Archie... and his roomies

Archie seems pretty happy in his new home and is stumbling in and out of his new pad as he pleases... he seems to be blind as a bat ....

:o{

He is sharing with Denver and Freckles who seem to really love him, although the girls can be a bit lively with each other they seem to know that he is a bit fragile and have been really good with him so far... either that or they just think he is a bloody big goat and are too scared to mess with him.... he is happily munching grass all day long and even manages to run when he hears his food bucket rattled in the evening.. he is a bit stinky close up and still looks a bit like a cut and shut donkey as his butt really doesn't match his head end but isn't he cute.... ! 

Bee hives and bannana muffins...

I must be getting old..... 10 years ago I would have been off shoe shopping for some new heels to wear out...... today I am washing a donkey, going for a walk in the valley and baking..... what happened ?

had a lovely walk down the lane alongside our house with Lee and Sienna this afternoon... on the hunt for bee hives - just out of curiosity really. We have been for numerous walks down there but never seen them. Today we finally found them, following the sweet smell, growing number of bee's round the foxgloves and my friends directions...  I crept up to the back of the hives to get a better look whilst Lee and Sienna waited at the bottom.... I got as close as I dared to and the smell was incredible.. there are around 40 hives down there.... those little guys are amazing.

Then Lee got stung on his forehead and ran off shouting his head off - (very manly). He is not very good with buzzy stingy things anyway.... I fear after this afternoon he will be even less keen on me getting some hives of my own....hopefully he'll get over it.

On the way back up Lee shhhhhh'd me and pointed at a snake sat on the bank next to us which was bloody huge. So then it was my turn to be uncool .... I inhaled suddenly - making a wimpy, girly ,Olive Oil type gasp and it promptly shot off... it was a fat old lump, about 5 ft long with a pale yellow belly... gutted I didnt get a shot of it.

So back home to making bananna muffins with Sienna (yum), a glass of Zubrowka vodka with ice cold apple juice and doing everything possible to avoid plasterboarding the lounge ceiling.

Could be worse I reckon...

Meet Archie..

This is our new family addition Archie, he came to live with us last Wednesday after I spotted an ad for him on the Expats Portugal forum... Poor Archie has had a bad time of it and looks a bit of a state. He has a weary soul and an arse like Kate Moss.

Archie is however a loving fella who likes cuddles and horsey pellets and carrots, he is getting used to us and his new 'roomies' (the goats)... and taking himself in and out of a new 'doorway' we have cut out of the barn for him.... so far he is settling in nicely....  :o)  

New Kitchens and squished snakes....

Did the usual school run with Sienna this morning, the bus picks her up at the top of the hill at around 8am, it is a lovely sunny morning.... there was a 2 and a half foot snake in the middle of the road and the kids were having great fun watching in anticipation to see if any passing cars ran it over.... the school bus arrived and made a right mess of it ... :o{ ewww

I found a large adder in the compost heap over the weekend too - needless to say I promptly legged it ! so a bit of a snake theme right now ..

The tree's are full of young plums and peaches and the olive trees are heavy with tiny new olives, they seem to look far more loaded than they did last year.

We are still plodding away with our renovation, feeling frustrated at times with how long each job takes... but still it is coming along. I am looking forward to an old friends arrival on Wednesday as I have not seen him in a long time now... task for today is to get a door on the bedroom he will be sleeping in !

Anyhow have posted some pictures of our kitchen above ... not quite completed but nearly there, it was made by George Robinson Kitchens in Cornwall..... :O)