH KIDS .........

12th February
It would have been my father's birthday today .....
An awful day; last night the goats were put in the shed (the sheep don't seem to mind the rain, I think the lanolin makes them waterproof) and they stayed there for much of today.
The generator was needed this morning so I got another firing done; I'm getting quite a lot of work that needs leading up (not my favorite task!).
We timed putting away the animals badly, we got hit by a deluge and had to take shelter in the barn for a good quarter of an hour; water was pouring off the land around us, by the time we got inside the house we were soaked through. A good evening to snuggle up close to the range.

13th February
I still love unloading my kiln in the mornings, it so exciting; the painted pieces go in with dull grey paint and come out with black shiny paint! I now have another three panels ready to lead up.

Boxing Hares

Running Hare

Winter Tree

Brett wants to finish fencing the quinta, whilst the ground is wet; that should keep him occupied for a while - but not today as it's raining on and off all day.
I leaded up two panels, unfortunately the battery in the studio was low so I didn't complete the soldering (I'll finish it next time the generator is on).

Greenman

Sweet potatoes were put into water to chit; we want to grow enough to feed to the animals this year.

14th February
Happy Valentine to me .........
I now have three panels leaded, soldered and ready to cement (my all time most unfavourite part of the process!). And today's firing means I should have all the glass to complete another two panels.

Hare Triskelion Roundel 

I tried using the tile cutter to cut rings of glass from wine bottles; it didn't work, the glass just shattered any old how. I was going to slump them in the kiln to make glass doughnuts, but I can't see that happening now.

15th February
I leaded up three more panels,  so feeling pleased with myself.
Unfortunately I think there's something wrong with the inverter I use in the studio, not the battery (as Brett put a fully charged battery on for me); the inverter alarm keeps going off and then the power switches off - which means I didn't manage to solder the panels.
Brett spent the day clearing the land where he's going to fence next(he's reclaimed about 10' of ground around the perimeter).

16th February
And the sun is out!!! Better weather is forecast for the next few days.
Over the next few days we have to spend about 1000€ on fence post, wire etc. So I asked the bank (n&p) to increase our daily withdrawal limit from £250 to £500 - they said "no", for security reasons the card withdrawal is set at 250€, bloody ridiculous it's our money! So now every time we pass a bank machine we have to withdraw cash.
Ha that was worrying ........ we went to buy our first 100 fence posts, passing through San Miguel De Acha, where there's a bank machine. I put in my card, card number, amount I wanted to withdraw and ....... the machine froze! I called Brett, we punched all the buttons, nothing happened (we're in the middle of a village that just happens to have a bank machine next to public toilets - no bank or shop attached or anyone to talk to) after several (panicky) minutes it came back to life!!!!! We got our money and card (phew).
As the sun was out I sowed seeds in the polytunnel (it was bloody hot); tomatoes, peppers and chilies, aubergine and cucumber (only five trays but it took me a couple of hours).
I soldered the glass panels; I now have six waiting to be cemented. I'm contemplating trying to sell stuff on Etsy (Brett's idea), so now I've got to think of a catchy name for my 'company'.

17th February
We bought gate posts today (already 600€ spent), but didn't use the cash machine in San Miguel De Acha as it frightened us yesterday! Fortunately we needed to go into Penamacor for animal food (unfortunately completely the opposite direction), so used the one in mini-p (where there were people we could talk to if necessary).
I spent a horrible, but productive, afternoon, in the studio, cementing six panels; it's such a messy job and I always have to throw away at least one scrubbing brush (which makes me feel wasteful) as there's no way of cleaning it.
I spent a frustrating evening creating a Facebook page for my glass, it's called 'Quinta Glass & Crafts'. I don't understand half the options/instructions, I can't open my messages and when I try to 'view page as a visitor' I get a blank page!!! Bloody technology .......

18th February
Pam came round to sort out my Facebook page (she downloaded an app). She said I also needed an instagram account to share my photos easily (and add hashtags??????), so I signed up using my Facebook account. However when I signed in it said ..... my password was wrong, then it 'deactivated my account for violating Instagram terms' - I hadn't got as far as opening the account. In reply to my email for help they wanted me to send a photo of me holding a piece of paper with, handwritten on it, my name and a code - how would Instagram recognise me in a photo?????


19th February
The generator is on to do the washing so I'm experimenting with my kiln; I've put on my slumping/fusing programme to time how long it actually takes.
01.00 R 500 (1 hour: raise temp to 500C)
00.01 R 850 (?: raise, asap, to 850C)
00.10 H 850 (10 min: hold temp at 850C)
00.01 C 560 (?: cool, asap, to 560C)
If I could switch off here that would save me lots of time!!!!! But ......
Annealing: (this is the bit that takes the time!)
00.17 H 560 (17 mins: hold at 560C)
00.34 C 540 (34 mins: cool to 540C)
00.17 H 540 (17 mins: hold at 540C)
00.34 C 520 (34 mins: cool to 520C)
00.17 H 520 (17 mins: hold at 520C)
End (generator can be switched off).
The timings suggests this programme should take 3 hours 11 minutes (which would be great!) however 1 minute to raise from 500C to 850C is not feasible so I'm timing that and the cooling from 850C to 560C.
Five and a half hours later ....... heating up from 500C to 850C took exactly one and a half hours, cooling from 850C to 560C took fifty minutes, which makes the whole programme five hours and thirty minutes (cost of 6.60€), which is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. If I can make sure the kiln's full to capacity and I do the washing, hoovering etc, at the same time, then it's not too extravagant to run this programme occasionally.
Brett has started putting in his fence posts, it really changes the look of the Quinta.

20th February
Happy Birthday Lily (dog!), we've had her three years today.
Opening the kiln was exciting; (1) I'd put in a couple of pieces of bunting with different techniques for holding the fastenings (both worked)

(2) I made some textured glass by slumping it over cut out pieces of fiber paper (worked nicely)

(3) the Greenman mould was very disappointing, hardly any definition despite obvious signs of overfiring (spiky edges).

I have a VERY IMPORTANT job, lining up the fence posts; I stand one end of the fence line shouting/gesticulating "away/towards" until all the posts are nicely in line. Unfortunately today the fence line was so long I couldn't actually see the post I was supposed to be lining up with!

