50% more than i needed to do

I had a chance to go out on Saturday  and take a little exercise. I went out with a family member who was delivering leaflets to an estate on the outskirts of Liverpool to new housing estates. It's been a long time since i did a leaflet drop so it seemed the right thing to do so of i went.
On my Iphone i have an App called Pacer that records every step i take. I know it was a long walk i did but waited till i got home before i looked to see how far i had walk.

Wow 9.9 km and at my age i  do need to exercise because it's supposed to be good for me, also i used up 520 calories. Even though i eat as healthy as i can with almost everything being fresh in my Diet i can't get rid of some of the excess weight that i have.
I am pleased that i achieved almost 50% over my daily target but normally i do much less that the 10,000 steps per day.

And the train broke down

Due to problems getting to where my daughter lives I decided to give the trains a try, great idea I think not. It all started with me going to the wrong station first but it wasn't to far to walk to get the train I needed. After a wait of only 10 minutes the train left so the hope was a better journey than on a bus. We got to the first station where people got on and off but the doors didn't close, ok there must be something wrong.

After about 10 minutes or more it comes over the tannoy " Due to a technical problem please leave the train ". OK everybody got off the train and that's where I am coming to I saw something very strange up on a wall was a door, a door to nowhere.

Below the door is the station platform, no stairs or steps just a door to nowhere or is that a door for Harry Potter and the Hogworts train?

Aquaponics and my fish tank

My fish tank is now built but i want to put another coat of Epoxy Resin over all surfaces on the inside of the tank. After the sand, pebbles, stones, rocks and tree trunks have been installed and all plants have been planted then the glass window will be fitted and the water added.

I have installed a filter system above my tank because probably about 50 years ago after a power cut blame Ted Heath and his three day week. With no power my filter syphoned back and three tanks where found empty.  This time all system pumps and filters will be above the tank so as to safeguard my tank.

But the filter is to filter and clean the water but now i am going to add an Aquaponics system. What this is a system to use the water from the tank to feed a planted unit to grow food Lettuce, herbs etc.

The water from this fish tank is supplying the plants above with nutriments. So this is my goal but first i need to get back home even though i am not a big fan of lettuce but that was only an example.
http://www.backyardaquaponics.com

I am bored

Back home in Portugal i have so many projects on the go at any one time.

First i was about to start to make the frames for the sliding doors for my lounge and bathroom, the doors are being made by a local carpenter. It was my job to make the frames for the door to hang from.

I had gone to Chicco to get a piece of Chestnut over half a meter long to make a cutting board for someone who asked me at one of the markets i go to.

I also found i had a leak in the roof tiles just inside of my front door.

I had just received from China mounting brackets for three shelves i had already made.

I had already just done the first coat of Resin in my fish tank and all i now needed to do was do the top coat of Resin to all surfaces in my tank.

I had already drawn up plans for a Solar hot water system to heat my room where my fish tank is.

Now the weather has changed for the better i would now be getting on with at least part of the above.

What does this look like

How many times have you see an Advert that looks odd. Well last night i went for a meal with one of my sons as it was steak night at the local restaurant. I was happy because it was steak night but curry night would have been just as good. As i was looking through the menu it wasn't till we decided to have a desert that i noticed an add for free refills. When you read the add it says Free Refills £1.10 each, OK how can Free refills cost £1.10 each.

I hate windoooooze

It's no secret that I don't like or use windooooze I happily ditched using windoooooze many years ago and my computing is all the better for the choice I made.

OK that said I was asked by my granddaughter to fix her computer as she was having problems, even though she has an IPad. It was easy to fix the problem she had but it was not easy for me. I had got ready to go out and switch the machine off but Oh no windooooze had decided not to let me switch it off. First windooooze decided to download do an upgrade with 59 files to be downloaded.

Having to wait while a computer did an update is a pain no wonder I went to a better system. So if you want to stay in charge consider Ubuntu Linux you can do everything you want to you and you are in charge.

I ended up back at my old Doctors

Because I am not returning to Portugal for who knows how long I have a huge problem I take Statins for my cholesterol. I managed to get a repeat prescription ready but I won't be returning till after my present prescription runs out. So I went to a walk in centre to see about getting my medication while I am here. The walk in centre couldn't help but said to call a service by the NHS called 111 and after calling them they put me in touch with the pharmacy in a local ASDA.

I went to the local pharmacy with my repeat prescription, my latest Blood results and my box of what is left of my medication. It seems that my Doctor where I live gave me a medication that is not stocked on the NHS. The pharmacy did say to go to a local Doctors and get a temporary listing with the local Doctors. The local Doctors surgery was the surgery I was in from being a child of 10 until I married and moved away so going back to the surgery brought back many memories.

