I ordered some contact lenses and LB ordered some hats. Strange combination I grant you. Needs must. Video call with East Northamptonshire, so the bike was deployed mid afternoon. New audiobook (Barack Obama) and set off across the trails towards Alfrivida. Forgot to mention that Monte Fidalgo celebrated NYD this afternoon by launching several (no more than six) fireworks. This caused Sirius to sprint from his main home to his ‘foster’ home and take refuge under the cabin! Anyway, back to the bike ride. Half way round I spotted a hooge hoppitty mongoose type thing and quickly pedalled in the other direction. LB identified it as a muntjac deer. We also established that we heard one of them the other day near the land!!

Nice walk into the scary wilderness with Sirius as protection! Veggie slow cooker and The Stranger tonight. Justin reports slight improvement.

Did some pottering in the afternoon. LB did some washing and soup consumption. Watched Swansea beat Watford on the telly package thing, then went for our normal walk. Thought Sirius had been eaten by an mongoose as we heard a squeal, but it must have been a local child as he soon rejoined us.

More slow cooker stuff and couscous and part two of The Stranger. Did watch some bullfighting on the telly. Strangely addictive!!

Took a load of crap including injured mower to the bins before lunch. Too cold to do a lot today. Bit of strimming; bit of tidying in the office. Tilly had another play out and was much better. Went up some trees and on the roof of the barn; on the rooves of the old buildings. Cool for cats.

The dogs went crazy late afternoon and chased after something in the fields. I thought it was a deer, but LB was convinced it was a chicken!!! She then changed her witness statement to a small to medium orange dog! Called Petunia. Whatever it was, Wiry and Sirius took off after it deep into the trees. We went for a walk past their house and were sure we saw Hercules in the garden. What’s all that about?? \240

I was given more catering lessons tonight. Timing is everything. Don’t smush, just stir carefully. Nice curry.

Dogs returned with new friend. Bloody horrible looking thing. Possibly a Pharaoh Hound. Cameras and big stick deployed. Sirius got the message and was good boy. Wiry had lots of rows!

On to the Forum, where we upgraded the Portugese mobile to something resembling a smartphone! LB lapsed and went route one at McDonald’s and plumped for nuggets and fries. I was allowed cabbage soup. Comfy bra’s were purchased before a trip to Lidl and Auchan. Oh and we saw some deer just as we headed back into Monte Fidalgo!

Tasty Salmoa for tea. UK back in to lockdown. Shambles.

Tilly and LB eventually stirred themselves when the mercury rose sufficiently.

Tilly keen to go out to play, but had to wait for LB to get dressed, so managed to get out just before dark. Had a good time though, particularly doing slidy slidy on the barn roof! Eventually captured and returned to the barn, only for MW to let her escape her again!! Fool. New mower assembled and trialled. No initial damage sustained. Outdoor mirror erected.

Bike ride undertaken whilst LB did some yoga. Some Christmas cards arrived! And scan appointment for Saturday! Rest of Salmoa for tea. More carnage in The Stranger! Well confusing. Dogs disappeared tonight!!

LB got up for lunch and I escorted Tilly on a walk to Retaxo. Got Tilly back in, then she got out again when LB was getting ready for bed at ten past one. Tilly thought it would be good fun to go in the barn next door! \240Tracker confirmed her location and eventually she found her way to the exit door and remembered how to get out again! LB confirmed her scan with IPO Coimbra and did another Yoga workout. Lying down obviously. I did a small bike ride in the tundra. Nibbling. Justin messaged to say he has been out and hopefully on the road to recovery (near Redberth). More wood cut, then joint effort in tea preparation. I was allowed to cut broccoli and cauliflower but leeks were deemed too technical. Tea good mind.

LB did a call to East Northamptonshire to check on the state of the pussy chaser’s baubles, so I did an extra long bike ride to VVDR! 30 plus kilometros and a bloody cold wind on the way back.

LB made a clever cake out of cocoa powder, orange zest and marbles and I juiced a load of oranges and kept my station neat and tidy.

Wiry started coming for walks with Sirius now!!

After LB stirred herself, we popped to Castelo to get some bits. First stop at Cebola for a new gas bottle. Not impressed with LB kindly running me an ice bath last night! Got some stuff at Homa. Starting to worry about LB’s sharp knife and scissors fetish!! Peixe sopa for lunch in the cafe near Auchan, a quick visit to Agriloja then home.

I stupidly volunteered to escort Tilly on a trip out in the Arctic. Luckily she didn’t stay out too long. Scrummy cake late afternoon. Amazing skies again.

Salmoa and veg mix for tea. Last Stranger. Phew. Coimbra Amanha.

