When will I start feeling Christmasy ............

23rd November
It's turned very cold, there's snow on the mountains.
When I was feeding and letting out the animals this morning I caught sight of a dog sized creature in the sheep's field; the sheep and goats seemed fine, no panicking or milling around, just peacefully grazing. So I thought no more about it, until this afternoon when Brett brought one of our lambs in. She has two deep puncture wounds, one in each buttock. I only got a glimpse of the animal, I had the impression it was a dog but it could have been a large fox (I wonder if it's the same creature that ate the goose eggs?). This evening all the young lambs, kids and mums are shut up in the maternity shed! Very, very, very worried ......

24th November
Nothing untoward happened in the sheep field overnight (relieved, but not relaxed).
I've been making all these cards recently; I literally have to cut and bend card to size and shape as there's nothing like the Works/Range etc hereabouts, so no access to card blanks - not a big range of envelopes available either. So today I had to make three lots of different sized envelopes - feeling achieved!
It was a beastly evening, forecast to continue all night and all tomorrow. Our older sheep and goats were in the large field with only trees for shelter as we'd moved the their shed outside the field for the babies and mums. At 11.00 p.m. we were feeling guilty that they were exposed to the elements so we cleared space for them in the pole barn then ...... I just opened the gate and called them, out of the pitch black twelve pairs of glowing eyes (I was wearing my head torch) rushed towards me, they seemed very happy to be in the barn.

25th November
Brett says that was the worst night we've experienced here; torrential non stop rain and wind. And the wind is bitterly cold.
Lily refuses to leave the house, she has to be shouted at to get her outside for a toilet break - she can 'hold it' for an awfully long time!
We fed and let out the animals, then lit the fire and candles (solar is being rationed) - it's like living in a cave!
I spent the day sitting in front of the fire, wearing my head torch, drawing on pieces of lino.
We're hoping to start olive picking soon.

26th November
Still stormy, wet, windy weather. No olive picking today!
I made baked beans on (sourdough) toast for lunch (comfort food!).
I managed a few hours in the studio this afternoon.
Our sheep and goats are so good. While it's been stormy we've had the whole flock (18) around the house (so they have shelter) but in the evening we shut the mother's with recent offspring in the shed (because of the lamb* attack three days ago). We split them up when we give them their evening meal (just a handleful of pellets to keep them tame); the mothers know they're special and will follow me into the corral, whilst the rest follow Brett with the bucket.
* The lamb is healing nicely, fingers crossed it won't happen again.
The downside of having the sheep and goats around the house is that they have eaten all my herbs (Brett had to take my fencing away to build the solar shed); I'm hoping the plants will think they've just been hard pruned and will grow back
vigorously!

27th November
Still too wet to pick olives.
Brett rearranged the sheds over by the vegetable garden so that the shed at the back can be used by the sheep and goats, overnight, when it's wet.
The winter squash are keeping well and are now on shelves in the big shed which looks rather impressive with the squash, trays of potatoes, trays of sweet potatoes, 5L bottles of olive oil and bottles of wine.

28th November
Brett at work.
I did all the chores, then cleared all my clothes and material, from the sleep platform, to the loft over the work shop - up and down stairs lots of times carrying heavy boxes (shattered). Now I have to sort out the boxes and try to throw stuff away!

29th November
Brett at work.
Feeling a bit crap; I had a headache all night, woke up with it and feeling sick.
Pam came round for coffee, which helped as it stopped me dwelling on feeling rough, and stayed for lunch; so we had a good old chat - I can't believe she's leaving ...
Bloody goose pecked me as I was putting them away - I have a big black bruise on my arm.

30th November
Judith (she owns a 20+ acre quinta just outside the village) came to lunch today; she's very interested in knitting, crochet, embroidery etc. so she's coming to our craft group meeting next week (Weds 7th).

1st December
Soddin' hunters all around us at 7.00, pellets raining down on the roof! Today is a bank holiday which is why the hunters are out in force.
Hooray the generator works! I can't use it for the kiln yet, it's got to be run in for 20 hours. Even though it's raining outside and there's no solar and we have electricity courtesy of the new generator. It's much cheaper to run than the old one as it's diesel and, hopefully, we'll be able to get a card for green diesel which will make it cheaper still.

2nd December
We need the weather to improve so we can pick olives, apparently it's a bad year so we might only manage half as much as last year.
I think I'm losing my marbles! Today I made a kefir cheese cheesecake, looked and tasted good - then I realised I'd forgotten to add the kefir cheese! I had to ladle the filling off the base, mix in the cheese and pour it back on the base - doesn't look so good now! 3 hours later ....... I grated chocolate on top, looked good and tasted wonderful (and, because of the kefir, good for you!).

3rd December
The weather deteriorated throughout the day, so we put the sheep in their new shed; a couple were a bit nervous, but greed prevailed. So they're now snugly ensconced in a warm, dry, shed with lots of food whilst the weather rages outside and we can relax!

4th December
An ok hunting day (distant shots can be heard) and the sun came out.
We had a couple of hours olive picking (60 kgs) this morning, then Annika & John (people Brett works for) treated us and C&D to lunch in Meimoa (absolutely stuffed!).

5th & 6th December
Two more days olive picking and we've barely managed another 40 kilos (100 kilos total) it really is an abysmal year - we'll probably find all the mills have shut early now too!
I've gone off the horned ram; since he attacked Brett I've been quite wary of him. I obviously got too complacent, and let my guard down yesterday - he butted me from behind, knocking me off my feet, fortunately Brett was there, as he was revving up for another attack - he's got to go .....

7th December
I got up early to make fudge for this evening.
We took our pathetic harvest to the mill, the guy there said it was a "muito mal" (very bad) year for olives; he didn't even quibble about taking them even though: (1) we're not in his area (we're Penamacor, the mill is Idanha a Nova), but we did go there last year after some haggling and (2) they normally ask for a minimum of 500 kgs, to get your own oil back. We'll be luck to get 12 litres this year.
My friend, Jo, sent me a parcel ....... boots and fabric dyes (thank you Jo xxxx).

I think the red laces will have to go!

I spent the afternoon preparing the studio for Craft Club, I even washed the floor!

8th December
Happy Birthday Mark (I think!).
We had great fun and merriment, last evening, making stars and wreaths out of old books and pages from magazines.

Karina and Mary displaying their wares .....

My wreaths, the one on the left has 3D stars on it.

This morning I had to tidy the studio - my goodness what a mess, and the floor .......
Brett is working today and tomorrow.
Feeling virtuous ..... I've written all my UK cards and will post them in the morning - my writing deteriorated rapidly over the evening!

9th December
Cards posted.
And quite a few Christmas presents purchased as Pam took me into CB today - now I'm feeling smug! Except none of the presents were for people in UK, those I still have to source.

10th December
I spent a fruitless day trying to find presents to send to family in UK - feeling frustrated!

11th December
Lots of hunters around today, fortunately not shooting too close but they were walking through some of the neighboring quintas.
I'm dyeing a couple of dresses with the dye Jo sent me.

12th December
I was quite excited this morning as I was bartering produce this afternoon (sweet potato for horseradish roots and eggs for lemons). Originally the lady (who I'd never met) sugessted one potato for a root and she had about six, so that was fine. Then this morning she said she had 10 roots for me, so I put together over a dozen large sweet potatoes and threw in a butternut squash (I was feeling generous) - look what I got in return!!!!!!

The decking planks are less than 4" wide!

Three proper roots at best, a few broken roots and some tiddlers - I feel like I've been diddled!
At least Bap gave me a dozen lemons for six eggs.

13th December
A quick (very foggy) trip into CB to get electric wire fixings, so that we can put the pigs into their new enclosure - moving them should be entertaining as Brett is convinced he can lead them past all the lush growth (grass, weeds etc) and other obstacles with a bucket of food!
Christmas is coming ..... the ham is being brined.
Oh dear our internet router has died; we're back to very slow, intermittent, village Wifi, whilst standing in the open doorway, .........
This means I won't be able to post my blog any time soon.
We even checked that we paid our last bill (yep, on 23rd Nov) BUT, of course, we can't find the receipt (and we paid cash); so let's hope we've not been cut off.
This evening we joined A&K at Sasha & Chris's for an Iranian meal; an aubergine and chicken stew (very tasty), crispy rice and salad.

14th December
Lola and I went to an office in Penamacor to try to get us a card for green diesel (like red diesel in uk), we would save 20-30 cents a litre. Unfortunately the guy said our tractor needed to be matriculated (licenced to drive on the road), which it isn't - so now we need to try to matriculate it (but the guy said it was very complicated). I took Lola to O Cave for lunch, to say thank you for trying (she was my interpreter).
Lobby, the bitch, ran off this evening; last time she did this was in the summer (August 21st to be precise) so we've let our guard down. It's worrying because several people we know have lost dogs (and because they're lost you never know what's happened to them). Fortunately she was back within two hours and is now in 'the dog house'!

