A Frugal dream in Portugal 2.

Thursday 26th March

Spring!!!

The weather is still absolutely gorgeous, Spring has sprung and I heard my first Cuckoo on Tuesday and almost everyday since. The woodpeckers are hard at it and we have butterflies everywhere. It's wonderful, just as if summer has come three months early. One of the many many things we find so incredible about living here in the forest away from other people is the vast amount of wildlife we see or hear everyday. Wild boar, pine marten and so many varieties of birds and insects are all around us.

In the garden my butternut squash are coming up as are the pumpkins, everything else is going great guns, I'll plant out another dozen lettuce plugs today as the others will be ready to eat within a couple of weeks...we need to keep a constant supply on the go. Salad is a main staple during the late spring right through to mid autumn .

Rick has finished his work helping out other people and next week will continue with building the BBQ and sun deck area for the cottage. It's looking really pretty down there now, one of the roses Dad and Rick bought me for Christmas is already flowering, a peach coloured bud it smells heavenly. I'm excited to see new growth springing up and emerging through our beautiful fertile soil in places I’d forgotten about .

Wednesday 1st April.

Well the weather has changed slightly.... it’s cooled down a little during the day, down into the mid 60s but still mild and sunny. The trouble is we have had three nights now with bloody sharp frosts.... The first one really caught us on the hop, and our peppers and tomato seedlings got a bit of a blasting, we've sadly lost a few peppers but I think we've managed to save the tomatoes. There are a few french beans that are looking a tad on the sad side too but not as bad as I first expected. Rick, being his usual very creative self, very quickly rigged up some little mini tents for the peppers and tomatoes as they are on the upper level of the garden and therefore get the worst of the cold weather. The beans must take their chances as the area they cover is just too big for us to try to cover them over.

Ricks is now working hard digging footings for the sun deck for the cottage. Bless him it's such hard work as its solid rock down there, his energy, drive and positive attitude to the huge amount of grueling manual labour he has to undertake every week is wonderful.

Wednesday 8th April

Frugal Living,

This is a small insight into our lives here ... in answer to a few questions readers may have . I'm not sure whether how we live comes under simplistic living, downsizing or frugal living... it all covers us in one way or another really.

We came here to escape the daily grind of a consumer lifestyle, the “hamster on a wheel” type of life that means the more you seem to earn the more you need...I've never been a 'keeper' or buyer of material things and now in some ways I'm worse than I was yet in a lot of ways even more minimal. However I drive Rick crazy with my obsession with keeping things that will be useful for instance plastic bags, bubble wrap, odds and ends of string and suchlike. I've even kept two old leaky hot water bottles as the rubber may be handy one day. I just feel that kind of stuff is good, what I do throw away or won't buy are electrical things, they cost too much power to run....

Ornaments gather too much dust, and any kind of clutter really just doesn't last long with me unless its useful clutter ..Our clothes are a general rag bag of worn out things, I never throw clothes away until they turn to dust. Everything can always be mended, my challenge Is just getting Rick to agree to wear them... We keep a couple of sets of goodish clothes to wear when we go out to town and that's about it. The rest is mended and darned to hell, but if it's warm and comfy who cares. We live such a simple life, good homegrown organic food, mainly veg and pulses, we drink our well water and our own organic wine, we have our own home produced cold pressed extra virgin olive oil. Add to that a little pasta, rice and now and again a small amount of meat and we have the most wonderful meals.

All our cooking and heating is free, we use logs from the forest. We have no TV, radio or internet at home, I love the peace, we don't need 'The News' , it's all bad anyway. There is an internet space in town which I use now and again. It's very accessible and completely free. We read, do crosswords, play scrabble, go out on the bike if we have money for fuel, and just actually talk to each other. As I adore cooking, we tend to invite people over to eat with us and that's our way of socialising, as even if we have no money we tend to have loads of food..

Our days are spent either building /working on the house in some way, or on our land. There is always something that needs doing, Rick does help out other people with the odd day of casual work to bring in a few euros now and then, plus we have the cottage rentals at times. But money is always practically non-existent, but suprising it's not a problem, we have most of what we need right here at home, food, warmth, and a comfy bed.

Thursday 9th April.

Herbal Lip /skin balm

I’ve been busy making some lip/skin balm, its very useful for the winter, its wonderful stuff and guards against wind chill for lips, its also good for scratches sores, minor burns and scrapes etc. completely natural, organic and very soothing. Here is my method.