Scan seemed to go reasonably ok, although LB decided to remove her bra for some reason?? Weird if you ask me. I kept my pants on when I had my X-ray in Castelo the other week. Anyway, each to their own. Got back to MF an hour after curfew and without being stopped by the GNR, although we did have to drive through a blizzard on the way back! \240Bloody freezing on return, and LB much fatigued after being scanned and removing her undergarments. I tried to help by turning the log burner on to full whack and suggesting LB have a nap. Unfortunately, some smoke seepage from an unduly hot burner let LB to wake up thinking she had developed glaucoma! I went into Fireman Sam mode and semi extinguished the inferno, before deploying the chimney brushes to clear a load of crap from the tubes outside. That was the good news. The bad news was that the brush bit managed to detach itself from the main handle and got lodged in the bloody tube. Fear not, it was spotted and Inspector Gadget was utilised to fish the offending article from deep inside the vowels of the chimney.

Phew! What an exciting afternoon. Let’s sit down and have a relaxing cup of tea and a nice slice of cake. Only, Tilly decided that would be a good time to wrap herself in fly paper. You know, the really sticky stuff you hang up to catch the pesky flies. Carnage. Bloody stuff stuck all over her. She had to be restrained and held down with gardening gloves while the gloopy tape was eventually removed! Unbelievable. Might have to be totally shaved tomorrow apparently! Interesting day.

Went for a mini bike ride in the afternoon across some tracks because of the curfew etc. Bloody cold still. Then did a bit of sorting in the scrapyard by the old ruined barns. I feel another tip trip coming in!

Veggie chilli for tea (and the next fortnight). Who needs meat? Nice.

On to Auchan where we had some scrummy chicken soup, before buying a shed load of cake making ingredients in the big shop. Some weird Ingles bloke ran up to the van as we were leaving the car park. Once we realised it wasn’t a terrorist attack, we opened the window and realised he just wanted to ‘say hello’ because he saw the GB plates. How nice? How sad? How weird?

Quick run round the Forum where LB bought some joggers (not for jogging) and on to LIdl to stock up on more cake making supplies ahead of this year’s Portugese ‘Bake Off’!.

Back to MF to unload. Veggie chilli again for tea. Algorithm predicted that it could see us through until the end of the pandemic?? Oh and Pembrokeshire Murders on tonight!

Log burner going much better since LB put her arm up the chimney.

Afternoon spent trying to connect Sonos to the network. Numerous threats to deposit the sodding thing in the Tagus, but eventually managed to get two speakers connected, although LB appeared to be severed from the system. Bloody orange dog appeared late afternoon, then two hooge hounds popped round. Luckily their owner arrived shortly after and spent the next hour driving round the village in hot pursuit!

Update: hooge dogs causing mayhem late on. Owner still driving round in even hotter pursuit!

Passed Shaun on the Mountain and left LB to sort out the pond arrangements. Bloody good job. Shaun was under the impression that he was here to dig another hole! Got licence extended for another month. One day, I will get a proper licence. Did ask about the homologacao, but had a row from the Portugese chick who told me to bloody wait for the certificate in the post! Went to Correios in CB and got passport sent back to UK. Woman muito helpful. Back to MF. Shaun doing a decent job, although did get slightly distracted by looking for herbal broccoli in the eastern corner of the land!

LB decided to go on hunger strike in support of starving children in Eritrea. Such a noble gesture. I was moved to tears. Unfortunately, the campaign only lasted eight minutes and emergency sustenance was provided in the form of a jumbo hot dog!

Cleared a load more scrap from the ‘ruins’ and took it to the bins. Found one and a half shoes with nails in them??? Weird. LB had some sopa in the bath as usual, then we had sopa for tea! Nice change for her! Sirius has a limpy leg. Wiry has attachment issues.

Gave LB spending money for the hospital. Good job as namorada’s not allowed in. Soup all round today. LB went spinach in the hospital and I had Peixe in downtown Coimbra. Nice day, but still bloody cold.

Bought cookbook by chick of telly and some bits from ‘BioSupermarket’ before returning to the van for some admin. Emailed Dr Santos, who responded with a prescription and an appointment. Then spent an hour on the phone to EE trying to change my watch tariff. Didn’t go well. Had a bit of a row. Man told me of for being impatient after being on the phone for 47 minutes. Then when the contract they had recommended to me in a letter wasn’t available, he said ‘it’s only £2!!’. Eventually I backed down when he said that he had a bereavement today. Even felt a bit sorry for him.

Back to MF. Jacket potato for tea.

Bit of mowing and ‘ruin’ tidying too.

Stroganoff for tea.

After a three hour sleep, Tilly was refreshed and wanted to go out to play in the January sunshine. Bless her little cotton socks. Did a fair bit of wood cutting, then had to stop because a screw fell out of the chainsaw. Managed to find the receipt and everything and didn’t overreact or panic. There was no screw. Never was. My bad. LB helped put the chain back. Sorry everyone. Stand down.

LB made some scrummy orange shortbread. Nice! Tried and failed to watch the Pembrokeshire Murders! Bloody frustrating. Technical department will work on it again tomorrow.

Also, daylight pic of the caravan wood and Wee Willy Winkie popping home for supper!

Did a ‘lockdown’ run to Castelo. Big, big shop at Lidl. Got some diesel and got chainsaw refurbished at Stihl.

