Introducing De Nu Nu and Lulu ............

Whilst out shopping in the agricultural shop we spotted some lovely baby terrapins swimming around so cutely. As we have just finished building our little fish pond we thought it would make a lovely home for these little terrapins. We bought 2 and they settled in very quickly and were soon amusing us with their little antics of having a swim then climbing out onto the rocks to sunbathe and nibbling on the various insects that have met their demise in the pond. We have named them De Nu Nu and Lulu!!

We have seen quite a variety of different creatures since moving here, some of which we have previously mentioned (snakes and scorpions), lots of geckos but this week we had a praying mantis lurking outside our front door, some beautiful butterflies in the garden, and a strange looking wolf/wild dog or fox crossing the road (really no idea what that was!)

our planned fishing lake

Hi all just a quickie on our plans for our fishery, which we will be starting to construct over the winter period,or maybe early springtime, depending on what the weather may bring.
We have now had a few projected costings and according to "our neighbours in the know" we should encounter few if any problems, as they have informed us no planning permission is required, so things should be relatively straightforward.
We have a plot of land three minutes walk away from our house, which is perfect for us in terms of locality and maintenance purposes.
The JCB digger comes in at 35euro's per hour and should take around a day and a half to complete, and the carp are around 350-400 euro per thousand, the only unknown cost at present is the aerators,i think these will have to purchased from the uk and transported over here.
We will keep you all updated on how things progress, and here are a few pics on the site of the fishery, which will be open to match bookings and pleasure anglers alike.

Rob's Pointing in Heaven ......!!!!!

This month (July) has played havoc with our laying stone for the patio, quite simply it is too darned hot!!!!! This week we are having another heatwave with temperatures reaching up to 40 degrees and night temperatures between 21 - 26 degrees which gives you nightmares before even attempting to think about trying to get some sleep! With only a couple of hours in the morning to attempt doing a "few mixes" to lay stone before it gets too hot and doing a couple of hours "pointing" in the evening, the progress on the patio seems to be taking forever. However, here are a couple of up to date pictures showing the progress we have made with the patio:-

Playtime

The upside to being "forced to knock-off work" has given us time to have a little fun. We have been to a lovely spot with friends to do a bit of fishing and cooking alfresco breakfast of bacon and egg butties washed down with tea, jetting off on the quadbike, and some splashing around in the swimming pool.

Cooling off in the pool

Imagine..............

Hi everyone imagine a place, a place you want to be,imagine waking up every morning without fail to clear blue skies from 6am, alfresco breakfasts,outdoor lunches,dinners on the terrace,anything upto 9pm, you know from being on hols how wonderful the feel good factor is just from having the sun on your back.
WELCOME TO PORTUGAL.
The scenery also can offer you anything to rival scotland, ireland,cornwall etc etc,it really is stunning here when you get out and about and off the beaten path.
Take on board also the fact you can almost grow any fruit/veg your heart desires,along with plenty of grapes to harvest for your winemaking,a few chickens for eggs or the table!!! and you can probably see how we feel we are truly living the dream!!.
To anyone who has ever aspired to live this kind of life, don't let the knockers knock you down, and ignore the doomers and gloomers, bad economy,no work oppertunities etc etc on and on, believe in your dreams and your fantasies and always follow what is truly in your heart.
Whichever place may do it for you france,spain,portugal greece and the rest of europe,if opportunity offers the chance, grab it with both hands and even if you fail in your new life at least you have had the balls to give it a try.
A few scenic pics for you all to look at.

"Our neighbours and friends"

Not much to report this week, again we have been slogging it out in the front garden, will post next week on our progress with the patio and show pictures.

Two lovely days off now, tomorrow its fun day, visiting a couple we met last weekend at a BBQ, calling in at a fiesta in their nearby village and then (my treat) on to the outdoor swimming pool for a lovely, lovely swim and sunbathe!!!!! Can't wait.

Sunday is also a treat day too, we have been invited for Sunday lunch to a lovely couple we have met who are from our home town (Nottingham) together with Luisa and John, so its a definite "down tools weekend" for me but I know Rob won't be able to resist picking up his tools to do a "a couple hours.of pointing" on the patio.

Here are a few photos of our lovely neighbours, who we shall always be grateful to for their support, kindness and genorosity, love to them all.

Wacky races!!!!!

Hi everyone this is just a quick post to say we have finally managed to accomplish the fifth gear speedslide (grin 'n' bear it) roundabout routine!!!.

We have as you all know now been here around four months and are used to driving on quiet roads, winding country roads sometimes getting behind some old dear driving at 20 mph or getting behind a tractor laden with his precious vegetation driving at minimal speed, sometimes driving on the dual-carriageways or motorways with very little traffic which is bliss. However we had a day out to a major city about 150 kilometres away and was rudely reminded of an old annoyance (which we had almost forgotten about) called "road rage"!!!

As a result of being in the thrust of "city driving portuguese style" we have now gained the same confidence in regard to driving techniques, which roughly translates as,,,, approach a roundabout at 60mph dont bother looking for other vehicles and if you are unlucky enough to encounter one just apply the handbrake and skid through and carry on regardless, it really is good fun, just hope 'n' pray nothing is coming your way and you will be fine.


We cannot understand why Portugal has not had a fantastic history of world rally or grand Prix drivers, unbelievable (maybe they have done one roundabout too many eh!!!!!.
Also if a traffic sign says 50kph not mph ignore it and go as fast as your vehicle is capable of ( anything approaching 150kph will do)i really love driving here pure unadultered joy, bring over your evo or porche and i guarantee you will have the most fun ever on the virtually traffic free twisty hilly roads, but hope you never meet a local on a shopping mission because they wont give an inch and believe that both sides of the road is their own.

Joking aside though, it really is an absolute pleasure to drive here, if you are fortunate for long enough not to get unlucky and meet an on-coming car on your side of the road!!!!.

windsailing and quadrophobia

Hi all well today is a day of rest here in our parts as sunday is still considered as a totally work free day (not even laundry allowed to be pegged out),and we barely ever see many folks.
We finally managed to locate a store with windsails in stock so as you can see we have placed it temporarily until we get our last pergola post put in, but it is so nice to finally get a little respite from the searing heat.

Also the new quadbike arrived friday and today was our first chance to test drive it,quite nervy really to start with but we are sure with a few hours driving under our belts we will be buzzing around and about, and having endless hours of fun in the sun.