I lost the blog plot

 I've been doing lots of thinking and trying to figure out how to make changes without making too much change! 'Tis the nature of the beast... I thrive on change. I love to have a new challenge. 

These last two years have been weird and challenging in some ways. 

I thought it would be fun to buy a van and do it up to go visit other places. I've spent a few months playing around with wood and cork and hessian and made a cosy home on wheels.

I've taken it out to some lovely places nearby to practice sleeping and living in it. I love it. I love the minimalism. I love the outdoors being one step away. I love the changing views. Last weekend I went to a groovy place near Ilha de Pesseguiero, behind the old fort, and spent 24 hours with a big flock of crows!

I am also making the old compost loo room into a shower room. I found a shower base by the rubbish bins and that triggered me into action. I have cobbed it in and now I just need to finish the plumbing.

I think the oldest guinea pig has gone... She was much older than the normal lifespan of a gp, and she had a lovely life. I  miss her.

So now it's the beginning of spring. We hardly had winter. Very little rain, which is worrying. But everything is beginning to burst into bloom. 

Such an exciting time of year. I have prepared a few beds and sewn some rocket and carrots. (Always the optimist). Let's see what happens. With the price of fuel going up so much I may not be travelling far in my van, but this is such a beautiful country I can mooch around locally.

 

I went with my daughter and granddaughters to visit Sintra. It is a dreamy place.

There's so much to see.

The new loo, which I've decided to use as an undercover wood store, so one doesn't get wet getting logs. Let's hope we get some rain. It's been so dry.

That's the news. Oh, and I've got a cold. Lots of sniffing and sneezing. Staying at home. I put in a few rows of garlic and some sprouted potatoes. Pray for rain.

It's Been a While...

 August is half way through and it's been VERY hot. I've been like an old trout in a deep bend in the river, lurking. Today it felt different. The poplar trees are going yellow and falling to the ground. The fig trees are also thinking they've had enough. It's still hot but not so hot!

The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are almost ready.

Oh, and what's this??? It looks like mud! Yes, I couldn't resist a wee dabble. I've decided to build a shower room next to the compost loo. One mix a day before it gets too hot. It's nearly done. Then I have to figure out the roof.

The walls are quite thin but strong. It will do fine!

Good book came in the post. Full of scary stuff.

The guinea pigs are finding it a bit hot, too. They burrow deep into the straw and sleep.

 The vegetable garden is rubbish.... well, one bed is brilliant because I used a whole compost heap of compost on it and planted sweet corn and melons and water it copiously. The rest is over.  Swiss chard just keeps on.

So that's how it is in August.

June is fast fading.

 For some reason (or for many reasons) I have been a bit 'doon in the mooth', as they say... I've spent a lot of time alone in my garden and house. I love it. My refuge from the world.

I did a few home improvements and lots of spinning and knitting.

I had a bit of broken marble which I made into a surface beside the cooker. Very simple and satisfying.

The blanket. I had planned to make it bigger but it got quite heavy! So now it's just right for me on my bed.

On a visit to a beach I saw these sea hollies. I love their blue green leaves.

My sunny kitchen.

A bouquet from the garden.

This summer hasn't been too hot, so far. I am grateful. Tomatoes are ripening and pumpkins are swelling. Beans hang from their vines. Courgettes get picked before they get too big. I'm not growing a lot of stuff as the watering becomes a chore and I'm not in the mood for chores!

Heaven is Now

The jasmine and vines are now in full bloom and much else besides. So many roses! The magnolia will be flowering soon.

I made a stone wall and a raised bed for tomatoes, peppers and basil seedlings. That was fun. It is for my neighbours.

I painted the big window in the sitting room and got rid of the big table which I usually dumped stuff on. I think it's an improvement. 

The chickens love to eat the blossoms of the jasmine. As soon as they come out of their pen in the morning they run to the climber and jump up and snap off the flowers. 

I would say life is pretty sweet right now. I harvested the garlic. Some of the bulbs are as big as my fist! The onions also did well. Broad beans a-plenty. Peas almost ready. Carrots coming. Potatoes flowering. Tomatoes beginning to fruit. Like I say, pretty sweet.
 

April Showers

 The land is so green! The trees are all in full leaf and the grass grows as fast as I cut it. I have a retired cockerel come to hang out with three young chickens. He is perfect. Very calm and very beautiful.

Bonnie sits on her favourite bench.

A birthday party on the beach.

Some progress in Cob

A sketch of my bedroom.

The delightful donkeys next door.

The garden is beginning to look quite good. Onions and favas are ready. The garlic looks huge. Strawberries are ripening but not very sweet yet. They need a touch more heat. Lettuce is ready. And so it goes. I can sit by my pond and listen to life around me. Nightingales, cuckoos, doves, frogs, crickets, chickens. Donkeys bray nearby. There are also chainsaws and diggers and tractors but they go away, thank goodness.

A quick catch-up. The Lowdown on Lock Down

 And so on it goes. Most of this year we have been in lock down and I am so grateful to have the garden and my home to enjoy. It got really cold and some of my plants have suffered from frost, but I had a good fire going and was cosy. Then the rain which kind of keeps one in anyway. I even did some oil painting which I really enjoy even if the results are ... well, it's therapeutic!

My granddaughters haven't been able to go to school or playgroup and I think that's very hard for them. Even the local playground is out of bounds. No children are seen in the village. They are all indoors doing remote schooling via computer. I take the younger ones for walks around the lanes, observing the signs of spring and finding fairies!

We have had more rain which is a blessing after the years of drought. Still not the same amount that used to pour out of the sky when I first arrived. 24 years ago it rained nearly every day for 5 months! It was very muddy and my youngest son learned to say 'deep' standing in a puddle with the water pouring over his wellies!

The land is everywhere green and lush with chamomile, including my roofs. The garden has been dug over and some vegetables have been sown, but the slugs and snails have been voracious and sometimes I feel like quitting the whole b*****y thing! But I don't. I put cuttings into pots and they either make it or not. Usually they do.

The little pond is still a delight. It has a tiny solar fountain which keeps the surface rippling. There are at least six frogs living in it and the little fish.

I am helping a friend to build his own cob castle. I find it so exciting that it is possible and massively satisfying to build with the clay soil from beneath our feet.

The guinea pigs are doing well. Baby Jesus is almost as big as the adults. He scoots about very quickly and is very shy. I say 'he' but I don't know if he's a boy or a girl! They follow me into the garden squealing delightfully, knowing I will pull some long grass and dandelion leaves for them. I thought the cats were becoming too interested in them but it turns out that mice have started to nest under their straw so that they can eat the left over seeds of their food...

All the fruit trees are beginning to blossom. Who cannot be thrilled by the sight? Let's hope for a gentle easing into spring and an easing of the lock down. I miss the cafe culture!