Another morning and yet again waking up to more rain - actually I should say this morning we have more of a heavy mist, although it looks like we have had a fair amount of rain during the night. Nothing unusual in that - I am beginning to wonder where on earth all this rain is coming from!!!! The difference in temperature and amount of sun from this time last year to this is amazing!!!! Last March you could barely dig the earth as it was so dry, the grass was like dried hay and everyone was screaming "we need rain". It is a year ago this week when we accidentally started a fire when a spark flew off as Rob was grinding off a concrete post and got carried away in the wind over to the plot opposite, giving me one of the biggest frights of my life!!!! Well this winter we have had rain, rain, and more rain, with an odd bright sunny warm day thrown in just to keep us sane. Having moaned about the rain here, and knowing what you have had in the UK, you have our sympathies with what you having to deal with!!!
After finishing off the kitchen we had promised ourselves a rest but as usual it a case of well we may as well get off outside to crack on with the garden "before the summer" when it will be too hot. We made a good start and cracked off a couple of veggie beds and gravelled some pathways. Rob is attempting to build his BBQ but this last week has been so hampered by the rain we have had to give in and spend time doing other stuff. The trouble is when its raining I don't feel inclined to go out sightseeing so Rob came up with the idea of building a workspace area (or store space which I am calling it) in the cellar so we decided to have a day at that. Lucky me - no day off lazing around!! We had some worktops left over from the kitchen so Rob built up some concrete walls for the worktops to sit on. That enticed us to tidy up the cellar as it was looking like a scrap yard with rubbish, tools lying around, clutter, etc., Guess what, before I could turn around, Rob had managed to store all his fishing gear nicely under the worktops, but he did kindly leave me a gap for some shopping storage. The worktop itself will be the home for liquid stock, etc., as we are trying to do a once/twice monthly shop.
On another rainy day we had drive out to view a Dam called the Barragem da Pracana) near Envendos, as Rob wanted to see if he could find a fishing spot. With all this rain its looking like all the Dams here are full so that means the rivers will be running well and it also means the River Beaches this summer will be good as our local one last year ran dry! There is a lovely waterfall near to the Dam but it was raining so hard we couldn't bring ourselves to walk down the muddy track to go find it!
Many of the designated fishing areas are sometimes too inaccessible for Rob as he needs to drive his van close to a fishing spot to unload all his fishing tackle. He did manage to find one at this Dam, (pictured above). The scenery looked lovely with all the wild-flowers at the roadside and in the mountains.
Yesterday the forecast was for rain first off then cloudy so we decided to nip off to Castelo Branco to do a big shop. For once, we were able to do a supermarket shop without the necessity of going to several DIY shops buying copious amounts of work materials!!! (which bores me to death!). For our journey to Castelo we take the B road which although it is a winding, up and down country road, there is always little traffic which makes it a pleasure. And I have to say although it was cloudy the scenery is stunningly beautiful. Even more so at this time of the year. We didn't get to see it like this last year as it was such a dry winter but an advantage of plenty of rain has encouraged the wild flowers to bloom. It is such a spectacular sight to see an abundance of purple and white heathers, yellow and white gorse, various blossoming trees in the hillsides and then in the fields and roadsides, wonderful displays of wild flowers, beautiful carpets of yellow, blue, purple and white flowers and red poppies. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with us but I will try and capture some on our next trip out.
One of the reasons I love this country so much is that every time you leave your front door, the scenery is constantly changing and there is always something new to see. There are so many various trees, fruits and olives, flowers and shrubs that there is always a continuous display in their varying stages of bloom, from the blossoms to the fruits, there are always different fruits at different stages of the season. The rainy weather accentuates the varying shades of greens of the pine trees, eucalyptus and other trees and the colours of the stone on the mountains stand out even more which makes it so picturesque.
