GeniB

Hi all.. What are you doing with yourselves during this enforced 'Lock Down'?

Apart from checking on where and how badly this virus is effecting Portugal that is

We have got ED and her baby daughter staying with us .. unexpectedly trapped here . It had been both a difficulty and a blessing at first . We are not used to having small children with us 24/7 It has been a 'learning curve' as they say. However we have come through it, and now are very grateful to have ED here ,as we are now more or less grounded. She and our YD who lives close by, now do the shopping once a week for us, and we reciprocate by looking after our grandchild , to give ED the odd break.I do remember those days of course with an active toddler .I used to call them 'Living with a demented dwarf ' days The things a two yr old can get up to.. Posting peanuts and cheese through the top of a side tables latticed surface!!! being just one .. Screaming 'People come down here I'm crying' after what felt like hours of angry yelling at bedtime . The adorable language ,and gestures though, that melt your heart .A strawberry offered to granddad. A flower picked for Grandma. Irreplaceable moments that make this situation bearable . Daddy may be missing his daughter very much, but we thank the twist of fate that left her with us.
That apart, we have made time and space for everyone to do their own thing . Mine being to write every day. having just joined a writers group. OH has completely tiled the walls of the pump room . We had several huge pine trees removed before the crisis ,so now have a lot of clearing up to do ,plus find we have several new patches of borders to fill. What with knitting a new dress for the baby. I have found my time happily filled.. what about you ?

liveaboard

Our lives have barely changed at all, aside from the mono-topic now on the news.
All my work is within our property or online, and since I'm a hoarder I find myself with plenty of metal, welding rods, paints, abrasives, and... masks.
Making parts for my tractor and vegetation killing machinery mainly.

I notice the internet often slows to a crawl these days. Our empty tourist town has a lot of extra capacity so I doubt it's the local server.
"Just use video conferencing for work" they say. Sure.

And pulling up buckets of burr clover. That stuff hasn't been told to stop work.

Soon I'll start painting the house. Plenty to do around our place.

Loafing Along

The Open Univesity has some amazing free courses online. Really worth checking out

macliam

Bugger! That's another thing I can't do remotely.......

ouriquejan

Sadly not being outside too much, as the weather hasn't been too good. Made it outside for one day and did a load of weeding.

Reading a lot, also have a couple of jigsaws that we've never done, so made a start on one of them.

Stomped up and down the drive (250 metres and up hill) a few times.

Chased away next doors ducks - they like it here, they have something to eat.

Made a lot of soup - and eaten it. Picked and frozen broad beans.

Froze a lamb we were give (bought) from a friend and yes, we did it correctly, kept our distance and washed hands afterwards.

Keeping in touch with all the family in England and friends all over the world, via the internet.

Late start, most mornings.

But we thank our lucky stars that we bought here, living in your own 3 acre field makes a lot of difference.

Shop once a week - although I have banned himself going in now. He's knocking on a bit (73 this year) and also has copd.

macliam

Keep yourselves well...... no reported cases in Ourique as yet, but all around

SWMBO posted film of the rain and we had a long viber conversation, the dogs so far back in their "cave" that I could only see their eyes, the cat asleep in a wood basket. A blessed relief to top up the reserves after last year, since she says our barragem hasn't changed since I left for the UK in mid January.

Here it was the first lovely day of Spring. There was a lot of kerfuffle about yesterday, but here it was still only 6C at 0730 and didn't get above 14C with cold air, so just not nice enough to stay outside for long. Today was 17C, sunny and no wind..... so I got down to removing the weeds that have managed to grow and transplanting the lavender that has self-seeded in out gravel area. I'm now praying the weather stays like this for a few days and allows me to get on top of the 1001 jobs that need doing after the Winter.

Slán.

spouse of scouse

Portugal's drive-by priest Not sure if he's breaching your lockdown rules, but points for creativity.

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/portugue...from-smart-car

ouriquejan

We're a little bit off the beaten track for that

We need more rain Macliam, got a few more days of it. But the weeds...…………......

macliam

He'd need something, because he'll never see most of them in Church.................

macliam

Same here.... so much rain, no real frost - today was my first day to get at them.

Keep well.

liveaboard

A day of rain is welcome of course, but we need about a month like that to fill the reservoirs.
The ground was dry and soaked up the rain, which is good; but the reservoirs fill from runoff that happens after the ground is saturated.

I went to the local post office last week to get my mail; sign says due to the virus, PO is closed, go to the regional one in Aljezur.

A long queue stretched down the sidewalk the next day. luckily it was a nice morning.
After 45 minutes it was my turn, the guy told me our local office had reopened now and my mail would be there again.
It was lunch time so I waited until after 3, drove back to the local office and a sign said they were only open in the morning.

Avoid unnecessary travel they tell us...

ouriquejan

We're in a similar situation re the post. We would normally collect it at the local bar, but that's shut. We don't get a lot, so might pop into the post office when next in Ourique.

Oddly, the electric bill turned up on our doorstep last week

You take care over there Macliam x

Red Eric

I'm filling a lot of time trying to keep up with the Marias on the horta front.

I'm failing miserably. Even the old broken ones are a damn sight quicker at things than I'll ever manage. I've got an 86 year old neighbour who can plant four times as many spuds as me in less than half the time. And she's in pain, waiting for some op.

macliam

My ground is schist..... a few inches of dust and then schist. Digging is an adventure.... usually and bad one.

When we first moved, my 84-year old neighbour complained bitterly about the orange trees the previous owners had kept in containers - so I agreed we'd plant them out.
I started on the first hole, swinging the pickaxe and making slow progess. When I got a reasonable hole, I turned around to ask him if it was OK. He had dug three holes, bigger and deeper than mine and just using the enxada he uses like a walking stick.

He smiled and nodded and said for me to get the four orange plants, so off I went. When I returned, he had dug a fourth hole, completely ignoring my effort!

The hole is still there as a reminder.......

BillBullock

Our attempt at orange trees failed many years' ago. Four inches of sandy soil on top of sandstone was not good enough, even with fertiliser and plenty of water. We still have one 3 foot high specimen in memory of our failed attempt at a small orchard. Funnily enough, the tennis court has survived quite well since it was put in in 2003!