High and dry, must be July

Well, it started off fairly cool….Then the Jet stream shifted back where it’s supposed to be – tormenting the UK and the rest of Northern Yurp, and Summer bullied in like a really overheated Sumo Wrestler.

The clear felling between us and the lake continues, with huge lorries churning up and down the road and the incessant drone of chainsaws. This came to a halt when the temperature got into the forties and the Bombeiros (Volunteer Fire Brigade) declared the forests in our part of Portugal off limits for fear of more mega-forest fires.

We have started cutting back the Bracken and Brambles from the banks and in the woods – hand tools only…hopefully preserving some Pine seedlings along with the Oaks as, due to the Pine Plague, we could well lose all of our mature Pines. The bank in front of the house is steep, really steep, the soil is fragile, so it’s, um, a challenge to manage.

We’re going to try to get some kind of aggressive (non-thorny) ground cover growing on it, come wetter weather, to prevent further erosion.

This is the point at which Paul and Cris started work on our overdue roof repairs. 

 

The gable ends had originally been done in wood and were getting pretty desperately rotten.

So they were replaced with a plastic composite which looks like dark wood and should outlast us.

So there they were, swatting wasps with the temperature well into the forties….

The sides of the attic dormer were very rough too. So they have had the same treatment.

 

Before

After

The work also includes a roof window to get a bit more
light into the attic. The final stage will be a partition wall to split the attic into two bedrooms.

Then the really fun part comes when we have to completely repaint the attic. Mmmmm can't wait...not!

Down at the Ponds we had some good news when our ‘rescue’ Turtle, now known as Verne.. showed up, hale, hearty and growing.

We now have a real over-population problem with the Gambusia (mosquito fish), the water, at feeding time is nearly solid fish, they bully out the goldfish by sheer crowding…Something Must Be Done…

 So we’ll try to con friends into taking some for their ponds and also net as many as possible and return them to the river.

You’d think our Water Snake and Verne could get into a fish diet, eh?

Bugsy continues his endless pursuit of frogs which he releases unharmed, guess they taste weird… 

and Scraps continues her relentless pursuit of a tennis ball…

 Missed!!!!

On the creative side of things Sylvi continues to teach her drawing class (check out the blog if you want to see what is going on) Drawing Diaries

Meanwhile, having perfected making a couple of model warship cases, I have been helping a couple of friends with their water colour technique as a taster for planning a water colour course for the autumn.

 Sylvi is back in sewing mode and while starting her Christmas projects has completed the second  Mexico weaving hanging. 

One more to go!

Then just this week we heard great news...that our niece Hannah gave birth on Tuesday Morning to Amelie Elizabeth at home in Truro. She is a bonnie wee thing and already capturing the hearts of her older brothers.

More on the family front James and Adela have been on holiday to Hong Kong..James hoping to retrace a few steps from our time there in the early 80's. Met up with friends Sue and Colin there and had a great time. Then, after a brief visit to Macau and Phuket back to the UK and then zooming off to Turkey for a week! 

All right for some eh!

Meanwhile grandaughter Lexa is off this week for her first holiday abroad. Going on an aeroplane to the beach with Mum and Dad for some sun and fun.

Have a lovely time sweetheart!

37 º in the Shade...and Rising

After a ridiculously rainy fortnight in the UK to see family and spend Granny time with Lexa I returned to  metre high weeds in the veggie patch and now super-heat summer all in the space of two weeks. Last week was overcast and still cool in the evenings but now it's sahara time.

This is why I am hiding away in the cooler part of the lounge today to do this month's blog. We just took the dogs for a swim, but the river has a lot of really dodgy green agae all over it so we hosed them off when we got back up to the house.

You will notice (or not) some layout changes on the blog. Thought we should update our house pic to more recent incarnation so decided to change everything else...typically.
We also have a new blog advertising B and B and Courses that we run here. If you want to check this out you can go to Quinta Studio Breaks. Pass it on to anyone you think might be interested.

So the first part of the month found Fraser here alone with the dogs, a bad back and inflamed sinuses, which we think was due to the intense amount of late pollen from the area,  while I was  enjoying my birthday in the UK. (I'm tough, I can take it! F)
Went to the pub with James and Adela, Lexa and Jo, for a birthday dinner whilst Rich was in the USA.

Lexa was so well behaved and even sang Happy Birthday to me!!

