Living the Dream Portugal

General Update.

2012-01-21T10:32:00.002Z

I know its been ages... sorry..
This is the morning view of our valley.... stunning isnt it...

Things are still very hectic, we've lots of guests backwards and forwards, Gareth and Rick have been working extra hard on the house, we've been taking advantage of having Gareth here as he's moving on to Austria in Mid march... we'll hate to see him go but its an good placement and not to be missed for him.

They have worked very hard and we actually now have a living room upstairs that looks like a real room... I love it! The walls have been all rendered and painted, the floor painted and the double doors varnished. should be a pic here somewhere. Its made it so warm and cosy... we cant afford to panel the roof though so its not quite finished, but still looks amazing to see it so transformed...

We've had quite a few friends around for meals , plus with all the guests and cooking tons for the men , Im spending most of my life at the cooker...

In the next few weeks I plan to make more skin balms and salves for a good stock for summer. I need to make more jam as Gareth loves it and has eaten my whole stock... luckily I have fruit in the freezer to use..

I need to get down the orchard and weed my broad beans... they are coming on wonderfully. We need to clear and get the main veggie patch tilled so the frosts we are having can kill any bugs.. as planting is only a few weeks away now...

I have to clean the little greenhouse I use and get some seeds in pots...

The blokes have to collect TONS of wood, we are getting low, down to only two rows now...

plus set up the new irrigation system our lovely friend Alik brought us out a while a go, its going to be used to help our corn this summer. It was so gorgeous last year we have saved lots of seed and plan a HUGE field of it this year...

I have a French Canadian helper arriving in mid Feb to help with the workload for a few weeks. but will need major help with weeding, planting and wood collection during spring and early summer.

Bloody Caterpillars

2012-01-21T10:19:00.000Z

Just a quick precautionary post, the prosessionary buggers are on the move very very early this year, its also a terribly bad year, nests are everywhere... its going to be very bad...
please everyone, watch your dogs (and cats) its fatal if you dont act fast..
My other post on here somewhere details effective and often lifesaving treatment everyone can do...

General Update, Sostice, Christmas, Sunshine, and stuff..

2011-12-26T15:07:00.001Z

Wow... its been ages again. Sadly its that time of year when dosh is difficult so money for the Dongle or trips to town come very low down our list of priorities. But hopefully now Christmas is over (well it is in Portugal ) and we already have some bookings to look forward to, things will get easier again.

We still have Gareth with us, working hard as always, but Osian has moved on, down to Peniche to be a surfer boy for a while. He worked hard and accomplished tons while he was with us. Gareth we hope will stay till Spring at least we always have work for willing hands.

Hes been helping Rick in so many ways, and the fact that they hit it off so well , having a shared sense of humour helps a lot.. He's been so enjoying the weather, spending his free time relaxing with a book, often outside in the sunshine, he couldnt believe that it was possible to do so on Christmas Eve...

So...

Solstice went very well, although money was tight we really felt it was important to carry on with our celebration if at all possible, so I splashed out on 10 euros worth of chicken, for that we got over 5and a half kilos of chicken... I roasted it all in different marinades, and then served it with homemade bread, roasted pumpkin, carrots, potatoes and baked spagetti squash... oh and red cabbage cooked with apple and onions... all from our garden or a gift from neighbours, so it cost nothing, I made a dessert, some of our lovely guests also made desserts... some brought wine or beer... and a fantastic time was had by all for next to nothing...

We always decorate the house with branches and leaves from the forest, it really makes for a festive atmoshphere. Rick and Gareth built a Solstice Cabin outside, we lit up the garden with tons of little tealite candles someone had left in the cottage last summer, plus of course the Sostice Bonfire and our Yule Log, I made mulled wine with spices and fresh fruit from our trees...

For us Christmas is just a quiet day, a nice meal (roast pork etc) and back to work today... we had a walk in town to look at the pretty lights and see the bonfire which burns for 12 nights in Figueiro Dos Vinhos... a very low key and relaxing time for us..

The Dogs.

2011-11-30T11:27:00.000Z

We've been asked by our friends who visit now and again, for some recent shots of our lovely girls...

here they are enjoying the company and the garden.

Pretty but Bad Mushrooms...

2011-11-30T11:25:00.000Z

We have tons of these toadstools sprouting up everywhere in the forest... and Im pretty sure they are Fly Agaric... very unpleasant... but so pretty... real fairy house type ones...

Mushrooms & Cabbage

2011-11-30T11:21:00.000Z

We have happily been picking tons of cabbages, its a good job the lads like cabbage, rick is no problem, he'll eat it everyday..
Also luckily we've had a good crop of wild Parasol mushrooms over the last couple of weeks.

My recipe for Stirfry cabbage and mushrooms..

Add a good glub of olive oil to a large pan, add a large chopped onion, a few cloves of chopped garlic and fry till just starting to go golden...add as much chopped mushroom as you like... we love plenty! add a whole sliced green cabbage, ours are the tight pointed top ones, and just stirfry it till its all cooked and the flavours have melded...
Mmmm yummy
I do the same thing with extra garlic and onions if we dont have mushrooms

Sunshine, Olives, cookouts, and hard work..

2011-11-30T11:13:00.002Z

Its been what seems like ages again, but to be honest, as its winter and things get tricky for us in winter, we try to limit the trips into town to an absolute minimum to save on fuel. Also... we are so damn busy, its just that the days fly by and we dont realise it...

I'll try to get into this update all thats being happening but its tough, and then when Ive done, I'll remember everything Ive forgotten...

The lads are still with us, its been oh... around 7 weeks now I think, so long we've lost count... they have settled well and look and seem happy enough..
They are working hard and still accomplishing so much for us its excellent... although I seem to spend all my life cooking and preparing food that as soon as I turn my back has vanished... they sure can eat...

Gareth has finshed his project, and it looks wonderful, Im so pleased, its turned out just as I'd hoped if not even better. Its very pretty and come the spring will be even better with some nice pots of flowers. Its completely made from our scrap stone, and no cement, Rick showed him the old way of using clay instead , its the way our house was built 250 years ago...

Gareth is understandably very proud of it... and so he should be...

Osian has finally finished stone walling, he's built another one to finish off the terrace by the house, again it looks lovely and fits in completely. The whole area outside the back door has completely been transformed. It was a rubble and weed filled rubbish dump, now it looks like a real garden and will be a beautiful place to sit during the summer.

We have also added another almost full row to the log barn, no mean feat in itself... but we do have the range going all day now, the weather has been stunning, although for us a tad chilly morning and evening, the boys still cant believe it and are in tee shirts.. This last week it was so warm Osian worked in shorts...

its been around 20-22 degrees for best part of the week, on sunday we decided to have what will be the last cookout of the year...

We fired up the old bread oven and I made fresh pizza and then rick lit the BBQ , we have a good brick built one, and we cooked chops Id been marinating over night, some in yogurt with orange juice and basil, some in balsamico and oil and garlic... yummy... plenty of rice & salad and some good red wine of course... it was a great afternoon, Gareth played his Guitar and we sat in the sunshine and relaxed..

The broad beans we planted in the orchard have all popped up, looking good... this week the lads are strimming and clearing the two terraces above the orchard level, tidying and clearing old branches and trimming back old vines. We also have lots of clearing up to do nearer the house now the vines have all dropped their leaves..

We are making a huge bonfire, looking forward to our Winter Solstice Celebrations... it will be a first for the lads so we want to make it special, rick will be building a Solstice lodge for in the garden and we hope to hold the celebration outside if its not too wet...

We have also picked a few olives, we had an excellent crop, but sadly most are on the ground and not much good now, but we'll manage about 6-8 sacks in the end we hope, not a great year but its so delicious... I cant manage without it... I use a litre a week nowadays...

Well hopefully thats all...

More Jobs done...

2011-11-14T11:23:00.000Z

Having helpers with us, is a two way thing, we must try to offer them something in return for their labours, both lads are learning new skills that while they are learning is helping us out, and hopefully will stand them in good stead in life when they leave us, if I ever let them go that is...

The latest of their new learning experiences was cement rendering... we have a brick built wall that although double skin and insulated, just let damp seep through. It needed rendering on the outside which during winter is the side of the house that bears the brunt of most of our bad weather and wind... as it faces right down the vally.

So we invested 10 euros in some cement and Rick and the lads rendered the wall. mixing and carrying buckets of cement from behind the house, down the yard , up the stairs onto the terrace, was a job for strong arms... they did an excellent job. Rick made a point of demonstrating the art of rendering and let both lads try it out. There is more to be done in the future so we hope that again by the time they leave us, a new skill will be added to their profile lists.

While the weather was good, we set to and got the orchard area strimmed , tidied and rick rototilled the whole area ready for winter.

Me and the lads then planted up the whole area with broad beans... thats a huge area ... we certainly wont be short of beans next spring... I had mistakenly asked Rick to pick me up some seed from the local man and he likes beans... so he bought two and a half kilos of seed....

well.. I couldnt waste it could I? The lads went down later and covered the whole area with the wood ash we've been saving from the kitchen range, beans seem to love it...

The newly renovated and landscaped garden around the house is starting to green up now, the walls the lads have built look very pretty...

General Update.

2011-11-14T11:02:00.000Z

There is so much happening at our place I dont know where to begin this update. Of course its all down to having such excellent helpers, almost five weeks on and they are becoming family now..

Right, Osian finished his wall, and smashing it looked too, his latest project has been to build a small drainage gully out of stone to run completely down the side of the steps which lead up to the house, this we hope will stop the steps becoming the annual waterfall that happens normally. As we live on a hill, since we built the steps every winter when the rains come, the steps become a water feature of the garden, but it washes mud and debris down onto my gravel patio outside the cottage and gives us added work cleaning it up...

It rained heavily last night and the finished drain worked like a dream... As you can see by the pictures, the dogs, who seem to wangle their way into most shots, love having the lads around too...

Gareth has a new project too, a while ago, a friend gave us a lovely old pump, he is going to build a two tier stone plinth to mount the pump on, and stone paths radiating out which we will gravel (when we have some money) and plant up with herbs... its a large job, which he can work on at his own pace, as well as all his other things he's doing... Rick is helping him with advice on local traditional methods using clay as filling between the stones instead of cement..

The lads are of course helping out in a multitude of ways, we have to be doing things that cost us nothing but improve our place here, there is a lot more wood to be collected, especially now the weather has turned wet and windy, its still very mild but a tad damp...

We have been chestnut collecting, the lads then were set to boiling and peeling them for the freezer, a useful afternoons work by the fire on a wet day.

Frugal Recipe Spagetti Pumpkin

2011-11-14T10:37:00.000Z

Wow... doesnt time fly when your having fun..
We seem to lose days and even weeks at the moment, having the welsh lads here means I am busier in the kitchen every day, its my job to provide them with decent wholesome food, but obviously for our budget... which is very little. We are scraping by moneywise on odd bookings at the moment. But luckily we have an excellent year in the garden so food stocks are high.
We have a large amount of spagetti Pumpkin, so we are eating it often...
At the moment Ive tried it just one way;
Bake it whole in a slow oven, when it is tender(I prod with a skewer) open, scoop out the seeds, (which my friend is roasting and eating but we've yet to try) scrape out the fleshy strands with a fork which divides them well, add a knob of garlic or herby butter and a light dusting of parmesan or any cheese you like... its yummy.

Tonight I plan to try ..
Cut in half , scop out the seeds, pack with a mix of cooked rice or cuscous, with chopped mushrooms(we have Parasol mushrooms growing wild at the mo) onions, tomatos, and herbs, put back together, wrap firmly with foil and bake.
I will serve it with roasted herby veggies and maybe garlic bread if I have any stale..

Kristina Aubergines..

2011-11-03T11:07:00.002Z

Kristina, Ive asked a friend here about Aubergines and your problem with them being bitter... Ive was told its the type you grow... maybe try a different one?
None of mine were, Ive often heard about them being bitter, but have never had that problem, Ive eaten mine raw chopped in a salad... they dont grow huge, I pck them early...
If you would like a packet of seed from here just let me know your address. Email me and I'll happily send you some..

Helper Update. Gareth.

2011-11-03T11:02:00.000Z

While Osian has been busy wall building, Gareth hasnt been idle either, he's been busy doing tons of little jobs around the place, helping Rick with things that need an extra set of hands, he cleared the back garden area ready for rick to rototill, did a smashing job of weeding all the graveled beds in front of the cottage, and the carpark. The weeding of the gravel beds is such a pig of a job, its very tough on the back and leaves you with sore fingers for days... but hes done a great job. Hes also (as we all are) spending time in the wood barn, we are always collecting cutting splitting stacking...

A day or two a go we strained and finshed bottling the second batch of my fennel Liquer, yesterday the lads and Rick took a bottle down to a Portuguese friend in the village, and came back last night rather the worse for wear having spent two hours or more drinking wine in his adega...

So today we are having an easy day, as they all need it... I am going to teach the lads to make my soda bread later..

Helper Update. Osian's Wall

2011-11-03T10:52:00.000Z

Well Osian has finished his wall, Its lovely, we are all really pleased, apart from some advice from Rick and some hard work from Gareth collecting good stones for him, sian did the work himself, he designed the curved wall , dug out the ground, and built the wall, filling in the earth as he went, he's done an excellent job and has something permanent to be proud of, and hopefully a skill he can take forward with him too.

General Update.

2011-10-31T10:45:00.000Z

Well its been a busy few days, the weather perked up again which meant we could all crack on and get plenty done. We are just preparing for winter and the rain that will inevitably come, and its forecast for this week... all week its forecast for scattered showers and even scattered thundery showers, the temps are still up around 19º-21º though so when the sun does shine its still lovely to be out. Not bad at all for more or less November.
Our welsh helpers Gareth & Osian are loving it.
Gareth has been busy weeding the guest area, cobvering the pool, and generally tidying up down there and around the house. Osian has been continuing with a fairly large and complex stone wall he's been building, its been his own project, with just a bit of advice from Rick and some help stone collecting and shifting from Gareth. But on the whole its Osians wall. Its more or less finished and when it is, I'll post some pics here as he's done a crackin job and is very proud of it. We are trying to make sure they take away from here some extra skills as well as having helped us a lot.
Yesterday we had our nearest Portugese neighbours over for lunch, there was seven of us sat down at one o clock, and we were still sat around the table nibbling and finishing off what had been a large amount of wine, at 7pm ...
A great afternoon was had by all, especially the boys, an early night was also had by all....
The lads are off to Coimbra today, an early start as its an hour by bus, they have a packed lunch and plan to spend the day doing the tourist thing, the University, Library, the churches, Botanical Gardens and as much of the old town as is possible...
This week we hope to start picking olives, we dont have many this year, and a lot of what we had are now on the ground due to strong winds last week. But a neighbour has offered three large trees which he says are full... so we may get a few litres, we would like to be able to let the lads experience the whole process, we use an old traditional Lagar, so its quite something to see... and taste. They have a good outside kitchen area and warm fire so we can cook some fish and have a glass or two of wine while we wait for our oil... its all part of the fun..
Then once thats over I have a whole orchards worth of broad beans to plant... and a ton of jerusalem artichokes to dig down there first, I we dont, then when rick rototills to plant the beans, he'll just spread the tubers and we will have a whole field of artichokes next year.... which is not the plan!
Then if the weather isnt too bad or cold we have vines to trim, tons more wood to collect, we plan on making good use of these lads while we have them, and if we can collect as much wood as possible, its just less work for us for next year...

We are already planning Winter Solstice, this year Rick hopes to build his solstice hut in the garden, where we can all sit near the bonfire and roast our chestnuts and have our wine while the dinner is cooking, we pretty it all up with lights and leaves...
Tonight is Samhain, Pagans believe....
It is a magical interval when the mundane laws of time and space are temporarily suspended, and the Thin Veil between the worlds is lifted. Communicating with ancestors and departed loved ones is easy at this time, for they journey through this world on their way to the Summerlands. Light a candle and place it in your window to draw the souls of your loved ones to you...
I shall be lighting a candle for my dad, and of course our lovely Big Boy Cola, as pets are included too...
We shall have a meal, plus some chestnuts and no doubt some wine and toast those we miss...

Chestnuts, Red Wine and Pickled Herby Aubergines

2011-10-22T10:16:00.001+01:00

Its a lovely time of the year, although we didnt make wine this year, we always get given plenty by neighbours, and now the chestnuts are falling and gives us a chance to indulge in the evenings, we are lighting the range for cooking again now and tend to put a pot of chestnuts on to roast, we've introduced the lads to this and they love it... A great evening, scrabble, or Dice, chestnuts & wine, and lots of laughter...

Ive been busy pickling aubergines... I did one jar weeks ago, just as a try out, Gareth and I opened them last week to eat with cold pork. They were wonderful! Really garlicky and herby, with just a little pickle flavour...
Ive since made three kilo jars...
All I do is...

Slice the aubergines up thickly, drop the slices into boiling white wine vinegar for about two mins.. leave to drain for a few mins on kitchen paper.

Meanwhile sterilise the jars by steeping in boiling water from the kettle, fill jars with layers of aubergines, bayleaves, coridander seed, black pepper corns and tons of thinly sliced garlic,(I also added a good sprig of rosemary to one jar) pour over a good extra virgin olive oil and seal jars, leave at least two weeks , a month is better if you can wait...

Ive included some pictures of the work in progress in the garden too...

Our Helpers. Gareth & Osian

2011-10-22T09:58:00.001+01:00

Well things are certainly working out well , both lads are hardworking, pleasant and polite. Both also have an excellent sense of humour, which is always needed when working with Rick... They seem to be enjoying life here with us, its been almost two weeks now and we've all agreed they will stay indefinately. At least till New Year. As long as I can feed them anyway... Luckily although money is extremely tight as always, food stocks are very high, so Im confident the next few weeks will be fine. We've tons of cabbage and caulis coming on in the garden, Ive just planted some Grelos(turnip tops) which make great soup, we are still eating aubergines and peppers, I think I could write a book on cooking with Aubergines.. We've had them in one way or another everyday since the lads arrived..
Things around the place are moving on well, although we dont have the money to do things that require buying materials, land work costs us nothing. The lads have made a great job of landscaping the area near to the house, building pretty little dry stone walls and clearing rubbish and rubble. And moving a small mountain of rock...
They have also made a good start on collecting some more winter wood, a whole van load yesterday, which has been cut up and Im busy stacking it over the next couple of days. Osian has been hard at it , strimming away, and he had his first encounter with a snake, bless him... he was pretty shook up for a while. Luckily we had made sure he was well protected with steel toecap boots, leg protectors and all the relevent safety equipment.
The weather has been superb for them to get settled, its suposed to break this weekend and we are due some rain, it will be quite welcome. We have a lot of stuff to burn, and want to get it sorted.

