So here we are back in central Portugal with our besties again. We were away at the house-sit further to the north and the weather was finally perking up and spring had definitely arrived, so we were looking forward to getting back and seeing some progress on the house. Unfortunately, and it is such a shame, but there were more delays which makes progress slow. It’s all very frustrating watching houses go up around you and people moving in to their new houses while we are still waiting. On paper it should be quicker than a traditional build, but we seem to be bedeviled with more setbacks than we had ever imagined.
The reason is that the windows are not yet ready. They aren’t the standard dimensions. The architected wanted to make sure they were absolutely correct before submitting the order understandably. Therefore, because the house is not closed, they can’t really make progress on the inside either. Although the area is safe, there is still a threat of theft if the house is not fully secure and a lot of hard work could be undermined. Collectively, all these small delays seem to make the progress to falter occasionally. It’s not ideal for us, but there are a lot of positives to concentrate on too. After all our moto is to reap the most from each day! Carpe Diem indeed.
The other bit of interesting news about the house design and one that we weren’t too sure about was the solar heat gains with such large windows. A lot of portuguese houses have smaller windows and they seem to be mostly shuttered in the full sun. But for us, in the beautiful surroundings, we wanted the views to be integral to the design. Since the structure has been up, we have been walking around at different times of the day and it has been hot and sunny on many of those days. However the house does not seem to be overly warm, and is actually quite cool even without the insulation which is a result of the wood frame design. Also the windows do not let in full sunlight as the roof provides a lot of shading because of the house’s orientation and design. We will probably still need some blinds, but only in a few areas and not every window needs them.
The other main shock was how overgrown the land and surrounding area had become. Once spring hits here in central Portugal, the plants just go crazy mad, and the growth is hard to keep up with. During the last year we had a lot of trees cut back and pruned, so there were heaps of year-old wood that needed to be processed and they were now all buried under vegetation. We had decided that we didn’t want to burn any longer, but to shred or chip any pruning going forward, so although we still don’t have anywhere to lock a machine away, we decided to purchase a chipper/shredder. Before we could use it, we had to pick it up. We got some funny looks when we backed the Audi up to the storeroom doors with the two attendants shaking their heads thinking it’s not going to fit into our boot. How wrong they were! An Audi A5 boot is massive with the seats dropped and we got it in fine. Luckily, a friend in the village is looking after it until we can get a lockable door to our crawl space. After getting the required oil and fuel we eventually fired it up and will be attempting to start the mulching process soon.
We also spent a couple of days cutting back all the vegetation that we can with a trusty strimmer, and manual loppers, even though it’s hard going in the warm weather. A cold beer at the end of the day goes down well though!
During our last visit back at our base, we managed to order all of the essential furniture and this week we finally got down to ordering all the bathroom furniture and fittings, so once the interior work gets underway it should go in quickly. There is still uncertainty about the kitchen, and we are waiting for more information and advice. We are also trying to get the outside BBQ area finalized, so there is still lots going on away from the build site.
By the end of the week, we had a better understanding of what was delaying progress and what is happening next. In fact, the day after our walk around with our architect, the rest of the sils were fitted, so as soon as the windows arrive they can be fitted. We were also informed that the first delivery of cork for the roofing had been delivered too. Once we understand the solar system requirements they can start finishing the roofs and the rest of the cladding as the cork is delivered incrementally. We still have some concerns on some of the proposed work though. We don’t fully understand what are included in the costs for the septic tank and rain harvesting and also for the pool. All of these parts of the build were really desired during the design stage, and were requested to fit the original budget. However, they all ended up as extra costs and outside our original budget. We simply have to have a septic, as there is no sewage system, and rain harvesting is really desirable. The rain harvesting system, to meet our needs, will need a way to gauge the stored water level and be able to pump it to an outlet point(s). But here it’s not like in the UK where all the costs are broken down to individual items, you don’t fully know what you are getting. We even dug really deep to find the money for the pool, but with the current design, our disabled daughter-in-law won’t be able to access the pool without decking, and that’s just not in the budget at all. So we are still exploring options there. Wayne might even break out the shovel and dig some test pits (if his back will hold up!).
We are trying to maximize our time while between house-sits. Annette attended the hospital for her follow up x-rays, so we chose that same day to choose the bathroom furniture and fittings as we were in Leiria. It turned out to be a very long day as we were waiting for hours in the hospital. That won’t be news to anyone from Portugal, but drags the day out considerably. But we did manage to choose most of the required things needed to finish the bathrooms.
And so on to some new house sits and some return venues too. We are staying in our village for the first, just looking after our friends place while they attend an event. then our next is a new sit and fairly close by in Nazerè. We actually drove over to meet the owners and their pets and as usual it was just lovely to meet such nice and interesting folk. A lovely American couple who have been over hear about the same time as us, and this is their second house! Also, even though we thought we knew Nazerè quite well, they introduced us to some amazing new places. We can’t wait to explore a bit more now.
Finally we are back to our friends near Santa Comba Dão for a three week stint before coming back to our base to check on progress. Finally and our last planned sit until October we will be popping just over the border to Spain to meet some new friends and have our first Spanish adventure…
Our Portuguese Life 