Lynda and Douglas Fury: Week 31 of our new life

Monday, Nail day for me today, an hour of pampering getting ready for the new year. The builders arrived back at Lunchtime, end of peace and quiet again, will be so pleased when everything is finished. Roger is starting the windows, we are getting a design around all the windows so he needs to draw it on and then cement it into the shape, then mould it and paint it with 9 windows to be done not an easy job. The weather is up and down at the moment as well with quite a bit of rain, so not sure if this job will get done. He done very well today and managed to get 3 windows started so good for him. Adrian is to get on with the guttering, bad weather is due and we want to be able to save as much water as we can, he also needs to sort the boiler and radiators and also the outside lights, we will see how much is achieved this week.
Tuesday, New Years Eve, Douglas is playing golf today and I am trying to get the tiles cleaned, 9 rooms to do and each tile needs to be done individually with miuretic acid, the only way to get cement off, and all the tiles are an absolute mess, so mask and rubber gloves on and set to work, succeeded in getting 2 bathrooms done, it has much such a difference but boy it is hard work, never mind only 7 rooms to go now. In between doing that James and Valentina had to come back as a curtain track had broken, so it took them just over 2 hours to dissect the track and put it back together, what a job but now it works like a dream. Now they are doing another 2 sets of tie backs and a cushion for me. Also discussed other cushions required later on!!!
We are off out tonight to a New Year party in Sao Bras, 30 of us going so should be a good night, pity about the weather, but will be good to get the glad rags on.
Wednesday, Happy New Year to everybody, well what a brilliant night we had, I was the one that had to get up early for the builders, after 2 hours sleep I did not feel that great, probably didn't look it either and had a very lazy day. Douglas did not surface until 6.00pm and was back in bed by 9.00pm. He had far too much Maciera (Portuguese Brandy) and cant remember a thing. I did remind him of the following: we got dropped off at the bottom of our hill, so had to walk up the hill, it had rained very heavily so was very wet and muddy, I fell on my backside, lovely dress and shoes splattered with mud. Douglas on the other hand decided that we didn't live up this hill so he didn't want to walk up it, after much pulling of his hand to get him up the hill, he decided to fall into the ditch and he didn't want to come out of the ditch. After a lot of cursing from me I managed to get him on feet that would not walk and drag him up the hill, and finally drag him into the house, covered head to foot in mud. Do you get the picture!! I then had to drag him by the belt of his trousers into the house only to then strip him off in the kitchen to then drag him by the feet into bed. I hope by this time you are laughing because I was not at the time, but did see the funny side later on today. There ends our New Years celebrations.
Thursday, Portuguese lesson this morning, Douglas still not quite feeling 100%about doing them but he is going, we do enjoy the lessons, but Douglas just sometimes cannot be bothered, I like them and feel that we need to make the effort, plus it was fun trying to relate Douglas's New Years Eve shenanigans. Went into Faro to get some bits and bobs and tried to stay out of the way of the builders, they were working on the windows on the terrace today so more mess being created which means more cleaning to be done, a lot of rain again today so this is going to hold up the finishing of the windows. Douglas is also going to the 5 o Clock club today, this is a meeting for Men Only in Felipos, which means drinking and catching up, it is on a Monday and a Thursday and usually only lasts a couple of hours, I think it might be good as it is another way of meeting people, although I might live to regret it, we shall see. Once I am settled I might just organise a Ladies Only night once a week, cant be a bad thing surely!!!
Friday, Weather still not too good today, have had quite a bit of rain, but it is not cold. Shopping day today, this always takes longer than it ever did back in the UK, it is trying to translate all the different foods, herbs and spices etc it seems to take forever, strangely Douglas is quite good and helps me scan the shelves, I do try and translate most of it before we go, but somehow the translation only ever seems to be a part of the actual word, due to the way the Portuguese language is. Never mind we will get the hang of it, I have made up flashcards for us so we can test each other as well, might just get into our heads that way, we also listen to Portuguese CDs in the car so am taking it quite seriously. Have finally booked my flight back to Scotland to see my new granddaughter Madison, cannot wait. We have also got Uncle Jim and Jan in Albufeira for the month, so we are going to be catching up with them a couple of times and also having them to our house for a meal, fingers crossed the house is going to be finished. Adrian has assured me that he will be finished by next Friday, though I cant quite fathom where he has got that idea from as the exterior painting is not even started yet, so not holding my breath and will keep you updated.
Saturday, it is Auction day today, and we are going to see what it is like, there are also 7 items that I am interested in so will be an experience. Got there at 9.45 as the auction started at 10.00am, a few small items I wanted to bid for, well actually I made Douglas do the bidding but didnt end up getting any of the small items, the Portuguese go mad and the things I wanted were not worth what the Portuguese were bidding for them so we dropped out of that, this left me with a sense of foreboding as I thought I would have no chance with the larger things that I wanted that were coming up later in the auction. 3 Items down 4 left to go, and believe it or not we got all 4 and for a lot less than we thought so I was well chuffed. We left the auction finally at 2.00pm so it was a long day but worth it if there is something that you really want, guess we were lucky, but strange when you see what the Portuguese are interested in!! Now just to wait for delivery!!! Went for a Chinese meal with Tom and Linda to Sao Bras, lovely food and ended up having a great night, this coming week we have a full diary so will be busy.
Sunday, lazy day today, well not quite!!! got all the washing done, hung out and most of it dried as it was a good day. I then decided to scrub down our bedroom floor, again tile by tile, this takes about 3 hours to get rid of the dirt, cement etc that is on the tiles, I had this crazy idea of getting all of the bedrooms done, but sorry to say one room was enough for today, will just have to do one a day or something like that. Douglas cleaned down the terrace yet again and also tidied up all the garden. The builders are leaving such a mess behind them it is unbelievable and we will be cleaning for the next few months, just dust, dirt, dust, dirt and so it goes on. Also managed to finally get around to cleaning the mud of Douglas's shoes and trousers and coat, and my shoes and dress ready to get them cleaned, after the New Year shenanigans. Then I decided to empty another box, so now have a big pile of papers etc to sort out, got rid of the box but need to sort the papers. Pork and Clams for tea, ooh it was good, just loving getting back in to the cooking again, though must admit I think most Portuguese Women must spend all day in the kitchen as it takes me ages just to prepare the dishes never mind cook them, but I am sure I will get quicker and love trying new things.