21st February
A frosty start to the day.
One of the roundels I cemented has a thin slice of agate plated with pale purple glass - the cement oozed between the two pieces! I have taken it apart; a horrible, filthy job. The roundel wasn't actually that impressive once it was finished; so I am going to add some sandblasting to some of the glass - I've been masking off areas with PVA glue and sticky backed plastic.

22nd February
Every day I look at my herb garden and think "I must weed that" - today I started (it's going to take a while!).
Lily found a ginger tabby cat (presumably male) in the vegetable garden a couple of days ago; he was very beaten up, with scratches/bites on his head and legs. He was also petrified of Lily who was barking enthusiastically at him. Today he was on my potting table in the polytunnel; after extracting a yapping, excited, Lily, I walked back to the house to get him some cat biscuits - maybe he can keep the voles away from my vegetables? I think I'll call him Orlando (the Marmalade Cat).
Brett started putting the fence wire on the posts; soon we'll be full fenced. Brett took the dogs with him, he came back with just Looby; I realised this when I heard Lily barking from a distance! She was the other side of the goose field fence (off our quinta); I got her back and now she's licking all her paws like crazy (I can't see anything wrong with them) - do dogs get stung by stinging nettles?
This evening we're off to dine with Alex & Karina.

23rd February
Lily is fine this morning, so I think it WAS stinging nettles.
We had a lovely evening at A&K's, we didn't leave until close on midnight (which is jolly late for us). I came home with masses of seeds (some of which I have no idea what they are as the packet is written in Russian - I wouldn't know how to enter that into Google Translate!!!). This morning I sowed the tomatoes (mainly black varieties which I think have more flavour), peppers, chilies and pumpkins. She all gave me loads of herb seeds, so this afternoon it was back to weeding the herb bed; I'm finding lots of Lemon Balm seedlings.

24th February
We went into CB to buy paint for the field gates - the old gates need a fresh coat and Brett's making several new ones. We were going to buy the same 'duck egg blue' we have on the island but we think it could fade a lot in the sunshine, so we've gone for a darker shade, rather National Trust looking (much like Payne's Grey mixed with blue). Still no Ross Cobb chicks or black POL hens!

24th February
I'm so bored with weeding the herb bed, it's taking forever, so this afternoon I painted the field gate to Lavender paddock - it took more than two hours!!! Then, after I had cleaned my brushes, Brett came along and pointed out the bits I'd missed!


26th February
Rather damp and chilly today ......
We had a bit of a smallholding start to the day (1) spraying the goats - the warmer weather has resulted in the emergence of parasitic insects, ticks, lice, mosquitoes etc. (2) culling of muscovy males - last years ducklings are fully grown and fighting one another and raping their mothers (the females went to other quintas), so it was time for them to go.
We were going to go to the olive oil festa in Prohenca a Velha (mainly to ask where OUR olive oil was!) but it was too cold for an outing, so we lit the fire and stayed in.

27th February
We went into Fundao on a whim, as we need chickens NOW, and we were lucky; we came home with six black POL hens, thirteen (he gave us one free!) Ross Cobbs and I bought two rosemary bushes (one upright, one prostrate) at three euros each.
We had a letter in our postbox from our bank (N&P), they're closing all current accounts! So now we have to open a UK account (with free withdrawals in Europe) from Portugal - bugger!
We fed the sheep and goats at 5.45, they all came in to eat. 6.00 I went to lock Hazel, Georgia and their two kids in their shed and there's Jelisa giving birth to twins - she was eating 15 minutes ago!

Literally 15 minutes old!

We increased our animals by 21 today!

28th February
It's March tomorrow!
Both Jelisa's kids are male - shame.

Clean and dry after a night in the shed. 

Brett took the dogs with him while he continued fencing; he came home at lunch time minus Lobby (he hadn't even realised she'd run off, bloody dog), looks like she's on heat again. I thought she'd done all that last month, she had all the signs but this time she's got a glowing red 'bitch bit'!

1st March
Happy St David's Day!
I'm halfway through weeding the herb bed, the area that is left is a thick carpet of mint, chickweed and clover - I'm getting really bored with it now, I decided to paint a gate ..... Unfortunately, we both agree, we don't really like the blue/grey paint we bought the other day! So it's back to a choice between green (that we already have, but the paint is an interior emulsion which doesn't protect the wood) or pale blue (like our island), AND then we didn't have any pale blue paint left, so that was the end of that idea!
All day long there's Looby pacing and whining (she'll be like this for 2-3 weeks) and Jelisa bleating because she's lost a kid (or two), I've seen her down on her belly crawling under the decking looking for them. Between the two of them I'm slowly going mad ........
Ok the quinta is dog proof, Brett fenced the last gap today - this should mean I don't have to worry about Looby anymore.
In the end I spent the day in my studio, tidying up and preparing glass for firing tomorrow evening when I have a craft meeting.

2nd March
We took a quick trip into Penamacor and on the way back called in to see Annika & John (who move here permanently last week). Thomas was there doing some plastering; he and Diane went to the festa at the weekend and asked about our oil (they haven't had theirs either). Apparently the cold weather over Christmas caused the oil to solidify in the tank, we have to wait for it to warm up, so the oil become liquid, then it can be drawn off (proves it's cold pressed!!!!).
As we use the generator whilst we have the craft meeting I prepared glass for a long firing.
Looby was allowed outside untended, she didn't go off quinta! She did spend an awfully long time just staring at our neighbor's quinta; our neighbours are selling up, after six months.

3rd March
Rainy and cold.
Paper making was fun, if a bit messy.

My firing wasn't a great success, but lessons were learnt and I spent the day cutting glass for my next experiments.

This stuck to mould!

Bloody sheep and goats, they've been let out of their field and put the other side of the Portuguese gate, so they can eat all the lush growth in and around the vegetable garden; they spent most of the day lying next to the Portuguese gate asking to be let back into their field!

4th March
Tidied and cleaned the house, made cheesecake; we have Nicky & Rich coming to Sunday lunch (roast mutton, sweet potatoes, squash and Swiss chard - all from the quinta!).
Brett shut the sheep and goats on the vegetable garden - so they spent all day huddled next to the gate!!!

5th March
Ok so they have grazed some of the vegetable garden - all my Swiss chard, bloody typical.
Lunch was fun; Nicky & Rich always make us laugh.
Poor old Jelisa's udder is HUGE, especially on one side; so I decided to milk her, to make her more comfortable ....... the electric milker didn't work (there was no suck), and milking by hand was nigh on impossible, as her udder was so taut - Diane has said we can borrow their hand milker (meantime we've ordered a new pump from Amazon Spain, hopefully it will arrive quickly).

