Now the floor

I am still waiting for the promised help to lift the plasterboard to the ceiling. Instead of wasting valuable time i have started on the floor. A touch of bad luck is my edge sander has decided to play dead and refuses to work so it maybe time for a new edge sander.

This is a result of a good afternoons work but it's hard on my knees but it needed to be done at sometime so today was as good as any to get started on the floor

I will varnish an area to see if i need any stain to give the best result.











It's unfortunate that the floor boards are not perfectly flat so it makes sanding a longer job. The kind of floor sander you can hire in the UK would be no good here because the floor has high spots and low spots. A little hard work done now will make the floor look great when it's all done.

Sockets another job done

While i am waiting for the plaster to dry enough so i can prepare for painting i started on the sockets. I have put in 8 double sockets in total. When my friend calls i can put up the plasterboard on the ceiling sadly the boards are to heavy for me to lift on my own.

 
I put 8 double sockets in because at this stage it was easy. To fit any later would be difficult that's why i fitted so many. I won't wire them up until the walls are finished.














I used to stay with a family before i moved into my house and the bedroom i was in had sockets that when you pulled the plug out the socket came away from the wall. My socket back boxes are all screwed to the wall as are all the sockets in every room.

Just got a new friend

While looking over my fruit trees this morning i spotted someone guarding them and i took a picture for you to enjoy.

He doesn't have a name yet and he is guarding my Lime tree.

Plasterboard up now for the ceiling.

All the battens are now up and the insulated plasterboard is now going up. Gone are the days when this room will be cold in the winter. The hard part is putting up the plasterboard up on the ceiling. I think i will get the scaffolding up and lift the boards up onto the top of the scaffolding where i find it easy to the put the boards up on the ceiling.

This was the easy part but the ceiling is not so easy.

It's tiling time again

If it's one thing i dislike it's doing tiling. The wall as i go up the stairs was covered in a cement render and it was very rough to the touch. Removing the render was not a problem but replacing the render was going to be a problem. What do i put in it's place, a nice new smooth render or find another answer.

Looking through the spindles i need something that is really eye catching stead of the usual white that everything seems to be.

While in Leyroy Merlin i found some really nice tiles. It's not easy to imagine how they will look till you get them home. After putting some on the floor and on the stairs they looked how i imagined they would. Now the wall has to be insulated and then plaster boarded before the tiles go up.

Battens soon put up

It's such a nice day today so when i got my wall battens i decided to get started straight away. 

There is a slight gap at the top of the battens to allow for the ceiling to be lowered. Even the ceiling has to be insulated but first i have to lay in the cables for the lights and ceiling fan.

It got real dirty

I have ordered timber to batten the walls in the bedroom i am insulating and i ordered some extra battens for the wall as you go up stairs.  because the width of the stairs is not to great i removed the render from the walls.

When i batten the walls and put up the plasterboard i should end up with the width still the same as it was.

Food cost in France compared to Portugal

I have a friend who while travelling from the UK to not far from me called in Brittany for a few days to visit a family member of his. I mentioned to him about a cafe i called in and had a bowl of soup for a late morning snack. He told me he paid about 5€ for a bowl of soup and 7€ for a pint of lager. He is lucky after being here for a while house hunting he knows how cheap prices are. In the cafe i went to where i paid 1.10€ for a big bowl of soup and a bread roll to go with it.

Who knows how much a bowl this size would have cost in France. Also what good is bread if you buy it in the morning and by early evening it's hard as a lump of concrete.

Public school

I have a friend who has this weekend left the UK for a new life in Portugal. As he was about to leave he had some money outstanding for his temporary stay after he sold his house. He tells me the lady who owned the house he was staying in was educated at a private girls school well if that's the best she can do in her adding up i am glad i went to a state school.

Stair edging

Before i create the molding for the edge of the stairs i am making up some trim to get an idea of what it will look like finished. I am happy now with what i see so i will have to go downstairs and make the moldings for the stair edges.

