SECOND SPRING ....

2nd October
Brett and Matt had a bike ride this morning, I was at home doing the chores!
When he got back we went to M&M's for lunch and had a great afternoon putting the world to rights! Mieke messaged me the other day to say she had some large green plates for sale (1€ each) ... I collected them today, they're really nice and very BIG!

3rd October
We missed language class again as we had arranged to deliver the rotorvator to a couple who have moved here recently: we had lunch with them, they are talkative, friendly, and seem very nice.
Something happened tonight (via internet); I am so bloody cross, seething in fact, and I can't get it out of my system by writing about it in my blog; suffice to say I won't be volunteering my services for anything in the foreseeable future!

4th October
RAIN!!!
Vince has found a trailer for our tractor, he haggled on our behalf and got it for 430€ (the ones we looked at in CB on Thursday were much more - 1400 for a lovely tipping one and 600 for a wooden one with knackered tyres and bodywork that needed a lot of work).
We went over to look at it; Brett talked trailer with Vince while I spoke with Lola about last night; I'm still really, really angry!!!
Lola loaned us some films; as it was raining we had a lazy afternoon watching a crap film.

5th October
Real rain all night, it was dark in the house all day (like a cave), I didn't use lights as the solar wasn't being topped up and Brett says the batteries aren't holding their charge anymore - perhaps they need reconditioning (Mark has a device!).
Brett was working at Annika's with Chris.

6th October
Brett went to work, I had Pam round for a 'sewing day' .
Pam made scatter cushions for Jamie's birthday present, I made a dress from one of my 1€ lengths of material - it's based on one of my Ewa I Walla dresses (I think the design was called 'Farmer's Wife'), which I love, unfortunately the EIW dress fabric is, either being eaten by moths, or perishing in this environment - it's full of little holes and is terribly fragile. My new dress has the same feel (when worn) as the EIW dress, but it's somewhat gaudy - orange with large fishes printed on it (a departure from my usual choice of colour!)

. I'm going to make a green version which will be more subtle.

7th October
Brett's last day of work this week 😀, he only did a six hour day.
I planted 140 leek plugs and 114 onion plugs (the ones we bought last week in Fundao) I wore my 'Farmer's Wife's' dress - I felt very pioneery! Lucky me, I had the kitten helping me - she wasn't much help! And then I noticed my hand was hurting ... I'd worn a hole in my palm with the handle of the dibber!
This afternoon I made my green Farmer's Wife dress; then I spent the evening unpicking the skirts (five rows of stitching) because they didn't hang well.

8th October
Oooouch, my hand hurts; I can't use it properly and brushing teeth with the left hand is nigh on impossible!
It looks like Lola and I are cooking the food for Guy Fawkes Night at the Hub (meat and veggie chilies, jacket potatoes, toffee apples and Tarte Tatin).
The kitten is getting too used to coming to the house! She arrives in the morning, before we get up, which starts the dogs squeaking - how can we break that habit?
I made a much better job of sewing the skirts onto my green dress.

9th October
Jamie's birthday; he organised a party at Gloria's bar (Aldeia do Bispo); I made a batch of chocolate covered honeycomb (hokey pokey) for a present. I find honeycomb quite 'hit & miss'; today's, fortunately, was a HIT!
Honeycomb recipe
4 oz sugar
4 tablespoons golden syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
Melted chocolate to cover (optional)
~Place sugar and syrup in heavy based saucepan, stir together (off heat).
~put pan on heat, melt sugar & syrup together (without stirring).
~let mixture cook and bubble until 'hard ball' temp reached (drop a small amount of mixture into cold water it will set hard and crisp) - be alert at this stage, as the mixture can rapidly get too hot and burn.
~add the bicarbonate of soda and whisk in - the mixture will froth up; quickly pour onto baking parchment, allow to set (refrigeration will aid this process).
~cover both sides with melted chocolate (optional) .
~break into bit size pieces.
~enjoy!
Hmmm, I'm not enjoying the hoover so much now the novelty has worn off; Brett came in and found me using it - I was pulling it around on its back, stupid thing rolls over too readily!
We had an interesting evening at Jamie's party; lots of people to talk with, gin & tonic served in fishbowl like glasses and one of the strangest meals to date - luke warm: chicken, belly pork and sausage, cold: brussel sprouts, rice with tinned carrots, hard boiled egg and salad at the exorbitant cost of 8€ a head, with just a plastic fork for cutlery! The landlady was exceedingly rude as she explained that she had run out of gin and vodka because of all the English people drinking in the bar (only three G&Ts and two V&Ts had been purchased at this point), one of our group went into a massive sulk and refused to eat, and to top it all I fell over (again Mark), on our way back to the car (no it wasn't the drink!), and buggered up my knee; yes an interesting evening!

10th October
Cold and dull; not much solar action going on today.
Mark brought over some packing cases the other day (I was going to utilise them in my studio); Brett has made one into a hay feeder for the sheep and goats, he's put skids on it so it can be dragged from field to field. We put it in with the animals this morning, by the time we left the field five of them were already eating from it - it made us feel like proper farmers (I was wearing my green farmer's wife's dress!).
Lazy afternoon, we lit the fire in the living room

and watched a film "Life as a House"; it was very cosy and the dogs were in their element!
I've sneaked some of my glass into the house!

