Weather obsessed....

I am always being asked about the weather here and find myself checking the temperature during the day and night ritually ... every day. Perhaps that is a British thing ? who knows. I guess that as it is our first year here, every month is new to us and we are learning when the various crops / fruit are ready.. when the flies are unbearable (September) and so on. Well the rain came last Sunday and we have had lots of rain his week... 5 out of 7 days I think.. the ground certainly needed it having had none for so many months and I am happy to have a break from watering the garden !!! It is 20 degrees today... coolest day this week and go's down to about 15 at night. It is predicted to be dry, sunny and mid 20's for the next 9 days, so fingers crossed our roof will be finished next week. I am curious to see what the weather will be like here for Christmas !

Carnage......

Well, an interesting weekend with a mixed bag of carnage... !!! we went over to Ad and Lisa's on Saturday to celebrate her Dads 60th birthday along with Mickaella's (I think it was her 21st)....

So we all got together a 70's buffet and had a lovely day.... we went on to celebrate at Paulinho's in Mortagua having tucked all the kids away in bed...

Had a very funny evening and stayed out way past my curfew.... all getting rather drunk and doing our best to mix with the local lads and speak Portuguese... ! - anyhow we stopped out overnight, then woke up to rain which was odd after so long without it and arrived home at 2pm the following day to total carnage... it looked like some kind of mini tornado had been through..... chairs had blown off the roof.... shutters ripped off their hinges, tables on their sides.... half of the roof on Ades balcony had blown off and was scattered across the lane and terrace.... then the icing on the cake.... one of the toilet windows had blown in, coming totally off its hinges and smashed the toilet cistern off on its way down to the floor... the water had spread out of the en suite and across the bedroom floor to the doorway by the time we arrived back.... just what you need when you have a hangover huh ?! I would like to lie and say I was cool calm and collected...... but I totally lost the plot and got hysterical for a few minutes..... then Lee cut the water supply off and the smashed cistern fell down and sliced through his thumb.... oh happy days. Anyhow it looked much better once we had cleaned it all up -ooh then we noticed that our peach tree had blown over and was no longer.... :o( The following day it was 27 degrees and beautiful. Ho hum !!

melTiNg........

I have been busy melting today.. and have jumped into two different pools with my clothes on - the first whilst fully clothed, much to Sienna's amusement!. It was 39 degrees earlier and is currently 35. Pretty warm for 9pm.... I guess it will take a bit of getting used to. I spoke with Lee earlier who told me it was raining in Bampton. I closed my eyes and thought how good cool raindrops would feel... I think I would have been so excited I could have done a rain dance in the garden in my pants ! and that would have been a shocking sight for the locals!! Poor Armandio already thinks I have lost the plot having seen me talking to my computer the other night -(Skype), - he almost drove his tractor into the wall..! Still, I never imagined I would wish for rain !!

Well Lee and Tashan have been gone 2 weeks tomorrow - they return to Spain with a trailer of our gear on Thursday and I cannot wait to see them.. and Heinz baked beans...and oxo cubes...

I have had a good chill out with Sienna .. making things, painting, park, pools, etc but I look forward to us all being back together again. I have been very lucky in having such fantastic neighbours to share lunch / dinner with - go shopping with etc as with no driving licence I would have been a bit stuck...

I had an email from our Architect, this morning to say that he has finished the drawings of our house... I am really looking forward to seeing them, impatient as ever to get started with the rebuild..

The pup above is one of three who are living in a drain up the road from us. Nobody seems to own his Mother. Maria tells me there were 10 pups to begin with but the others have died. Maria coaxed this little guy out of the drain with chocolate biscuits and brought him down to our house where he had a well needed bath and Spag Bol for dinner.... I almost caved in as he is so affectionate and sweet but resisted the temptation (and begging from Maria) and took him home. There are so many dogs and cats here - sometimes at night it is like being near Battersea dogs home as the howls travel from village to village.. then the peacock kicks off and I wish I had an air rifle...!

I spotted the butterfly this morning on the gorgeous tree over our entrance... so beautiful... I really do love butterflies - they remind me of happy times as a child.

I am reliably informed that it is set to get hotter the next few days with the temperature peaking on Sunday.... so I plan to check out a new beach... maybe Mira or back to Tocha. I want to make sure I am near cold water either way... what a bummer my legs are looking like pepperoni pizza thanks to my many mosquito friends....

hey ho.... ;O)