Summerhouse finished in time .........

We struggled to complete the summerhouse in time for our first visitors in May but was determined to do so. And a good job it was finished because we have had quite a few heatwaves this year, making this year the hottest we have experienced while being in Portugal. With very little rain during the winter it's most likely the river beaches will suffer as a consequence, not to mention the lack of water generally which is normally collected from the winter rains by the farmers to irrigate their land, we have also have a shortage in our well and are having to use mains water to do our daily garden watering and refilling the fish pond.
Looking back on our blog in April as to the stage of build on the summerhouse we still had a lot to do. Cladding the pillars in stone, finish rendering the walls internally and externally, stipling and painting them and the last job was to tile the floor.
Rob (being the artistic one) wanted to create a backdrop on the back wall. He designed a piece of art depicting the cherries which are symbolic of our village. I was slightly unsure it would work but, we think it looks rather nice and the locals loved the idea!

For some reason we didn't take photos of the next stages of work so the pictures below show the summerhouse as it looks now. Perfect for relaxing in the shade during the day and eating in straight from the BBQ. I am in the process of making a pair of curtains for the front open spaces (picked up some lovely fabric from the market) and netting for the sides to keep out the annoying flies who think they have a God given right to help themselves to our food and bodies!!!!