As you can see by some of the pictures below, they have also been enjoying their time off...

Osian Gareth

Flowers & walls

2011-10-14T15:29:00.000+01:00

Well the lads have been hard at it again today and the garden is showing real signs of their efforts already. A lovely stone wall has been built to hold back a crumbling bank, and now a large pile of builders rubble which was all overgrown with weeds and home to many mice that invaded my kitchen in cold weather has almost been cleared away.

Again the temps are high, we've called it a day at lunchtime and they lads had a dip in the pool to cool off before coming in to find a cool place in town.

There should be a shot of them here somewhere plus a couple of their handywork too.

When we first came to Portugal Rick bought me, as a present some 'Bird of Paradise ' plants, we've nursed them along and they have never flowered, we get too much cold wind and frost for them up here really, but this week for the first time ever I have a flower.... and another six or so to come... I wanted to share it with everyone Im so pleased!

Helpers... A success this time.

2011-10-13T22:10:00.001+01:00

Well our new helpers arrived the day before yesterday, two lovely Welsh lads, Osian & Gareth. Both from the wilds of Snowdonia in North Wales. Such great lads, already they have fitted in perfectly, they have exactly what is needed to fit in well here, a strong back, strong nerves and a excellent sarcastic sense of humour. Plus the ability to ignore almost everything Rick says... he's a real p**s taker and likes nothing better than to torment people... These lads are having none of it and it bodes well for a great fun few weeks.
They are working well and building stone walls and tidying up the main garden around the house, shifting rubble and logs. The weather is to them unbelievable... for us its actually getting a tad tiresome...
I know its not done to complain, but its mid October is today it was 34 degrees in my garden... Im having to cook huge meals for these boys and Rick as they are doing a lot of hard work and lighting the kitchen range makes my kitchen like a sweatshop..So I would like it to cool down a few degrees ....
I suppose when it does happen it will drop like a stone and feel freezing ...
We have lots of plans for all we want to accomplish while they are with us, lots of stone walling, vine clippping, rototilling, beans to plant for spring, wood to collect and chop and stack, weeding , strimming, oh the list goes on and on... but they seem happy to help...

On a different note, Im SO EXCITED..... its all or nothing for the welsh lads come saturday...Hopefully by the time I can log on saturday morning, Wales will be through to the Rugby World Cup Final....
C'mon the boys!!!
.

Aubergines...

2011-10-10T15:52:00.000+01:00

Well I hope our helpers who arrive later in the week like aubergines, ours have been magnificent this summer, and are still producing around 6-8 a day... plus the pepper plants are churning out a half doz or so each day too.
As the freezer is full to capacity I am making sure we eat them every day...
Ive pickled aubergines in garlic oil ...
Im now thinking of making a chutney with them...
And tomorrow Im experimenting with a aubergine & green pepper dip... lots of garlic and lemon should be yummy....

Any more ideas...???

Rugby World Cup....

2011-10-10T14:52:00.000+01:00

Just a few words for Jay & Jaqui....

COME ON THE BOYS!!

Its ours this year.....

cymru am byth

Cheaper Car Hire.

2011-10-10T14:35:00.000+01:00

As you may well have gathered by now, Livingthedreamportugal .com has made friends with the lovely people at http://www.economycarhire.com/ and through that friendship we are happy to now be able to offer all our guests who book with us a 10% discount off the standard rate for car hire .
So there is no better time to come and visit the beautiful' Green Heart of Portugal' flights are very cheap to either Lisbon or Porto, our rentals are on winter offer of half price. And now you can get cheaper car hire.... how great is that! Plus.... at the moment the weather is gorgeous, still in the high 20s everyday... pool weather in October!!
So to qualify for your discounted car hire, you must book with us, then I will forward you a link and an access code.
Booking now for Mara's Cottage for late October & November!

Guest Post.

2011-10-10T14:25:00.000+01:00

Kerri Ware from Economy Car Hire posts for us...

Some Tips for a Frugal Trip to Portugal

The cost of everything seems is always on the rise with no mercy. Even the price of everyday essentials like bread, milk and veggies make your eyes pop lately. But even with the cost of living at an all-time high, none of us seem willing to sacrifice our break away; that one period of the year when we can escape the daily grind and forget our worries. The dark side of a relaxing break is usually the price tag though. The good news is that it doesn't have to be that way; your holiday doesn't have to cost a fortune. We have put together some tips to help you  have a frugal trip to Portugal so that you won't have to sacrifice  your highly anticipated holiday and you can still have a great time without squeezing the living daylights out of your pennies!

Where to rest your head
Where you rest your head on holiday is usually a pretty big part of a trip away. Some yearn for a 5* luxury hotel but they are not only  outrageously expensive; they can on occasion be a disappointing experience too. Plus, will you even use the amenities or wear the bath robe provided? Why not consider some cheaper accommodation options such as a hostel or camping or caravans. After all, isn't the essence of a holiday the new  experiences you get to encounter and the new people you can meet along the way? You can tick both of these off the list by staying somewhere that maybe you wouldn't normally consider. Not only will the bill be
considerably cheaper, it will give a better feel for the area in Portugal that you choose to visit. Camping is a great way to enjoy the  outdoors and you will have the benefits of a kitchen if you stay at a  hostel. You'll note the word 'youth' has been dropped from the title these days - the majority are totally family friendly!
Another very worthy option to consider is a home swap holiday. With some research you can find some great places to stay for free with the  all the comforts of home, except in somebody else's house. In turn, they stay at your home and look after it whilst you are away! This is the ultimate way to be frugal when it comes to accommodation.

Satisfying a rumbling tum
Eating tends to be the next big expense on your trip to Portugal. On  the plus side, this expense is one that is easily reduced. Wonderful weather, beautiful backdrops and delicious local delicacies equal one  thing, the perfect combination for a picnic. Bypass the café lunches, head to the local supermarket and load up on some cheap local food to  eat outside at lunchtime.You can also keep your eyes peeled for the fruits of nature during  your excursions and get your foraging fingers at the ready. You may be  lucky enough to spot some wild fruit growing, like berries or figs but  maybe more. Be sure to check you're not on private land before picking though. They can be a yummy addition to your picnic, or make for a tasty  breakfast the next day. The local produce is delicious and you can probably throw together a  delicious meal together in the hostel kitchen just as well as at that overpriced restaurant down the road. light up a candle and create your  perfect ambience. Eating well is usually one of the best parts of a trip away for most  of us so by all means, do treat yourself, but try to eat like you do at home with some occasional treats and you won't break the bank.

Getting from A to B

The best and cheapest way to get around is of course on your own two  feet and a great way to see sights that you may not have otherwise seen. Sometimes that isn't always practical though. On holiday, lift sharing isn't going to be an option either. Taxis or transfers can be costly and if you anticipate several  journeys having your own transport could work out more cost effective  for you. Car hire in Portugal is worth considering but be sure to  research what's included, book in advance and go for the smallest vehicle you can to get the most from your money.

Out and About

There's plenty to see all over Portugal but the cost of entry tickets can add up, especially for a family. With that in mind, your first  stop should always be the tourist information centre where you might  find leaflets with money off coupons or multi attraction passes which will knock a percentage of the price off. Avoid the souvenir shops and opt for something a bit more authentic to remember your time here; pick a shell from the beach or get that stunning sunset photograph blown up when you get home.
Don't go overboard and scrimp on every inch of your holiday in Portugal, after all it's the one trip of the year we all look forward  to but at the same time, a little frugal living can go a long way and  help to save some pennies without sacrificing on your enjoyment.

General Update & Discounted Car Hire

2011-10-07T11:51:00.001+01:00

Gosh... where do the days go...
I cant believe its been almost a month since I updated this blog. We've been very busy as usual, quite a few guests in the caravan and Cottage, although its slowed now and November looks to be very quite. The weather has been lovely, much hotter than normal, generally by this time of the year, although its still lovely and warm, the mornings are often cooler and the evenings the same... up till now thats not happened, but this morning was a tad fresher, which was very welcome..
At some point over the next few days I will post a nice guest post, from Economy Car Hire. They are a company a lot of our guests use reguarly, they always seem efficient and reliable. And of course, excellent value or we wouldnt be recomending them. I have also been lucky enough to organise a good 10% discount offer for our guests booking via us... more on that in a few days. Today I have guests arriving, a cottage to prepare and a evening meal to produce for them.

The garden has wound itself down nicely, we still have a huge glut of aubergines, generally picking 20-30 a week... yep... honest. The peppers are still producing tons too... As is my last crop of green beans...
We have cabbage left, and the new crop we planted up a few weeks ago is going great guns.. We'll have plenty for Christmas time... plus caulis...

The race is on at the mo to get everywhere clean tidy and strimmed for winter. Plus of course the weekly struggle to collect wood...
Hopefully we have a couple of welsh lads arriving about the 14th for a few weeks to help us with all this...
So i'll be busy working in the kitchen feeding three hungry blokes . Luckily, although as normal we dont have any money, we have tons of food put by, this year has been excellent for growing and I have food stashed and stored everywhere...

New Ideas for Cabbage Recipe...

2011-09-17T11:10:00.000+01:00

We have a bit of a glut of Red Cabbage at the mo, my lovely friend Marianne, suggested this... and we love it! I served it up with pork chop and potatoes and green beans...

one med red cabbage, shredded.
One large onuion sliced
One large cooking apple peeled and sliced finely (I cant get cooking apples so used three med eating apples. )
3 cloves.
3 teaspoons of sugar.
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar. I used red as I had it...
And 1/4 pint of chicken stock.

Put all the ingredients together in a ovenproof dish and cook gently for around a couple of hours, the dish must be tightly sealed so the liquid doesnt escape and dry it out. It will cook in ts own juices and be absolutely delish....
We had some left, I chilled it and served it up with cold meat as a kind of pickly... the next day... lovely

Ricks Aubergine stuff.. Recipe..

2011-09-17T11:04:00.000+01:00

Rick cooks them briefly in boiling water(large slices) then mashes them, puts them in a fying pan with thick sliced potatoes, and onions, a good glub of creamy coconut milk and lets them cook gently till the potato slices are cooked, then adds chopped peppers.... the peppers stay crunchy and fresh tasting....
Yummy served with grilled fish..

Stripy Aubergine Recipe.

2011-09-17T11:01:00.000+01:00

We've been trying different ways to eat all our lovely big aubergines. The way Ive found we like them at the moment as the weather is so hot we BBQ them.
I also have a good griddle pan which I use for them often

So simple...
Mix together, juice of a squeezed lemon, sprinkling of salt, plenty of good olive oil, and a good teaspoon of lazy garlic (lazy garlic is the crushed stuff that comes in a jar)
Then cut up your aubergines into good thick slices. brush with the marinade on both sides and grill till all nice and stripy.... mmmm yum
I add different herbs too... Rosemary worked very well instead of garlic...
As did sage....

Aubergine & Green pepper Rich Pasta sauce

2011-09-06T15:39:00.001+01:00

As Ive no room left in the freezer and the aubergines and peppers are still pushing out tons of fruit, and look to continue for a while yet. Ive been making this pasta sauce.

In a large roasting tin, I use a good sized turkey tin.

Chop plenty of aubergines, peppers, onions and garlic, good dash of olive oil, and a large glug of balsamic vinegar. Then chop and add an equal amount of fresh tomatoes. Sprinkle with dried oregano and roast in the oven till all cooked down and thick and gloopy as in my tomoato puree recipe , which is here somewhere.

Blend with a hand wizzer, add a dash of sugar if needed. put into hot sterilised jars , cover top with olive oil and screw on lids tight . will store for all winter.
Good as pasta sauce, on pizza.

Staying with Us. Winter Specials.

2011-08-31T09:48:00.000+01:00

Yes folks its that time of the year\ again.
We were so pleased with how the winter special deals went last year that Im running them again this winter.
So.
From Sept 30th all winter to March 31st 2012. The priceof Mara's Cottage will be only 15 euros a night. That includes your electricity, gas, and a reasonable supply of logs for the fire.
The caravan goes down to only 10 euros a night. Again that covers electricity and Gas. It has a good fuctioning heater and is cosy enough so Im told.
Im also starting the evening meals again too. three courses, wine and coffee, 7.50 per person
Booking for Octover already!!

Funniest thing Ive seen for ages...

2011-08-30T09:47:00.000+01:00

Just walked the dogs in the forest, its a lovely cool but sunny morning, almost autumnal...
Just down the lane the blackberries are just finishing, they have been laden this year...
I came round a bend in the track to see Beesa in the bushes. Wondering what she was upto I aproached quietly, she was eating blackberries straight off the bush... to see her trying to curl back her lips to nip off the berries without catching her mouth on the brambles.... was hysterical....makes me smile again now just thinking of it.... so sad I didnt have a camera...

Peach Compote Recipe -Frugal Cheat

2011-08-29T15:11:00.001+01:00

Im making quite a lot of this at the moment, a neighbour has given me all her fallen peaches, and while they are the small egg size peaches, they taste heavenly. Sadly most are bruised and not great to eat fresh, so Im making compote and we'll have wonderful peach pies during winter.
I am having to peel my peaches as they are bruised and thin skinned, but remove the skin whichever way you find easiest, dropping into water like tomatoes would be easy if your peaches were sound ones.
stone them and cut away bruised bits.
When you have done them all add a good couple of handfuls of sultanas. And then... heres the cheat bit... a peeled finely diced marrow.... Marrow is so bland it more or less has no flavour of its own, and can be used to bulk out almost anything like this. It takes on the stronger flavours of the fruit and no one will ever know...
I also at this point have been adding a big dollop of cheap whiskey, only because I have it , a guest left half a bottle behind in the cottage and we dont drink whiskey... (I usually put red wine in this recipe)
Before you add the booze, whichever you use, weigh the fruit alltogther . You will need two thirds of that weight in sugar, put to one side for later.
So simmer all your fruit and booze together till its all soft and well fallen and the juice has made it liquid... now add the sugar. Stir well and turn up the heat so it bubbles well for about 15 or 20 mins...
Put while hot into hot sterile jars , cover with small paper discs as for jam and screw on lids tight. It will keep in a cool cupboard all winter... great for pies, turnovers.... on pancakes... or icecream... yummy

Harvesting Squash.

2011-08-26T14:47:00.000+01:00

Well we wont go hungry this winter. So far I have harvested, 38 Butternut squashes, 32 Spagetti pumpkins, 5 Uchikiri, 11 Harlequin Pumpkins and have 5 very large normal pumkins to come. The Butter nuts are sprouting more shoots and have a few smaller squashes to come yet. They always push out a smaller crop if I manage to pick them in time. I have around a dozen marrows too, some I will use as chutney bulking stuff, others will keep in a cool place for months yet, and be used as roast veggies cut into large chunks and sprinkled with herbs... ymmmy..

Wood- Warm and Cosy this wintertime..

2011-08-26T14:37:00.003+01:00

Two Rows in the barn.

Well, its that time of year again, the big race is on to collect, cut, split and stack enough dry wood to see us and hopefully cottage guests through the winter. We've worked hard over the summer, to collect plenty, and Rick has spent a vast part of his days lately cutting and splitting the dry stuff, Ive been dillegently doing my part by stacking it all neatly in the barn. We now have two rows, right across the barn stacked to head height. With a pile ready for stacking that should make another row... and Rick is busy splitting a pile outside the barn that hopefully will be another row... Four... isnt enough. but we have lots of scrap scattered around the place yet to collect, tons of pine braches, but they are right down the bottom on the orchard... anyone who has been to our place knows how steep the road between our house and that orchard is.... but, if I want to be warm and cosy this winter, it has to be done. Not only does it keep us warm but cooks our food and dries the washing too...Its a vital part of what we do here... but such hard work... I just keep thinking of how lovely and warm we will be this winter... and all for free....

Two rows in the barn and more to stack

Rick working Hard

Frugal Living, Quick & Simple Pasta sauce etc..

2011-08-24T11:45:00.000+01:00

For Pasta sauces, tomato sauces and my purees, I do exactly the same as for the pie fillings, .
For pasta sauce, I chop all my excess veg, courgettes, peppers, green beans, aubergines etc... make sure the veg is all cut to similar sizes , add plenty of chopped onion, and garlic, and tons of tomatoes... I dont add any liquid... it will all simmer away in its own juices, and when all is soft and tender, season , I tend to add a little sugar...
Meanwhile wash and sterilise jars in boiling water as in last post for pie fillings, fill hot jars with piping hot sauce, making sure to leave a good gap at the top, fill this gap with olive oil... it makes a good airtight seal. Screw on lids and leave to cool.
This method works just as well for tomato sauce, I just chop the toms, add lashings of onions and garlic and herbs, obviously basil works well, so does oregano.. I dont add any liquid, they cook well in their own juices...
For tomato puree, just chop the toms onions and garlic add a small amount of good oil and a good splodge of balsamic vinegar to a roasting dish, pile in the toms, a large heaped tin will roast down to a small amount, roast gently for ages... Im lucky I have a wood stove, when almost all the liquid have evaporated, and whats left is nice and thick and gloopy... add a little salt and a pinch of sugar. and blitz with a hand blender. reheat till piping hot... and put in hot jars as above... add your olive oil to seal tops and away you go... great to add on almost anything you want a concentrated tomatoey taste too...
I plan on making homemade tomato pasta this winter... just by adding a spoonful to the flour while Im making it

Frugal Living. Quick & Simple pie fillings.

