Rain Rain and more Rain

Well over the last week we have had a drop of Rain, It's rained now for three days. Not like at home a few clouds and they drop there load and it gets better. Well here it rains so much trees have been blown down by the high winds. The bark from the eucalyptus trees is all over the lanes that i use a lot. The lane from Vale Boa to Martinho is for me a short cut down to Gois passing a house being prepared for friends of mine who are due to move in to there house before Christmas.

The lane out of Vale Boa is narrow and it bends to the left and the right and if that was not bad enough it also goes uphill quite steeply. But on this day Monday of this week i followed the bread lady up the hill only to find the lane blocked. We have a lady who delivers bread three days of the week. The lane is to narrow to turn even for me so i had to reverse down about 500 yards. Ok no problem but i had behind me my big box trailer, well i managed to reversed all the way down the hill without a stop all in one go. It certainly is a challenge to reverse in just a car but i had a big box trailer behind me and nowhere to reverse and go back to where i came from.

The reason i had my trailer was that i had a flat tyre that needed to be repaired also the spare wheel i have with the trailer was flat and needed repairing.

Getting on with the kitchen.

Over the last few days i have been busy getting all the pipe work installed into the walls ready for when i get the kitchen wired. The walls have to be cut into and a plastic pipe has to be fitted so that the cable can be pushed through them.

I went to a B&Q type shop to get some insulation for around the doors and while i was there i had a look around. Not far from me is a place called Penacova and in Penacova there is a place to buy plaster board and insulation. I got a price for an 8ft x 4ft sheet and i was quoted 25€ and that also had the insulation on the back. At the place i went to on Friday i could get an 8ft x 4ft sheet of plaster board and the insulation separate for less than 18€. The size of the sheet i am glad that i kept my Big box trailer.

I need to brick up at the top of a wall and the bricks i got cost 14 cents each that was 2.80€ for the twenty that i needed. So at that price i was happy. I will include some photos as soon as i can. Below is a picture of the hole ceiling exposed showing how big and open it will be when the rafters have been paneled.

Since i got back lots has been happening

Well we seem to be into the Olive season. Everywhere you go people are up trees picking the Olives. I don't know what it is like other years as i haven't been here at Olive time before. As i type this there is a team for want of a better word picking Olives next to my house and across the lane. There are six women all either up trees or picking Olives up that have dropped to the floor. The boss is sat in his car doing nothing.

Maybe tomorrow i will start to pick mine i have about 8 trees and none have grown very well. The land is on a step hill and facing the sun for most of the day the land is dry. From one of the pictures you can see a section that has just been cut back to allow the lane to be widened. The ground is so dry that the workers had to use a digger as they where cutting back the land by five/six feet.

After the Olives have been harvested i am going to cut the trees down. A couple will be used as a corner post for my chicken run. I want to give my chickens as much space as i can so they get a better life than in a cage. Hopefully they will have plenty of space to run around in.

While i was home to see my Mum my Mum and sister Lynne both mentioned that i had not been coughing at all. Well maybe i have the answer, On a number of the photos you will see that on the branches of the trees something growing. These things growing are called Lichens. Lichens only grow in places with very clean air. They are an indication of air quality as they only grow in clean air. So does this mean that now i am living in a very clean place that my cough is no more. Well the answer to that will show itself over the coming months. Below is a picture of my house seen from over the lane from my land " sounds good my land i am now a land owner "

I have found a ripoff garage

Before i left to visit my Mum i went to a local garage to have my hand brake fixed. The garage owner mentioned that i needed new brake shoes. As i had my own garage and a contract with Pickfords removals. Also for four years i was a night fitter for the largest haulage company in the UK. Then i like to think that changing brake shoes is something even i can do even at my age. Getting under the car for the handbrake was something i wanted not to do so i went to a garage to get it fixed. I told the owner to only repair the handbrake. I also said that as i was going to the UK i would sort out bringing new parts for the brakes with me from the UK.

I had my car taken to the garage for me while i was away. I said that i only wanted the handbrake done. Well the garage owner ignored what i said and fitted new shoes and new brake cylinders. The charge for just the handbrake had now gone up and from about 50€ to 175€.



