New chapter begins

I am on my way to the ferry on Sunday And i am calling to a place just outside of Dover to pick up a friend. My friend has just found a house for sale in my village and has just signed to buy the house. From the outside the house looks tired because it's been many years since it last had a coat of paint. A coat of paint and you could move in but like mine you couldn't use what is surposed to be the kitchen. I thought that my kitchen was bad when I moved in but this one is much worse but it's ok being like that because you just rip it out and start again just like I did.

 

The picture below is my kitchen on the day I moved in much different from how it is now.

As you can see above a good clean maybe but the cooking was done on an open fire and there are no units or cupboards. There is a huge chimney that is so low it's hard not to walk into it. The chimney bid open to the roof but the new owner is a retired builder who was a builder for all his working life so he knows what to do to turn this into a home.

It will be nice to have another house reopened instead of just another empty house. It will then make a total of four people living in the village and all men. Would have been nice to have a lady enjoying this amazing location but maybe in the future. Lots of the other homes in the village are holiday homes and are only used in August when there owners come back for there holiday.

Time to prepare to go home

Not long now and it will be time to return back home to my little place in the sun. The days are now spent buying all the things I want to take home with me. I have now got all my new bedding and Blackout blinds for my windows. Unlike the rest of the house I don't have shutters for my bedroom and when it gets light if I wake I have found it impossible to get back asleep so Blackout blinds it is.

A trip to my spice supplier is planned for tomorrow. I have been given a large piece of a Sycamore tree trunk to make table lamps from. Slowly the van is being filled up or it will be when I collect my leather chair I have had in storage I hope it's ok after being stored for so long since I moved in 2011.

I changed some money so I would have cash for the drive through France and Spain and then Portugal. On the last trip I found later when I used my card to pay for fuel or tolls each time I was charged £1.99. On its own £1.99 may not be much but I used my card a lot so the charges soon mounted up.

While my son and his fiancé have been away my granddaughter stayed a few times and she was good company but I had to get up to take her to school. I will miss not seeing her for her 13th birthday but I must be home on the 24th as I have an appointment to attend to that I can't avoid.

A few friends have asked if I could get them a few things, mainly tea bags, quorn products for one this trip I have no cool box because I came over with Ryanair so my cool boxes are at home so I won't be getting any Faggots in gravy for me and a friend. I have got myself 20 packs of bacon and it's in the freezer and vacuum packed do for me I will take a chance on it being ok.

Just look at this

Monday I went to buy my van and needed to go online at the van's owners house. I had to put in the password to get online and the picture below shows what I found. I was very surprised at what I found the one called Awesome is the one I needed to access to get online.

How did Facebook link these to me?

In another life many years ago lived a girl. This is the girl who happened to marry me and become my first wife till it all went wrong. How has Facebook linked her and her brother and sent a people you may know?

Poor Steve

I mentioned some time ago about one of my friends who I went to school with. I received some bad news telling me Steve had had a bad traffic accident and that he may never walk again. It's good to say so many people helped and encouraged him he is now on two sticks and with further help he should one day walk unaided.

Despite the bad news that while he was laid up in hospital his so called dear wife decided to cheat on him. To make it worse it was one of his children who saw her. Most people would just fall apart after hering news like that but it was what Steve needed to make him try harder with his recovery. Steve has just got an IPad and is now enjoying using FaceTime so I will be able to follow his recovery instead of just by email.

White van man

Well today I got myself a White Citreon Berlingo van. Just the thing to have for all the work I am doing in my house. I can now put the seats back into my car and turn it back into a car instead of a part van. The downside of the van and it's the only problem is it only has a radio, what good is having so much music on CD without a CD player. Message to self Buy a CD player for the journey home at the weekend.

I left Liverpool at 12 noon and the train journey lasted till 2.30pm. It was nice traveling by train instead of being behind the wheel much as I love driving it made a nice change to sit back for my journey. I was met at the station by a friend of the vans owner and after a test drive I paid and started of on my way home.