I don't know how old the receptionist is but she is so old I am now 70 years of age OK you may say Peter you don't look you age. Anyway I filled in a temporary form and the old dear took my form. My prescription, my medication and my latest Blood results to the one Doctor who was in her room. I was asked to go back at 11.30 tomorrow to see another Doctor who I was told was a pharmacist before he became a Doctor now that seems a plan. I will go back tomorrow and hopefully get the medication I need.

I went back as asked at the required time of 11.30 am. The Doctor having had my Blood results to check over he was able to find something close to what I am on so it was a good result. I have to go back each month for a repeat prescription but that's OK by me.

I have done this today because there may be a day someone who has read this finds it of great help in there time of need.

Well done no going back

well it's done now and no going back I am now 70 years of age. How do I feel many have asked I answer just the same as the day before just nothing special I say.

Here we are my family my daughter and son, my two granddaughters and my daughters partner. In case you don't know I am the one holding the baby my new granddaughter Bronx.

A gradener i will be , no i won't

As i prepare to go back to Liverpool for how long i do not know when i shall get back to my place in the sun.

Today i picked the last five oranges from one of my orange trees. I will be taking them back with me to Liverpool One for my Mum One for me and the rest for my Daughter and granddaughters.

My black Cardomom has lots of new growth and soon it will be moved into where it will get full sun everyday.
Last year i grew one pear and i came to life inside of a square bottle and now the pear live in very very old Hine cognac. Of all my trees the pear has buds opening ready for the growing season so lets see this year how many pears i get. I will be again putting all the pears as they grow into more square bottles.

Time to get some painting done.

In Liverpool my home city like everybody else imy house was no different to most other houses. Here in Portugal it's like the Model A Ford any colour so long as it's well here it's white.

I should have painted the background first buy i wanted to add not just colour but shape as well . It worked well in my spare bedroom but the shade of Red was more Pink than the shade i wanted. The background will be a light shade of Gray with one main wall a darker Gray.







Paint here in Portugal is very expensive so i buy 20lt when it's on offer and colour my own. The pale lilac only used about a cup full and less than a quarter of s tea spoon on Lilac that an artist would use. A litre of paint already coloured would cost about12 to 15€. Now all i need to do is mask up and paint all the white light Gray. OK it's not conventional but who cares I like it.

Getting ready to leave

I had on my veranda in pots two Orange trees, one 1 Lemon tree, one Lime tree, one Walnut tree  and one Pear tree. Going back to Liverpool for an extended period i had to plan for my trees to be watered. I had a piece of land below my veranda that once cleaned up i was able to move three trees a Walnut, Pear and Lime. The two Orange and my Lemon are moved to the side nearest the lane to make watering that bit easy.

So i never have to do any more digging after planting the trees i covered round the trees with stone chippings. As the picture shows i still have a few more chippings to put down to finish the bit of land that makes up my estate.

I am lucky i have a neighbour who will water my orchard. Outside of my front door i have a Blackcurrant, one Orange and my pride and joy two Black cardamom trees grown from seed.

Here we can see Wally the Walnut tree. Lemmy the Lime tree and lastly A fine pair my Pear tree.

This is when i was part finished and taken from my veranda.

The dream goes on hold for a while

For a long time now I have been traveling back to Liverpool to see my Mum who sadly is not in the best of health. It hurts getting back in my seat on the plane taking me home to Portugal after hearing my Mum say during my visit " Why won't they let me go ". Mums quality of life could not now get any worse and it is so sad to see.

I was traveling to Liverpool soon for my birthday and had hoped to have a meal out with my daughter, sons and grandchildren. Now this has been spoilt as one of my sons works abroad and will be away at the time of my birthday. Not having the best of luck at the time but that's life I have just got to make the best I can under the circumstances.

Although I love my life here in Portugal I have to think about my Mum who has 4 carers who come in during the day to help her. During the night is the time Mum needs someone with her at night time as that's now the problem time for her. Now when I go over to Liverpool for my birthday I am staying indefinitely to be there when Mum needs someone's help.

Because of the amount of Spice stock I am holding and because of dates I will be going back for a market I go to each month. I will fly in on a Friday and fly back to Liverpool on the following Monday  so I will be able to check on my house to see it's ok during my absence.  Who knows how long this will go on for who knows but Mum needs me right now.

I've been driving a long time

I've been driving now for over fifty years wow yes a long time. During that time i have seen numbers on my dash like the day in my new Zafira when i had done 12,001 miles not 12,000 i missed that by a mile. That happened many times with many of the cars and vans i have had.

Until now, i went to go out in my van the other day when i saw the numbers on my mileometer was showing 340,000 kilometers. This was about the first time i had not missed a number by even a mile.

My Zafira now is at 197,000 or there abouts so i will be watching that when the time comes.

Unix V Linux

Is Unix the same as Linux?

Systems that pass can be called UNIX, systems that don't can be called UNIX-like or UNIX system-like. Linux is a UNIX-like operating system. The Linux trademark is owned by Linus Torvalds. ... The Linux kernel itself is licensed under the GNU General Public License.Mar 25, 2008.