I will be back to this later

Well it's all over now till next time

Well it's all over as the title says, back home in only two hours. Well that's the flight time and then it's down from the airport to my place in the sun. It may only be a two bedroom cottage in a little village called Vale Boa but it's mine and it's home.

As I type this at over 35,000 ft above a cloud covered UK or at least from 35,000 ft plus it looks that way. From the plane I can see small areas of lights but it's the lights of Portugal that I want to see most. The welcoming lights of home.

One of the highlights of my stay is seeing so many customers who really are and where friends I now have to leave behind. There where only a couple who I missed but I am that my son will pass on my best regards to them and maybe next time I will see them. The real surprise was the reaction from everyone that I met and was I quote “ Peter you do look well “ everybody noticed how much weight I had lost. Being me and a show off I had with me a jacket that last November I could not fasten due to my weight. Now that jacket is to big for me but it was nice to hear those comments. Lots of the people I would have liked to see had been told that I would be home for a short stay and I was able to see many. Thanks son that made the trip for me.

It was with great sadness that I had to leave my Mum who had only just had her hip replacement a week ago today. During that time I learnt a lot from my Mum. Despite the pain from the operation she didn't let use see she was in a lot of discomfort. Mum would try to do things and I just watched her struggle. Mums recovery would take all the longer if she was being helped all the time I just hope that she understands and I am sure that she does.

Soon I will be home and as Mum has a Skype phone I will be calling her to make sure that she is OK. Chelsee is so old for her eight years of age that she is. She can take instruction over the Skype phone that we use and we have when needed fix things. She even found how to play music from Youtube and use Skype at the same time. I used to text her when I was on-line so she could call me but this time I have told her to go on-line and if she See's me on-line she can call me.

As usual I get to the airport with plenty of time to spare, I make sure that I am always first in the queue at the check in so after the priority borders are on I am always next. This trip was no different than any of the others I have made. The three seats at the top of the stairs are where I aim to be for the flight. I just get to the top of the stairs and while waiting while the crew check the passports I put my glasses case on the seat by the window. As usual it worked and I am sitting where I wanted to be.

Well it's been nice but it's time to go home.

Well it's been a nice couple of weeks but it's time to go home.

I got to see mum before she had to go into hospital for her hip operation. Mum had to go into hospital on a sunday for her op. We took mum to Spire hospital for her operation and we arrived a little before noon on sunday. After she settled in mumwas taken down to have her operation. The operation was over by 4pm and she was wheeled back into her room by 5pm. It's a pity that we all live so far away or mum would have all the care she needs, plenty of family call in on regular basis. It would be nice if we where more local but there is nothing really that we can do about it.

Sue has just gone to Napal to climb part way up Everest. Lynne lives and works in Huddersfield. Diane is away on holiday in Greece. Tim lives in Derbyshire and that leaves just me well as you all know i live in Portugal. That leaves Jackie, Jackie lives just a short walk away from my Mum. Jackie i would say is very close to mum and does more than any of the rest of use. David and Laura also paly a large part in my mums life as they call in so often if going to or from work. So mum really has lots of help.

Justine and Andrew called to see mum on Thursday. Justine is a physio in a hospital in Leeds and on her day of she called and she was a great help to mum. Justine has a loverly little baby 6 months of age and what a loverly baby he is. I could go on more about family but you all are such a big help. The news from Robert that he got the flat he was viewing was a nice lift and that cheered her up. So we may not be there but we all play a part in mums life and recovery.

Laura is going into hospital in the coming days for an operation and i wish her well and if you red this Laura good luck and i will be thinking of you.

I got to see Chelsee a couple of times, as usual she is so excited that she comes out without her coat. On one occaision she didn't even tell her mum she was with me. It was only that her mum called to check that she was with me.

I didn't get to see Sean even though his mum and dad where in Liverpool visiting his dads mum. This was the one thing that i return sad about.

I got to see my mate Dave. Dave and i have been mates for well over thirty years. I helped Dave extend his garage and we had to sit on top of my van to get to the height of the walls we where doing. Dave & Margaret i will miss a lot but i will get to see him next time i get back next year.

Well i fly back on the 16th to Porto and due to getting into Porto late in the evening i will be staying in a local hotel.

Sean and Chelsee

I have two grandchildren Sean 5 who lives in Scotland and Chelsee 8 who lives in Liverpool.