Collected prescription from farmacia near Auchan and a few bits from Auchan. Got a new bin, but not allowed to get pillows! Quirky rules of lockdown! Popped in to Agriloja and got some grass seed; a recyybin and cupboard for the garage. Doddle to put together! We will discuss further tomorrow! Last of the chicken pie tonight. Started watching drama about the Orthodox Jews! Good stuff.

Tilly relaxing after spending several hours staring at a clump of grass earlier!

After my disturbed sleep, I got up to resume cupboard construction. Medium success, although my watch strap disentegrated mid build! Weird. Garage and scary cupboard were refurbished, before the chainsaw was deployed on the wood again. Oh and Caesar’s pile of logs were duly covered as chuva is forecast.

Had a big row at lunchtime for smushing beetroot everywhere. My bad. God excited. Thought row was excessive though. LB went off to the barn to calm down and made a lively fish pie. Psycho Tilly spent the evening in the wardrobe digesting her mices. Crazy times.

Bloody dogs ran after the van out of the village. Total loons. Like a scene out of Chariots of Fire! Full turbo had to be deployed near the cemetery to try and give Sirius the slip! Crappy weather. Blew a hoolie in the night and a monsoon for good measure. Continued all day! Got LB to IPO just about on time. Well busy. Dropped her and had to park in the car park near the library whilst she was scanned yet again.

Went and collected some IKEA bits from the edge of Coimbra, then headed back. Got some lunch from the new Continente in Serta. Still raining when we got back. Watched Joe Biden’s inauguration. Both very tired tonight.

Anyway, eventually got to see Dr P and some apprentice doctor chick and spent over an hour being ‘consulta’d’. Bit different to UK. Got appointment for blood test and echocardiogram In Castelo and another appointment with Dr P in a month. Back to MF (still raining). Finished sorting IKEA stuff on office. Sopa for tea. Last Unorthodox. Good series.

Ordered a new watch strap from Amazon ES. Helpfully fetched two tape measures for LB to check the pillow sizes. Left her in charge of ordering memory pillows from Espanha. Off to CB solo. First stop Affidea on the outskirts. Helpful security man found an Ingles speaking woman who booked me in for an echocardiogram next Tuesday. She also advised to go to VVDR Monday or Wednesday morning for blood test. On to IMT (again). Security man not happy with my UK photo driving licence as ID for his notebook. Only a photo on my phone of my residency certificate would suffice! Woman at IMT fairly helpful. Took my licence back and said I should get my Portugese licence within a month. All UK checks back ok. Took all van paperwork and said engineer checked it and all ok? I will get something in the post. Oh yeah??

Back to MF and lunch. Then orange smushing as loads had fallen in recent storm. Managed to get several litres extracted.

Couldn’t work out that it was easier to move the bin to the oranges instead of the oranges to the bin! Doh. Three weeks of pasta constructed later. Cocked up the tuna by putting the lid in the bin too early, then some of the tuna jumped out everywhere! Tried to atone for my sins by cleaning the bathroom. Also did some sorting in the caravan where Tilly went bonkers. Watched ‘Young Wallander’ on Netflix. Dramatic start.

LB made a Victoria Sponge in the afternoon and I watched Swansea beat Notts Forest in the FA Cup. Helped (sort of) LB to put new quilt together (as did Tilly!).

Said some prayers this evening. Last night of the pasta bake. So excited I scorched my tongue on some hot pasta! When will I learn!!

Tried to catch up with orders etc. Apparently my contact lenses have been impounded by Portugese customs. Probably the same fate has befallen LB’s hats. CTT turned up with my watch strap and a letter re: lenses. Feckin Brexit. Several hours on the web sending copies of receipts etc. Will probably end up having to pay some customs fee! Crap.

Popped out on bike for short ride in rain. LB made amazing mushroom tart concoction for tea. Got stroppy with Jamie.

Quick translation and we were good to go. Had a look in Agriloja and Brico at garden shredders, then popped into Auchan for some bits and lunch. Parked next to a van/hearse. Which was nice! Into Castelo centre and LB went to Santander to open an account. Mission accomplished. On to Affidea for my scan. Managed to remove the right bits of clothing. Dr man said there is an issue with rhythm. I knew that, but that otherwise heart ok?? Bloody hope so.

Later that same day! Postie brought letter from IMT. They want a certificate, signed by the Pope and Nelson Mandela to say that that the gas in the van was fitted by Barack Obama! I kid you not! And then. CTT emailed to ask for €49 to release my contact lenses!! Feckin Brexit.

Loads more oranges dropped off the trees. Must be their time! More juicing done in the afternoon.

Silvia from Santander contacted me re: credit card. Appointment made for Friday. Then Tito contacted me. He’s taken over the appointment now! Under Pressure! Last Wallander tonight and second instalment of frango. Gas ran out too!

Found some incredible termite structures near the pond! Apparently, citrus peel could be a solution!!

Lovely tea. Watched funny American comedy set in a superstore. Called ‘Superstore’. Good.

Collected new gas bottle at Cebola, then popped in to see Tito about new credit card. Three hours trying to get Cinderella some bloody wellies! Painful. Got there in the end. Auchan small shop; Lidl big shop and back to MF. Big row in Lidl at the checkout for not putting the useless paper tissue bags in the right place. Humiliation!