For about 10 to 12 years i have been using Ubuntu Linux and had no problems of any kind. I look at my statistics ever day to see how my Blog is doing. Today  i looked again and noticed that windows only had a 42% share of the readers of my Blog and everything else is covered by Unix/ Linux. 

It does put a smile on my face when i see more Unix/ Linux than windows. The reason i left windows was because i had been given a CD with a damaging virus how the world would be so much better with less windows.

Windows	14 (42%)
Android	5 (15%)
Unix	4 (12%)
iPhone	4 (12%)
Macintosh	3 (9%)
iPad	3 (9%)

www.liverpoolsplashbacks.com

Skimmimg stones

Can you remember skimming stones on a lake or maybe at the seaside. I can and i have been collecting the type of stone that you would normally skim across the water. I have been collecting these type of stones now for quite a while ready for when i get my fish tank ready for water.

A quick recap i am building a 5,000 lt fish tank in my cellar, i need stones to create an environment for the fish i intend to keep.

I am told last night that we had a lot of rain. One of my friends said that the rain and wind kept him awake most of the night. My answer was that i was to busy being asleep to notice the wind and rain.








 Yesterday i stopped to collect some more stones at a almost dried up stream near near house. Today i stopped to find the stream was now flowing like a torrent. Over night we must have had a lot of rain to cause what you can see in the picture.

The reason the rain just drained of the hillside was i think because over the summer the result of the extreme sun beating down each day baked the ground and it takes time for the rain to soak into the hillsides but for now it runs off and goes into the rivers and streams.

Turkmenistan

I have stopped posting about the various countries that have people who read my Blog. Today i was looking at my stat's when i noticed a new readers country and the country the reader is from is Turkmenistan.

Perhaps i should start mentioning again all the new country i have readers from.

Welcome reader from  Turkmenistan

Thank you

I have lost touch with a friend from years ago and it would be there birthday now so.

Very Happy Birthday

They get everywhere

Christmas time is a great time for family but me I like to watch all the Christmas adverts. This year one missing from the TV was the Coca Cola advert that has been on for years. My favourite one was the Kevin the Carrot now I did enjoy them, how sad is it a grown man my age being entertained by adverts.

I came home from Liverpool on New Years Eve looking to have New Year at home. Walking from the airport to where my car was parked I noticed the Metro was just pulling into the Metro station at the airport. After all the controversy over the amount of Sugar in fizzy drinks I was surprised to see the Metro made up in Coca Cola's colours. Damm they get everywhere

Few it is cold

I remember back to last year, last year we had rain rain and more rain. You could even see the clouds going of to the horizon to refill and come back to drop more rain. It would rain for days and days on end forgetting to stop and this went on for months.

However 12 months later i came back to Portugal on New Years eve and it was cold and it went right through to my bones. I checked the forecast for the week ahead and daytime the temperature was in the late teens 17 to 19 degrees in the daytime. The night time temperatures was at a low of 4 to 5 degrees that's not to bad until i got up on New Years day morning. I looked out down into the valley only to find a hard frost.

Since New Years day every morning there has been a hard frost down in the valley. So what's going wrong do the forecasters know what they are doing  i suspect they had a drink to many at New Year.

Someone must be blind

I recently ordered some bags for my Karcher vacuum cleaner from a seller on Ebay. Maybe it was the morning after the night before but i was sent the wrong bags OK but what is the problem you ask. The answer is my daughter packed all my parcels into a box had shipped it over to me for when i returned to Portugal my mistake was i stayed with one daughter and my parcels went to my other daughter/

This is what ordered but didn't get

This is what i got, you could fit my Karcher into this bag if i opened it.








I now wait to hear from the people who couldn't see the mistake they made.

Parking can be a problem

For my recent trip to Liverpool I had something to be concerned about. This problem was I was returning on New Year's Eve and getting back at about 4 pm how would I get home. Normally I would get the Metro and then the train down to Coimbra where I would collect my van.

This plan was OK if the normally punctual train arrived on time but that was not all. I couldn't book my seat on the train because first the plane needed to arrive, get my bags and then get the Metro to Campanah in Porto. Only when I get to Campanha could I get my train ticket but what if the train was full and then the next could be full I would not get home for New Year's Eve.

OK lots of potential problems so this trip I drove in my van to Porto airport. When I arrived I went to a number of parking companies who advertised low cost parking. The first I went to said you need to book online 6 hours before you arrive to park to get the reduced price. I was told similar stories at 2 other parking companies until I came to the company I used. As you drive to the airport is ahead of you a huge  sign Lowcost Parking it says. I parked and walked into the reception where I was met by a nice young lady who spoke good English. I asked how much to park for 14 days till New Year's Eve and she said 66.90€ so I booked and took my booking ticket to the guy who takes the van into the parking area.

