On the news i have just been watching the fireworks on Sydney Harbour bridge in Australia. A whole year has passed by and it's been another good year for me and i hope so for all the people who take the time to read my Blog.
It's not just been Christmas and New Year but also the 1st January would have been my Dad's birthday. We lost after a long illness in 1998 but he is and will never be forgotten.
Yesterday the 30th was the birthday of my eldest son and on the second of January it's the birthday of my youngest son. As children you can't imagine how they would grow up and what they would be doing now at 34 and 30 years of age. Both are doing well and i am so very proud of them both.
Then there is my daughter who is 32 in July. She found herself a single parent to my favourite grand daughter this last year. Things have been difficult for her but she has done a wonderful job but she is lucky to have such a wonderful daughter.
I have only one wish for the coming year and it's that at some point i would like to see my children and grand children come over to see me. But not now in the winter i can wait for the summer.
The best thing would be to see Sean and Chelsee and have them stay with me.
For now It's time to say Happy New Year to you all.
I have just re read this the last entry of 2013 and found something that may not sound right. Chelsee is not just my favourite Grand Daughter she is my only Grand Daughter. As Sean is my Favourite Grandson, he is my only Grandson.
Peter's Vale Boa House In The Sun
Tuesday 31 December 2013
Tuesday 24 December 2013
Well it's Christmas and dinner
Well it's Christmas and i hope that all who read my Blog are having as good a Christmas as i intend to have. Christmas dinner is this year something i have paid a lot of attention to. The first year i was asked out to friends and last year i just had a ready nice dinner. This year i have really made an effort
.
First was my cake that had been well prepared. I first soaked the cake in so much alcohol that it would taste great but then after cooking it i put another 20ml Remy Martin VSOP into the cake and left it to soak in. As the cake is for me and i am a Remy Martin drinker why not indulge myself after all it's Christmas.
Then the meat. As an ex butcher still with my skills intact i got myself a Turkey Thigh and drumstick. First i skinned the thigh and drumstick and froze he skin to use later. Then the drumstick was cut up for curry and that leaves the thigh. I carefully removed the bone and all of the veins and froze the meat till it was needed today. After i had prepared my turkey thigh i weighed it and it was over two and a half pound in weight just a nice weight for me and my dinner.
I had kept back one pack of bacon from when a friend came back from the UK to wrap my sausages in for Christmas dinner. You can't get little chipolatas like you can in the UK supermarkets here just normal size sausages. The sausage her will have to do but as the skins have been filled a little to much you can't twist them to make little chipolatas so i just wrapped a normal size sausage in bacon easy and then it was done.
I have never made Yorkshire pudding before and i know it's beef you have Yorkshire pudding with but as it's my Christmas i will have what i want. I made a sample pudding mix to give it a try but like Beer batter i made Cognac Yorkshire pudding mix and it was good.
.
First was my cake that had been well prepared. I first soaked the cake in so much alcohol that it would taste great but then after cooking it i put another 20ml Remy Martin VSOP into the cake and left it to soak in. As the cake is for me and i am a Remy Martin drinker why not indulge myself after all it's Christmas.
Then the meat. As an ex butcher still with my skills intact i got myself a Turkey Thigh and drumstick. First i skinned the thigh and drumstick and froze he skin to use later. Then the drumstick was cut up for curry and that leaves the thigh. I carefully removed the bone and all of the veins and froze the meat till it was needed today. After i had prepared my turkey thigh i weighed it and it was over two and a half pound in weight just a nice weight for me and my dinner.
I had kept back one pack of bacon from when a friend came back from the UK to wrap my sausages in for Christmas dinner. You can't get little chipolatas like you can in the UK supermarkets here just normal size sausages. The sausage her will have to do but as the skins have been filled a little to much you can't twist them to make little chipolatas so i just wrapped a normal size sausage in bacon easy and then it was done.
I have never made Yorkshire pudding before and i know it's beef you have Yorkshire pudding with but as it's my Christmas i will have what i want. I made a sample pudding mix to give it a try but like Beer batter i made Cognac Yorkshire pudding mix and it was good.
Tuesday 17 December 2013
18th December a sad day
Tomorrow the 18th December is for me a sad day. My best friends son has passed away and is being cremated. I got the news two weeks late because my friend couldn't get in touch as i had deleted e-mail addresses that i was getting junk mail from. The reason that the cremation is over two weeks since he passed away is probably down to a post Morten i couldn't ask why it had taken so long since he passed.
The first time i saw Neil he was in a plaster cast and that was about twenty five years ago or more. During that time Neil never enjoyed perfect health and now he is gone. I am sad because i couldn't get there to show my respect at this sad time. The last time i saw Neil when i asked how he was as always he would say Fine. He always let you think he was OK when he was not, now he can't say fine but he will not suffer again, he won't be forgotten.
