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The benefits of a little global pandemic

Well, we’re whizzing through year 2 of Covid 19 with vaccinations under way all over the globe – and new variants appearing to keep pace and keeping us all on our toes.

The hospitality industry is hurting more than most, businesses are dropping by the wayside with ever-increasing rapidity, but our chins are up here at the Quinta.

So how come we’re not all glum and depressed? It’s not as if we were any better prepared than anyone else so it appears to be a non-sequiter …

Well, we decided last year when this pandemic first raised its ugly head that we were going to make the most of the opportunity offered of suddenly having so much time on our hands to improve the Quinta by extending our tiny greenhouse – and working to improve the Quinta’s garden in general so as to become even more self-sufficient, for who knew how long this was going to affect our lives and livelihood?

So we set to work …

You’d think a greenhouse would be easy wouldn’t you, but not a bit of it here, for flattish land is at a premium when one lives on as steep a slope as we do, so first of all, and most importantly really, we had to build a huge retaining wall with a pile of stones that never seemed to decrease in size – or weight! First off came the foundations …

… and then the wall …

… and then, after lots of digging and levelling, the added bonus of a larger parking area.

Then the security walls in case anyone left the handbrake off …

And finally, after rotavating in a ton or so of good compost, we could begin on the greenhouse proper …

Well, it was a success – but perhaps too much of a success!

However, the proof of the pudding is that, when we can find them, we’re VERY self-sufficient in tomatoes, courgettes, peppers, cucumbers and lettuces to mention just a few of the varieties of vegetables that we’ve got going in there now.

And it’s not just the greenhouse that’s being productive either, for up at the far end of the garden we’re just about to harvest our wonderful corn,

and the cabbages and beans are looking good too, so salads really are no problem at all this year!

And as for the fruit, the mind boggles … plums galore,

apples too,

as well as pears.

we’re going to be fine for plum wine, dried plums, plum chutney, apple cider vinegar … and if anyone wants to send us some other ideas we’ve still got several trees full of plums to harvest. The birds are loving it too, which is excellent news for our other little business, “Birding in Portugal“.

And y’know the best part about it all? It’s all grown biologically – and it all tastes DELICIOUS!

Now all we need are these lockdowns to end and people to start booking instead of cancelling, 😂, so hope to see you soon.

Ciao!

Trumpet blowing time

We’re in the top 1%!

It’s about time we blew our own trumpet a bit – just a little mind you, as I don’t want my head to become too big, but it’s good every now and again to take stock and see how we’re doing.

So, as you can see from the picture above, we’ve just been awarded Tripadvisor’s “Travellers’ Choice” Award again. That’s the third time in the last five years – and it takes some doing too, because it’s only awarded to the top 1% in any country, so we’re pleased as punch. We feel far prouder of this than any other award as well because it’s generated solely through genuine Guest Reviews, submitted by the guests themselves when they take the time, having stayed here, to submit a report about us to Tripadvisor. We also still have their Platinum Award as a Green Leader, reflecting our sustainability ethos, so that’s a double whammy, and, as I said, we’re over the moon about them both.

What else?

We’ve recently been taken on by Flown, an upmarket “Remote-working” agency who have recognised the Quinta’s suitability as a venue for individuals or groups to engage in this activity, describing the Quinta as “the ideal space to find a sense of perspective”. Couldn’t agree more!

Then there’re the agencies who continue to put their trust in us to look after their guests.

Lovely people like “Secret Places“, who we’ve been with for more years than I care to remember, and the same goes for “One-off Places” who have also supported us through thick and thin.

So if you’re feeling like getting away – I mean REALLY getting away – then there’s no place better, and with so much space around us we’re safe too, as Sawdays can testify.

There’s another bonus also as, in these “uncertain times”, we’re thrilled to hear that Portugal has been included in the UK’s Green List as being a safe place to go for a sunny summer holiday, and we’ve immediately seen an increase in the number of enquiries, so, as Daniela has succinctly reminded me, I should stop “scribbling” and start replying to emails.

Looking forward to seeing you!

In the absence of large numbers of guests, an update on our little friends at the Quinta …

We’re blessed!

Despite living in the middle of nowhere and being blessed with sunsets like the one above, our lives, like everyone else’s, are proscribed at present by Covid which just seems to rumble on – and on and on and on …

Of course the Quinta is about as safe as one can get as regards the pandemic, so it seems ironic that we’re still in Lockdown, which has been permanent here for the last six months. One wonders how the economy will recuperate should this state of affairs ever change, but I won’t go into this further – enough to say that, while our chins are still well up, it is starting to become rather boring.