I had posted a picture of the timber i was using before i made the moldings but changed it when i made the new molding. It's had one coat of varnish and after a fine sanding it will have another two coats and then it's finished.

Work goes on

Making the window frame for the upstairs bedroom window demands that as it's the first thing you see as you come upstairs there must be something to see first. First i had to laminate two pieces of wood together and that's the picture on the left.
The picture on the right is the two pieces laminated together but only sanded down and not varnished yet.
To me it's all about the end product and the look i get.

 

R.I.P Dave Pinnington

This afternoon i was told that Dave my best mate had passed away. There is still a chance he will outlast me. Dave has donated whatever organs the doctors can use how unselfish is that thinking of how he can help others.

I will miss the funeral as i want to remember all the times we had over the last nearly 40 years. There is a lot to remember over those years, lots of very good advice and help.

R.I.P Dave Pinnington.

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?

Another one bits the dust.

Another one bits the dust. so the line in the song says.

2016 gone but for me a good and bad year good for all i have got done in the house. Bad well that's personal.

It's time for me to wish you all well and i hope that the coming year will really be the best for you it can be.

So here's hoping all your wishes come true and you have a great 2017. Me i am opening a bottle of very old Hine Antique before i go out.

My best wishes to you all and to that one special person who is dear to me and still in Liverpool.

Happy New Year to you all.

Merry Christmas to you all

Well folks it's that time of year. For some it's been a good year and for some a not so good year.

All i can say is i hope you all enjoy the Christmas holiday and have a really great New Years eve and that your New Year is even better that the last year we are coming to an end of.

Last year i found a Santa cartoon that i found funny so this year i couldn't decide the one to post so you get two this year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all. A special happy Christmas to YOU.

I'ved had that chair for more than 30 years.

Lots of little bits are coming together in time for Christmas. I was asked by a family member how i was getting on in my bedroom and i was reminded that i hadn't posted how it looked.
I still have one unit for my jackets to complete but here is the half near the window looking down the valley.

I am proud of what i have done because like everything i have done it by myself. It started with an idea and went from that simple idea to what you can see now.

 This is the other unit complete with my Jackets etc TV what more could i want.













I have the LED light's for the skirting between the units and the side of my bed.

Coving done

Now i have finished the coving and put the collar around the top of the chimney i can put my ladder away.
I must admit i found the coving a challenge until i watched a video on Youtube. I needed a Mitre block, i got Chicco to make me one that fitted the coving perfectly and after that it was easy.
I have one window frame to do in Chestnut if i get the  varnish in time and one wall to paint and it's time for a break for Christmas.

TV unit

I get my TV via the internet and so i need a computer nothing wrong with that. I needed somewhere to hide the base unit so i came up with this idea by putting the TV in the corner of the room.
Today i went to Chicco to collect the next piece to carry on making my TV unit. Like everything Chicco makes it was a perfect fit BUT i find i have no varnish left so it has to sit there until for now. I am waiting now for the 2 side pieces and the doors

Anybody can have the ordinary

But not me.At school i was not very good at wood work Unlike a friend who made an electric guitar and it worked and he used in a group he was part of in the 60's.

I have said it before and i will say it again i don't want in my house what you can by in the B & Q type stores i would rather dream of my own. Then plan what i have in my head and the picture below is something i have finished today.

On the wall is the main fuse supply that can't be moved but there was nothing to stop me hiding it. Behind the books is the electric fuse and my next plan is to have the books cut down so they don't come over the edge of the shelf. The bottom picture shows.

Not something you will find at B & Q. Plenty of Bee's wax gave it the look i wanted.

One thing i don't want is having anything hanging over the edge of the shelves. Shame the books have to be cut down especially as these books are all about Liverpool.

I made a feature underneath of the left side of the shelf. I joined two pieces of Chestnut together to show of just how nice this wood is that i use a lot of.