Watched ‘Delhi Crime’ on Netflix. Tense. Dislocated head on sofa.

Did some strimming. Attached new strimmer head. Line disappeared after two minutes. Nearly threw it in the Tagus, but LB calmed the situation down and normal service was sort of restored. More wood chopped. Pile getting tidier.

LB made a stack of muffins in the afternoon and a scrummy quiche for tea. Good work indeed.

Weather bloody miserable most of the day. Watched a bit more ‘Pembrokeshire Murders’ at lunchtime. Went for a walk (with dogs) in rain when LB was connecting with Radio Raunds etc. Bottled my beans and LB iced her muffins. Watched ‘Military Wives’ on Rakuten. Not bad.

Busy afternoon on the delivery front. Our fourth hoover arrived, along with the new pillows and some more paint for the nail salon. LB’s bank card and pin turned up, as did my ECG results. Very detailed and seemed generally positive??

Mid afternoon, LB noticed I was slacking and on the basis of a half positive ECG report deployed me on stone fence erection!! I managed four before exhaustion overcame me. Work will reconvene tomorrow.

Somehow, the telly in the barn is now playing UK stuff, so we were able to watch the last episode of ‘Pembrokeshire Murders’ on the big screeen. Nice pasta tea, using the left over bean sauce. Be good to test new pillows.

Health update!!! LB sustained serious anal injury during the day whilst standing!! Seems as if she managed to rupture a buttock or something whilst discussing architrave with Rick! The mind boggles.

New juicer also arrived and the most expensive contact lenses in Europe. Completed the ‘wall’. Bit more clay needs shifting from the pond surrounds, but not too bad?

Managed to get all the metal sorted and shifted to the bins.

Sopa for tea and episode 2 of ‘Delhi Crime’. Tilly locked in wardrobe this evening. Presumably as punishment for hiding in the neighbouring vegetable patch for several hours earlier today!!

Stopped at Serta for some bits on the way back. Bloody Orange dog on site when we got back!! Bad dog. Jackets for tea. Watched ‘Superstore’. Tired.

Tito rang to make sure I have activated my credit card!! On the case. Oh and hopefully the gas inspector cometh tomorrow to check the van!!

Gas inspector due at eleven, and we got a bit excited when the agua man turned up with the monthly bill! Our bad. Inspector then called to rearrange for this afternoon in Perais. Cool. Yes. Of course we know where that is!! Eventually, we located gas boy at the ‘grandparents centre’ where LB is convinced he was visiting one of his relatives!! Who cares. After a tense 20 minutes in a monsoon, and an unfortunate view of his bum crack, he gave us a pass!!! Good old boy. €60 were handed over, and an extremely valuable certificate was given in exchange! Allah be praised.

Then the gas god kicked us back into place when LB went to run a bath. Bloody boiler nao funcaimento! Bastard thing. Forty minutes crying (still in the monsoon) changing batteries, gas bottles and underpants had no effect. Agreed to look again tomorrow!

Small steps. Then we narrowed it down to a plumbing fault in the barn. Mistakes have been made! Hot dogs for tea boys!

Cabin given a bit of a clean this morning. LB put the finishing touches to her choccie cake which we tried in the afternoon. Well nice.

Continuing the food theme, we had some super strong sheep’s cheese from Alfrivida for lunch. Powerful stuff!

Did some mowing and watched Wales scrape a scrawny win against Ireland. Fried some stir for tea. Bit more ‘Superstore’.

Then the weather improved and I got a fair amount of mowing done. LB borrowed the strimmer and tidied her chuff. Then sorted her nails.

Stroganoff for tea. IMT amanha.

And then it was bathtime and teatime. Last ‘Delhi Crime’. Good series. Recommend it.

Weather slightly better after an early lunch. LB wanted to sunbathe, but I thought it was better to check the septic tank. Interesting experience. Aroma not too strong surprisingly on my side of the tank! David Attenborough found a little Kermit! I planted some relva semente round the poop tank.

Watched a bit of Swansea against Man City in the cup. Not great. Never mind. Concentrate on the league now!

Oh, and in other news, we rashly put a deposit down on a razzy Portugese Corsa! Yay.

Watched first episode of new series of Marcella. No bloody idea what is going on!

Did some strimming. Saw a bloody mouse hiding behind the black box. Tilly, where are you? Went to the bins (on foot) several times. Did an intense yoga session and was then sent to bed early as LB wen out to tea virtually with Hannah and Sophie!

Oh and Rick turned up with a new book of excuses. Even more mistakes have been made. And apparently the Wuhan virus has been traced back to Ricardo’s waste pipes. Just put things right Rick!!!! And then the frogs started jumping into the pond by the dozen!!

Actually, Rick did get some bits done. Padlock on shed cupboard. Shelf for cupboard under sink in barn. Guttering allegedly changed. Half kitchen worktop sorted. Then he drifted back into serious excuse mood just before leaving. Painful!!

Popped VVDR to the shops, then got caught in a hooge traffic jam for 43 seconds in Monte Fidalgo high street on way back. Unheard of.

