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)  

Dia da Mae

Check this out !! Sienna brought this

home for me today as it is Mothers day in Portugal on the 1st May, I love her pictures.. (that is the two of us inside the card by the way !

The poem inside reads:

Pai

Como e que tu sabias

Que de todas as maes do mundo

Era mesmo esta que eu queria ?

Quem deu a papa a Sienna

Quem foi que limpou o rabinho?

Quem chorou lagrimas de amor?

Foi a Mae, com todo o carinho!

Translated (roughly)that reads something like....

 Father, how did you know
That of all the mothers of the world
This was really what I wanted

Who gave the pope a sienna
Who was it that cleared the tail
Who cried tears of love
It was the mother, with love

aaaahhh ! x I love it. Thanks Sienna... x

Bathroom sink ...

This is the sink stand Lee made for our family bathroom... made from two recycled kitchen carcasses and some chunky hardwood taken out of an interior wall.... finally some storage space for our bathroom clutter..... :o)

Bread van

Here in the villages there are various van deliveries during the week bringing fresh bread, fresh fish, animal feed, and even a 'Mr Frost' van with a whole array of frozen food - great for ice creams in the summer.. !

We have a delivery of freshly baked bread 6 days a week .. the 'bread man' - I must learn his name ! leaves a lovely loaf hanging by the front door in the mornings and every Saturday we leave money out to pay him for the week... 80 cents a loaf - delivered to the door, what a great service and the bread is unbeatable.. !

Ok.. so I need to get out more...... !!

Yes I know.... I am sad - but I had to post a picture of this bad boy.... it must have been hard work pushing this one out ! I couldn't believe the size of it.... anyhow I weighed it ..(Lee made me do it ) and it was 89 grams. We have oodles of eggs at the moment which is great...we currently have 9 chickens... and seem to get 5-7 eggs per day.... I have promised the kids pancakes with maple syrup in the morning, so we will use some up... then off to the market at Sao Pedro de Alva to pick up some fruit and check out what is there..

I will get out tomorrow.... honest. ;O)

The art of frugal....

I keep meaning to post this picture of the sink Lee made last month for our en suite bathroom - so here it is... The wood is recycled from part of the restored roof, it is eucalyptus and has fantastic pattern to the grain, tap was given to us as it was an unwanted purchase... (thank you Gin ) xx - and the splashback is made from a zebra print mosaic panel I made some time ago out of Portuguese Cinca tiles.

Sink : €25, a lick of varnish and some precious time...

Bargain I reckon !

Hows that for frugal !?

I love it. :o )

Mealhada Carnaval

Mealhada Carnaval yesterday was good fun... It began at 3pm and the procession finished up at 6:15 , lots of elaborate costumes, floats and gorgeous girls ! €5 entry fee and free for under 10's. There is a second procession tomorrow afternoon.

Really enjoyed it, luckily it was warm although a little overcast as those poor chicks would have frozen !

My only criticism would have to be the music which I have to say was a little.... lacking..... and didn't really make you want to move like at Notting Hill ! Still, I would totally reccomend it.