2011-08-24T11:32:00.000+01:00

We have a glut of fruit at the moment, and although I am fast running out of jars now, this is the way I make my sweet pie fillings to keep for winter.
All I do is , wash and clean the fruit, at the moment its black berries or peaches.
The blackberries are put in the preserving pan, any large heavy pan will do, with just a small amount of water, to one kilo of fruit I add around 200 ml of liquid.. gently warm the fruit till the juice runs... simmer away till fruit is soft and fallen. Add equal amounts of sugar to fruit... bring to a rolling boil as in making jam... but dont expect it to thicken like jam.
For the peaches I just peel, and pit them, cut into chunks as it will cook down to a pulp. (half the water though) I also add the odd clove and a handful of dried fruit... and cook as for the berries, when all has fallen to a soft pulp, add the sugar, and rolling boil..
Meanwhile, scrub jars well, I then fill my washing up bowl with boiling water, slip in the jars and lids, and leave to sterilise for a few minutes, then with tongs I pick one at a time out, fill with red hot fruit , and put a paper circle on inside to seal against the air, then screw on lids tight. Mine always keeps for all winter...
Perfect for a quick pie filling, fruit turnovers, or just on pancakes ... yummy...

Natures Bounty...

2011-08-22T11:13:00.001+01:00

Well , I thought the garden was winding down a bit... and I suppose in some ways it is... but I seem to have spent all my time since my last post, either picking, preserving bottling freezing... or eating the produce we have...
Its a lovely time of the year, we are almost completely living off our garden produce. We've tons of tomatoes, I pick a washing up bowl full every other day almost... Im making tons of roasted tomato puree, and tomato passata, and pasta sauces, luckily the basil is doing well too so we eat tomato onion and basil salad with most meals...
The french beans have been wonderful, they are almost done now, but we've been eating them most days too as I have so many in the freezer I just cant freeze any more. The latest crop of peas is just starting, we've had a couple of meals from them to ring the changes from beans... there wont be enough to freeze, which is great as there just isnt the room... but I have plenty in there from our early crop anyway... the pt beans are cropping now and Im picking again a washing up bowl full every few days and no room to freeze them...
The aubergines and peppers are slowing down a bit, which is great as we are having to eat them as they come and its testing my creative cooking skills a bit at the mo... how many times can you serve up a mix of beans, toms, aubergines peppers, courgettes... without going .... ohh no not again...
The Jar situation is becoming quite critical too.... I have a few jam sized jars left for the peach preserve I plan to make this week, but the large kilo jars I use for pasta sauce etc and preserving figs in syrup are in very short supply. Sadly Ive had a few with damaged lids but I think I may have to buy some more...
My freezer is just crammed, Rick took everything out and rearranged it last night to fit in some magnificent huge honey figs our neigbour gave us... a large carrier bag ful... these are the biggest figs Ive ever seen... and so sweet... I have another large bag coming in a few days and nowhere to put them, I have a excellent recipe for bottling them in honey/tea syrup but need some jars badly.
We have done really well for fruit this year, peaches in syrup, peach preserve, blackberry and apple jam, blackberries in syrup, frozen blackberries, frozen mini grapes, frozen apples sliced... black currants...
And more peaches to come....
phew...

Another Quick Update

2011-08-12T15:30:00.001+01:00

hehehe Im updating this again very quickly because certain people are nagging me.... Yes Betty... I mean you!
I do realise, Ive neglected this blog most of the summer. But its precisely this time of the year where I barely get time to draw breath let alone get my thoughts together to write this blog... Sorry.
So... well Rick is back, the working in the UK thing just didnt work out for us, he didnt earn enough to warrant the heartache it caused us both being apart. (Everybody say AHHHH) luckily the cottage and caravan have both paid their way the last month, plus with more bookings to come, its enabled us to live and start to put a tiny bit by for the winter.
Rick is off to Germany the last week of August to run a Softball training clinic over there, and hopefully again to Madrid in late Sept... so thats looking promising too...
The garden is starting to wind down a bit now, all thats left to come is tons more beans... french ones and runners and portuguese ones too... we are eating as many as possible, giving them away and making them into veggie pasta sauces, as the freezer is more or less packed to the gills... Ive saved enough room in there for the late peas, some more apples, and some more aubergines...
We will soon have our second crop of peas, yummy.... the basil is still going strong, as are the tomatoes, kilos and kilos... and the peppers and aubergines too...
In the freezer we have, chestnuts from last year, jerusalam artichokes, peas, carrots, broad beans, french beans, sliced runners, sliced portuguese beans, podded pt beans, sliced yellow american beans, leeks, toms, aubergines, peppers, corn, tons of it, coriander, basil and sage, parsnips, apples, blackberries, and grapes, figs. Probably much more I cant think of right now...
We still have three sacks of potatoes in storage, I managed to produce 7 Galia melons... they were fantastic... so sweet...
All the winter squash is ripening up nicely, Ive tons of marrows to be used as bulk for chutney, im madly processing the toms into roasted tomato puree, tomato sauce, with basil, or with onions and garlic... pasta sauce with veggies.... Ive sundried a huge jar full too.... made 12 litres of Fennel liquer...
I have a massive crop of wild blackberries all around us, Ive frozen some, and made eight jars of blackberry and apple jam, but have a huge batch to make within a day or two. Then will come chutney... the beets are all pickled and put away...
So we are still working like mad to get everything done and make sure none goes to waste... we planted 3 doz caulis and 3 doz cabbage today too...
At least its cooled down today, the weather has been soooooo hot, 38 degrees and more the last few days, today is only 32 and feels wonderful, we actually have breeze...thank heavens for that pool....

General Update...playing catch up

2011-07-26T21:02:00.001+01:00

Well, its seems such a long long time since Ive updated this blog. Its been weeks. Suddenly I dont know where the time goes, days, weeks even have slipped by and I just seem to miss this blog out... then suddenly I think.... ooh poo, best update the blog, I keep getting emails from people who worry about us... Ah bless... thank you all of you, you know who you are...
Right.
Whats been going on in our world then... lots in some ways.... and not much in others...
The biggest thing really I suppose, is that Rick is back in the UK, and has been for almost three weeks now...and for me it seems like forever.
It was a hard decision, we had been discussing it for a while, and had put it off a few times. Then Rick's son Daniel called to say he and his lovely wife Lynne and their twin girls were probably emigrating to Canada, very. very quickly, as he had been headhunted by IBM . He offered to pay for his dad to go visit them all before they left, that sealed the deal, really, it seemed daft to come back when he could stay and try to earn us some dosh to get through the winter... plus he could play some Softball too.... Killing three birds with one stone so to speak....
So... there you have it. He hopefully will be back by late August, early Sept. Earlier if I have my way...
The cottage and caravan keep us pottering along money wise, but never enough since the crisis hit, to put by for the winter really. So he had to go earn some...
Im working like mad trying to keep the place going at the mo, its pretty difficult, I am doing what I can but so much doesnt get done, like weeding, strimming etc.. I could have volunteers I suppose but then I would have to cook for them, and at the moment, its so hot, I just live on fruit, yogurt and salad....I think they would complain...
Im concentrating on harvesting our food and watering whats still growing, I was up at 5 am today so I could plant more beans for autumn while it was nice and cool...
I also cut all my coriander , Ive left it to go to seed and now its cut and drying in the kitchen, I use the seed for chutney in autumn. Then I always have enough to replant too...
I harvested 97 corn cobs for the freezer , yummy...
I picking and freezing aubergines, peppers and courgettes most days now, plus a few toms the last couple of days. I have the drying rack out and starting to fill it too... Sun dried tomatoes are so good come winter...
I have my second crop of french beans coming on well, and ordinary portugues beans too. The first lot have been pulled and frozen... same with the peas, my second crop of those wont be too long either... thats the joy of this country, I just keep planting till the frosts come...
The wild apple trees nearby have lots of tiny apples on I hope to harvest later, and Im madly picking blackberries when I can... I hope to make jam this year...
My fennel liquer has been strained and bottled the other day... 12 litres this year.... thats a lot more than I thought... Rick will be very pleased...
Ive managed to stash 9 kilo jars of pickled beetroot away as well, with him not here to pinch it, it will keep longer...
I have tons of winter squash , butternuts, ukuchi kiri , spagetti pumpkin, and some REALLY huge pumpkins... still growing ... they were plants I found growing on the compost heap and transplanted... wow, we certainly will be eating a lot of pumpkin this winter...I have never grown one as big as this one before... hopefully later when its done, I will take a picture.
My Gladiator parsnips are getting big.... but some little bugger keeps eating them from below... its had three now... I never know till the leaves wilt... when you pull them there is nothing left but a stump....
Lettuce.... my word... weve had more lettuce this summer than anyone should ever have to eat... and still tons left...
So there you have it... the girls and me are fine, the garden is muddling along.... Hopefully Rick will come home soon...
Lots of cottage bookings will come in so he wont need to go again....

Frugal Living Recipe. Beetroot Suprise.

2011-07-04T11:39:00.001+01:00

I know Ive posted this before somewhere, but its such a great recipe and my beets are just coming in now and they are lovely this year. We are eating tons at the moment. Im pickling them in sweet vinegar, just boiling and slipping the skins and eating them in salads.
But the best ever recipe for beetroot is Beetroot Suprise.
We called it that because not being a great 'beetroot as a hot vegetable' type of family, we didnt think it would be good... but its delicious... so its a 'suprise'.
Boil the baby beets till the skins will slip off easily, cut enough beets in to chunks to fill the bottom of an ovenproof dish.
Cover with sliced mushrooms.
Pour over the top a good strong cheese sauce.
Sprinkle the top with oats and seseme seeds.
Bake in a moderate oven till the top is brown and crisp and the underneath is bubbling....
Hmmmm yummm
Serve with Rice & Beans and a salad.
Or... gently wilt the beetroot leaves with a knob of butter and serve as a green vegetable... delish.

Salad Days are here again...

2011-07-01T17:37:00.001+01:00

Oooh I love this time of the year when all the lovely salad stuff is coming in. We are eating new potatoes with most things at the moment, plus we have tons of lettuce, rocket leaves, and beetroot. I love the beetrootleaves either in salads or wilted like spinach with a knob of butter. I also eat baby courgettes raw and chopped on salads, plus lovely new fresh peas...
ust last night we had homemade veggie quiche, a salad of new pots, chopped raw courgettes, grated carrot and sprinkled with fresh peas. I made Rick a huge bowl of homemade coleslaw, its his absolute fave stuff at this time of the year, made with our own red cabbage, grated carrot and onion... yummy.
The tomatoes although no where near ready are very tall, and healthy looking after our scare with the potatoes. They havelots of fruit setting and tons more flowers, so I think we'll get a good crop. The corn is also looking as if it wont be long , another week or two maybe, some of the silks are already turning a bit brown, and that when you should pick. when its all brown.

Today I picked a huge bucket of peas, and another one of french beans which have all been frozen for winter. We are eating a lot of cabbage as normal, if Rick doesnt get to eat cabbage in some way at least three times a week he complains..
Tomorrow or sunday I'll have to pick green peppers, there is around twenty ready, and the aubergines re starting anyday now, we have ome small ones coming on. I'll freeze most of these peppers and aubergines that we dont eat , then when the tomatoes come in, I'll use the access peppers and aubergines with them for pasta sauce in jars.

We have been busy planting our new rhubarb crowns out today, we have two now and they are small but looking good and healthy, maybe next year or the following one, I'll be making crumbles with it...

First pickings...

2011-06-24T14:52:00.001+01:00

What lovely weather we are having at the moment, its hot during the day, but for us anyway, it is nice and breezy and much cooler at night. This I could cope with forever...
Today I was up bright and early, have to be nowadays as its getting too hot to work during the heat of the day so we have to find the hours somewhere. So I get up earlier, the garden was still lovely and damp from last nights watering, so nice and cool for working. I picked, two big bunches of baby carrot thinnings, a colander of peas, another large bowl of french beans, thats the second this week. Plus a large bunch of baby beetroots, five small green peppers and ahandful of courgettes..
Nothing will be wasted, The peas were podded and put in the freezer, the pods were chopped and put in the dog bag towards tonights meal for them, the baby carrots were scrubbed, topped and tailed and put in the freezer, they go into rice dishes etc, the carrot tops I trimmed and put in a bag and into the freezer for bulking out soup during winter, great vitamins. Some french beans were put aside for tonights dinner while the rest was frozen. The peppers and courgettes will be eaten tonight also. And I'll pickle the beets tomorrow...
All in all a good first pickings...

The peas are coming on well now, we should have more than last year, and we have made a large second sowing too so will have some late sept time too...
We are keeping on with the beet sowings to make sure of plenty of those, and cabbage of course, Ive tons of red cabbage coming so lots of recipes needed to make it different.

Sunshine & Sardines

2011-06-23T16:27:00.001+01:00

One of the great joys in life living in this country are the fantastic people we meet and share our lives with.
One of those people is Dona Lara, one of our closest friends and a nearby neighbour. Shes in her mid seventies and lives alone, but is always cheerful and smiling. She works so hard from first light to dark. She has chickens, ducks, goats, cats and a dog, grows all her own food and food for her animals and bedding for them too. She is a really lovely lady and often invites us for lunch at her home. Today was one of those days.
Although she has a good kitchen she, like most Portuguese would never dream of cooking fish inside the house... she has a fire pit in the yard with a grid over that she cooks the fish on, we prepared, tomato and onion salad plus shredded lettuce and onion salad, boiled potatoes she dug just as we arrived, and fresh bread and olives, lashings of her own olive oil and a large jug of her own wine to wash it all down with. We sat outside under her shady vine covered yard and stuffed ourselves... she then came back with a homemade Pudim which is kind of eggy desert.... and fresh plums from the tree...
What a wonderful way to pass the afternoon... the sun was shining, we had good food and wine, lovely company . Its what living here is all about for us. We may not have any money, but the quality of life is unbeatable...
One of the good things is also that I know the meal she gave us, didnt cost her much either, apart from the actual fish everything else was her own grown...

Herb teas...

2011-06-19T18:30:00.001+01:00

I went out today and was given a lovely cup of home dried mint tea... and suprisingly as Im not a 'minty' kind of person it was delicious, so this afternoon I went behind the house and picked a couple of huge bunches of the wild mint that grows there, its a nice shady place and its still nice and lush and green up there.
I plan to dry it nicely over the next few days , then I'll brew it up, add a couple of spoons of either the Stevia or some honey, then chill it in the fridge, which we've just moved back into the house for summer. It will make a lovely refreshing drink on hot days... and cost me nothing...
I hope to dry enough for the winter too so I can drink it hot then when I want...
Im also madly drying Mullien, good for all chest, lungs, coughs, mucus, and of course pain relief... the plants are huge at the moment, and stunningly beautiful with their tall yellow flowering spikes... great additions to any winter herbal teas...
As is Lavender, Im picking some this week to dry for adding to herb teas in winter, good for headaches, migraines, or just adding to your bath (if you are lucky enough to have one,) a great relaxing stress relieving scented bath for last thing at night...
The wild Fennel is huge here too right now.... Ive picked and dried my Fennel leaf already, great in teas for indigestion, wind, colic in babies, etc... makes a great Liquer too...

Now is the time to make repeated pickings of Lemon Balm and Lemon Verbena, great in many different winter teas and remedies. Lemon Balm, is a beautiful calming, mood lifting tea , also good in salves as a skinhealer and soother...
Lemon Verbena is excellent for most nasal complaints.. like sinisitis., etc.. good for coughs and colds too... also settles the stomach a little...

Stevia Herb Update.

2011-06-19T18:14:00.001+01:00

Well.... it wasnt a great success, the trying to grow my own plants... It actually wasnt a success at all... I managed to buy 40 seeds, so far Ive potted up 20 of them, in batches of ten at a time.... nothing... nada... zilch... I really thought I would be able to germinate them with it being so warm and humid here...
I have another batch Im going to try this next week at its turning warmer still...
But in the mean time, I saw the lovely German lady that told me about the Stevia herb originally and she sold me some for a couple of euros, its the green Stevia which is dried ground up leaf ... Im trying it in tea... it is defo MUCH sweeter than sugar... I use around just less than a third of a spoonful... when normally I would take three sweetners in coffee... so its much sweeter, it does have a very unusual taste... and I could understand if some people didnt like it... I didnt the first few mouthfuls... but I persevered and I think I could become accustomed to it in time... In coffee.... hmmm not sure... Im trying tea and then will work up to it... all the time telling myself.... its calorie free.... its calories free....
It does actually have a sort of chemical taste... which is strange... but thats more pronounced the more you use, so less is defo best in this case.
You can buy a refined Stevia liquid, which is supposed to be better than the green, but I really want to grow it, so getting use to the green leaf type is right for me...

Bartering...

2011-06-14T10:42:00.000+01:00

Just a quickie ...
If any one of you reading this lives within reasonable distance of us... Im going to have tons of Jerusalem Artichokls this autumn... and I mean tons... Im looking to barter most of them ,for a joint of meat maybe...
They are excellent for freezing, roasting , soup etc or just for planting to grow your own for pig food, pigs absolutely love them...
Please get in touch anyone who is interested...

General Update.

