May, 2015
After 10 days here in Montes Galegos, I feel totally at home. My daily routine is as follows; I get up at 6.00 and have a good breakfast, check my house sitters websites and other mails and start outside at 7.30. First thing is to start the water pump, then the chickens are going out of their night shelter. I check the ducks, start watering the vegetable garden and do some weeding in between. Of course there is always something happening. The pump in the pond by the house didn’t work. It turned out that there was a small snake in it, which had to be removed with a knife. Also, a part of the pump in the big lake fell off and disappeared to the bottom. Somebody has to go into the water and try to find it! While feeding the Koi fish, I bumped my arm into an Agave plant. For two days, I couldn’t lift my arm anymore…..it was all swollen and red at the elbow. Very painful, especially in the night!
Two Thai people are also working on the land and while they work the whole day, I finish around 11.00 or 11.30 a.m. when my back starts hurting and the sun is getting hot. I also have to do some laundry and cleaning, working on my blog and now and then I go to Lagos for my weekly shopping. Lagos is fun to be, filled with tourists and lots of boats going up and down the river, to and from the sea. 
At the end of the day, around 4.30, the chickens and ducks need to be fed and by now there are a lot of ducks! Buckets full of water need to be cleaned and filled and the shelters checked, as a fox tried to get in during the night. The goats are fun, they always are happy to see you, especially when you bring them weeds. Around 6.00 p.m. everything is checked and the evening starts. It is wonderful to be outside most of the day in such a beautiful environment!
Last Sunday we went looking for Samphire or Glasswort or Salicornia (Zeekraal in Dutch). It grows in abundance at the roadside, close to the Praia de Amoreira, where the river “Ribeira de Alfambres” flows into the sea. There were only around 4 families on the enormous beach, surrounded by impressive rocks and the dunes on the other side. Nothing built here, only on both sides of the beach a restaurant on the cliffs.
Yesterday evening we went to an other beach, called Praia de Monte Clerigo, just around 10 minutes driving from the Quinta. There is a small restaurant with a terrace overviewing the sea and rocks and there are just a few old fishing houses, bordering the beach. Still so unspoiled……We had a simple meal, but the chicken was excellent!
This part of Portugal is so totally different than the Southern coast. So quiet and peaceful and very green! Hopefully, I can explore more areas in the coming days and weeks!
