Week 19 of our new life

Monday, a gorgeous sunny hot day has dawned, Carly woke up and the first thing she could think of was going in the pool, they were both that excited it took them to eat their breakfast.  Katie took them to the pool armed with lilos, noodle and ball, she thought she was going to get to sunbathe, no chance.  I joined them and they had great fun right up until lunchtime.  I joined them and let Katie sunbathe as she had to get a tan!!! Had to drag them out of the pool so that we could go for lunch, so off we went to Faro Beach, had a nice lunch and then off to do some paddling.  Danielle and Carly wanted to walk to the end of the beach, Douglas and Katie wanted to sit on the beach, so Gran to the rescue, we walked for miles along the beach, paddling, picking shells and still never got to the end, time to find Mum and Grandad, then time to go home and get ready to go for dinner.  One more dip in the pool, please Gran, this time it was to be our pool, so while we checked in with Adrian and David they had another half an hour in the pool, I am tired dont know about them!!!  Went to Ze Dias in Sao Bras, by the end of dinner they could hardly keep their eyes open, so off home and ready for bed to make the most of another day tomorrow.

Fun in the Pool

Ongoing

Who gets who in the water

Tuesday, guess what have to have the morning in the pool, oh well here we go, weather is fantastic so why not, Katie can get her tan, Danielle and Carly can shrink.  Lunchtime and we are off to Pera to see the City of Sand, another nice lunch and then wow, amazing the theme was Music and Film, sand statues, all you could think of from Lion King, Alice in Wonderland, Pavarotti, Gene Kelly, Noddy, Johnny Depp, Lady Gaga etc etc, Carly got a bit tired, it was a lot of walking and it was also very hot, but she persevered and spotted Hello Kitty, Amy Winehouse, U2, so they were all enthralled and found it very difficult to believe that they were all made out of sand. Finally time to go home, Danielle and Carly fell asleep in the car, soon as we got back, oh we need another dip in the pool before we go out for dinner.  Do we really, oh yes and it had to be our pool, just as well we are only staying above our house so it is a short walk.  Chicken Luis for dinner, they all tucked into chicken and Chips like they had not eaten, must be something to do with the fresh air, the heat and the swimming.  Douglas dared Katie to try the Piri Piri Sauce, very hot and spicey, she was not impressed, her face was a picture as the first taste was good until it hit the back of the throat. Another day with two very tired children at the end of it.

On the Beach

Wind your neck in Katie!!!

Frankenstein in Sand

Where is Noddy

Johnny Depp in Sand

Wednesday, no need to say that the first thing to do today is swim in the pool, Carly just loves swimming with the noodle, she wants to take it home but it wont go in her luggage LOL, guess what to buy her for Christmas.  Danielle likes the Lilo and can float it and jump on it and whizz across the other side of the pool.  Going to Albufeira today as Katie wants to get some souvenirs and we can also go to the beach there as well.  Lunch in Albufeira, then trawling the shops, not Douglas's favourite pastime but he was patient as a saint, shall we get this, no dont want that, Carly just wanted to get on the beach.  Finally got to the beach, the waves were very rough, Katie topped up her tan, Douglas and I took the kids for a paddle, well, the first wave to come in was so high, Douglas and I got drenched and we had shorts and T Shirts on, Douglas was able to take his T Shirt off and at least have something dry.  Danielle and Carly loved it, they were riding the white horses, and as it got rougher and higher Danielle was having an adrenalin rush, Carly got a bit scared so I had to stand at the waters edge with her, Katie was oblivious she was getting the sun tan.  Thank goodness there were showers on the beach so that we could get the kids changed from their costumes into dry clothes, as for me and Douglas we had to stay wet, not a very pleasant journey home.  Definitely no pool when we got home as we were later getting back and dinner still had to be decided on.  As they are leaving tomorrow it was decided I would cook, so Douglas went out to get supplies, Katie wanted a fresh Tuna Steak for her tea as she wanted to try one before she went, so did Carly so thats what we got and Danielle opted for Pizza, never one to try something different.  The tuna steaks went down well, then chill down time and children's bed.  The days have gone so quick and have been filled constantly so yes they have all enjoyed their few days and will I think certainly be back, only it will be much better as it will be in our own house.  It has been nice to have full days, and when the children go to bed we can sit outside with a glass of wine, or in my case a wee Morgans or two and just chill and catch up.

Did I order!!

