Chckens are coming

It's Chicken time. At last i can make a start on my Chicken house and get some Chickens. No i won't be naming them and maybe one day they will provide a meal or two.

I started be first cleaning out the Chicken house before i got started. First there was a perch to find and put into the back of where the chicken will be housed. Next i had to make a nesting box, so they can have a bit of comfort while laying eggs for my breakfast. I remember when i stayed with Dianne and Terry that in the morning Dianne would go outside to her chicken house to get eggs for breakfast.

After making the nesting box i then put it into position and all looked good. Next i needed some wood shaving for the floor and some food and a feeder. I went to the Co-operative in Gois for the food and the feeder. Coming out i met Robin a English joiner who took me to a joinery shop where i could get as many shaving  as i wanted. With the amount of work this place does they always have plenty of shaving so now i know where to go. Next i need something to use in the nesting box. Robin said that i should use grass as it's better than using shavings.

A start has been made on the Orchard.

Well the good weather is showing no signs of going so it's time to get some work done outside. Along a wall by the house was where a couple of Grape vine and a Peach tree, well they have gone and the ground prepared for planting of a couple of fruit trees. Not sure just what for now but we will see.

Over on the estate lots has been done first we had a fire, pity it was not in November but what the hell February will do. A start has been made to burn some of the rubbish, fallen and cut down trees and preparing for planting my fruit trees. I made a start on Tuesday by going to the biggest for planets that there could be. The Nursery must be about a mile long and over half a mile wide it's huge. You could even buy mature Orange trees complete with fruit for 50€. Me i just wanted two Cherry trees, the ones i got where a black cherry and if they are as good as the picture on the label  makes them luck i won't be sharing these. They are just for me.

I started a fire as i said earlier but before i prepared by having a hose connected up to the font in the village. I turned to look back at the house and the fire had spread. In the time it took to run and turn the tap on the fire was starting to spread and with water and a hose the whole of the hill could have gone up. At the top of the hill is a forest  and as there has been no rain now for over five weeks and with warm days the ground is very dry.

If you take the time to look at the photos you will see i have put pipes into soil around the trees so i can get water down to the roots. Where the trees are this is in full view of the sun all day so plenty of water is needed.

Black Cherry tree

Black Cherry tree

Orange tree

Lemon tree

How my veranda will look once it's done

I called today to see a friend just past Celavista Derek was building a veranda and he was putting a roof to have a little shade from the sun. The roof is made from slate in a spot close to his house. I am going to build a veranda outside of my kitchen and as usual i would have just used normal timber from a builders merchant. That was until i saw what Derek is building as you can see from the photo his timber is round and not square. As Derek is surrounded on all sides by trees his veranda will fit into the landscape perfect. Now i know just how i am going to build mine and i am sorry but i will be using ideas i got from seeing what Derek is building. A 5 metre lenght is about 22€.

Telling a friend about how i am going to make my veranda he offered to let me fell some of the trees he has on his land to make my veranda. If i make a veranda as good as Derek has made i will be very happy and very lucky to have friends who are so generous. Thanks

A new Roof or what looks like a new Roof

Before i went home to see my Mum i had spoken to a local builder through a friend who can speak Portuguese about a couple of cracked roof tiles and a small water leak. I mentioned that he could quote me for a new roof in the summer when the weather was much better. 

The builder had a look and said that the roof was in very good condition. He went on to say that the roof only needed washing with a power jet washer. Across the front gable there are some tiles that are just decorative and some of these where broken but in my cellar i had enough tile to cover the roof. The builder replaced tiles and also the decorative ones as well. The roof looks like new and should outlast me. This is one big expense that i won't have to pay for.  

Today i became a tree butcher.