Chicken and veg concoction for tea. More Marcella.

After lunch, INEM popped round and managed to get LB out of her Jim Jams. Fortunately, she was able to enjoy some of the Vitamin C (is that right Conor D?).

Tilly and Sirius bonded on the viewing deck (sort of). Well, Tilly made repeated Darth Vader type noises! Weirdo. Wales scraped past Scotland who handily had a player sent out.

Oh, managed to empty the water coffin of wood today. Plan is to fill it with old roof tiles and make safe!

In other animal news, Sirius seems to be back on four wheel drive. A little hoppity early doors, then back to almost normal!!

Fair bit of mowing done. Lots of kilometres. Brownies made and work started on filling in the coffin!

Spent some time trying to sort out the Corsa insurance online. Progress and mistakes were made! Gave up. Contacted Tito. Going to pop into banco on Wednesday! Had a row because one of LB’s string vests jumped off the line on to the floor! Banned from laundry duty for seven days.

Tilly gave Sirius the Darth Vader treatment at caketime, then started sniffing her arsenal! So weird.

Nice to have the sunshine again. Already got stupid white ankle disease starting! Won’t be long before LB has a little toushy, woushy! Both did some rock breaking in the hot sun (as the song goes). Good therapy! Bit of pond work and grass seed planted.

Wedges with a strange shaped potato for tea.

Did some tidying round the pergola and the bloody dogs thought it was a new smushing playground!

Did move some muck to the new tent site. No animals disrupted this venture yet! Assembled pizza oven after lunch. Looks tidy.

Tilly gave Sirius a big row in the afternoon. Pretended to do a bonding session, then went all Darth Vader!! Weird creature.

Bloody Tilly been diagnosed with attachment/jealousy issues this afternoon. Started following LB to the toilet and setting up booby traps for Sirius!

Nice veggie chilli for tea. Watched the last Marcella. WTF? More holes in the plot than a Swiss Cheese!! Please God no Series 4! Oh, and then the real drama started. LB noticed Wiry had been barking for a bit. Not to worry. She deployed full tactical search and rescue Code Red and undertook a thorough sweep of the tree that Wiry was focussing his attention at. ‘Clear’ came the call over the walkie talkie from Agent LB. What a relief. Unfortunately, the tactical search had only focussed on the Borrowers level and had neglected the upper branches (96%) of the tree. Funnily enough, it was there that a cat, disguised as a dinner plate was hiding!! Several attempts were made to entice the moglet down, but it had taken root. Luckily, Lidl had clearly mislabelled their cat food, so I was able to move the dogs away from the tree with the attraction of some doggie dinner. Hopefully, daylight will reveal a cat free tree!

LB connected to Portugese tax authorities for most of the day. I think we are now in a civil partnership after she inputted something or other! \240DPD dropped the printer ink off a day early, then postie dropped the homologacao certificate at long last!! More frustration with Rick the appendage, but we agreed to go nuclear later tomorrow. Watched first episode of ‘Its a Sin’ and then had an eighties sing a long competition at bedtime. Oh, has anyone seen the frango pie?????

Took the Corsa for a spin after lunch. Only had a few rows for driving in the hedge! Popped into Glassdrive where the girl took a zillion pics for the insurance inspection. Bought a new mop in Auchan, then razzed out to Malpica where LB had a go. First drive in ages. Don’t tell the GNR!! Slight panic when tyre pressure bleep came on. LB reckons it could be a sensitive sensor? More concern when another light came on, but muito relief when we realised it was LB’s failure to put her bloody seat belt on!

Several unhelpful messages with Jamie during the evening!! Useless.

Oh, forgot to mention that Lady Tallulah savaged another bloody mouse this morning, then yakked it up outside for Wiry. Such a kind gesture.

Swansea imploded away at Huddersfield. Idiots. More ‘It’s a Sin’. Excellent telly.

Battery changed in barn clock. And LB made some biscuits. Good work. Trees are starting to blossom!

Blip thing from Via Verde arrived, so we popped to to VVDR to register the gadget at the Multibanco. Hopefully, all set to go for Coimbra on Wednesday. Jamie eventually messaged and said that Rick should be here tomorrow.

Found a bit of energy to do some light ‘gardening’. LB did some laundry. Think my ban is nearly up. Much fun after tea and biscuits watching Tilly with a mouse. Luckily our very own Crocodile Dundee was on site to get a grip of the situation!

Last ‘It’s a Sin’. Best series I’ve seen in ages. Much emotion. So overcome I drank some fermented vinho and nearly died. Vile ratshit!

LB donned her wellies and did a top job on the patio with the power washer. Remarkable transformation. The patio, not LB.

Did some work on a few old pallets too. Hopefully we can get the painting finished for the 2023 growing season if Leanardo gets a spurt on!

Popped VVDR in afternoon to see Dr S. Tests reasonably ok. Suggested contacting Dr Bruno at Affidea in Castelo to get proper check.

Chilly evening in MF. Lovely sky though. Good to look out over the pond at the solar lights glistening under the stars!