It's getting near Christmas

It's getting near Chritsmas and i am trying to get finished lots of bits. Under the roof space i have a vast storage area and today i fitted the door frame a loverly chocolate colour. While doing this i knocked a roof insulation panel out of position so that's to be done when i can get to it.

The door is going to have the type of hinge that you normally find on the doors under your kitchen units. Problem is i don't know how to mount that type of hinge but i know a man who can but he's away in the UK at the moment but when he returns he is going to come round to fit the door for me.













The picture below looks like the panel is not straight but it is it's just the angle of the camera.

You can see the painted part on the right and that's the size of the ceiling from the ceiling below to the floor above. Now from the light brown above the paint to the white line below the brown that's the new space between the lounge and bedroom. This is before i put up the door frame.

This is after i put up the door frame. It's 34cm from ceiling in the lounge to the floor in the bedroom.

Ceiling now finished

After much hard work i have now finished the ceiling in the front part of the lounge. The rear part of the ceiling is waiting for the electrician to complete the lighting and switches to be done. The ceiling has had 4 coats of paint today and then i could fit the lights into there position. To complete the job the ceiling fan was put up and tested.

Now i have to put up the coving but that's for another day.

Don't forget paint the Gnomes

I am please to say that one of the people who follow my Blog has become a good friend. His name is Ashley i mention his name because he said that the story i am going to tell was OK by him.

Ashley look me to see the house he found a little further South from where I live and he truly has found his place in the sun. I will post a link to his Blog as its not my place to tell his story apart from about his water supply.

On Ashley's property has a bore hole and it's 88 meters deep and the previous owner says she has used the water for drinking and cooking for so many years she has forgotten when she first started to use her own water. She also had water supplied by the local council because if there was a power cut she would still have water.

Where the bore hole is it has a concrete to on it to obviously protect it. On top of the concrete top the are four Gnomes who look to be protecting the water supply from thieves.  Sadly they have been on guard for quite some time and need a little bit of painting so Ashley your first job is to get your Gnomes painted and looking like they should be.

 

President Hollande

A little while ago i read a story on the BBC news website. It was about the French Government granting a medal to all the soldiers who took part in the invasion in 1945. I knew about the Normandy invasion and the stories of the beach landings.  My Dad was awarded a Campaign medal along with all those who took part on the first day of the Liberation of France. In fact Dad had three Campaign medals as he took part on three Campaign invasion in WW2. 

President Hollande at the 70th anniversary paid a tribute to to the brave British fighters who took part in the Liberation of France. The news story on the BBC website prompted me to contact the French Embassy. I received an email after applying for a medal for Dad and sadly i was turned down. It would have been nice to have the medal in place with all his other medals.

1st December it's here again

Well the first of December for me is the start of the Christmas period. Although the TV has adverts for Christmas since not long after summer for me it starts on the 1st December. Last night i got out my tree and decoration ready for putting them up today.

Each year i get Margaret out to sit on top of my tree. This year she has lights in the shape of Skulls all very prity.
She is now a skeleton because i never feed her before i put her away after Christmas some years ago. Without having anything to eat before going to sleep till the next Christmas she ended up and just a bag of bones, but my bag of bones.

These two are all i have left from my previous married life but better nothing to show for all those years.

What no cable

I made a pair of bedside tables sometime ago and also i made my own Table lights as well. Today i had a visitor and used my friend help me to put the bedside tables up. As they need to be fixed from the rear of the wall it's one job i need another pair of hands.

Table lamp in position and no cable hanging down. The socket is hidden under the bedside table out of sight. The one on the other side of the bed is the same as this side.

Christmas is cancelled this year

This  Christmas I'm not planning to go back to the UK this year I plan on staying here in my little piece of heaven. I have plans at the end of January  that mean I have to carry on here to complete the plans I have. So this Christmas will be different and Dave, Dee, Ashley, and one or two more will be having Christmas dinner with me this year.