11th October
Haha there's a post from Jamie suggesting that the winter venue for The Hub gatherings should be at Gloria's bar (the bar where he held his party on Friday)!  He's saying she could put on food - yuk, no thanks to that ....
Andrew asked if we fancied fungi foraging this morning, as it was raining the answer was a resounding "no". Yesterday we found mushrooms growing in profusion along our track;

I've done a spore test (brown) and applied all the other identification techniques I know (gills, colour, stem ring, staining, size, smell etc) and I'm 100% sure they are Field Mushrooms but - we're not going to eat them just in case ...... (there are a couple of fungi that look similar, smell slightly different, stain occasionally that are 'edibility unknown'); stupid thing is, with the same books, back in the UK I've gone through exactly the same process and happily eaten the mushrooms.
O8.30 we were heralded by the whistling of Chris, interspersed with calls of "Alfie", from one side and loud shouting of "Fuck off, go away ......" from Gary on our otherside. Alfie has discovered Rosie (Gary's female dog who is more than likely not spayed), everytime he is untied he heads over to Gary's quinta.
A very gloomy wet day called for 'comfort food'; Brett made cheese on toast (in the woodburner oven, as we don't have a grill) while I made a very comparable version of Heinz Baked Beans .......
Cook diced onions and garlic in oil (20 mins), add chopped up tinned tomatoes (simmer for another 10 mins), flavour with tomato puree, tomato sauce, worcestershire sauce, brown sugar and salt, pass through a Mouli to blend, tip back into saucepan, thicken with cornflour, add a jar of haricot (or your choice of) beans, heat and serve - tastes just like the real thing!
Mark came over this afternoon with his big truck so that we could pick our trailer up from Vince & Lola's;

then he came back to us for dinner (ribs, wedges and salad) and to stay overnight.

12th October
HEAVY RAIN!!! Pam messaged me to say they had run out of solar, so we can't be far behind! We haven't had enough sunshine for any charge for several days now; Brett says he doesn't want to test the batteries to see how charged they are as it would worry him! We're keeping snug inside our shed/cave with the range on and no lights!
The main problem with rain is we can't do any work; outside jobs are off, we have to choose our moments going out between downpours to do the animals, and inside work is not easy as we can't use electricity (not even to Hoover!) -  so we read a lot and watch films.

13th October
What a bloody awful night; the dogs were either pacing, panting, squeaking, barking or a combination of the four all night!!! Brett and I got up several times, independently, to let them out, but they just ran off into the darkness. We think, originally, it could have been the kitten outside the house; but even after she'd gone the dogs just wouldn't settle - needless to say Brett and I both got up feeling lousy and moody.
The weather this morning wasn't exactly raining just a bit drizzly, the sky was very overcast, so still no solar charge 😞. We lit the range early as we need it to dry our clothes which get very damp when doing the animals.
Then 11.00 ish ....... the sun came out! Brett disappeared, next thing I know he's ploughing up the field in front of the house, well actually he was scarifying - he does like the tractor!

I was back to the 'dark ages' .... doing my washing by hand - it makes me appreciate the twin tub even more; hopefully we'll have enough charge to do a full wash later in the week.
Alfie has been around a few times today (he cuts through our quinta to get to Gary's); he's sporting a rather jaunty green harness!

14th October
Looby isn't well; she had to go out several times in the night (so perhaps that's what the problem was last night?).
Hoorah, the sun came out and our batteries were back to 100% charge.
I made lemon mousse to take to Vince and Lola's tomorrow evening.
Brett made a drawer to go to the left of the sink.

15th October
Brett was back at Annika's today (he and Chris are going to do a couple of days a week); I don't like it as I get bored on my own! I did some gardening; planted out beetroot and rocket.
I bought hair dye yesterday; there wasn't much choice (black, blonde or auburn) I chose auburn - I now have a bright red head!!!
This evening we went to Vince & Lola's for dinner; we couldn't believe it when I asked the time and it was midnight - Brett still had to load scaffolding and tools onto the truck for work tomorrow.

16th October
Brett went to work 😞.
The weather collapsed one of my bean supports so I dismantled it to reuse with the pea and bean seedlings I sowed a few weeks ago - it was hot sweaty work, when I got home my head looked as though it was bleeding (red hair dye)!
I picked masses of vegetables (aubergines, peppers, beans, tomatillos, courgettes, chillies) the colours (purples and greens) are fabulous together.

The harvest said 'Thai curry' to me;

so we invited C&D round for a meal. The tomatillos worked well in the curry, adding a sour/citrusy note.

17th October
I 'googled' tomatillo recipes - they can be used in any recipe calling for green tomatoes (as a substitute or in addition too); today I made pickled tomatillos (one sweet jar, one sour jar).

Pickled Green Tomatoes/Tomatillos
In a saucepan mix 1 cup water, 1 cup vinegar 1 tablespoon seasalt, bring to boil.
Slice tomatoes/tomatillos thinly, pack into jars with diced fresh chillies (to taste).
Pour vinegar into jars; making sure vegetables are below surface - I cut up a yoghurt lid to fit under rim of jar, works a treat.
Put in fridge once cool, it will keep for a month (or can be water bath heated for 10 mins), once open will keep in fridge for a month.
Ready to eat in four hours .......
For the sweet version I added 3 tablespoons of sugar to the vinegar.
This afternoon was back to strong winds and heavy rain = afternoon watching a film (well I watched whilst Brett fell asleep!) and rationing the solar.
Homemade pizza for dinner; then a night in front of the fire! We were invited out on a pub crawl .... the fire won hands down!