On the motorways and main roads in Portugal you can drive for quite a while before you see another vehicle in any direction. Driving out of Nottingham to go to Liverpool was not what I am used to. The roads where very very busy and the motorways where even worse the standard of driving was very poor people driving to fast or to close. Thank goodness for Sunday when I leave to go home to quiet roads and slower drivers.

A Birthday and a boring week

I seem to have been here in Liverpool for ever when it only been just over a week. My son and his fiancé are away on holiday and it's so boring here when I have so much to do at home. I did have a good day a few days ago when it was my Mums 91st birthday. My Mum is not a frail old lady she has all her faculties but is slow do to her recent hip operations. It did seem unusual to see a birthday cake with 91 on it and maybe that may be me having a cake with 91 on. Mum worked hard with Ellis her youngest great grandson getting him to blow the candles out but in the end she did it herself.

The one thing I miss is fresh cream cakes, tea bags, oxo cubes in fact most things can be found in Portugal but fresh cream cakes. Since I got back I have had more than my share of fresh cream cakes after all it may be another year before I come back as at the moment I have no plans to return before then. I have plans to work on the house and the money is needed for the building works.

Collecting old wood

For a while I have been making table lamps from old seasoned wood, Oak, Olive and Chestnut. I sent to the UK for the fittings to take the bulb but until the morning I left to visit family in Liverpool the fittings hadn't arrived. The fittings being late was a great shame as one was a special present for a person who would give me a honest answer to questions as to the quality of my gift. The reason being I would like to start to produce table lamps and for a while I have been building up a stock of old seasoned wood.

I have been lucky to have been given a lot of Oak off cuts that I can do so much with. The day before I left I was given some Apple and more Olive promised by a friend. Fortunately another friend has a huge lathe setup for making table legs and lots of my designs can be made on this lathe.

The picture below shows the first of my samples I cut. The one on the left has been finished and is waiting for the bulb fitting and cable and plug and then it can be sent off to my friend. With the fitting it will be transformed from just a piece of wood to a fantastic looking table lamp. Much as I searched I couldn't find the fittings I wanted, I could find fittings for the table lamp top but I wanted brass fittings because they give a better look than the plastic ones I found.  I have found a shop to get natural Bees wax from and after using the wax if this was a gift to me I would be happy with it. 

What a waste of time

I have been posting all about my new bedroom to show just what can be done by someone who is no longer the young man he used to be. I can fulfill everything i want and i hope that other may say Hey i can do that and give it a go.

Today i got up early to let the plasterer in only to find out that the hospital won't remove his stitches till this afternoon so it's been a waste me getting up early. Sad that at this late stage i have had a big setback as i wanted to get to see him start and he would have done a lot in the first day.

Arrangements had been made for someone to come in and take photos and email them for me so i can see the room finished.

The bedside tables are done.

Well the saga of my master bedroom goes on. Waiting for the plasterer i got on with my bedside tables today final sanding and then waxing with a dark wax. The colour you see in the pictures had three treatments to get the colour i am happy with.

Now i need to wait till the plasterer has finished and then i have to lay the floor and paint the walls so still a bit to do.

The sockets will be hidden by hiding it under the table top. The cables for the lights will be short so as they can't be seen

This colour is as close as i can get to the colour of my bed.

Plastering arranged

Well i leave for a break in Liverpool on Friday so i was anxious that the plasterer could start work today. Last week the plasterer had an accident with his hand and won't have the stitches removed till Wednesday and can't start till Thursday and finish on Friday but i am traveling back to Liverpool on Friday.

I will leave the plasterer in my house doing his job when he has finished he will lock the house up and give the keys to my friend for safe keeping. It won't be until i arrive home that i get to see the finished job. I have been to see his work so i know he will do a first rate job. I asked about how i pay him while i am in the UK and he said he is happy to wait till i return.

Brushed up, moped up and vacuumed up

It's been a hard few weeks i started by insulating the roof. Then as you can see from the various pictures from the last few weeks i have built a room in my loft. That room was also insulated and i just have a few joints to tape up to make double sure that there are now chance of any drafts from something i may have missed.

