you can do it on your own, it just takes longer, and its way more fatiguing. it can save you money in some ways if you have the knowledge, equipment, resources and ability to do it yourself, however if you make mistakes that someone else has to remedy its often more expensive for them to remedy your mistake than to have got them to have done the job in the first place. take heart, everyone who looks at your website thinks you are doing a great job.

i spent six weeks this summer digging rock with a pick and shovel, and a braking bar, trying to clear a section of the oversite, at that time there was no alternative but to dig by hand. i probably got out only about 20m3 of rock in all that time, now i have a great big hole, and about the same again to remove, and nowhere to put the rubble and reclaimed rock that isn’t either in my way or too far to carry. sometimes it feels endless, but i know the days of braking rocks are numbered.

what happens when you do something like this is either of two things, you give up, or your dig deep and try and find something inside that gives you the strength and tenacity to continue.

there is a huge list of jobs to attend to when you build a house, i’ve spent 20 years building, and the only way i have ever gotten thru it is to think “what have i got to do today”. that’s all it comes down to, because its so easy to become daunted by the enormity of what lies ahead. when you brake it down into bitesized chunks it becomes manageable.

there is nothing to be learnt from things being easy, its only thru adversity and hard work that you ever get to understand anything. good for you for having a go.

So…powertools eh?… I feel you girl

For most of my lifetime i called other people to do those “hard” jobs in the house, until i tried my first B&D (remember their “do it your self” tips and manuals?)….
Now i’m addicted to it, i even have friends who now call me to do those “jobs” in their houses.

Anyway, can’t wait to see those gates placed. I never told you but i have a house up there, near Oliveira do Hospital, in the Rio Alva valley (still Coimbra district). We did some work there and now we’re “refueling” our finances

Next time i go there i’ll take some shots to send you. The gates are not there also because we didn’t find ” the ones ” yet.

I now finished reading all your blog and let me thank you. No Portuguese could explain so well the bads and goods of living here. You should be doing our tourism marketing

Next time i’ll try to pass you some real good recipies. Traditional ones.

SYA

Paulo Silva