6th March
Decided to pop into CB to (1) buy new paint for the gates, (2) get more fence posts and (3) to pick up milker from D&T; as we passed by the sheep and goats we saw that the kid we bought last year had kidded (she's only a baby herself).

FIRING MY KILN at last .......

19th January
Brett continued pruning the olive trees, with the help of the goats and kids!
I broke our electric sheep shears taking the wool from the ram's pelt; I then had to resort to using a sharp knife. The wool is filthy and fully of seeds and other vegetation;

it's going to take a lot of work to prepare it for washing, carding and then spinning. On a positive note it's nice long fibres which I hope will spin well.

20th January
Still cold and DRY. The lack of rain, since before Christmas, has resulted in quite a few wildfires in Portugal, which is worrying.
Another day of pruning and cleaning wool.

21st January
My hip is still giving me problems, bloody annoying. I took it easy today in an effort to give it some rest.

22nd January
We just managed to cram the butchered ram into the freezers (we had to take out a load of sundries tomatoes and other stuff to make some room).
A 5kgs leg of mutton is marinating in red wine, herbs and spices

- we've invited Alex, Karina, Alex's dad (Alex), Thomas and Diane for a roast tomorrow evening.
Brett started listing all the things we now do towards being smallholders (it makes us feel positive/smug!) .....
*Being almost self sufficient in lots of food and drink
Meat: pork, mutton, chicken, duck and soon goat
Preserving: Canning, drying and salting meat, fruit and vegetables (a smokehouse is in the pipeline), tomato products (passata, sun dried, sundried paste)
Eggs
Goat milk
Cheese
Olive oil
Olives
Wine
Sweet potatoes
Squash
Seasonal vegetables and fruit
*Fire wood (heating)
*Wool products: spinning and hopefully soon weaving and knitting and we want to learn to tan
*Making my own clothes: sewing, knitting
*Electricity (solar)
*Water (from our wells)
*
There is still lots more that we want to do like growing food for our animals.


23rd January
Brett is making a great job of the trees (and we'll have lots of wood next year).
I spent the day preparing for the evening. The meat was studded with garlic and rosemary and put in the stove at 1.00 to cook long and slow (6-7 hours). Roast sweet and ordinary potatoes, saluted Swiss chard, lemon glazed carrots, mint sauce and gravy (Diane volunteered to do pudding - thank you). And the perpetual cleaning, tidying and floor washing ......

24th January
Wow, it was a brilliant evening; lots of talking and laughter. The meat was succulent and tasty, in fact all the food went together perfectly. People had seconds and thirds!!!! And Diane's trifle bowl was more or less licked clean. We've all been invited to celebrate Chinese New Year at D&T's on Saturday evening.
On the down side there was an awful lot of greasy washing up!!!
Hmmmm my spinning seems to have deteriorated; the yarn keeps breaking, I think I'm drafting to finely (look at me with my spinning terminology!).
Bloody hell apparently we have a FINAL DEMAND electricity bill back in Wales (we asked for all correspondence to come via email) - something else to sort out.

25th January
We were sent a copy of the final demand today, which also threatens legal action if we don't contact them by 26th (tomorrow)!!!! The bill is for £221 for a month period when the Barn was empty, as we were between tenants. I paid the bill as we don't want to be referred to debt collectors and now we are contesting it ..... bet we don't get far with that - sometimes life is very stressful.

26th January
The weather forecasting, in Portugal, is pretty spot on; after a very cold spell yesterday's 10 day forecast was 10 days of persistent rain - this morning we woke up to a very grey, gloomy wet day. The dogs refused to get up or eat - I think they were of the opinion it was still early morning!
This evening we decided to put the sheep and goats in the shed overnight; we just opened the gate to their field and Sharon led the way - she wanted to be in the dry! They are so easy to handle.
And we're back to living in a cave!

27th January
It was a horrible wet night, but at least our animals were all dry.
I made a couple of cheese cakes and Cajeta (Mexican caramel sauce), which is made by boiling goat's milk and sugar for hours on the stove; I cooked mine for a good 4 hours, it's gone a lovely colour and tastes great, but it's rather runny - I didn't want it to burn as it thickened (for my first attempt I'm happy).

28th January
Woke up to fog and frozen animal water - miserable day.
I carded and spun lots of wool (I'm definitely improving, though it's slower than I would like!).
This evening we went to Thomas & Diane's to celebrate Chinese New Year (year of the Rooster), with Alex & Karina, Alex's dad (Alex) and Pam & Mark.

29th January
We had a brilliant evening and the food ...... well it was a banquet! We had four courses:
(1) Fried Chinese dumplings with dipping sauces, barbecued ribs, prawn crackers.
(2) Peking duck with pancakes, and a pork and garlic dish (Alex).
(3) Whole baked fish (grouper) and rice.
(4) Lemon cheesecake (mine) and profiteroles (Karina).
The Chinese dumplings were my favorite, I need to make them!
There was so much food, I was full by the second course, and it was all delicious.
I ... continued to spin (until I had about the same amount of spun yarn (single ply) on two spindles), plied my yarn (two ply), constructed a Niddy Noddy, wound my first ever Skein (winding the plied yarn onto the Niddy Noddy) and set my yarn (by washing it in hot water).

The good news is there's nothing wrong with my hip joint, the bad news is I have something wrong with my piriformis (which in turn aggravates the sciatic nerve) and everytime it seems to be on the mend I manage to fall over and irritate it again!

30th January
Last night was the first time for several weeks that I haven't needed a hot water bottle.
We moved the sheep from Lavender Paddock to the Goose Field - they're so good and easy to move!
My spinning is slowly improving, I'm getting far less lumps and bumps - though once I've got good at it I'll be putting lumps and bumps in on purpose!

31st
The generator exhaust has sooted up quite badly, Brett looked it up; 'cold stacking' occurs if the generator isn't run to capacity on a regular basis (it's excess fuel burn off, or something - I don't really understand!) - it's a big generator and all our household appliances hardly touch it's capability. To clear the blockage it needs running under load .... i.e. I had to turn on my kiln!!!!! I have been putting this off, as I haven't used it for over five years, and, I've kind of forgotten how to programme the controller! But 'push came to shove' and I worked it out. I did a very simple trace paint firing, 2 hours to 650C, hold for 10 minutes, switch off. It took less than two and a half hours, the generator was fueling the house at the same time (I even hoovered!). I'll wait until the morning to open the kiln, it'll take a while to cool down. Exciting .......
Even more exciting, Henry is planning a road trip to visit us (happy days!).

