Stuff I've been learning

It's been a while since I've last blogged. Progress on our house continues, with Tim valiantly shouldering almost all responsibility for moving broken tiles/rotting wood/rusty chickenwire etc from one location on the property to another. He's also built part of a drystone wall, taken the roof off the old kitchen annexe (which is destined to be a bedroom and ensuite for visitors) and is now hard at work on removing the external doorway to where the main bathroom will be. 

Although I'm stuck at home with work and deadlines, I spend a lot of my time thinking about our house. Here's some stuff I've learned since I last blogged:

1. Old shoes are considered excellent landfill in Portugal. Although I'm not up at the house much (just the odd Saturday if I'm honest), when I do rock up for some heavy lifting or light shovelling, I never fail to be astonished by the volume of old shoes we're digging up. Nice. 

2. Natural swimming ponds are the best thing ever and I'm determined to have one. You can see some examples (some nice, some nasty) here. I've even got a location for my pond picked out. But not the funds. Yet.

3. If an estate agent tells you that the house you're buying is in a village with mains sewerage (unusual in this part of Portugal), you might also want to check that a sewage farm has also been built. If said sewage farm won't be completed for at least another year, you're going to have to install a septic tank for the interim. Enough said. 

4. Allotment.org.uk: the design may not be up to much, but the content's great! I don't suppose the site's owners' would thank me for that endorsement, but seriously, I could spend hours on this site, and do. It's got chickens. It's got soup recipes. It's got shopping. What's not to love?

You can see more pictures of our renovation project as it unfolds here. After long laying dormant, the Flickr account should be updated more often now. Probably.

Caveat Emptor: Let the buyer beware!

So far, we've received two estimates for the work to replace the roof on our house. 

The first estimate came in at a price that broadly tallies with Tim's costings for the project.

The second came in at... Well, put it this way: take the first estimate. Double it. And then add just a little bit more for good measure, if you really fancy chancing your arm. 

It's 'anomalies' like this that make a project like ours a total minefield. A minefield that you're forced to negotiate in heavy, ill-fitting boots. My advice - for what it's worth - is don't buy a property abroad unless you're prepared to do a whole lot of painstaking research. Really. 

(Disclaimer: In my case, I got Tim to do it, but we all know I'm physically allergic to money management matters.)

It took us over a year to find and buy a house we loved, and there were too many near-misses and dodged bullets along the way for my liking. And there have been quite a few chancers (like this builder), to boot. At the same time, we've met some wonderful people who were incredibly generous and helpful and sincere.

It would be indiscreet of me to go into details here. Take me to O Cantinho and buy me a bottle of Casal Garcia, however, and I'll spill the lot. Just before I start telling you - again and again and again - that, while one can't be too careful, this is still the best thing that Tim and I have ever, ever done. Ever. *Hic*

Stripping on a Sunday

This is how the room that might loosely be described as our 'Master Bedroom' used to look. Groovy wallpaper, no?

Not any more. I spent yesterday removing it, while Tim began work on a drystone wall in the back garden.

It was my first visit to Gondelim in two weeks. In fact, it was the first time I'd left Casa Amalie in two weeks, thanks to an avalanche of work deadlines. But a lot's been done by Tim during that time, from dismantling a pig sty to planting leeks, onions and garlic. I officially have a Brilliant Husband. 

In other news, the first estimate for the roof is in and I met Rita, the daughter of Adoindo, from who we bought the house. Rita makes beautiful things out of gorgeous fabrics (you can see them here) and her father Adoindo has a tame magpie that he feeds on little pieces of raw meat, which is pretty cool. In fact, one of the best things so far about buying this house is how generous the Silva family are with their time and advice.

Audition time

For two days in a row, Tim has come back from the house in Gondelim smelling distinctly of beer and port.

I thought that was my job.

But apparently, it's all part of auditioning builders to provide you with roof-replacing and cellar-digging 'solutions'. 

In other news, we are discussing a loft conversion. God, that makes me feel old.

And the New Address cards arrived today from Moo. They are lovely and I can't wait to send them out. 

A productive weekend

Here's a glimpse of Mission Control at Gondelim.

Despite heavy rain, we got a lot done this weekend. I pruned about 10 feet of grapevine and shifted a good few wheelbarrow-loads of timber and broken tiles. Fun. 

Tim in the meantime, knocked down an internal wall, to create the main hallway/landing. 

On Sunday, we were invited next door by our new neighbours to celebrate their eldest son's birthday with 25 (!) members of the immediate family. We are SO looking forward to moving here - but there's a lot to do before we can. 

Ola querida, estou em casa ("Hi honey, I'm home")

This is how Tim came home last night. 

Correction: This is a photo of Tim mid-afternoon. By the time he came home, he wasn't nearly so clean. 

While I have been confined to barracks by work, Tim has been up at the house for the past two days, taking down a roof and clearing vegetation from the top terrace. 

I'm frustrated that I haven't been up there myself since we bought the place, but looking forward to spending as much time there this weekend as the weather allows. 

I have my own hard hat and everything. Pictures (may) follow. 

Day One: 11 November 2009

Day One of our project to turn a derelict cottage in Central Portugal into our dream home. It's a vision we've assembled after much covetous, sweaty-palmed leafing through the Toast catalogue and back issues of Country Living, but a vision nonetheless.

Yesterday, Tim and I finally completed the purchase of a house in the village of Gondelim, thirteen months after moving to rural Portugal from Hackney, east London. Contrast doesn't even start to describe it. 

The meeting yesterday between us, the sellers, our lawyer and the Notary was conducted largely in rapid-fire Portuguese. But we have a set of keys and a legal-looking document, so I'm pretty sure the house is ours now. 

After 'celebrating' rather too vigorously last night, I'm heading off for an early night. But despite being pretty frail himself today, Tim has already been up to the house and removed wall tiles in an location we optimistically refer to as the Outside Dining Area. Right now, it's a bit of a sh*thole.

Wish us luck!