Chop together a good handful of comfrey leaves, Lemon balm, and Plantain leaves, a weed which grows almost everywhere, (plantain pictured below for identification)

Put in a enamel or stainless pot, and just cover with spring water and simmer for 30mins. Strain and squeeze liquid from leaves, measure liquid and add exactly the same amount of good oil, almond or olive will do. Put back on heat and simmer till it stops bubbling, no bubbles is a sign that the water has evaporated. Add small pieces of beeswax, about a 50p piece at a time, testing each time using the cold plate test as for jam setting . When it sets straight away, pour into jars, put on lid and label. It will slowly set from the bottom up. Keeps for around a year in a cool place.

What wonderful jobs that fall to me, yesterday I spent the afternoon manuring the veggies by hand… yes you read that correctly, by HAND.

Hmmm as we have so little money at the moment, we wanted to use the organic fertiliser as sparsely and efficiently as possible. It really, really REALLY stinks... its guano mixed with other organic matter is absolutely excellent stuff but phew the stink is horrendous. As we could only afford one bag, and you have to be so careful as it's super strong, if you get it on any plants it burns them, the easiest way was for me to sprinkle it by hand. Rick kept well away, he did find me an old pair of surgical gloves from the first aid box though. Bless .. We've had a busy week again, strimming, planting shrubs (ones I've dug up from roadsides so cost us nothing) a few heathers I've also transplanted from around the hedges, there are so many plants growing wild over here that you would pay for in garden centres in the UK. I only take one from here another from there, so as not to deplete the natural look, as well as weeding and generally tidying up and making the place look prettier...

Tuesday 14th April

Bloody Rabbits!!!

I got up this morning and found that bloody rabbits had been in the veggie garden, half the cabbage plants were gone chewed right down to the stumps plus a few brussel plants too... I know its rabbits because they dig big holes too... little buggers! This is quite a blow to us , food supplies are really valuable, so vital for feeding us and any guests throughout the year

We now have to try to fence the areas where we think they are getting in before tonight as now they know they can do it, one more night and the whole lot will be gone. The idea that they eat lettuce is a myth, they didn't touch them and we have three rows scattered around the patch, fencing seems the only way as I couldn't bear to use poison or traps, we would never want to hurt any of the nature here. Such a shame as those cabbages were really coming on well too....

The weather has changed again, we are having a few days of wet stuff, I'm not moaning we needed it badly. It had been almost 8 weeks since it had rained and the land needed it . It also increases the chance of forest fires when it's so dry so early in the year, so this wet stuff is actually very welcome. Just so long as it doesn't last too long... Some friends who stayed with us recently sent us some Herbal tablets for Cola (our Doberman) as he's been getting a bit stiff and achy lately (he's eight now) The Devil's Claw pills are having a fantastic effect on him, 4 days and we are seeing an improvement already... he has so much more go in him now, so he's more mobile and actually chased Bonnie round the garden this morning, we are so pleased! I'm actually going to look at the stuff for us!!!

Our furry friends

Thursday 20th April

Well, it seems ages since I've had time to update this diary , but if you asked me all what I've been doing to use up my time.... well I'm not really sure. The weather has turned a bit more hit n miss. I've been working in the garden as much as possible, as this time of year it needs almost constant attention or the weeds just take over completely. The universal question is, how come weeds grow quicker than my plants? I've cooked quite a lot as we've had friends over to eat a few times, as we try to make sure all our food is fresh and not processed (we don't eat chemicals or additives) the cooking and prep can be hugely time consuming, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Some friends once commented that we tend to live our life how life was 40 odd years ago. I'm not sure on that, but we do try to live as simply yet well as possible but without as many of the mod cons a lot of UK people are used to having. Food grown and cooked the old way is more healthy and tastier.

Rick is dashing here and there, a few days working helping other people with gardening and odd jobs. Wonderful news, we've had some lovely guests in the cottage, and Rick is also trying in his spare time to push on with building the sun deck for the pool.

I've been madly sprinkling seeds (flowers) about to try to pretty up the guest area for the summer and as we are promised temperatures in the mid 80s within the next few days I expect great things popping up soon!!