1st February
Happy Birthday Stephanie! XXXXX
The firing worked ok except for one piece that was painted on both sides; the underside didn't fire, and washed off. I'm assuming it needed longer soaking to reach 650C, so today's firing will soak for 30 minutes.

For today firing I painted (or rather scratched out) two greenmen, prepared the greenman mould I bought in September (with several coats of separator) and added green enamel (sieved) to a very clear area of turquoise and clear glass (given to me years ago by Jan) which I will slump into the textured mould. I'm getting excited about my kiln again!

2nd February
Well that didn't work then! The painted pieces were fine but the glass on the mould hardly moved (I can see a couple of dimples, if I squint!); so it either needs heating to a higher temperature or holding for longer - or both. Whichever it is, it means running the generator for longer, which equals more cost for each firing.

It was a horrid wet night and our sheep and goats were out in it; they looked ok this morning, but we'll put them in the shed tonight.
I painted glass in the studio with the heater on full blast, Brett watched a film - it wasn't the weather for doing much. We didn't use the generator today, so no firing was done, but I put stuff in for tomorrow.

3rd February
The sheep and goats were eager to come out this morning (the shed gets very smelly overnight and they all came out snotty); as always, they were easy to move.
It was another horrid wet day; I carried on with my glass painting and the kiln went on (can't unload it until the morning though).
The weather is going to be horrendous overnight, so we put the goats and sheep in the shed; they can come out in the morning.

4th February
Happy Birthday Joyce xxx
Bastard bloody ram is going in the freezer (sooner rather than later as far as I'm concerned). I was on field duty, when Brett let the sheep and goats out of the shed, my job was to get them into the field and shut the gate. I was just encouraging the last stragglers through when bastard ram butted me in the front of both knees! Hyperextending them painfully. Now I have throbbing joints and can hardly walk.
Another crappy day. I worked on my glass painting.
Brett sat me down and asked how long did I envision keeping up this lifestyle as I have had several injuries recently that mean I can't function well. I pointed out that none of the injuries were down to clumsiness or old age, they were all animal related (and I don't think tripping over the barbed wire was my fault either); so perhaps a few years yet, what else would we do?

5th February
And after all that, today I can hardly walk!!! My knees are sore and stiff (but I still maintain it wasn't my fault).
I'm very happy with yesterday's firing; today I got to paint detail (the fun bit) - my projects are coming together nicely.
Brett spent his time rotorvating the polytunnel - time to get planting!

6th February
Happy Birthday Alexandra! XXX
I sowed beans, peas, salad stuff and courgettes in the polytunnel today - feeling virtuous!!!
My knees are improving, no lasting damage done.

7th February
I can nearly walk without limping (though stairs/styles are a challenge).
I spent quite a while in my studio, painting glass; now I'm hoping for rain so that I can use the generator without feeling wasteful!
Breakfast cereal here in Portugal is ridiculously expensive, and, most of it is crammed full with chocolate (disgusting), so I've started making my own granola - it's very, very tasty.

8th February
I'm preparing as much glass as possible, to go in the kiln; as several days of rain are forecast from the weekend onwards.
Brett is still pruning olive trees, we have a good supply of wood for next winter.
I made lemon drizzle cake and flapjack as Judith is coming for afternoon tea tomorrow (postponed until Friday).

9th February
Happy Birthday Mark.
I continued to glass paint, whilst Brett pruned.
This afternoon we popped round to P&M's to give Mark his birthday present - homecured, freerange bacon!!!

10th February
A quick dash into CB to buy some bits (unfortunately still unable to find POLs or Ross Cobb chicks).
This afternoon Judith came round - we had a good old natter.
This evening it snowed!!!! (First time since we've been here).

11th February
Diane & Thomas popped in this morning which was nice. Diane came bearing a huge jar of Dijon mustard (cost less than the tiny jar I bought in mini-p!) which she bought when she was in France last week (thank you Diane).
I spent the day in my studio glass painting - I'm having such fun, I have a couple of pieces ready to lead.
When the mother goats are put away, in the evening, they have to be fed separately as Hazel bullies Georgia; so Georgia and her kid (Bauble) go in the shed with a bucket and Hazel and her kid (Tinkerbell) are shut in the corral; so the tasks are (1) to separate the goats into the correct pairs and (2) to get the muscovys out of the corral - as soon as they see the bucket they head straight for the goat pen, and it's not a case of pushing them out with your foot, they have to be physically lifted out and, as one is removed, two more replace it, they're so determined! Once the food is finish Hazel and Bauble are allowed in the shed.
I sent Helen a photo of a roundel that is ready to be leaded up; she showed it to her friend and she, the friend, has expressed on interest in buying it!!!!! I'm not even that bothered whether she buys it or not, it's just nice to have my work admired!

MEAT .......

3rd January 2017
And now I have a sore throat and swollen glands ....... on the plus side I'm not so achy!
Christmas decorations came down today; the good thing about the natural decorations is they went straight on the compost heap.
So it's the start of a New Year and, as usual, healthy eating is on the menu! I made a jar of coleslaw (1 kilo cabbage, 15g salt) to start us off with healthy guts. I also refreshed my water and milk kefirs, which I have rather neglected recently. The Kombucha is fine, as I want it vinegary.
We have guests coming for dinner on Saturday, as one is a vegetarian I'm cooking veggie; today I made goat milk halloumi (clearing out the freezer ready for 1/2 ton of pork!).
Brett ordered a new chainsaw Sunday night - it arrived this afternoon, how's that for delivery? Only he didn't actually get it, the deliveryman demanded cash payment, but, as Brett had put his card details in when he ordered the chainsaw he was worried he'd be paying twice.

4th January
Lola & Vince brought a local man, Helder and his wife, Marijka (French lady who came to my studio opening, she also used to be a vet), round to look at our big boar ...... they're coming back, with a hunter, either tomorrow morning or Saturday afternoon - so we have lots if organising to do! Feeling rather stressed.
Brett has his chainsaw.

5th January
A total smallholding day .......
Georgia had her kid, the cutest little girl.

