But....
And its a big but... I feel there are also so many positives that have come out of all this. Hheheheh Rick often says Im so optimistic sometimes its annoying... but I feel its often the only way to get through all the hard times...
Some of our positives are... our relationship is still strong and working... and we still love Portugal, our home and way of life just as much as always... we have two beautiful dogs, Beesa the pup brings us a smile and much joy almost every day... Bonnie is now putting on weight again and seems her old happy self now she has someone to play with and some company..
We've had a excellent year veggie wise (after what seemed like a bad start) with tons of food stashed away and now planning and planting lots more than usual for the winter months... plus the wood barn is fuller than usual at this time of the year.
The land is in better condition and under a little more control now due to us aquiring Herman the cultivator, and of course the great efforts of our helpers we've had all summer... deciding to have volunteers at our place was a huge success and has made a real difference to our lives. It brought different company to our home and we got lots of projects and work done at the same time...
We've done a few improvements on the house but not as uch as we'd have wished due to money or lack of it... but as long as the place is improving even if very slowly, then Im happy...
We are living more frugally than ever, but actually are enjoying the challenge ... most of the time... I am as always looking for ways to cut the electricity bills and any other expenses we have, still our fuel for the car is our biggest... but at least we've reduced down to one vehicle now, which runs on gas (GPL) which is over half the cost of petrol ...
We are recycling more than ever, Im making door draft excluders from all the thin wispy plastic we cant seem to avoid, I wash and reuse any freezer bags I use, carrier bags are not an option for me anymore , I have two reusuable strong bags, and use those all the time. All food waste goes to the dogs, or compost, paper is torn up and composted or burnt and composted. So we've cut our bin waste down to around one bag every three weeks or so... The fridge is off, the washing machine does one 30ยบ wash a week(I hand wash a few odds and ends betweeen if needed) Now we have sperate switches for some lights we can turn off more at a time which has cut our consumption a lot...
So we dont feel we are doing too bad. We just now need to up our income... or even start earning some... for the new year, or things could start getting tricky later in the Spring.
I have high hopes of the cottage earning us some dosh as I think a lot of people feel they MUST get away this coming year, so as we are very cheap.... well you never know...
Im advertising Rick and all his many talents locally ... in the hopes that it may pay off with some work for him... Rototilling, land clearance, land maintenance, dry stone walling, terrace repairs... building repairs, painting, alterations... you name it really he does it.... Im blessed he's so clever...
So, there you have it... in some ways an appalling year, but in other not bad... we are still here, still living our dream.... still loving Portugall and each other.... and summer wont be long.....