Before I left to get my plane I went into the office to verify the price and I was told again the same 66.90€ so off I went.  But after what other companies told me I was concerned that when I got back would the charge be more. No even though I was nearly 3 hours over the 14 days all I was asked for was the 66.90€ I was quoted.

The one pan man

The One Pan Man is a friend of mine who I see at local markets who sells candles. His other claim to fame is he likes to cook all in one pan hence the One Pan Man name. He makes videos to help people who want to cook using just one pan. The link under my picture in the front page is a link to his YouTube page he uses. 

Please take the time to have a look at his video and if you are in the region of Portugal around Arganil/ Coja why not go to the markets at Barril de Alva or George and Dragon on the N17 and meet him his candles are well worth a look. 

More about weight

Since I got of the plane at Liverpool airport shocked at the narrow size of the toilets on the last flight I took. I remembered back to when I started working in the butchers where I learnt my trade. People then or so I remember where not overweight the opposite was true or seemed to be. However we had one customer who was so overweight due to I was later told to be a thyroid problem. This lady we would bring out a chair for her to sit on while we served her.

Today over fifty years later I am in Liverpool and it is very common to see people very overweight. If is becoming common for weight to be a problem then why does a company decide to have the plane manufacturer make smaller toilets on there planes. Overweight has been a reported problem for years so Ryanair if you read this why did you make the toilets so small.

When I return back home to Portugal I am going to make a point of taking a photo, so watch this space.

Woodworking workshop

I had three things to do on my trip to Liverpool to see my Mum, see my new granddaughter and go along to one of only a few Wood turners clubs in the UK and it's in Liverpool. The wood turners is held in an old boat house in a famous park. Silly me went to the wrong lake in the wrong park  looking for the boat house anyway enough of that. When I got to the correct place I must say I was given such a warm welcome but what do you expect from fellow Scousers. I met Eric, Paul, Liz and Sue and many more but I can't remember all there names.
The main reason was I wanted to learn how to sharpen the tools and I was shown a number of ways to sharpen the gouges and it was so valuable what I was able to see and how easy it seems to do.

Watching Liz was so enjoyable because of what she was doing with a piece of wood others may shy away from. There where plenty of people around to offer advice and help when needed but it was Sue I watched most. As the bottom picture shows Sue is in a wheelchair but that doesn't seem to hamper her in her work and I must say Sue seems such a happy person. Sue was making the cylinders that you put the parts for pens into and I stood to watch the whole process. Although I have put a picture of Sue at work I did ask permission to take a picture and that I would put the picture her for everybody to see.

 This is Sue making the bodies for Pens  and the end product was perfect.













I must say I have pinched a few ideas from some of the things saw being made. Remarkably some of the newer members where doing amazing pieces of work and I learnt quite a lot from them. Next time I go to Liverpool and have time to spend I certainly will visit the climb again but next time I will go to the correct boat house.

A long time ago I got myself a Lathe when I saw them on promotion in a store in a place called Coimbra. Over a period of time I have enjoyed making table lamps but I knew my lathe was going to provide me with more pleasure than just table lamps.

I didn't want to cut this picture just to show what I can now make on my lathe. I also make cutting boards as the picture show because i love to see just what I am able to do now I have retired. The reason I want to make things is because I have lots of Olive, Cherry and Sycamore to make things from.






The Cherry is from two trees close to me that have just been cut down and they now need to dry out.
Eucalyptus where I live is a cash crop and used to make Pellets for heating and I have a Pellet burner. I also have a quantity of Eucalyptus that I had wanted to use for the two main uprights for my veranda some time ago. The reason I didn't use it was it was to heavy to lift into position so I used other timbers but the Eucalyptus is cut down into manageable pieces so one day it will get used on my Lathe.

Toilets

When I fly I make sure I have used the Loo before I fly until today. I noticed in front of me a lady who was having trouble getting into the Loo that someone had just vacated. It was sad to see someone having such trouble getting into a Loo.

Well it came time for me to go to the Loo and what a shock I got since I last used a Loo on a plane. I am sure Ryanair had the toilets made as small as they could to get another row of seats on the plane. The space to sit was not much wider than my hips and I found it uncomfortable to turn in such a small space but I am sure the extra income from the extra seats will certainly help Ryanair.

The cure for this is to go to the Loo before the flight.

Using the Internet

I have been using the Internet since before windooooows when it was just menu driven. One time I was on a forum and someone asked who was online. I then typed with one finger Me and I got a reply from some called Mudman. Madman asked who is Me and I gave a name and Mudman asked where I was and of course I replied Liverpool, liverpool, Liverpool in the UK and then a few others welcomed me. That was just to give an idea of how long ago I have been using the Internet.

