Bad news is never welcome

Today i received an email from my best mates eldest son to let me know his Dad was ill and his chances of recovery where slim.

My mate Dave and i  saw each other often and it was because of him i am here in Portugal now. It all started after he came home from Portugal where he had been a Rep for the Camping and Caravan club at a site they have. Dave came home looking better than he had for years and i wanted some of  that, i wanted to feel and look that good so the search was on for me to have a holiday home but later changed to a home to retire to.

The search started for me in September 2007 when i joined an Expats forum called Expatsportugal where i am  still an active member to this day.  Most of the research i did was on this site and i eventually made my move. Over the years I would see Dave and Margaret on my trips over and if Dave knew i was coming over he often picked me up from the airport.

We would often pull each others leg because as he is older than me he was the old old man i was just old. Well Dave my prayers are with you and do please get better but if not i pray there is no pain.

I heard tonight that Dave had heart failure but Margaret kept him alive till the paramedics arrive and got him to hospital. After nearly two weeks it was decided to turn off the machines keeping him alive but he didn't pass away he is still here. Good on you Dave don't give up not yet. Dave signed up to be a transplant donor that's typical of Dave wanting to help others even his heart can still help with valves etc.

I told his wife Margaret I won't come over I would rather cherish the memories of him and the time we had than see him in a hospital bed.

The last time I saw him on parting he gave me grief for loosing the girl of my dreams, not often he was serious about anything.

God bless Dave.

New window sill finished

Unlike all the window sills you see in houses i want something a little different. I have just finished making a new window sill for the window overlooking the lane. It's difficult getting old Chestnut timber and new Chestnut is a little pale and is not a good colour match.

Certainly looks better than a normal window sill.

Yes it does get cold

I went down the lane to put my rubbish into the bin and walking in the sun was really nice considering how cold it was this morning. The forecast for the week ahead is about zero every night and not so hot in the day.

Monday after the cloudy night before is a little warmer.

As i went down to the bin i heard water and found behind the water font was leaking. Overnight the pipe must have froze and when it thawed out the pipe must have cracked.

Let there be light

It was about time i put in the skirting boards around the bedroom. Between each of the units my cloths are in there is a LED light. Each light comes with a metre of cable but each unit is over a metre wide. So all wires had to be cut and joined but it meant that all units had to be removed. So i don't mark my floor i had to put sheets down first and bring a unit out do the light and put it back and then for the next one. 

I only have one piece of skirting board to fit and then that's another job done.

Now for the window sill at the front of the house overlooking the lane.

Looking across the floor from the stairs 

Clear blue skies

For the last two weeks we have been blessed with sunny days and clear skies at night. As soon as the sun goes behind the trees on the other side of the valley the temperatures drops a lot.

Overnight the bottom of the valley gets covered in frost sometimes.

Tuesday the 10th was really cold and as the picture shows it looked like snow.

By 10.30am the sun was starting to burn of the frost and the grass was lush and green again.

Good to say my stairs are finished.

Stairs now finished but what you can't see is the spindles are made from three pieces of wood laminated together. From close up you can see the different woods

Even the table top is made from Chestnut, i made this quite some time ago. This corner where the table is looks good but a pity about the wall behind the stairs. That will be done soon.

As you can see the picture above shows a shot of the spindle. It looks good to me and that's all it's about.

I start next week removing the render from the outside wall but that's a story for another time.

Goodbye Margaret for another year

Well folks it's that time of year again when we take down our Christmas tree and decoration.

That's good of Margaret giving a wave before she gets put away for the year. Why her red eyes are white when in fact they are red i don't know.

Why is she just a pile of bones you may ask. It's important to feed your Fairy at Christmas before you put away your fairy till the next year. Well i forgot one year and all i found that she was now just a pile of bones.

Ps. don't forget to pay your fairy after all they give you so much pleasure for the Christmas period.

Mmmmm Cognac

The drink i like most is very expensive Cognac and the one i am drinking at the moment is a bottle of Hine over 40 years of age.

This is one of the best Cognacs i have had the pleasure to be able to enjoy by my self. I keep this for myself.



















Today i saw on a website a story of a bottle of Whisky on sale for £1494 and the proceeds where to be used to go to charity. I went on to the Whisky Exchange website to read the rest of the story. as the site opened a beautiful bottle of Hennessey was on show.

Seems the Whisky Exchange now sells other spirits Why is nobody buying there Whisky's?