15th December
Well I take it back, operation 'pig move' worked a treat; big boar followed Brett and the bucket, I kept the other two following by gesticulating and waving the shepherd's crook. We now have three very happy pigs in over an acre of scrub - I wonder how long it will take them to clear it!

Spot the pigs (there's two pigs in this photo)

Big boar .....

Ok, UK presents ordered and paid for (internet shopping) - I'm no longer smug about my Christmas shopping!
This evening we watched 'Gravity' (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney); I spent the whole film tensed and holding my breath!!!
It was tipping it down with rain when the film finished, we started worrying about the sheep and goats so ...... head torches and wellies on and a bucket of food, up we trudged to their field, called, and, with Sharon in the lead, the whole flock ran straight into their shed (it was rather hard to count all eighteen with them milling around, but we're confident they're all in there) and now we can sleep comfortably in our bed knowing they're safe and warm. On the way back Brett checked on the pigs - they had found their shelter and were sensibly sleeping inside.
Apart from the lack of solar we don't mind this weather as long as our animals are comfortable.
Brett is working tomorrow.

16th December
I had a restless night; I spent it rehearsing moving the sheep from the shed to the field, on my own, whilst avoiding the horned ram (round and round my head it went all night).
When the actual event happened it was easy - they were so interested in their food they went straight into their field (after all that rehearsal I forgot the shepherd's crook - it was to ward off horned ram if he attacked!).
Bloody hell there's an icy wind blowing off the mountains; why did I choose today to do the washing? Working outside on the decking, plunging my hands into lukewarm/cold water, was not nice.
This evening we watched 'Pride' a feelgood film.

17th December
A quick trip to CB to exchange our router, and now we're back online!

LINOCUTS ........

31st October
Happy Halloween/Samhain ......
We went into CB to buy the electrical stuff to wire up the studio/workshop for lighting ready for the first spinning group meeting on Thursday.
While we were in Lidl I bought a bag of sweets for any 'trick or treaters' that might come to the quinta (well the Portuguese equivalent that they do on 1st Nov, All Saint's Day), Brett says I'm wasting my time and money!!!

1st November
All Saint's Day
Of course we didn't get and 'trick or treaters'!
Brett continueded the wiring whilst I rearranged the studio so that I have the table for electrical tools (solder iron, light box, grinder etc) close to the plug sockets - it actually looks much more spacious now.
I keep trying different ways to use the milk kefir - I find it rather acidic in shakes and cream cheese; today I made it into cheesecake (happy Brett).
By the end of the day I had usable lights (happy me!).

2nd November
Day of the Dead
I made chocolate fridge cake (for spinning club), chicken liver pate (for taking to dinner at P&M's on Friday), barbecued ribs (for tonight's dinner).
I leaded up my latest roundel (the one with a slice of agate); hopefully I'll have time to solder it tomorrow.
The Kefir cheesecake is actually ok (as I made it lemony anyway), so at last I've found a way to use milk kefir. Fortunately I really like the water kefir.

3rd November
Brett wired up the sockets in the workshop/studio ready for the arrival of the generator.
We had a few last minute cancellations for spinning and ended up with six participants (well five participants and Lola who came for the gossip and wine!) - me, Mary, Sasha, Jo & Karina. It was a jolly meeting we all (not Lola) managed to spin some wool with a potato and knitting needle. As Jo doesn't drink alcohol I gave her water kefir; after drinking a litre she was drunk!!!! It's less than 0.5% alcohol (sorry Jo!).
Brett had a male gathering, in the house (Vince, Chris and two sons); it was gone midnight when people left.

4th November
Heavy rain; we took the afternoon off, lit the range and watched a film 'Anomalisa' - weird!
We, along with Thomas & Diane, were invited to dinner at P&M's unfortunately Diane's car broke down so they couldn't come (we did offer to pick them up).
Pam had sorted all her surplus clothes to sell ready for their move, I got first choice - I spent 50€.

5th November
Karina knows of a knitting machine for sale, so we (Karina, Jo and me) went to look at it. It turned out it was being sold by an English woman (Anna) in Medelim. Unfortunately it couldn't cope with our homespun wool, so I'm a bit undecided (Karina and Jo are keener); I would be very interested in a spinning wheel though!

6th November
It's getting decidedly chilly overnight.
Jo & Gordon need some fencing doing while they are away, we took Chris to meet them this morning and talk about the job. Came away with lunch - two parasol mushrooms.
Lazy day today as Brett is working for Annika Monday and Tuesday.

7th November
Ice on the animal's water this morning.
I spent most of the morning cleaning out the fridge; Brett keeps complaining there's no space in there (it's all my milk kefir, water kefir grains and various preserves he's actually moaning about!). Anyway I threw lots out (well in the pig bucket) so it's quite roomy now.
I had an email from our estate agents asking us to contact Utility Warehouse re an unpaid bill. I phoned UW, of course they wouldn't give me any particulars, as the bill isn't in our name, but they're inferring that our last tenants left with outstanding debts. Now WE have to send UW all kinds of paperwork, to prove we're not liable for the debt and to make sure the service isn't interrupted as we have a new tenant being vetted atm.

8th November
Another icy start to the day. Brett working.
Horrible finish to the day ......

9th November
Well we weren't expecting that ..... Trump being elected as President of USA (rather like Brexit!).
It was bookclub today, but I didn't go, as I wasn't feeling sociable.

10th November
Jo & Gordon treated us to lunch at O Cave, I ate far too much (soup and bread roll, squid, chips and salad, fruit salad (which I left) and coffee - phew I was full (7€ a head everything included - I could have had a lite of wine too!).
I spent several hours shelling the walnuts that Lola gave us, it's a jolly long winded job.
This evening I tried out the long looms that Pam and I bought ages ago - I'm making some leg warmers.

11th November
I cut a linoprint design (3 plates) for this year's Christmas card and started printing it up.

Brett is getting a new area ready for the pigs (behind the studio/workshop) .

12th November
Twelve Christmas cards printed and another design (using gelli plate) started -I LOVE MY STUDIO!!!!!

Brett watched rugby - I played in studio, fab day.
We were contemplating going to the wine and liqueur festa in San Migel De Acha this evening, but, as we were eating dinner, it started raining heavily - and that made our decision!

13th November
I don't like to tempt fate but ..... it's the 3rd month of hunting and Sundays have been blissfully quiet so far.
We went to the carboot sale (as customers not sellers), it was very small; same bric a brac we've seen before, plus a food stall and preserve stall - bought nothing. But I have bartered a nuno felt stole for a stained glass panel!
Carried on with Christmas cards.

14th November
Brett at work
Karina and Emily came to pick up some of our Muscovy ducklings; as we were catching them I got a nasty wound on my little finger (muscovy's have sharp claws on their feet), it bled for ages (and is rather painful).
This evening we volunteered to take Judith and her dog to the vet's in Penamacor ....... after we'd been waiting for about 10 minutes (you have to arrive early) a man turned up to say the vet wouldn't be coming as he's in Argentina.

15th November
Brett at work.
I had a long list of chores to do including sending all the necessary paperwork to the estate agents; I needed to print a risk assessment form off the internet - typically, today, the internet stopped working! But I did do the washing, make bread

(sour dough, thank you Karina) make kefir cheese, design and cut a new Linocut for Christmas cards, shell acorns and leave to leach (tanning) in water, plus my daily chores.

16th November
Bloody estate agent, every year they ask us for more and more information (never keeping a copy of what they've already had) today I posted a letter that weighed 65g (4 stamps) and we use thin paper! They needed proof that we owned the house (they've been letting it out for us for 4 years!), 2 proofs of identity for Brett, risk assessment for Legionella, electrical certificate, insurance certificate, energy efficiency rating (or whatever it's called) certificate for the house, two page form filled in re all other information needed, it just went on and on, makes me very cross .......

17th November
Bloody sheep!!!! I was feeding them this morning, they had an altercation and somehow I got bashed in the side of my knee - now I can hardly walk!
Today was a bitter sweet day; we said goodbye to a friend who died last week. His ashes were scattered at his quinta. We had a nice little informal ceremony; his family said a few words, we toasted his memory and went for a meal.
My goodness be careful what you put on social media. Our estate agents wrote to us today with links to our prospective tenant and her boyfriend's Facebook pages; they have told massive lies on their application form and the estate agents 'strongly advise' that we don't approve their application unless certain conditions are met.

