Peter's Vale Boa House In The Sun
A while ago i got a number of pots from a market i go to ideal for putting my various fruit trees in. As soon as the weather was better the fruit trees got planted into the ground and they are doing very wel.
The pots now are being used to grow potatoes in and tonight i noticed little potatoes starting to come through.
As soon as i go to the market again i will get some tomato plants and strawberry plants. I have the pots so i may as well use them.
For a number years i have been going to a place called Lousa to buy print cartridges for my printers. The service has been perfect and i thought i would give the lady a mention.
Because i put an email on public show i get a huge amount of Spam/ junk mail everyday. I would normally change my email for another but so many nice people keep in touch via my email. It's for this reason i am ending this post without the finish i had hopped to do.
To have carried on with the post about the print cartridge girl it meant that she may be contacted by some of the idiots who contact me.
Please take a look at the picture below.
i have just used Google earth to look at Kyiv in the Ukraine.
As you watch about the WAR on TV the destruction you see is appalling but spend a moment and look at how Kyiv used to be.
WHY
i am in the middle of two more projects. One is the Welsh Dragon and the other is Wales.
First they both have to be sanded down and then varnished. The welsh Dragon has first to be painted and have features painted on and then varnished.
Wales has to have the Menai straights painted blue and then varnished.
I received a picture from a family member in today's emails. I must admit i am not a dog person but the picture dig bring a smile to me face. As soon as i saw the picture i said now i have sen it all a Veggie Dog.
I guess the dog is saying keep off it's mine. The dogs name is Champ is that because he finds carrots.
Below are some of my works i have made for customers. I am also making a set of the countries that make up the United kingdom. England, Northern Island, Scotland, Wales and even the Isle of Mann.
My latest project is the country of Holland including many of the islands.
Here it is Scotland, the wood is Chestnut and is 40mm thick. The person i made it for was almost in tears as he didn't think it would be so beautiful once finished.
For those who don't know this is England beautifully finished in Varnish.
Here is Trinidad for a lovely lady born in Trinidad but now lives not far from me.
Much has been said about Global warming good or bad who knows But.
Last years we didn't get as much rainfall as in previous years and we are in a fire zone.
The pictures below show this little stream that normally at this time of year the water is flowing like a raging torrent.
The local Council has recently had much of the undergrowth cut from the sides of the roads as a safe guard.
this is the stream where i get stones from for my fish tanks.
I have an ongoing problem growing plants for my main fish tank. The tank is a meter deep and i can't just put plants into it i have to drain about 3,000 litres of water and get in. I then decided to get the glass to make 3 tanks where i can keep some fish in them grow plants.
Each tank is 400mm X 400mm X 400mmand i have plants now growing for when i have enough i can then transfer them to my main tank.
I had a meting in town to show some work i was doing for an Valentines day present. I was then asked if i could make a board in the shape of Scotland, yes i said because i believe i can make anything.
What you se is Scotland cut from a piece of Chestnut and it's about 40mm thick nice and chunky. It's 430m long and 230mm wide once finished it will look stunning.
Since starting Scotland i have been asked if i can make a board in the shape of Holland. Holland i know will give a few challenges but i can do it.
This view doesn't really show how thick the wood really is that i am using.
Well it's been a busy couple of weeks down in my workshop. I have just finished cutting a board for a lady and it's the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean.
Two island I am just finishing are part of the Azores one has to be oiled with a food grade mineral oil. The other has to be varnished as it a wall feature importantly they are a Valentines day gift.
Then there is the United Kingdom. All countries are not to scale I have done Wales, the isle of Mann also Ireland with Northern Island. Then there is the one I call " There will always Be " that one is England. I still have to cut Scotland to complete the series.
Today I cut Scotland for a customer the board is about 16 inches tall and two inches thick. This one will be interesting because of the shape of the country and limitations of the machine I use for cutting.
Hello Blog followers that doesn't sound right i should say friends
I once said that I hadn't posted for a while because of Covid etc but sadly that was wrong.
I stopped posting because I have family members who where trying to make my life difficult. So it was easy not to post but that was not the answer but it is still happening to this day. The last comment even included my Family name I have been Peterfc since about the age of 15. I used to buy Dylan, the Stones and Jimi Hendrix LP’s and sign the back Peterfc and I still 57 years later still have those LP’s.
My surname is mine I am to those who know me Peterfc. I have been contacted by a nice Guy on Britishexpats that he noticed I hadn’t posted on my Blog or Britishexpats well below are some of the reasons.
It's about time I made a few comments.
First when i mention family i mean my sons and daughters and grandchildren and not my siblings.
About 55 years ago my Grandad took out a handkerchief that he had in WW1 he had his handkerchief In his breast pocket. Inside his handkerchief was a pocket knife, a sniper shot him is the heart. Thankfully he had his handkerchief in his breast pocket and the knife stopped the bullet.
My Grandad let me look at the knife and he said one day my Dad would give me the knife. I waited for almost a lifetime only to find out that a younger sister took the knife knowing it was to come to me.
On my various trips back to the UK I saw many items had been taken out of the family home STOLEN.
My Dad had two commemorative plates that where displayed on the walls in the house. One sister took both commemorative plates. On the plates are the shields for the regiments that served in North Africa my Dad proudly served in North Africa he was a Dessert Rat. There where three sister and two brothers and she took both.
My Mum used to give me a cheque for £100 not one of the cheques was ever cashed all put on my fire when I got home. One sister criticised me about the cheques but she asked for about £7,000 from my Dad so she could by a house. This came after Mum and Dad sold there house back to the council and for once in there life they had some money. Money to see them through there retirement.