18th October
Another crappy night with Looby asking to go out several times - looks like she might be going to the vet tomorrow.
HEAVY RAIN, dull and dreary ... lit the range and had a traditional Sunday lunch.
This afternoon we had proper TORRENTIAL RAIN;

there was water cascading down the slope outside the house making a great pond around the goose house and the boundary stream, which has been bone dry for months, was flowing rapidly.

Lots of fungi have sprouted up overnight and I haven't been able to identify this HUGE boletus (30+ cms cap).

19th October
The track into the village has been more or less washed away; it's like driving down a rocky river bed, there's only large stones and rocks, anything small has gone, and huge, deep ruts - thank goodness we have a 4x4!
Went into CB; repairing the phone screen would have cost 70€, it was cheaper to buy a new phone 60€! Then we spent another 17€ on a cover (to cushion it next time I fall over!), unfortunately  we couldn't find one to fit in China shop, where they only cost 3€ (what a waste of money!).
We bought several kilos of broad beans, peas, chickpeas and garlic to plant fields to say of vegetables to grow over the winter (most of it for animal food) - that should keep us busy!

We saw several quinta where they have started harvesting their olives.


20th October
We have found another boletus growing on the quinta; I think I have identified it correctly as Boletus Impolitus (Iodine Bolete), it's rare, edible but not worth eating!

Pam messaged me to say she had plant seedlings for me; so we had a day of gardening - most of Brett's was done with the tractor, he also lit a few bonfires (I'm still paranoid about fire). And I managed to fall over (yes, again Mark!) this time really wasn't my fault; I was wearing my work boots, they have hooks instead of eyelets, and the lace of my right boot got hooked to my left boot .... so now my other knee is grazed and swollen - Brett says I have the knees of a six year old!
We planted/sowed onions, carrots, cabbage, calabrese (red and green varieties), South African kale (from Lou), spinach, parsnips, radish, something Pam can't remember what she sowed!, and some big blocks of peas, chickpeas and broad beans - the blocks are an experiment, we broadcast sowed(probably too densly as we rapidly ran out of seeds). Brett says we're real farmers now as we're planting up fields.
When we were in our local animal food shop I found some interesting looking seeds Beterraba (beet) Gigante (gigantic) Amarela (yellow), a big pack for 1€; I didn't know if it was for human or animal consumption (but I bought it anyway!) .... when I looked it up I found it is a heritage seed which is becoming popular again in America for humans (all parts of the plant can be eaten raw, cooked and pickled) and by small farmers for animals. 25 seeds retail at 1.69$ (2.50$ postage), from Amazon, and I have at least 500 seeds, maybe even 1000 for 1 EURO!!!! So we're going to plant a block in our experimental field. We're feeling enthusiastic about out garden atm!
We went the vet in Penamacor to get wormer for the dogs; and as he doesn't open until 8.30, in the evening, we decided to treat our selves to a meal out. We went to O Quartel, a bit more expensive than some but more interesting food too.

21st October
Brett injected the dogs with their wormer; the vet had warned us that it might make the dogs cry for a while - then we remembered Looby crying for a good couple of minutes when the vet wormer her a few months ago, however were both fine ... maybe because we gave them cheese?!!!!
It was warm and sunny today; it feels and sounds like spring - the garden thinks it's spring I have five tomato plants regenerating!
Brett attached skids to the old pig house, so we can use it for poultry.
I carried on with the sowing; a BIG block of the Gigantic Yellow Beet, and in the vegetable garden lettuce (green and red), walking stick cabbage, escarole, Florence fennel, carrots, beetroot and rocket.

HELEN CAME TO VISIT ....

17th September
Happy BIrthday Lily! XXX
We have a kitchen sink in situ; it's not plumbed in yet and the water is still outside but we can now wash up inside (remembering not to tip the bowl of water into the sink).
Well, much as I hate to say it, I'm rather impressed with the new Hoover!!! I hoovered the living room floor yesterday (concrete) usually this creates a choking dust storm, but it just looked clean (and this morning all the surfaces aren't covered in dust) and the kitchen  floor definitely looks cleaner between cleans.
We spent the day preparing for Helen (who comes on Saturday) and Vince & Lola (who're coming for dinner tomorrow evening). I made pumpkin soup, the first pumpkin I went to use has been hanging around for a couple of months when I cut it open all the seeds were sprouting!

18th September
We worked so hard yesterday we didn't have that much to do today; apart from food preparation for this evening, the washing, cleaning and hoovering again (we're obsessed!), the daily animal and garden chores, and Brett mucked out some animal sheds - but apart from all that it was a restful day!
This evening's meal was chicken liver pate (made yesterday), followed by pot roast guinea fowl with sausages and apples (the recipe called for brandy, which we didn't have, so I bunged in some miscellaneous unlabelled liquid, given to us by Nicky & Rich, which tasted strong - I think it's some type of flavoured aguadente), beans and saute potatoes; Lola provided pudding, Eton mess (yummy).