Today i became a tree butcher! I had one Peach tree now gone. I had two grape vines now gone. Four half rotten Olive trees now gone. Now i can start to get ready to get my fruit trees after i have prepared the ground ready to plant them on. The price i have seen for fruit trees  is about 3 euro per tree. Replacing the Peach and the Grape vines will be an Orange tree, Lemon tree and a lime tree. They will go against a wall close to the house. Below is a picture of the wall where the first three new trees will go.

Here are two of the trees that i have cut down today. I will cut up what there is left and save it for when i get a log burner  but that may be some time away.

It's been a month and it's now time to go home

Well it's now a month that i have been away from home. I came home to see my Mum who was to have her fourth Hip operation. I am glad to say that she appears to be well on the way to a full recovery. I can breath a sigh of relief now that it's all over. Nobody wants to see there Mum in pain and suffering but i can now go home happy.

I can't remember a time that i went a whole month without driving and it's been hard. I have used public transport with my Bus pass so it's not been to bad. The trains are not a nice as i am used to at home but beggars can't be choosers.

I went to a local wholesalers i have used for many years for a few bits i needed and bumped into one of the staff called Darren who i have known for a long time. It's nice to meet people you have known for so long and to have a quick catchup.

I visited Anthony my son and it's so good to see he is doing well for himself without me being there to h

elp him. I sent a text to Lee and a voice mail but i didn't get a reply, i hope it's not that he has taken sides with his Mum. I do miss him but it's his choice whether to call or not.

This has been my first visit that i didn't get to see Dave my best mate and his wife Margaret,  they are both is Cadiz in Southern Spain at the moment and i am sure that they are having a good time.

It as nice that i was able to see my four sisters and my brother Tim  so the visit wasn't wasted.

Blue skies at home cold grey skies in Liverpool

I had a call from my friend from Gois Property. Richard live not far from me and today he was out in the garden and he called me on Skype from his Iphone. I could see straight away from his camera that the sky was blue. Here in the UK i have not seen any blue in the sky since i can to stay with my Mum three weeks ago.  Back home the blue sky on it's own is a tonic it just makes you feel so much better that here in a miserable UK. Here in Liverpool we may not have had any sun and the outside temperature has been 0c , most days and with the wind chill factor  it has been feeling much colder. Back home Richard tells me that there has been no rain in the weeks i have been away. No rain and blue skies what more can you want?

From the reports i have read the dry winter will cause problems for the coming months. The rain we had has now made the land i have soft enough to use to plant some fruit trees and get rid of a few olive trees. I also need a water tank to site at the top of my land so i can  use any rain water and household waste water to water my trees in the coming months. 

All i need is a couple of what are called IBC containers just like the photo below one to store the house water and then pump it up to the one at the top of my land to feed my trees. The water will trickle down via pipes to each tree. Well that's the plan.

My Mum nearly ready to come home.

Today i should have been flying home after my visit to see my Mum. Mum had to go back into hospital for her fourth hip operation. The first two had to be removed due to an infection, the third was for a spacer to be fitted to allow her wound area to recover and now she has had her new permanent hip fitted. A side effect has been that due to the amount of drugs she has had and the stopping of her normal pain medicine caused Mum to suffer a living nightmare. I have often had a dream and woke up wanting to be able to remember what it was i had dreamt about, well Mum had what we can only call a nightmare but it was happening while she was awake. Mum was awake while she could see things growing on my face and around my neck. She remembers vividly being taken to Manchester on a transporter. All this was part of her nightmare that was while she was wide awake. I can't begin to understand what Mum has been through but i am glad to see that she is no over this part of her recovery.

After what happened during the week it's good to see the progress that has been made in the last few days. We have now been told that all that's needed now is for the doctor to release Mum so she can come home to complete her recovery. Hopefully releast day should be Monday i hope so i can have some time with Mum at home before i fly of into the sun to my in the sun.

The road to recovery

I went to see my Mum on Friday and at the time of my visit it was less than 24 hours since her operation. The  pain control was administered by Mum from a hand control that allowed Mum to get pain relief when she needed it most. I don't think really that Mum was aware that i was there due to the pain relief making her so sleepy.