The end wall is where the chimney will go out of for the log burner. The chimney will also give of heat during the winter when the log burner is in use in the lounge below. The end wall can't be plaster boarded till the chimney is fitted. I have brushed up, vacuumed  up and moped up.






Now i am waiting for the Plasterer to come and plaster the whole room. After plastering i will paint and then lay a new floor.

Table lamps and shelves

While i wait for the plasterer to arrive and give me a date i have more than enough to be getting on with. I am making my own table lamps for the side of the bed.

This is my shelf for in front of the window. What you see on the top are the brackets for underneath to add as supports as well as a feature.

Here are two table lamps for the side of my bed and in the rear two for the spare bedrooms. The one on it's own at the front is a gift for a friend and this one has had one coat of bee's wax and i can tell the difference already. The dark one is Chestnut and has been waxed already and it really does look so good.

Then there was light

Today was time to replace the window at the front of the house.This is the fourth window i have fitted and it is as difficult doing this one as the first window i fitted.

This is the old window small and they didn't let much light through and only single glazed so no good for any kind of insulation. 

Now this is a double glazed window and as you can see it offers so much more light. Pity i have a bit of repair work to finish of but at least now it's done i only have to paint it.

At last

I had a vision of what I wanted in my new master bedroom and designed units for my clothes that gave me a look of a walk in dressing room. I have now managed to get the last wall plaster boarded and i fitted the first two units in place.In the center i will be having some sockets and that's why there is a piece of plaster board still to be put in place.

This looks every bit how i had thought it would when i first came up with the idea. The two units next to this will not have shelves but i can have my shirts and jackets hanging and a shoe rack in one of the two units.

Don't make do with what you can get in the likes of the superstores create your own Look i have.

Pillar and lights done

Yesterday was a hard day, i had a wooden pillar over 2½ metres long that i had to cut to fit into the floor to sit on a wall below. This took sum planning and a cup of tea. Once cut i only had bits of trimming to do to finish and get it secured into place.

The pillar on the left is the one i had to fit today and then it was time to finish the plasterboard to the ceiling and cut the holes for the lights.










Before i put the plasterboard up i marked the ceiling where the extra cable was for the lights so i wouldn't have any trouble finding it after i cut the holes. This was all really quite easy and the lights all came on the problem is it was difficult to take a picture with all lights in it.

The ceiling and lights are started today

Today i made a start with the ceiling and the lights. I am not having a light switch i am having a movement detector so when the downstairs door opens the lights come on. The time will be set to about 5 minutes plenty of time to switch the bedside table lights on.

There are going to be 4 Led lights rated at 4W each and they are only a total of 16W but after testing the 4 lights are great just enough for the room.

The wires are where the first light goes one metre from the window. 

Wall units in place, well almost

Before the wall goes up i have to work out where to put my clothes units. they measure in total 4 metres and i need to leave a gap between each unit. I also have a TV to fix to the wall so it's a little bit of moving things around to get the units and TV in the right place.

The unit below is near to the front wall of the house.

Below is the unit near to the window, my other two units will have no shelves in as i need to hang my shirts ect.

My window seat

Well i went to Chicco to collect my new window seat he had made for me. I took it upstairs but the light conditions with the new window was no good the light was to bright.

I took this picture to show the colour after it's been varnished. The door frame is varnished Chestnut and looks Stunning but it will take about five coats of varnish to get this look.

Here is the window seat finished and in position. It won't have it's final fitting until the plasterboard has been finished and painted but it does look good.









How much would this cost to be made in the UK if you could find somewhere to get it made. Also all i had was a big piece of cardboard cut to show what i wanted and Chicco worked from that. The cost was only 45€ now it would cost many hundreds in the UK but i am lucky to be living where i am.

For those new to Portugal or any other country if you have an idea go for it and if you can't do it yourself then get someone to do it for you. How unique is this window seat and i have another idea to do in my master be

If i do inspire you please let me know

As you can see i have done a bit more on the opposite gable end wall  but next to the window is my log burner chimney. I need to have the chimney removed so i can cut the ceiling plasterboard downstairs in the lounge.

You can see i used some offcuts but when it's all done you won't notice as it will be all hidden.