18th November
Brett is building a shed at the front of the house to house our solar equipment and a freezer.
I work on Christmas cards whilst limping a lot.

These are gelliprints not lino prints (the Merry Christmas is on a different card!)

Obviously ditto!

19th November
We got rid of some more Muscovys, so now they all fit in their shed - it was getting quite a squeeze.
Brett watched rugby so I spent my time in the studio on a new linocut which I hope I will be able to use on glass (if the new generator ever arrives!!!!!) and paper/card.

We had a lovely evening at Vince & Lola's, didn't get home until after midnight (which is really good for me as I usually fall asleep around 11!).

20th November
I heard two shots in the distance .......
Raining more or less all day. I worked in the studio while Brett cooked lunch, then we watched Briget Jones's Baby - very predictable! And this evening we watched The Girl on the Train - not as good as the book.

21st November
Gloomy, rainy, no solar charging going on .......
I printed some greeting cards (from my new linocut) for my craft stock.

Jolly chilly tonight .......

22nd November
The generator arrived today, all 170 kilos (that's 374lbs) of it! And we had to get it off our truck. Fortunately we bought a block and tackle the other day (in preparation for pig butchering) which made the process quite easy.
The solar shed floor is concreted; it won't take Brett long to build the walls. He'll finish the boiler shed at the same time - which means soon we could have a proper shower!!!
Some dastardly critter has eaten all our goose eggs! Mrs Goose has been laying eggs in her nest (the same nest she was flooded out of last time she tried to sit); last count there were ten eggs in there. After I had put them away this evening I looked to see if she'd laid any more and the nest was empty. Something has taken at least ten eggs; there were no shells or debris left, just an empty nest.......

AUTUMN BABIES ........

8th October
I went to feed the ewe this morning and the lamb was dead; now, of course, we're questioning and berating ourselves - why didn't we check it was feeding properly (I'm sure I saw it feeding, it had it's head up under the ewe and it's tail was wagging), not that we know why it died, it was very small and thin, very sad (but as the saying says "where there's livestock there's dead stock!). Feeling bad .....
And to make us feel worse our cat has disappeared; we haven't seen her since Monday or Tuesday - we're kind of hoping she's down at the new peoples (rather than being trapped somewhere or dead), but I've called and called in that direction so it's not looking good.

9th October
Today we went for lunch to Nicky and Rich's (they're back for a few weeks); we had a barbecue and came home laden with fruit and bread for the pigs (we took them winter squash and sweet potatoes).

10th October
9.00 ALL the goats and sheep had been fed and were hanging around the troughs (hoping for seconds?).

10.00 We were taking the second lot of sweet potatoes over to the sheds for storage, as usual all the goats and sheep followed us up the track - bar one, no sign of Hazel ....... found her standing next to her new born kid!!!! Another Mini-me, very cute AND she's definitely feeding!

So Brett saw Margo in her garden this afternoon and asked if she'd seen our cat, "oh yes, she's inside asleep on the sofa" was her reply - they've bloody well stolen her!!!! Now we've got to get her back without falling out with them.

11 October
Autumn has arrived; there's a definite chill in the air and the sun has disappeared. I am wearing layers with a jumper, leggings, socks and boots. And making, warm, nourishing, soup (from our own veg - carrots, squash and onions).
Poor old Lily had to go to the vet's this evening; she's such a stoic little dog, she just stood there while he did all kinds of nasty things to her, she didn't whimper, snap or snarl - bless her. I love that little bitch .......
Yay, we have RAIN!!!!!

12th October
We had to go into CB today as Brett needed to go to the dentist; his latest filling had fallen out (he wasn't charged to replace it). I bought an umbrella (as it was pouring with rain and we needed one). Then we treated ourselves to lunch out; we actually got it half price as the kebab restaurant has a loyalty card which is stamped each time you eat there and we had enough stamps for a free meal.

13th October
Pam came round for a sewing day (I copied the pattern of a dress she bought when we went back to the UK).
Our cat graced us with her presence for about half an hour this afternoon - she's FAT!!!!! Goodness knows how much they're feeding her, and she probably sleeps all day too, I need to have words with them.
5.00 Brett started feeling queasy ........ then he started being violently ill.
I ate supper on my own (Brett went to bed 6.30ish).

14th October
I went to bed feeling fine but not able to sleep, then I started feeling queasy, 4.00 a.m. I started with the violent expulsions ........
OMG have I poisoned Pam? We had soup, bread and cheese for lunch yesterday. Phew, I checked she was fine! So I'm blaming the Kebab lunch we had on Wednesday!
We spent most of the day in bed feeling pretty rough. At 7.00 we had a slice of toast and a cup of tea. 8.30 I went to bed.
Fingers crossed we feel rejuvenated in the morning.

15th October
I had a brilliant night's sleep, got up at 8.00. Did the animals (found a sheep and her black lamb in the shed with Hazel and her kid!).
9.30 Hazel comes bleating up to the house, she's lost her kid; I searched to no avail, not worried yet as she did this last time - the kids go to sleep in the scrub behind the studio and are very well camouflaged.
10.00 went to check on Brett, who wasn't up; apparently he had a rotten night, up every 20 mins, so still feeling rough.
We checked the sheep had milk and that it was coming out, the lamb appears to be feeding and it has a round belly, so fingers crossed it'll be ok.
11.30 kid found.
12.00 kid lost ....... this went on all day, and each time she was lost Hazel came to the house to tell us!
I finished my dress and dyed it.

This evening I had a bit of a relapse, just feeling queasy and headachy.

16th October
Still not 100%!
I spent the morning in the shed finding stuff to carboot next Saturday.
Hazel spent all day coming to the house to tell us her kid was missing. We've found the kid's hiding place, behind a pallet of bags of cement in the pole barn; but, regardless of how many times we show her, Hazel never looks there!
I spent time in the studio on another sandblasted panel.

17th October
Our stomachs are still feels a bit queasy when we eat, but we're not ill any longer.
Today we foraged some Chicken of the Woods - don't know when we'll fancy eating it though!

I leaded up most of my panel, I might even get it soldered tomorrow?
Well after saying I didn't fancy it we had the Chicken of the woods for dinner, in a creamy cheese sauce with pasta twists - it was absolutely delicious!
Poor old Lil is 'not right', we'll take her to a different vet tomorrow (one who speaks English).

18th October
Happy Birthday LOOBY - today is her official birthday as we have had her 3 years today.
I didn't get any glass done as we had to take Lily to the vet.
OMG Lily has been showing symptoms for a couple of months, we've wormed her, had her anal glands emptied and today took her to a vet in Castelo Branco ....... she (the vet) says all her symptoms point to roundworms (which we had originally diagnosed) but that the worming treatment (injection) we have been getting from the Penamacor vet doesn't actually treat these worms (it is made for farm animals not pets!) - so all this time we haven't been protecting our dogs from worms! They now have to be treated every 3 months; thank goodness they're easy to give pills to.

19th October
I leaded up my first 'Hare' panel - I'm going to make a series.

Another black lamb born today - it's going to be crowded in the maternity shed this evening!

20th October
We dismantled the swimming pool - it wasn't nearly as much fun as assembling it!
Brett had his first bonfire (we were forbidden up to 16th Oct because of fire risk).
I soldered my Hare panel and masked off the sandblasting in preparation for cementing (my least favorite job).
Mini-me, goat kid (renamed Tinkerbell), is so cute; whilst we are milking her mother she insists on sitting on my lap - it drives the dogs made with jealousy!

21st October
I can't believe I'm still feeling queasy, it's over a week now.
We've had a few drab days so the solar is really low - fridge and freezer turned off.

22nd October
We were up early (7.00) to go to the carboot sale. The animals were perplexed as it was still dark (and pouring with rain) as we let them out and fed them.
We arrived to set up at 8.15, bringing Nicky and Rich with us. There were only four other stalls (Pete & Alan, Dee & Craig, Gary and a Swedish group selling milk kefir products) i.e. six in total.
It was very slow going, but picked up around 11.00, we took around 80€; although it was advertised 9.00-15.00 we (and everyone else) left around 13.00 as it had gone very quiet.
I masked off another Hare design (boxing hares) ready for sandblasting.
Sharon wasn't interested in food this evening, we think she might give birth tonight (of course it's torrential rain out there!).

23rd October
Brett checked Sharon before he came to bed, I went out in the early hours, no sign of a kid and she's eating - OMG Brett checked her over this morning - she's got blowfly under her tail! We brought her into the pole barn, cleaned her up and applied lots of products (insect killer, antibiotic etc) and she now seems much happier.
I always seem to be complaining about my woes, today it's back ache - I can hardly walk. We think it's from yesterday when I tripped at the carboot.
I cemented the Hare panel, made some wide heart lead so that I can plate a piece of glass with a slice of agate, to make another roundal.