And big boar went!
I didn't watch his actual demise (he was done humanely) but I helped with the rest of the process. First he had to be lifted onto a makeshift bench - that was a feat in itself as we estimate he weighs around 200-250 kilos. 1. His bristles were burnt (blow torch) and scrapped off with bits of wood. 2. His skin was heated and the top layer scrapped with blunt knives, our black pig turned pink! 3. Using water and a piece of broken tile or cement block (like pumice stones) his skin was smoothed. 4. Rinsed. 5. Very sharp knives were used to shave off rogue bristles 6. Rinsed again. 7. Gutted. 8. Rinsed. 9. Hung up, in the pole barn, to dry.

The whole process took 3 - 4 hours. Then, of course, I had to feed everyone - homemade vegetable soup (I got up early this morning to make it!), cheese and meat board, chicken liver pate, ricotta cheese (made from whey, left over from making Halloumi) and bread (homemade in Lola's village), wine and beer.
Helder is concerned that wild dogs are going to come onto our quinta in the night and eat the boar, his solution - take him off the block and tackle, tie him to the top of a tall ladder, prop it up in the barn during the day then ...... Brett and I (!!!!!) carry it between us and store it in the workshop overnight????? Six of us could hardly lift him onto the bench ..... we vetoed that idea whilst giggling maniacally!

6th January
A full on day of butchery; we've processed about 1/3 of the meat and the freezer is half full.
I managed to break the food grinder on my lovely new stand mixer, can't find spare parts for it (and Amazon has stopped selling it) - feeling annoyed.
Georgia needed milking this evening as the kid is only drinking from one side. We could have done without that today.
Absolutely shattered.

7th January
Another full on day .....
First off I had to make chocolate mousse for dinner this evening (we hadn't arranged for the boar to go when we invited our guests).
Next butchering the middle 1/3 of the boar (bacon and chops section).

Then cleaning and tidying the house.
Finally preparing and cooking; spaghetti with Halloumi, sundries tomatoes and olives (all ours), mixed salad and garlic bread followed by caramelised oranges and chocolate mousse.
So tired .......
Then our guests arrived (Martin & Ann and Marc & Mieke). It was a pleasant evening but Brett and I were not terrible entertaining.

8th January
Butchered the final 1/3; the freezer is full to capacity,

we have a big ham (leg) drying in a box of salt and we have two slabs of belly being salted for bacon.
And we are absolutely shattered!!!!!
We paid the hunter 20€ for his work, but Helder (who we met for the first time on Wednesday) refused to take payment as we are 'as meus amigos' (my friends), so we took round a 5.5 kilo leg joint for him, his reaction ....... "why?", he just doesn't see why he needs payment for his services - Portuguese people are exceedingly generous. Brett is going to leave a joint for Mr Louis to find tomorrow morning,  on his way to work.

9th January
Brett went off to work and I thought I would have a not too strenuous day - wrong!
First I did all the animal (except pigs, Brett does them before he leaves) which nowadays I'm rather nervous of; the horned ram is decidedly bullish, he bowls over at least a couple of the flock whenever I'm in there, I spend my whole time making sure there's something between him and me!
Next the washing, that took two hours - I know precisely as there's a diary to note when the generator is switched on/off.
Receiving a disturbing email from Carmarthenshire County Council, that has left me very stressed and worried!
Then tidying, sweeping, cleaning the house.
Refreshing all the kefirs again! I just didn't have time to do it over the last few days.
Making fudge for Nick's birthday tomorrow.
In addition there's all manner of little jobs like cleaning the solar panels, milking the goat, turning and rubbing the bacon with salt, chopping wood and lighting the fire, continuing to render lard (don't know when I'll use it but I hate waste) etc.
All to soon it was time to do animals again .......
Oh yes, and cook dinner.

10th January
Happy Birthday Nick!
Brett went to work, I did my chores, at lunchtime Pam came and picked me up, we went into Penamacor to the Pizza restaurant to celebrate Nick's birthday - the meal was much better than the one served on my birthday!
This afternoon Bauble (Georgia's kid named by Jacob) went missing (I'd forgotten that little habit these kids have). Georgia came to the house to tell us, Brett had the generator on as he was doing the animal's water (the pump uses a lot of electricity), 1/2 an hour later we still hadn't found her and it was soon going to get dark, he turned the generator off and there she was, curled up behind the generator - 90 decibels and she was sleeping!!!
Tomorrow Brett is driving the tractor to Jo's so that they can use it to tension the fence. He has to drive down the tracks as the tractor is not allowed on the road - hope he doesn't get lost!

11th January
It took Brett 65 minutes to get to Jo's, but at least he didn't get lost - good old Google Earth!
It sucks being old!!!! Now I've got an aching hip, it started when I was kid hunting yesterday and it throbbed all night, I couldn't get comfortable; my joints haven't been right since I tripped over the barbed wire, they're kind of 'tender', but at least the sore throat has gone now.
It's hard for me to climb over the style into the goose field again; before Christmas it was my knee giving me jip (from being jostled and knocked by sheep), now it's my hip .........
When Brett was driving home on the tractor he met Fabia (Italian), she came round for a cup of tea and reiterated that she wants me to make a window for her yoga studio when it's built. She also asked about buying a couple of goat kids (Tinkerbell and Bauble), but Brett wants to keep females, to expand our milk flock.
We had our first boar meat this evening, tenderloin ..... and it was (tender)!

12th January
Well I should be very healthy, for lunch I had: fresh apple and orange with kefir cheese, sauerkraut and water kefir!
This afternoon I carded lots of wool.
The big horned ram is becoming more and more of a bully (I'm petrified of him) so we're dispatching him next Wednesday A&K are coming to help/give moral support.
What a small world I just came across my friend Helen (from our village in Wales, one of the 'Crafty Bitches') on a Facebook page (for spinning art yarn) based in America.

13th January
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILLIAM!!! XXXXXXX
A bitterly, biting cold wind today; had we been in Wales I'd have predicted snow. It's probably snowing in the Estrellas; I didn't look at the mountains, when I fed the sheep, I was too busy watching horned ram (he seemed very interested in me this morning) and racing round quickly so I could get back inside.
Poor old Brett is working outside this morning,  I don't envy him.
The bacon is cured (five days of rubbing with salt).

14th January
Icy .......
A quick trip into CB to get the dog's worm pills (Lily is much better than she was).