I am hungry

Wheres my Lunch

Grandad fix my dog before lunch arrives

Thursday, early start today it is going home day, so up at the crack of dawn, make sure everybody gets some breakfast and a good cup of Granny's tea, Katie even got hers in bed.  Granny triple checks everything so nothing is left behind, then it is off to the airport.  Every one is organised, passports in hand, boarding passes in hand, purse and phone in the bag, kisses and cuddles a few tears, not long til we see you again, bye bye.  They have had a good time and go back with some happy memories until the next time.  Back to the house for us and it is cleaning and washing time, might as well get it done. Bedding, towels etc all washed and hung out to dry, all dry by lunchtime and put away.  Cleaning done as well, Douglas opted to do the hoovering and the mopping, wow all done, sit in the sun, again it was so hot that we both opted for the shade.  Popped out for a bit of lunch and then home just to chill today.  Went into our house to check on what's happening, things are coming on, the 3rd bathroom now has its sink and toilet in, the kitchen is taking shape with the plastering and cementing near completed, and David was busy blocking in the window in the living room.  Sad to say we have fell out with our Dutch neighbours, as at tea time they passed us by without a word and walked straight into our house, discussing things with Adrian and going from room to room, we watched from where we are staying. We have let it pass before as we thought they were just being neighbourly, but this time it made me mad as I dont feel that anybody apart from the builders should be in our house just now, and when it is finished and ready we will then invite them in to see, not good enough for them they took a strop, so be it.  I am mad with Adrian as well for constantly encouraging them, and spending a lot of his time drinking beer etc with them in our house while David gets on with the work, no wonder things are so far behind and meantime we have to constantly pay out for somewhere else to stay.  We will see what happens now, no loss to me if that is how they want to be. Plus I will speak to Adrian tomorrow as he slunk off when Douglas went down!!!

Kitchen Column to be a feature

Couldnt reach this cupboard!!

Sink for 3rd Bathroom

Toilet for 3rd Bathroom, Yippee

Window disappearing

Friday, early start as getting my nails done, we then decided to go and pay the deposit for the curtain alterations, and also choose material for the kitchen curtains, James and Valentina gave us coffee and pastel de nata's so we were there for ages.  On then to look for a dining table and chairs, finally found a lovely typical Portuguese one with six chairs so bought it.  This is where things become difficult as anything we buy just now we have to get stored so costs us more money, if we could have one room completely finished in our house then we could store things in there, but for some reason this just does not seem to be an option!!!  Our single beds will be in on Monday and not sure if they will store them for another three weeks or so.  We took the scenic route to drive up and down today and passed through, Estoi and Moncarapacho, lovely just to amble along (Douglas was like a Sunday driver back in the UK).  On to do food shopping, and on the way collected another two Leather Handbags which Douglas lovingly bought for me, I now have more handbags than shoes due to the fact that apart from my flip flops and one pair of shoes everything else is in storage.  Back to the house to check in with Adrian before he leaves for the weekend, Shower cubicle is now in bathroom 3 and tiles grouted, also floor tiles in 3rd bedroom grouted, bricked in window in living room is fully bricked and plastered/cemented, does not make any difference to the amount of light in the room, thank goodness we were a bit worried about that but it has worked out well and we will have a lot more wall space.  Spoke to Adrian about the incident with the neighbours and told him that he can socialise with them all he likes when he is in his own time, but not in our house at the moment, and also nobody is to be in our house looking around unless we have allowed it.  He admitted he should not have let it happen, but it is a bit late now and we will have to see if Douie and his wife talk to us or not, after yesterday we doubt it, but Cest La Vie!!! Douglas is quite upset by it and things get to him more than me, so has put a slight damper on things just now but he will get over it.

Shower Cubicle 3rd Bathroom

Window Gone ...

Sarurday, cooler today with slight cloud but will warm up again by lunchtime, shame was hoping for a bit of cool.  First stop today, into Faro to buy a printer, we need to print off some documents so thought it best to buy a printer, we got one that can scan and photocopy and also connect to WiFi as well, so should do for what we need.  Two hours in the one shop, Douglas likes to wander down each aisle just to see what else there is!! cannot get used to him shopping LOL.  Then it was off to see if we could get some sort of Portuguese artwork for the column in our kitchen, no luck the pottery shops were closed.  We then decided to go to another exhibition being held in Quinto do Lago at the Conrad Algarve, a five star establishment where apartments go for a million pounds, sorry kids but we were going to get you one each but they only had three left!!!  Got some interesting information from World Telecom, regarding mobile phones and broadband so we will follow that up next week, also a water softener device as our water has a lot of calcium and this ruins the pipework, not to say what it does to the showers and washing machine etc, so Douglas is thinking on that just now as well.  Finally time for some lunch well at 4.00pm a bit late but needed something to eat and drink.  Finally back to ours, we needed to measure the kitchen column for wall art, needed to decide on tiles for the kitchen, should we stick with the same or change them and needed to measure the 3rd bedroom for beds and wardrobe, also decided to take out some shelves in Living Room and replace with Granite Shelves.  Had to water all the plants as well as I think Adrian has forgotten about them now and they are growing at a great rate, but it can be my job now anyway as I have the time!!  Time for a rest.

The Drive up to Conrad, Algarve

Sunday, Off to Estoi market this morning just to have a look, this is a big market which sells just about everything you could imagine, clothes, kitchen equipment, toys, budgies, chickens, ducks and rabbits (live ones), saw some lovely bed covers, but as we don't have any beds at the moment need to wait as not sure of measurements.  We decided to have a Fartura each, this is a large deep fried dinner plate sized doughnut coated in cinnamon and sugar, very calorific for Sunday breakfast.  Headed back, managed a couple of hours in the sun, caught up with texts and emails and Douglas set up the printer, easy and it works a treat.  Off out in the afternoon, Mick and Pauline are having a BBQ.  They have family over just now so we met Frank, Dave, Suzanne and also Steve and Elaine and Colin and Jean, golfing friends of Micks, had a good laugh, with plenty of alcohol and good food. As usual we were the last to leave.

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