24th October
Sharon spent a peaceful night.
We went into CB as the weather was atrocious. We didn't need much, but had lunch out (avoiding the kebab place!). I had a strawberry and banana smoothie (though it was more like a slush puppy) my goodness I got the most horrendous brain freeze ...... my head was pounding, my vision blurred (I thought I was having a stroke!), it lasted for several minutes, needless to say I didn't finish my lunch.
Evenings are now spent in candlelight as the solar isn't being charged during these wet, gloomy days.

25th 0ctober
Raining, dull, dismal .....

26th October
Happy Birthday Lawrence xxxxxx
Alfie (our friends' dog) has started chasing our sheep, today he had cornered one of the lambs; we've told them twice now, can't think how we're going to resolve this without falling out (because we've shot their dog!).
We took some of our ducklings to Alex & Karina and now their neighbours want to buy some from us.
Cut out another roundel, using the plated slice of agate as the center.
Sharon is improving daily; today she came into the workshop a couple of times and started helping herself to food!

27th October
I got up and dressed like I've been dressing for the past couple if weeks - underwear, vest, leggings, dress, jumper, socks and boots. By 11.00 I had decided I was ill, I was obviously running a fever I was sweating so much ...... then Brett pointed out it was 27C!!!!!
I made a batch of Tomatillo chutney; Jo & Gordon came for coffee, Gordon kept saying how good the chutney smelt - if we see them before they go he will have a jar for his birthday present (I like a man that appreciates chutney!).
Brett dug the footings for the battery shed
I dug up the last of the sweet potatoes.

28th October
We visited a newly arrived family, as they had bales of hay for sale. Unfortunately the hay was drenched in the rain last week. They have a fabulous plot; it's very close to Spain, bordering a lake, with far reaching views - just stunning.

29th October
Happy Birthday Gordon. X
I spent ALL DAY cleaning and cooking - I was knackered by the time our guests arrived (Andrew, Chris & Do, Stuart & Helen). We tried to make it, as much as possible, a quinta grown meal - chicken (yep) cooked in milk (goat's) with sage (yes) and garlic for the meat eaters, chicken of the woods (foraged from track to quinta) 'stroganoff' for the veggies, roasted sweet potatoes (oh yes!) and chard (it's sprung up since the rain), chocolate mousse (our eggs). They arrive before 7.00, I left them and went to bed at 12.30, I think they left around 2.00 a.m. We consumed .....17 bottles of beer, 4L of white wine and 3-4 bottles of red wine!!!

30th October
A rather relaxed day today.
We found some parasol mushroom for lunch;

we had them, cooked in garlic butter, on toast - delicious.
This evening I made chai from scratch (cardamom pods, fresh ginger, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, black tea, sugar, water, milk) it was really good.

31st October
Trip into CB to get electrical stuff to wire up the studio/workshop.
Ok Mark you can stop nagging, I've updated!!!!!

LAMBING ....... AGAIN!!!!!

13th September
My last day in UK, back to Portugal tomorrow.
Poor old Will was ill all night and all today (so I didn't get to spend much time with him).
I had fun with Alexandra and Lawrence, when they came home, making a cardboard house and car for 'Mary the tooth fairy' (she writes letters to Alexandra).
Ok so I topped up by £20 (which included a 40 minute bundle to phone Brett) on Wednesday evening (when I arrived six days ago), I had used all that credit by this morning (as soon as my 40 minute bundle went I was paying £1 per minute to call Brett!). I topped up by another £20 (again with a 40 minute bundle), I phone Brett this evening and was cut off after 7 minutes (exactly) and now have no credit ..... Not even enough to phone Orange to complain (costs 25p) and they don't have a 'contact us' email address - I am totally fed up.

14th September
Will drove me to Collumpton, about 1/2 an hour from him, near to where Pam has been staying all week (!), so that Pam could drive us to the airport (it seemed a waste of Will's time to take me).
And then we nearly missed our plane!!!!!! We arrived at the airport in plenty of time, did a little shopping (we both bought new phones - they're unlocked and take two Sim cards at the same time). I topped up and phoned Orange - they were having problems yesterday, I was compensated with the £20 top up (from yesterday), including the 40 minute bundle! So I phoned Brett (to try to use it up), then Pam phoned Mark, then we went for a coffee, then there was an announcement "this is the last call for the Bristol to Lisbon flight" ............ then we had to RUN with our bags to the boarding gate, it seemed like we'd been 'running' (fast waddling walk more like) for miles when we passed a sign '3 minutes to gate 11' - panic, we waddled faster ....... obviously we made it!
Our hostel was interesting, we had bunk beds - I bagsied the bottom (using my 'age card').
We had a relaxing evening, went out for a meal, bought a bottle of Lambrusco and sat, drinking, on the hotel terrace before taking showers.

15th September
6.00 alarm
7.00 taxi
7.10 arrive at station
8.23 train
We weren't going to miss this one! But we did nearly forget to get off (we were so busy talking), the train stopped, I said "isn't this our stop?", we had to scrabble all our belongings together ......
HOME, it's good to be home! But I am so tired, all I've done for two days was sit, but I'm shattered.

16th September
Life on the quinta resumed (last week seems like a dream already). I picked THREE BUCKETS of ripe tomatoes and a bucket of apples.
Started processing tomatoes (passata); clean,chop out core, throw in food processor, strain off tomato water (save for drinking/cooking with), boil and simmer, pass through Mouli sieve (to remove skins and seeds), simmer until pulpy, bottle, water bathe for 30 minutes - done! 10lbs of tomates only fills ONE 2L jar.
Made a double batch of chocolate fridge cake as we're invited to Diane's daughter's wedding tomorrow.
It's cooler 30C, much easier on us AND the solar is working, fully charged by lunch time - thus suggesting/confirming(?) that heat was the culprit for our poor summer solar.

17th September
Made a card, unpacked my glass, invited Christine for lunch on Wednesday (to discuss my FIRST COMMISSION!) - must tidy up studio!
2nd wedding this month: apart from Thomas & Diane we only knew Pam & Mark, which isn't good as neither of us are good at approaching strangers. The bride looked radiant, the ceremony was relaxed, an actor friend was officiating (like Joey), the bride whipped out her phone in the middle of the ceremony???? She had her vows written on it - so modern!
Unfortunately food hadn't been served before we had to leave, to put animals away; we intended to return but, when Pam replied to our text ("is there any food left if we come back?) the speeches had started, so we cooked and relaxed at home.

18th September
Continuing processing tomatoes, today I skinned them first 17lbs took me all morning!!!! Note to self: next year grow round tomatoes for bottling as Costoluto Genovese tomatoes are hard to skin as the skins tuck into the creases!

2 x 2L and 1 x 1L jars of passata today.

We're watching a good comedy series in the evenings 'Catastrophe' written by, and starring, Sharon Horgan.

19th September
More tomato processing; this time salad and tomato sauce.
Oh dear, our tenants have given us a month's notice; a shame as they were good and reliable.
It also means we have to stick to a stricter budget; initially that might be fun, but I'm sure it will pall if we don't get new tenants soon.
Pam & Mark put their quinta up for sale in August (200,000€, they bought at the same time as us for less than us), they've actually had a few viewers. I don’t want them to leave (but at that price I'm not really worried).

20th September
I helped Brett get the roofing sheets up on the roof of his pole barn - I'm going to ache tomorrow.

I have a prospective client (Christine) coming for lunch tomorrow; I spent the afternoon in the studio drawing designs.

21st September
Happy Birthday Helen XXX
The morning was spent cleaning and cooking.
I have a definite commission for six panels (transom lights/fanlights above two doors).

22nd September
Into CB to get food as mini-P has shut down for 3 weeks for refurbishing.
We found the craft shop that Karina told me about. I bought some (hobby) glass paint to experiment with until my kiln is working - when I got home I realised I'd bought the wrong stuff, so will have to go back and change it!
I spent the afternoon in the studio practicing glass cutting.

Daft dogs relaxing!!!

23rd September
I'm making a Nautilus shell roundel (I'm doing my version of something I saw on the internet) I cut all the glass today and masked off the centre for sandblasting.
I made chocolate fridge cake as we were invited to C&D's for dinner, Stuart (new neighbour) was the cook.
Brett clad the back of the new barn.
It was a good evening, we ate (well flavored vegetable curries) under the stars (me covered in Deet!), gossiped, drank and put the world to rights.

24th September
We're still harvesting vegetables (even though we have stopped watering)- buckets of tomatoes, the tomatillos have started, aubergines have been good this year, windfall apples (I need to pick them before they all fall off), a bucket of plums, onions

AND ....... SWEET POTATOES!!!!

