I don’t really like flying, or rather, I don’t like booking plane tickets and I don’t like the hassle you…
Filho do Putin!
During the last weeks of winter, we hired a local stonemason to build a dry stone wall. This ‘maestro de…
Vailá, the Douro Verde guide
Vailá is online now! It is available in Portuguese and English.
And informs you about the upcoming events and other nice things to do in our region.
from kitchen to restoration lab
We spend Christmas in the old kitchen of the ruin. Where we continued our interior walls experiments.
getting a haircut
Just pronouncing the word is a struggle: O Cabeleireiro. Meaning ‘the hairdresser’ in Portuguese, to be pronounced as Ooh Caa-be-ley-Réy-roo.…
reader’s letter-2
We received a kind email to ask us ‘What’s your experience with the Portuguese climate?’
We’ll try to answer that…
campaign month!
‘Vote PS, vote Armando Mourisco, vote Paulo Rocha!’ blares from the speakers of the campaign car. I wave the red…
work in progress
This summer we are working almost exclusively on the renovation of our roof. That is, if the weather permits, because…
update: Asian hornet
After two years of beekeeping, we know how to catch Asian hornets faster and better than we described earlier in…
DIY roof renovation_part 1
At the moment, we are completely absorbed in the renovation work. Instead of writing down all the boring details that…
Moonlight harvest
The photo is a bit blurry. Still, I’d like to share it, because it’s such a funny scene. Nuno is ready to start processing the honey harvest.
deliverers idiom
Getting a parcel delivered to the Portuguese countryside is easy, if you know the tricks.
an unknown danger
Last month I read disturbing reports of murdered chickens on various sites. What Portuguese animal can cause such a massacre?
cluck, cluck, buk, buk: eggs and pox
It’s Easter Sunday, we hear that typical “buk, buk, ba-gawk” from the top terrace: Yep, we have the first egg…
Pointing
We decided to repoint the facade. Many of the old joints are cracked and therefore are leaking. Ants walk in and out, so it needs some work.
chicken feed
The seller helps the customer in front of us, who says encouragingly, ‘He sells the tastiest chickens around’. I reply, ‘Oh, but we come for live chickens’.