I have been intrigued by a reader from unknown region. We I figured it out today or I did try a little while ago at home but I couldn't get it to run on my Linix machine. I had trouble coping and pasting from the page I got the information from and then using a terminal.

Now today I found doing a search on my IPad I found it was in the Applestore so I just download it from the Istore. The reason this all started was I like to download TVprograms to watch later than when they're on TV. The site I did use was closed by the FBI so I can now at least find what I want to download and not be traced. All I will say is Unknown region i can now be apart of.

I still have the problem when I get home of downloading it to my Ubuntu system

The UK stinks

Th UK stinks and i mean it, there are times i am ashamed to have come from the UK.

The story my Cousin like all here family are from the Midlands as is my Mum. My Cousins son moved to Mozambique many years ago to be a teacher and settled down. In time he married and had a family BUT yes a big BUT. This year it was planned to spend Christmas in the UK, a chance for Simon and his family to spend time with his family.

Portugal is the oldest friend the UK has had going back to  the earliest treaty dating back to the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373. This is about 400/500 before America was found.

In the 1950s, the Portuguese overseas colony was rebranded an overseas province of Portugal, and by the early 1970s it was officially upgraded to the status of Portuguese non-sovereign state, by which it would remain a Portuguese territory but with a wider administrative autonomy. From Wikipedia Also from, Wikipedia In the last decade of the 19th century and the first part of the 20th century, integration of Mozambique into the structure of the Portuguese nation was begun. After all of the area of the present province had been recognized by other European powers as belonging to Portugal,

So if other  European nations recognise Portugal/  Mozambique Why can't the UK after all Portugal is the UK's oldest friend.

I can only hope my cousin and Simon's family get to spend Christmas together.

Bang and crash UPDATE

I have been driving now for over 50 years and I had my first crash. I know last year I changed the shape of my front wing on a direction sign in a big car park. But today this was a crash with another car or rather the car crashed into me.

I was on a road where overtaking was not allowed. Well I was about to slow down and indicate to turn into a driveway when a car decided to to overtake and hit the front drivers side wing. The driver stopped but due to her speed yes it was a lady driver and I know her. The driver admitted it was her fault for overtaking in the wrong place and she asked for my phone details and would arrange to have my van repaired. But yes a big BUT.

I have used a garage now from since I arrived her some years ago. This garage I have found to be honest and reliable so I went of to get a quote and the price I got was less than I expected. I don't know what the other driver will say about me finding another garage but I am the injured party and I think my view is the most important.

I have nothing wrong with the other garages more it's about me being happy with the work to be done and who does the work to my van.                                                

I dropped my van off today mid morning and by mid afternoon i had a call to say my van was ready and looking so good.

Now the update part.

I had a call from the other driver to say that she now wants to involve the insurance company. Oh dear i have now had the damage repaired because the other driver said she would pay for the repair. I arrived for a meeting she planned to give her my insurance details. After taking all the details a comment about she was 50% to blame and that i was also 50% at fault. i slowed to make a turn into a driveway when i was overtaken and my front bumper was almost ripped of my van. At the time of the incident she did admit it was her fault but now she is only 50%. For now i will let the insurance companies do what they do. I couldn't say anything before now with the other driver because when i picked my van up the office was closed and the owner gave me my keys and said to come back in a day or two to pay when the office was open.

My poor granddaughter

My new granddaughter had to have her injections and I was sad to her how she cried when crying is something she doesn't do. This isn't about her but me, well I had to take someone to the doctors today and I asked about a flu jab. I have never had a flu jab because I hate injections I can't even watch an injection in a TVs program. When I asked I was asked to come back at 2 pm to see the nurse and get my jab.

Two o'clock came and I sat and waited my turn a when ready I went in to see the nurse, I must admit I was  terrified. After a few questions I uncovered my arm for the nurse who then used a swab before she gave me the injection. It was when she put the needle into a container when I realised she had finished. I genuinely never felt the needle go into my arm.

OK the swab must have had some kind of pain relief. If that is the case how come a nurse in the UK when giving a baby a jab made the baby cry??

Being a Scouser

Being a  Scouser i like to think i have a sense of humour. I have just found a Father Christmas cartoon that i would like to share and hope it brings a smile to someone at this time of year.

Well it's now December time has flown by

Well it's now December and another year has passed by so quickly. It's this time of year i look after another old person, but this one is the fairy on my Christmas tree.

Here is this years picture i would like to share at this time of year.

A very clever baby

I am lucky to have a new granddaughter and with Facetime and Whatsapp i get to see her often. I was surprised when i received a picture of my granddaughter holding an Ipad. She is used to seeing me on her Mum's phone but today she was using my other granddaughers Ipad.

I know she loves Peppa Pig and could that be what she is watching but to me a great picture.

Just a fish tank update

It's been a while since i mentioned about my fish tank. Because i don't want to have any problems with leaks i coated the tank with Four coats of sealer. OK i know a bit over the top but i want it right. I was lucky to find a company who sell the Epoxy Resin to do my final coat and i wanted a blue for the sides.