2011-06-14T10:22:00.001+01:00

Well things here are pottering along, our lovely friends Jan & Alik have moved on for the rest of their holiday and are traveling around southwards...
After a few days of quite cool weather... well cool for us anyway, it dropped to 18/19 degrees... which after 30 or so, seemed chilly... its picked up nicely again and is around 25/27 degrees which for me is about perfect, it still cools nicely at night so we can all get a good nights sleep and get plenty of work done outside during the day.
We are having a bit of a car problem, after Rick being smart and fixing the farting and coughing problem, it still needed a new part for the starter motor, no problem, the engineer said, in and out, one day 45 euros.... lovely we said.... except when Rick went to collect it after work having dropped it off on his way and some friends picking him up and taking him to work and doing the reverse in the evening.... a problem... its a rare part, not sold here, has to be imported via UK and all in all wont be ready till fri at best, and will cost three times what we were told.... bugger, bugger bugger....
But.... it has to be done, we want to sell the car and get another van, a van is so much more 'us' ...
It also means that ricky cant work this week as we have no transport... bless him he's walked into town this morning while its cooler to get me a few odds and ends of groceries...
The garden is still coming on, it seems slower this year... maybe thats me I dont know... but the daily slog of watering has begun, the whole top terrace which is my squashes , peppers and chillis and the aubergines and soft fruit has to be done by hand with a watering can. We have moved the large tank over there and pump the water from the well every few days, we plant all the squashes in large deep sink like holes, so we can fill each sink with food and water and it doesnt run off but soaks in gently, works a treat for us, I have tons of baby squash poppin out... Ive picked the odd baby courgette too... all the aubergines have tons of flowers and the pepper plants are setting baby peppers too... as are the chillis. I dont think I'll have the hundreds of piri piri that I had last year but what I have coming are much bigger...
The tomatoes seem to have survived our infected potato problem, but some look very wek, so I may well put in a few more and so we get a more staggered crop than the huge glut we normally get, all the potatoes are dug and clean and stored in our storage chest upstairs, we ended with four sacks... which is a poor crop for what we planted, but hey... they are free , delicious and will last us till probably christmas or late late autumn at the least...
We've been busy clearing a space and digging trenches and putting up concrete posts and wires for our new Raspberry bed,(and one new Loganberry Rick bought me as a pressie) last year I was given six canes and they have transformed themselves into around 25 this summer, so we've moved them into orderly rows and given them some support ect in the hopes they will keep increasing and then we can make a nice cage to stop the birds or rabbits or whatever it is that keeps nicking them before me...
I dont think its rabbits, as we now have a lovely family of foxes, we are keeping it quiet from our village neighbours over the hill as they will come with either traps or poison and I dont want that... I dont have chickens and they are feeding on the local rabbit population which is helping my veggie garden no end...
The first few nights drove us nuts as they yip and yap as they play and our dogs barked half the night... but they seem to have got used to it now and things are quieter...
The lovely Jan brought me two baby rhubarb crowns too, so they are coming along nicely in pots till the autumn when I think they'll be strong enough to plant out.
The amount of fruit we've planted you would think we would be in clover wouldnt you.... but sadly pretty much none of it is old enough to be giving much more than a handful here and there.... in a few years though we'll have every kind of fruit imaginable .... I hope..
The guest cottage situation is not bad, not great but again we are stumbling along, we've had a few cottage guest and have some more booked in, the caravan has helped out a little, with the odd booking here and there, its not wonderful in terms of income to live on, but we are just about paying the bills and staying afloat, just a few more would make such a difference to our coming winter so I have to pin some hopes on our Spanish guests who generally come last moment July and August, I have two lots booked in now but more are needed...
The whole Cottage area is looking very pretty this year, Im so pleased, the tubs are all down to me , I grew the flowers from seed so they have cost us pennies this year compared to arounf 15- 20 euros other years.... you can guess what I'll do from now on...

The new hot water system is working reasonably well, it still needs tweeking, but we have free hot water most days and thats excellent for us...
Work on the wind turbine is at a standstill, Rick is blaming lack of money... but I think without Aliks motivational skills its stumbled to a halt...

First complete meal

2011-06-09T18:02:00.001+01:00

Today we are eating our first more or less complete meal from the garden this year. Ive been picking and eating lettuce, plus new potatoes a handful of strawberries and raspberries ect...
But today we have a almost grown by us meal... the only thing I bought was chorizo sausage..and a tomato.
We are having a kind of 'one pot wonder' casserole type thing...
Sliced chorizo in the bottom, onion, baby carrots, broad beans, a nice handful of our first green beans chopped, a couple of our chopped baby courgettes, a couple of good handfuls of the pebble potatoes, a chopped tomato, a stock cube, a few herbs , and put in the oven for a couple of hours, served with the wilted leaves of some first pickings of baby beetroot Im pickling later... yummy.
Pebble potatoes, are what I call all those teeny tiny ones that are only as big as large peas ... I save them all for casseroles ect...
I always save the good leaves from the beetroot to eat instead of spinach, cooked in the same way, wilted with a knob of butter, its better and much nicer than spinach...

My lovely veggies...

2011-06-08T11:28:00.000+01:00

Just as a little boast for me... we've been picking and eating fantastic broccoli... its far bigger and better than my caulis... The picture shows some with a normal med sized onion... Five heads chopped filled a carrier bag for the freezer...
Sadly we've had to dig all our spuds... even what was going to be our main crop. They had some kind of desease, the leaves turned yellow, then got brown spots and the plants died... its not blight, I know those signs. The potatoes are lovely, not marked, well formed and taste great, but they are just small. But we will have enough to feed us in 'new potatoes' for the next 2 or 3 months, so its not so bad... the problem is I stupidly forgot that potatoes and tomatoes are the same family and shouldnt be planted near each other... so our tom plants are showing signs of the same problem, we spayed with bordaux mix and seem to have halted the worst of it for the toms... but have decided to plant a few new toms away from that area just to be sure, toms are such a huge part of our winter food supply...
This year isnt great for beans either, but Im continuing to plant all the time, so hopefully it will all come out well. The peas are great compared to last year, double the amount I hope...
The squashes are coming on very well... we have sp many different varieties this year too, I have high hopes of a bumper crop...
The sweetcorn is almost as high as me, and looking good...
Alik has taken my plans home with him for building a hand made grain mill... and has promised to bring a completed model next year... so Im all excited and will save lots of seed and plant a huge amount in anticipation.... then I'll have my own ground corn for cornbread etc...

Wonderful free hot water....

2011-06-08T10:55:00.001+01:00

Well, Alik and Rick really excelled themselves this last week...

For the first time in almost a year since the gas hot water heater broke we now have lovely hot water in the house.... and the best, bestest... thing is its free....

The system is so simple its wonderful, it looks a tad 'Heath Robinson style' at the moment as our bathroom is not staying where it is so we didnt want it made too permanent... this way we can keep the same system and move the pipes and tank at will..

The basic way it works is this...
Alik & the lovely Jan brought with them from UK an old central heating radiator, painted black.

Rick and Alik then moved out my log fired kitchen range and fitted the rad to the wall directly behind it, we knew how hot it got as during the winter the whole stone wall heats up during the day and keeps the kitchen toasty at night by giving off the heat all night...

They attached copper pipe each end, one for cold water flowing in, one for hot flowing out... the pipes go up through the ceiling to a converted plastic water barrel, which is the hot water tank, which is connected to a cut down plastic barrel that acts as a header tank... its all connected to the bathroom... wonderful... we also have a hot water tap downstairs now at the sink to be used during water as a 'run off point' for excess hot water when the range is lit all day...

There should be pictures here ....

The black rad goes up to the house

The range cooker lays down while the rad is fitted to the stone wall

The rad fits perfectly in the cooker gap... and the pipes are fitted.

The header tank is prepared

The connections go on the top of the hot water tank... converted plastic barrel...

The connections on the bottom of the water tank..

The complete barrel

The cooker back in place and the hot water flowing....

The prototype of the next project... hopefully will power our lights...

Weeds, windturbines and water...

2011-05-31T22:35:00.001+01:00

It seems so long since I sat down to update this blog, I think in reality its maybe been about three weeks...
I would like to thank all those lovely people who over the last few days have either emailed or phoned... or both to make sure that we are all okay... Its really touching that people care that much about us.. thanks guys, you know who you are...
There is no problems, we are all fine, its just been very hectic here, during the last few weeks, rick has had some work that has taken him away from the place for long days, very long days, hes just been coming home, eating, showering and going to bed, Ive had a knee injury, that has meant my weeding times have to be cut drasticly, so the work has really built up here, it soon happens the weather has been perfect growing weather, good hot sunny days with thunder and rain early evening, creating ideal growing climate... sadly weeds grow the fastest...
So to combat the problem of me feeling a little overwhelmed by all the work stacking up that I just cannot do, due to injury and just not enough hours in the day... we have two good helpers arrived the other day, now I know we said we were not having any this summer, but Andy and Katja were a couple I had approached twice over the last year or so and they were always in such great demand, I missed out... so when they offered to come immediately, I jumped at the chance, and true to their word they arrived next day and have got stuck in very well, such great enthusiasmn... its excellent.
We also have our old friends Alik and Jan staying a while, making wind turbines, adapting my range cooker to heat hot water and doing all kinds of weird and wonderful contraptions ...
The plan for the hot water is this... we now have a old but good cenrtal heating radiator that rick and alik are fitting to the back of my log burner cooker, it will be connected to the mains water, the cooker when alight will heat it up, the pipes will then run to a water tank upstairs which will be conected to a header tank and hopefully make a cheap, and good system... as my boiler has been broken a year with no chance of fixing ...I long for a good supply of hot water.
The homemade wind turbine... made from scrap wood, a car\alternator and blades made from plastic drainpipe will hopefully eventually run our lights... most of the time...
Its all very exciting... pictures will follow of successful results...
The garden is going great guns, I grew from seed tons of squashes, spaggetti pumpkins, harliquin pumpkins, normal pumpkins, butternuts, three different sizes, uchich kuri .. courgettes... oh just about 45 in total... and all are looking good... and have baby fruits on them, we've had tons of broccali, and huge... bigger than my caulis were last year... sadly rick doesnt like it... we have lettuce coming out our ears and we've just started digging gorgeous new spuds...
I love this time of the year....

Followers...

2011-05-07T13:41:00.002+01:00

All I can see if the word, Followers... can you all see the picture block? It suddenly vanished for me almost a week ago....

Followers...

2011-05-06T18:52:00.003+01:00

My followers bit has dissapeared... Im not sure how or why...

Frugal Living... Nettles and yet more Nettle recipes..

2011-05-06T18:51:00.000+01:00

Frugal Living. Nettle soup version two.

Well, I’m sorry I don’t seem to be finding much time lately to update this blog, its obviously getting into our busy time for the land work and I just don’t seem to get round to this much these days.

Everything is steaming away, growing like mad, and sadly the weeds are growing the fastest of all. At the mo, I’m trying to spend at least a couple of hours every day down there weeding, plus I’m picking tons of broad beans, podding them and freezing them, and of course trying to keep the weeds around the cottage and guest area under control so it all looks pretty and welcoming for our guests…

So we are living on easy cook stuff at the moment, and soup seems to be high on that list…and as we have a nice big patch of nettles that I keep trimming the tops off to keep them growing and fresh… nettle soup is top of the list…

Rick and I generally disagree on soup… I like mine blended and smooth; he likes what we call ‘big soup’ which is good and chunky…

This is my version of nettle and chorizo big soup.

I am lucky I can buy a kilo of cheapy and quite bland chorizo on our market for 2.80 euros. And for that I get 8 chorizo, and I only use one at a time for soup so it’s very economical. The rest gets bunged in the freezer.

The night before, soak a large handful of dry beans… I use black-eyed beans

Cook the beans in fresh water till soft.

Peel and chop a large onion, chop a couple of carrots into regular chunks, a couple of cloves of garlic, put in a large pan and sauté in a dollop of olive oil. Add a couple of large potatoes, diced, a good handful of shredded cabbage, keep stirring to prevent it all sticking, add more olive oil if needed. Slice thinly the chorizo sausage, add that to the pan, then add a good colander full of nettle tops and stir well. Cover all with water /stock and simmer till veg is soft, if you use water, add a stock cube, I added a couple of chopped tomatoes as I had some leftover…plus the cooked beans, let it all simmer till the veg is soft and the potatoes are ‘falling’.

Serve with chunks of fresh soda bread…. Yummy.

I made nettle and chicken and Parmesan ravioli the other day… it was gorgeous, I’m using the nettles in anywhere that I would use spinach… or cabbage …

Make the fresh pasta as normal, and for the filling I just, put in a pan some chopped cooked chicken, just a handful, some chopped stingers (nettles) make sure there is plenty, a little chopped onion, a knob of butter. I then sautéed it all together, added the grated parmesan at the end when it was all nicely mixed, shoved it in the pasta and cooked it… with a homemade tomato sauce it was delicious…

You could replace the spinach in a lasagne with nettles too…

Frugal Living. Nettles and Eggs...

2011-04-30T11:02:00.000+01:00

Now Ive made the leap to feeding Rick on nettles and he's accepted the idea... Im branching out with other ideas on what to do with them, we have a good large patch that Im trimming the tops off reguarly to keep them nice and young and fresh.
Today Im making ravioli... I have a little Parmesan left that a friend brought for us last week... I love it... and its so expensive and hard to find here..
So I'll make the ravioli, and fill it with nettles, garlic and grated parmesan the nettles wilt rather like spinach... a nice gentle tomato sauce and it will be yummy... served with a nice beanpod puree...

Also at the mo, Ive discovered that I can use some of my broad bean pods... I have an old vegtable cookery book that gave me the recipe, make sure you use pods that are fresh, not too big or stringy and tough, chop them finely, cook in gently salted water till soft, then drain really well, add a good dash of salt n pepper, a nice knob of butter and then blitz with the hand blender...
I must admit its not the most fantastic veg Ive ever eaten, but its reasonably tasty, and utilises all those pods that get thrown away... I really hate throwing away food I could use in some way... Im chopping up the bigger tougher ones and putting them in the dog food cooking pot too... Im also using some of the puree as a base for soups...

I heard another good idea the other day and one I shall be using myself , freezing eggs.... something Ive never dreamt of doing but according to Sam over at http://www.boschrealestate.co.uk/ it works like a dream. She has chickens now and is busy being industrious and she beats two eggs together , pours it into little bags and freezes it , then whenever she wants to bake, she has the right quanitity of eggs all bagged up ready to defrost... what an excellent idea for saving up eggs for the winter when they go off laying...

Im busy picking, eating and freezing broad beans, for the first time ever we have tons... its wonderful , we love them and never have managed to grow enough before, now Ive cracked it... I just sling them in, and leave them alone, I always babied them , fussing and weeding and pampering them along , and they never did reward me... this lot... I stuck down the orchard, and forgot abouyt them for weeks at a time, then when we noticed pod coming, a quick weeding to see the light and thats it... we've tons...
Next year... oooh next year I'll plant the whole damn orchard with them...

Wonderful Working Weather

2011-04-25T22:35:00.000+01:00

After a few days of welcome rain, its been lovely to see the sunshine again, I know we’d had weeks of dry warm weather and the land really needed the rain, but I do so love waking up in the mornings to sunny days…It really spurs me on to get motivated early and get out there working.

Today was one of those days, I could open the top terrace doors by eight this morning, and it lets the sunshine flood in upstairs and really cheers up the place.

We made a good start by getting out and planting the first batch of squashes on our top level land by the road, we did the peppers aubergines and tomatoes the other day, today was the turn of Courgettes, Harlequin pumpkins, Spaghetti pumpkins, small, medium and large Butternuts, and Uchikiri, I’m sure that’s not quite spelt correctly, but it’s a round winter squash… you know what I mean..

We have more or less finished the planting now, just the odd gap to fill now and again, I’ve tons more squashes coming on, and will stuff them in all over the place, we can never have too many. as they store so well for winter.

I’ve been weeding the Jerusalem Artichokes this morning too, they seem to be sprouting up all over the place, plus my 6 Raspberry canes that I was given last summer but didn’t seem to be doing much… have established themselves and quadrupled when I checked them today, so they were carefully weeded and given a nice feed of comfrey liquid too… I love Raspberries…and look forward to tons in the future.

I finished weeding the Blackcurrants, which are flourishing, I’ll have to split and replant them all come the autumn.

I then managed to pick another large bag of nettles and made some soup and soda bread for lunch, did two loads of laundry and dried it in the sunshine, folded and put away all within three hours… I love this weather.

This afternoon I picked a big bowl full of Broad beans and podded them for the freezer and there will be tons more in a few days, I’m so pleased, this is the first year I’ve successfully managed to grow a reasonable amount of them…

While I was down that way, I picked tons of wild fennel to dry for the winter; I use it in many remedies. I also make gorgeous Liquor from Fennel and aguadente, and will get the first 5-litre bottle underway tomorrow.

I’ve made a start on drying plenty of herbs, already I have some, sage, lemon balm and comfrey hanging up, plus quite a lot of Mullein, I don’t need so much Mullein as I’ve been stashing it away most of the spring and have a big bag now…

My jar of Rosemary is full too, as I’ve been blessed with lots early on this year, The lavender wont be long either…it seems this year will be an abundant year for herbs…

I spent a while down on the veggie patch poking in peas… for the last two years now we’ve had a problem with lack of peas… I plant tons, but only a few plants come up, we think its mice, as we do have a problem with mice down there, so I spend any odd moments I have nipping down and just popping some more in, I just poke a hole with a finger and drop a pea in… and hope for the best. I’ve had to fill in a lot of gaps with the French beans in this way to this year… I’m not sure what happened with them either…

But I try to plant tons of everything to allow for this kind of mishap…

Most things are coming up well though and we look forward to plenty of variety this year…

Nettle Soup. Frugal Living Recipe.

2011-04-24T16:39:00.002+01:00

As we have tons of nettles coming up all over at the moment, I thought I’d give this recipe a try, Rick wasn’t too keen but he’s a bit of a stick in the mud when it comes to trying new things…

Nettles in your garden is actually a good thing, apart from the fact that you can eat them like spinach, make soup or dry them and make a good herbal tonic tea with them. They are just so full of Iron and vitamins.. If you have them in your garden, It means you have plenty of nutrients in your soil …

Only of course use good clean nettle tops, fresh young vibrant ones, don’t pick from near a road or where dogs could have wee’d on them …

Two large potatoes, diced.

1 large onion, chopped,

A couple of carrots diced.

A clove of garlic…

A good slosh of olive oil

A good-sized colander full of nettle tops

Fry off the chopped veg till it all softens, add the nettle tops, stir round till they wilt, cover all with a few inches of water, I added a stock cube, and simmer till all veg is soft and cooked, blitz with a hand blender… taste, season if needed…Its VERY green…

Simple as that… its yummy… even Rick enjoyed it…

I read this today...

2011-04-19T11:37:00.000+01:00

"I think if we could get Earth in a living and stable state, not a constantly degrading and dying state caused by our actions, then we have won some right to go to the stars. But at present I don't think we'd be welcome anywhere else in the universe. You wouldn't welcome anybody who'd laid waste to their house and wanted to live in yours, I'm sure."

Bill Mollison

It it was so right for how Im feeling about the world... that I copied it... and decided to share it with you all...

One of those days

2011-04-18T18:18:00.002+01:00

One of those days…

I know a lot of people who read this blog think our life is a Bed of Roses, well yesterday felt like a bed of nails I can tell you.

