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Bank Holiday Surprise

We had a little barbecue lunch party the other day and I was so proud to offer amongst other things, my home made Elderflower Champagne, lettuce from the garden and turkey kebabs (you know who!). It was a beautiful sunny day and it all went rather well. It was exactly the vision I had of our life here in Portugal, (except in my vision I am thinner, younger and wearing a posh dress…..).

The elderflower champagne was such a great success that I wish I had made more. It is the perfect drink to offer guests on a hot day, especially if they have to drive. So I have been out frantically looking for more flowers before they turn into berries but unfortunately it seems I am too late.

I’ve got a good recipe for Elderberry Wine though (non-drivers only).

We have been spending time recently watching a DVD of ‘Victorian Farm’, a wonderful series made by the BBC. My sister told me about it and said it reminded her of us, so I just had to order a copy from Amazon and have been glued to it ever since it arrived.

Of course the Creative Genius of the household is very taken with a lot of the Victorian machinery and his brain has been working overtime thinking of all the things we have to hand that he can adapt and put to good use. He has a grand plan to make an incubator out of an electric blanket so that we can hatch some chicks, sounds good in theory but I can’t help having my doubts.

We are having trouble encouraging a hen to go broody, none of them seem to be the slightest bit interested in sitting on eggs. I have made them lovely cosy nests in boxes of every shape and size, making sure that they are in dark shady places of course. If anyone has any tips then please add a comment to this blog as I would love to start breeding chicks.

It’s a shame really because we definitely need to increase the size of our flock as our eggs are proving popular at Union Jacs. Our little fruit and veg stall there was decidedly under stocked this week as we have a very full kitchen garden, but nothing is quite ready yet. As things start to ripen we will take them over and I believe that other people are planning to sell surplus produce there too. So if you are looking for home grown, chemical free vegetables then Union Jacs is becoming a good place to try!

I was hoping to give you a full report on my Cheese Making enterprise this week but I have to confess that I haven’t given it a try yet. I was totally thrown by the two Bank Holidays on Wednesday and Thursday and so we ended up doing family things with The Boy King and gave up all ideas of achieving anything productive.

This happens to me regularly because we have an English calendar hanging on the wall in the kitchen (lovely pictures of The New Forest, very tasteful) instead of a Portuguese one. So in case you are in the same situation I thought I would provide a comprehensive list of all the national Portuguese holidays for 2009. Be warned though, there are also local holidays which affect schools and businesses in specific towns, just to confuse us further……

New Year’s Day - January 1 (Thu)
(Ano Novo)

Mardi Gras/ Carnival date varies - February 24 (Tue)
(Carnaval)
47 days before Easter Sunday

Maundy Thursday *(Banks only, afternoon) - April 9 (Thu)

Good Friday - April 10 (Fri)
(Sexta-feira Santa)

Liberation Day/ Freedom Day - April 25 (Wed)
(Dia da Liberdade)

Labor Day/May Day - May 1 (Fri)
(Dia do Trabalhador)

Portugal National Day - June 10 (Wed)
(Dia de Portugal)

Corpus Cristi/ Thursday after Trinity Sunday - June 11 (Thu)
(Corpo de Deus)
60 days after Easter Sunday

San Antonio/St. Anthony (Lisbon only) - June 13 (Sat)

Assumption - August 15 (Sat)
(Assunção de Nossa Senhora)

Republic Day - October 5 (Mon)
(Implantação da República)

All Saints Day - November 1 (Sun)
(Todos os Santos)

Independence Restoration Day - December 1 (Tue)
(Restauração da Independência )

Immaculate Conception - December 8 (Tue)
(Imaculada Conceição)

banks are closed - December 24 (Thu)

Christmas Day - December 25 (Fri)
(Natal)

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