19th September
We missed language class today as we had to pick Helen up from CB 😀.
We didn't do much for the afternoon as we were going out in the evening.
Once the animals were put away we went to Alpedrinha festa (via Jeanette's to drop off the wine vat and the fonte to pick up water) arriving at 9.00ish (very late for us!). The festa was very lively and so, so, crowded, the atmosphere was great. There were some fantastic bands, we met a load of our friends, we ate lots of food and left around 12.30 (the band on the main stage still hadn't started) there was masses of people still arriving. We got to bed at 1.30.

20th September
We all felt very sluggish today after our night out.
Helen and I had a fun day printing, stenciling and doing some wirework.

Looby and Lili are such good friends!

21st September
Happy BIrthday Helen! Xxx
We gave Helen a Spanish shawl and an Indian style silver box with elephants embossed on it.
We had to go to CB as Brett needed the dentist; thank goodness for Nick recommending his dentist - he was brilliant and Brett feels that he did a good job.
Helen and I spent the morning going around all the China shops!
Oh dear, Helen wanted to sunbathe - the chair fabric must have perished in the sunshine!

Sorry Helen I HAD to post this!

Not repairable!

We took Helen to the 'skewer' restaurant (O Fontaine) for her birthay meal - it was good.

22nd September
We (Helen & I) are doing a carboot sale this Saturday; we spent the morning sorting out and pricing up the carboot boxes (yawn!). Brett was on the tractor ploughing up acres of land for growing animal food.
In the afternoon I drove into Penamacor (first time since my eye went dodgy),we did a bit of shopping, spoke to Pedro about the carboot sale (it's 09.00 - 19.00, 10 hours!!! Pedro says we can leave when we want to), came home and just outside the gate I clipped something and burst a tyre!😞

23rd September
Our first job was fixing the tyre; we went to Aranhas (where we got the tractor tyres). He patched the burst tyre and put in an inner tube, he also mended a slow puncture (threading a piece of rubber into the hole) and charged us 20€!
Brett is off with Matt tomorrow cycling (Helen and I are going to Spain with Lola); Matt, who is a vegan, is invited for lunch so I made Moroccan carrot dip, refried bean dip, and chickpea salad to go with bought wraps.
The pigs aren't eating; we don't know if they are ill or it's the food, as I purchased a new sack yesterday - their tails are curly, their posture is good but they might be a little bit lethargic? It's very worrying.

24th September
We didn't feed the pigs this morning.
So, while Brett and Matt did a 43 mile bike ride, Helen and I went to Spain with Lola and Joanne (Lola's friend) ...
I bought more fabric (of course I did) four lots, spending the grand total of 6€!
Matt didn't come for lunch in the end, but it was really tasty, so his loss!
The pigs ate their afternoon meal, we didn't put their pellets in it so we don't know if that was the problem.

25th September
The pigs ate a proper meal this morning.
I made some 'kraut' (fermented vegetables).

Helen and I went through the carboot sale boxes prioritising as it looks like our 'tables' aren't going to be very big. I appear to have lost three of my glass panels (green lady, white crows and John Reyntien workshop) Brett thinks they could have been left in Wales, to say I'm not happy is an understatement!
Hoorah, Brett found the White Crows panel, still no sign of the others.

26th September
An early start ... we (Helen and I) had to be in Penamacor at 8.00 to set up. It was quite a sociable morning, lots of our friends attending and I sold 86,50€ worth of, as Brett puts it, 'tat'! Then it really slowed down so, at 2.30, Helen and I started packing up - this officious woman came up (well two came in tandem) saying that we couldn't go as I had signed the form agreeing to stay until 7.00! Me, being me, stayed and sold nothing more, a complete waste of our time - however we were set up next to Lola so, to compensate, we bought some wine and drank and chatted for the rest of the afternoon.

27th September
Although we didn't have physically active day yesterday Helen and I were quite tired today.
Brett has been cutting down the shrubs and trees around the stream in preparation for fencing off across the stream in order to give the ducks and geese somewhere safe to swim. Helen and I prepared some of the straighter pieces for weaving the herb bed fencing; it was 34 degrees in the shade we tired and heated up very quickly. We didn't get much wood preparation done!
Helen was so hot she lay down on the tiles of the kitchen floor - not for long as Looby found her!

28th September
We were up at 3.00 a.m. to watch the eclipse; we saw 20 minutes of it, but I was very unimpressed with the 'blood' red moon - I didn't think it was even orange!
We went to Fundao to buy chicks (16 frango), went to all the China shops(!) and drove past the Nespoon house for Helen to admire (she did).

29th September
Brett was working at Annika's, Pam and Patricia (Pam's mother) came for a 'girlie' lunch (tortilla and salad, Pam brought brownies).
This afternoon we had RAIN and an impressive electrical storm 😀.

30th September
Brett did a half day at Annika's, Helen and I covered a cardboard box with hessian to store the dvds in.

1st October
We went into CB to take Helen to the station, did a bit of shopping, I fell over (you're right Mark I am always falling over!), broke the new phone (I must have landed on it) and now all my joints ache.
I made some 'Bounty bars' as we are going to lunch with M&M tomorrow; very easy ..... mix condensed milk with desiccated coconut, form into shape, put in freezer to harden, cover with melted chocolate.