This blue insulation is i am told the same as 8 inches or 200mm of Rockwool and when it's all done this bedroom should be warm and draft free.

The plasterboard arrived so i finished this bit of the gable end. The chimney needs to be removed before i can finish the stud work.


















I was going to carry on to the right of what you can see but i had a fall and hurt my bad knee so it's a day or two of for me.

That is where the bed goes

I have posted more this week than i normally do but i am creating a room in my house that was before only a loft. I will have a lot of storage space the way i have designed my room and i will come back with a photo.

The most important thing is all the roof is insulated and all of the plasterboard is insulated as well.This should all make the room nice and cosy.

The piece of wood on the right is being replaced by a piece of hardwood similar to chestnut but not quite the same but close enough for me.










I hope by my posting pictures and writing about creating my master bedroom i inspire others to take a chance and do something they otherwise would have just  got somebody in to do t

Another hard day finished

This week i have been getting the new master bedroom done and it's been a hard week up to now. After yesterday when i had put the battens up on the wall i insulated between them Today i had the enormous job of cutting all the sheets of plasterboard. Each sheet had different cuts and each cut was a different angle.

Six hours hard work and i had time to do part of one of the main walls but more about that later when it's done








The sad part was that after looking closely i found that parts of the floor is not in as good a condition as i had first thought. Now i need a Plan B for what to do with the floor.

After a hard week it's time to relax

After a hard week it's time to relax a little after the last few days work. I am trying to get my master bedroom completed finished before i go to Liverpool in May to see my Mum for her 91st birthday.

It wasn't cold tonight but i just wanted to sit an look at the fire with a nice cup of tea. I use the fire to light an  incense stick to give of a nice aroma to the lounge.









For a few hours of relaxing comfort after today.

Now the gable wall is getting attention

It's been a hard day today and one I am glad to see the back of. I started by fixing battens to the gable end wall. Once done it was down to insulating and I started by using all the off cuts I had after insulating the roof.

It's looks an easy job and for an expert to tradesman it wouldn't have taken long to do but I am retired and not a tradesman so it takes me a bit longer to do. 

Floor to ceiling newel post

As a feature I am having two newel posts at the top of my stairs in my bedroom. Today I picked up my second newel post and now it has to be rubbed down and vanished.

The piece you see that's white is before it's been treated and varnished and when done it should look like the pillar on the right

Come back soon and see it finished.

A cardboard cutout

I said i wanted a window seat and a window seat i will have. I cut out a template to take over to my joiner Chicco to make for me. This seat is a little bit to complicated for me as where the legs go and the type of joints i couldn't make.

I took this picture at night so if you want to see the view you will have to come back again to see the view.












The seat part will be deeper than it looks on the photo and of course it will be made out of my favourite Chestnut to match the rest of the window frame.

Remember if you can dream it you can do it just find a way.

Plasterboard and I moved every sheet

Today I had eight sheets of plasterboard from my lounge up the stairs to the loft. Every sheet all on my own, each sheet has insulation on the back and they where heavy.  The delivery was great he always gives me a lift inside the house but I couldn't ask him to help me upstairs. Three sheets are for the gable end wall at the side of the new window the other five are for the walls of the new bedroom.

Two sheets left and they are all upstairs each sheet is 2.5 meters long and 1.2 meters wide and up a narrow staircase.

Bread And problems with it.

I have a problem with my bread. My bread is to big for the plastic container I keep my bread in. I now have to cut the top of you can see from the picture just how much I have to cut of so the lid will fit.

This loaf is a sultana loaf, the last one I made was sultana and walnut. Using almonds don't seem to work they do nothing to make the bread taste better.










What a problem to have much better than going down to the shops for a loaf full of additives mine has. Flour, salt, sugar, yeast and water how healthy is that.

Lighting and my table

I have a difficult job ahead this week, i have to lay in the cables for the ceiling lights. Today i set out the lights for at the bottom of the stairs and where my table is.

I set my table to give me a good idea of how the table would look under the new lighting. there is still so much to do before i leave in May to return to Liverpool for a short while.

