Week 10 of our new life

Monday, up bright and early today, washing done, cleaning done, let Douglas have a long lie.  Going to see the Carpenter about new internal doors, no luck he was out.  Up to our house,we needed to order water, managed to call Joaquim he will deliver 16000 litres today and 16000 litres tomorrow, great as we have not a drop.  Could always siphon off some of Mick and Paulines if necessary as we just topped theirs up on Saturday, this water business is becoming expensive between two houses.  Skip was collected today and we then had to meet Jwow the gardener, he is going to start at our house on Friday afternoon.  Started my 30 day Ab Challenge first thing this morning and finally swam my 24 lengths at 7.00pm.  Bought a book on 23 walks in the Algarve, some lovely walks in it to discover more about the Algarve, so hope to start them about September when it gets a bit cooler.  Researched How to make a Compost Heap and How to make a Compost Bin, so another project for Douglas to make the bin.  He is definitely going to be busy.

Skip ahoy

Skip to go

Tuesday, day 2 of the Ab challenge, do that first thing in the morning to get it out of the way, then wait til afternoon to do my swim, so far so good. Douglas is swimming as well now.  Pulled out the cucumbers for Mick and Pauline as they had not grown as expected, and planted my Ginger Root and Jacaranda Seed that Mick had given me before they went away, evidently it could take 10 years for my seeds to grow, well not as if I don't have the time to wait, will be interesting to see if they come up. Up to our house again today, met with the Carpenter regarding interior doors, this could take at least a month due to Portuguese industry taking their holidays in August, waiting for a quote but will try and source from the UK as well. Disappointing news regarding our external windows and doors, again due to holidays they will be delayed delivery until end of August as well so this means fitting hopefully 1st week of September. Adrian is still set for finishing at the end of September as long as nothing goes wrong, all fingers and toes are crossed.  The terrace was being attacked whilst we was there today, looking good, hahaha.  Douglas has an idea regarding tubular skylights for the new kitchen (seen them on Grand Designs!!!), so we now need to let Adrian know quickly about them before he starts blocking in. Our to do list is just getting longer.  We also discovered how to get our post, we need to buy a post box, get it cemented in on the main road leading to the lane to our house, we then have to go to the road and wait for the postman around about 12 noon, once he arrives we show him our postbox with our names on a piece of paper and he will issue us with a number, we get that number put on to the postbox and hey presto we will get our post delivered, we could always get a post box in the post office - Douglas is still reaching a verdict on that one. Very bizarre.  40,000 litres of water delivered to our house as we had not a drop left OMG.

Terrace going, going.......

Wednesday, Day 3 of the Ab Challenge done and still continuing with my swim and water aerobics, Douglas is managing 24 lengths also daily. Made a Pudim de Pao which is the Portuguese equivalent of Bread Pudding, very tasty, it is great to have the use of a fully equipped kitchen, cannot wait until the end of September.  Went out and about looking for doors, this is not going to be easy.
Had a light lunch in Faro and then had to go and buy a new Wireless Mouse for the laptop as my mouse gave up the ghost, think the weather was too hot for it. On up to our house to get my daily fix, master bathroom is now coming along nicely, the pipes for the sink have been moved so onward with the tiling, its looking good.  Ashley is working outside doing the rendering of the walls and the terrace is now being reconstructed, what a difference to outside already.  Confirmed with Adrian that a plug socket is required in each bathroom for a hairdryer/shaver etc (the norm over here) and double checked if I have the right voltage of lights for the suicide bathroom as we cannot have a false ceiling in there and I still want it to be bright, still not sure, he will connect one up so we can have a look.  Also need to go and buy a shower tap as the shower we bought for the small shower room did not come with a tap!!  Have decided not to go with tubular skylights as we do have 2 windows in the kitchen anyway and think that will be enough even though it is being extended.