One family member came to visit Mum when a football team played at home.
OK what about me living in the sun I traveled back to the UK between 3 to 4 times each year. These trips stopped towards the end of 2019 and I have only traveled once since then. My last trip lasted for only three days but I got to see my family and grandchildren.
However I am trying to make a point and explain why I haven't posted for the last three months. I do miss not posting on my Blog, this Blog was so my children and grandchildren could see what I was doing in my new life. From the UK to Afghanistan Nigeria and Iraq my family have missed a lot.
So my Blog is mine and I am back nobody is going to make me feel bad even the bossy bitch.
Last week i was talking to a friend who is away at the moment about driving. The conversation got to the favourite places to drive and in my opinion it has to be the tree lined roads in France. My friend told me of there favourite places to drive
We both are alike with our love of driving when i heard the email tell me i had an email arrive. The picture below is stunning it looks better than and tree lined avenue i had driven down.
Well that's my dream road to drive down but then it's the love of driving for me.
During the years i have been driving i have had a number of vans. I can't explain but i just love owning a van. At one point i had a new car but nothing gives the feeling to me that a van does.
A time has come when i must consider my present van has to go. Recently my van has cost 857€ due to urgent repairs to the engine. The injector pump cost 700€ and then the belt that drives the power steering pump and alternator.
The final nail in the coffin was the timing belt snapped causing a possible need for major work to the cylinder head.
The search is on for another van, the reason i need a van is to carry my spices but also the tables.
I recently went to Liverpool to see my family but for only 3 days. I contacted a company who send you a Covid test kit that you send off to there Lab. I didn't know that there office was shut at the weekend and i needed to do a 2 day test. Then after the 2 day test i had to have a test before i left to return home.
I arrived Friday night at 11.20PM at night and i left again on Monday about 5pm. I contacted the test company and said could i have a refund because i was flying on Monday and the post office wasn't open for me to send the test kit. As they couldn't complete the test for me i was entitled to a refund. Oh no they say there is an £15 admin charge so my refund is less £15 because they can't fulfill there side of the agreement.
I did find another company who where open and i did get tested sadly it took time that i could have spent with my family.
It's a long time ago that the vote for Brexit was reported and to me a was a huge shock.
It's only now that the UK is finally out of the EU that the effect can be felt.
It started when i had a parcel sent over to me in Portugal. The driver claimed that the day of delivery nobody was at home. I was in fact painting the outside of my new veranda. It's common that drivers don't deliver if the address doesn't suit them so they just take the parcel back. That parcel got sent back to the sender who sent it again and this time the Customs didn't like it so they sent it back to the sender.
Now i buy from Hungary and Spain but the downside is that i can't get the curries that are common in the UK.
A new Spanish suppler now has Hot and mild Madras curry so as the markets open i may find some of the things i need from this new suppler.
Don't you just love it when you have a busy day planned and then one by one things turn out wrong.
First i had an appointment at 10am to see my Doctor but at 9.22am i received a phone call from the Doctors to say the appointment was cancelled for another day.
Next i drove 80 kilometers and after arriving in the area i called the guy as he was to meet me. I phoned and after 6 calls only to be told to go in different direction. It soon became obvious that the guy was just playing games with me. In the end i just turned and came home.
Next i had an appointment with an Optician always an appointment to look forward to BUT. Yes another BUT, Arriving on time i was told the appointment had been changed till the same time the next day.
I would like to know who i have upset to be punished like i have been today.
Here is my house looking beautiful in it's setting. All the trees you can see in front of the house are Olives.
This is the last view i got of the ruin this morning before the machine came to remove
Here we go there is no going back now. the guy on the machine did a great job.
This is it the back of my house great no ruin to stop my plans.
There is going to be a veranda across the whole side of this house that will be 2 meters wide. on the left side the veranda will have a plunge pool looking out onto the valley.
Why do people want to go to the UK to work the place is falling apart and why should i be bothered.
14.6% of people working for the NHS are from countries other than the UK.
There are so many HGV drivers short presently more than 100,000 drivers short. Shops short of food, petrol stations closing because of lack of drivers to deliver petrol.
Today a company closed who supplied most supermarkets with food. The largest company who grows peppers and tomatoes can't find workers to pick the crops.
There are Glass companies who have a rota system in place to try to supply there customers.
The latest to warn of stock shortages are Nike and Costco Christmas doesn't look to be good this year. People who have money will stock up now and those with little spare money will be left behind.
On a temporary basic Boris is wanting a 5,000 visas for drivers to help out. But 5,000 drivers aren't enough.
The government set a figure that to move and work in the UK you need to earn app £30,000.
If Boris hadn't driven round in a bus before the Referendum with the Lie of how much will be returned to the UK from the EU would these problems exist now?
But it was the fool in the street who wanted " There country back " after what is happening in the UK how many would put there hands up and say yes I voted to leave the EU.
This is the ruin looking down from my veranda. All the wood from the roof and the floors was recently remove and now i can see what i have.
Here we are looking down on the olive grove and the valley beyond. In the picture you can see a grape vine climbing up a near Olive tree.
This picture is where my chickens lived until they went on holiday with Tony. I thought i was getting my old back trouble Sciatica but now thankfully i am again pain free.
Here is the Olive grove OK Olive grove may be a little exaggerated. Olive grove is my name for where the olives live.
This is part of the valley i live in with the view over the ruin. This is what i wake up to every day how peaceful.
I have just had confirmation that the coming Saturday the market at Coja is back on again this Saturday.
Masks are not now compulsory any more but i hope people who i see are going to be careful and be responsible.
But i must admit this news today is good news. For me i have to do some stock ordering not for this market but the one after.
