......and then there were two and other sad tales

Continuing with our run of rotten luck the bees have died probably from Colony Collapse Disorder but will never be really sure (will try to get Rick to post something about this in due course). So the hive has come home and the honey is slowly being extracted. It's yummy and there's lots of it, but it's a bloody shame.

I went to the farm today without the dogs and put the chickens in their run so they could have a dirt bath and soak up some rays, I had literally turned my back for 5 minutes and a fox had made it's way in to the run and killed one chicken and had started on another, I caught it in the act and it scarpered but looks like the one it hadn't finished off is not in a good way. She's recovering in her coop with the last remaining hen from our original batch. Lesson learnt, don't let chickens in their run unless we have at least one hunting dog with us.

some things about some things

Happy new decade to all of you.
We have been reflecting on our first year in Portugal. We've made a list of all the things we've achieved, as we weren't really sure what on earth we'd been doing for the past 12 months. We are aware that we have not posted any news about building, there are reasons for this and hopefully this year we'll be able to let you in on our project. We've felled a lot of trees,



some on our land some we bought from someone else's land. We've milled most of it and burnt alot more of it. We've taken a chunk out of the mountain behind the house



and had it dumped nearer the house to create a driveway.



We've had a borehole put in, that unfortunately doesn't supply us with enough water......





........a very expensive hole.

We've cleared 2 hectares of land. we've grown a hell of a lot of vegetables. we got bees and chickens. We've made more chutney than we can ever consume. We've kept ourselves in onions, potatoes and squash. We've harvested 2 seasons worth of olives and had our own oil made with the second harvest. we gave away alot of grapes and received nothing in return (lessons learnt there). We've uncovered terraces we didn't know we had.

We lost our first dog to illness and old age



and found ourselves another.



We've learnt some Portuguese and continue to be a source of amusement for the locals.

Rick has removed (by hand) several tonnes of bedrock to make way for foundations.





He has built some very posh compost bins.



He's built several runs for the chickens, erected fences and removed fences. The list goes on and all of it good. We have however had a bout of bad luck at the end of the year. The truck has been off the road for 3 weeks now with a broken crank bolt, I am in negotiatons with Mitsubishi UK about compensation due to either faulty part or fitting thereof. We are borrowing a vintage truck from friends which has also come with its own complications, Rick's too big to drive it, which leaves me doing all the running around. Flat batteries and flat tyres (on new years day with a massive hangover, not favourite). Rick poisoned himself with oysters on Boxing Day and the puppy contracted a viral infection which very nearly killed him. Everyone is better except the truck and we're taking things in to our hands tomorrow as it is currently languishing in a garage graveyard.
Here's hoping that 2010 will be as good as 2009 if not better, more building work will happen, more vegetables will be grown and eaten. More tears (of frustration) will be shed and laughter will hopefully conquer all.
Thanks to all of you who have kept up with the blog, I hope it's been amusing. I will continue to keep you updated.........