Settling in... September.

Silves is our new home town. It has a castle, cobbled streets and a river, sounds familiar eh?!

Sunset from our terrace...

Finally we managed to find a good sized 2 bed apartment near to the centre and not far from the school. We have met up with the daughter of Elena from the Bulgarian cafe as her daughter Silvi has a Bulgarian food shop a few doors away from our block, which means Kisel Mlyako (Bulgarian natural yoghurt) for Ryan! Her friend Ricardo offered to help with residency, school registration and all that jazz, its been tricky mainly as he doesn’t speak much English so we have been communicating with the help of Max, he is a lovely young Bulgarian lad who´s parents are close friends with Ricardo. Overall, it´s been quite simple, hardly any form filling, just a few signatures here and there, very unlike Bulgaria. Mind you it was not all plain sailing, seems we could not get residency just yet as we have to have been living here for 3 months... one of those grey areas, do we apply once we have been living here three months or within 3 months? Who knows.

Excited; a kitchen!!

Love the chimney decor.

Still loving the beach, have to say its wonderful to just be on it for a short time...

Behind you!!!

School was the next big thing to tackle, we had been in during August but this period was the main holiday and not all of the admin team were at work, we submitted all of the documents that we had translated before leaving Bulgaria and birth certificates etc any way and needed to get to the health centre to see what, if any, vaccines the boys needed. This was the first stumbling block as the health centre would not register us because we did not have residency, however, after explaining what we needed they were very helpful and issued us with an ‘emergency’ document so we could get what we needed. All requirements fulfilled it was back to the school a few days later to see what the situation was, for me it was melt down time, we were told there was no room for them, simple as that, the hand gestures of the woman giving this news were all I needed to know what had happened, we left the building and Ricardo could see I was not doing well and asked ´you are not happy Sarah´ that was the trigger and the tears came… Poor Ricardo, he had done all he could and I was stood on the pavement in tears. The boys are the top priority, always have been and always will be and we felt it was crucial that they start with the other kids on day one, feeling low we went home. 
The next day we decided that if we did not get the result we needed we should take the bull by the horns and speak with the school director, fortunately this was not necessary, a little later Ricardo called us to meet him at the school, the bad news was they could not go to Silves school but the silver lining was they were in a school the other end of town not even 5 mins away in the car. Thank you universe!!!

First day at school.

School term started and we took them in and we were to get all of the info we needed, Neil was with Matty and me with Ryan, the teachers didn’t speak English but we could get the gist, it was very relaxed and had a good feel, and better still Ryan actually had an English classmate – wow wee!! They came out after their first full day full of excitement and could not wait to go back which was such a relief, especially as their Portuguese was very limited to say the least and its been that way ever since, we have been so very proud of the way they have settled in, totally unfazed, keen and with confidence. Homework takes a little time with Google translate but with that and the help of Molly´s mom Sarah and Marlain we have been managing. They especially like the butterflies, fish and flowers that decorate the school walls…

More lovely tiles, Silves Camara building.

Our search for land has led us to a good sized plot on the edge of Silves, it’s a little sloped but will have a view of the opposite hillside and possibly the Castle if we build up a little, its seems to be going slow but the deal should be done soon and we hope to take some extra land to add to it. We have met with the Camara (local council) and an architect Catarina who specialises in natural building so with her help we should be able to start designing and planning the build of our new home soon, it could take some time though before we can get everything approved but nevertheless we should be able start work on the land. 

Howdee!!

Lego is amazing and the brick show proved it, there is nothing you cant make from Lego and its very addictive once you get started, had a great time at the show and the boys spent some of their pocket money.

How much Lego?!

One thing that moved me was finding out the the Bombeiros (fire fighters) are pretty much all volunteers and very often poorly supplied and struggle to even get water and food when the going gets tough, so when I could see the forest fires burning for days across the hills I was truly moved, total respect for those lads and lasses that really did sleep on the tarmac as they fell out of their trucks once they had the flames under control and people were safe, their commitment is unwavering. Lots of fund raising and donating goes on here for them to get the food and water supplies they desperately need while out at work and by work I mean endless days and nights fighting the forest fires and also for clothing and boots, which is pretty terrible that these basics cant be supplied. I have found it hard to really describe how this made me feel, I wanted to go and help, to offer a bed for those made homeless, I guess it could be that I felt helpless, before I had a family of my own I would have done both of those things in an instant and don´t get me wrong I would if there was an official call for such things,  but, what came to me was something longer term and something directly for the Bombeiros, I thought that offering free treatments could be a way of giving to the givers, so thats another project and I feel a very worthy one... On the back of that if anyone who reads this has contact with anyone in the UK fire service do you know what happens to old issue boots clothing and equipment??? Just a thought... :) 

Forest fires in Monchique...