15th January
I had to break the ice on the animal water.
Best night's sleep I've had for a while - if you don't count being woken up by Lily baying at 1.30!!!!! Something walked past ten house and her, very sensitive, hunting nose smelt it.
I did some spinning today, my most successful yet! I actually enjoyed it.
Shit, shit, shit I flossed my teeth, after dinner this evening, and a piece of filling came out - I hate going to the dentist.

16th January
Tooth seems fine - I'll put off the dentist trip for as long as possible!!!
So we got up early this morning and off we went to Fundao to buy poultry (black POL and Ross Cobs); we came back with nothing, the market was really sparse, the only POLs we saw were brown (Warren type) and looked really sickly and that was it, other than rabbits.
Ever since we bought the gas cooker I have harangued it and moaned loudly, about it burning everything, to anyone who would listen ........ at Christmas I learned that when thought I was turning it down I was actually turning it UP! Today I cooked brownies in it and they cooked perfectly in 40 minutes!

17th January
We had a fabulous craft meeting last evening. Tina showed/taught us how to make felted wrist warmers (mitts) and, as I was the host, I got to keep the demonstration pair!

Brett started pruning the olive trees - he's making a brilliant job of it.


18th January
Very cold today, nearly 1" of ice on the animal's water.
Horned ram went today; we borrowed a stun gun which made the job humane and very quick. Alex & Karina came to help and offer moral support. The whole process went very smoothly.

Removing the fleece

He'll hang for 3-5 days

YOU SPIN ME RIGHT ROUND .........

18th December
Making Christmas crackers.

19th December
A quick trip into Spain to buy some nice Christmas food and drink (anchovies, razor clams, spring onions, sherry .....).
Finished making crackers.

20th December
And today into CB to finish food shopping and that's it, no more shopping hopefully until the New Year.
Present wrapping this afternoon and I'm so frustrated - the stupid sellotape doesn't stick and we purposely bought it from Jumbo rather than a China shop!
Chicken liver pate made.
I made some Chai tea concentrate, as I don't fancy coffee in the evenings.
CHAI TEA CONCENTRATE:
Simmer together in for 20 minutes:
1 pint water
2-3 ozs muscovado sugar
2-3" fresh ginger (cut into thin slices)
15 cloves
5 allspice
1 tspn black peppercorns
2 tspn cardamom seeds
3 star anise
1 tspn vanilla extract
Take off heat, add 5 teabag (being me I used 8 used teabags!) and seep for 10 minutes.
Strain liquid off, when cool bottle and keep in fridge.
To make a cup of chai mix 1 part chai concentrate, 1 part water and 2 parts milk in a saucepan, heat to taste.

21st December
I am shattered; for some reason my house tidying turned into a major 'spring clean', I even cleaned the oven! But the house does look clean and tidy.

22nd December
L&J arrived at lunchtime - let the festivities begin .....

23rd December
Happy Birthday me!!!
I had a lovely day doing crafty things with Lesley - decorations for house, table etc. Drying slices of oranges and clementines (lovely smell).

Brett and Jacob did 'man' things, like driving the tractor and mucking out the animals.
We went into Penamacor this evening; the idea was to eat, walk around the market, and watch the huge bonfire being lit at midnight - it didn't quite go to plan ...... The market was practically non existent, the restaurant was heaving so service was slow and for some reason our food was cold/uncooked (so pretty poor, it's usually good there - but, in a way, it added to the strange evening) and we (not just me it was a group decision) didn't last until midnight*! However we still had fun, we went into the Hub (pop up bar) were I was handed a beaker of Bailey's (birthday treat) by Jamie - which definitely helped!
* Later we spoke to friends who went to the midnight event; they said it was heaving with people, masses of things going on (people on stilts, people dressed in illuminated butterfly costumes (why?), bands, children acting out the nativity etc etc). It all started around 11.30 (when we were snuggily back home).

24th December
A full on day of Christmas preparation making/preparing: trifle (one with and one without sherry), turkey into brine (on the decking),

ham out of brine (boiled and baked), mince pies, finish bacon, stuffing, bacalhau (traditional Christmas eve meal in Portugal) - I am shattered, but everything is prepared (thanks to all my helpers) and the house looks and smells lovely.

Merry Christmas ......

25th December
Merry Christmas ......
Well I had some amazing presents:- from Brett I had a spinning wheel (now I have to learn to spin properly!),

Not my actual one (that still needs to be assembled).

it was the year of scarves (I gave two and received three), and too many more to mention.
Diane & Thomas came for drinks at midday and P&M joined us for lunch.

We ate too much food! We played Christmas games and, once P&M had gone, we relaxed in front of the fire and watched 'Home Alone'.

Jacob had an interesting present, it went in the fire to make colored flames.

26th December
We took L&J to Monsanto, which they loved.
Oh dear this poor man, for some obscure reason, had decided to drive into the village - the streets are incredibly narrow (it's medieval) with lots of large stones, doorsteps, window sills and balconies jutting into them, they are also very bendy and terribly steep. He was stuck across a road attempting (and failing) to turn around - several people were advising him. We went for a drink, 1/2 an hour later he was still there but now with a shattered wing mirror and a large dent in his passenger's door. Someone was directing him as he backed down the road (he couldn't see because of his broken mirror).
Jacob enjoyed Home Alone so much that Brett found 'Mousehunt' for him this evening.

27th December
L&J's five day visit passed very swiftly, they left just before lunch; Lesley took some lovely photos before they went,

Tinkerbell practicing her circus routine!

Grazing geese....

we loved having them, they we 'easy' guests, and look forward to them coming back (hopefully in the summer?).
This afternoon I spent trying to spin ...... I HATE it, I'm absolutely rubbish at it - I hope Brett is correct and that I will improve with practice!

28th December
A quick trip into CB and then another relaxing afternoon.
We're still trying to get through all the Christmas food!

29th December
Happy Birthday Karina xxx
Pam came round to help me with my spinning (I was threatening to burn my wheel!). She can't actually spin(!) however, me trying to teach her actually helped me to realise that I had progressed a lot since I first started (two days ago). I am now able to draft (tease out) the wool much better, control the twist (kind of) and get the yarn wound onto the bobbin. I was using a small skein of beautifully prepared wool that came with my wheel. Now I have to learn to do it with real sheepwool (straight off the sheep).
Karina is going to let me have some of her wool to work with, until our sheep are sheared. It didn't register, when we bought our first sheep, that our brown ewes are a breed called Black Merino - Merino wool is a highly prized for spinning, weaving and knitting; it's a lovely soft wool that can be worn close to the skin.

