Week 47 of our new life

Monday, more torrential rain today and Douglas was playing golf.  I got all the housework done, the ironing, made two batches of soup for the freezer, printed off some documents for Douglas for the quiz night and prepared Monk fish with Black Olive Sauce for tea.  Which one of us had the better day.  The sun has come out at tea time and the forecast for the rest of the week is better, thank goodness.  Going to sit on the terrace and enjoy the rest of the evening.

Tomato and Basil

Carrot & Coriander 

Monkfish

Black Olive Sauce

Tuesday, Up early it is Zumba day today, just love it makes me smile for the rest of the day, and of course it is a good workout.  Douglas has nothing on on Friday so will be doing two sessions this week.  Home for a shower and lunch and then away to feed Linda´s cats, sad as there are only two to feed this week.  We then decided to go for a drive and then on the way back had to pick up my new contact lenses and some rolls. The weather is brighter today although a slight wind,but the sun is out, hopefully no more rain just now anyway.  It is a quieter week for us this week which is good as it means we can recharge the batteries.
Wednesday, took a trip to Carvoeiro today, this is a lovely resort with a beach, lots of shops and restaurants, hotel, villas etc.  Had a wander around and a light lunch, you can tell they cater for tourists which is good but such a shame as tourists miss out on so much just by being in these places, but a nice place to spend a holiday.  The weather was still a bit cloudy, but the sun came out and there is plenty to do in the evenings as plenty of places to eat and plenty of bars.  We visited an art exhibition in the local hotel, the hotel was lovely but although the art was nice I am not into boats and beaches. Have to go to our lawyers this week sometime as they have our electricity contract which we have to sign and return, not sure why it has gone there, hopefully she wont charge us for the privilege!!!  Carly's birthday today so phoned her this morning, they are going out for tea tonight and she seems to have had a good day planned, not received our parcel yet so a bit disappointing.  Also waiting for news on my niece who is due her baby anytime now, my sister will be a granny for the first time LOL will be interesting to see her reaction, although I think she is very excited.

Welcome to Carvoeiro

Carvoeiro Beach

Some View

Main Square

Bit Cloudy

Birthday Girl

Thursday, Portuguese lesson this morning, getting used to starting with conversation now, not saying that I am understanding all of it though.  Then it was off to the garden centre, Linda's birthday today so thought I would buy her a plant for the garden and probably get one for us while we are there, LOL. Bought us both a Bottle Brush Plant which actually becomes a tree within 10 years, will be interesting, it has Red flowers that do actually look like Bottle brushes, very unusual. Ten of us going out for dinner tonight, so should be a good night at Mr Freddies, we have been there before so although slightly more expensive excellent food.  Linda and Tom have friends over for the week so they will be there, although didn't realise that it was Lynsey's birthday as well.  Had a great night with free desserts, free champagne and a bottle of Port free, so yes was rather a late night but a very good one.

Bottle Brush Plant

Lynsey & Linda

Birthday Girls

The Crowd

Friday, Zumba this morning, have now started two sessions a week, bit of a cloudy tired head but felt great afterwards.  Pauline and Bernadette also started today so two more to add to the crowd.  It is a very invigorating, feel good class and Emma the Zumba teacher is fantastic, so bubbly and obviously enjoys what she is doing, waiting on her rolling out a 3rd class.  Back home for a shower and some R&R, before going out to Chicken Louis with Linda and Tom and Lynsey and Billy, and then of course back to Cafe Pinto so another late night. David and Ann also turned up a bit later so they joined us at Cafe Pinto also.  It was a Bank Holiday today to celebrate 40 years of Democracy and Freedom in Portugal so everybody was in festive mode, the locals know how to celebrate. Got the Bottle Brush plant planted today, in the garden where it has plenty of space to eventually grow and spread.  Weather has also been very good, although some cloud still around, but hot, we now need to get some umbrellas for the terrace as we can only do a little time in the sun and then need a bit of shade, think that will be a job for next week. When we got home Lizzy the Lizard was on the terrace, first time we have seen her since Danielle, Katie and Carly went home, maybe she doesn't like too much quiet!!!

Lizzy on the Roof

Saturday, out two nights in a row, not good for the soul.  Went to the market to get Some Ribs and Black Pig chops for the freezer.  Am preparing Ribs tonight for tomorrow as we are going out with Mick and Pauline so will invite them back for something to eat.  Spent the rest of the afternoon in the Sun and then cooked Steak with Salad for Tea.  What you could call a lazy day. Still waiting for some news from my sister regarding Baby arriving, nothing as yet.  Carly's birthday present finally arrived today and from what I can gather she was very happy with her dressing up outfit, so success with that one.

Just look at me

Look at me dance

Sunday, a very hot day dawned today.  Off to Querenca with Mick and Pauline, there was an Easter fair on so the town square was filled with stalls selling all different types of local crafts, I bought a large jar of Honey, as having discovered the taste of Portuguese Honey find it to be absolutely delicious.  Then we decided to have lunch, Wild Boar Stew, really gorgeous but far too big a portion and also too hot a day to be eating Stew, but we all done our best to polish it off, knowing that it would be the only meal of the day as after eating all that there would be no room later on for anything else. After about 5 hours we headed back to Micks to collect some Fish Soup and then back to ours for a couple of drinks before calling it a day.  Pauline also gave me another couple of plants for the garden, so we had a good day.  Texts and phone calls later on from the family, Lynne has decided to come back in August, Ann is coming in September and Laura is coming in either June or July, my sister also wants to come in June, so we wont be short of visitors this year, just hoping Richard might venture over also.  Have to also say a big congratulations to my niece on the birth of her baby boy Louis on Friday weighing 7lb 6oz, my sister is a first time granny now and is loving it already.  It has been a good week, and started off quiet but ended up being quite busy again, next week is also busy so having a quiet night on the terrace. Another congratulations goes to Allan Fury who retired from Fife Council after 36 years on Wednesday, hoping that Allan and Sheena enjoy the restful days that they are going to have exploring Scotland even more and perhaps we will see them over here sometime in the future.