Fraser...on September

September…autumn is a-cummin in…though you wouldn’t guess it at noon when it’s in the high twenties. However the breeze is from the North, turning the willows silver and demanding a sweater to be worn at dinner and the evenings are really drawing in now.

The grapes have ripened.

Sylvi has made juice and spiced grape jelly (free-range since it runs pretty well all over the place) from some of the black grapes and as for the rest; we gave the picking to the Shepherd, Manuel and his family. They’ll be making wine from them which is virtually undrinkable, but they like it!
Sylvi hopes to make our own wine next year once we have the kit, know how and the space to make it.

Our builders have now left to do other things, the builder budget having run out. Fortunately the structure is now complete and weather-proof with all doors and windows in, if not totally finished. Studio.....

Downstairs patio doors... We had to get our septic tank emptied before we could patch in sewage pipes to the barn. Quite an experience! We ordered the job to be done at the local town hall and they sent an old guy with a tractor and honey wagon to do the job.All the men found it too fascinating not to watch. Sylvi couldn´t quite work out the fascination of the view down into the tank!

Sylvi has tiled the bathroom and been doing pointing while I’ve been working on stone steps at the front and carpentry generally.
The veranda extension is done. The solar water-heating system’s tank and panels are in place and we hope to get everything connected up next week. We now have water to the bathroom and downstairs and electricity in half of the barn and the rest should be done soon. Got the fire and it’s flue in. Now we just need to build the surround to hide the pipes!

Sylvi’s veg patch is now winding down but there are still squashes, courgette, aubergines and green peppers coming through –

shame the pumpkins never put in an appearance!

All in all though it has been a productive year for the veg and some of the fruit trees. The yield from the peaches and apples was poor because a lot of it was bugged fruit. However we had enough for chutneys and jams in the larder and there seem to be plenty of green figs. We are hoping to see some produce from our new trees next year.

The fish in the pond have been procreating all summer and I’m seriously thinking that I may try and catch a couple of young bass from the river to put in as population control – we seem to have upwards of 50 goldfish of varying size and colour.

We had friends from Bath, David, David Junior and girlfriend Sarah to stay for a few days. It gave us the chance to have a day off! We went to the beach just north of Figueira da Foz.

The two Davids did lots of digging!

It turned out that Sarah was a dab hand at getting value for money from a toy vending machine. Say no more!

A final note from Sylvia…………..One sadness for the month is the death of Paul Newman on September 26th. I grew up with Paul Newman in my life as an icon and lead player in a young girl’s dreams and young woman’s fantasies. My sadness is for the loss of a consummate actor who, even in advanced age, was to eye candy what Moet Chandon is to champagne. But more importantly, because he was one of a rare breed of real celebrities who are true philanthropist. He will be missed by many.