Despite my condition I was allowed to drive to Coimbra for tratamento. In the Corsa!! Nice day in Central Portugal. Popped to Leroy Merlin and got a staple gun and some nails!! LB had some sopa and Kadcyla and we headed back. Good load of post. List of tratamento appointments; Corsa insurance stuff and (at last), my Portugese driving licence!!

Spent some time on the Portugese tax portal before tea. Oh My Christ! LB was persistent mind. Think we made some progress??

Back to Castelo for Lidl big shop etc. Got some garden bits too in anticipation of a nicer weekend!

Tilly caught her hundredth mouse tonight. Hooge frango and salada for tea.

Tilly brought a feckin mouse into the cabin today. This was after farting about on the roof next door!

Work continued at pace on the pallets. Picasso painted another two slats and I trialled the staple gun. Unfortunately, LB was extremely unclear in her instructions and an hour was wasted as I was told to staple the sheeting on the wrong side. She had one job!

Did some mowing to calm myself, then a bloody birdie deposited its doings on my second shirt of the day!! Little bugger.

LB moved to the kitchen and wasn’t seen again until sunset. Welshcakes, a hooge chocolate cake and a pizza that had to be put on to three wooden pallets to get in to the oven.

Mixed sporting day. Swansea arsed things up against Bristol, but Wales defeated England to keep them on course for an unlikely Grand Slam!

Chipped away at the stack of crap and tiles in the ‘ruin’ which are being transplanted to the ‘coffin’. Good to see the plum tree starting to blossom.

The gonads did get a fair bit done and a agreed to return in September to do the caravan etc. Also managed to agree that (desperate) Dan will do the fan in the shower room for half a million euro’s. Good days work.

Watched the last ‘Capitani’. Had tasty risotto and some home made garlic bread. Nice!

LB lost the plot with the Portugese lottery people who wanted a retina scan of her fu-fu before she can buy a scratch card for some reason! Then we got all cafuffled with the staple gun and I thought it was going to get launched into the river!! Chocolate cake came to the rescue and sanity prevailed!

Further work on the ‘ruin’. Soil transferred to the coffin of tiles. Hopefully, we can start planting stuff soon.

Went for a walk at teatime. Lots of flowers starting to bloom.

Sopa for tea. Started watching the ‘Valhalla Murders’. Toenail surgery at bedtime!

Lidl big shop (including compost box), Agriloja and Maxmat before heading back. Wiry had lost one tick, but gained another one. I was too hasty in assembling the compost box and had to rely on LB to get me out of the shitzu again!

Burger for tea. More Valhalla. Bought half a pram for Sam and Samantha. LB noticed that Swansea beat Stoke 2–1 away in the 96th minute! I’d switched off! Good work.

Compost bin started with grass clippings. Think I did that right? Stihl shredder set up late afternoon. Powerful machine. Will take a while to get through the crap that has been accumulated, but think it will be worth it.

Tofu curry for tea. Remarkable stuff. Quite good. Justin might be applying for a job with the police again! Something to do with ANPR cameras.

LB made some positive progress with the piscina man and offered to accommodate his entire workforce? Off to Castelo in the afternoon for Maxmat run and cardiologist appointment. Sirius wanted to come too!

Several kilograms of chicken purchased at Auchan then saw Bea and Theo from the Indie Projects in Maxmat.

Much agonising over a new laptop, so bought a kettle and two of the world’s biggest doughnuts instead. Went and saw cardio man. Heart not too bad. Electrics a bit faulty. Suggested a change of meds for a bit and possible cardioversion again in a month or two! Deep joy. \240Discovered the Corsa has automatic headlight things on journey back. Well cool!

LB went all Charlie Dimmock and started potting her petunias all over the shop! Did a good job from where I’m standing!

Tilly went and sat by a tree in a field at sunset for eight hours in protest and refused to come home! Stubborn arsenal. Eventually returned at supper time! Bad Tilly.

More mowing, shredding and a small bike ride round some tracks in the village for the first time in ages. Need to get out on bike more. Last frango tonight. Helped the old boy next door move a bag of cones. Bless him.

LB did some stirling work on the shredding but nearly got caught out by Bitcoin Dan when she went for a widdle in the cabin! As knowledgeable as Bitcoin Dan might be about the financial world, sadly he doesn’t know which way up Maxmat is!!

Wood store moved to ruin corner. Nice pair of trousers found in the bramble pile and LB took a cool pic of a helicopter swooping over the viewing deck!

Late morning. Toot, toot. Council van turned up with flowers for ‘the woman’! Lovely gesture for International Women’s Day.

Made a start on finishing the painting in the office. Sacked after an hour by LB who has a much steadier hand! Deployed on window cleaning duties instead. Tilly disappeared for ages and was eventually located in neighbouring barn having clearly had a siesta!

Popped to CB after Rick eventually stopped talking about various Dan’s. Lidl big shop etc and some art supplies from Brico. Watched ‘Banana’ on Netflix. Good. Chilli tea. Gooder.

Shifted the last of the wood from the cart to the ‘wood store’. Good job. Although it creates more work in that the cart needs a bit of TLC now!