From one potato I grew about 50 slips (I was giving them away), today we dug up half our harvest OMG with just these we have 50 - 60 pounds and some of them are HUGE.
And now I have to process it all ........

25th September
Only one and three quarters x 2L jars of Passata from one and a half buckets of tomatoes! Homesteading is time consuming work.
Feeling a bit rough as I have earache.


26th September
Still have earache.
We visited M&M today at their new quinta; they have added a strawbale extension to a stone cottage, it's going to be stunning when it's completed.
Processing apples (for chili apple jelly and perhaps some jars with other herbs added), also made beetroot ketchup and fruity chilli ketchup.
Brett, added compost to and, rotorvated the garden where we grew potatoes, it's at the top of the veg garden so shouldn't flood, in preparation for winter sowing.

27th September
Earache really bad, I haven't slept for two nights - I don’t want to go to the doctor!
I carried on processing fruit and veg; today I made .... HOT Chilli Apple Jelly, Plum Jelly, Georgian Plum Sauce, Bottled Plums.

Bap asked Brett to work for a few days, Brett agreed to go in on Thursday and Friday.

28th September
At least I slept last night, ear still painful and deaf (but I didn't go to the doctor).
Today I made water kefir limeade, milk kefir, Brinjal pickle (Brett likes it).
This afternoon Brett suggested we went down (with a bottle of fizzy wine) to introduce ourselves to our new neighbours, we've been meaning to for a while. I looked down at what I was wearing - my favorite dress, but unfortunately with worn holes where my pointy bits are! I searched for something else to wear ..... all I could find was winter clothes and posh frocks, everything else was in the washing. I had to put on the cleanest, dirty, dress I could find; so tomorrow is washing day!  Our new neighbours (Margo and Trish) seem very nice.
Brett is working tomorrow.

29th September
Brett went off to work for 8.00 (not such an early start as mornings are darker).
I did the washing, still feeling crap so that's all I did (well I cooked a chilli too, and fed and watered the animals, and swept and washed the floor, so basically the washing was just my extra task of the day) .....
OMG I've just had a message from Pam - they've accepted an offer on their quinta (she won't tell me how much for), I'm in shock!

30th September
Brett working.
My ear doesn't hurt so much but I still can't hear.
I invited Di to lunch as Chris has now been working for 6 weeks, which was lovely.
Then when Brett came home we all (Us, C&D, Stuart and Bap) all went to the bar.
So a nice sociable day.
While we were putting away the poultry we think Lily was stung/bitten on her foot, she was very distressed, we gave her a half tablet of antihistamine. It took her half an hour to calm down.

1st October
And this morning she's 'as right as rain' ...... oooh rain, we could do with some of that!
Less ear pain but still can't hear!
Marc & Mieke and Vince & Lola were supposed to come for dinner, but I postponed until next Tuesday.

2nd October
We dug up the second lot of sweet potatoes, one weighed over a kilo!

Our new neighbours came to visit (they brought us a sack of dog biscuits, we gave them eggs). They no longer need the dog biscuits as they are convinced that Paddy/Pig (who Gary left behind) has been shot dead; they heard/saw him and another dog sheep worrying, then lots of shouting and yelping, he came home having been beaten. He went out the next day, two shots were heard, and he hasn't been seen since (that was 3 weeks ago).
We took the dogs for a walk down to the river, most of it was bone dry with a few shallow stagnant pools.

3rd October
We went into CB town centre, I bought some sticky backed plastic from the craft shop (the stuff from Casas China was useless) to use as a mask for sandblasting. This afternoon I had great fun playing (experimenting) with my sandblaster.
Nick is back from the UK I'm hoping he might be able to solve my kiln - generator problem.
Brett dug out the foundations for the shed he's building to house the hot water boiler ..... once it's built we'll be putting in a proper shower!!!!
This evening we had guests for dinner (Vince & Lola and M&M). I cooked some marinated turkey and sweet potatoes in the gas oven, it took two and a half hours for it all to cook, we kept turning it up but all that did was burn more at the bottom - I hate this oven! Apart from that it was a fun evening, except I was sworn to secrecy on P&M's quinta sale, I was bursting to tell them).

4th October
Slight hangover ......
I did more sandblasting and leaded up the roundel I'm making, tomorrow I will solder it.

5th October
Roundel soldered .......

Brett has been looking at generators so I might be able to do kiln work soon.

6th October
Roundel cemented (my least favorite job!).

Well we had a surprise this afternoon ......

we didn't realise the ewe was pregnant (she had a lamb 8 months ago, we had been told that they gave birth twice a year).
Watch a really weird film 'Kill List', I don’t get what it was all about - I even looked the plot up on the internet and am still confused!

7th October
Happy Birthday Jo xxx
Today was fun, I did a load of sandblasting,

Brett put in a concrete floor for the boiler shed, then we went to the bar.......

WEDDING (not mine!!!!!) ..........

15th August
Happy Birthday Kathryn X
Brett was back at work today and I played 'catch up' after having a day off yesterday.

16th August
First thing this morning (well 8.00) I had to lock the cat in the shed, with no food or drink, as she was off to the vet this afternoon to be spayed - she wasn't happy!
So 1.45 Brett came home from work, I'd already fed and watered sheep, watered pigs again, walked dogs etc. He put generator away (as it had a broken wheel and is too heavy for me to lift), checked the animals, and then off we went (the cat's appointment was for 3.00); halfway to the village he screeched to a halt ...... "we've forgotten the cat"!!!!! Oh dear we could so easily have got to the vet's without her!
We were given an hour to do our shopping (I forgot masses), then it was back to the vet to pick up the cat. She was rather subdued (understandably) but started meowing as we neared home ..... "Are you sure that's our cat? It doesn't sound like her" Brett says "well it's our (actually Pam's) cat carrier" was my reply - we hadn't actually checked the cat, so we stopped the car and looked ...... off course it was our cat!
Poor Jasmine can't walk, she's locked in the dog's shed with food, water and a litter tray, but she keep falling over - it's horrible to watch, hopefully she'll be better tomorrow.

17th August
Happy Birthday Henry, have a fabulous day! XXXXX
The cat is so much better, she was up on the wall of the shed, purring, meowing and complaining about being locked in. She can go out in a couple of days, she's got to take medicine twice a day for the next eight days.
I don't like this Brett working lark (1) obviously I miss him (2) it's boring here on my own (3) it's exhausting doing all his chores as well as mine! And then he comes home tired and falls asleep after dinner.

18th August
Zoe, Tim and their children came to lunch today. And poor old Brett went to work ...
Oh dear Gary came up this afternoon very distressed (it was his birthday) and he'd come home to find one of his dogs dead - he's convinced it was (1) killed by a big white dog that's been hanging around lately (probably one of Looby's beaus!). (2) shot or poisoned by any one of the humans that he (G) has upset recently. (3) stung by a scorpion/snake. I was upset for him but couldn't confirm any of his theories.

19th August
What a shitty start to the day.
Brett was up and out early (to start work at 6.30).
I was forced out of bed at 6.45 by the dogs; they were being driven mad by a dog outside crying and whining pitifully. It was between us and Andrew - I spent ages trying to locate it but it shut up as soon as I went down to our boundary so it was impossible to pinpoint (I could have let the dogs show me but they would have run off and Looby is on heat - it could even be a tethered dog reacting to her smell!). But it was worrying after Gary's dog yesterday.
While I watered the garden this morning I shut the dogs in the goose field (as Lobby can now crawl under the Portuguese gate across the track); I had to go and rescue Looby .......
She had her head under the gate, trying to crawl under it, so her bottom was stuck up in the air and there were four geese pecking at her!!!! I should have had a camera, so funny (obviously) not for Looby! Lily was running backwards and forwards behind the geese, not knowing how to help.
So when Brett came home I told him about the distressed dog, he reckons it's 'Kate Moss' a stray (left behind one weekend by hunters) that C&D have taken in - what a relief.

20th August
Andrew has gone back to the uk, he said we could have any tomatoes left on his vines as they would be dead by the time he came home ...... I had great fun picking his veg whilst Brett spoke to his neighbour (she's lonely!). I'll make the tomatoes into ketchup (Andrew gave me his recipe) or paste.
I played in the studio, I want to make another green man panel .......
We have ducklings!!! The ducks are sitting tight atm, so we can't see how many but it looks like a good few (there were 12 eggs in each nest). I put Mr Muscovey away in the turkey shed so there shouldn't be any overnight accidents.