It was one of those days when everything we touched turned to poo… and that’s my polite version for the Internet…

Rick had a days work putting up a couple of gates that he’d made for some people not too far from here, and we had a bit of fencing to finish off that we didn’t get done the other day… all together we should have been done and dusted by 1-2pm. All the rest of the work having been already done, and the gates assembled here at home… we realised we were one bracket missing, so had to trek into town with the trailer and all the tools to buy another… and from the moment we started those damn gates the day fell apart on us… It took three hours to do the first one… it was very hot, the garden we were working in was very sheltered and a complete suntrap, there was no loo as the house was all locked up… we hadn’t even taken lunch just some fruit… having believed we be home for a late lunch with the job all finished… All in all we didn’t get back to Figueiro Dos Vinhos till 6.50pm and we were shattered …

Neither of us could face all the effort of chopping kindling, and lighting the range, waiting for it to get hot and then making a meal that we’d not get to eat before about 8.30pm We decided to get Frango takeaway on the way home…. Except that the takeaway shop was closed…

Bugger it said Rick we’ll quickly get washed and changed and come back and eat out… we are lucky in the fact that you can get a three course meal in places in town, with wine and coffee for 6.50 euros each..

So… after getting washed and changed off we went… half way to town…. Pop … flap flap flap… a bloody flat tire… another delay while we changed that… by then I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry…

We arrived in town to find it like the Marie Celeste… empty… everywhere shut…

Pissed off wasn’t the words for how we felt….

We tried one last place… just outside of town… yeah… open! We had a wonderful meal and a bottle of wine and managed to get home in one piece… no mishaps…

Boy was I glad that day was over…

Today, we ate our first broad beans… yum…

I’ve a couple of enquiries for the cottage and one for the caravan, things are picking up nicely… only a month now till our friends Alik &Jan arrive from England, its always lovely to see them and we look forward to it for weeks before they arrive…

Ive potatoes popping up everywhere, and corn, beans and beets… the French beans and peas are looking poor, but they have another week and then I’ll start popping in more to fill in the gaps… we have such problems with mice…

I need to translant more lettuce… heaven knows how we’ll eat it all… lettuce soup anyone….

A lovely friend Pam arrived on Saturday and brought me some Parsnip seeds, so we’ll get them in asap… along with some more beets and herbs..

Property Sale...

2011-04-14T15:51:00.000+01:00

While I think of it...
I know quite a few of you people out there who read this blog reguarly, are looking at visiting and looking for property... our good friends over at Bosch Real Estate, where we bought our place from, are having a sale... tons of reduced prices and some beautiful properties... nows a good time to buy... and of course book to come and stay with us while your looking...
http://www.boschrealestate.co.uk/

Sunshine... and weeding...

2011-04-12T14:23:00.000+01:00

Well the weather has stayed glorious, its been fine sunny and lovely and warm for well over a week now, maybe even two... I lose track of time a bit during spring.
Our lovely Dutch guests left this morning, they have been with us a week and it seemed to fly by... such really nice people... and with a genuine interest in what we are doing here...
The warm weather is really bringing on the garden, I have a few tiny sprigs of corn showing this morning, and peas and beans too...
My Blackcurrant cuttings I took a few weeks ago on the off chance that a few would take are all doing excellently, all are growing, and some actually have flowers coming... alll 59 have taken well... so we just have to keep it up during the hot weather now... It just shows the books are not always right, I took the cuttings at completely the wrong time of the year and just stuck them in and hoped... also the books say it may take 3 good years before you get fruit... mine will fruit this year ... if the flowers are to be believed...
The odd potato is also poking its head up... I keep going and covering them again... in the hopes that it will work like earthing up...

This hot weather 26º today, means my seed house is working like a dream, I have to open it early in the mornings or else my seeds would cook... but I have quite a lot of squash seedlings popping up, and some of my herbs too...

The downside of all this heat , is that the weeds are making an early start too... I spent 3 hours weeding the cabages and lettuce yesterday... I also transplanted 50 lettuce seedlings... yep ... 50... they all grew... I often only get a handful that survive per packet... this year .. all have come on well so I have to plant them somewhere... there is still tons to come, so I'll be giving plenty away... lettuce soup anyone...

Frugal Living. Store Cupboards.

2011-04-09T21:37:00.002+01:00

One of the main things that enable us to live here and live as frugally as we do is our store cupboard. It’s a huge part of what we do here. Yes we grow as much as possible and freeze it, pickle it, dry it, make every kind of preserve I can think of. But there are many things we just cant grow and don’t want to live without. Yes I know its probably possible to manage without things like loo rolls, shampoo, and the basic dry goods type of staples… and although we want to live frugally and healthily, I also feel there is a quality of life issue if you start wiping your bum on leaves …

Not that I’m against other people doing that if they so choose… its just not for me until something dreadful happens to the world and then loo paper will be the least of my worries…

So until then I buy it… and store it, our main problems happen during winter and early spring when the rental lettings are few and far between. Which means we don’t have an income… So during summer and when/if we get any money in, I tend to take a little here and there and stock up on basics.

I have a winter stores list, and it covers things like loo paper, flour, rice, pasta, oats, butter (which I freeze) baking soda, Bi carb, washing up liquid, and coffee… all the day to day stuff that makes life and cooking easier… Yes its stuff we could manage without, but mealtimes would be extremely boring at times.

I like to go into winter with at least 3 months supplies… more if possible, so when you add all this to our stored and preserved veggies we could look after ourselves for months without grocery shopping.

I don’t go spending a fortune though, I tend to spend just an extra 5 euros each time I shop, or choose an item from my stores list and just get that… like 4 jars of cheapy Jam (Intermarche 89cents) or 10 bags of flour… (Intermarche 33 cents a kilo) That way, I can build up my stores without missing the cash…

If I see an offer on meat, I tend to buy a couple of kilos here and there, we don’t eat lots of meat so a kilo will do us lots of meals…

Belly Pork is cheap and tasty and very versatile and under 2 euros a kilo, and you get a lot of meat for a kilo…

Liver is about the same, so is chicken. Our main problem is cheese, Rick doesn’t like much cheese apart from English cheese, I like most cheese of any kind…But its very expensive and doesn’t keep, freezing it just ruins the taste, so we generally have to manage without.

I’ve just bought a bag of cheap chorizo sausage, I happened to see at 2.69 for a kilo, there is 10 in there and although I don’t suppose they are the best Chorizo in the world, I use them in winter stews, so they don’t need to be fantastic…

I also use my store cupboard as a way of saving money for paying a bill. When we have a good stock in, it means I can not buy groceries for a couple of weeks without even noticing the loss… and that frees up any money we have to pay a bill…

Even before we came here I did a similar thing, each week when you grocery shop, spend an extra couple of pounds on buying duplicate items. If you do that over about 6-8 weeks, you should end up with extra weeks groceries in the cupboard. Then make sure you put aside the money you would have spent that week on food… save it, pay a bill with it, its like gaining a free week… you’ve not noticed the extra couple of pounds here n there, but it soon mounts up in your food cupboards…

I also every now and then have a use up week… I go through and look at what’s been in there a while, any opened packets, anything I’ve had too long, or got tons of… and get creative, if it means we eat a lot of Rice one week… or pasta sauce… then that’s what we do… I make up my mind not to buy anything and just use up all the ‘use up stuff’ that I have, and its easier if you menu plan too…

When you menu plan, it makes grocery shopping and cooking so much easier. You tend not to overspend or impulse buys if you’ve worked out the menus in advance. You have a specific list and stick to it. I just have to make sure I keep away from the crisps … they are my weakness… I can walk past the chocolate and sweets… but have to be dragged by the aisle with the crisps and nuts…

Frugal Living. - Batch Cooking/Menu planning. /recycling stuff…

2011-04-08T21:25:00.002+01:00

At the moment I’m trying to get into more batch cooking, I don’t tend to cook for the freezer, but if that’s your thing; it’s a great idea. It certainly saves lots of money, fuel and time. We don’t eat a lot of the kind of meals that are good for batch freezing. But what I am doing at the moment is sort of the same thing… almost.

The weather here at the moment is glorious, its turned HOT… the last few days have been around 24-28 degrees… and its lovely, our pool is cleaned and up and running, (we have lovely Dutch guests from this blog actually and they are enjoying a daily swim.)

Add to this the fact that I’m busy in the veggie garden now and we are a tad low on wood… so I am planning our meals with great care, two or three days at a time, and then lighting the range, cooking tons, and then we don’t have to light it or cook for a few days…

For example, tomorrow early morning while its cool, we’ll light the range, and I’ll bake 3-4 loaves of Soda Bread, put two in the freezer, I’m going to make a huge bowl of potato salad, one of rice salad, and some pasta salad. A large quiche, which I’ll cut in half and freeze in separate bags, and also boil a few eggs.

Combine that lot with various things like the odd tin of tuna and it will feed us for days…

We have lettuce ready in the garden, and I even splashed out 88cents on a few tomatoes today, so we can have salad too…

I don’t reckon I’ll have to cook again before Tuesday…Wednesday, if I’m lucky.

In this warm weather we tend to eat whatever is cool and easy… Its really turned warm early this year, generally I don’t think it’s this warm for quite a few weeks yet… it was very welcome though…

I’m also busy cutting up my tetra paks that our milk comes in… those damn cartons are such a pain… I know you can send them to the recycling bins, but I do try to reuse them in anyway I can really. At the moment, I’m opening them out and cutting them up into a sort of fringe shape, then hanging them from the olive trees… hehehe they are shiny inside and act as a great bird deterrent for the veggie patch…

We try to recycle as much as possible, we generally end up with one rubbish bag a month, which I feel isn’t too bad. All our compostable waste is either on the heap like coffee grounds, tea bags, weeds etc. Eggshells are saved for a few days to dry out and then I crumble them around my veggie patch to deter slugs and snails. All food waste goes into the dogs, table scraps which isn’t often, all my veggie peelings are cooked up for them too… so nothing wasted there, cabbage stump is Beesa’s fave snack…

All glass bottles are washed and kept as I’m planning, lots of fruit liqueurs, plus Elderflower champagne, and some syrups this year, glass jars are saved for preserves.

We have a plastic recycling bin which gets empted whenever we go to town, as does the tetrapak one if I’ve not used them for other stuff, I washed a few and froze juice in them, they pack nicely like bricks in the freezer.

All paper and cardboard is burnt on the range, and all our ash goes back onto the land…

The main thing I have a problem finding things to do with, is, the thin wispy plastic cling film type stuff and the same wispy bags you get given stuff in from supermarkets… we don’t get much of it, but it’s a problem. At the mo, I’ve been washing it and using it to stuff draft excluders … I’ve also been told you can wash it and knit washable door mats etc with it… hmmmm not sure about that. Rick already thinks I’m crazy as I have a use, wash, and rotate system with the freezer bags…

As we get all kinds of scrap stuff from the butcher for the dogs, it has to be frozen… and sometimes although its fresh, its unpleasant looking stuff… and I didn’t want to use my freezer bags which would be washed and reused for our food for this …

So I’ve worked out a system… he thinks I’m barmy…

Any yoghurt pots or plastic ice-cream cartons, loo roll cardboard kind of stuff is used for seedlings in the little housie. That sort of covers it really.

Frugal Living. Summer skin salves and bug stuff..

2011-04-06T10:13:00.002+01:00

As we are having some wonderful warm weather at the moment, and the herbs are growing like mad and its forecast to stay that way for a while… around 25 degrees or more… lucky us. I’m going to crack on and get our summer supply of skin salves made and into jars.

Now Rick always gets bitten badly during summer, I’m not always sympathetic as it doesn’t seem to happen to me much, but he does suffer badly at times… anything within a mile seems to make a beeline for him and have a chew…

We’ve always struggled with anti bug stuff… its extremely toxic stuff, which may be okay if you are only wearing it on the odd occasion on holiday … but for people like Rick who has to wear it every day for about 7-8 months of the year while he works on the land… its just too harsh, it burns the skin and you get very sore in all kinds of places…

So this year I’ve made him some homemade salve and he loves it… I’m lucky enough to have found a good source of beeswax at last (our local honey man gives me the odd sheet for free when we buy his honey…) and some kind guests brought a bottle of Citronella essential oil and I warm up some olive oil, and a few small pieces of the wax, drop in some essential oil and stir, take it off the heat, pour into sterile warm jars and leave to set… I’ve also made some with Rosemary oil in, just olive oil I put plenty of Rosemary springs in and left in a warm place for a month to steep… he thinks the Rosemary and citronella is best…

He’s been wearing it for a couple of weeks now during all our planting… and yes he has the odd bite, they will always find a way or a place you missed … but generally its working very well and the olive oil is great for the skin… it doesn’t wash of so quickly when you sweat either…

So I am getting ready to make the skin lotion we use too, spending so much time out in the sun and wind we get here, our skins get very dry, so again we don’t want to use shop bought stuff when Mother Nature gives us the perfect cure for free…

My Calendula salve works very well and feels lovely on the skin. I pick tons of Marigold heads, put in a large jar, cover with olive oil, or veggie oil if that’s what you like, and leave it to steep in a warm place for a month… mines in the seed house at the moment… then strain, and warm gently, add a few small pieces of beeswax and put into warm jars and leave to set… that’s all there is too it… we put it on every night after we come indoors from working it soothes, and moisturises, and nourishes the skin. I also make a similar one with plantain leaves, not the banana type stuff… weeds from the garden… look it up…

I make a really effective skin salve for cuts, scrapes, sores etc from a mixture of plantain leaves, comfrey and lemon balm … all steeped together in oil and made as above… it makes a great lip balm too. Lemon Balm is a’ must have’ if you suffer from cold sores, as it has a compound in that combats them very quickly…

During the high summer when we have the fridge on, I also make plantain liquid mulch stuff, and put in a jar in the fridge, as it’s excellent soothing mulch for sunburn. We often get guests who over do the sun and need a quick ready soother… this is perfect.

Just pick tons of plantain, it’s a garden weed and grows everywhere freely, mulch it up in the blender or if like me you don’t like to use one, I mash it with the pestle and mortar… put in a jar and keep cool, it only keeps a couple of days but its free so making more isn’t a problem…

Washing Powder…. It stinks!

2011-04-06T09:31:00.002+01:00

I don’t know quite what’s going on with the washing powder manufacturers lately, but I’m having real serious problems with their products. Not that I actually use them much, ages ago, I decided I didn’t really like the chemically smell of most perfumed washing powders. I’ve tried all the home made remedies, soda, vinegar etc. and while they don’t do a bad job and if I ran out I’d use them, I have settled on a washing liquid I can buy locally, it’s a very, very cheapy brand, so yes probably full of chemicals, but it has a very low level smell, and I only use about a third of what they tell you to put in, and I get a good result… for a fraction of the cost. And once it’s been out on the line to dry, all the smell you get from the washing is a nice clean air smell…

The trouble I’m having is other people’s laundry….

When I’m in the Internet space, or a café. The smell from other peoples washing powder is so strong I find my nose burning, and I often get a headache… It’s so overpowering. I find this sometimes with our guests too. I just have to stand next to people in the street and its terrible…

It only seems to have got this bad over the last year or maybe a little less…

What the hell are they putting in this stuff? Are people over doing it? Using too much?

It’s no wonder that more and more children are growing up struggling with asthma and all kinds of skin allergies and problems…

Its not air pollution outside the home we should be looking at… it’s the toxicity of the home environment…

Just think… the normal average housewife with kids… uses… washing powder, softener, maybe air freshner… all those toxic plug in things they keep pushing on the TV, … tons of cleaning products, bleach, surface cleaners, window cleaners… polish, etc etc. the list goes on and on… the air in some homes must be so full of chemicals its lethal.

Couple that with, double glazing, central heating, insulation… so no fresh air gets in … wow… what are we doing to those children and ourselves… I think the stronger the smell the more toxic it must be… why do women think that washing has to smell strongly of the washing powder to be clean…

I read an article the other week about the recommended dosage labels on powders…

Companies advertise on the box that that size box does ‘X’ amount of washes, on the back or the side they give you the recommended amounts to use for a wash… and it rarely adds up… if you actually use as much as they tell you to… you’ll never get your ‘X’ amount of washes…

I have a friend who uses the strong washing powders, but puts two tablespoons in per wash load… yep, that all… and she gets a perfectly good clean wash…

Are they conning housewives… does anyone really care… or is it just my nose that suffers….

Planting.... nearly done ..

2011-04-04T10:23:00.001+01:00

Well we've really worked at it and managed to get the bulk of it done... I still need a few more beetroot, another packet of Basil and Im hoping a friend will arrive from Uk in a week or so, bearing gifts of Parsnip seeds.
We've now got in, all the beans, four different kinds, we eat them in so many ways, as green pods, normal french beans, the portuguese green beans and those we also leave to swell and pod them, and freeze them , I then leave them longer and dry them, I do this with the runner types too... I have Borlotti beans for freezing and drying, and I have Broad beans podding up nicely too... and now the climbing yellow waxy pods that are a heritage variety, which I have high hopes of a big crop...
Peas... a quarter of the main area is now down to peas... and I know it wont be enough... Carrots... two different kinds, Nantes and a bigger tougher one Im hoping will store better... a huge area of those too...
Red cabbage, green cabbage, caulis, broccs, spinach, three large areas of sweetcorn now, Two rows of basil right across the whole width of the garden, two rows of coriander and a large patch of Parsley, lettuce seedlings coming up all over...
In the little seed house, yesterday popped up a Kuchi chiri.. Im sure thats spelt completely wrong.. it joins my Okra as being an early bird coming up... hopefully now as we are forcast a couple of weeks of 24/5º weather , they'll all be up and growing well. Im really hoping on the melons this season... we had a handful last year but only small Galia and this time Im trying the more prolific white Portuguese type...
And about 5 different types of winter squash...
Add all that to the aubergines, courgettes, peppers and three kinds of tomatoes... plus all those damn spuds... and I dont think we'll starve this winter...
Im so looking forward to the whole growing, picking, preserving , drying time this year, last year was so overshadowed by Dad's illness and death that it seemed that I missed it all out... it just didnt register...
This year is a whole new ballgame though...

Potato Potato Potato

2011-04-01T21:58:00.002+01:00

Potato Potato Potato…

Well we are now calling the back garden, which is a terrace roughly 90ft by 15 ish… the Harley Davidson Garden… cos its full of potatoes… I keep wandering round it going Potato Potato Potato…, which is a joke only people who are into motorcycles may understand…

It’s taken us three days to plant the huge boxes our lovely neighbour arrived with, completely free the other day. Poor Rick, his back and arms are really suffering from digging all those trenches. But it will be worth it come summer when they feed us for months…

And just when Rick thought there was light at the end of the tunnel…when it came to planting, there was our neighbour again today… with another box of seed potatoes…

Last year he gave us two large boxes, we are not sure where they come from as he is quite elderly, disabled and doesn’t grow any veggies at all nowadays, he says he’s too old. He used to breed pigs, so has contacts within that area and I suspect they are actually pig food potatoes…

We really don’t care, they grew and were delicious last year and this year we have tons more…

Obviously we gave him a couple of sacks, and also kept him supplied with fresh veggies all summer and autumn and he is more than happy with the arrangement, and keeps leaving a bottle of Port or the odd cheese on our step… He called in tonight, again with wine and cheese, stayed for a drink and some soup and left. Lovely man. Nearly always part drunk, but lovely.