Rick has been out on the bike a few times recently but sadly I bruised my coccyx and haven't managed to get on the back yet ... I just can't seem to shift the pain..I suppose plenty of rest, no work or bending would make a difference but the garden and our food supplies rely on me doing my part. Also the cottage needs keeping up to scratch to keep any guests happy and comfortable .so its truly not possible.

I'm busy planting herb seeds and picking wild herbs as I want to really improve my knowledge of herbal remedies this year, herbs and their medicinal value are going to become a massive part of our plans here. Already I use quite a few and make salves and skin creams , I plan to increase my knowledge and skill in this area as much as I can. So far I've got Sage, Parsley, Coriander, Basil, Dill, Borage, Hyssop, Thyme (but hasnt come up yet) Lavender, Mullein, Camomile and Nettles.A good beginning!

A Poo Mountain... We have taken possession of a wondrous windfall. The circus came to Figueiro and left us a present... while we really don't like or approve of the idea of animals in the circus, I felt the tons of poo they left behind was just too good to miss. The lovely Rick went and collected a huge trailer full of it, Lion poo, Camel Poo, Llamas etc its all excellent stuff. It has really given our compost heap(which is now a sizable mountain) a great boost...

Tuesday 3rd May

It's taking so long to update this diary recently, but time just gets away from me, almost every minute of the day we are busy. With the huge veggie patch flourishing I'm kept busy down there most of the time, the lovely thing is, not only are we eating our own lettuce (have been for weeks) we now are digging beautiful new spuds .... You cannot beat that taste, last night we had Beetroot surprise made with our own lovely beets, really delicious that rich earthy taste is unbeatable. It was an almost completely homegrown free meal, beetroot surprise ( ours with a little bought cheese for the sauce) new spuds, brussels from the freezer , which were ours from last season. I cooked the beetroot tops as spinach with a dot of butter and black pepper, added a nice homemade loaf of Soda bread, and a glass of our wine. What more could you want....?

The peas are in pod now, we are just waiting for them to fill out .... the french beans and green beans have flowers on, the onions are huge!! It's all go, full steam ahead food production 24/7. The only failure was the broad beans, I put them in too late, and we were hit by black fly. We made the hard choice to take them out and burn them, rather than have it spread to the whole patch.... the french beans have a few on but I'm sure they'll manage now the main source of infection is gone...

Electric Bill!!! Hoorah!!! We have had a bill and it wasn't scary. All our economies have really paid off now, as our last one was still part estimated. They had to pay us back some money , so all in all our bill was 11euros! logically taking into account the back payment and the fact that we have had guests in the cottage our normal bills should now range between 30 and 40 euros. Which will be wonderful compared to the 90 -150 euro ones we were getting....

Thursday 5th May

Normal day...

I've had a few people asking about our lifestyle and in reply this is my average, normal day, yesterday...

I got up around 6am. Rick had a bad night with backache so I got up to see to the dogs, we walk them early before the forest gets busy with loggers or it was too hot. First feed the dogs, Light the kitchen range… then make the coffee when the range is hot, that's the toughest thing, having to wait for coffee. I made six loaves of soda bread for the freezer, so if we eat salad and don't light the range , we will always have bread. I then went to the garden and picked loads of lovely baby beetroots to make a beetroot surprise for dinner, then dug a few new spuds to go with them. I decided to try cooking the beet leaves like spinach for tonight.... They were absolutely lovely...a great idea.

Then I topped and tailed all the beets and cooked them...I had loads of beet leaves left over that I couldnt stand to waste. So I made Pesto with loads of beet leaves, a big handful each of, fresh parsley, coriander, dill, a few sage leaves, a few mint leaves, 4 cloves of garlic , salt and olive oil. Wizzed it all up in the blender then put it into sterilised jars, covered the top with oil as a seal and stashed it away for winter.

Lunch time - as we had loads of eggs given to us a few days ago we had scrambled eggs, bread n butter, and fruit...I then carried wood to stoke the range. Then filled the log storage area by the cooker. I did two loads of washing (30degree setting, only takes half an hour) , washed, dried and folded it away...

I'm experimenting with the dehydrated soya chunks as they are cheap. so I soaked some, then cooked it in onions and garlic with a dash of marmite, a stock cube and some soy sauce, it wasn't too bad, a tad on the salty side but edible, really needs more experimentation though. Then I nipped down the garden and planted 14 cherry tomato plants, a friend managed to germinate them for me as I couldn't for some reason get them to start off. I stoked the range again… I then cooked dinner , washed the dishes, walked the dogs again then settled down to read a lovely herb book I've been lent... We were in bed at 10.30...

