Endings and new beginnings

Its new years eve and we have decided to stay in side tonight watching tv..not very exciting but the alternatives just did not appeal to us.We have had a very quite Christmas ,ate some good food ,treated out livers in a slightly disrespectful way and finally tomorrow its all over .But really our hearts and minds are elsewhere .
We are trying to get everything (solicitors /vendors/paperwork etc)all sorted so we can fly out and do all the necessary deeds but its slow going trying to get the solicitor to pull her finger out..she is good but sometimes I get a bit frustrated and have to remind myself that things do just go a bit slower in Portugal.Its our aim to have fully left the UK by end of Jan at the latest  but we are completely disorganised in this regard.

When we arrive we are facing a lot of work and its a little daunting.It already looks better than in the above picture..honest..We are  aiming  to have the building developed enough so that there are at least 2 small secure bedrooms within 3 months and a kitchen /family room.basic but secure.From early spring we need to do some very serious labour on the land so that its producing food for us by early summer.Cash flow will be a major headache so creating a healthy veg field is essential in order to eat!

It will be good to  leave this country once and for all even if it looks pretty in the snow!

things to do...

So we do not yet have a leaving date but it will be January sometime..not sure how we are getting over ,2 kids ,2 digs ,1 cat and 2 parents plus about a van load of stuff.We only have a car....hmmmm

My first priority is the trampoline...must try to keep younger daughter in a position to get any aggression out in a fun way!She is not happy about this move....

Second priority is to catch up with people who have become good friends and gently get back in the swing of living in rural Portugal...
Thirdly is to go "WOW" ..our place ! and "WOW" on my god where do we start!

Fourthly ,I need to speed up with my Portuguese language which has not been progressing very fast ...

Fifthly I need to RELAX and get on with LIFE!!!!

finally

So we now have sorted out our finances and we are beginning to make plans for the move back to beautiful  Central Portugal and to the Mondego valley.We have got the opportunity to house sit a farm which just happens to be up the lane from our quinta which is ideal.I have sorted out my work so I am now generating an income through my online work and Paul can finally stop his nursing shifts on nights which is a big relief to one and all.The girls are not excited but hopefully they will be ok..they have friends over there to catch up with and they will be busy working along side us planting and building..and they can visit here and friends will come to see us.I know its not the same but I think its very important to show them another way of living and also show them how we are not living sustainably ...they need to be able to fend for themselves at some point in the future so this is something they can now learn.People can scoff but they may need the skills of growing food and building shelters in their futures..no-one knows what's to come in their lifetime.

So we have everything to do on the quinta!!Composting toliets,solar showers,renovate building,grow our food,learn to tend vines ,plant more trees ,learn more Portuguese,home school ,meet new people......the list is endless.How exciting .At last.

making tentative plans

well its now December and we still have not secured the elusive funds that we need to continue with our plans but all  is not lost just the pace is slow... so we are making tentative plans to leave..
we have the opportunity to house sit a small farm which happens to pretty much boarder our land.This is excellent as the place we have is not yet habitable and the weather in our part of Portugal will not be to hospitable until late March.So that's somewhere to stay ..got hot water , electricity and broadband!Yipee..
we just need to get there now.