Eventually spoke to Rui the tax guru on zoom. Duncan was there too, but there were issues with his life support machine, \240he didn’t contribute a great deal!

Magnet attached to LB’s flap and start made on painting the cabin.

Decent sporting day. Swansea won away at Luton and Wales beat Italy. Pizza for tea tonight. Me and Wiry on fire duty. LB in charge of dough and pepperoni. Fascinating. LB got involved in some strange martial arts. Dough judo? Poetry in motion! Beautiful to watch. Never seen her move so gracefully. A woman and her pizza dough in tune with each other! We got there in the end. Brute force and a rolling pin! Pizza was tidy and remarkably easy. We shall be back!

Whilst LB contacted NASA and the European Anti-Tick Organisation in Geneva, I consoled myself by making a years supply of baked beans. The perfect anti tick tock antidote.

Then we moved to the barn to do some paperwork. Some loon left the bloody door open and Stanley the sodding Swallow moved in. Another feckin drama. Bloody thing tried to peck the telly and wanted to shit everywhere. Only my calmness meant we got Stanley out without any damage to him or our goods or chattels.

Rick and Joao continued on the caravan. Roof beams attached. Step erected and safety ropes inserted.

Sam not great again. Checked out at A&E apparently. ECG and bloods ok. To be referred to neurologist!!

Marvellous slice of cake for afternoon snack. Relieved the stress of having a second pizza table being delivered from Ooni!!

Tick and flea treatment administered to dogs late afternoon. Veggie burger for tea.

Couldn’t be arsenal’d to do much. More ‘Summer Rocket’ or whatever it’s called.

LB sorted the new laptop out today. Seems to have got the boy firing ok.

After LB had a three hour lunch, we popped to VVDR to pay the agua bill. Also treated ourselves to a €2 plunger! Braved the drive up to the tower on the outskirts of VVDR. Not as scary in the Corsa, but still a bit shitty on the last bit. Why no crash barriers? Amazing views mind.

Watched the last ‘Summer of Rockets’. Good series. Not sure about the ending.

LB spotted a wonky shelf in the cabin and that was it. The whole bloody building was scrubbed. Then the bathroom had it. Bleached to within an inch of its life. LB thought it was necessary to wash the mats twice? Strange girl. Picasso then started on the office woodwork - nice colour and I alternated between shredding and painting the cabin. Bloody cold wind today.

Pumped some agua from well to pond. Got to keep the frogs happy. Went for a walk down the lane. LB found a hole and correctly identified it as a hole.

Bad sports day. Cardiff beat Swansea and France snuck past Wales in overtime. Much drama.

Pizza for tea. Dogs drooling as we cooked!!

Mr Toad came to visit at bedtime!

Meanwhile, back at MF, Rick had arrived and was having counselling from LB. The whole Joao saga was retold, as was most of his childhood and adulthood! I got a repeat later in the day!! Why do people tell us these things??

LB bumped her head and declared summer in Central Portugal!

Later on we had a wrestling match with a garden chair. So much fun! Another episode of ‘Call of Duty’ . Oof.

After Rick eventually left, LB spotted that Tilly had lost her dangle again! Tracked it down a couple of fields away in the middle of a load of fur. Tilly been fighting? She was very delicate later on, bless her. Also found the remnants of some old ear defenders that Hercules nicked several months ago!

More shredding and no glove mowing. No more ridiculous white hands for me. Another trip to the bins, cleaned some windows on the caravan and then we tackled another Ikea chair. Easy, peasy. After 45 minutes of cursing and turning everything upside down. LB declared that the instructions were for a different chair and we were would erect it ‘our way’. It was then that I noticed the ‘missing part’ and said ‘what’s that’?. It only took another half an hour to get chair number one assembled. Surprisingly comfy!

Met ‘the boy’ at the office and he took us over to the Notary’s office where the will’s were sorted and witnessed. Money exchanged hands and the job was done. We strolled back to Olimpia’s office and chatted to Molly the munchkin who translated and who wants to be a social worker!! Silly girl. Another 40 minutes in the office and the Power of Attorney was sorted!! Simple as. LB did some research into Portugese iPhones and we had a late lunch by Turtle Lake.

Lots of shopping. Ladder; chisel; storage box; petrol; etc. Then Lidl big shop and Chicken run at Auchan. Busy day!

Several hours then spent playing Meccano with the dodgy scaffold type thing that Rick left us. Not sure how safe the thing is, particularly parked on a slope! Anyway, cracked on with painting the side of the cabin with primer. One quarter completed!

A bit of shredding, then a woman in a red van turned up. Eventually deduced she wanted to know who did the building work. Passed on Jam’s details and got a cinnamon type thing the size of a satellite dish for our troubles.

Much of the day spent pontificating about LB’s head. What can I say. Eventually made contact with IPO Coimbra who advised going to Urgencia in Castelo to get checked.

LB scanned and bloods taken. Nothing sinister on the Polaroid and paracetamol prescribed. I settled for whisky and chocolate. Interesting day. Saw a badger on drive back.

Found a magic compost heap under a load of trees and leaves. Clever thing nature.