Today i was lucky to see Chelsee. I had sent messages as i had not seen her on Skype and i was getting a little worried. Well i got a reply today, it seems that she had been away on holiday with Mum and Dad in Egypt. So it seems that i was worrying for nothing. Chelsee wanted me to pick her up after school.

I used to get to see Chelsee a lot when i lived in Liverpool but now i have moved i have to speak to her on the internet via Skype. Chelsee always seems to be doing something else  so all i see is the top of her head but at leaset i can still see her. As my mum has been in hospital getting a new hip i wasn't able to see Chelsee as i would like.

This week Sean is down from Scotland with his Mum and Dad visiting an ex relative of mine. Sadly I won't get to see him while he is at an ex relatives of mine's because he is staying with Chelsee's nan. I have only seen Sean a few times in Scotland and a few times down here in Liverpool. With relations between his mum and i well i can't see how i can get to see Sean at the moment. Maybe his Dad will bring him to see me but as he has been here almost a week now he has had plenty of time to come and meet me. He has spoken to my Youngest son and seen him twice but me well seems he only has one parent or only wants to see one.

I got to see Chelsee

Yesterday i had to decide either see my mum or see my granddaught Chelsee. As it truned out i was able to see mum and then go and see Chelsee. Chelsee like all children seems to think that she can have her own way they don't understand that sometimes you have to say no. This time i was able to see both her and my mum. Today i went with my sister Jackie to see my mum only to be told that she is able to come home tomorrow on Thursday. We don't know what time she will be released but it's great news. Laura my sisters daughter has arranged for a car suitable for mum to be able to come home in.

I had not seen Chelsee since i left for my new life in Portugal and i must admit i did miss her. My thoughts where with my mum who dispite making a great recovery i felt i should have been there instead of with Chelsee. I did see Chelsee  and it was a great time and one i will remember. When i lived in Liverpool i would see Chelsee often and when i did we would have curried Chicken. When we have curry Chelsee comes with me to buy all the ingredients that are needed. Chelsee normally does most of the cooking and i stand next to her just in case. This time we had to have white rice as we had no turmeric to put in to make the rice yellow.     

I will be back to finish later

Proud of my Mum

I am back in the UK for a very short break. I wasn't going to do this one till i got back home in my place in the sun. I love my new life in Vale Boa and during my short time there i have changed. I am more relaxed, i have lost weight, i am eating so much better as everything is fresh. So i do want to go home as soon as i can. Enough about me.

My Mum has had to go into hospital to have a new hip. Ok but mum is in here eighties but need it she did. Sadly the local hospital waiting list was so long that one in Fazakereley couldn't even put her on the list. My youngest sister has the sense to ask about other hospitals namely private hospitals that are allowed to do NHS work. Mums doctor agreed but it seems that you have to make contact to have the job done not the doctor. So Jackie called after seeing Mum she had a date for the op. Sadly due to an infection the op was delayed till the 9th October.

We took mum in just before noon on the day of the op and shortly nurses and doctors came to see her. Well by 2pm mum was taken for her op. Yes in before noon and ready for the op by 2pm not what you would expect from the NHS. Well as you would expect we waited but not for to long by 5pm mum was done and back in her room. We stayed for a little while and then left mum to rest.

Mum was told that the next day would be her worst as the drugs have worn of. Next day i went to see mum and she was in a little discomfort but she was looking so well. I am looking forward to seeing her today the 11th October sister Sue's birthday also the day before was the day that 44 years ago i passed my driving test and i passed it first time.

Ok more later

45 Commando have returned from Afghanistan

Much is happening but this week i am only reporting on one thing.

The Royal Marines of 45 Commando have returned from a tour Nad-e Ali. All parents, brothers, sisters etc will like me be very happy to here of there return. They returned home without loosing any Marine.

That's all i need to say on this good news. My news will wait for the moment.

A bit of what i did this week

Tuesday i collected a couple of friends from the railway station at Coimbra who are staying close to me. Friday i took back to Porto airport a friends family who had been here for a holiday. My friends mum is a young 92 year old and a nice lady to have a chat with. I now look forward even more to my own mum coming out to see me for a holiday. Maybe not in the Algarve where my Dad loved to go but in the most beautiful part of Portugal. Well i would say that woudn't I.