Window

Work in the loft is coming on nicely by Monday this window opening will be finished and i should have an amazing view of the valley.

 

 This has all been cut out with a hammer and chisel as to use a power cutting disk would create to much dust.

This picture doesn't show the height from the floor but i am considering if i  can make a window seat even though the seat would be near to the stairs.

I have been known to do a good hard days work. Today i started early to get my window in. Cutting through the final part of the outside wall was harder thank i expected but i used my power cutter. Great idea until you are blinded by the amount of dust. Tomorrow i will finish the last of the facing of around the window frame. Next i will measure up for the window seat i want to finish done. For now because i have to take the glass out i have secured the glass with strips of wood.

Back to Liverpool

Well i have just booked another flight over to Liverpool. My Mum is going to be 91 years of age in May and i must show up for that. It will be nice to catch up with family while i am there.

Sadly i must leave before my Grand daughters 13th birthday but it can't be helped. I am going to buy a Portuguese van while i am in Liverpool and drive it back home.Sadly the IPO or as you may know MOT runs out and i need to get back before it does.

My mate Dave will be back from his over winter in Spain so it will be good to see him. Best of all will be to see all the work my son has done in his house. I have seen pictures and it will be so much better to see just what he has done.

No bedside tables for me

Well i do let my imagination get the better of me but what the hell i want something unique not the same as you find in every bedroom. I don't have any brown stain to match my units i have just had built so that's on my next shopping trip and then a few coats of clear varnish. The downside is when fitted that's where my bed will have to stay as to move the bed means i would have to take these down and that's a job to big I would like to do. Because of where the clothing units will be fitted it means I can't change the way the room will look so the placing of the bed is critical it's got to be positioned right the first time.

This is how it will look from the side of my bed with my hand made light on top.








I




There was a program years ago on TV about a joiner and some of the projects he would show you how to make. Some of his tips came in handy while i was making the circles i had to make to make these two units for at the side of my bed.

This is a top, my table light will sit just nicely in the middle. 

I will make this place warm you just watch me do it

Now the weather is changing and it's time to get more work done. With the timber I had in stock I was able to get a good park of the ceiling started.

The piece of timber with clamps on is a straight edge that I am using so I can get the ceiling perfect. I must admit boing this on my own with three metre long tubers is very tiring but there is always a way to get thing done it only takes a bit of thinking about.

Just where would you put this.

For this wheel you would need a giant Hamster. I went to see a friend on Monday and this is what I found a giant Hamster wheel so if you see a giant Hamster then let me know.

Let there be light

I am waiting for a number of materials for my new bedroom but not wanting to waste time while i wait. I had a nice piece of Chestnut laying around and decided that i could make a pair of bedside lights. Well the picture below shows the light units before a lot of sanding and varnishing that has to be done. It won't be long and this will be finished maybe before the materials i am waiting on arrive.

Once varnished the grain looks even better. The ideal would be to make them come on by movement and not have to have a light switch.

Cupboard units delivered.

Last week i ordered a new window for the master bedroom along with my cupboard units. My cupboard units won't have any doors on because i want them open. I have ordered four units from my friend Chicco and the first two i now have and the wardrobe ones are being made for next week. Two units will go either side of my bed and two will be in the opposite wall. I am still waiting on materials for outstanding jobs so it's crack on with my bedroom.

If you can picture this you can see the look i am after.















Once the window arrives i will have lots more light so i carry on with the building of my bedroom. I have a dream of fitting in a shower but how i fit it into the slope of the roof i don't know.

House falls down in Vale Boa?

I had a call today by a good friend asking if my house was OK. I asked why and he said that he heard that a house in Vale Boa had fallen down. I said i had heard something the day before and had a look as the ruin next door to me is in a very bad condition.

After going out for a walk to have a look around i found in a little alley way part of a roof had fallen down. From what i had been told it was a major fall and one of the locals wanted to report it to the local Camara " council " the pictures below show just how bad this fall was, the rubble would fill a couple of wheel barrows.

Some major fall i don't think.

This picture was taken from my veranda and you can see the roof has fallen in on it's self now another dead property never to be used again.