Tidy steak tea, cooked in the Ooni. LB wanted another one!

Cabin painting after lunch. LB made pizza dough; two thirds of a cake and connected with East Northamptonshire. And her head seems better!

Pizza for tea. Much fun. A lesser spotted arachnid locust dropped on LB’s bosom mid pizza cook. Oh my Christ. What a palaver. Fahrenheit order given. I stayed calm and carried out a controlled kill. Sirius was ecstatic and examined the crime scene for ages. LB clearly was afflicted by PTSD. Did well to finish the pizza, but then had a major meltdown and threw the pizza up the wall in the barn! Crazy chick.

In other news, LB was found wandering about looking at trees. Standard Raunds behaviour? Actually, she did point out that the fig trees are looking good and starting to bud already!

After lunch the GLS man turned up and (eventually) took the second Ooni table and gave us some eucalyptus oil in exchange. Seems like a fair swap. LB planted some seeds. I did a tip run and some more cabin painting. Delicious coffee cake late afternoon.

The rest of LB’s Ooni’s stuff arrived after lunch. Bit like a drugs drop. Had to meet your man in his hooge Mercedes by the church! LB started the mini garden. I mowed and painted and collected stones until my shorts fell down. Hooge burgers and sausages for tea. Plus homemade coleslaw! Yummy.

Had a shock when I put the paint away. Bloody bird fluttered or did some other bird type thing. This made the lock fallout of the door. Luckily, I knew how to fix it and whacked it. Unfortunately, I didn’t check with Guru LB and whacked the wrong bit in the wrong hole. My bad

Ironically, our sun hats arrived from Amazon today. Cool mind.

LB sorted tax stuff for Rui and Duncan (the corpse) and also went through the wills. I had a good sort out of the caravan; painted some of the office and erected a couple of deer and a clock!

Early ish tea and Shtisel as LB on videocall to Sophie and Hannah.

Couple of hours sweat and tears and we got it cleaned, flipped and back in place. Had a silly email from Microsoft asking me to sort my payment out. Oh, the irony. Come on Bill Gates, get a grip.

Shop run to VVDR then few more jobs. Assembled the parasol base. Not as straightforward as we thought. Especially when Sirius ran off with a stray Cebola!!

Excellent Salmoa for tea. Small chunk of chocolate at bedtime.

Mixture of sunbathing and jobs on return. More cabin painting for me. Pizza dough construction and cake making for LB. Oh, not forgetting the all important ‘ mouse de chocolate’!!. Had home made pizza inside due to threat of tempestade! Weather might have affected TV tonight??

Beautiful day in Central Portugal. Some gardening/shredding. Found a key. More painting. Lots of sunning. LB found a lizard on the top deck.

Ooni pizza again. Meat feast including sausage penis! Had to watch the end of the latest ‘Call of Duty’ in stop start fashion, because LB hasn’t paid the licence!! Then she hogged the bloody toilet in protest!!

Easter Monday. No Bank Holiday here! Tip run and trip to VVDR for a few bits. Popped in the ‘allsorts’ shop and bought some mesh to protect the potatoes from cats and dogs for not very much money!

The temperature has definitely gone up in Central Portugal in the last day or so. Luckily, we have a parasol to erect. As usual, LB was a stickler for following the instructions. Forty minutes later, we had a sunshade fit for the seven dwarves. It did seem as if we were missing something? No. Go and find the other instructions. Ok boss. On the way, I popped into the office and found a hooge centre section!! And, as if by magic, we had a full size parasol!!

After this interesting interlude, LB cleaned the Kunft! I jetwashed everything else.

Call of Duty was better tonight. LB must have paid the licence! Tilly developed fur balls/ whooping cough / asthma?? Who knows?

I had a row for breaking the electric fly killer, which basically fell apart in my hands. Also had another row for buying new shed lock with no holes for padlock. Clearly a design fault.

More painting, mowing and sunning. LB froze some coleslaw in her new shiny Kunft and made some orange jam.

Big burgers for tea. Coimbra tomorrow.

Dropped LB off at IPO and wandered into Coimbra. Good to see cafes open again (street service only). \240Tosta Mista made a long awaited return.

Popped to Leroy Merlin and hopefully got the right lock for the shed. LB eventually met with Dr P. Further scan required.

Tratamento eventually finished late afternoon. Nice lunch on journey back.

LB eventually got through to Old Mutual after being on the phone for three weeks. I kept sweeping the cabin floor continuously. Also eventually fixed the shed lock. Third version.

Flew the drone for a bit. Need to review footage. Did some shredding of the paper variety and had risotto for tea. More Shtisel.

Did tip/diesel/tablet run to VVDR and got back in time to speak to Dean about transferring pension to Euro one. Castelo after lunch. Had a wander round Aki and got some bits from big Auchan. Did some work on my scissors/sheep shearers on return. Prince Philip failed it today.

Tick successfully removed from LB this evening. Another hooge storm. Sirius got drenched and looked like something out of the ‘Jackson Five’!!. I was convinced there was a pigeon nesting in the barn and some idiot had put the salt in the fridge. All good here!