So, news from Casa Neroli for the last couple of months. The weather during May and June was awful, very wet and miserable, usually the sort or weather expected in January and February, but like the rest if the world the weather seems to be a little off cycle this year. However, the good weather seems to be back now, long may it stay, although we don’t want to see the fires that we saw last year in Portugal.
The entrance drive and gate as reported before is all complete now and the new arm has been installed, it is working a lot better now, we can pull in off the main track and any visitors can do the same before we open the gate. The steep slope has gone and the swing in is wider now, just makes everything so much easier.
The heating on the swimming pool, works well, although it is quite expensive to run. It does however make the pool so much more enjoyable, 28 degrees is perfect! Any way the heat pump only cuts in when it needs to, so when the sun is out the pump runs less. We did need to get the electricity supply to the house increased as when we tried to use the oven, with the heat pump running the power tripped out. This was a relatively easy thing to do, just a visit to the local EDP office and two days later it was all sorted.
The farm and the land around the house has been cleaned, although we are still having a couple of issues with the damage the contractor did to the land. I don’t think the sub-contractors that Mr Proenca used this time, cared as much about the job they did. I was able to repair some of the things, like putting the cover back on the septic tank and repairing the irrigation pipes, although I shouldn’t have to. There is still the fence repair to be done, where they obviously damaged it with the tractor, but he has had the valve and cover repaired, again damaged by the tractor. I am sure we will get this sorted soon. Then I guess I will have to pay him!
We have re-structured the cactus garden now the entrance has been completed, everything is the other way around now. It didn’t take too long, just needed to clear the weeds, add a bit of gravel, a few “ornaments” and start adding a few plants. This time we added a really pretty rose and a Bougainvillea, hopefully they will survive and grow up the wall a bit.
We have also found a guy, Tiago, who comes every couple of weeks to cut the grass around the house. He is very reliable and reasonably priced. Regularly cutting it is better for the grass, it stays greener longer as the watering gets to it better and it is easier to cut when he comes.
So all in all, pretty good. Long may it last!