Today we spent the morning planting again, Rick bless him was up and rototilling at the crack of dawn, before even I was up, so we could get all the bean poles up and all my beans planted before lunchtime. So we have now, tons of broad beans podding up nicely down the orchard, and today we put in, a long double row of runner beans and climbing waxy pods, that the lovely Minxy sent mew when I said on here that my beans had been munched by bugs,

Also planted this morning, were French beans, Portuguese green beans, a bit like a dwarf runner, and some Borlotti beans again a present from Minxy… (Thanks again mate)

This afternoon we spent a couple of hours planting peas… lots of peas, although we always plant tons, there is never enough, Rick loves peas…. I also managed to find a spare corner for some corn, as we have three lots this year, but one lot has to be kept separate, in case of cross pollination. The rest will go in the Harley Davidson Garden along with the tomatoes…. just about…

Tomorrow, after market, I plan to clean the cottage ready for new guests, while Rick puts up more beanpoles, then we’ll plant the final beans. A huge block of carrots, a block of beets, a block of Spinach, three rows of Basil, two of Parsley, two of Coriander, and we have some more cabbage, caulis and broccs ready for planting out too…

Then I have to cook a three-course meal for our new guests… I think I will sleep well tomorrow night…

The rest which is tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, squashes, melons, chillis etc wont go in for at least a couple of weeks yet. I have some Okra just starting to pop up in pots in my new little seed house but again they wont be ready for outside for a couple of weeks yet…

Our strawberry bed looks good, I don’t really expect much this season, but as long as they thrive and establish themselves, I’ll be happy, my blackcurrant cuttings (all 60) of them seem to be going well.. What I’ll do with them all Im not sure yet….

Sunsets and red wine..

2011-03-28T10:33:00.000+01:00

Well actually its Rosé wine, but its all our own making and although Im not generally a Rosé drinker, its very very drinkable... we've been drinking it now a few weeks but it wasnt quite ready, still a tad cloudy, but the other evening the weather had been lovely, and we decided to sit out on our terrace and watch the sky, we dont actually get the full blown sunset, but we do get some wonderful skies, the sun slowly sinks behind the treeline and if its a bit cloudy we get a stunning display...

We chose to watch this display with a bottle of our wine... it was now clear, crisp, fruity and a lovey pink colour...

Planting Begins... In a big way..

2011-03-26T12:17:00.000Z

Just as we planned to begin our main planting marathon this weekend... its raining..
Our lovely neighbour from the next vally has again promimsed us seed potatoes, up untill last year we didnt plant many, as the cost to us is a huge outlay, and we felt we didnt eat that many to warrant it... hehehe then he gave us lots... and we were eating our own new potatoes in June and justt kept digging for ages... we had our own spuds for half the year and it was fantastic! They tasted so different and better... I, who am not a great spud lover... ate them every day... they fed our helpers and us for months...
So when he offered them again this year... we jumped at the chance. As he's a widower, we kept him supplied with fruit and veg last year in return for the spuds and it worked well. They are not bought seed, so where they come from I dont know...
As soon as the rain stops, we'll be down there, digging... Im planning two spud areas, one for new spuds in the squash area, and as we dig them the squashes nearby will have room to grow and spread...
The main crop will go in the back yard with the corn, tomatoes and strawberries.
This year we will have three large patches orf corn, as last years was so beautiful and sweet, Ive managed to aquire another two packets plus some seed I saved from the last years that I dried myself.
The main planting will begin as soon as possible, peas, carrots, beets, herbs, then the corn and beans, we have lots of different ttypes again this year, some lovely Heritage climbers sent to me by the lovely Minx who read my post on how the bugs ate my beans and sent me a pressie... bless her!
Plus a few of my own runner beans not munched on, some portuguse dwarf green beans like runners but they stay small, french beans, yellow waxy pods, and some Im going to grow for drying and freezing.
My 60 blackcurrant cuttings I took a couple of weeks ago, all show signs of life still , so hopes for a huge amount there are high... I just have to keep them alive through the summer...
The tomatoes, aubergines, and peppers and chillis will be planted out about mid april, after we feel frost has passed... Ive been caught many times before..
I'll continue with planting lettuce from the seedbed, plus the odd packet of rocket and salad leaves all summer, and as soon as this lot is all in the ground, I'll put in a few more cabbage caulis and brocc, as the ones I put in almost a month ago are going great guns now...
So... the best season is almost upon us... I cant wait...

Frugal Living ..Update

2011-03-24T12:19:00.000Z

Well its been so long since Ive had the chance to update this blog properly, I thought I'd have a real spluge today. Im in town in the internet space where its free, so am using my time wisely. Now we have the use of a laptop at home that costs us 1euro an hour... I only click in check mail and quickly get out again.. all the nice stuff like this... has to wait till we come into town.
But the good part is, we dont have to come in now hardly at all. So we are saving tons on fuel... we make each trip we do make, have to do many things while we are here, collect water, buy shopping, pay bills, get fuel and do all our internet stuff in one go...
Well life with us seems to be picking up somewhat, we are getting some bookings for the cottage, which is helping our finances. We still have a long way to go to dig ourselves out of the hole that a bad summer and even worse winter left us in, but we are happy and reasobaly content that its starting to happen. Our frugal lifestyle really helps and we enjoy the way we live too...
The hardest part for Rick at the moment is that he has no work... he hates to feel that he doesnt contribute to our finances... silly sod.. He works so hard around the place , his contribution means this place keeps ticking over regardless of lack of money. He is so resourceful when it comes to making things out of nothing but scrap... but he has found it hard to adjust to the idea that for the foreseeable future, we'll not be doing any more work to finish the house, it just isnt an option finacially.
Im not that bothered, yes as far as most folk are concerned, we live like hillbillies.... hehehe but I love it..
We are warm and comfortable during winter. This year more so than ever before. In summer we have a lovely cool breezy place too... the food is all homegrown and tasty, we can just about pay our bills and get by. Yes its tough, but we have more than some and less to worry about than the poor people in Japan.
The house improvements will wait... I cant spend my whole life worrying about what we dont have, we must enjoy what we do!
The frugal living has become a huge part of our life now, I look at everything as a challenge, to try to find a way to do it cheaper, better or even for nothing... and I love that challenge.

Frugal Living Tray bakes.

2011-03-24T11:03:00.000Z

As we try not to buy shop bought/made cakes or biscuits, I generally make Rick a couple of sweetie type things a week. Im more a savoury person myself but he does love his sweet stuff during winter. Its a comfort food type thing I suppose.
This tray bake it a cheap but tasty alternative to a time consuming cake making.

Mix together in a bowl, 8 oz s/r flour, a teaspoon of baking powder, two tablespoons of cooking sugar, and a handfull of dessicated coconut(optional I use cos he loves it) Rub in 2 oz of cooking margarine.
Then add a dash of milk and mix to a firm dough.. you may need to add extra flour to stop it being sticky.
I then roll it out to fit my roasting tin.
Put in a hot oven for just about 6-8 mins... till light brown.
Meanwhile, I melt a large dollop of either jam, golden syrup, honey etc ... whatever I have most of...
As soon as the bake comes out of the oven, mark into squares with a pallette knife, brush with the melted sweet stuff and sprinkle with more coconut...
Lift each square onto a cooling tray while still warm...
The possibilities with this recipe are huge...
Ive even topped it with lemon juice and icing sugar when I had no jam...
Ive added old milkshake flavering when I had some left over...

It takes minutes to prepare and bake ... sadly generally only lasts the day...

Frugal Living. Corned Beef/tinned Ham Baked Roll

2011-03-24T10:46:00.000Z

This is a recipe I used to do all the time during winter when we lived in the uk. Its not so cheap to do here as we dont have suet and corned beef is expensive , and I miss it on wet damp days like today. Its a real warming belly filler...

One tin of corned beef or any cheap tinned meat. cubed.
Make a good suet pastry ( 8 oz plain flour, 2 oz suet, milk to mix)
Roll out to a square, cover the pastry with a finely chopped onion, some mixed herbs and then dot the cubed meat over the top. If Im feeling the pinch moneywise badly, I even make one tin do for two rolls... just add extra onion .You can use cooked bacon too its just as good. but not so cheap.
Roll it up seal the edges and bake gently in the oven till nicely brown and crisp on the top.
Served with plenty of mashed potatoes, cabbage and carrots with a nice onion gravy... yummy

This obviously makes a good jammy roll to have with custard too ..
Ive done all kinds of fillings, bacon & onion, spam, corned beef, leftover cooked meat.. fruit, jam,.... its very versatile. and if you use the meat sparingly very economical.

Staying with Us... More..

2011-03-21T11:50:00.000Z

Well we are having a little better Spring than last year, the cottage is pretty busy for April, that will help the finances as we have a few large bills coming up.
Regular readers will notice Ive added another page today. We now can offer two levels of accomodation , the beautiful Mara's Cottage, which has the pool sundeck and all the trimmings...
And now... da dahhhh
Forest View Caravan.
Especially for those on a very tight budget... which is something we understand all about..
We recently decided that we would probably cut our helpers and volunteers to a minimum this summer. And as we had spent the last few months renovating and generally sprucing up the caravan, it now looks lovely and seemed a waste to have it sitting unused, when we could have it rented out, people can get to come to Portugal who may not be able to afford other places, and we of course get to supplement our miniscule income a little.
Ive got some lovely people from here booked for April already and am looking forward to meeting them so much...

Lots about everything...

2011-03-19T10:40:00.000Z

Strange name for a posting I know, but It feels so long since Ive updated this blog properly there is tons to say about all kinds of things.

Firstly, a couple ofweeks ago we had Carnaval here and although the austerity measures are hitting everywhere, and we didnt have Carnaval lights at all, the actual day itself was great, lots of floats and parades and marching bands, silly stuff and generally everone having a great fun time. There should be a few pictures hereabouts somewhere, . It was sunny and bright but quite chilly and breezy. But there was a really good turn out.

We've had a helper the last couple of weeks, although he's not been a problem, and has worked reasonably well, it has hardened our resolution to not have so many this year, and to just get help for specific projects, we find it quite hard having people spending so much time in the house, not the social side of it so much but having to be so regimented about day to day life, these young people come and expect reasonable order, regular meals and even days out etc... we find that hard, we start a project or a job and work till its done, if that means we miss lunch or just have bread and jam then it doesnt matter... but when you have someone expecting a decent meal... it does matter... and we found that hard. There is so much for me to be doing outside at the moment, but I found myself inside cooking a lot more than I wanted to... and if we weighed it up, the amount of work that actually got done was maybe less than normal... as I was doing so little and the helper working a few hours a day didnt make up for that... so all in all its defined our thinking on helpers ...

Im so much fitter this year, my knee problem is more or less healed now, so I feel I can cope with the work better myself now...

But Rick and Simon did get stuff done, my seed house they made from scrap forest wood and plastic bags is up and running and planted up with two trays of Petunias, hopefully to make sure I dont have to pay to ´pretty up´ the cottage area this year, plus tons of different types of squash, butternuts, big and small, big pumpkins, acorn squash courgettes, melons ... loads of stuff! Oh and Okra, Ive never managed to germinate Okra so I have high hopes now...

Again should be a couple of piccys here of the wonderful creation.

We received some great news the other day, my son Jordan has finally qualified as a fully fledged mechanic, after a huge set back and having to leave his first garage nine months into his first year of training, then javing to wait another year after that to find another placement, he's finally passed his third yearexams and qualified. Im so damn proud of him for sticking it out and working so hard to make it happen... and all by him self too as we left just as he started...

Well, we are off to start the next phase of planting, carrots, peas, beets and tons of herbs...

Quick update

2011-03-12T11:17:00.000Z

This will have to be a real quick post, life has been very busy this last week or so, we have a nice helper call ed Simon, who although quiet is working hard and getting stuff done, Rick and him have cut tons of logs for next year, a van full to top up my barn for now, felled trees to give the orchard more sun, and yesterday made me a seed house, out of scrap wood from the forest and old plastic sacking... its lovely and I forgot to bring the camera with the pictures...
We also had Carnaval last weekend which was great fun.... pics to follow another day too...
Bookings are picking up too, Ive had to turn down two enquiries for April this last week as April is looking good for us, last night I took a August booking and have other enquiries pending too... its all go!
Im looking to start a lot of lanting in about a week, as stuff is really starting to come up now... all our plants from two weeks ago are thriving, even the lettuce, my seedbed stuff is just through the ground too...
On the minus side...
There are bloody caterpillars everywhere... we've burnt four lots this week...
,

Signs of Spring ...

2011-03-04T11:09:00.001Z

The beautiful little plum tree across from our house is in blossom and looks so fantastic I just wanted to share it... and my daffadils too...

Stevia More info.

2011-03-04T10:21:00.001Z

Ive had a few people email and ask for info on Stevia. It was reccomended to me by some local Swiss women who use it and have used it for years, one is a nurse, the other a alternative therapist, both swear by it. They havent used sugar for years, you can buy Stevia as a liquid on the internet but I plan to grow my own which is what they do.
It is notoriously hard to germinate, which is probably why some people say you cant do it and buy plants instead. That isnt much of an option for me due to postage costs ect. Ive bought a packet of seeds via uk and all together it only cost me 4 pounds with postage. So worth a try.
I feel the growing conditions here should be good, they like a very humid atmosphere for germination and early growth. We have a really humid area that should suit them fine.
I can but try...
There are all kinds of health claims for this plant, Ive attached a link to a website that may answer a few questions for you all.
http://www.stevia.com/Stevia_article/Growing_Your_Own_Stevia/8077

Stevia Herb... Sunshine and frost...

2011-03-02T11:15:00.000Z

Ive just ordered via the internet some Stevia seeds. For anyone who hasnt heard of this herb before it originates in South America I think , and its often called 'sweetleaf ' sweetherb etc. Its supposed to be 300 times sweeter than sugar... with no calorific value at all...
I plan to attempt to grow it, dry it and use it instead of sugar in baking , and hopefully maybe even in my coffee. I use sweetners at present and hate the thought of the horrible chemical s Im putting in my body, but I just cant manage without the sweetness... sugar is high in callories as is honey... all costs money which we dont have... so do sweetners but at least they help my weight struggle...
Stevia is banned in somecountries apparently, the sugar industry have really clamped down and pushed governments to not licence it... it would ruin their businesses over night...
So... I'll let you know how I get on ..

The weather has changed a little, its still mild and sunny during the day, though not the lovely warm temps we had last week. But we've had frost again the last two nights...
Luckily the new veg I planted out is in a very sheltered place in the garden so isnt catching it.... yet...

We have a new helper arriving on Saturday, a hopefully big strong man to help Rick with more logging, I also want him to help me cleaning walls in the orchard, so I can get the last of the old vines trimmed and up on supports before the sap starts rising... they weep horribly if you trim them then ,...
I also would like a hand in staking out the herb garden dividers too... Im so desperate to actually do something out there .... Ive waited so long to get it up and running... I cant quite believe it will really happen this year

Sunshine & strawberries.

2011-02-28T11:14:00.001Z

Well the glorious weather has continued all over the weekend, yesterday was especially beautiful, our local temp was 22º and sunny all day.
We've been making the most of the lovely weather and getting lots of work done around the place. Its been a hard weekend but very rewarding, the last three nights Ive gone to my bed, with sore and aching muscles from the extra effort we've been putting in , but its all worth the hardwork. I love it!
Rick has now finished rototilling the whole back terrace, and raked it smooth and flat, yesterday evening we finished making the very professional looking strawberry bed plus automatic drip feed irrigation system Rik made for them. Basically a 5 litre water bottle attached to hose, which runs under the plastic the length of the bed with holes drilled at regualr intervals, so I can fill the bottle once a day and thats it done. The black plastic should keep them warm and the water condensating to provide perfect growing conditions all summer.... well thats the plan anyway...

The rest of the whole area will be devoted to corn and tomatoes later.

Meanwhile Ive been pruning the kiwis, and the blackcurrants, I trimmed a lot of the prunings and have planted 60 blackcurrants cuttings, just to see if we have any luck, I know I should have done it during autumn really but I thought if they were going to be composted anyway, I might as well try to grow them on, nothing is lost if they dont take. And who knows I may end up with tons!

We also began our planting out schedule this weekend, Rick retilled part of our main patch and we planted out almost 50 cabbages, around half green and half red. 15 caulis, and 15 brocc. A dozen or so lettuce and also started off a nice big lettuce seed bed , with hopefully enough to last us the summer as they come on at different times. We put in a packet of spinach and some coriander, a big patch of rocket and then up at the house some pumpkin and Okra seeds in pots.

It felt so good to be getting food in the ground again, we still have the odd cabbage for eating but nothing else ready , all my winter caulis are finished, I just keep them in the ground as I pick the leaves for the dogs food and some for soup for us, the cabbages are more or less done and the leeks dont seem to have moved all winter. My broad beans have flowers but its going to be a while before we get to eat any of them.

So we are having a lean time in the garden, we still manage to eat from it most days, even if it is just leaves for soup.

Rick has also been working on a new water system for the caravan, that is used by our helpers, the tank that feeds the shower in there is so small, by the time the system is primed, its almost out of water again, so he's built a new system of a larger tank which feeds into a smaller one which houses the pump.. its looks a little 'Heath Robinson' but it works a treat. And it means we can pump from the well to fill it...

Ive a few helpers enquiring now, but although we want them its trying to decide if we can afford it at the mo, we are not short of food at all, but if I was feeding lots more people , things may get tricky, so we have to decide soon...

Things we are planning to accomplish this week while the weather holds...

We are hoping to build a small square lockable genny house, over on the top terrace, to house our generator, at present to water the veggies we have to drag a lead all over the road and our backyard to plug in the pump to the genny, for pumping from the well. If we build this we can leave it plugged in and dont have all that fuss. Rick will bricklay, I'll labour and fill buckets of cement etc... I get all the best jobs eh...