So there you are, not what some would call exciting, but I love it... there is always work to do, but we don't think work is a dirty word... work is only work if you don't enjoy what you're doing... and we love it!!!

Tuesday 24 th May

It's been a while since I’ve had the time to continue with this, that's because of many different things, some good and some not so good...

To start with the money situation was terrible really dire, so we were actively trying NOT to go into town and waste fuel on non essential things. The veggie garden just takes so much of my time and energies during these early months, but it's been fantastic. We’ve been cropping so much stuff, eating and freezing peas, eating new spuds, so yummy! For the first year ever I've had great success with onions and we've now pulled some with more to come later and after a few attempts I've managed to plait them attractively and hung them up in the cubby. All the ones which went thick neck or hadn't grown suitably I chopped and froze as green onions, which we love.

The first crop of leeks is in the freezer too, I've been madly picking beetroot for what seems like forever, I've sweet pickled 6 kilos already, we've had tons of beetroot surprise, Rick has been eating them boiled like apples.. and still they come!!! The leaves are a good substitute for spinach too.. Our first two Aubergines went into some pasta sauce the other night along with courgettes. I picked the first bucket full of green beans today too, it's all systems go. We are eating from the garden every day, more lettuce than ever before. We have had a few problems though, black fly on the french beans, we've sprayed with soft soap but no real improvement then we found some of the green beans have rusty looking spots on them. I've pulled the plants and got rid of them, we put them down to the incredibly humid weather, its been in the 90s a lot but quite wet at times too...

Then some really welcome visitors ( friends) Jaqui and Jay arrived, and stayed with us for a few days... What lovely people, it gave us a few days of nice riding with friends on the bikes...The van is still off the road due to money problems,with no insurance and it needs new tyres, it may be a while before things change. Rentals for the cottage seem to be picking up a little now the exchange rate is better, so who knows!!

Must go. food to pick...

Wednesday 25th May

I didn't get time yesterday to give a complete overview of the last few weeks.... we've been so busy it's impossible to remember it all...

Although money has been tight, our quality of life has been as always (since coming to Portugal) excellent, we were giggling to ourselves only the other evening about it. We didn't have a penny to our names at that point, but the sun was shining, we'd just had a dip in our pool and we were sitting up on our unfinished terrace looking at the view with a glass of our own red wine eating fresh cherries and ice cream .... bliss!!!

The sun deck area for the cottage guests is almost finished, another few days and it will be done. Rick has had to work so hard, the stones he’s been using for the lovely steps are in piles outside my backdoor. To get them to the deck area he has to load two at a time in the wheelbarrow, push it up hill to the top gate (the bottom one has steps) across the rough ground to the road, down the hill across the car park , across the front of Mara's Cottage and up to the deck area.... phew.... it's been weeks of hard grind. Bless him, he works at it relentlessly , but it will be stunning when finished and I will light it up with candles and lamps on the hot Summer evenings...

Cola and Bonnie are very well, Cola in fact, has a new lease of life. A friend sent over some Devil's Claw for him, it's been a few weeks and the difference is remarkable!! He runs around like a young dog now. Rick has been on the same thing now for a couple of weeks and is starting to feel the benefit, less joint aches and pains, when he starts licking his balls I'll know he's as well as Cola... Bonnie is the same as normal, digging up the garden at any chance she gets, she's a real crazy loony of a dog but we adore her.

Well, that's about it for today . We have friends over from the UK , and are getting ready to Party!!! It's our local Figueiró Dos Vinhos town Festa for the next four days. The lights are up, there's a party atmosphere everywhere, tomorrow we'll be in town in the evening for a meal and a few drinks, to listen to the bands and just soak up the spirit of the thing. Free Sardines and bread supplied by the Camera (town hall) mmmmnn.

Tuesday 31st May

I've had a few people get in touch regarding food and the way we manage our frugal meals & budget. I've had enquiries for some menu plans so here is one weeks worth... Please try to remember, we grow all our own veg, we cook on a log fired range (so it's free) and I don't have to go out to work all day so meals can be labour intensive and it doesn't matter... your lifestyle may well be very different!

Day 1.

B-fast -Porridge made with half milk, half water (don't tell Rick that) plus half a chopped apple and maybe cinnamon if I have some.