Thursday night i went for a meal with the lads i picked up at Coimbra, on the menu was wild boar. Yes i had wild boar and boy it was incredible and i will go back there again for some more Mmmm.

Now this brings me to Saturday a day to do my washing and some baking. First i did a loaf in my bread maker i am very good at making bread but then again all you do is measure things out and switch the machine on. I use the timer so it's ready before my evening meal and it was perfect to have with a Turkey curry. For only 4€ i got enough turkey for 4 meals anyway the chicken breast for the same weight would be double the price.

Apple crumble should be no problem, should be but i was making it. Where did i go wrong well i measured everything out into my mixer. Well that is where i went wrong, i shouldn't have used a mixer. Instead of coming out as a crumble the mixture came out as a dough.

Well work is well under way now on the kitchen

Over the last few days I have had to get help to take the chimney down well that is now down and the roof has been repaired. I have a few pictures showing once the chimney has been removed and one where the batons have been put in place and then when it's all complete. If you look at the first you may just be able to see the moon in the distance.

 

We went out yesterday to get a new marble sill to go under the door. We went to a huge factory that makes just about everything out of marble. While we waited my sill was drawn for the machine man to make the sill. It took about half an hour from going in to the machine man giving me my new sill. The cost including tax was 7€ Yes that's less than £7 and it was made to measure and while we waited.

The door and window company are coming today to fit the door and windows. It was nice that the window guy arrived as arranged. He only left the door and window as the gap for the door was the wrong size. When the door was measured the company owner wrote down on the wall the size to make the opening. This we did but in the mean time he changed things so we could have a sill under the door. Well we had a bit of changing to do but the next day all was Ok and the window and door where fitted.

Work has restarted again on the Kitchen

Well as you can see from the title work in the kitchen again. Work had stopped because until the window and the door for the veranda had been fitted. The window company tell me that they will be ready to fit the door and window tomorrow Wednesday the 21^st. The same day the phone company are also due to call and repair the line so I can have my phone working also my internet. It's only been three weeks waiting for the phone man to call. In the UK you don't know just how lucky you are if your phone is off it can be repaired the same day by a man and his little van. Hey but this is Portugal you have to take

the good with the bad.

There is one thing I know will be done on date and on time is the chimney will be taken down tomorrow. One of my friends is going to take it down as it's one job I don't feel comfortable doing. Also where the chimney is taken down from that part of the roof needs to be tiled and my friend will soon sort that out.

I had to take down part of the wall under where there was a window, also the window needed to be taken down as well. Once I marked the wall and used the cutting disk it was quite easy to remove the wall section. After using the cutting disk I was covered from head to toe is brick dust and my hair felt like sand paper.

A quiet time at the moment.

At the moment I am waiting for the window company to install my new window and veranda door. Until they are made and fitted everything else is held up. The window and door are due for fitting on the 20^th of September. Like many stories there is always a but. When the company installer came to measure up so that the window and door fitted correctly he measured from the top of the frame and down to the floor for the door. He never asked about what was to be done with the floor. I met the tiler later on the day of the Porto trip to check about the floor. It seemed that we needed 20mm gap for the floor tiles, I am having the door open in and there was no way that this could happen. I went to the door company who as luck had it the door was not made yet so I was able to get the door made so as I could have the floor tiled.

Today the 14^th I did a trip to Porto airport to collect a family coming to stay with a friend called Celia from Cabril. Cabril is not very far from Gois about as far from Gois on one side as I am on the other side of Gois. One of the family I am picking up is Celia's mum who is 92 years young. So if she can travel then I look forward to my mum coming to see me next year sometime. My mum is a young 85 years of age.

As I need to use all seven seats in my car I had very little room left over for luggage. So I really needed to use a trailer to carry the bags but my trailer is so big I could have carried the bags for a whole plane load of people. I asked Richard if I could use his trailer as mine was to big. Richard said I could but it may need a clean out. The last time the trailer was used was for Horse manure. Yes it did need a clean but lucky for me it had all dried out so I was very lucky. It was not a messy job.

