#48 - A TOUGH Week at Our Renovation Project in Central Portugal

It's a tough week this week... but that's life! Michael continues to add character to the beams (with a little "help" from Becci and the dogs!). We also get a reminder of how vulnerable we are when it comes to surrounding fires when one starts up less than 1 km away from us. It's a close call that's made us realise how we need to do even more land clearing ahead of next summer.
About Us 🏚️👫🏼🐈🐕🐕
We're Michael & Becci (the humans) and Tilly (sassy English tortoiseshell cat), Alfie and Anoushka (Portuguese rescue dogs). After four years in Portugal and numerous dreams about renovating our own property, we've taken the plunge and are renovating a schist stone house and its outbuildings in Figueiró dos Vinhos. We're doing most of the work ourselves (or... Michael is!) and we'll be stepping back in time to create a character property with as many original features and antiques as possible.
Join us for the journey and don't forget to like, subscribe and comment! We love hearing from you 💛
#centralportugal #houserenovation #houserestoration #livingabroad #stonehome

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Thank you to everyone for their lovely comments after last week's post and for checking in after the fires. It means a lot! ♥️

[@magaanusha9799]

goodness, the fires are so freaking scary... I am glad everything got under control. Time to donate to the firefighters, their work is voluntary, right? The beams look amazing!! Kudos.

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Thank you ♥️ a lot of them are volunteers, yep! Incredible 😊

[@neutonrenda2303]

I used to watch you working on exposing the stone and thinking that you are really dedicated. Looking at you take the time to get the beams looking right, I guess I was right. You obviously have the passion and patience needed to get it done properly. Great getting to see that.👍❤️

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Oh thank you so much 😊♥️

[@BlueGardenCottage]

So sorry for your family's loss and the worry or fear over the fires. Please both stay safe and hope Becci comes back well as is possible under the circumstances. If you are still struggling with the draw-knife, to make it a bit easier, maybe try to use it with a slicing motion from one side of the blade and slice it downward as you pull instead of just straight toward yourself. Hope that makes sense. Saying that, my draw-knife is a 200 yo one and might be different to a modern one. We love your videos and can't wait for each one to come out. We hope you see completion of at least one area soon to keep you going. 😊

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Thanks so much...that means a lot! 😊 great tip, thank you! Have a lovely weekend ♥️

[@johnlord8337]

Gobs and gobs of internal shoring of the walls, multiple stories, and rafters/ceiling. Hopefully, not all part of an earthquake zone ...

[@neutonrenda2303]

So sorry for your loss Becky, hope you get back home safely. The fires are very scary, and you feel helpless to do anything about it. Thankfully it didn't reach you.❤️

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

🙏🏻 made us realise we need to do more land clearing and prep next year! Thanks so much 💛

[@monicateeling810]

Gosh you keep your home and grounds beautifully. You are a Trojan working so hard and with such dedication.

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Thank you so so much 💛💛💛

[@darbylongoria8737]

Prayers for the loss of your Grandma.

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Thank you so much 😊

[@insAneTunA]

I am sorry for your loss. The fires are awful, I hope that you guys are safe now. You are using a draw knife, and that is nice and traditional and it looks great, but to be fair, if you would use an angle grinder with a 40 or 80 grid flapdisk you can get the same result that looks just as nice but much faster and with a lot less manual labor and physical energy. It will eat the wood like it is not even there. I have a relative cheap one, a corded medium size from a brand that is called Worx, and it has an adjustable RPM, and I used it quite a lot, and it is still working great. And I have the cheapest flapdisks from the action store, and they last a long time. And with a diamond disk you can even cut stone or concrete or metal to size with an angle grinder. I buy those diamond disks from the action store as well. Anyway, the result will be great no matter how you do it. And once it is done you will enjoy it for sure. Big 👍

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Thanks so much 😊 Michael's Dad said that same thing! Enjoying the process of doing it by hand at the moment...but you never know 😉 thanks again!

[@tarqbowen]

We saw the smoke bellowing in from Coimbra direction before we noticed a helicopter heading your way. Didn't realise how many were going on last week. Sorry for B's loss, hopefully you guys will enjoy your project when ye' both old and ripened in the Portuguese sun! And o'course, great work on your house! My wife and I will be joining the tribe of renovators in the region very soon..!

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Thanks so much ☺️ looking forward to those days where we're sat looking at what we've done! Exciting that you're joining us! Whereabouts are you? Just shout if there's anything we can help with! 👍🏻

[@kdclothes]

I'm really happy you all are safe from the fires.

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Thanks so much ♥️

[@charlenequinilty7252]

Sorry for family’s loss. Hope y’all stay safe from fire. Nice work also.

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Thank you so much ♥️

[@Patricia-v9v6j]

So glad you and pet are okay...you are such a delight to watch you all interact with each other and including your pets ....thank you so much for sharing your journey with me.., Patti from Pennsylvania

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Oh thanks so much Patti that means a lot ♥️

[@y.lelivelt2619]

That's scary,a fire in the neighbourhood. Probably started by a human.

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Unfortunately, you're right! 😔 Someone was arrested shortly afterwards.

[@Eirene-vw1dt]

That's how we feel about the fires here in Canada too....why we have so many idiots in the world, God only knows.

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Oh I know 😔 it's beyond belief! It was a 33 year old woman that was arrested for starting the ones in our area 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@rhondag9700]

A Lot of work shaping and sanding those floor beams, but what a difference it makes! Very well done.

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Ah, thank you!!! 😍

[@arjanvogel6444]

Thanks for your vid 😇💟💟💟 Love and bless you guys 🙏 good work 👍😁 fire's are scary.

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Thanks so much ♥️♥️ have a lovely weekend!!! 🙏🏻💛

[@assuncaomeireles198]

BOA TARDE MEU AMIGO LAMENTO MUITO A MORTE DA AVÓ DA BECCY AINDA BEM QUE ELA NAO ESTAVA AÍ QUANDO FOI ESSE HORRIVEL INCÊNDIO AINDA BEM QUE NAO ATINGIU A SUA PROPRIEDADE. O SEU TRABALHO SEGUE EM FRENTE AS VIGAS SAO MUITO BONITAS FAZ TUDO NA PERFEIÇAO QUANDO ESSA PARTE DAS VIGAS ESTIVEREM TODAS ALINHADAS ACHO QUE DEPOIS VAI SER MAIS FÁCIL CONTINUAR COM O RESTO DA CASA. MUITO OBRIGADO PELA PACIENCIA FIQUE EM SEGURANÇA E NAO DESISTA NUNCA. GOD BLESS YOU BOTH❤❤🙏 🐆🐅🐹👍👍🇬🇧

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Muito obrigada ