Quinta das Abelhas

the m.e. has hit me pretty hard these past few days and i’m feeling really tired and feeble. been staying in bed reading, or sitting in front of the computer slowly getting on with some of the work that’s least taxing on my brain. tea breaks outside where it’s much warmer than in here. weather is absolutely glorious at the moment but i just find it completely impossible to be outside without getting on with something, then i end up overdoing it and being laid up for even longer. it’s so frustrating. yesterday james gave me some olive flower essence which he says is good for m.e. - i took a couple of doses but then gave up as i didn’t have the strength to take the lid off the bottle! ok. enough of feeling sorry for myself. and enough typing which is making my arms ache! going to slob out on the sofa in front of a sunday afternoon film now…

No Comments »

Effing freezing here this morning! Woke up to our first real frost, though it is lovely and sunny so should warm up soon. Our friend phoned to say it was minus 8 degrees at their place, but their’s is much colder than here, being by the lake. James said it was 0 degrees in his yurt this morning. My fingers are almost too cold to type at the moment, I’ve lit the stove but it’s just glowing pathetically and refusing to really get going.
It’s ‘Immaculate Conception’ day today, a Portuguese public holiday, so the builders aren’t working, although the tractor man has just been down to deliver some more bricks. Andy & James have gone to help some friends move into their new house today. I’m going to get out on the land in the sunshine and get on with some work - it’s much warmer out there than it is in here! Continuing the war on couch grass with a good bit of digging should warm me up too.

No Comments »

James & Andy have started clearing the brambles on our neighbours land. It’s apparently owned by a foreigner who bought it 15 years ago and hasn’t been seen since. So we’ve decided to clear it as the brambles are encroaching onto our land. Also it’s a really beautiful piece of land, very small - just a few terraces, but very sheltered and secluded and with some fantasic huge old olive trees. We reckon if the owner doesn’t want it then we may as well use it. And heh, if we work it for 15 years it becomes ours!!!

Gorgeous sunny day today, nice and warm. But sky is so clear I reckon it’s gonna be cold tonight …

Andy went to help some of our friends lay a carpet in their new house this afternooon. James and I took a wander over to another neighbouring piece of land that has a lovely little granite house on it - James is interested in buying something out here, but we don’t know who the owners are. A teenage boy was also wandering around there, and he showed us how much land comes with the house. So I’m sure the owner will find out soon enough that some English people were looking at the quinta and they’ll be in touch if it’s for sale.

No Comments »

just found this on the net. not sure about the plastic design but seems like a good (if rather expensive) way to introduce people with limited space to the joys of keeping chickens. you get a complete package, including two hens, delivered to your door. plonk it in your garden and away you go! www.omlet.co.uk

No Comments »

Went to see our friend in hospital yesterday. He’s remarkably unscathed, considering. We were expecting to see him really battered and bruised but he was looking good. He has had to have 3 big pins in his thigh bone though and his shoulder is pretty swollen. Should be out of hospital in a week so that’s a big relief.

It’s been raining pretty heavily most of the day so Andy & James dug new water channels to try and direct the runoff so it doesn’t create huge ravines in the new track. Still have a big problem with water coming into the house though, even now we’ve dug a drainage ditch down the side. We’re hoping that rendering the outside wall and putting a concrete channel at the base will solve it but if anyone reading this is a drainage expert please please tell us what to do!

Andy & James also chopped a load of firewood as we’d run out. They also went next door to chop firewood for our new neighbours (people who are renting the house whilst our neighbours are away for the winter) in return for using their washing machine. Yippee! I have a big bucket of washing that’s been soaking for about 3 days now which I haven’t had a chance to finish washing and now it’s raining so a right pain to dry when it’s dripping wet.

I was feeling tired today (all that running around to hospitals etc) so I got to sit inside doing some work on the computer out of the rain and with the fire lit. Did feel guilty though while all that work was going on outside.

At least I managed to finally get around to finishing making the xmas pud, though the mixture seems to have come out a bit dry (it’s a recipe I haven’t tried yet) but it’s steaming and bubbling merrily on the stove as I type.

This evening I’ve been reading the forums on www.acountrylife.com great source of info and advice on anything smallholding related. Also found a new website www.selfsufficientish.com which I haven’t looked at properly yet but seems interesting.

Now I’m going to have a ‘tub wash’ (got a big pan of water heating on the stove as the new bath is not such a pleasant prospect in the rain) and then I’m off to bed.

Boa Noite.

No Comments »