21st August
Bloody dogs got me up at 6.30; I think they're used to the early start with Brett working.
Gary gave me an update on his dogs; another one has died - the vet think's it could be poisoning, but needed 100€ for samples to be sent off and analysed (so that's not going to happen).
We took the day off and went to Meimao barragem. Where we usually go (away from the Madding Crowd) doesn't have any shade so we decided to drive further around to the opposite bank ...... about 40 minutes later, driving along dusty, potholed, narrow tracks (with a steep drop to the water) we were less than halfway round (it's huge), we arrived at a tarmac road and a village. At this point we gave up and drove back along the tarmac road to our usual spot!

This evening Looby went off, she's been threatening all week.

22nd August
Up at 6.15 after practically no sleep; Looby is still missing, we're getting really worried now, she's never been gone for this long before (2 - 3 hours max). Of course I'm imagining the most scary scenarios (down a well, in a trap, poisoned, run over, shot, attacked by the big white dog ......).
9.00 a.m. she finally showed up (missing for 13 hours) apart from being absolutely shattered she appears to be fine, so relieved.
The ducklings came out today, so cute!

Thomas & Diane came to pick up my (newish, green) food mixer (it has a meat grinder and sausage stuffer on it), as they've had their pigs slaughtered. Thomas walked towards the decking, opened the pizza oven door and immediately got stung, just below his eye, by a wasp (they're nesting in the oven).
40+ on the decking (the heat is back).
I'm feeling so happy this afternoon and all I can put it down to is Looby being back (I was so worried), she's now on a long lead!

23rd August
I slept really well until Brett left for work and the dogs started whining!
7.30: Looby is now on a long rope tied to the decking; pacing backwards and forwards, whilst squeaking. The big white dog, who isn't intimidated by me (or buckets of water) is pacing the other side of the decking. The cat keeps coming in the kitchen, I chase her out (but not off the decking, because of big white dog). And Lily is eating Looby's breakfast (she's already eaten her own!). Chaos!!!
9.00 Animals all let out/fed/watered/checked etc. but I am slightly worried as the BWD (big white dog) was in the field with the sheep! He doesn't appear threatening to them, the field is too big for me to chase him out (anyway he ignores me!) and he can just jump the fences (he is BIG).
The I found him sleeping in the shade around the back of the house, he just ambled off when I shouted at him ..... Pam came round for coffee, she says BWD is her neighbour's dog and Brinka's son - they are sheep dogs (they guard the flocks) which explains why he's good with sheep.
So today was as hot as it's been all summer and I make a batch of tomato ketchup

and then brinjal pickle!!! Sweaty Betty ........
Ooooh, I didn't need to see that!!!! I had Looby attached to the decking on a long lead, she was under it the last time I checked, then I looked out of the window, she had a huge grin on her face whilst being humped by BWD! Brett is now worried that she wasn't properly spayed and could be pregnant!

24th August
Last night we went to the festa in Aldeia de Bispo; Chicken in the Woods were playing, so Brett had today off (he's working Saturday instead) - have to say I'm getting fed up with him being at work, it was only supposed to be 2 or 3 weeks it's going to be at least double that!
Experimenting in the studio, I want to do some sandblasting, got a few ideas.

25th August
03.00 I was outside with Looby (on a lead); no she didn't need the toilet, she just wanted to go outside (bitch!). Then as soon as Brett left she started again (I can feel myself getting stressed).
BWD was hanging around all morning; I carry a stick and stones everytime I go out (he is not intimidated by me, I've shouted myself hoarse), I also have to keep both dogs on leads, as Lily is convinced she can 'have him' - I know for a fact that he's wounded two dogs badly (Pig/Paddy and Betty, and probably Kate Moss), so I don’t want her getting too close to him and I'm slightly concerned for my own safety. He can jump over all our fences and gates, there's no way I can keep him out.
We had real rain this afternoon, it was lovely .....

26th August
More rain and storms overnight. Brett went to work, arrived back at 7.00; Bap was still asleep - he'd obviously been awake all night trying to keep water out of his house.
It was lovely and cool this morning, but 36 by this afternoon.
Took the day off and went into CB to look at generators (I think Brett wanted to get away from the village in case he was asked to go back and work a short day!).
Great, now Looby's suitors are, standing outside the decking, howling! She has two BWD and Paddy/Pig (from now to be known as SBD - short black dog).

27th August
And now Alfie has become an admirer!
I answered a post on FB, somebody wanting a Kombucha scooby. I managed to get rid of a large piece of scooby and, of course, some kefir grains. A nice young couple in the process of buying land in Mata de Rainha or Santa Margarida (my memory is rubbish!).
Thank goodness, we've more or less got our Looby back; she's more interested in us than going off ....

28th August
We harvested our pumpkins this morning, we have over 50!

Butternut and Crown Prince

The yellow ridged and warty green are from locally sourced seeds.

Etampes (large, flat, orange), the left most are supposed to be Turks Turban 

but I think they've crossed with something else!

Looby has now started to bleed! She might be off to the vet tomorrow. ....
This afternoon we went to a BBQ at Paul's house (Brett's cycling buddy). And tomorrow Brett is back at work.

29th August
I don’t want to tempt fate but, ever since Brett turned off the drinks fridge (it came from our holiday cottage in Wales) our solar has been better.
Looby seemed fine today, no bleeding, no male visitors; so does she need to see a vet? This is so difficult, Looby hates the car (both our dogs do!), she will throw up a couple of times on the way to CB (I have to sit next to her with a plastic bag to catch it!) and then we have to explain to a vet, in Portuguese, what is wrong with our dog. She's absolutely fine in herself, eating well, full of energy. We don't want her to have an exploratory operation, to see if there's a piece of ovary tissue inside her, if it's not necessary, especially as operations/anesthetic = risk.

30th August
Bored with Brett working now, especially as the dogs get me up at 6.30 every morning! Though I am kept busy with all the chores! And I washed (by hand) all my silk dresses ready to pack for my trip back to the UK next week (for Rebecca's wedding) ....... but I don’t have any shoes, no idea what I'll wear on my feet; here I wear the most disgusting, tatty sandals (everyone does, so I'm not out of place), I have boots (but only hand luggage, so probably no room for them and it's too hot to wear them), something else for me to stress about!
Today I saw our cat hunt, catch and eat a lizard/gecko.
So Brett took the dogs for their evening walk whilst I went to bed; I'm awoken by Brett saying that Looby has hurt her foot and can I come and help him look at it.
Looby was in distress; she was hopping around the kitchen on three legs, yelping, whining, howling with pain (she's such a brave dog, not!). We couldn't see any injury and concluded she'd been stung (no idea by what, scorpion, centipede, wasp, bee .....). Brett went to bed (he has to be up at 5.30). I looked up (google) 'dog's been stung' ...... Answer: "if worried take to Vet", what to worry about (1) swollen tongue - check, no swollen tongue, (2) elevated breathing - check, she sounded like a steam train and her breathing was very rapid ..... Answer "take to a vet", Shit no vet is open at midnight, I don’t have an emergency vet's number and most importantly I can't speak Portuguese! However in the back of my mind ..... dogs can be given antihistamine and I do have done somewhere, 'googled' to confirm this is safe, and dosage, meanwhile Looby still whimpering and hopping (trying to climb on my lap). Antihistamine given in some cheese, 1/2 hour later breathing back to normal, Looby sleeping peacefully and I can go back to bed!

31st August
Happy Birthday Mieke!
Oh pooh, Stephanie won't be going to the wedding, poor old Malcolm is ill; I was really looking forward to seeing her (and, of course, Rebecca will be disappointed too).
Looby seemed absolutely fine this morning, it was as if last night didn't happen.
This evening we're going round to M&M's to celebrate Mieke's birthday (plus Lola & Vince). I'm taking a homemade peach (actually nectarine) puree and sparkling wine so I can make Peach Bellini cocktails.

1st September
We had a lovely evening; sitting under the stars eating a typical Belgian buffet and drinking very effervescent Bellinis! Unfortunately we had to leave early so that Brett would get a few hours sleep.
4 weeks of Brett working and me being alone all day, now I'm talking to myself!
I've started getting all my clothes together (for my uk trip) I'm not sure it's all going to fit in my hand luggage (I refused to pay an extra £51 for one case!).
The duckling have accepted both mothers, they wander around in a big family group.

2nd September
Brett's last day at work for a couple of weeks - hooray!
The pool, which was green and soupy a few weeks ago is now sparkle clear - which is good as it's very hot again.

3rd September
P&M came to dinner this evening, we sat outside on the decking and I was eaten alive, so itchy .....