Terrace ready for reconstruction

Rendering of walls

Douglas's quote to the builder today Perfect Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance, he took it well.
Thursday, getting a bit worried about Douglas, he has become something like the mad professor, he wants to invent things all the time and is making notes of projects he is going to do!! His first project is going to be a "keep safe from flies cover" to explain, Douglas has a bugbear with flies when he is sun bathing, they annoy the life out him, so he is creating a cover that will protect him and his sunbed from flies.  Unbelievably today we had to shop for the materials that he required to create this. This evening he decided to start on his creation, framework is surrounding his sunbed as I type, sorry folks he will not let me take photographs just in case someone wants to steal his idea.  Hopefully he will allow me to photograph the end result.  On a more sensible note after shopping for project material we shopped for a car, we have found a Toyota Rav4 that we like and are going for a test drive in the morning.

Possible new car

Friday, up early and out to test drive the car, a nice comfortable drive so we bought it, as we have a hire car at the moment we will wait until Friday to pick it up.  Off to the Insurance Company to get it insured, one hour later all paperwork done it is ours.  It is an automatic which Douglas thinks will make it much easier for me to drive as well. We will also get a moped eventually as back up and I would rather scoot around on that, at least I can get to the shop and back.  It is big enough for the golf clubs and to get family or friends with a suitcase in so just ideal, also 4x4 so will survive the roads we need to encounter to and from our house.  Insurance here is for the car only so family or friends can drive it if required.  Went to the Post Office to enquire about getting a Post Office Box, Douglas is not sure about the post box on the road, so Jury is still out as to what we do to get our post.  We have picked up the appropriate forms needed anyway. Met Julian in the insurance office, and then met Graeme and Fi in the Post Office so caught up on all the news as well.  Time now for a spot of lunch, then off to our house to meet the Gardener.  Met with Jwow (the Gardener) and discussed what we would like done immediately, as Ashley needs to get on with the preparation for the painting of the exterior we have to get some plants cut back or taken out completely.  Such a shame gone the Bougainvillea and Honeysuckle that was by the pool, this was done while we were still discussing the rest, by next week 4 big trees will have come out and I need to buy a couple of large pots to have the geraniums replanted as the pots are all broken.  Master Bathroom nearly finished, the shower needs to be moved down a bit and the bedroom floor tiling has now started. After all that back to Mick and Paulines for a swim.

New Car

Honeysuckle No More

Bougainvillea No More

Master Bathroom

Trees x 4 Coming out

New Car

Saturday, early start today for market day much to Douglas's disapproval, he does not like getting up early.  Got fresh meat and vegetables, also fruit and rolls, and fresh Tuna, then went for breakfast.  By 10.00am the temperature was 34 degrees. We went up to our house to see what had been finished yesterday, the gardeners had been really busy and got quite a lot cleared by the piles of plants etc left in the lower garden.  It is illegal at this time of year to make bonfires so it is difficult to get rid of garden rubbish, so at the moment as we will not be using the lower garden it will all be piled up there and then moved in the winter.  Pleased with the results.  There is a big difference also with the terrace having been knocked out, we like it like that and are going to see how we get on with it through the winter months before we make a decision on whether to put glass into it or not. We are now also trying to sort out accommodation for us for September which is proving rather difficult, we visited a camp site in Quarteira as we felt we might camp out for the month, but the only 2 bungalows they had left were very dreary and in the darkest corners of the site and the price they wanted was ridiculous for what it was, so not for us this one.  We do have the offer of staying with Mick and Pauline again for September, but feel that another month might be a bit too much, but we will wait and see as not a lot of options available at this time of year.  Spent the rest of the day lazily by the pool.  Nice to see we have Lizzy and her family visiting us now every evening, hopefully we will have them at our house too.  Highlight today Douglas got stung by a wasp, not much of a high light for him a high scream was more the case, after that he suffered in silence.

Lizzy

Sunday, washing and ironing all done, then a lazy day in and out of the pool, too hot to do much else, it has been a good week.  Great to have free reign of a kitchen thanks to Mick and Pauline, I have enjoyed creating some new recipes using local ingredients, the element of surprise for Douglas as he never knows what he is going to get for tea, also done a couple of BBQs and some baking.  Mick and Pauline are having a good time in the UK, sadly not having the same weather as us, still they will enjoy catching up with all their family and friends knowing that we are looking after their house.