30th December
It's not that I'm particularly clumsy, it's just that once I start falling I can't save myself - I was taking a short cut across someone else's land, there was barbed wire at ankle height (hidden amongst grass), it wrapped around my feet and there I was, splat, on the ground ..... feeling a bit teary, vulnerable and achy!
We went to A&K's today to pick up some wool, I was given a bottle of Karina's rather special plum wine for my birthday (very happy!).
So I started carding the washed wool K&A gave me (the rest is soaking in a tub of water from the washing I did today) and my one of my carders snapped in half (along the grain)!!!! Brett cut a piece of wood to patch it with, hopefully it will work.

31st December
Achy in all my joints .......
Hoorah, Brett's carder repair worked! So I carded a few rollags for spinning tomorrow.
P&M hosted a NYE party; we arrived at 8.00, by 10.00 I was asking if it was nearly midnight, time dragged ....... at midnight we celebrated, then suddenly it was 2.00, time sped up. It was a good night, I think I spoke to everyone at the party.

1st January 2017
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Karina & Alex's dog, Mishka, disappeared two months ago; she returned home today ..... very pregnant!!!!
I made some very knobby yarn from K&A's sheep's wool

it's a start! I've been 'researching' (mainly browsing Pinterest!) spinning techniques, troubleshooting etc and come across ART YARN and weaving with Art Yarn (so, of course, now I want a loom!) - it's yarn that embraces the 'imperfections'; so it's lumpy, bumpy, thick, thin, smooth, wispy, and it can be made into fabulous shawls, throws, bags etc ........ but first I have to learn to spin properly, so that I can control what I produce.

2nd January
Still achy (feel almost fluey!).
In the last year or so I read an article on dyeing fabric with Kool-Aid (a horrible powder mix for drinking), I can't get actual Kool-Aid but bought something I think must be similar; however I never got around to using it (bet you know where this is going!). I want to try dyeing some of my yarn, I thought this would be a good experiment to use the 'Kool-Aid' with; I have hunted 'high and low', in the kitchen, living room and studio (I even took this as an opportunity to tidy the studio), and can't find the bloody stuff - so frustrating.

When will I start feeling Christmasy ............

23rd November
It's turned very cold, there's snow on the mountains.
When I was feeding and letting out the animals this morning I caught sight of a dog sized creature in the sheep's field; the sheep and goats seemed fine, no panicking or milling around, just peacefully grazing. So I thought no more about it, until this afternoon when Brett brought one of our lambs in. She has two deep puncture wounds, one in each buttock. I only got a glimpse of the animal, I had the impression it was a dog but it could have been a large fox (I wonder if it's the same creature that ate the goose eggs?). This evening all the young lambs, kids and mums are shut up in the maternity shed! Very, very, very worried ......

24th November
Nothing untoward happened in the sheep field overnight (relieved, but not relaxed).
I've been making all these cards recently; I literally have to cut and bend card to size and shape as there's nothing like the Works/Range etc hereabouts, so no access to card blanks - not a big range of envelopes available either. So today I had to make three lots of different sized envelopes - feeling achieved!
It was a beastly evening, forecast to continue all night and all tomorrow. Our older sheep and goats were in the large field with only trees for shelter as we'd moved the their shed outside the field for the babies and mums. At 11.00 p.m. we were feeling guilty that they were exposed to the elements so we cleared space for them in the pole barn then ...... I just opened the gate and called them, out of the pitch black twelve pairs of glowing eyes (I was wearing my head torch) rushed towards me, they seemed very happy to be in the barn.

25th November
Brett says that was the worst night we've experienced here; torrential non stop rain and wind. And the wind is bitterly cold.
Lily refuses to leave the house, she has to be shouted at to get her outside for a toilet break - she can 'hold it' for an awfully long time!
We fed and let out the animals, then lit the fire and candles (solar is being rationed) - it's like living in a cave!
I spent the day sitting in front of the fire, wearing my head torch, drawing on pieces of lino.
We're hoping to start olive picking soon.

26th November
Still stormy, wet, windy weather. No olive picking today!
I made baked beans on (sourdough) toast for lunch (comfort food!).
I managed a few hours in the studio this afternoon.
Our sheep and goats are so good. While it's been stormy we've had the whole flock (18) around the house (so they have shelter) but in the evening we shut the mother's with recent offspring in the shed (because of the lamb* attack three days ago). We split them up when we give them their evening meal (just a handleful of pellets to keep them tame); the mothers know they're special and will follow me into the corral, whilst the rest follow Brett with the bucket.
* The lamb is healing nicely, fingers crossed it won't happen again.
The downside of having the sheep and goats around the house is that they have eaten all my herbs (Brett had to take my fencing away to build the solar shed); I'm hoping the plants will think they've just been hard pruned and will grow back
vigorously!

27th November
Still too wet to pick olives.
Brett rearranged the sheds over by the vegetable garden so that the shed at the back can be used by the sheep and goats, overnight, when it's wet.
The winter squash are keeping well and are now on shelves in the big shed which looks rather impressive with the squash, trays of potatoes, trays of sweet potatoes, 5L bottles of olive oil and bottles of wine.

28th November
Brett at work.
I did all the chores, then cleared all my clothes and material, from the sleep platform, to the loft over the work shop - up and down stairs lots of times carrying heavy boxes (shattered). Now I have to sort out the boxes and try to throw stuff away!

29th November
Brett at work.
Feeling a bit crap; I had a headache all night, woke up with it and feeling sick.
Pam came round for coffee, which helped as it stopped me dwelling on feeling rough, and stayed for lunch; so we had a good old chat - I can't believe she's leaving ...
Bloody goose pecked me as I was putting them away - I have a big black bruise on my arm.

30th November
Judith (she owns a 20+ acre quinta just outside the village) came to lunch today; she's very interested in knitting, crochet, embroidery etc. so she's coming to our craft group meeting next week (Weds 7th).

1st December
Soddin' hunters all around us at 7.00, pellets raining down on the roof! Today is a bank holiday which is why the hunters are out in force.
Hooray the generator works! I can't use it for the kiln yet, it's got to be run in for 20 hours. Even though it's raining outside and there's no solar and we have electricity courtesy of the new generator. It's much cheaper to run than the old one as it's diesel and, hopefully, we'll be able to get a card for green diesel which will make it cheaper still.