2nd October
Great, the tablet keeps switching off and it's more or less fully charged.
Brett and Matt spent the morning riding their bikes.

The Kraut is 7 days old, looks and tastes good!

BEANS, BEANS, BEANS ........

6th September
Ha, we were watering the vegetable garden this evening when huge, cold, blobs of rain started falling out of the sky (it wasn't forecast). The kitten ran into the goat shed (with the goats), not even coming out to be fed! Thank goodness Brett got the pig shed roof finished. Unfortunately my drying peaches were out!

This evening I sorted through my seeds to see what I can sow now; there's actually quite a lot - peas, beans, lettuce, escarole, radish, carrots, parsnip, onions, broad beans, beetroot, turnip tops, cabbage, brocolli, coriander, parsley, basil - to name but a few! So I'm going to be busy for a while.
And we also have to pick our grapes and make wine this week.

7th September
Haha, it was raining in the night, Brett crept out to see if the pigs had found their new house - they were both squeezed into their old house!
Well I am totally shattered; I spent the morning weeding as it was far too hot to work in the polytunnel sowing seeds. Brett rotorvated (tractor) several large areas ready for planting.
This afternoon I was determined to sow seeds - I was baked (and I did most of the work outside the polytunnel).
Fingers crossed, Lili appears to have stopped dripping;

she finished her antibiotics today; though we still need the results of her urine test (her urine that was sent to Porto) - the dogs will be disappointed, no more Dairylea (well Portuguese equivalent) cheese triangles twice a day!
I never get bored of taking pictures of my daily harvest! ...

8th September
It's hot again today 35 degrees in the shade and quite humid.
This afternoon we cleaned all the wine making equipment, then picked and crushed 100 litres of grapes - by then we were bored with picking (it's prickly work) so decided to continue in the morning. Last year we made 70 litres of wine; we unearthed 40 of said litres, in the shed, with dried up airlocks!!! We tend to drink beer rather than wine, which is ridiculous as the wine is free, beer is more refreshing. This year we're going to freeze bottles of grape juice, we'll definitely drink that.

The grapes are good this year; these bunches weighed about a kilo each!

9th September
The bee eaters have migrated and there's a definite feel of autumn in the air; although, as the day progresses, we still get some heat.
I can't believe I ache so much from the gardening I did a couple of days ago! Where's the woman who used to weight train before breakfast and teach 13 fitness sessions a week? ... she got old 😞!
We picked and processed a few more barrels of grapes; we decanted 20L of juice into 5L containers. Two containers went straight into the freezer, one went in the fridge, while the 4th had 1.25L of juice taken out and replaced with Aguadente (a Portuguese spirit) to make Jeropiga (a popular Portuguese drink) - it will be ready for sampling at Christmas.

10th September
We had an early start today as Brett went on a forty mile bike ride and I went to Spain with Pam and Lou.
We had a fabulous time! I bought two more lengths of fabric, some fantastic shaped peppers - it must be pepper harvesting time I was spoilt for choice with the varieties; I bought three types that I will save the seeds from.

Then we stopped for coffee and tapas (cheese and ham pasties, fried potatoes, chicken drumsticks) tiny little portions of each for the three of us the bill came to 5€! And then we found this lovely shop (delicatessens) which sold beautiful tins of paprika and drinking chocolate - so I had to buy those!
Brett arrived back in the village about 5 minutes before us.
This afternoon I made a dress from one of my new fabrics; the design for this one is more conservative than my last three (as Brett doesn't like them much) however the fabric is quite interesting - it's obviously cheap as the printing is faint in patches (where the ink hasn't taken) so it looks distressed.

11th September
Happy Birthday Gill XXXX
We picked some of our winter squash; they are really exotic shapes and colours and not in the least like what I expected (I keep a diary of what I sow and plant) -  lots of cross pollination going on I think!

Pam & Mark came round this morning to help us clean out the big stainless steel wine making cylinder, we own jointly, so that we can sell it - we haven't used it in two years and new ones cost 269€ so it's well worth selling (we've asked for 175€). It still had 'wine' in it, which actually had turned to very nice vinegar - we bottled some and chucked the rest.
A couple of days ago Brett suggested we invite Chris & Di, Andrew, Baptiste and Richie to dinner; so we invited them this morning for tonight! I spent the rest of the day cooking while Brett cleared up the decking - it looks inviting now.
Everyone accepted their invite; I cooked a huge saucepan of vegetable sauce and a kilo of large pasta tubes, made two large loaves into garlic bread and a big bowl of salad, and grated some cheese and Andrew made some chocolate brownies; we thought we would be eating left overs for the next few days - everything went apart from a small bowl of salad and a bowl of plain pasta!

12th September
We went round to C&D's for coffee (that was our excuse) and to see their house as the windows went in yesterday - it's absolutely fabulous.
Then we went to look for Chicken of the woods (C&D found some this week). We found some at the top of Andrew's track (and yes, I messaged him so he could have some too), it was a perfect specimen; we only took enough for a couple of meals (though I have read since that it can be frozen).

Haha, I managed to sneak some beans into the photo ....

