a mole....a prom and a Mother..... .

Look at this.... ! One of our chickens saw the earth move and dragged this little fella out of the ground !!!!! I cannot believe how small moles are - I have never seen one before. Weird! The size of the hills they make I thought they would be about 6 times the size of this one ... I read recently that these little chaps travel approx 2.5 miles per day underground... incredible. Anyhow, we rescued him and let him go again. Today Lee and I have planted some trees along our border - 2 pomegranates, a sharon fruit and a cherry tree, along with some prickly pears... Tashan came out and took a photo of us.

Tashan and I are off to the UK tomorrow - he is off to meet up with his friends and his Dad, I am going to hang out with friends and go to the Tiverton High School Prom on the 2nd.... I'm so excited to see everyone, I cannot wait ! I spent hours on Skype with my Sister Vicky yesterday morning... she managed to track down our Mum who now lives in Dorset and called her on a mobile number she got from a contact I had in my filofax. That feels odd as we have not spoken for years now... so I now have a number for her but I'm not quite sure what I will do with it.

Bolas !

A trip to the supermarket (Pingo Doce) on Wednesday turned out to be fun as we spent some time checking out the animals next door - part of the fire station, on the way home. It was 32 degrees and the shopping was melting fast ! We really need to be more organised and stop going shopping in the middle of the day when it is so hot. So what I thought was a couple of goats was far more interesting.... in addition we found a llama, reindeer, emu's, a pony, peacocks, a ton of different and very bizarre looking chickens and even a green wing macaw who said "ola". Very cute. I didnt take pictures of him or any of the birds as it makes me feel so sad to see pictures of them in a cage. They did look very healthy and well looked after though.... When we got home I decided to mow 'the lawn' and got a bit carried away ! Anyhow , I finished up and stood back to admire my new 'tame' area then went upstairs to call Lauren and wish her a Happy Birthday..... meanwhile..... Fernando a neighbour arrives with his son on a tractor and they begin to plough our garden......

BOLAS. (Balls).

Fernando tells me that whilst my courgette plants are beginning to produce weeners - his are as big as his arm... my tomato plants are a foot tall.... his are shoulder height.... you get the picture.. so bless him he thought he would help me out and be neighbourly. Our conversations are a mix of sign language, my basic pigeon portuguese and lots of giggling... goat impressions and so on.... Fernando looks funny bleating with hands for ears ! He didn't pick the best spot to plough but I am grateful for his kindness and praise the lord he didn't plough up the soak away pipe for the septic tank. Goodness knows what I am going to plant out there.... ! Maybe some radish ? I have some before pictures of my new veg patch area prior to installation here but will post some 'after ones' later on.... The first photo is the view of our house and next doors, taken from the top of the road that meets with ours. Great view.

Secret ingredient prawns.

Some more pictures from the Senhora Da Ribeira riverbeach.... between Mortagua and Santa Comba Dao. You can drive right down to the waters edge, there are built in BBQ's all over the place, toilets, restaurants.... You can even camp here for free ! There are showers too. This plate of prawns from Bar Do Pedrosa was €18 ... really the best prawns I have ever eaten.... they complimented our picnic perfectly ! The water was warm for swimming and you can even hire a pedal boat ! Lovely lovely lovely. :O)

FRIGGERIFICO !