Last Christmas was not the best I have had and I would rather forgive and forget last Christmas the past is long gone. The plans for the future mean I must stay here I have so much to do with my Organic Spices and now I have Organic Honey as well to plan for.

Iberianspices now does Mail order

Well it's  I had hoped but mail-order has now arrived. Today I went to the post office to get the prices of the various sizes of parcel I expect to deliver. But one thing I'm not happy with is having to display my email on Iberianspices but I will find a way to take orders without having to display my email but for now.  That's it my lord is up and running.

Below is a screenshot of part of the Iberianspices site.

The postal prices are for up to 350 gram is normal mail 1.40€ or rapid mail is 2.20€
The postal prices are for up to 1050 gram is normal mail 3.25€ or rapid mail is 4.60€

The reason for the odd 50gram is to allow for packaging so 3X 100 gram packs plus packaging comes within 350 gram.

A word of warning buyers who wish to pay via Paypal will be charged a surcharge imposed by Paypal of approximately  0.50€.

Nothing but dust.

I have been stuck in all week because my van is in for a service and won't be back till Friday. I decided as i couldn't go to Chicco's to get the timber for the jobs i am in the middle of i decided to get down on my knees and do the floor.

With my trusty belt sander i started by the fire first and it took all day to finish one section. Then it was a massive cleanup, the sander gives of so much dust everywhere was covered in dust. I expected the dust so i moved everything out of the lounge 

It's to much of a job to try and do to much due to the dust. It does look better than the picture shows. Tomorrow i will complete the area at the bottom of the stairs and then carry on by the fire.

Take care who delivers your parcel.

Much about GLS.  GLS are the Courier company who have a very very bad record for the delivery of parcels here in Portugal.  I have had problems with a  number of parcels delivered by GLS so I don't use Royalmail. Royalmail are the owners of GLS so it's no wonder that service is bad.

I needed a part for my car and the company used a Courier company called DPD. I gave the address details from a business card from the garage who will be doing the job on my car. Guess what they couldn't find the address even though the garage is very big and not a small one man band type place. Not only did they not delivery but they contacted me for address details to confirm the correct location.  Not only did they not deliver after checking the address but they sent the parcel back to the UK company who sent it to me in Portugal.

For my Spices I use UPS and have not had one problem with any delivery to date. Because I have a number of small parcels at my friends in Deal Kent I contacted UPS to deliver to him the part for my car and then he will send everything to me by UPS. Now there is a moral there use Pharosparcels and they will send the parcel via UPS.

Stuffed and mounted what a waste, a rare Liverpool beast

I go to the railway station today to see an endangered species found only in Liverpool The Superlambanana to give it it's full title. These beautiful creatures found only in the wild of Liverpool a few years ago are already on the endangered species list to to people wanting them as pets. But they are not suitable for being pets so if you see one in the wild leave them alone.

I was lucky to see this one that has been stuffed and mounted it would be better running free.

Hope Ashley likes this.

Just to many ingredients

Today I got myself a Pizza from a local supermarket as a treat to me. After reading the ingredient list on the back of the packaging I decided to leave the pizza to others to eat just look at the ingredient list below.

Is there any need to make a Pizza with so many ingrediets or am i being to fussy?

Jesus

i have been in Liverpool for the last few wet freezing days. The ground seems to be permanently wet and rain falling maybe because the rain had nothing better to do while I have been here.

I got to see my Mum today and the first thing I said was I Feel like Jesus walking on water. Well Friday I go home and can leave this rain sodden place behind.

A milestone

I am leaving on Monday morning for a fews days with my Mum in Liverpool. I had planned to get the ceiling finished and i have, apart for where the electrician has to does his work on the front and rear lights and the ceiling fan.

Lots of sanding to do but done but it will be a big help to keep the lounge warm over the coming winter.

Very economical LED lights when in place they will make the look i want in this my home.





Instead of cleaning the room i am letting all the dust settle then hopefully Sunday i can clean the lounge before i fly away on Monday morning.At the moment everything has a horrible film of dust everywhere.