This is the ruin next to my house that has fallen in on it's self a long time ago. The owners want 10,000€ for this pile of stone. I want it just to remove a couple of trees in my way but not at 10,000€.

The Yoyo

Most of the people i know watch the Euro rate daily mostly they like me are on pensions and want the best exchange rate when they transfer there money.

Most like me wait to transfer our pension when the rate gives the best amount of Euros for the Pound

Somebody today said they had been listening to the BBC new and it had been reported that the Euro was to have a name change. the new name was to be the Yoyo due to the rate going up and down all of the time. No the date is not 1st April.

Sunshile came softly through my window today. So Donovan said

Well the Dams are  reported to be full and the weather for the week ahead is Sun Sun and more Sun. The warm Sum today reminded me of the Donovan song Sunshine superman and the first line goes " Sunshine came softly a-through my a-window today "

So lets hope for a year as good or better than last year, next week forecast Sun and 21c.

A strange one about Facebook

I went onto Facebook to see how an old friend was getting on today. What i found was i couldn't get onto there Facebook page and upon investigation i found i was blocked. I tried to contact my friend who by email told me they hadn't blocked me and there Ipad was being repaired. I know the system and for someone to be blocked you have to go into Facebook to block someone there is no other way.

If there had been a problem i would have expected to have been told but to be lied to i am not bothered now. For a friend to try and kid me that they didn't block me is a shame and i hope they don't now get in touch and say OH sorry it was a mistake.

Seems I was wrong my friend didn't block me from Facebook but someone in the family had because that's the way it works you have to go into the setting to do it.

Now my table gets some treatment

For a while I have had a lot of jobs to finish and my table was one. I had ordered a load of timber all cut to various sizes and today I felt like starting on my table and the picture shows how it looks after the first coat of varnish. As my table will be in daily use it needs plenty of the hard varnish I have to build up a great finish so it's lots of hard work from me.

As the seats are round i have given the job to Chicco to make new seats for me but it's me who will have to varnish them afterwards.

Good news today

A little while ago while in Liverpool i heard that an old school mate Steve had a traffic accident and injuries to his spine. It's good to hear today that Steve has feeling in his legs again Martin called me today to give me the good news so when i go over for my Mum's 91st year birthday i can go and see how steve is getting on.

On Facetime Steve is always quiet and withdrawn but i will speak to him tomorrow now i have some good news and hope he is more like the old Steve.

5€ and very good value

Ever wondered why when you need to visit the doctor in the UK you can't get an appointment? When you do get your appointment time the surgery is never full as you would expect from the difficulty in getting your appointment in the first place.

All the no hoppers, those who don't know how to do a days works and those who make appointments for something as simple as a little cut. How it would all change if you had to pay when you turned up to see your doctor say as little as £5. You would get the time wasters saying £5 the cost of 10 fags.

Today i needed to see my doctor as i have a throat infection. All i had to do was turn up pay my 5€ and wait to see the triage nurse for weight, height, blood pressure and temperature to be checked. After that it was a short wait in the waiting room and in to see the doctor. Simple and in less than half an hour i seen by the doctor, out and i was was in the Chemist to get my prescription, the prescription i have to pay part and the UK  pay the rest my part cost 1.97€ now that's better than the UK.

Door frame finishing touches done

It's been a little while and my door frame has now been finished in the lounge. It may mean nothing but I get an idea in my head and with this idea I had to laminate three pieces of timber together to get the look that i wanted. Then I needed a piece of dowel and all this from Chestnut, I used off cuts for the curved parts and I rounded a long thin piece of another piece of Chestnut and then sand then all down into a dowel shape and what you see. Plenty of varnish and it's all complete it looks every bit as good as I thought it would. It's function well none it's just a something to fill a gap between the doors.

Driving into town for a cuppa I saw snow on the hills

This morning driving into town for a cuppa and a chat with friends I saw in the distance snow on the hills behind town. Apart. From when I drove back from going to see Paul this is the first time I have seen snow locally.

More timber work in preparation.

I have so many projects on the go but now I am going back to clear the boards so to speak. I want to get on with my master bedroom but first lots of little jobs need to be completed to let me carry on with my main job for the coming few months.