Today i did the first of two coats of my blue Epoxy Resin. I asked the company if the Resin was fish safe and they answered that they had recently supplied a UK public aquarium so it must be OK. This is the side wall and when finished the tank will be about 5,000lt.

I couldn't get an angle to take in the whole of the back wall. The Epoxy Resin was wet when i took these pictures and it may look blotchy but it's dried out OK.

Summer has come and gone

I have seen many pictures of countryside where as Autumn comes the leaves on the trees turn brown and then die and fall of the trees.

Looking from my veanda i can see my pear tree and in the distance a couple of cherry trees loosing there leaves as winter approaches.











All that you can see as far as you can see is trees that are grown for money, a product. Nothing like you see in other countries where you see the season changes but I'm stuck with green all year round.

Down in the valley there are a few fruit trees where the leaves are also dying till next year.

The Council like everywhere tidy

At this time due to high winds and the drains at the side of the road getting blocked the local Camara ( Council ) send groups of workers out to clear the detritus.

It was easy to take pictures from my house. On the right at the bottom of the wall this a drain that is being cleared. 


















Not just the villages but also all the lanes are cleared.

Here is a worker strimming up the lane from my house. After they have done there job they then clean up after themselves.

Log burner replaced

A long time ago while building my bathroom I built up the floor to the height of the loung floor. My idea was as years go by I didn't want to have to step up by one step from the bathroom to the lounge.

After last years rainy winter and have to walk down the lane to get my firewood I couldn't go through that again. I looked to what life would be like as years go back after all I am not as young as I was so I had to do something.

Friends have a house with two pellet burners installed when there house renovation was complete and ready for when they moved in. I spent time watching how there burner works but what put me off was the noise while it starts. Since these where installed the new generation of pellet burners I was told where very quiet but I was not able to see one in operation and to listen to it.

I went off the a store who had a large selection on show and I saw three in my price bracket but how to decide the one for me. One had a red door and edged in black with grey side another not quite as fancy. But I didn't want a feature I picked a nice black one it just had the look I liked so that was it and of I went to buy it.

Keep with me it's a long story

I needed all the chimney pipes but I would go elsewhere because from my previous log burner I knew that this supplier was expensive. Near me there is a cross between a B&Q type shop but also a garden centre come builders merchant. When I got my pellet burner I made a note of the chimney prices and I was glad. At the place near me I got everything I need for a saving of about a 33% saving. That wasn't all I needed skirting boards but I wanted something special so it was of to Chicco's. But after a short time I found what I wanted but the wood was to thick but that's not a problem for Chicco.

Wonderful hardwood skirting boards. As you can see i have some cables to tidy up. 

 I got my new skirting home but now I needed to round over one side but the biggest part was in this environment damp and windy so of I went to my mate Robin. Robin soon got my skirting varnished because it was important for me to show of not just my burner but also my great skirting.

If only it was that simple

I needed a granite hearth for the burner to stand on. So off I go again this time I went to a granite workshop and it didn't take long to make my choice of type of granite. This was cut and ready for me to collect the next day so the next day I collected it and of I went home but still another problem to fix.

The last problem was I had four double sockets and a computer point that was going to be hidden away in the corner. I removed all four double sockets and fitted two new double sockets to the right of the pellet burner where I can get at them.

Everything now in place

First I had to cut a hole in the wall to have the chimney go from the pellet burner to the outside. With the hole cut the skirting  boards in place, granite put down and levelled, sockets moved. Now it was time to put the pellet burner in place and connect the chimney inside and then the outside. After this was all done I should have stopped for a cup of tea because I did need a break but I just had to get the burner started. So I just carried on, I had been reading the book that came with the burner and found the setup really simple. The longest part was the burners pipe work had to load up for the first time and that done it was simple.

 Well that's the story of my new pellet burner and I must say I am glad I didn't get one when I first saw them a few years ago. Now they almost silent pellet burners are now just a pleasure and mine is not the focal point of the room as a traditional fire would be.

Late out on a rotten night

it was a long time ago my Friend who lived in my village returned home late one windswept rainy night. Like myself my friend drove down a dark silent lane that we both use when we leave the village. This night what my friend didn't see in a open drain at the side of the road was an adult and three young wild Boar. The adult Boar jumped out in front of my friends car and did some really serious damage to his car.

Going forward to last night I came down the same lane at about 10.30 pm it was raining and very windy. About the same as on the night my friend had his accident with a wild Boar. The lane is over a mile long and as soon as I entered the lane I saw a huge wild Boar and slowed down straight away. I only passed the Boar by about a couple of hundred years when I saw another and the another. That was three in about three to four hundred yards but as I came towards the end of the lane I saw another what looked a monster wind Boar.