While we were out and about we also picked up some wood up that was left behind when the eucalyptus trees were felled.
Our big rotorvator has become redundant, as we now have the tractor; Brett cleaned it up this morning and I put it on Facebook - it sold within 6 minutes, in fact two people wanted it (within 6 minutes) AND the wine cylinder has sold - so now we're looking round for more stuff to sell, Brett has suggested I try selling some of my glass panels (I think the green lady might sell well).
Lou has invited us for Sunday Lunch at Pam's tomorrow (she's providing the meal, P&M are providing the venue); I offered to make pudding - I picked up and cooked a bucketful of fallen unripe peaches (they taste delicious), I'm going to make peach crumble and custard.

13th September
It was cooler today; Brett said we have lots of rain forecast this week 😀, it'll be really good for the garden.

Baby watermelon, tomatillos, courgettes and BEANS!!!

Sunday lunch was very good (roast lamb and pork, carrots, beans and roast potatoes) with Lou, P&M and J&J; Dylan, C-z and Libby (their baby) turned up after we had eaten .....then it rained😀!!! It would have been so easy to stay for longer but we had already left the animals for five hours.
Alfie, C&D's dog, has taken to coming here (he's in love with Looby!); only problem is he pees all over the place and chases our Muscovy drake - so we have to shut our dogs inside and him outside .... he came here twice today.

14th September
The dogs and I were outside 7.30ish, letting out chickens etc, and Alfie turned up - he must hear us open the front door. It's getting chilly first thing I was wearing leggings, for the first time in several months, and a jumper.
Oooh lucky me, I am now the proud (said with sarcasm) owner of a brand new Hoover!!! Brett says he can't use it because of his asthma! I have to say it does work a lot better than the one he smashed up a couple of weeks ago (the one that used to billow out clouds of dust) this one has bags which seems to contain the dust better .....
More excitingly we bought a kitchen sink, nothing fancy just stainless steel; it's getting too cold to wash up outside on the decking, Brett will install it tomorrow then I can tile the wall behind it.

15th September
Proper rain today (and more forecast for tomorrow); it's the tail end of Tropical Storm Henri. We lit the range, it was really snug in our kitchen 😀.

We left the goats in (they don't like wet or windy) with lots of greenery and hay.
I spent several hours shelling almonds; Claire (P&M's neighbour) gave them to us a couple of years ago, so they were jolly hard! The nut cracker didn't make any impression on them, I had to use a hammer; I managed to keep a good 90% whole - I got better as I progressed, a sharp, but light, tap on the fat end was the key.

The rain was much appreciated by the garden but the solar suffered; the 'summer/drinks' fridge is already off, the freezer was turned off overnight and we rationed lighting (and other electrical appliances) - it was like being in a warm (rather too warm at times) cave!

16th September
It was very windy and wet overnight and heavy rain this morning

Brett and Matt had organised a bike ride, they sensibly cancelled that!
The big downside of the rain is nothing much gets done; it's too wet to work outside and too dark inside (and, of course, electrical tools can't be used unless we use the generator). Which is great for one day, it's nice to have an enforced rest, but by day two it gets a bit frustrating, especially as we have Vince & Lola coming to dinner on Friday and Helen arrives on Saturday, so we have lots to do.

What's happened to my male kitten? 😢

21st August
We have M&M and A&K coming for dinner tomorrow (typically we were also invited to go out, with P&M, to a Fado evening, why did it have to be the only day we have booked this week?); I spent the day preparing food - we're going to have an evening of tapas.
My first job took most of the morning and was excessively messy - juicing two buckets of black grapes, but it does taste good.
Brett has spent the last few days preparing for winter - chainsawing logs (the olive wood he pruned in the winter), he has a nice full woodshed now.
There was an impressive electrical storm tonight, unfortunately impossible to photograph.

22nd August
Brett spent the whole day saying "this is the last time we do tapas"! - it was an awful lot of work for one meal.
But it was also a great success. We started the evening telling everyone to pace themselves as we had prepared nine courses and Mieke had brought another. The idea was to eat a course, then have a 15 - 30 min rest/drink/chat between dishes - by 9.30 we'd only had four courses! We had olives to start (orange infused, quite interesting), followed by the tapas dishes:
1. Black pudding on toast with mango couli - only one per person so it all got eaten.
2. Devilled eggs - I made 24, they all went.
3. Pork, beans, chorizo and black pudding stew - Brett made a lot saying he would freeze the left overs ... there wasn't enough to freeze! And by now I was beginning to feel full!!!
4. Fishcakes with mago chutney - I made 24, they all went.
5. Tomato tarts - people were starting to slowdown now, most only had 2 or 3 each.
6. Pickled octopus - very popular, it nearly all went.
7. Tortilla (Spanish omlette) - appetites definitely declining now.
8. Tapenade on toast - I didn't even bother to serve this as everyone was groaning and we still had pudding to come!
9. Grape sorbet - this was quite popular as it was light.
10. Mieke's chocolate gateaux ....... (phew).
My goodness our bellies were very full!!!
I went to bed feeling quite uncomfortable.

23rd August
It was really cool today (hooray), we didn't even have free hot water for the washing up (from last evening).
I made Sangria last evening, so I didn't have a hangover; but we were tired after yesterday so had a lazy Sunday.