I didn't go in to see Mum last night as a sister and her husband went in to see Mum and my sisters husband wanted to ask Mum about Mums Will. He had been told that it was not the time or place and because of that Jackie and I kept way. It was obvious that there would have been trouble so it was best to leave well alone. My brother in law has found out that he is no longer the executer of my Mums will. For some strange reason he wants to hear from Mum why he is no longer the executer of her will. Also he believes that Mum was pressured into removing him from the post of executer. 

To consider bringing up such a matter at a time like this when you consider that my Mum is 86 years of age shows just the kind of person that my sister and her husband are. They claim to be practising Christians but this is not the act of a Christian. I am glad that i have no contact with them now and i have no reason to be in contact with them.

A while ago there was a meeting between all of my sisters of whom i have not named them all over my Mums care post op. Two of my sisters just wanted to get care workers in and have nothing to do with there mothers care. These two have been nicknamed Bitter and Twisted so if i ever mention them by these nicknames you know what i am referring to.

Jackie who lives close by hasn't been asked to care for Mum she just looks after her Mum because she wants to out of love for the person who brought her into the world.

Tim is coming later and he is taking me to the hospital so see Mum. We expect that today nearly 48 hours post op that Mum should now be feeling a lot better and on the way to her full recovery. Ray and my nephew David should also be there so it should be a nice visiting time for Mum. 

My Mum

Everybody believes that there Mum is the best in the world and that's normal to think. But my Mum needed a hip operation some time ago late last year. It all started a couple of weeks after the first operation when it all went wrong . Mum got an infection in the new hip joint and the new hip  had to be taken out. So after being rushed back into hospital she had a new replacement hip fitted ok lets hope that this is it and she is now on the road to recovery . Again a little while later infection hit again. The surgeon decided to fit what's called a Spacer, this is like a new hip but it's only a temporarily answer. What the surgeon wants is for her  hip to recover and be infection free  and then new will fit a new hip joint.

It's now about eight weeks since the Spacer was fitted, during that time Mum was almost bed bound but she kept very cheerful. During the last few weeks Mum was rushed to hospital and it was found that the Spacer had broken. Being so far from home and although being told what was happening i expected that the hospital would move forward the date for the hip to be replaced. How wrong i was Mum was sent home and given a date when she would have her new hip. Each weeks she was monitored and a date was set for the operation.

During this time Mum kept cheerful at all times, but i am sure that after all that has happened she must be facing her new hip operation with a little concern. Today Mum went to hospital again for her operation that hopefully will be the last and she can then look forward to a brighter future. Hopefully she can then get back out in her garden that she loves so much.

This will be four hip operations that she has had to have and is more that any person should have to endure. I can only admire her courage despite the pain that she has been in constantly since the fitting of the Spacer.

Today my Mum went back to hospital to have her fourth operation to have her hip replaced and she should then be on the road to a full recovery.

Mum has been lucky in that she has had her daughters Jackie her almost full time carer along with Sue who travels up from Portsmouth as well as having her own children and grandchildren to see and help with. Diane who is also a trained nurse comes over from  Yorkshire and son Tim. Tim has since this started only had four Sundays where he has had been at his own home, finishing work on a Friday and coming over to be with Mum and returning home on a Sunday night. It would be wrong of me not to mention Jackie's children David and Laura who spend so much of there time doing so much for there Nan and there Dad Ray. Ray like the others does so much, recently making a door wider for a wheel chair to go through into the bathroom. Ray did a great job for my Mum. Then there only leaves me, i may not have the skills to be of any real help but i was here to see Mum off for her first operation and i have seen Mum off this morning for her hopefully her last operation.

Mum has shown so much courage during all that's happened and i can't imagine just what she has had to endure. To say i am so proud of her doesn't say enough she is a Mum in a million.

Love you Mum