R.I.P. Neil
The first time i saw Neil he was in a plaster cast and that was about twenty five years ago or more. During that time Neil never enjoyed perfect health and now he is gone. I am sad because i couldn't get there to show my respect at this sad time. The last time i saw Neil when i asked how he was as always he would say Fine. He always let you think he was OK when he was not, now he can't say fine but he will not suffer again, he won't be forgotten.
R.I.P. Neil
Sunday 8 December 2013
Now under the stairs has been cleaned out at last.
I arrived on the 1st August 2011 and for the first few weeks i was sorting out all the belonging that had been left in the house. To me it was all junk but looking back i was giving away lots of stuff that i could have made good use of. As i was moving things out of the house i put then outside by the front door. August is a time when lots of people come back to houses that they own in our village for a months holiday.
Lots of people seeing what i had put outside asked if they could take things and i just said yes. Looking back i should have put things in the cellar until i knew what i had and what i could use and then dump what was left.
Today i had a clean out in the one spot i had not touched since i moved in. I had used under the stairs to store buckets, mops and lots of other cleaning stuff.
I found in the very corner three oil lights one battered and damaged and that one went in the bin. The other two i cleaned up and the top two pictures are the cleaned up lamps. The strange thing is i took the wicks out when i cleaned the lamps and one i had to take a picture of. As the picture shows this is two bits of wick joined together with a bit of black cotton. I know that people are not well off but to tie two bits of wick together is a bit much.
Lots of people seeing what i had put outside asked if they could take things and i just said yes. Looking back i should have put things in the cellar until i knew what i had and what i could use and then dump what was left.
Today i had a clean out in the one spot i had not touched since i moved in. I had used under the stairs to store buckets, mops and lots of other cleaning stuff.
I found in the very corner three oil lights one battered and damaged and that one went in the bin. The other two i cleaned up and the top two pictures are the cleaned up lamps. The strange thing is i took the wicks out when i cleaned the lamps and one i had to take a picture of. As the picture shows this is two bits of wick joined together with a bit of black cotton. I know that people are not well off but to tie two bits of wick together is a bit much.
Tuesday 3 December 2013
Brrrrr it was cold Sunday morning
The mornings have been cold the land is white with frost and when the sun comes up the frost is gone and the day gets better. Once the sun goes down so does the temperature down to freezing until the next day when the sun comes up again.
I prepared for the cold with 3 pairs of socks on, jeans and track suit bottoms, 2 tea shirts and 2 jumpers and a coat and hat. Even with all that i was cold, my feet felt like they had hypothermia. Someone said to have cardboard on the floor and stand on that to try and not get my feet cold. Well i am open to ideas and yes a flask for a warm drink.
Sunday was no exception at 4.30am in the morning it was cold as it has been for a few weeks with frost everywhere. I was going to the market in Miranda do Corvo. Over night the Portuguese get to the market i am told at midnight and mark out there spot where they will trade from then they sleep in there vans.
I arrived at about 5.30am only to find all the best spots had gone but i squeezed in where i normal park myself. It seems that with Christmas close by the market almost doubles in size something i didn't know anything about. The downside was a number of stock items that i had hoped would last me till the new year sold out. That was bad enough but there is also another market on the 22nd December and then 5th January. Now i need to get restocked before it's to late or i will be letting people down and that's something i don't want to do.
Due to the amount of people trying to get a spot to sell from i will have to be at the market even earlier than normal. Maybe a 3am start but normally once a month so it's not to bad.
I prepared for the cold with 3 pairs of socks on, jeans and track suit bottoms, 2 tea shirts and 2 jumpers and a coat and hat. Even with all that i was cold, my feet felt like they had hypothermia. Someone said to have cardboard on the floor and stand on that to try and not get my feet cold. Well i am open to ideas and yes a flask for a warm drink.
Sunday was no exception at 4.30am in the morning it was cold as it has been for a few weeks with frost everywhere. I was going to the market in Miranda do Corvo. Over night the Portuguese get to the market i am told at midnight and mark out there spot where they will trade from then they sleep in there vans.
I arrived at about 5.30am only to find all the best spots had gone but i squeezed in where i normal park myself. It seems that with Christmas close by the market almost doubles in size something i didn't know anything about. The downside was a number of stock items that i had hoped would last me till the new year sold out. That was bad enough but there is also another market on the 22nd December and then 5th January. Now i need to get restocked before it's to late or i will be letting people down and that's something i don't want to do.
Due to the amount of people trying to get a spot to sell from i will have to be at the market even earlier than normal. Maybe a 3am start but normally once a month so it's not to bad.
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