By the time I came to the exit off the lane I was more than glad to have got through without any problem. Should I come home late at night again I will avoid this little lane.

It's that time of year again

There is nothing better than waking in the morning and just laying in bed before you have to move and start the day. But what can ruin the day or at least to me it's what i dislike most. It all started over about 45 years ago in the winter i was with my first wife.

The one thing my wife hated was to get dressed and put cold clothes onto a warm body. My wife put her clothes into the warm bed so that when she was ready to get dressed she had warm clothes to put on.

This time of year i have a nice electric blanket so i switch it on when i get out of bed and put my clothes in the bed to warm. Imagine getting out of a shower all nice and warm and putting nice warm clothes on Oh it feels so good.

Moral of the story if you don't like putting cold clothes on a warm body then warm them in a nice warm bed before you get dressed.

A shock on a tiny lane

As I leave my village and at the bottom of the lane I turn to go to the main road. As I turn onto the lane that is only as wide as a car but there are a number of parts where the lane is cut back where is possible to pass another car if you are brave. OK I may have exaggerated a bit but it really is narrow but as I drove along to get to the main road I turned a bend. Just around the bend came three 4X4 cars  and as they saw me they pulled over into a narrow ditch but not a deep one.

Ok a bad picture but i didn't get out of my van to take the picture.













Further down the lane I came upon a place that you can see a little stream  but not today. Today a number of 4X4's where driving down from the lane onto the bed of the stream. Along the lane where what looked like ribbons hanging as markers these ribbons where red and white but could be easily seen by those in the 4X4's.

Here is the exit from the stream that only runs after the rains come.













On my return much later I saw where the drivers exited the stream bed and back onto the lane. From the lane they then went up into the forest, well it's somebodies idea of fun.

This is the marker for the turn into the forest. A steep turn between the trees.

What a start to a day

Today like most days I wake and before I open my eyes I lay in the warmth of my bed. Laying in my bed I often think of what I have planned for the day or even what happened the day before. It's nice laying comfortable in my world safe in my own little world.

Today like many others I lay in bed and when I opened my eyes the room was dark. The light is kept out because I have blackout blinds to keep out the light of day. When I opened my eyes I looked at my clock and it said 10.30 wow that was a great nights sleep. I had the day planned and before I get up to start my day I reach for my IPad to check for emails and to check the news.

What comes next was a shock not the news not an email But the time. I suddenly lost an hour it was really only 9.30am Oh it turns out that last night the clocks went back. This hour going back ruined the start of what should have been a great day. All for an hour but who's fault was it mine!!!!!because I should have known.

I had so many offcuts

It can't be helped but working with wood in my house i find i had a vast amount of off cuts. During the time i was cutting them up for firewood for a friend i saw a Youtube video about bread/ cheese boards.

This is my seat i have just made from strips of off cuts i had lying around my workshop.

The one in the middle is an off cut from the seat/ storage seat i have just made in my lounge. Once complete these will be going to my next market at Miranda do Corvo and hopefully i will get to sell some. Because these are for bread/ cheese i have used food grade mineral oil so with a little care they will last a long time.

I have mentioned before about Lichen

Looking at the photo below you can't really see that the tree is damaged. Sadly during the recent Hurricane the tree was badly damaged and part of it was blown down. What i can see is the amount of Lichen fallen branches and it reassures me as to why my health is better than during my working life.

 

 My advice to anybody looking to move to another country is to look for signs

that show like the Lichen that the environment  is going to give you a better quality of life. On this part of the lane there are many trees so the loss of one won't have much impact but it shows use how good this area is. You can't see the Pollution in the UK but here nature shows just how clean places are.

Well teacher what do you think of this?

I remember at school we had woodwork on a Friday last two lessons every week. Room for improvement on my school report was the best i ever got from my teacher wood work i was not good at.

I remember the teacher saying i should have gone to metal work instead.

This is what's called a dry fit because it's all in position but i have the floor to clean and varnish. But it does look good if i may say so myself.  All this to make more storage.

Stupid woman

I am not sexist but sometimes something happens that really is silly and you think stupid woman. I arrived at a market I go to and notice a large area has been cordoned off. During the recent hurricane we had thanks to the USA sending it to us after they finished with it. If it wasn't from them sorry.

Due to the high winds a number of trees fell but at the market the problem was with huge branches. Branches had fallen from the trunk of the tree but had not fallen to the ground and where just hanging ready to fall. I was told by a local that so many trees came down that the where not enough people to remove all the fallen trees so these had to wait.

After you see the pictures you will under stand why I said stupid woman. Where I always pitch up there was more that enough room for anybody else to pitch up and sell whatever they had to sell.








This woman had so much stuff she moved one of the barriers to the cordoned off area to spread her stuff out further. Stupid but once it's done that's where the stupidity came in because the area was cordoned off for reasons of safety not for the the fun of it. However when other people came to set up they just went into the dangerous area underneath huge branches that could fall at any time.