One little ting I did find in the trailer was three Wasps nests. Yes and they where active and wasps could be seen coming out of them when I opened the trailer top. Loads of Fly and wasp spray soon got rid of them. It didn't take long to get the trailer cleaned and ready to go and I was on my way and clear blue skies, I normally use my air con but I tried to drive with the windows open but with the temperature at 36c as I put my hand out the air was very warm. I was driving at 60mph and the heat coming in was to much so it was back to the air con.

A quiet few days

The weekend started with me being a guest on a English radio program that is on air Saturdays from 10am till noon. John decided this show was about me and my move to Portugal.

After the show we had a look around the record library and as John was 64 that day we looked for the Beatles " When i am 64 " but what we found was the Beatles " Live at Hamburg " this was recorded before Ringo joined and Pete Best was the drummer. Pity the cover was not in good order or it would have been worth a good few bob.

In the cellar was a number of big wooden boxes and i decided to start to take them apart as the timber will come in handy to panel one wall in the master bedroom. I will put some pictures up as soon as i can and explain how difficult it was to take just one apart.

I had a call from Anthony who had someone to speak to me. It was a lady who was the first customer when i opened my Video shop in 1985. Since then she married, had two daughters and two grand children. Over the years a lot has happened and she is still a customer of the shop now it is a Bargain Booze franchise.

A little later the phone went again and this time it was so i could speak to someone special. It was Jeff an ex sargeant from the Parachute regiment. Jeff is now well into his eighties. We used to joke about his wife who is a nurse. If you know the program Open all Hours you will know about Nurse Gladys Emmanule. Well Jeff has his own personal nurse. It was so good to be able to speak to him.

So many people where a part of my life while i was in Liverpool and i must admit i do miss them but this is now a new chapter. So it's the future i am looking forward to.

I do look forward to speaking to more of my friends still in Liverpool. Anthony can't begin to understand the pleasure i got speaking to old friends. Thanks son. 

Well the air con is now done

Well i have gone and done it i have installed my air conditioning and it worked right away, no problems.

No Problem well that's a lie as i now have to keep cleaning as there is dust in the air but i can live with that. As you can see from the first photo the temperature was 28 C but it didn't take long and after setting the temperature to 20 C it was nice and cool. well cool enough for me.

Well as you can see from the photo i had to connect the inside unit and the pipe work up and then pass through a 65mm hole in the wall. Now the pipe you see has 2 copper pipes in it and the main cable and a sensor cable. I had to lift the unit complete with the pipe up and climb a step ladder. This was not an easy thing to do and aim the pipe to go through the hole in the wall. Well i did it and boy am i proud of myself.

Considering in the past if i needed anything doing i would always get someone to do it for me. It was an easy thing to do all i had to do was pay. Well as you have seen from the kitchen and now the air con there are things i can do. I will admit to being a bit concerned  but you can't imagine the pleasure i got having completed what i consider was a big job. I was also concerned as to how i would get the pipe and unit up without an extra pair of hands but i managed.

This unit is to big for what i wanted and i mean in effective output. I got this unit as i have 2 bedrooms next to the lounge and by leaving the doors open they also would get a benefit from the air con. When i tested the unit the temperature also went down in the bedrooms as well so all was achieved in one go. Just look at the picture above that's the hole i had to pass all the pipe work through.

Today is a day for working outside

Nice as the house is there is one feature that really annoyed me was the railings outside of the house and the gates. The walls had sharp spikes on the top and the gate also was made the same. Today I got my grinder out and cut the railings down. I need to get someone to remove the chimney stack and if you look at the pictures you will see why I had to get rid of the dangerous railings. The gates do not open so they are ok against the wall but at a later date I will decide to either replace the gates or remove the top spikes.

I have been preparing the inside for the air con in the lounge and I have put a photo of where it will go above a window. This was the only place I could put the air con so as to have the outside pipe in the right place. What a crap colour on the ceiling, the doors are also painted the same but I can live with them. If I started to change bits here and there I would end up with a house with lots of bits done and nothing finished.

The reason I did the air con was because I had a weekend with nothing to do. Today I had nothing to do so I removed the dangerous railing. I can't do any more to the kitchen until the chimney is down and the whole in the roof where it was has been fixed. Then I can start to insulate the roof and then start to panel the ceiling. So while that is waiting to be done I am doing little bits, but that's all.