24th August
Yippee Henry says he's coming to visit next month, well in about two weeks; I'm so happy! And Will and family are coming October halfterm ...... happy, happy, happy ......
Brett continued chainsawing and chopping wood.
I sorted out more stuff for the next carboot sale; I'm being really good, I'm putting in pictures, mirrors, curtains - all kinds of things that I really like but don't have room for. And while I was sorting through boxes I found a pair of Sketcher shoes I had forgotten about - thay are very pretty, sparkly and comfortable 😀.

25th August
OK I'm not happy - it looks like Will & Gill won't be coming in October 😢😭😪😥 I'm really not happy, in fact I'm very sad!
Poor old Lili had to go to the vet in CB; her bladder infection, or whatever it is, is back. She is petrified of the car and will do anything to avoid getting in it. Unfortunately she has to go back next week, for blood tests (he couldn't do it today as the blood is collected and taken to Porto and next collection is next Monday). He's given us a tablet to calm her down next time she goes in the car ☺. He's also told us to bring a urine sample (her's obviously) with us - collecting that's going to be interesting!
The figs are ripe (maincrop); we have masses of them and need ideas for using them - there's no point in drying them as we still have two very large jars from last year. I've made more sweet fig vinegar (which is delicious) from, my new favourite cookery writer, Diana Henry's book, Salt Sugar Smoke (thanks for the loan Nicky). And I've stuffed them with cream cheese/blue cheese/ham etc, and eaten them for breakfast with yoghurt and honey - but what else? We have lots of fig trees!

26th August
Haha, the kittens can get in and out of the dog shed (even when the door is shut). So now when we go out and leave the dogs in the shed (their safe place, they love going in there) we come back to two dogs and two kittens in there - they get on really well.
We're starting to reap the harvest from our Portuguese gardening experiment (planting in channels) which we started two months ago; today I harvested the first french and metre long beans,

and there are peppers set, which are growing daily - we're looking forward to starting next year's gardening now, maybe we've cracked it 😀.

27th August
Brett went on another bike ride with Matt; 40 miles this time including both ways, up and down a horrendous hill (I'd have got off and pushed my bike!).
I stayed home and did the washing - still loving the twin tub.

28th August

First dressmade from sheeting and dyed.

Second dress (my favourite) crinkle look linen!

I found the fabric I bought last year, another linen this time a kind of mushroom colour (ok beige!); I made another dress, this one is longer than the others and I've put elasticated details on the hem and pockets - Brett wants me to make them more fitted!

The Hub was having an Irish themed evening tonight, but we didn't go as we had been invited to dinner at C&D's. It was a lovely evening; they are so easy to converse with, we got home about 12.30.

29th August
It's hot again; 40 in the shade.
Usually 20€ top up, on the Portuguese phone, lasts for about 4 months, it's hardly used as most communication is done via Facebook (free!). But somehow we used 20€ in less than a month - we discovered it's all the apps running in the background (which I thought I had switched off) of the new phone - Brett spent the morning individually 'disabling background' on all the apps (which we NEVER use but can't delete) bloody smart phones!!!
Oh dear the kittens have discovered our house! They don't understand that they live over the other side by the vegetable garden.
I added some lace detail to the hem and pockets of yesterday's dress. China shops sell really nice cotten lace and it's very cheap; I think there was about 10 metres on this reel, it cost a mere 3,75€ - that's less than £3!!!

I spent a lovely afternoon chilling with my friend Lola (she's French), drinking white sangria, iced tea and a Portuguese version of Proseco (individually not mixed!). The Proseco was so good that she's going to order us a case (6 bottles) each, at 3€ (about £2.35) a bottle I couldn't resist!
An English family, who are holidaying on a quinta in our village, turned up with towels, shampoo etc. Lola had invited them round for showers as the well on their quinta has dried up and they have no water at all - so can't wash, wash up, wash clothes etc and they're here for three weeks. Of course they can collect water from the village fontes (like we do for our drinking water) but they are very slow now. One of Lola's neighbours said it was the worst drought he'd ever known and he's been here for 47 years (his well is dry for the first time). Vince said the barragems (resevoirs) that supply the mains water to the villages are way down now.
Brett scarified the vegetable garden and bottom field ready for the rain and winter planting (all our Portuguese neighbours are planting cabbage plugs atm).

30th August
It rained in the night; not for long but heavy enough to wake me up - everyone is hoping for rain.
Our vegetable garden is taking off (autumn is like spring in the garden here, funnily even without rain, maybe is something to do with shorter daylight hours?); today I picked five different types of beans (metre long, borlotti, purple, yellow and a kind of flat runner that's popular here), not masses yet but enough for a meal, plus courgettes, and we have lots starting - peppers, aubergines, cucumbers .... and we still have tomatoes.
Look what Brett made (from a sardine tin and a bamboo stick);

can you guess what it is yet? ....
It's for collecting Lili's pee (we've washed the tin well and sterilised it in boiling water).
Oh dear C&D invited us to the bar for drinks; I said ok as long as were home by 6.30-7.00 - we got home at 8.15!!!