We’re a whole lot luckier than most of course as we’ve plenty of space in which to move about and we’ve been able to keep ourselves busy in the Quinta’s garden which is looking as gorgeous as ever this year.

Nightingales are singing outside my window as I tap away, the first three nests of Barn Swallows have fledged,

and second clutches are already being sat on. The Golden Orioles are back, Collared Doves coo, Blackbirds trill, Blackcaps call, Serins and Greenfinches are incubating in the Cypresses while Goldfinches prefer the Jasmin outside the rooms – in general the Natural world is buzzing fit to bust.

A few nights ago I was chatting to a Portuguese couple on the covered terrace outside the bar when a Merlin flew through chasing a Swallow, passing so close to my head that I felt its wingbeat. A startling occurrence to be sure, but one that filled me with joy as the first phrase that came to my mind was, “Done it! This garden is a real “living” environment. We’ve got there!”. We’ve had Eagles, Buzzards and Sparrowhawks drop in on a fairly regular basis before, but a Merlin? That’s a new one, and especially flying through a covered terrace. It was a split-second moment but one that’ll live in my memory forever; when Nature gives you a thumbs-up like that it’s an unforgettable experience and makes the last thirty-five years of work seem very worthwhile.

And it’s not just the birds that have come to see the Quinta’s garden as a success. We’re always on the look-out when walking anywhere after dark as we have a fair selection of “Gardener’s Friends” to choose from, the most common being the Spiny Toad (Bufo spinosus). They’re widespread in the garden and grow to an impressive size, thankfully keeping the snails and slugs down to manageable proportions so our veg patches aren’t decimated.

Spiny Toad (Bufo spinosus)

Other friends that help around the place include Stripeless, (or Mediterranean), Tree Frogs (Hyla meridionalis),

Stripeless Tree Frog (Hyla meridionalis)

and Moorish Geckos (Tarentola mauritanica).

But it’s not just Toads, Frogs and Geckos …

It rained the same night that the Merlin flew past my head and the couple I’d been talking to went out with a torch and came across two species that, while not rare, are certainly difficult to come across. First they found a Southern Marbled Newt (Triturus pygmaeus), an Iberian endemic, wandering around,

Southern Marbled Newt (Triturus pygmaeus)

and then they came across another, a real thriller, a Sharp-ribbed Salamander (Pleurodeles waltl), sometimes called an Iberian Ribbed Newt.

Sharp-ribbed Salamander or Iberian Ribbed Newt (Pleurodeles waltl)

This last species is a delight to have helping us. Perfectly harmless to humans it has a wonderful defence strategy when threatened by a predator that involves those red spots along its flanks in the picture above; go on, click on the link to find out – it’ll give you something to do the next time we’re locked down!

Say Goodbye to the Summer with a touch of Yoga in Paradise

Breaking News is that the Quinta is hosting a Weekend of Yoga on the weekend of the 2nd to 4th October.

Kaian, the Quinta’s Yoga Instructor, is giving three hour-long Yoga sessions during this two night break away from all the mayhem to say “Goodbye” to the Summer. A shared room for the two nights of the 2nd and 3rd, along with the Yoga, two lunches and two dinners will set you back only €230, so it’s eminently affordable and just the way to make the transition from Summer to Autumn.

Get in touch if you’d like to make the most of this opportunity – we’re going to have a fun time!

Rock’n’Roll

This has got absolutely nothing at all to do with the Quinta, apart from the fact that I’m quite partial to photographing Nature – and birds in particular, as you can see from the Quinta’s other website, www.birding-in-portugal.com.

However, at the risk of muddling those who read this blog with no interest at all in our avian friends, I find these two shots quite interesting …

A few months ago Daniela and I were in Thailand chasing birds – what else?! – and the day before we left I was lucky enough to get a lovely picture of an Indian Roller …

Indian Roller (Coracias benghalensis)

… and then yesterday I was out guiding a birding trip from the Quinta and I managed a very similar shot of a European Roller.

European Roller (Coracias garrulus)

And they say that European birds are all “brown and boring” … I dunno about you, but they sure as hell rock my boat!

The Quinta Story

Many people have urged me to tell the Quinta’s story on this blog, and seeing as I haven’t written anything for, (heavens above!), two months, it seems only fair that I should do something a little special, so here’s a small video Daniela and I put together over the last week; we hope you enjoy it!