I was going to edit the picture of the chimney so as to show just the roof and chimney but just look at that sky, it's a day like this that I play the came I came up with and it's called Spot the Cloud.

I am going on this beautiful day to confirm the order for my window and veranda door. For the door and window double glazed and fitted 562€ that's not bad when you consider they are not standard sized windows or doors.

About ready to start rebuilding the kitchen

Well the title says it all, the demo is all done so now it's putting it all back together. Well not quite. I have one bit to finish and that's below the window this and the window has to come out so I can fit the door that will lead to the veranda. Monday I will go and get the wall insulation boards so I can insulate the three walls that are not insulated. I am getting plaster board that has insulation on the back of it, when I went to the builders to enquire about it he spoke English and explained that you just put the adhesive on the wall and push the panel against it. We would say that you dot and dab it. It didn't matter I understood him. At 25€ a sheet it's not cheap but it would waste having the ceiling done and leaving the walls uninsulated.

The wall below the window will not be removed until the day the door company call to fit the door they not only make the doors but fitting is part of the price. On Saturday I had nothing to do so I got the stone cutter out to make the first cut where the door will be getting fitted. Not having anything to do all weekend and saying I was not going to start any other jobs till this one was finished, well I had time on my hands so I drilled and positioned the back plate where the air con was going in the living room. I had a 65 mm hole cutter but mine was for timber or plaster board. I had to cut through stone so I needed a 65 mm stone cutter. I have a friend who has a 65 mm hole cutter so I will be using that.

Above you can see how the ceiling will be open, the little black things on the ceiling are nests.

The next step now I have the cable is to lay the pipe into the wall for the electrics to go into I will be having 4 twin sockets also a socket for the TV or Monitor above the fridge freezer.

Well the work on the Kitchen is well underway

Well as the title says the Kitchen demo has started. The reason for removing the ceiling is because by taking out the hideous vent that took up half the room I have weakened the Chimney vent. After removing the vent it was to late to put it back. A concrete beam had been cut so as to form the vent and that would have been needed to be replaced also then a beam would have to be put in place to secure the underside of the chimney. The option I chose was to remove the ceiling and have it all open with exposed beams. Two of the concrete cross beams will be retained and clad in timber for support for the walls and ceiling.

The pictures below show the various stages in taking down the ceiling and also the exposed beams. It's common in the UK for floors to be made from what is called Block and Beam construction. What Block and Beam is well concrete beams are put in place where a floor is to be put and between the beams what looks like breeze blocks are laid to form the floor.

The ceiling was formed using five concrete beams and between them special ceiling blocks then the ceiling was skimmed with concrete for what reason I do not know. Concrete seems a common thing to use in building here in Portugal it seems that it's the only thing they have to use. After the ceiling was built they just used concrete whereas in the UK we would use plaster. On the top of the ceiling guess what they had more concrete. A photo is included of the end of a block still to be removed from the wall that shows the way the blocks are made. This is common in Portugal and Spain for construction of houses walls and ceiling are made this way.

It took me a day to remove most of the ceiling blocks and there is just a bit now and it's all down. Then I have to look at sealing the roof so I can insulate between the rafters. And then face of the ceiling between the rafters with timber as you can see in the photo from a friends house. Well all the ceiling is now down apart for two beams that for safety sake I need help getting them down.

Today was crearing day in the brew house

In the cellar was brew house that had a some time in the past been used for making a lot of wine and a local brew called aquadentre. Now as I am never going to grow enough grapes for making wine on the scale of the past the contents of the brew house has to go. In it's place will become a guest accommodation. I have the space to create a bedroom with en-suite and a small lounge. As I move into the last room in the cellar to clear it out I will take photos and explain in more detail my future plans.

The contents of the brew house being a big barrel that was used to crush the grapes and I have enclosed a picture with a tin of beans on top to show the size. All the other barrels will be cleaned and put on Ebay. There are five barrels two quite big and three a bit smaller. If I get the price I want then I will deliver them to the UK when I come back to sell my trailer but that's another story for another time.

I have two grapevines below where the veranda will be. It is my plan to train the grapevine to go over the top of the veranda it is common here to train grapevines to form shade. At this time of year the grapes are nearly finished so I will wait till the vine is ready for pruning and get help from someone who knows about vines etc.