Finally summer has arrived!! Well some days anyway! It has been pretty bright and sunny but also VERY windy. One day we put 77 amps into our batteries - 43 from the solar panels and 34 from the wind generator wind generator. Recently we have put in about 30 amps a day and that mostly from the solar panels!!! (They don’t work as well if it’s hot but of course that day the wind kept them cool.) The river is quite beautiful, particularly in the mornings (yes occasionally we see them!!) and evenings: wonderful shadows in the evenings and calm and peaceful in the mornings. The banks are covered in bright flowering shrubs swallows darting over the water and birds singing overhead. The golden oriel nests here and we have seen them a number of times and in fact Chris saw a bee-eater too but unfortunately I was looking the other way!! It’s been a bit of a party time this last week. Last Thursday was Chris’s friend Tony’s 65 birthday and we were invited for a birthday meal on Friday with two other friends that Tony, Jan and Chris have known for years. It wsa a really great evening and as we moved down river slightly it was not too far to dinghy home even after a few(!) drinks. On Sunday Knicki had a house-warming party that was also a leaving-soon party for us!! We had certainly not intended to do this as Chris always prefers to just slip away with a “See you sometime”. I had been saying to Tara that it would be really nice for her and Mark, Barry and Knicki and us to get together for a few drinks before we moved on as we’d not really had one of our get-togethers for a while: Knicki has been busy looking for somewhere to buy out here and has been flying back and forth to England to move all her stuff and settle her affairs. As she has now found a place to rent while she continues to look, we thought it would be a good idea to meet up at her place. Once she heard this, the hare was running and a full blown party (from 3 till 3!!!!)was on the cards!! We all had great time; her house has a courtyard that was partly shaded during the afternoon and in fact we spilled out into the road with chairs and tables along the side of the house. Most cars were very obliging and went round another way but one decided not to so we moved but unfortunately he complained to the local policeman. Luckily he is well-known to many of those who lived in the village, so just a gentle request not to completely block the road!! It was the full works with coloured lights, glitter ball and sound system for the inevitable music that started about 9 and was still carrying on (with only about 6 people) when we left at about 2.0!! When we recover from all this and after Chris has borrowed Tony’s circular saw to cut a piece of wood he needs, it is likely that we move down to Ayamonte to stock up with diesel, gas and provisions generally and get ready for the next stage of our trip! PS: You may remember in the floods in April that a boat drifted down the bank looking like a “Ghost Boat” This week it’s returned and is now on the quay in Alcoutim being repaired and cleaned up. |
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FINALLY!! Spring and summer arrived at once. The last week has been wonderful – it fact now it’s almost too hot. The temperatures have been up around 25o-28o (about 80o F) and the days AND evenings glorious, although the temperatures do drop after about 9.00 o’clock! Chris has been working on the boat, re-fitting some equipment, painting and varnishing etc and I have been busy washing through the winter things to pack away (hopefully). We plan to go up river for a few days next week and I don’t think we will have i/net access up there. After that who knows!
I do have a reasonable excuse for missing last week as Sarah, my daughter, came out for a fleeting visit!
We had a great time but far too short and unfortunately the weather was not too good either. She travelled out on Tuesday and luckily someone was travelling down to Vila Real (de San Antonio) and I caught the train to Faro. When I left Moontide it was chucking it down so wet weather gear was necessary plus spares for Sarah packed in my rucksack!! I met her at the airport at about 9.30pm and we stayed in a hostel right opposite the station. On Wednesday am we had a little walk round Faro, saw storks nesting on the top of buildings and a lamp-post, had a cup of coffee and “Tosta Mista” (toasted ham and cheese sandwich) before getting the train back to Vila Real. I took the opportunity whilst there to do a little bit of shopping at the supermarkets and after a short wander round (and another coffee and a really super drink – Amarguinho (I think), an almond-y light liqueur served with ice and a squeeze of fresh lemon – we caught the bus back to Alcoutim where Chris picked us up and we dinghied safely back to Moontide. On Thursday, we Wandered round San Lucar (Spain) and as luck would have it met up with a group of about 7or 8 of our friends in a bar so had a good time there. Friday, we went to Alcoutim (Portugal) and then dropped in on Tony and Jan to show Sarah a finka. Later that evening it was ‘English Night’ at the Riverside Tavern with a good chatter there. As I said it was a fleeting visit and she was flying out again Saturday. We again were able to arrange a lift to Vila Real so we were due over in Alcoutim at 9.00am (Portugese time luckily!). Typically it was really blowing and the river was pretty choppy so Chris lent Sarah hi wet weather gear to get ashore and Sarah and I went off to VR with Tom in a borrowed van so she could catch the train to Faro in good time. On my return later in the afternoon (after more shopping) I heard from Chris that he got totally soaked going back to Moontide and that it was so choppy he had to struggle to get back on board!!!! To save on luggage Sarah borrowed my camera with her memory card so at the moment I’ve no pictures and I don’t think we got one of all of us anyway! TYPICAL!!! As I said we had a great time and inevitably once she went back we had a couple of really lovely days although since Wednesday lunch time it’s been really miserable – grey wet and cold!!
Hi All
Phew!!!!! What a time we’ve had!!!! I’ve finally got round to updating and again have put on multiple posts as there have been lots of events to talk about! So do please scroll back. Also there will be a load more pics but I'm afraid I've run out of time today. Chris has man-flu and really wants to get back on board to collapse! I'm doing ok but he still can't quite trust me to take the dinghy ashore on my own!!! Will be back soon.
Just a quickie to say I've updated some photos and in fact put a 'new' photo gallery up. The old photos are still there - just look under 'More'!!!! Unfortunately the last time I think I've updated them twice in error so there are lots there in Gallery 2 twice so hence the new 'recent' page!! I plan to remove them but can't work out how at the mo!!!
So, where do I start?
I’ve written 3 episodes chronologically this time, so please scroll right down to the first one “Back Up River”!!!! I’m hoping that this will work – please let me know if it’s too confusing. I have loads more to say but will leave it at this for now and I WILL update again soon and add the photos – provided I can get ashore. Just in case I don’t and/or you are too busy to read again, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas – it does seem very strange not to be seeing everyone and celebrating with you – not least because the sun is shining and during the day it’s still warm enough to sit outside in a T-shirt and shorts. We have some great plans here for Xmas that I will tell you about later. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.
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March 2014
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