I have to finish weeding the front of cottage area, over the weekend I did the odd hour here and there and cleared the graveled patio of weeds, but still have two flower beds and the carpark to do yet...

Rick has promised that this week he'll make my seed house too ..a kind of mini polli tunnel crossed with a upright greenhouse type thingy. I have found some good poles from the forest and we have some scrap clear plastic and plan a very basic seed house in the warm sunny back terrace, where I can try to germinate some seeds and especially some flowers this year. I always end up buying cheap bedding plants for the pots on the cottage patio and around the pool to make it look pretty for guests ect... although they are cheap, it would be cheaper still if I grew them myself... but we get such frosts till quite late in the year and I need a frost free place... so this may help, at least it will cost us nothing but effort to try it...

I want to plant my Bird of Paradise plants in the warmer area near the medicinal herb garden area, plus a couple of nice Cacti I have, Ive had to keep them in pots till this year as we didnt have a warm enough area for them so moved them to shelter during winter.
I can now plan and design my herb garden as its all tilled and raked ready for me... such an exciting time... but too early to plant seeds out there yet... the waiting is so hard!!

Glorious Weather Returns

2011-02-25T10:44:00.000Z

After last weeks storm, the last few days have been glorious, 19-20º and sunny and beautiful... All is well with my world, my broad beans are looking healthy and have flowers on, my garlic is 6 inches high, the grelos is coming on and even the carrots are showing seedlings up and growing...
Rik is busy rototilling everywhere possible, the back terrace is done, ready for me to organise the new herb garden... the rest of the area will be corn, tomatoes and strawberries..

Im so eager to get out there, but know that if I go too fast the late frosts we generally have in April will catch me out yet again...
We have guests in the cottage and a few nice enquiries coming in reguarly now... I feel hopeful for our summer season as we generally can rely on Spanish holidaymakers to fill the very hot months of July and August, and I look forward to them coming, such nice polite people.
Sorry this is so brief... I have meals to cook and wood to stack...

Stormy Weather...

2011-02-19T10:45:00.000Z

Wow.... did we have a storm .... now we have become used to having some wild weather at certain times of the year, our house sits at the head of two vallies, one at the front and one from the side, and the weather seems to funnel up those vallies and hits the house . We can have huge winds and noise when the village a mere klm away over the other side of the hill has a mild breeze...
But Tuesday and wednesday... well... it was amazing... Ive never heard wind or noise like it... there actually wasnt that much rain in all, but it was driven by the high winds into places we've never had water in before... and obviously we had no sleep for two nights... we sat up in bed at 1.30 am on the weds night/early morning thursday listening to the roof of our wood barn blow around the garden... scary... very scary...
But.... when we got up thursday morning a miracle had happened.... yes the barn roof was gone, including the huge wooden beams that were still attached to the roof... (it was still all in one piece up on the land at the back of the house) but all our wood was still DRY!!! I'd been so worried all night about the wood, the barn can be fixed, but a ton of wet wood would have been a huge problem to us, we have guests arriving in a couple of days and no wood to keep them warm, we rely so much on wood here, for cooking, heating and drying the washing, but more so to keep the cottage warm for guests...
So for the wood to be dry was amazing... someone was definately smiling on us that night... the wind must have changed direction almost straight away after the roof went and the back wall of the barn being higher sheltered the wood...
So 'himself ' spent most of the day thursday stripping the tin off the beams lugging the huge beams back into place and re tinnning the roof... we have now done as the Portuguese do... and slung all kinds of heavey junk on the top too... old beams, an old car wheel we didnt know what to do with... rocks bricks and all manner of stuff... anything in fact that will weigh it down for the future... it may not look as nice as before... but I feel safer..
Poor Beesa, she spent two nights quaking in the cubby in the 'safe bed' we have for her there, she is terrified of the loud noise... she always seems to run to the cubby when shes scared so we've made her a bed in there to be comfortable, its the least we can do. Rick or I made sure we checked on her every couple of hours all night but she just would leave the safe bed, so there was nothing else we could do. Bonnie spent the nights happily in our room snug with us ... We kept the kitchen range chugging away all night both nights so the place was warm, it also warms the cubby so at least Beesa was warm.
There was very little damage done really, and away from our place you'd never know there had been a storm, the odd branch down here n there... thats all. The news showed the coastal areas had been hit quite bad, and the sea had 10 metre high waves.... wow...

Staying with Us...

2011-02-10T10:57:00.001Z

Please check our calendar on the staying with us page (there is a link) It shows our bookings so far, and avoids disappointment. Ive had to turn down two people today already... why does everyone want to come the same damn week... Please book in advance... and early...

Proccesional Caterpillars BEWARE.

2011-02-09T11:06:00.003Z

So. Its almost that horrible time of the year again. When we get the proccesional caterpillars come to ground. This year looks as if its going to be a very bad year, looking around us we have many more nests than last year. Rick's theory is that because of the pine wilt nemotode problem so many pines have been cut down in our area and this obviously leaves less places for them to make their nests, so the pines that are left are really covered, the government here doesnt seem to do anything to control them, its just an accepted part of spring, everyone warns you... oh watch out for them... they are so dangerous....but no one does anything..

Now there is good news and bad news about this...
The bad thing is... these damn things will kill a cat, or a dog very easily.. They apparently smell highly attractive to cats and dogs, who lick, sniff and try to eat them, we even had our Bonnie dig up some after they had gone to ground for the summer...
You have to be very quick to spot the symptoms, which can range from , a mild dose , gulping, drooling and a sort of cough.. to a bad dose, of massive drooling, tongue and face/head sweeling and rapid unconsiousness and death... Even a mild dose can in some animals cause Narcrosis of the tongue which will result in death eventually.. [I CAN ONLY TALK ABOUT DOGS, AS WE HAVE NO CATS EXPERIENCE]
Now...to dog lovers all that sounds like a nightmare.... and it can be, but... and its a big but... it need not be that bad... There are tons of websites and reems of info on the net, telling you that there's nothing you can do, or to do quite often silly things... even local vets here often just say nothing can be done...

Thats WRONG!!

Im not going to set myself up as an expert..Im not, by a long way... . but all I can do is tell you what we were told to do, and it worked...This is from personal experience....so if you have pine trees near you...

First...

Now, during Feb, buy these pills,(MEDROL. they are a prednislerone) from your local chemist... they are not expensive, they come in many sizes, we buy the 16mg ones as anything smaller and its difficult getting 20 pills down a dogs throat when its sick... Our dosage is roughly, for Beesa who is almost 50kls now 6 pills. Bonnie has 3. . It works out around 2mg per kilo of dog, dont worry about overdosing, you cant.. always give more than you think, not less... all it will do is make them very hungry...WRITE YOUR DOSAGE ON THE PACKET When /if the worst happens, you may panic and forget the dosage... Always keep the box in a agreed place to everyone...I also keep some cheesy triangles to pop the pills into , as our dogs like them.

These are not foolproof though, and must be given quickly so...

From the end of Feb if the weather is warmer, right through till early June... if you go out leave your dogs in the house... yes I know its hot, and they may pee in the house... but whats worse? pee in the house or a dead or dying dog in the garden...check around your area every morning, lots of times... if you have pine trees near you. These things can travel... fast..If you see them on the ground, pour petrol on and set them on fire, DO NOT try to move them, pick them up or touch them, even with your shoes... the fine hairs can in extreme circumstances cause humans to go into anaphalactic shock .

We have had a problem with these things with two dogs now and both lived, and continued happily and healthily...
Our lovely boy Cola the Doberman, used to love to play with pine cones... he chewed and used them as balls... the trouble is, whenever these creatures crawl over anything, like cones, they leave some of the irritating hairs that cause the trouble... your dog or you picks up the cone... and the problem starts... luckily with him, it was a mild dose, coughing, drooling, gulping... eating tons of grass etc.. we spotted the signs and acted within a hour or so...which was pushing it, but it was our first time and we just knew he was ill and not sure of the cause..

Then our stupid Bonnie... actually dug up and ate one... she began to be violently ill almost straight away, uncontrolable pooing... her face swelled to double its size within a very short time... 10 mins.. and she was unconsious, it was terrible. But we forced the pills down her and within an hour she was playing in the garden... the most important thing with both these cases, is speed... we had the pills, we used them... and we were there to spot the signs....
Yes... its a pain in the bum , we check the whole place all the time during the few weeks of the worst period.. we shut them in if we are not there, we carry the pills with us if we walk them in the forest... and we give the pills even if we are not sure... but for us its worked.. and our girls lives and health are worth the hassle...

You will know if you have nests in your pines trees, they look like a bundle of cobweb, or white candyfloss...

Frugal Living Menus

2011-02-08T14:55:00.001Z

Its been a while since I posted a weekly menu list, I know I said I'd do it often, but hell.. you know how things are and these things get a tad lost at times... so.
We have started eating our main meal at lunchtime recently, it seems to suit our stomachs better... no more acid and indigestion at bedtime...
Oh and we are now just having homemade fresh plain yogurt for breakfast everyday , the yogurt maker is working a treat and we are loving it...

Starting Saturday past.

Pot Roast Chicken,
one of Ricks fave meals at the moment. I have a large terracotta pot, and in the bottom I put a bed of potatoes, chopped onion, garlic, plenty of carrots, sliced beans and brocoli (its the only way he'll eat it) the odd cherry tom if I have some, then put the whole chicken on top, sprinkle with oregano and sage a dash of olive oil and about a pint of stock. Put the lid on and slow cook it for 2-3 hours ... longer if you want...
We then fish out the chicken , have some of it with some of the veggies from the bottom and possibly some buttered cabbage.
The rest of the chicken gets stripped off the bones, the breast I bag up for a chicken/rice dish another day, the scrappy smaller bits go back into the pot with the left over veggies.
The bones, fat and skin and other yucky stuff goes into a pot to cook up for the dogs.

For our evening meal, we just had Pate and fresh bread...

Sunday Lunch.
Chicken Pasta .
This is yesterdays leftover chicken scraps in the leftover veggies and juice with pasta added... it goes sort of thick and saucy... lovely . There is more than enough for two...

Evening meal
My cabbage 'stuff' again a fave thing with Rick lately, In a pan gently fry a whole chopped onion till just soft, add the left over cabbage, lots of it! I then cut up and cube some stale soda bread, add a few leftover cooked dried beans, and stir well... put the lid on and it will make its own steam liquid if cooked gently it wont burn... keep stiring now and again, it only takes a few mins though... just at the last min add plenty of thinly sliced garlic... leave for a couple of min stir well and serve... yummy...

Monday. Lunch.

Veggie stew.
I just cook up whatever comes to hand... in this weeks we have, cauli, carrots, onions, garlic toms, green beans, broccoli, potatoes, and a sliced chorizo sausage,cover with a good stock. I also add Massa De Pimento, which is red pepper paste. Let it all simmer nicely for a few hours and serve with rice. I always do enough to make it last two days.. saves time, energy and money...

Evening meal.
Homemade fresh cheese and soda bread...

Tuesday Lunch

Veggie stew again, but we had it with spaggetti today.

Tonights meal is homecured bacon, egg, I have a few mushrooms that need using and some sliced fried potatoes...

Wed Lunch.

Chicken Rice, with veggies, a sort of Rissoto, using leftover chicken from the freezer.

Evening meal .
Homemade cheats baked beans with soda bread...

Thurs Lunch.
Soya Spag Bol

Evening meal.
Homemade veggie soup and bread...

Thats about as far ahead as I have organised at the moment, but should give you some ideas to try.

General Update.

2011-02-08T11:25:00.000Z

Well the weather has been so glorious this past week that we've spent most of the days working outside, I havent even lit the kitchen range untill it was time to cook the evening meal. Its still been frosty in the mornings but soon cleared up when the sun came up to be warm and sunny all day. We've had temps of 17 -19º lovely!
We are both feeling the work we've done now though, both Rick and I are both stiff and aching from hard work... so today is a bit overcast and we are due a few showers and the rest is welcome...
We've been working on the terrace we call the back garden, its about 100 metres long by around 30 or so in places, rather irregualer in shape , it runs behind the house between us and the cottage, and its where we grow our tomatoes and corn, we have a few olive trees and a Pomegranete tree there too. Its very overgrown in places and the wall has collapsed as well, which is difficult, it will have to stay as it is for the forseeable future as we have so many other things to do. But we've strimmed the whole area, Ive been and dug a lot of it with the portuguese fork to unearth large rocks and a whole bin full of broken bottles pots and pans and tins.. Just to make the area safer to work on and easier for Rick to rototill with Herman, as we have to go through that area to get Herman up to the herb garden area which I want to organise as soon as possible.
The whole area is loking much cleaner and tidier now, obviously still lots to do, but there always is... but at least we can till the ground and prepare it for growing in now.
We are also busy working on the rental cottage area, the wooden pergola over the seating area fell down the other day, it had been up about three years but covered by such heavy vines the wood just couldnt take it, some were rotten too, so Rick has renewed all that and put it back up, Ive weeded the area and tidied up , I still have a couple of flower beds to weed and the carpark to do... It makes a lot more work but we dont spray to kill that kind of stuff so someone has to do it...

I'm having another go at the curing my own bacon thing... this time Ive cut the level of salt and upped the sugar a bit... It will take longer but should be a bit more to our taste... the first batch is almost gone, we did enjoy it, but it was just a touch too salty... Thinking of trying a ham soon...
Ive also had a go at making my own soft cheese, again, not a complete success but it was edible and we had it with homemeade bread and it made a decent meal.
Im having another go soon and when Ive perfected it ... or as much as I can, I'll post how I did it, and some pictures...
We find cheese is a huge expense here, and not particuarly good at that.. I do miss good cheese... trouble is, I like goats cheese, which here is excellent... but his lordship wont eat it and its too expensive to buy just for me...
But any kind of strong hard cheese is hard to get here... which means cooking with it is hard... and we like cheesy sauces etc...

I'd love to get to the stage where we are eating our own veggies, fruit, cheese, yogurt (Rick loves it) bread, ham and bacon... even though I dont breed the meat myself I count it as mine if I cure it... Olive oil and olives, wine... Ooooh sounds delish...

I plan so many more preserves this year... much more drying... sundried toms, and figs and maybe some grapes too...
The tomato puree and tomato sauce and Pasta sauce has been such a success Im going to do tons more... Plus lots of our own dried beans, and hopefully some peas if we get a good crop...
I also have a greenhouse plan in my mind... Poor Rick... A three sided one making use of the outside wall of the house where the stone wall will hold the heat it gets during the day to release it at night and stop the frost at night, just to bring on my seeds during spring, as we have such late frosts up here, it would really save me time... we have some glass panels, its just a matter of building it... plus I could overwinter some things that would help like herbs etc...

Frugal Living. Recipe, Apple Dappy.

2011-02-03T10:27:00.000Z

I call this a frugal recipe as it takes so little ingredients, swells up large and doesnt even need an egg. You can jazz it up as much as you like or leave it as plain as you like.

Ricks Favourite dessert at the moment...

Basic Mix
8oz S/R flour.
2oz Cooking Marg
1 teaspoon Baking Powder.
Couple tablespoons of sugar.
One chopped apple, peel on.
Milk to mix.

Put flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl, rub in marg to breadcrumb consistency. Mix to a stiff dough with the milk.
Roll out as you would pastry, sprinkle with the chopped apple, some sultanas if you have some or anything else that takes your fancy really.
Roll up gently.
Cut into inch wide slices and put in a greased dish. sprinkle top with sugar.

At this point, you can just gently bake it and have it with custard. It will rise and fill out a lot...

But I make a little sugar syrup, just two spoonfuls of brown sugar with hot water and pour it over , it will then give you a nice sticky toffee type bottom... I also add a big handful of coconut to the topping as Rick loves coconut...

It cooks really quick in a med hot oven, just around 10 mis or so... so watch it carefully!

I've made it with kiwis when I had a glut, and jam when we were broke... its very adaptable.
This recipe will feed four easily with some left over...
Its good cold too...

Sunshine & Frost...Our Weather...

2011-02-02T10:42:00.001Z

Well we are so glad that we (Rick) actually made the effort to build a framework (plastic & wood) and fill in the door and bottom of the stairs... its made a huge difference to the warmth factor in the house... and boy do we need it at night the last week or so... During the day its gorgeous, after about 10.30 am... and in the sun. But before that, and after the sun goes down at night... our temps are plummiting.. we've had huge heavy frosts now for over a week. Its not unusual, Jan and Feb are normally the worst of our winter months, by the end of Feb we can expect it to start warming up... and getting a little more of the wet stuff coming too... its been very dry lately , the one day of showers we had last week was actually very welcome, my cabbage was really suffering from the lack of water..
We have to go into the forest again now and collect as much wood for fires as possible, we are using it all day ourselves and now we have guests coming today too. Plus a few good bookings on the way for Feb... so we'll need tons to keep guests warm. Generally they come from the UK and are used to central heating, double glazing, carpets... etc... the idea of putting on an extra jumper doesnt occur to most people. They expect to be able to walk around inside houses with short sleeve teeshirts and be warm enough... Personally I think its crazy. Its winter... wear a jumper... wear an extra one if your still cold! Move around...! Heheheheh but hey thats me... I tend to wear most of the clothes I own all at one time during winter... Rick thinks I lose weight during spring every year... No I just shed several layers of clothing over the space of a few weeks...
Its lovely to have the sun though, it cheers the spirits, and at least we can get on with the huge list of jobs to be done before summer...
Its annoying when its pouring with rain and we have to stay inside lazing around when there is so much to be done.

Frugal Living, Making Bacon results.

2011-01-31T11:06:00.001Z

Well we did it... it wasn't an absolute complete success, but we ate it for lunch and it wasnt bad... the trouble was we dont generally take salt with much at all, and not in cooking ever... and this seemed very salty to us. It was edible though and we will defo make some more soon I just need to play around some with the mix.
I got the recipe from a thread on Self sufficientish , a website that you can finsd a link to on our 'friends' links on here . The forum they have there is an excellent place to find out all kinds of things you never realised you needed to know...
Right.
What I did...

