As time draws near " Things to do "

Well on the morning of the 23rd September i will be flying over to Porto to visit Gois and my house.

As you can see from the picture below of the loft, what a great space it is. What you can't see is how good the floor is, all the floor needs is a good sanding to bring out the best in the wood. On the right will be  two Velux windows letting in loads of light. Where the basket in hanging up is where the bed will go facing the Velux windows. On the roof will be the solar panels for the hot water and to feed the central heating system. The roof space under the tiles will be insulated to 800mm with insulation of the type that comes in rolls. The part that can't be seen on the picture is where the eu-suite will go and built in wardrobe.

The beds in the two bedrooms add something to the house and must be kept if it's possible to. One problem is they look smaller than we have in the UK. If it is that i am wrong and they are the same size as the UK all i need to do is buy two mattress's to bring with me when i make my move to my new home. If they are not the same size i will just have to buy two new beds.

Just look at the floor in the bedroom you would pay a small fortune to have a real wooden floor like this in your own home. It is real wood and not laminated.

New Blog site picture

I have changed the picture of my house at the start of this Blog site. I have a lady who comes into my shop who i have over a period of time got to know quite well. This lady despite having two hip replacement operations is always happy and cheerful. I mentioned a number of times that i was moving to Portugal to retire and during one of these conversations i offered to let the lady see some pictures of my Cottage. This i did by putting the pictures onto a CD and the next time i saw the lady i gave her the CD. Some time later i received the Cd back and i was surprised to hear that the lady was going to do a water colour painting of the house for me.  The day came when she came into the shop with the painting. I am not normally one to have nothing to say but i was lost for words. Nothing could have prepared me for how beautiful the picture is. I will find a frame fitting for the picture for when i get to make my move to my place in the sun. My son suggested that when i get to Vale Boa to put the picture up and take a photograph of the picture in pride of place in the lounge and send a copy to the artist. I think that would be a fitting tribute to someone who has shown such a kindness to me and my new life.

It's ok having plans to move to another country and want to spend your retirement years in a more relaxed and sunny place. There is certainly nothing wrong with that after a life time spent working it's something to look forward to but, Always a but somewhere in the story. Sometimes things do not go quite as planned. All seems straight forward and then you find a list of things that have to be done before you can move onto your new life. as the list gets shorter now should be the time to start looking forward to the move. But not with me a most of the money to fund my dream must come from the sale of a house i now live in after my divorce. The divorce gave me some money but i have to sell a house before it's my turn to move.

Going to work every day when all you want to do is sit in the sun. After working for over Forty  five years without a day off for illness, well it's time to take a break.