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.