Well we went to Mortagua market in the morning last Thurs to buy some Guinea Fowl (Fraca) we nearly bought some turkeys(Peru) by accident but thankfully got the right little dudes in the end. ...... We did buy our house on Thursday too and whilst I know i'm supposed to say how happy and exited I was.. to be honest I felt completely freaked out... it was not the most relaxing process and made me feel a bit anxious. Partly due to emotional stuff for the seller.... partly to do with the permanence of it all perhaps ? So we arrived home to find a bottle of bubbly and some sparklers all wrapped up in a ribbon by our lovely new neighbors.... and exhausted I went indoors and read my new book Precious.The whole thing. Whoa. Really enjoyed it but I could perhaps have chosen a cheerier read for the moment. Still I guess it gave me the get a grip tablet I needed. Tashan broke up from School for the summer on Friday, so I am now living with full time hormone puddle instead of the part time one I was getting used to. We were invited to go to a party on Saturday with a hog roast.... mmmm and live music ! Sienna managed to eat some plant which made her itch like crazy... Tashan met some nice kids his age and I got to see the couples gorgeous house and gardens which was great. So nice to meet new people and have a laugh. Mickaella was the life and soul of the party. We slept over at M&M's then went to Senhora Da Ribeira river beach for the day on Sunday....We had such a good day, swam in the lake ate the best prawns ever, rowed dinghy's, laughed, built a tepee, drank wine and laughed some more. We then had a second sleepover at M&Ms last night and woke up to blue sky's and sunshine again..... will I ever get bored of that ?

Both my kids are tired and grumpy today and I hit the ground with a big old bump...... ! Will they ever stop arguing ? I am loving these photo's of the kids at the river beach and M&M havin a good old cuddle up....

Anyhow, I have had a bloody lovely couple of days and have my very own brand new word .. friggerifico which for today means friggin triffic. x

Buying our house......today ?

Well it is looking hopeful that we will be buying our house today .... above is a picture of the back of it , taken in March. Yesterday our 'seller' Jen flew out with her daughter and we met them for the first time. They are both lovely. Fingers crossed it will all go smoothly. I am told it usually doesn't !! Out appointment is at 4pm.

It will be such a relief if it all gets sorted as we will all be able to move on and get on with things !

We are going to be house sitting for our lovely neighbours for six months, starting in September. I am really looking forward to it, (although we will miss them whilst they are away :o( )It will give us a chance to get the house sorted out and have a civilised space to live in whilst we work on it. Anyhow, lets see how we get on this afternoon.

Things that go bump in the night....

Every now and then there is a bump.. or loud crash in the night and I know Sienna has fallen out of bed.... I go in and pick her up ( she always continues to sleep) and pop her back into bed. Well she has been a bit of a disaster area these past two weeks..

First she walked sideways off a ledge into a river whilst at Roberts birthday party and went completely under in her best frock. Thankfully she was laughing about it when Marcus swiftly pulled her up for air.

Next she walked into a lamp post in Mortagua and somehow flew sideways into the hedgerow with her skirt up. After pulling down he skirt to hide her knickers from two passing (bemused) ladies.. she giggled again.

Well today she was on form. This morning I heard bloodcurdling screams and ran down to find she had fallen face down in the mud with her mouth open. (Unfortunate if you are not a fan of the stuff) I have advised her to close her mouth next time to avoid this. Not 20 minutes later there were more blood curdling screams and she has now learnt that when we said that prickly pear plants are not to be picked up or touched as they HURT, we really meant it.
This afternoon she bit her tongue on the trampoline. Then tonight I heard a crash when she fell out of bed. Unfortunately I didnt help matters when I went in to recover her from the floor and cracked her on the head with the door as I opened it to go in.

Blimey... whatever happened to bad luck coming in 3's ?
Better luck tomorrow Bubba ! x

Snakes, lizards, butterflys and lemon biscuits.

Yesterday we saw a ladder snake like the one on the right slide past us in the garden... it didnt hang about long and soon disappeared.... with me legging it in the opposite direction, squealing like Olive Oil. (Not the bottled stuff). I felt a bit vulnerable in my flip flops... It was a chunkey monkey - Lee reckoned it was about 4ft long. Eeek. Must get the grass cut. Then today, Nolly - caught this little lizard fella and Lee rescued him. Luckily he was in one piece and whilst he was busy playing dead Sienna was well chuffed to hold him. Had a relaxing day today really, pottered about and pondered in the garden. I took a walk along the track at the bottom of the garden and was surprised to see lavender growing in the forest alongside the track. It had a fantastic orange butterfly on it - they are everywhere at the moment, beautiful - remind me of being little when I would spend hours with my buddies chasing them with nets.