When Rich came home we had yet another party, with hats and balloons.

Great Aunty Pat came to visit Lexa at home too and had a fun packed playtime with her.

I spent my time with Lexa just hanging out, playing, singing, dancing, reading and going for walks with her on her reins to do some puddle jumping. She enjoyed the counting book I made her and we made a special cat hat for the party. I just loved being around her all day. Sigh!!

The big excitement was watching a robin family nesting in the wall next door. She loved it and I managed to get some video of the babies in the nest. I also got to meet my great niece Luna for the
first time. She has had a really traumatic first 6 months and had open heart surgery for a hole in the heart. She is now well on the way to recovery so it was lovely to be able to meet her.

We have had two other babies, (double great nephews for me) in June. Alfie Lee was born to Shannon and my great nephew Ricky, while Nina and great nephew Bradley have had second son, Jacob Henry. Sady I just didn't have the time to meet up with them all.
Meanwhile back here Fraser was busy with the camera. His new birthday close up lens coming in handy for shots of a new critter visitor. A tiny dragon fly relative called libelloides of which we have loads, hovering amongst the long grass.

The viginia creeper is taking on the appearance of the hanging gardens of Babylon outside the kitchen.

 Water lilies and frogs are popping up all over the place

 The field is beginning to go brown with the heat but at least it is cut!

 The pond is a soup of young fish

 And my wild flower plot at the back of the lower pond has been such a success with loads of annuals and perenials popping through the long grass. Great!

So we have both been busy trying to keep the land and gardens in check this month. It is just what is needed at this time of year. Courgette, lettuce, beetroot, beans and spinach going gangbusters and onions ready to pull and dry before plaiting. Plus the wild strawberries which are everywhere have given us smoothie bases for the last fortnight.
I started teaching my first drawing course last week and run two classes, 8 people in all, two groups each on a different day. Really exciting and I am enjoying it tremendously. It has taken a lot of time to prepare and plan but I am really hoping it will be successful. The course is over 12 weeks with homework set for the students in between 7 teaching sessions. The students are expats, English and one Dutch and they seem to be really enjoying it so far. If you are interested in seeing what they are doing you can go the  Drawing Diaries blog at this link,

Fraser Here - Whilst hiding from the heat and doing the mowing between 0770 and 0900, I've been finishing off some model ships that have been laguishing on shelves for ages the first is the Kallinen, a tiny 1/700th scale Russian Battle Cruiser. Mean looking ship. It's backdrop is painted in oils - gotta keep the hand in!

Finally, the day  Sylvi got back from the UK, Bugsy went off for a jaunt and came back with blood over his muzzle and neck. We didn't panic but it looked much worse than it was. We think he had a 'discussion' with a cat who managed to shred the end of his ear. He was bleeding everywhere but a plaster and temporary snood cut from a tubular gauze served to stop him scratching. He really was not amused! Probably he was a narked because he didn't look his usual cool self.

A May Mix

Well, we kicked off the month with the arrival of Sylvia's Sister, Pat and her cousin Mags for a break. The weather wasn’t wonderful, but we had a few good days. Went to the beach at Tocha, strolled round Coimbra, and of course there was the Boules and Darts day…

for which event Steve and I dutifully carved out a couple of Boules pitches from the field

Boules were pitched, darts were chucked and the food was excellent as always.


Pat and Mags also spent a day with Sylvi doing patchwork. All in all  I think the ladies had a good break. The Boules and Darts day went well too.











We also had another visitor, An old friend of mine and my Sister’s, Nikki. She was visiting friends up north, having driven down from Somerset with her two Salukis. She came over for the afternoon with Sabbah, the female. Bugsy was a bit taken back by her aloofness…and height, I think.
The changeable weather has had one really good consequence – Our Irises have put on a spectacular show this Spring.
In fact, all of the flowers have done Sylvi’s hard work proud! Of course everything else is growing madly too, weeds, grass, brambles etc. At the moment I’m sitting here with a bad back (again) and am getting a bit frustrated at the work piling up but that’s life, I guess.
The pond life is doing well, despite Bugsy hunting Frogs..and Scraps regarding it as her private plunge-pool…though the little Sunfish could really do with a girlfriend.Meanwhile, Sylvi has gone to England for two weeks of 'Granny Time' with little Lexa.