4th September
Happy Birthday Sarah xxx
I had a horrid night, my bites were so itchy I just couldn't sleep.
Hot, hot, hot (41C in the shade) and getting hotter this week!
We packed a picnic and went to the river beach at Benqueranca; it was lovely and shady there, not many people and blissfully cold water with masses of little fish swimming in it.
We met our new neighbour to be, Margo; she's having problems with the completion date, she thinks it's tomorrow (Monday), Gary thinks it's Tuesday - they're all staying down at Gary's (including Margo's sister, her daughter & boyfriend and a couple of friends). Plus they have no internet or working mobiles - so we're expecting a call from their solicitor tomorrow to sort it out!
Had a brainwave today and dyed a air of stripy leggings (black and grey) green - very happy with results.

Bites swollen to 2+" across, incredibly itchy, 'googled' for a remedy ...... now I'm taking antihistamine! Am also covered in Deet.

5th September
The antihistamine worked and I was able to sleep.
OMG it's hot, I'm dripping (and it's only 11.00) .........
42C, in the shade, at 3.00 p.m. ...... and tomorrow is forecast to be hotter! I can't cope! Brett however was out in the sun digging holes for the foundation for his posts for his 'pole barn'.

6th September
44.4 C (IN THE SHADE!!!!!!!!), a thoroughly uncomfortable day - I fly to the UK tomorrow, it's hard to pack as I can't get my head round the fact that it might be cold! Plus, as I refused to pay £51 extra for a luggage allowance, I only have 'hand luggage' so I don't have much room.

7th September
Up at 6.00!!!! And off at 7.15 (Mark picked me up). Pam's train ticket cost her 14.70€, however mine only cost 7.50€ ...... because I'm old!!!!
We had time to spare when we got to Lisbon, so we shoved ours bags into storage and went shopping. I bought a pair of shoes that had been reduced to 9.99, when I paid there was another 40% off - I only paid 5.95€, a real bargain. So after a leisurely morning and brunch we made our way to the airport. Went through customs troublfree (neither of us was searched, though I always feel that I look shifty!) and into 'duty free' where Pam picked up a bottle of perfume, the top came off (it really wasn't her fault), the bottle smashed to the floor showering Pam's feet with scent ....... (you had to be there!). Then onto the plane where we hadn't managed to get seats together.
Helen was waiting for me as I came out of arrivals, holding a sign with "Sandra" written on it in case I didn't recognise her!

8th September
Woke up to RAIN ........
Tried to phone Brett this morning ...... not enough credit, I checked the phone on Tuesday £16+, now 62p - I've made two short calls and a couple of texts!!!! Sent Brett a text, down to 42p???? Why? when texts are supposed to be 1p each and calls 4p/min ........
And Helen's internet is down, so I'm out of communication - don’t like it!
Ok, sorted out phone ....... In Portugal I can use the phone (my English phone) to contact Brett (on Portuguese phone) at 4p/min for a call and 1p for a text, in England it costs me £1/min to call (A WHOLE POUND PER MINUTE, THAT'S 25 X THE PORTUGUESE RATE!!!!!!) and 20p per text (20 X PORTUGUESE RATE!). So I now have a £7 'bundle' that I can use to call Brett which will last for 40 mins.
I've bought glass supplies ....... We went to Creative Glass in Bristol and I bought a load of glass (mainly blues and greens), lead, solder, paint, fiber paper , them my mind went blank (I should have made a list!), I spent £417.17 (including £48 postage) which I thought was very restrained.
Then we went bra shopping, I was even measured! I bought 5 bras from M&S, boring but necessary.
Got home (Helen's), my milk kefir grains had arrived, took Bailey (dog) for a walk along the bay, too knackered to eat out so bought some interesting nibbles and had a relaxing evening in.

9th September
Rebecca & Paul's WEDDING DAY!
It was a fabulous wedding; three different events/venues:
3.00 Wedding Ceremony: Rebecca's dress was stunning; it was silk and exactly the same colour as mine. Paul looked very dashing in a brown suit. The registrar was a lovely lady who made the proceedings appear very personal.
4.00ish: back to R&P's house for champagne and nibbles (I was starving as I'd not had lunch). Everyone milling around and chatting.
6.30 taxis to the restaurant; where we ate drunk and got merry! I spoke to masses of people who I will never remember, but it was all jolly fun.
Then taxis to hotel at just after midnight; paid for my really expensive (single occupancy) room, only to be told it didn't include breakfast ....... Brett didn't appreciate my late night call moaning about it!!!!!!

10th September
Leisurely (expensive) breakfast, followed by what should have been a nice walk along the shore with Sarah and Joyce, but somehow we ended up in a Pottery!
Then off to the cricket club to decorate the marquee for the evening party. I wired up jars, which we filled with flowers and hung overhead, on twine, along the length of the marquee (I did have a niggling worry that the twine might break and guests get hit by falling jars, but it was fine). Lily was in charge (set dressing is a big part of her day job) and the space looked beautiful once we'd finished: jars and jars of fresh flowers, fairy lights, floating candles, giant paper flowers, candlelit pathway to a fire pit, bunting, blankets, etc.
William (& Gillian) and Henry (& Kathryn) came, plus Melanie (and her friend Sarah), unfortunately no Stephanie, and Lesley and Jacob ..... it was a magical evening.

11th September
Happy Birthday Gill xxx
I went back with Will & Gill in their camper van to their home in Devon. We made a bolognese sauce, salad etc then we all (me, W&G, Alexandra, Lawrence, Sandy and Agnes) traveled (camper and car) to Dartmoor for a birthday dinner - great fun.

12th September
Unfortunately the kids went to school and W&G had to work today, so I was left to my own devices, during the day - shame as I wanted to spend time with Will. However I had great fun once Alexandra and Lawrence came home from school; we painted a landscape for dinosaurs (constructed by Will) and made Bouncy Eyeballs and a Crystal Tree (from kits).

GRAND OPENING OF MY STUDIO .....,

26th July
Hottest day so far this year 42.4C in the shade.
Hooray Brett found one of my 'lost' panels - Resurrection.

Poor old Lily is dribbling again, she was exactly the same last year, we took her to two vets (which she hated) they were useless then it cleared up on its own; we think it's the hot weather (she's drinking more) combined with spay incontinence (which is very common). Obviously we'll take her to the vet if she shows signs of illness but atm she's happy, lively, her appetite is good, she's just a bit leaky (poor thing).

27th July
Brett moved into the workshop so now I can organize my space better (I think I need more shelves!!!). Now I have to come up with a method to display my glasswork (without obliterating all the light).

28th July
I was up early, cooking and cleaning as Kevin & Wendy came to lunch and to pick up the kittens (sad to see them go, but at least they went together and we managed to keep them alive).
Apart from an octopus salad, all the food was from the quinta: courgette fritatta, sunblushed tomato salad, mixed salad, griddled aubergine, two types of goats cheese, pickles and relishes, goat milk ice cream, water kefir ......
43C on the deck this afternoon, it's HOT .......

29th July
Hooray, we had a lovely day off; we went to the river beach at Meimoa, with P&M. The river has been dammed, so the water is about 5' deep; it's really cool and refreshing. We had a four course lunch, at the really cheap restaurant; 7€ each, at that price it's not worth cooking! Feeling happy!

30th July
A bit cooler today; it only got to 35C!
Pam came round this morning, I managed to get rid of some kefir grains!
I made Baba Ganoush (Aubergine dip) with a few of the aubergines and put some more tomatoes out to dry in the sun (I can't believe I wasted all that money on a dehydrator, which I can't use because solar doesn't work well in sunny weather!).
This evening we are meeting M&M for dinner, then going to the festa (arts, crafts and local produce) in Penamacor, hopefully this year we will get to hear some music (the bands start really, really late).

31st July
Another late night (bed 2.30) but it was a brilliant evening.
We had dinner at O Jardim, which was ok, it was absolutely heaving and service was poor (understandably). We didn't get out until 10.00 and missed Chicken in the woods playing! However we walked to the very top of Penamacor where the big stage was and, at midnight, saw a brilliant Portuguese band 'Quinta do Bill', kind if Celtic folk meets rock, very talented musicians who all played several different instuments.
We had a lazyish day today, both of us organising our respective spaces. Then, this afternoon, we were invited to join C&D and Bap, at Bar do Clube, for a couple of hours ....... 4 hours later we arrived home, ready for an early night!

1st August
Brett made me two tall tables, for glass cutting/assembly, for the studio.  I sanded them down and painted them, I might apply stencils if I get round to it! He made himself a work bench too.
The turkeys are really suffering with the heat, so bad that one had to be processed today (18lbs)!

I sent out invites for my Grand Opening of the studio (Friday at 3.00),

so for the next few days I'll be making nibbles ......
Today I made chicken liver pate (for my 'party).