Neil´s lifelong friend Darren has been over and he loved it here, he had a few nights with us and also in Lagos, we all had our first surf lesson together which I have to say was amazing and we all want to continue, thanks to Future Surf School for a great lesson with a great instructor full of positive energy. I was stiff as a board and ached like hell for three days after, and I am 100% sure that if I hadn’t done yoga I would never have managed to get on the board.

Keep up Daz!!

Daz hired a 50cc scooter which was a bit slow for him (but he does do track days in the UK). 

Looking good...

He had a few extra surf lessons on the West coast which he said were awesome, it was great having our first guest! 

Shattered after...

Dude!!

Looking the part.

Neil and Daz went to Lisbon to look as some Fiat Multipla’s, (none local) we had one in Bulgaria and loved it, mainly as it has six seats, three in the front and three in the back, they had a good night out but came back tired and empty handed despite trying very hard, they were all nails, so no ‘ugly bug’ for us just now. We have the Land Rover but with four seats means its not practical and its thirsty, we have however managed to get hold of a really good Astra estate, so far it´s been great. Just for info cars are extremely expensive here due to the high import taxes, for instance, for us to import the Land Rover would normally cost 14,000E which is not far off three times its value, however, lets hope this is still the case; if you are a resident you are entitled to one tax free import.

Ricardo who had been helping out is a singer, he was performing in Albufeira, we all went along to support him, we were extremely grateful for his efforts to say the very least. It was a long drive as we took the wrong road but it was well worth it, he is a classical singer and we were all extremely impressed, he had a friend sing too but she unfortunately sounded like she needed to quit the fags… Ricardo is a very talented chap and we look forward to hearing him sing again soon.

Matty bunking up with Nanna and Grandad.

Next mom and dad arrived, I picked them up in the Astra which is the lap of luxury compared to the Land Rover and much easier for them to get in and out of which was my main concern and the reason why Neil and Daz whizzed up to Lisbon to find something. Daz was still here and we had a lovely couple of evenings all together, very homely, mom and dad watched the boys one night too which was perfect for Neil and I, its been months since we had been out on an evening, the local bar had live music and it was good to chill with a great friend. On the way home we found a Grab n Go which is an all night vending machine with something in that could prove handy :)

Spot the unusual item in this vending machine...

Dad loved sitting in the window at Pottery road, nothing has changed :)

Ryans 7^th birthday was the next thing to focus on and without friends how can you have a party, so we suggested a surf school party which in its essence is limited to only a handful of people any way, Molly from school has an older brother Jack and we thought what a great way to get to know them and their family, Alex and Marlain and Tal, Yaniv and the boys could not make it which was a shame. We met on the beach with a Haribo cake from Iceland and a few cartons of juice, far from the usual scene. Sarah kept mom and dad’s beach brolly under control while the rest of us rode the waves, well tried to lol, saying that credit where its due, Molly’s dad John compared to us was an expert. The surf instructors were fab (again) they stayed for sandy cake and juice and sang the Portuguese version of Happy Birthday which was really very nice, too impromptu for a movie though. Ryan has since said it wasn’t a very good party as he didn’t have many friends BUT it was amazing as it was a surf party… Big thanks again to Future Surf School…

Molly, Jack, Matty and Ryan - Praia da Rocha.

Bottoms up birthday boy.

Birthday on the beach.

The beauty of not working is that you have free time, I have actually done a few treatments this month which has been great but I have to say I feel blessed to have been able to go out and about with mom and dad at our leisure, with the boys happy at school we had some very relaxing and special time together, they loved the beach and have fallen in love with Praia da Luz. There is a great park very close to our apartment and we spent a few evenings in the café with a beer while the boys and Neil played football (joy of joy´s for Neil as he hates it and Ryan shouts a lot at him). We all visited Molly’s house and while they kid´s enjoyed the pool and tree house we enjoyed Sarah lovely baking!!

Dont we all look well!!!

While mom and dad did enjoy visiting us in Bulgaria and we have some wonderful memories, they totally loved it here, we had covered quite a few Algarvian miles and seen but a handful of all the possible places we can along this stretch, can’t wait to get them on the beach again.

Neil took a flight back to Bulgaria to close bank accounts, despatch the container and collect Pee Pee, mom and dad were with me so that was a great help, however the tricky part was organising the trip to the airport for mom and dad’s flight home and collecting Neil and Pee Pee from Lisbon airport at 10pm, it’s easily a three hour drive and the boys would have just fought and moaned for most of the journey, thanks to Sarah the pressure was off, she took them both to school while I drove mom and dad to Faro and would have them for a sleep over the next night allowing me a peaceful drive to meet and greet Neil and Pee Pee