A mistake was made a while ago

It is now quite a while since I started work on my bedroom up now in what was the loft. For light one of the first jobs was to fit a window in the gable end of the room overlooking the valley. I am proud of the job I did in what is my master bedroom but there was one thing that was wrong.

At the time of starting the work I did I left one thing that I didn't do and it could have been a disaster. What I didn't do was to fit the beading round the window, this was left of because I couldn't understand how to fit the beading and the seals.

Last night the area I live was hit by a hurricane with winds of over 100 mph. Instead of the Windows being finished with the correct beading I used wood jammed into Reg corners to secure the glass. Imagine how I felt last night with the house being pounded by very high winds but by 3am the winds finished and I was able to finally got to sleep.

Today I started to to put the beading into my windows along with the bedroom window there was also the bathroom window to seal. It took a while to complete both windows but I am glad to say that my windows are now secure and the job is done and finished.

Here is the window finished and ready for any more high winds.

I drive down a tiny lane everyday

Every day when i go out i travel down a very little lane. The lane is only as wide as a car but has places for passing.The first time i came down the lane since my recent trip to Liverpool i came across a bench seat at the side of the road.

This lane is used by ladies from one village to walk to the next village or just for exercise.

I don't know who put this here for the ladies to perhaps take a break on there walk but i thing it's going to be well used.

The next two pictures show just how narrow the lane is 

Oh it's good to be back

Coming back is always tinged with sadness I don't get to see as much of my Mum as I would like and at 93 years of age time is not on our side. The airport and flight went as expected but leaving the airport the Metro was already in the station at Porto airport. The time I would have to wait to get a ticket I could have missed the Metro to Campanha station. I not wanting to miss the Metro I didn't get a ticket I took a chance but I am glad to say I got away with it.

The train from Campanha left at 8.40 pm and if I had missed the Metro I would not have got the train. The next train would have been at 10.05 pm.  By the time I got of the train it would have been after midnight before I got home instead of 10.46 PM.

Getting home at the time I did gave me the chance to put all my washing in my washing machine so it would be done for when I get up next morning. Next I had to make bread but using the timer I was able to have fresh hot bread when I got up. Next thing I had to do was switch the hot water on and it was hot for when I needed a shower before I went to bed.

All in all it was not a bad day.

Now on a lighter note

I was presented with a new granddaughter on the 8th May and I am having a great time with my new granddaughter. If my IPad allowed me to post pictures I have a couple of Jems to share with my readers but I will have to wait till I get home on the 8th October.

I treated myself to a Kit Kat and forgot to eat it till I got back to my daughters. My new granddaughter was wide awake and I felt guilty eating a Kit Kat and not letting her have any. OK I know she could only lick the Kit Kat but by the time it was taken of her she was covered in chocolate.

The thing I am most pleased about is my granddaughter doesn't have a dummy stuck in her mouth.

Back up Breck Road again

Again I am in Liverpool and saddened by what I see but what I was to see is common all over the UK. I traveled up Breck road from my Mums and it still looks like a Ghost town as does Prescot Road, Tuebrook, West Derby Road and Stanley Road. All these great shopping areas have been Blighted by the onslaught of the Supermarkets.

From personal experience I can best talk about Breck Road, Breck Road now is full of second hand goods shops, charity shops and fast food outlets. From the Dockers club till the shops end about a mile in distance I saw One pub a garage car sales dating from 1965 still doing well. The only shop I remember from my time in late 1964 that is still trading after all this time is a Pet shop.

Although it was good something has lasted all this time, the shop still looks untidy now as it did over 50 years ago. But it did bring a smile to my face to see at least something left after all these years. The banks have gone Roselind a high end dress shop long gone now a sandwich bar.

At one point I had a butchers shop on Stanely road Bootle but the whole block of shops has gone now just grass like parkland is left.

Pilots yes Pilots no

I read on the BBC news that Ryanair Pilots where to have another strike. This time it included Pilots and cabin crew from Portugal where involved as well as other countries. The first report was for 190 flights then it came down to 150 flights but after going to bed the next dat it was 250 flights involved.

My Mum is now 93 and not in the best of health and this news was most worrying to me. I left Thursday night to get the Train and Metro up to Porto ready for my flight at 9.15am the next morning. At 9.15am the flight I was due on was coming in with passengers on to disembark and reload for its next flight up to Liverpool.

I sat watching the information displays and at the first flights taking of at 5am, on the list was Ryanair and of all the flights up to 7.20 half where cancelled. I sat waiting until the Liverpool flight was displayed and then watch half expecting it to change to cancelled and it was not until it said go to gate 12 I knew the flight must be on. Because I had flown so often I was already at gate 12 when it was announced, it was only then I relaxed and knew that I would get back to see my Mum and my new grandchild.