The render fell off the wall

Fitting a new window is no problem for window fitters but sadly i am not a window fitter. After taking my time i was happy i was doing a good but slow job until. Until part of the render on the outside wall fell off and disappeared down into the ruin below. It's easy when you have sand and cement laying around but i don't have any sand or cement laying around so work stopped. It would have been touch and go if i left to go to the local builders merchant to get what i needed to complete the outside wall. The glass is being held in by a piece of wood till morning and they i will be able to complete the job and then i will have a view from my bathroom window like my kitchen. My window is about 30ft above the lane that goes past upto a local village so my window has clear glass. Pictures will follow when work is complete.

Going for a cuppa

I am told last night there where high winds but it must have been when I was asleep as I didn't here anything. But when I went out with my neighbour for a coffee, well coffee for him tea for me we got a surprise. As we went down a little lane to the garage where we go for tea we found our route blocked. A tree had fallen acros the lane, look how narrow the lane is and I had to turn round to go in the opposite direction to get my cuppa. I tried using a rope I carry in my car to pull the tree to one side but the trunk was stuck between a number of other tree trunks. So many locals seem to carry chainsaws in there cars that by now the tree will be cut up and gone.

Then the rain came

The last time I have seen rain in this part of Portugal was about early March. The last couple of days we have had some rain, not to heavy but still enough to help protect this area from being a fire risk. When I last went to Liverpool the area where I live was at the top of the areas most at risk of fire till now.

Sadly the forecast for the coming couple of weeks is full sun and good temperatures. So if you are in a country where you have plenty of rain you are lucky not to be at fire risk.

Another project done and finished

 I think by now you understand my want to do things a little unusual. I used Chestnut as usual but nice thick planks as this unit faces the door as you come into the lounge and needed to look good. I had a space under the stairs and I wanted something unusual and when I planned what to do I had to take it a stage further. My drink of choice is Cognac and expensive Cognac so I decided I had to have light. I have a small LED light cut into the top shelf to highlight my Cognac glasses the picture really doesn't do justice to the look I have the bottle of Hine you can see is the best Cognac I have ever had and I have had some Cognac over the years. The 12v LED lights will work well when I make all my lighting run from Solar panels but that's a little time away.

I have included a picture of the window for the next big project in the loft where I want to create a master bedroom and have views looking down the valley. More about that when I get started.

Here is a picture of a window i found that looks just how i would like the window in my bedroom to look.

What a bike

I went for petrol this morning and at the petrol station I saw a bike similar to one some days before. The bike was unusual in that it had a petrol engine fitted. I asked the guy if I could take a picture and he said yes and with that he came out to explain that he makes them but this one is his own the rest he sells. The bikes he makes sell for about 500€ and the ones he sells go over 50kilometer per hour and 500€ for such a nice machine is money well spent and they do look fun to ride.

The sad loss of a friend

Today I called at a local garage for a pre IPO /MOT test. The garage is one I have used a number of times and had got to know the owner over the last few years. Some time ago I called only to find he was not there his brother told me he had had a bad accident and was badly burnt. Today I was greeted with sad news that Luis had died, he was only in his early thirty's and it was a sad loss of life.

R.I.P. Luis

Sunday was market day at Miranda do Corvo

I have posted before about the amount of countries where I have had people reading my story.   On Sunday someone who has been reading my Blog came over to say hello while I was at the market. He had his wife and two young daughters with him. They may not know it but after four years here I know the wonderful life they have ahead of them, I must say they all did look so happy. I know of four children of a similar age who are in the local school system and how they all get on so well. It may be tough to begin with and a tear or two will be shed but they will get on so well. For then there story begins and I wish them all the very best in their new life.

Where it all began

Some of you will have read some of my early postings about when I first started to look at property in Portugal. My dream was to take disabled people for holidays after knowing one young lad who came into my shop in Liverpool. Sean had been in a wheel chair all his life and that is where my dream began. Sadly cost was an issue I couldn't do anything about.

Well the first house I viewed and dreamt about came back to me yesterday, I passed that same house while my lady and I where out for a drive. I had to stop to look at the house that started a dream, sadly the house is overgrown with bramble and all kinds of other things growing but the house still has the charm that it did in 2007 when I first viewed it.