I got a whack on the head at one point today from our cat Nolly who was sitting above my head in an olive tree.... He really has been a mad thing this week. Nutcase.

Oh and Tashan made lemon biscuits this afternoon..... I came in to find that he had decided to use (oxo cube sized ) chunks of lemon peel instead of grated rind... (quicker innit ?) so I had a bit of a whinge etc.... anyhow somehow his tray of biscuits came out of the oven n disguise as a.... lemon cake. That boy of mine really does have issues with following instructions... ! Anyhow the cake was amazing.. shame he cant remember where online he found the recipe because it was miles better than my cakes ! It has given me some ideas for what to do with surplus lemons from our tree.... In March I picked about 40 from the tree here and made loads of homemade lemonade. I wonder if I could grow a lime tree.... haven't seen any of those here. I really do love lime. :o)

Praia Monte Clerigo, Algarve.

I just wanted to post a couple of photographs of a tiny and very gorgeous little place we camped at overnight back in February. Praia Monte Clerigo on the west coast of the Algarve, just along from Arrifana. It looked like a little toy town, very unspoilt. We parked up at the top of this board walk (you can't get much closer to the sea than that) and I (although VERY reluctant) was persuaded to put my wetsuit on and go in the sea. After the waves picked me up and spat me out a couple of times I called it a day ! The sight of Tashan waddling down the beach like a penguin in his flippers and wetsuit will be forever stamped in my memory. Bloody hilarious .. What a Rodney !

Beautiful place.. with rocks smothered with mussels.. it looked like it was perched on the end of the world.

Bucaco Forest, Luso.

Some more photographs from our trip to the forest.. Above : one of several gateways.The grand staircase below with waterfall flowing through it took my breath away. The walls either side are adorned with mosaic and there are benches to sit on at each level. The waterfall feeds a pond beneath it where you find swans floating by ..... you get the picture !

The entire forest is enclosed within high stone walls and planted with exotic trees and palms. It smells heavenly. A spiritual and mystical place. Luso itself is a pretty town. The Termas de Luso Spa offers massage / therapies.. I missed out as it only opens from May to October !

The kids loved the Fonte de Sao Joao spring, adjacent to the spa. There is a glass skylight which enables you to see the crystal clear water flowing over pebbles. The water is considered to be a cure for a wide range of ailments.. (i.e anything you can think of) and you can fill your bottles for free. I cannot wait to go back...... and perhaps stay in the hotel..... I wouldn't say no to a massage either come to think of it.....

Palace Hotel do Bucaco.

Back in March when we were still in our van we visited the Bucaco Palace whilst staying in the spa town of Luso for a week. The 'fairytale' Palace was built on the site of a 17th century Carmelite monastery in 1907, for use as a royal retreat. Nowadays it is a luxury hotel.

We Cycled through the Bucaco Forest uphill on a cobbled path for approx 2km to reach it. It is too steep for most little ones - Sienna was pulled by Lee in her taxi / carriage and still moaned all the way !

The Palace is truly beautiful. Well worth the effort. I want to go back to explore the forest a bit more and its mosaic walls, fountains,chapels, fonts and several grand gateways - also adorned with mosaic... a love of mine.

I also want to check out the restaurant for dinner... a meal which spans seven to eight courses.... !

Tondela Park.

There is a great park in Tondela nearby. It is new and totally immaculate -almost like a virtual park ! There is a zip wire and a great selection of unusual swings and roundabouts.

Us' thirtysomethings' had a great time checking it all out... !

There is a gorgeous outdoor pool backing onto the park which unfortunately doesn't open until July.... not warm enough yet apparently !!

I really want a zipwire in my garden...... : O)

The Road.