Little-Owl-(Athena-noctua)-20090609

I wasn’t going to put this picture up on this blog …. I posted it on my birding blog and was going to leave it at that … I mean I see these Little Owls every other day, they’re not that special, but ever since I put it up on to my Flickr Photostream I’ve been inundated with comments so hey, what the heck, if it’s that good I’ll post it here as well! I hope you enjoy it!

Be careful where you keep your money!

There’s a custom here in the Alentejo that’s curious. I can’t see it working many other places but it seems to fit our lifestyle rather well. It’s one of those little things that outsiders notice and remark upon without seeing the significance or practicality, and yet without it our village life would be poorer. As I say, I couldn’t see it happening in London but I’m sure that other countries used to have it, (I’m sure I can hear my mother’s voice in my ear saying, “But of course, dear!”), and that it’s just been lost, an unsung casualty of the 20th Century’s change to a more migratory population.

If one lives in a village near here it’s the custom that if one pops out, say, to the shops or the café or round to see a friend for a chat, one leaves one’s front door keys hanging in the lock on the outside of the door. This serves two purposes; firstly, of course, there’s the impossibility of forgetting where one put one’s keys and inadvertently locking oneself out of the house, (a vital consideration if one’s popping out for a glass or two of our local hooch, Medronho), but secondly it saves everyone the trouble of guessing where one’s gone. Keys hanging in the door tell any caller, “I’ve gone out; I’m not far, won’t be (too) long and if you want to find me ask around, ‘cos someone’s bound to know”.

Now, this is very useful and considerate and saves us all a lot of trouble and time, but the custom as a whole sits curiously astride the local’s fear of anyone knocking on the door after dark; if one is unwise enough to attempt this, one is met with an apprehensive demand of “Who’s there?” from behind a securely bolted door and one is left imagining the house-owner standing the other side, complete with night cap, candle and stout staff, ready to sell his life dearly in defence of the family cottage. After the first few attempts to visit neighbours after dark when I first came to live here, I’ve never tried again. It puts people’s backs up, spoils relations, seldom achieves anything worthwhile and one thing’s for sure – access is never gained, no matter how reasonable the request. No, hang on, I did once get in, but I was carrying a bottle and I made sure old José knew it was full.

Anyway, what I’m trying to get at is the curious juxta-position in attitudes to security between daylight and night. In daylight, well, the door’s open or the keys are in the lock, whereas at night, beware, we’ll shoot first and ask questions later.

The attitude towards the dark is understandable, especially when one watches any television, (and the majority of soaps here are Brazilian and reflect the gun culture of that beautiful country), but the attitude towards security during the day …… well, one gets used to it and it ceases to amaze – until it happens to be brought, smack, to one’s attention by some unusual event, and just such an event happened to us last week …..

It was Monday morning and I’d asked Daniela to pop into the village to do some shopping and deposit the weekend’s cheques. Half an hour later she was on the phone …

D “Hey, Frank, can you ring the bank please”

F “What! Aren’t you there yet?”

D “Of course I’m here; that’s the point”

F “Whadya mean, “That’s the point”?”

D “I mean, “That’s the point” I’m here in the bank and I can’t find anyone ….. just ring them up and see if anyone comes to the phone …..”

Well, I rang, but no-one appeared. So I rang Daniela back and tried to make sense of the whole thing, obviously fearing the worst. Our bank was tarted up a couple of years ago with those double doors where you have to wait for the first one to shut and the green light to appear before being able to open the second. It always seemed a bit of over-kill on their part as most of our locals simply don’t understand automatic doors at the best of times, but now it was looking as if they’d been conservative in their security measures.

“Hi Daniela,” I said, “I’ve rung but there’s no answer”

“Yes, I know,” she replied, “I heard it. Look, there’s no-one here at all; the money’s on the counter and I can see the key in the safe’s lock. What d’you think I should do?”

That put me on the spot …. what did I think she should do?

And then, just as I was starting to tell her she should wait there while I phoned the Police, the solution hit me; it was staring me right in the face, winking at me from the bottom of the computer screen ….. the time …. of course …. it was lunch hour …. it all made sense – in a peculiarly Alentejano kind of way. The bank clerks had gone to lunch and metaphorically left the front door keys in the lock.

“Don’t worry, Daniela, just sit down there for another ten minutes and someone’ll be along. Trust me, it’ll be OK, nothing’s wrong, they’ll be in Joselia’s down the road”.

So it proved, and funnily enough I’m not planning to move my account. No, the money’s safe where it is I think – especially at night!