31st August
The 'pee collector' worked! In fact it was easy; the hardest bit was walking back from the field trying not to spill it - I forgot to take the sample pot with me!
Wow we had a proper thunder storm today with real rain! Which means we didn't have to water this evening, always a bonus.
At 12.30 we gave Lili the pill the vet gave us last week, to calm her down when travelling in the car, (he said give it to her about an hour before the journey). It didn't seem to make much difference; although we tried to convince ourselves she didn't appear as stressed as usual! We saw a different vet, who tested her pee, said she had a slight infection and that her urine was less acid than it should be, but her kidneys and liver seem ok. We came home with a load of pills (antibiotics x 2 and anti-inflamatories) and 45€ poorer. He didn't want to take blood this time; he said to see how the medicines went this week, but suggested she might have kidney/bladder stones (because of the alkaline urine) and said to give her vitamin C (which I haven't found yet except the effervescent type or really expensive pills, 14€).
At 5.15 her legs start going all wobbly, she couldn't stand - if she was human you'd have thought she was drunk! I phoned the vet, in a panic, asking if it could be the pill we gave her - yes, it has an 8-10 hour working period! She spent the next couple of hours just lying limply on her bed; but she still demanded her dinner (I had decided she shouldn't be eating as she was sedated, but she was probably on 'happy pills' and had the 'munchies') by 7.30 she was telling us it was time to feed the sheep and goats (for some reason the morning and evening goat/sheep feeding is her favourite part of the day). When we came in at 8.00 she ate a second meal (definitely the 'munchies'!) and after that was back to normal;  we won't be giving her those pills again though.

1st September
We were rudely awoken at 2.00 a.m. by growling dogs; they were being so aggressive we had to separate them, we brought Looby in with us. For the next hour we were serenaded by a, very unhappy, whining Lili; until she cried herself to sleep! She was back to her usual happy self by this morning.
Lili had to take 5 pills this morning! We put them all into one piece of goat cheese, rolled it into a ball, and she swallowed them in one gulp - exceedingly easy, let's hope they make her well.
Brett's next job is roofing a ruin in the pig run before the rains set in; the pigs are way too big for their original shelter, only one can fit in at a time!
I am trying to print on fabric, transferring images off paper that have been printed from my laser printer, using nail polish remover. I've spent a frustrating afternoon trying to work out how to get a mirror image of a text box - I can mirror pictures and wordart but not text, I'm convinced there should be an option on my printer but I can't find it!
Well I found quite convoluted method to do it (mirror text);  I created my document in word, cut and pasted it into paint, flipped it in paint, saved it as jpeg, then inserted back into word to print (phew!).

2nd September
I'm so worried about 'my' kittens; they were last in our garden Monday morning. This morning we could hear a cat meowing from the quinta next door. Brett went over; it's the girl kitten and she's locked in the shed, locked metal doors, no way to break her out and no sign of the boy. Brett says they could have been locked in on purpose (to catch mice), I'm worried it was an accident and she has no water (she sounds perfectly well, but desperate to get out). Problem is they're not really mine, I'm just stealing them (as the female next door has them all the time and they just disappear) - if she's not out by tomorrow morning we're going to the village to search for the quinta owner, Pimenta.
I've sewn labels on the backs of my new dresses;

I think it makes them more interesting! Brett thinks the Dylan Thomas quote is pretentious!!! And printed crows on an area of the first dress (sheeting, woodland brown).
The kitten was still calling when we went up to do the sheep and goats - it's heart breaking.

3rd September
First thing this morning we went to the shop where Pimenta's brother works; Pimenta was there! We told him about the kitten and he promised to release her. Meantime I didn't want to go over the other side of the quinta in case she was still lock in.
Brett carried on with the pig shed and I 'spring cleaned' the kitchen.
Hip, hip, hoorah the kitten was there when we went to do the sheep and goats (still no sign of the male kitten though 😢).

4th September
Happy BIrthday Sarah. XXX
The female kitten is still around 😀 but no sign of the male and, I know I shouldn't say it but, he was my favourite - he was soooo pretty, where could he have got to?
Portuguese lessons restart tomorrow; I'm not looking forward to that, I had meant to do the Michel Thomas course over the summer - of course I did nothing!

5th September
Language class wasn't too bad, but I don't think Brett will keep coming - I'll have to force myself to keep attending. Pedro has organised another class trip ... to Lisbon!!! Very exciting, as long as we can find someone to put our animals away for us (it's in October so they'll be going away quite early).
Pam, Lou and I are going to Valverde on Thursday to buy material.
Still no sign of male kitten, this is day six so I'm afraid that he might have gone for good - one of Richie's cats disappeared two weeks ago, it's horrible not knowing.
Today I have prepared a whole load of peaches for drying (they're not ripening on the tree and they're beginning to drop).
5.00 found a group (C&D, Andrew, Richie, Baptiste and us) of us at Bar do Clube 'watching' the football (Wayne Rooney equalling Bobby Charlton's number of goals for England - as if I care!); of course we didn't get back until dark (poor animals).
I invited Di to the 'girlie' trip on Thursday.

6th September
The kitten wasn't around this morning but I didn't worry as there were children at Pimenta's quinta.
I can stop moaning about my beans; at last I am picking daily.

Brett finished the pig shed roof (recycled roofing sheets).

The sow is on heat; the boar is very interested, frothing at the mouth, making weird grunting noises but .... he's not 'doing the deed'!
The last dress I made was way too big (I cut it out exactly like the other two but manage to add several inches to the width); I spent the morning altering it - fiddly work but it looks much better now.