I watched 'The Road' (based on Cormac McCarthy's novel) last night on DVD, It feels like I have waited forever to see it after reading it last year. Wow. It follows a Father and Son's journey across post apocalyptic America. It is so heartbreaking to watch - as it was to read, very moving and I cried my eyes out towards the end. Great book, great DVD.

My Sister Vicky has recommended 'Precious' to me next.. so I will be looking on Amazon for that later !!

It is 20 degrees and pouring with rain today - as it did yesterday which feels odd now after all the sunshine. Hopefully it will pass soon. On the plus side it has given me a two day break from watering the vegetable patch and allowed me to have a huge bonfire without causing a forest fire.. !

Right - off to Santa Comba Dao for the food shopping now... then home to a sledgehammer and a wheelbarrow...... we are in the middle of smashing out the old wine press in the Adega. Good times.

'Me Chooks'.....

We were given 4 laying hens by our lovely friends Nina and Jason (aka NinJa) a few weeks ago as they are moving back to the UK. The boss is called Queenie but the others do not have names as yet - to be honest I find it really tricky to tell them apart !
We have never had chickens before but they are pretty easy to look after and have been laying 4/5 eggs evey morning for us - great ! I love them.

They put theselves to bed every night and spend most of their time in a huge run - we do let them free range whe we are in the garden but there is no fence around our garden at the mo and I am worried they could get taken out by a passing tractor or dog... They are great fun to watch, fab pets. We also picked up some young chicks at the fortnightly market in Mortagua recently... Sienna thinks they are fab, and spends lots of time with them.... It took a few days for them to work out that it was not nececcary to stand on each others heads all the time to get to the food and water.. they were not used to having there own space... really sad.

These guys are not destined to be layers and we have been talking about the best way to broach this with Sienna as she is only little... I have come the the conclusion that she should know the truth about where her food comes from and make her own choices.... we are doing this slowly and she now has learnt that the chicken she eats actually comes from............. chickens. Yes, it seems obvious I know - but she had not put two and two together. Anyhow. She is fine with this first stage.... still, we wont rush things.

In the mean time they are all leading happy and healthy lives hangin' out in the garden.

Meet Nolly....

This is Nolly, who was preloved by our friends Luca and Elsie here in Portugal.... a right character. He wrapped both paws round my leg this morning and gave my leg a bit of a chew.. at which point I realised he wanted his breakfast ... I must to show him a Felix advert on You Tube so he can see how other cats go about letting humans know they are feeling a bit 'peckish'. Still it worked. I was a bit put out as I had just rescued him from a dog on the front terrace who was barking ferociously at him .... little git.

He is a bit of a teenager really, stays out most nights, then comes home in the morning looking like a bag of crap with a scratched nose.... starving hungry. He stuffs his face then go's to bed for most of the day..... hmmm those were the days !!!

Nolly was acquired for his mouse hunting skills as when we arrived here the house was full of them , having been empty for months... I am TOTALLY terrified of mice and could not cope with that at all... he is a little star.... especially now he understands that I don't like him to bring them in the house to show me how clever he is. Thanks to this little guy our house is now mouse free.

Thanks Luca and Elsie. x

Some good news..

The South facing wall in our new front room has three windows along it. This is the view from the middle one, looking out over part of the garden, with views of the pine / eucalyptus forest and mountains behind. It is an incredible view and makes me feel so lucky to be here every time I look out at it !

The document that our seller has been waiting for in order to complete the sale on our new home finally arrived last Thursday and we are now hoping to complete on the 17th June.... I wont hold my breath at this point but my fingers and toes are crossed! We have been lucky to have been able to live in the house since April 8th due to a Promissory contract between both parties. I am so excited now that we will be able to start working on the house soon and making it ours....

Espinheira, Penacova.

We went to Espinheira Market this morning for lunch and a wander. The market is huge and is held on the first Sunday of every month... since being introduced to it by our new neighbours it has become a bit of a tradition for us. For lunch, there is a hill with stall upon stall of these BBQ chickens... about 40 on each one. The smell is just divine, it hits you as soon as you get out of the car.. it is easy to find by the smell and the cloud of smoke rising.....

