Hallway finished at last !!!!!

This job initially looked fairly easy and straight-forward but as usual, we were wrong, it never seems to happen the easy way for us!

After finishing off filling in around the window and door, woodwork and completing the paintwork etc we thought the floor tiling would be a doddle!!! When we have done any kind of tiling previously we have always used a flexible adhesive which is the best kind to use for the extreme temperature changes. What we didn't realise was that it would take about 3 days for the adhesive to dry out. The weather has been a mixture of sunny and rainy days so when it is damp and cold it takes forever for the adhesive to dry. Because the hallway leads to all the rooms Rob had to lay them in a way so as we could have access to all rooms without standing on any of the tiles waiting to dry out.
After a fair amount of stressing out it was decided to go out and purchase some rapid set adhesive to get the job finished before we both "lost the will to live". This speeded up the process and it was then my turn to get down on all fours to do a bit of "grouting". That wasn't easy either but hey ho the job is completed and we can stop walking around like demented crabs!!!!

All we need to do now is to go out shopping to buy some pictures and some new rugs to give the hallway some colour and warmth!!

Harvesting the olives ......

November and December is the main harvest time when everyone is out in their gardens or fields getting stuck in, helping each other to pick their olives. The quality of the olives will depend on what sort of weather the country has had, but as we are novices all we can say is that we have had plenty and have reaped a good return.

As we are "olive picking virgins" we were shown how to strip the branches simply by running your hand (or you can use a tool) down the branch for the olives to fall off onto large sheeting placed under the tree which also catches any that fall off anyway. They are then packed into large plastic sacks and tied up until its time to go the press.

We asked our good friend Jose to help us with this procedure as he is in a Farming Association. We have in our village a building called the Cooperativa Agricola where the olives are pressed. The procedure begins with the olives being put into a machine to strip off all the stems, leaves etc and washes them.

The next stage is the olive are pressing where the oil is filtered and strained off into huge tanks and is then ready to be poured off. Your olives are weighed and recorded into a logbook and you are then given back in pure virgin olive oil the amount the weight produced. We collected 70 kilos of olives which produced 9 litres of oil which we were well happy with. Unfortunately we still have lots more but at the moment cannot spare the time to pick them.

I was so proud to see my name in the log-book along with all our locals, I am showing you a picture!!!!

And the final result :- 9 litres of pure virgin olive oil !!!

A FEW PICTURES OF THE NEW SHUTTERS/WINDOWS

Just posting a few pics of the house taken from outside showing the new green shutters and some of the double-glazed aluminium windows I took this morning.

Bye bye, dreary grey house .......

Hello white, cheerful house .........

Lovely new bedroom with "heating" !!!!!!

Hi everyone, we are pleased to be able to tell you that the 2nd bedroom is now fully decorated and after another trip to Ikea, Lisbon (this time we have perfected the journey and did it in 2 hours and 10 minutes, unlike the previous trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) the furniture has been erected successfully, (only a small amount of cursing required) and we are now fully installed in our new bedroom. Three walls have been painted and one wallpapered with wallpaper brought over here from the U.K. Wallpapering in Portugal is virtually unheard of and is extremely expensive to buy here with a very limited choice. The floor has been laminated (just need some rugs) to warm it up and a few pictures. We are still in need of some decorative small furnishings but that will come later! This bedroom is at the back of the house and as it is south facing we get lots of sunlight through the window which makes a huge difference to the warmth of the room. Also imported from the U.K. is an electric blanket (which for me is "heaven sent") and we have bought an electric oil filled radiator so I am usually the first to be the one to leave the log-fire and t.v. and eagerly creep into bed!

The "old" and the "new" pictures .......

Filling in the "holes"

A few pictures to show you how the windows looked when the roller blinds had been taken out, how they looked when filled in and how they looked painted!!!!!

The Hallway

Our current task is the hallway. We have painted, filled in the hole above the new double-glazed window after removing the roller blind, fitted new architrive, changed the electric pointed and light-switches and fitted new celing lights.

Rob is on his bended knees doing one of his favourite jobs - floor-tiling!!!!!

I'm off to pick more olives so will update you on that task on next blog when hopefully they will have been turned in olive oil!!!!!!

Rain at last !!!!!!!

Hello everyone and once again sorry for not updating the blog! We have been back to the U.K. to see family and friends and haven't stopped since we got back at the beginning of November.