Lunch. Either homemade soda bread and marmite if we have it, or quite often homemade soup, (dried beans with leftover veggies)

Dinner. Soya spaghetti Bol. (soya granules, aubergines, onions, toms, peppers, sliced green beans if I have them..A double portion is usually made and used for tomorrow too) Bread & butter pudding using stale bread.

Day 2.

Break fast. Toasted soda bread , or yogurt ( I make my own ) and an apple.

Lunch . leftover yesterday's soup, and fresh bread.

Dinner. Lasagne (made with soya and sauce from yesterday,) tomato & onion salad, and fruit parcels. (apple, blackberries, sultanas , dusted with cinnamon and a tablespoon of honey in foil, sealed and put on the range for a few mins while we eat dinner).

Day 3.

B-fast. Boiled egg, toast or yoghurt and apple.

Lunch. Home made tomato and pepper soup, fresh soda bread.

Dinner. Homemade bean burgers (I make 30-40 at a time and freeze them, they costs pennies) potatoes, cabbage, green beans and carrots. (cook extra veg for tomorrow)

Day 4.

Breakfast Toast and honey.

Lunch . Bubble and squeak plus an egg …( veg leftover from yesterday.)

Dinner. Chickpea and veggie stew with rice. blackberry crumble..

Day 5,

Break fast . Porridge.

Lunch . Tomato sandwiches, with homemade soda bread, olives,

Dinner. Roasted veggies and eggs. (potatoes, courgette, aubergines, baby onions, butternut squash, toms, carrots) frozen blackberry fruit parcels .

Phew.... I think that'll do for now.... I'll try to post some recipes for these soon...

Wednesday 1st June

Frugal living Recipe. Chickpea /parsley lunch .

I'm not quite sure what to call this, but we eat it for lunch a couple of times a week in season . Its nutritious, healthy and very cheap and tastes absolutely wonderful. I got this recipe from an old lady in the village. As usual all measures are approx and very slapdash...which says a lot about the kind of cook I am ...

Feeds 2 people, 2 days..

Soak enough dry chickpeas to half fill a litre jug, when they are soaked, they will more or less fill it... Cook the chickpeas in freshwater, with a couple of big cloves of garlic and 2 or three bay leaves. I put a sprig of thyme in as well if I have it... When they are nice and soft, drain but keep the liquid!.

In a big thick bottomed pan put in a BIG glug of olive oil, and fry a nice big onion until soft, not brown. Add to this a couple of medium sized peeled and diced potatoes, a big diced carrot and gently turn over in the onion and oil for about 10 mins. don't let it brown. Add the chickpeas and enough of the liquid to cover them comfortably, then chop two huge handfuls of fresh parsley (we have tons in the garden) , stir in and then simmer for 20 mins or so. The potatoes will cook down and practically dissolve , thickening and enriching the whole thing.

Towards the end, add more parsley, another good dollop of good olive oil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. It should end up lovely, thick, richly creamy, and sort of green... We eat it with lovely fresh soda bread... yummy...

Wednesday 7th June

I've been asked a few times recently for a few pictures of the kitchen since I mentioned we were doing some work on it. Well we did quite a bit, but work has since ground to a halt again due to lack of funds. But I'm loving the look that is slowly evolving and it really feels right to me…

I understand it's not the kind of kitchen most people would want, but it works perfectly for us. The bare concrete floor may not be beautiful, but for dogs' muddy paws, our dirty boots and the Portugal dust, it's practical and just about right. Maybe later when /if we have spare money, then we'll tile it. Until then, this will do just fine. The same with the 'back door' it's a polythene sheet on a wooden frame, but it's watertight, draft proof and lets in plenty of light . It works for me, at the moment. We are warm, dry and comfy and we love it…

Yes it's a tad 'rustic' but it's very funcional, and it's just my style. I truly love it. Nothing cost us much or most of the time, anything at all. The shelves are made from wood from the forest, yes those dining chairs are really plastic garden chairs, hahahah we've had them almost five years now. They will stay until we find other better chairs which are as comfy as these!

We give the walls a splash of paint every now and then to brighten up the place, and Rick keeps saying he's going to repaint the floor (it keeps the dust down and makes it washable) and do it with bright blue paint. I'm not convinced, but no doubt he'll do it one day while I’m not around.

Ok, well its officially summer and time I signed off till the next time. Keep reading Summer is on its way!