You sit under tarpaulins on benches made out of planks of wood resting on trestles (rustic) ! and eat chicken served with salad, fresh bread and chips, with a beer or coca cola - in the traditional bottles... YUM. The chicken is flicked with a large brush loaded with 'piri piri' potion as it rotates which I am told is a mixture of piri piri, salt, pepper, white wine... and stuff. Great stuff. Good to get there early as it gets packed. They also sell the chicken to take away. Full lunch for the four of us with six drinks costs 22 euro's.

I picked up some plants today too... a strawberry tree plant, two pomegranate trees, a cherry tree and a sharon fruit tree. 25 euros the lot. Bargain. Just wish I could have carried more..... !

Failed Goddess status.....(again)

I am waking up very slowly today.... two coffee's have helped... We had a late night and an early morning - not my favorite combination ! Sienna and I had a really lovely day with Michaella, Luca and Elsie yesterday, playing in the paddling pool and building dens in the sunshine.. and had a lovely lunch.. we then met up with Nina, Jason and Connor (15 yesterday !) and went into the Forum in Coimbra for dinner and bowling... Great fun ! The food hall at Forum is fab and I was relieved not to cook last night as it was too hot ! Lee, Tashan and I are totally crap at bowling... Sienna came 2nd to Jason ! (ok she had the barriers up). She absolutely loved it and did a little victory dance after each shot... or should I say roll.... helped by Tashan. The bowling alley is small but great and really cheap ! 24 euros for 7 of us ! Brilliant.....

This morning I have had a good lesson in failing totally as a domestic goddess it is now 13:30 and I have just had a run of 6 visitors this morning...... knackered... looking like I have been dragged through a bush backwards... both kids lounging around in their pants and a house that looks like the burglars have been round OH THE SHAME....... why does nobody visit me in my organised mode ???? AaRgHHH.

Right - time for lunch and getting a grip before dinner with friends tonight.... lesson learnt. (ish).

Tashan.....

My little man Tashan.. 12 years old and a fantastic 'Kevin and Perry' impressionist !! (Apparently because he is a teenager). Tashan LOVES food and music and is a funny and affectionate Son. I so wish he would do his 'Carlton' (Fresh Prince of Bel Air) moves in front of people...... hilarious !!! Just like his Auntie Vicky.

We are working through the usual hormone stuff at the moment and tend to bicker a fair bit... but hey ho... that should pass in about six years or so with a bit of luck.

Tashan started his new School in Portugal recently and is in week 5. He is beginning to pick up some Portuguese but is understandably finding it really frustrating not being able to communicate with his new mates.... when he gets really stuck he uses Google Translate on a laptop ! We have been using the Michel Thomas method Portuguese course on our ipod's for the last few months. Tashan used the course a lot whilst we were travelling and this has really helped.

The School feel he is a fast learner and are pleased with him. Luckily he is a bright boy, but obviously this is a huge transition for him... The kids at his new School have really welcomed him and he has been happy to go every day... enjoying the attention of being the new English kid on the block !! His English teacher tells me the girls love him too !!

School will finish for the Summer soon - in the middle of June as it gets too hot here, they return to School at the start of September so he will have a long Summer Holiday. This is balanced out by a long School day; starting at 8:45 and ending at 5:05.... with plenty of 'ping pong' breaks in between.. !!

Sienna....

SIENNA..........

My gorgeous little lady with one of our new baby chicks. She is like a mother hen to them and likes to help take care of them. We have six chicks which we bought at the fortnightly Thursday market in Mortagua nearby.

Today she told me "I love you totally full percent Mummy" and landed a juicy kiss on my cheek. I think full percent of love is quite a bit.......!?

those 'make me melt' moments immediately erase the hours she talks non stop and makes me feel like nailing my eyelids to my knees..... she is so lovely.