 

Here I have  the kitchen door frame laid out for varnishing and then fitting into place for another job complete.

Driving back home

While driving back from a friends I saw in the distance hills in the direction of a place called Coja. You will see the top of the hills covered in what looks like snow, I suspect that it was really a mornings heavy frost.

Beautiful sunshine yet the hills in the distance look snow covered.

Diving back to the UK

At Christmas i drove over to see family and friends. I had advertised on a number of Forums that i was driving over and i  had room in my car should anybody want something delivered on my route up from New Haven to Liverpool. This time i am also using my Blog so if anybody wants something delivered then just get in touch. I will be going either the 6th May or the 11th May. This trip is to see my Mum who will be 91 years of age on the 13th. Of May. I also intend to get myself a tumbler and bring back my Scooter ready for those sunny days.

Now I am back to normal

The first thing i did when i got home was to prepare to make a loaf but as it takes 4 hours to bake it wasn't ready till 8.30 pm and by the time it cools it won't be ready till morning ready for breakfast. I found by putting a tea towel over the bread the crust goes soft. One thing i don't like is crusty bread.

My bread has 450g flour
1 and a half tea spoons of sugar
1 and a quarter tea spoons of salt
25 g of olive oil
4 g of yeast
320 g of water

Not a nasty E number or additive just healthy bread, OK so it's white and not brown or wholemeal i enjoy it.

A very taxing problem

While i was in Liverpool for Christmas a letter arrived for me at home from the Inland Revenue asking for money. The sum involved i must say was very worrying but all it took was a visit to them when i arrived back last week. Sitting with the tax lady i must admit that i was a little worried until the larger figures where found to be tax i had paid but something the accountant should have done meant that the tax was not allocated to my account. Silly mistake by someone you pay to do his job.

The date he put down for me leaving my business was also wrong but that was soon sorted out. When everything was done the tax lady had a look on her face that had me worried until she smiled. I have good news she said we owe you over £900 and i should receive a letter confirming her finding and i should get a cheque with the letter.

Result

Time to keep somones spirits up

While in Liverpool i was due to see Steve who i went to school with and another school pal Martin. I got the sad news that Steve had been involved in a traffic accident. I arrived home today to an email from Steve's wife. She explained how bad his injuries where and that Steve was feeling really down when he was normally very outgoing. Steve seems to have spinal injuries and his recovery may be long  and painful so she says.

Steve it seems had been excited at seeing me after over 52 years since we left Roscoe Garsfield secondary school.Pity i didn't get the email before i left as i would have gone to the hospital to see him. How do i offer support when i am over 1400 miles away, Steve has got his Iphone with him so where do you start trying to keep someones spirits up.

So Steve when you read this i am over to Liverpool around the first week in May and i am driving over and we will meet up so work hard an get out of hospital

After the wind where did it go

On Monday in Liverpool the weather was as bad as it could get torrential rain and high winds. Flying back home the next morning i was worried the flight would have a lot of turbulence due to the high winds from the day before and the forecast was for more rain and wind. To my great surprise was that the wind was not to bad and after taking off the flight was as smooth as any of the other flights i have had in the past.

The flight even arrived 10 minutes early but when it came in the sky looked overcast till we landed. When we landed it was just a fine drizzle and it never let up even when i arrived home. This has been the first time i have flown into Porto or Lisbon to rain and i hope it will be the last time i see rain when i arrived into Portugal

Cheap flights, Where

Adverts galore on to say cheap flights yes but when. I have to meet my UK Spice supplier sometime by the end of March but where are these cheap flights. So when you see the adverts on tv saying loads of tickets going cheap ask yourself cheap but for who?

I'll still keep looking but it's my own fault I should have seen my supplier early in January but I had to go back to Portugal early.

When I got up this morning I found a message from one of my readers who found flights for and thanks Steve for taking the time to look for me.

When I checked the flight details I found one had gone up from 29.99 to 105.99 shocked at this I took a picture with my IPad. It's so annoying that someone took the time to help me but that's life.