I bought a piece of belly pork, about 12 ins x 12ins ... and washed and dried it well. In a bowl I put one large handful of sea salt and equal measure of cooking sugar, here its açucar amarelo. A sort of golden sugar... lovely stuff. I then rubbed the mix into the meat as much as I could, paying special attention to the cracks and crannies...
Then I folded it as my tub I had was too small, and sealed it in a plastic ice cream tub... and left it a few days, 2-3 is about right...
Drain the juice off and re rub. do this every 3-4 days for three or four times. The meat should go hard.. if there are any soft spots make sure you rub them with more mix. After around two weeks or so, drain, and then rinse well. Leave in a cool place to airdry... I put mine on a cake drying rack in a cool cupboard for three days...
For my next lot, I'll add a bit more sugar and less salt... I think its a trial and error thing, to personal tastes.

Frugal Living,. Making Bacon.

2011-01-27T10:24:00.000Z

One of the things I really love is bacon, the Portuguese bacon is delicious... but for me with our limited budget, far too expensive to even think about buying, generally about 7-9 euros a kilo, but it is so good! Smoked and tasty with none of that horrible slimy white gunk that comes out of English/uk type bacon whenever you start to cook it... the stuff they put in that meat is disgusting... and I'd never want to eat it...
So having said all that, Ive been looking at ways to 'do it myself'... No, I really dont want to kill and butcher a pig... but the sheets of belly pork that is generally used for making bacon , I can buy very cheaply...
Ive found an excellent recipe on another site that seems to be working well, Ive had some curing now for almost two weeks. Hopefully after the weekend it should be about ready for eating...
Ive taken a picture and will take a couple more and then once Im happy with it... I'll post it on here and let you all know the results...
If it has worked, I'll have a large chunk of bacon ready for slicing, that will have cost me under two euros the lot...

Frugal Living - Cheats Baked beans.

2011-01-26T15:12:00.000Z

Well to be honest, my recipe doesnt involve baking the beans...
I soak my dried beans overnight, we prefer a combination of white beans and the blackeyed beans.

I then cook them till soft, with an added bayleaf & garlic clove but no salt as it hardens beans before they are cooked. Drain, then set aside .
Meanwhile, I open a jar of my homemade tomato sauce, or Pasta sauce,(a bought jar of passata would do if you had it) blitz it till smooth with the blender, pour over the beans , stir well and return to gentle heat for flavours to meld well. Maybe add a little sugar to taste. Pour over bread or toast... yummy.

Beesa.

2011-01-26T10:45:00.000Z

We get so much feedback about our dogs, and emails asking for pictures of Beesa , well here are some I took the other day, she's certainly filling out now. She doesnt seem to have grown as big as we were told she may, but she's still growing so maybe she will in the end. She's six months old now and we adore her, such a character, a real comedienne... Her bark is really really deep, her paws are huge, and she has an appetite to match..Bonnie and her are best friends and really love each other, playing a lot. They often cuddle up and generally sleep together.

Growing... plans for this year..

2011-01-25T11:26:00.000Z

I hope to continue my more fresh less freezer plan this growing year. So far we've done quite well, considering I decided to do this pretty much too late in the year to get much in the ground for the worst part of the winter.
But this spring I plan to plant, all our normal main crops,
Peas, runner beans, french beans, yellow waxy pods, portuguse green beans for shelling , beetroot, carrots, cabbage, caulis, onions, courgettes, aubergines, tomatoes, peppers, melons, squash,corn and potatoes.
But.... Im going to try to plant in a more organised way, instead of the all in at once way we usually do it...
More of the a little an oftne type of planting, plus Im planing tons of different squashes this year as they keep so well all winter. Pumpkin, spaggetti pumpkin, butternuts, and chirik kiri ... Im sure I didnt spell that right... but hey... you get the idea. Also I was very pleased with the courgette marrows.. not something we'd normally eat. I just let them grow as big for chutney making. But had three left that I didnt know what to do with, they stayed green and firm all over the last 4 months.. I used the last one the other day , I roasted some in big chunks with herbs and put the rest in soup... well worth another go this year.
I also have the jerusalem artichokes in the ground for next winter... plus we plan tons more cabbage, this year they have been excellent but still not enough... I cant believe how much cababge Rick can eat!! The second batch of caulis I planted in July, have been very good, keeping us in leaves for soup and around one cauli a week... for the last couple of months.. and if I look after them a little better this year I hope for more... definately something we'll be doing for the winter...
The Grelos was a bit dissapointing, but I think the land where we planted itwas just exhausted... I need to rethink the winter garden areas...
Im going to plant and try to keep more varied veg going over the winter, especially carrots.. we eat so many of them... and I still have the odd one growing so the cold doesnt bother them too much...

Pasta sauce. Frugal Living.

2011-01-25T11:10:00.000Z

Well as the weather is looking at giving us some of the wet stuff for a couple of days I thought I'd best come in and update this while I can, cos if its pouring tomorrow I'll stay home by the fire...
Well Ive been checking on my Pasta sauces, we made them last August & September, well Rick made the august ones as I was in Ireland with Dad. Ive been really pleased with how they worked out, a few people actually said they would go off, as I dont do all that faffing about with boiling the jars up after sealing them etc..
Well I can honestly say, so far, almost 6 months on since we made most of them... they are all fine and lovely... I opened another one yesterday and blitzed it to make soup for lunch and it was great, tonight Im opening a different batch as its a different flavour(basil & sage) to make a baked Pasta. And this year I have huge plans.... for tons more. I still have around 27 jars left of my stores so its going well but I plan to sundry a lot, make even more roast tomato puree and the pasta sauces too...
They are so handy for sticking in a lot of things for quick meals when we've been working...
Boil some pasta add some sauce, a grating of cheese on the top, a few buttered split rolls with garlic sprinkled ontop toasted in the oven... hey presto healthy veggie pasta and garlic bread... add a salad and yummmm.

I use it with a handblender for soup, add it to stew if Im short on fresh veg, add it to a few other veggies as a base for spicy veggie stew with rice... oh theres tons of ways to use it up...

Just in case anyone missed it before my basic recipe is ...

Im as big a pan as you can...
Chop roughly as many toms as you want ...a big glug of good olive oil, add a good handfull of basil or any herb you like, I use all kinds for different tastes..
I then add chopped onion, and let it all simmer down to a juicy pulp... add a sprinkle of sugar if thats the taste you like ...
For tomato sauce I then blend it roughly with the wizzer, and pour into hot sterilised jars. Cover with a layer of olive oil put lid on tight and leave to cool. Label and date.

For Pasta sauce I add all kinds of extra veg I have a glut of at the time, chopped green beans, aubergines, peppers, courgettes... etc... and just proccess as above... yummy...

Frugal Living Soup.Soup and yet more soup..

2011-01-21T12:14:00.000Z

Im a great lover of soup, we at the moment are having soup of some kind every single day... its one of the most frugal of frugal meals you could have in my opinion.
It takes so little to make a nutricious bowl of hot tasty soup. Even what are termed as weeds from the garden can be turned into a tasty meal.
Nettles for instance... make lovely soup, picked fresh and young , added to a chopped onion a bit of garlic... whatever you have...
Also I like dandilion leaves with mine.. adds a little peppery taste.. very good for you too!
We are eating a lot of 'leaf soup' at the moment, Im such a frugal cook and hate to see waste, and we have had lots of cauliflowers just recently, their leaves are excellent soup stuff, they are so big and fresh and lush green... they are not as strong tasting as the outer leaves on the cabbages which I tend to use too...
I also make 'yesterday soup' too, just all the leftover cooked veg blitzed with the hand blender and a little cumin added ... yummy..
Ive just picked tiny baby cabbage leaves this morning for soup, I cut the cabbage ages ago and left the stalk in the ground and now I have lots of small sideshoots growing and I pick them for soup too, added to potato, garden leaves, garlic or onions its really very good...
Plenty of fresh homemade bread is the key... you just cant beat the taste..

Visitors!

2011-01-20T11:30:00.000Z

We had a lovely day yesterday, Precurso from on here and her husband Mark called in to see us, they are looking for Property in Portugal and came and had a bowl of soup and a really good chat, actually we had such a wonderful time they were really late leaving and probably didnt make their appointments at all...
It was so nice to put faces to names and really spend some time with people I talk to but have never met before... it seemed strange... but we all really enjoyed the experience...

We then called to see some English friends in the next village and had a coffee as we've not seen them in a while, and recieved a kind gift of some Strawberry plants, they were very welcome , Id only been moaning at Rick the other day that our soft fruit area was a bit sparse and I wanted to build it up with planting some strawberries... but with money so tight at the moment I could justify the cost... hehehehe now we have some for free... the runners are tiny, and probably wont fruit this year... but it is something to look forward to...

We've planted the garlic, some experimental rows of carrots, more Grellos and a few Cauli seeds to see how they go...
Later today I may prune the Kiwis, as Ive been told mine will fruit better (any at all would be good) if I pruned them hard...
So as long as this weather keeps on...

Sunshine & Planting ...

2011-01-15T10:23:00.000Z

Well its another lovely day, Ive checked the forcast and apart from the odd blip here and there with a showery day, its set to stay nice for the next ten days or so. The temps are good too, mid 50s most of the time. Im not sure what this is for you lot out there who do it the other way... around 15-16 degrees or so I think. Mild and warm in the sunshine, thats the important thing.
So, I have a packet of cauli seed , a packet of carrots some garlic that is shooting, and some onion seed and Im going to see if I can make an early start. All say they are suitable for early planting... So we'll see.
I so look forward to the planting time of year, its such a positive time...

I'd like to say thank you to Heiko, over at the Path to self sufficiency blogspot , who sent me a lovely parcel of herb seeds that arrived yesterday, Im so looking forward to making the medicinal herb garden this spring... We just have to make a path for Rik to get hermann up there to cultivate it...

Today I had a bit of a blow to my hopes of cutting down on buying seed this spring . I went to look at all my saved bean seed, and all has weevil or something in it...little jumpy things that look like fleas, and all are covered in tiny holes. They were sealed in plastic containers, so the little buggers must have been in the beans when I sealed the containers... Im not sure how to counteract this... as I dont know what they are or how it happened... The bean plants were good strong and healthy and gave an excellent crop, we ate them and they were lovely, so where do the little buggers come from?

Sunshine!! and broad beans..

2011-01-12T10:27:00.000Z

Well its brightened up beautifully, the weather yesterday was mild and dry and today it dawned dry and mild and with bright sunshine, I went to the veggie patch at 9am this morning and it was warm enough to go in tee shirt and jeans... excellent... and the forcast is more of the same all week... I went down to our winter garden in the orchard yesterday and checked out the new stuff down there, the broad beans are coming up really strong, and look excellent, although Im not counting my chickens as we generally get this far and then still dont get to eat them... Ive been saving all the wood ash from the fire for them so gave them a good top dressing of ash to help them along a bit, such valuable potash...
The winter peas down there are not too bad, a little sporadic , as they suffered a bit with the rain washing stuff out and maybe rotting some seed, but we have quite a few and this sunshine will really make them pull strongly now...
My onion seedlings are coming on too... Im so hopeful of them, never having grown them from seed before...
The Grelos is good, we are eating it in soup at the moment... and I'll plant another lot in a day ofr two.. there are still one or two caulis left to come as well, we've managed one a week for ages... I'll defo plant them late again, to have caulis during the winter has been a great help to us this year and I hope to repeat that success next year..
The cabbage is still doing okay, its slowed down a lot but the next batch will be ready any time now... Rick cannot manage without cabbage...

Im so looking forward to this growning year, I felt I missed so much last year with having to dash back and forth to Ireland. We'd planted so much extra stuff so I could preserve, and dry it all, and I never got to do much, Rick had to give so mmuch away as he couldnt cope with the workload without me.... aaaarrrhhh .

Weather... and stuff..

2011-01-10T11:37:00.000Z

Well the weather is certainly giving us a few changes at the moment, Friday night, it was howling up at our place, wind , and lashing rain, we often get high winds when the village a klm away gets a breeze, it seems to funnel up the valley to us, and buffets the house really hard. Its noisy, but I like it... if Im not going out that is.. there's nothing better than sitting by the fire or being tucked up snug in bed listening to the wind and rain lashing down... sadly it still seems to end up all over my kitchen floor if we get too much...
Yesterday, it was gorgeous.. after about 10 ish it was T shirt weather... we spent a lovely afternoon wandering in the forest with the dogs and really enjoyed the exercise in the sunshine...
Last night the temps fell drastically as it was a clear night, the first for ages... so it was quite cold.. and as we have no heating upstairs, the hot water bottles were out in force!
This morning the wet is back...we awaoke early to a dry misty morning... and I thought it was going to be lovely again, but then looking across the valley I could see the misty foggy stuff on its way...

It really only takes a few mins at most for the whole valley to be full and you cant see the garden ..

The citrus squeezing goes on and on... we are picking up off the ground around a bucketful every day now.. Ive given tons away, and we are now juicing the rest as much as a small manual juicer and a strong arm can do in one day that is... Im freezing it in those plastic ice cube bags, I looked into the best way to do it and there isnt a no plastic way I can think of... Ice cube trays still have to be emptied into freezer bags for storage, these at least lay flat in the freezer taking up less space especially as we have so many more to come...
It will save us a lot of money on juice during the summer, I'll just pop a few fruit cubes in a glass and cover with either water or Gaseoza and its a cheap fruit drink...

Staying with us. Menus .

2011-01-08T10:54:00.000Z

Well our guests have gone, and seemed very happy with their week with us. so happy in fact that they plan to come back in March.
While they were with us they ate an evening meal most nights. They thought it would help our cause and increase our bookings if I posted on here the menus for the week... so, its worth a try. Hopefully It wont bore you all too much.
We charge 7.50 euros per head. And that includes wine & coffee.

So The menus were as follows.

1, Homemade vegetable soup with homemade basil Soda bread.
Marinaded Pork chops, Roasted Vegetables(potates, carrots, butternut squash, garlic and herbs)Plus Rice & blackeyed beans.
Homemade Lemon rice pudding.
Plus wine & coffee.

2. Homemade Minestrone Soup & Soda Bread.
Homemade fresh tagiatelli pasta with cream/mushroom and bacon sauce. homemade garlic rolls & a salad.
Kiwi &Coconut dappy with custard.
Wine & Coffee.

3.
Tomato/onion and Basil salad on fresh lettuce , mushroom paté wit toast.
Garlic & paprika roast Pork, roast potatoes, roast carrots, green beans with seseame seed dressing, cauliflower & gravy.
Fig & honey Pancakes.
Wine & coffee.

4. Tomato Soup & Soda Bread.
Pork with mushrooms and chestnuts in a cumin sauce. Green beans and seseme dressing, Boiled rice.
Homemade Egg Custard Tart.
wine & coffee

5. Cheese/bacon Garlic rolls.
Savoury Mince (soya) and sage dumplings. Roast potatoes , Roast carrots. Cabbage.
Fresh Pinapple with homemade chocolate sauce...
Wine & Coffee.

On the 6th night they took us out to dinner in town... and lovely it was too...
Well there you are, Im going to add this as a sample menu on our accomodation page too I think.

Frugal Living, Dog Food Follow up.

2011-01-07T11:01:00.001Z

Well , our vet popped in to see us yesterday, he was in the area and called to see how Beesa is getting on, as he found her for us when we wanted a new puppy.
He was very happy with her progress, he seemed to think she was (and Bonnie of course) fit, healthy and growing well. I had a chat with him about our dog food ideas.. quite expecting him to be not really keen on the idea, as generally vets promote the hugely expensive sacks of the dried stuff. He was very good about it, and said that generally dried food... or tinned, come to that is fine for dogs, but that our system was excellent, and as long as I varied the diet, made sure that they got a diverse mix of veg, meat, fish oils, and carbs... that our dogs would be and are thriving. He did also say, that for many dogs, dried food can cause kidney problems, especially in this country where its so hot, as animals need access to lots of water when they are dried food, and often dont get it as much as they should... which causes many problems..

So, we will continue with it forever now... the dogs love it, it costs us almost nothing... and is actually better for the dogs...They are healthey, their coats are thick and glossy, and both have tons of energy
Last night they had..
A bag of beef & pork scraps and fat/sinew/unrecognisable stuff... I roast it first, then chop it into small bits,
potatoes peelings, chopped small, cabbage stems and scraps, chopped small, carrots tops and ends, chopped small, and a handful of leftover rice . I cook the veg in a small amount of water, then add the cut up roasted meat and any leftovers and simmer for a little while to mix nicely, let it cool and there you are. Depending on how much there is, sometimes I sprinkle a handful of dried biscuits over the top, sometimes not...
On odd occasions I'll mix a raw egg in, other times they have fish heads... occasionally the oil from the tuna tin... all good stuff... Do these look unhappy dogs...

So, what do you feed your dog on... and how much does it cost you? Would anyone else consider trying what we do? If not why not... Im interested in opinions..

Staying at Living the Dream

2011-01-05T10:56:00.000Z

Ive added a link on the accommodation page to our availability Calendar on one of our ads as we've had to actually turn down bookings this week, (as we already have guests) which breaks my heart.... so this way hopefully anyone of you out there thinking of coming can check it...
Thanks
Pat

Fog Fog Fog...

2011-01-05T10:46:00.000Z

Well the weather at the moment is a tad strange... its very mild, at times in the mid 50s.. but the last two days we've not been able to see a hand in front of our faces. Now we often get fog here, the low cloud, misty morning type stuff... but this has been real thick, I cant see where Im going type stuff... and its stayed all day.
We actually have guests staying at the moment, looking at property in the area, and I breezily said yesterday morning.... "oh this wont last after 10ish... it never does".. hehehe its still here now... Luckily they are nice and she hasnt held it against me...
But its making life difficult for them as they want a place with a great view, and with this fog, cant see a damn thing... oh well hopefully things will improve...

Obviously this has curtailed our outside work a bit as its a bit too mild to where heavy waterproofs to work in, as you just sweat like mad, but then if you dont, this misty foggy stuff soon soaks you through... so we've been inside, Rik now starting to go a little stir crazy... I am enjoying relaxing by the fire, reading and cooking... that is when he's not driving me nuts wandering around huffing and being bored.... His problem is he doesnt read.... he can of course, he likes workshop manuals and stuff like that... but to relax with a good book... no... he just cant and doesnt see the point... to him, time spent sat reading a good book is time wasted when you could be working on something useful..... damn Philistine!