2nd December
We need the weather to improve so we can pick olives, apparently it's a bad year so we might only manage half as much as last year.
I think I'm losing my marbles! Today I made a kefir cheese cheesecake, looked and tasted good - then I realised I'd forgotten to add the kefir cheese! I had to ladle the filling off the base, mix in the cheese and pour it back on the base - doesn't look so good now! 3 hours later ....... I grated chocolate on top, looked good and tasted wonderful (and, because of the kefir, good for you!).

3rd December
The weather deteriorated throughout the day, so we put the sheep in their new shed; a couple were a bit nervous, but greed prevailed. So they're now snugly ensconced in a warm, dry, shed with lots of food whilst the weather rages outside and we can relax!

4th December
An ok hunting day (distant shots can be heard) and the sun came out.
We had a couple of hours olive picking (60 kgs) this morning, then Annika & John (people Brett works for) treated us and C&D to lunch in Meimoa (absolutely stuffed!).

5th & 6th December
Two more days olive picking and we've barely managed another 40 kilos (100 kilos total) it really is an abysmal year - we'll probably find all the mills have shut early now too!
I've gone off the horned ram; since he attacked Brett I've been quite wary of him. I obviously got too complacent, and let my guard down yesterday - he butted me from behind, knocking me off my feet, fortunately Brett was there, as he was revving up for another attack - he's got to go .....

7th December
I got up early to make fudge for this evening.
We took our pathetic harvest to the mill, the guy there said it was a "muito mal" (very bad) year for olives; he didn't even quibble about taking them even though: (1) we're not in his area (we're Penamacor, the mill is Idanha a Nova), but we did go there last year after some haggling and (2) they normally ask for a minimum of 500 kgs, to get your own oil back. We'll be luck to get 12 litres this year.
My friend, Jo, sent me a parcel ....... boots and fabric dyes (thank you Jo xxxx).

I think the red laces will have to go!

I spent the afternoon preparing the studio for Craft Club, I even washed the floor!

8th December
Happy Birthday Mark (I think!).
We had great fun and merriment, last evening, making stars and wreaths out of old books and pages from magazines.

Karina and Mary displaying their wares .....

My wreaths, the one on the left has 3D stars on it.

This morning I had to tidy the studio - my goodness what a mess, and the floor .......
Brett is working today and tomorrow.
Feeling virtuous ..... I've written all my UK cards and will post them in the morning - my writing deteriorated rapidly over the evening!

9th December
Cards posted.
And quite a few Christmas presents purchased as Pam took me into CB today - now I'm feeling smug! Except none of the presents were for people in UK, those I still have to source.

10th December
I spent a fruitless day trying to find presents to send to family in UK - feeling frustrated!

11th December
Lots of hunters around today, fortunately not shooting too close but they were walking through some of the neighboring quintas.
I'm dyeing a couple of dresses with the dye Jo sent me.

12th December
I was quite excited this morning as I was bartering produce this afternoon (sweet potato for horseradish roots and eggs for lemons). Originally the lady (who I'd never met) sugessted one potato for a root and she had about six, so that was fine. Then this morning she said she had 10 roots for me, so I put together over a dozen large sweet potatoes and threw in a butternut squash (I was feeling generous) - look what I got in return!!!!!!

The decking planks are less than 4" wide!

Three proper roots at best, a few broken roots and some tiddlers - I feel like I've been diddled!
At least Bap gave me a dozen lemons for six eggs.

13th December
A quick (very foggy) trip into CB to get electric wire fixings, so that we can put the pigs into their new enclosure - moving them should be entertaining as Brett is convinced he can lead them past all the lush growth (grass, weeds etc) and other obstacles with a bucket of food!
Christmas is coming ..... the ham is being brined.
Oh dear our internet router has died; we're back to very slow, intermittent, village Wifi, whilst standing in the open doorway, .........
This means I won't be able to post my blog any time soon.
We even checked that we paid our last bill (yep, on 23rd Nov) BUT, of course, we can't find the receipt (and we paid cash); so let's hope we've not been cut off.
This evening we joined A&K at Sasha & Chris's for an Iranian meal; an aubergine and chicken stew (very tasty), crispy rice and salad.

14th December
Lola and I went to an office in Penamacor to try to get us a card for green diesel (like red diesel in uk), we would save 20-30 cents a litre. Unfortunately the guy said our tractor needed to be matriculated (licenced to drive on the road), which it isn't - so now we need to try to matriculate it (but the guy said it was very complicated). I took Lola to O Cave for lunch, to say thank you for trying (she was my interpreter).
Lobby, the bitch, ran off this evening; last time she did this was in the summer (August 21st to be precise) so we've let our guard down. It's worrying because several people we know have lost dogs (and because they're lost you never know what's happened to them). Fortunately she was back within two hours and is now in 'the dog house'!

15th December
Well I take it back, operation 'pig move' worked a treat; big boar followed Brett and the bucket, I kept the other two following by gesticulating and waving the shepherd's crook. We now have three very happy pigs in over an acre of scrub - I wonder how long it will take them to clear it!

Spot the pigs (there's two pigs in this photo)

Big boar .....

Ok, UK presents ordered and paid for (internet shopping) - I'm no longer smug about my Christmas shopping!
This evening we watched 'Gravity' (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney); I spent the whole film tensed and holding my breath!!!
It was tipping it down with rain when the film finished, we started worrying about the sheep and goats so ...... head torches and wellies on and a bucket of food, up we trudged to their field, called, and, with Sharon in the lead, the whole flock ran straight into their shed (it was rather hard to count all eighteen with them milling around, but we're confident they're all in there) and now we can sleep comfortably in our bed knowing they're safe and warm. On the way back Brett checked on the pigs - they had found their shelter and were sensibly sleeping inside.
Apart from the lack of solar we don't mind this weather as long as our animals are comfortable.
Brett is working tomorrow.

16th December
I had a restless night; I spent it rehearsing moving the sheep from the shed to the field, on my own, whilst avoiding the horned ram (round and round my head it went all night).
When the actual event happened it was easy - they were so interested in their food they went straight into their field (after all that rehearsal I forgot the shepherd's crook - it was to ward off horned ram if he attacked!).
Bloody hell there's an icy wind blowing off the mountains; why did I choose today to do the washing? Working outside on the decking, plunging my hands into lukewarm/cold water, was not nice.
This evening we watched 'Pride' a feelgood film.

17th December
A quick trip to CB to exchange our router, and now we're back online!