Autumn had set in on our return and so had the rain. Portugal had a very dry winter last year so it is vital that we get plenty of rain this year. Many of the rivers and streams have all but dried up. And boy! have we seen plenty of it? although this week we have had some sunny days and temperatures of up to 19 degrees so no complaints there!

Before going back to the U.K. we had ordered shutters for all the windows to the house and five windows to be fitted with aluminium double glazing and a front door ready to be fitted on our return. The workmen appeared on the expected date and so did the rain. Not a good day to be undertaking ripping out windows but it was no deterrent to the window fitters who just got stuck in and got on with it! But what a mess!!!!!!!! For the moment we are only having windows fitted in the rooms we are currently working on or will be in the New Year. These are in the second and third bedroom, hallway, bathroom and kitchen The original shutter blinds have been taken out and have left gaping holes above the windows where the winding mechanism was housed, which have had to be refilled with blockwork. A very testing two weeks we have just had, ones which we were glad to see the back of!!!!!! In the meantime we have found the time to stiple, paint, wallpaper and laminate the 2nd bedroom plus change the electric points and refit wall lights. I must say that Rob's electrical techniques have really come on and he now has a very good understanding of the "Portuguese way of doing electrics!!!!!!" The hallway has also been stipled and now needs painting. The floor tiles are in stock and waiting to be laid.

We haven't taken any photos as yet but these will be on the next post.

Also this week it has been time to collect the olives. I have been given "time off" a few afternoons to gather them in. We have decided to cut down another 3 olive trees as two were obstructing the light into the rear of the house. The olives I have picked will be given to our friends for when the olive pressing machines come to the village to produce the oil. Thankfully we had a lovely week to pick them, it was lovely to feel the warm sunshine. Rain has stopped play today though and will tomorrow but at least it gives the back a rest!!!!

It is a very busy time for the locals as everyone mucks in to get the olives picked. We have barely seen a soul this week other than the people who have farmed their olives in the adjacent fields to us.

Last weekend was another festival time, when Portugal celebrates Saint Martin, where it is traditional to roast chestnuts and drink plenty of vino and jeropiga and have a BBQ. We celebrated it by joining in with our friends by doing a bit of "wine cellar hopping". Our good friend, Dino, came back to his home-town from the USA to celebrate with his dear friends and we met up with him on our way to the cafe. The "gang" where making their way to the next "wine cellar", Dino leading the way playing his accordian (a bit like the Pied Piper) through the streets and like lambs to the slaughter we joined in!!!!!! The usual nibbles were laid on, toast, bread and cheese, meat and pate, olives and, of course, copious amounts of their own-brewed wine. We had lots of laughs and a sing-song, the Portuguese really know how to celebrate in their own unique style. After a good session in Carlos's wine cellar it was then time to move on to Joakim's wine cellar where out came the food and wine again!!!!!

Day trip to Lisbon

Our friends Filomena and Jose had to take a trip into Lisbon and offered to take us and show us a few of the tourist sites. So an offer like that could not be refused and I, for one, was more than happy to "take a day off" and be guided around the beautiful city of Lisbon!!!

The journey to Lisbon takes two hours using the toll roads and our first stop was a visit to their house in the city and then on for lunch! After a lovely lunch we went to Lisbon's largest shopping Centre which is called the Colombo Centre.

The centre is huge with a lovely roof-top area with gardens and fountains, sitting areas, very nice indeed. Lots and lots of internationally known shops and Portuguese shops with the usual floor dedicated to "eating". Oh! what a lovely sight, all those take-away food restaurants which we very rarely get see in our parts! Never thought I would get such a lovely feeling clapping my eyes on a K.F.C.!!!!!! McDonalds and Burger King we can get in our nearest city but not much else, e.g. indian and chinese!! For me it was a pleasure to troll round the shops but as we all know its not a "man thing" so it was off to the next venture. A glimpse of the "footie grounds" was a must for Rob. Both Benfica and Sporting football grounds are in the centre of Lisbon. I can show a photo of Benfica but not Sporting as it did not come out very well.

We parked up and took a walk past Jeronimo's and its Gardens, onto the river side of the city and down to the Marina. There are lots of cafes and restaurants and even BBQ and picnic areas for people to "do their own thing".

Here are some of the photos we took on our walk:-

Jeronimos' Monastery and Gardens

Our last port of call was to the famous "Pasteis de Belem Cafe" which surprisingly looks small from the road but the cafe is huge, just seems to be room after room and so busy, for a treat of coffee and their famous "custard tarts". Slightly different to the English version of a custard tart but very nice indeed and we enjoyed them very much.

