Blood, sweat and tears - 2nd April 2023

 2nd April 2023

So, the last few days since my birthday have been a manic whirlwind of jobs that needed doing around the house with a few hours of leisure thrown in as well.

We have......

•  made several A-Frames to support a sloping roof and installed it to keep the covered veranda and the bathroom ceilings dry.
• installed guttering around 2/3 of the house, the final 1/3 will be completed when we get the last few pieces we need.
• started to block up the holes around the skirting boards and floorboards to stop the rodents and put down rat poison
• made the frames for mosquito window screens, just need to staple the fabric onto the frame.
• started making a 3-bin compost system out of pallets
• chopped trees and pruned grape vines, chopped logs and stored them in a dry shed and then dragged the remainder to burn

We have had some downtime too ......

• we have walked up to the waterfall twice, once on our own and once with a new friend.
• met more new friends for dinner in Coimbra.
• eaten out a couple of times at our local veggie restaurant.

I'm finding it really hard, tears almost every day, I was hoping the wood burner and electrics would be done and to find they weren't was devastating. The house is cold at night and a wood burner would have been nice. 

The kitchen is tiny and very basic, there is nowhere to store anything and we are cooking on a 2 ring camping stove with a small camping light to see by.

The bathroom is functional but we shower holding the shower head and then mop the floor afterwards, we have a blockage and when the sink is emptied, mud and dirt come up the shower plughole.

I miss my children and my friends and my home comforts.

Off to Morocco for a few days to chill, we are both incredibly tired.

My 50th birthday -25th March 2023

 25th March 2023

No real plans today apart from visiting a market, we couldn't find the one we had planned to visit but found another one and had a successful trip buying pear, kiwi, lemon, blueberry and pomegranate trees and a rosemary bush.

The only problem was that they wouldn't fit in the car, so we had to drive the ten miles back with the boot open!

Once back, we dropped the trees off and after battling to get the washing machine working we went to Lousa for dinner and a walk. 

We found the most fabulous cafe, thanks to Happy Cow again and then walked up to the castle, it was a long slog uphill but it had the most amazing views along the way, The pathway we walked on was interesting as it was a wooden structure bolted to the cliffside on stilts with large pieces of the roadside missing and shored up with breeze blocks. Scary!!

We arrived at the castle and looked around the cattle and the fabulous river beach nearby, it hadn't been filled up yet but the old watermill and weir were lovely.

The walk back was much easier and I had a pleasant phone call with Daisy on the way home catching up on the news and opening my present of a mushroom incense burner. The perfect end to a fabulous birthday.

Espinhal walk to the waterfall 23rd March 2023

 23rd March 2023

After a long few days of purchasing supplies for the house, finishing the painting and starting the garden, we took some time out for a walk on the insistence of Steve. (he was right)

It was a beautiful walk, through the trees and along the river climbing up to the waterfall, it was a hard slog at times but the reward was a beautiful waterfall.

On our return, we visited a cafe in the village and ended up talking for more than an hour with two people we met on the way out. We spoke about Portugal and places to visit, the situation in Russia and the worries it is bringing to us, failed marriages and moving on. Lots of tears were shed but we swapped numbers and plan to keep in touch and meet again.

Onto Portugal 18th March 2023

 Last leg of the journey to Portugal, we arrived late afternoon and immediately went to the house to find that no work had been done in our absence, our clothes were mouldy, the house was damp and we had, had a visit from a rat.

So frustrating that I cried!

We went straight up to Eloise and Keith's and put the washing on after meeting all the dogs.

Madrid 15th-18th March 2023

 15th - 18th March 2023

The last stop before Portugal was Madrid where we stayed for 3 days on the outskirts, thinking we would get the train in every day.

In reality, we were tired so we spent one day in Madrid, did another Questo and found the most beautiful vegan restaurant on the Happy Cow app. 

The Questo was one of the most difficult that we had ever done with many misleading clues and wrong information, despite this we had a lovely day discovering the city and even managed to squeeze in a visit to the temple of Debod. The temple was very different from a few years ago as the water surrounding it had been drained, it just wasn't the same.

The train journey on the way back was difficult as we got on the wrong train, we figured it out with the help of a Portuguese man who used translate to communicate with us, however, one of the messages got confused and translated to ask us for a threesome! Very funny!

We eventually got home.

The rest of the time in Madrid was designated as rest time as we were very tired.

Ainsa 14th March 2023

 14th March 2023

Over the Pyrenees, today which were beautiful, still covered in snow and onto Ainsa, a UNESCO heritage site, it is known for its windy little streets, tightly packed houses and for having the cleanest air around for miles. 

We wandered through the town at night, down tiny streets and then walked across the river in the morning to buy croissants for breakfast which we ate listening to the river.

Carcassonne 13th March 2023

 13th March 2023

Onto Carcassonne, a town that we were only visiting as we have the board game at home and Steve wanted to see it in real life!!

It was beautiful but very touristy and every shop had every version of the game for sale.