2nd August
My goodness it's hot, apparently we've just had the second hottest July since records began.
Brett made me a table for the sandblaster, I painted it purple.
The other two turkeys had to go today, shame because we really liked having them (18lbs and 16lbs).
I picked another 11 cucumbers - I've been picking 4 or 5 daily, these are ones that were hiding in the sweet potatoes! Brett decided he would like cucumber juice, so I made him a jugful - fortunately the pigs like them.
I went in the pool four times today and never felt cool, I went in for the fifth time at 9.40 p.m. (after Brett had topped it up from the well) and then stood in front of the air conditioning - felt cool for the first time today.

3rd August
Went into CB (mainly to book the cat in at the vet's for sterilisation, 16th August).  We went to check on Mark's place while we were in the area - you need a new gate Mark!!!! The shepherd has had his sheep in, so the grass is down a bit. The mulberries were ripening, but quite sour, and there's no plums ..... the olives look good though.
Made more food for 'party' - tapenade (last year's olives) for the vegetarians who can't eat liver pate .... It's the same color!

4th August
I made more Baba Ganoush (this is the Turkish version which has yoghurt in place of tahini - so probably isn't called Baba Ganoush!) as we have loads of aubergines, I'm drying a tray or two of tomatoes daily

and I'm trying out loads of cucumber recipes - today's recipes were a sweet and sour cucumber salad and cucumber and onions in sour cream (I have to wait until tomorrow to try that as the cream takes a few hours to sour using my homemade buttermilk).
Brett spent the day in the storage shed trying to organise all the unpacked boxes (I'm hoping he'll come across some of my lost glass pieces).

5th August
PARTY TIME!!!
Obviously I spent the day cleaning and preparing for the Grand Opening ......
2.45 p.m. everything is ready (but it can't go outside or it will get hot and melt!). I'm dressed up in my party frock, wearing lipstick and wishing I could go in the pool.
We had 11 visitors: Pam, Lola, Lola's friend, Karina & Alex, Thomas & Diane, Kevin & Wendy, Marc & Mieke, plus us .........

we drank 11 bottles of wine and ate most of the food I had prepared! It was a good afternoon.

6th August
A lazy relaxing day today.
And this evening we went to our annual village festa .....  it's on for four days (F/S/S&M) and is absolutely pathetic! It's literally a bar selling tepid drinks, a kiosk selling raffle tickets for crap prizes (which people are clinging to their chests, as they gleefully leave the stall, after 'winning' one) and an awful (euro-pop) band on the back of a lorry. The place was heaving with bodies though and I have no idea why we stayed until nearly 2.00; we did spend most of the time at Bar do Club (until we got chucked out!) with C&D, Bap, P&M and their guests (Trace & Carol).

7th August
Brett is working (on Bap's roof) for the next couple of weeks, starting at 6.00 a.m. (to avoid the heat); so we took today off and went to the barragem at Meimao.

We ate lunch here

It was so hot I had to cover up!

It was lovely, the water was so cool.
This evening we went to the festa for a couple of hours, as Baptiste was playing (guitar) with the village group that plays traditional music.

8th August
Happy 8th anniversary Will & Gill xxxxxxxx
Big disappointment today - the generator isn't big enough for my kiln (which is 4kw) so we have to fork out 1000€ for a bigger generator.
Lots of fires over the weekend and lots all around Central Portugal today - our valley is full of smoke, very scary.
And it's hot, 42.5C (in the shade) .........

9th August
Poor old Brett was up at 5.30 for his early start at work - it was still dark.
Weird sky this morning, probably all the smoke from the fires that are still raging.
I was up at 7.30; my plan was to get all the chores done and, perhaps, the washing, then spend the rest of my day in the studio playing with glass paint ....... but that didn't go exactly to plan; I had just about finished all the necessary chores by 1.00 - letting out and feeding muscovys and geese, feeding dogs, watering sheep (1 bucket), feeding sheep, checking Georgia wasn't dead (she stayed sleeping when I fed the rest of the flock/herd), walking over to sheds to feed cat, washing solar panels, starting generator, watering pigs (which involved spraying them with water, letting them drink from the hose, filling their trough, filling their wallow),

Pig in wallow!

watering sheep again (3 buckets), cleaning out and filling water barrels, watering plants on decking, washing up, making water kefir, making yoghurt, preparing last night's bucket of tomatoes for drying, sweeping floor, washing floor, more washing up ........ shattered! And the washing was not done.
Brett came home tired and dirty, so I kindly offered to water the vegetable garden (on my own) in the morning; it takes over an hour - moving the hose from channel to channel, picking a wheelbarrowful of weeds for the pigs and picking all the ripe vegetables.
Portugal is on fire (and for once I'm not exaggerating) there's a site on the internet (fogos.pt) which I am addicted to, it has a map of Portugal with pins showing all the current fires; there are so many fires in the north and to the west that you can't read the names of some of the towns, atm there are relatively few pins in our area, thank goodness.

10th August
I was watering the vegetables by 8.00, back home by 9.20. The fire situation is still dire and today there's a strong wind which could spread the blazes.
The wind has made it a lot cooler though, which makes life much more comfortable.
I rushed through all my chores and was in the studio by 11.00. I cut a whole load of glass, I was a bit rusty at first but got better. And I did some painting. It felt good to be working again.
Brett got home at 2.45, I hadn't even had my lunch!
There was a big fire near Idanha today, started around 10.00, by noon it had been upgraded to a 'significant occurrence' (93 humans, 31 ground vehicles, 2 planes), it was 'concluded' by the time we went to bed.

11th August
Another day in my studio, I'm getting into my stride now and have produced a couple of pieces I'm happy with - though they still have to be fired!
Yay, I'm getting visitors tomorrow; Jo & Gordon are making a flying visit to Portugal (Brett will be at work).

12th August
Wow this was on Facebook this morning, it is really scary ....... (translated from Portuguese by Google Translate, so it reads a bit strange):

August 11, 2016 - 17:06
Images captured by a NASA satellite show the size of the many fires that burn in the North and in Madeira. The many fires that burn in northern Portugal caused a massive column of smoke hundreds of kilometers stretching over the Atlantic Ocean.
The image captured by a satellite of the US space agency NASA has released this Thursday.
A huge cloud of smoke and ash comes from the dozens of active fires in northern Portugal .
The fires consumed thousands of hectares of bush and forest, caused enormous damage and threatened several places , leaving people in shock .
The NASA satellite also captured images of Madeira. Despite the cloudy sky in the archipelago area , you can see a big cloud caused by the fires that began in the afternoon on Monday and that caused three dead , thousands homeless and destroyed about 200 homes.
At 17:00 on Thursday , more than 2,700 men fought 258 fires in Portugal, of which 12 are more significant.
The most complicated situations registavam up in the municipalities of Anadia , Águeda and Arouca, in Aveiro district. Nearly 700 operational focus on these three outbreaks, but only in Arouca have the help of two heavy aircraft.
The Aveiro district there is still a significant fire in the Castelo de Paiva county.
In Viana do Castelo district , there are nearly 600 firefighters mobilized in three fires in the municipalities of Caminha, Cerveira Valdevez and arches .
In the District of Braga , note for fires in Vieira do Minho councils and Famalicão . In the district of Porto, plowing a fire with two fronts in Paredes municipality that mobilizes 80 operational .
In the northern regions , there are fires in the municipalities of Resende and Montalegre .

I made gazpacho for lunch (I sneaked in two cucumbers and some kombucha), the rest of lunch was already in the fridge (octopus salad, tapanade, sundried tomatoes in olive oil, goat cheese etc) plus a green salad (with more cucumber!). It was great to see Jo & Gordon and they had good news - they won't be selling up here, once they've sold in Spain they will be moving here full time.
Brett is working tomorrow too (the excuse being they didn't work Monday, but I can see this job developing into 6 days a week).

August 13th
And still Portugal burns .........
I went to water the vegetable garden at 07.30 and the mountains were in view, when I came back, an hour later, I could barely see two fields away, the valley was full of smoke - depending on who you listen to it had drifted down from fires up north/west from Spanish wildfires/east from the fires on the coast etc.
I managed to get the washing done at last (at the expense of working in the studio!).
Bloody ants found the tomatoes I was sun drying, so I'll have to put them somewhere else tomorrow.
This evening we're off to P&M's, they're hosting (1) a drumming workshop (not going to that) (2) cooking for 50 people (not going to that) (3) Chicken in the Woods playing on their decking - going to that!

14th August
Not too late last night, home just after midnight.
Poor old Lobby is 'on heat' for some reason she keeps trying to sit on my lap! Lily gets very jealous ......
It was Brett's one day off so we packed a picnic and went to the river beach at Benqueranca.