Another visit to Lisbon is a "must" for us, there is so much more to see and do, hopefully we can snatch a few days and stay over so we can take it all in.

Would like to say a massive "thank-you" to Filomena and Jose for a fantastic treat of a day out in Lisbon.

Where does the time go ....... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi everyone, apologies to all for viewing blog only to find no new posts!!! The weeks are flying by so quickly its hard to find the time to sit down and when we do its a bit of telly time and sleep!!! Hahahaha!

Anyway to try and keep you up-to-date I am going to cover a few subjects and will post again by the end of the week!!

The garden

The "relaxing" side of our garden is more or less finished now all the paving is complete, pergola finished and planted up, still plants needed for the borders but they will come in time. One part of the border is for herbs and small edible plants and the remainder will be mainly cacti, small shrubs, floor-covering plants etc., easily maintainable plants which hopefully wont need much attention!

The other side of the garden where we have a selection of fruit trees, 3 orange trees, peach, cherry, pear and pommegranate tree will be our veggie garden. Our friends, Jose and Carla have been to rotovate and have started planting up for us. So we now have 40+ cabbage plants and 100 or so lettuces!!! Winter is definitely the best time to get serious about dieting which is on the top of my "list to be doing urgently jobs" but for some unknown reason am unable to achieve it!!!! The growing seasons here are different from the U.K. so I am researching when and what to have a go at planting out now. Will keep you informed as to my progress!! I have been desperate to grow hot chilli peppers here (to use in cooking and make our own hot chilli sauce) as they are very expensive and sometimes hard to buy at the supermarket. The Portuguese favour "piri piri" peppers for their sauce and I am also growing them. I was late getting my seeds to germinate but have been successful in growing them but for the hot peppers and normal peppers I am needing some more sunshine to turn them red! Yesterday (5th October) we had 28 degrees and have had a beautiful week of weather but at this time of the year we are not guaranteed hot sunshine so every day we have one is a bonus for us. Rain is much needed but I'm sure it will be on its way at some point.

The House

The exterior painting of the house is now complete, the third wall had to be done by professionals as the gable end is way too high for us to contemplate painting ourselves. The back of the house we were able to paint ourselves with the help of the scaffolding lent to us by our local builder's merchant, Miguel. This was a "first" for me, climbing up and working on scaffolding and I must confess one thought that went through my mind was (for those ex workmates who know me - "I would rather had been doing a major replan!!!!!) and here is the proof:-

Still to be done is fixing up exterior/security lighting and tiling the veranda but that is for another time!

We have now started decorating the second bedroom but have come to a standstill as we are waiting, not patiently, for the window man to come and fit the double-glazed aluminium windows and shutters which we have ordered to size to fit! Still finding it difficult at times here to have the laid-back approach to getting work done as the Portuguese people!

Our current task in concreting one of the cellar floors. On the ground-floor we have a garage which has already been concreted then a middle section (this is the one we are concreting now) and an Adega which has all the wine brewing equipment but neither of us have the "know-how" of what the hell to do with it! The purpose of concreting the middle floor is to create storage space for the building materials and stuff we are acquiring as it has taken over the garage space.

Pleasure time!!!!!!


This month is also a very busy month for the locals as it is time to pick their grapes and begin their wine making procedure. Although we have a few vines we are just picking them to eat and the locals have so many we can't even give them away. Almost everyone in the village has their own "Adega" (wine cellar) and brew their own. It is absolutely staggering to us just how many quantities they make. We have been told by a local guy that he produces around 20,000 litres of which some he sells on. Others brew it just for themselves, friends and family and amounts between 1,500 - 2,000 litres are usual!!!!!!! They can then proceed to tell us that during the winter months a daily chore is to sit in their adegas and pass the hours away drinking the stuff!!!!! Can't wait!!!!!!

My lovely friend, Filomena (a retired infant teacher), is helping us to learn the language. We have also started taking lessons in Castelo Branco so hopefully we will have a better communication with the locals. Rob is fairly good anyway but I least I can make the locals laugh (at my expense) when we are having a few vinho's in the cafe at my pronounications!!

Filomena bakes her own bread and cakes in her bread oven. I went to watch her baking batches of bread and cakes and was impressed with her skills in lighting the oven, keeping it at the right temperature and producing the most lovely tasty bread and cakes ever!

We had a fabulous day in Lisbon with Filomena and Jose and will blog later in the week.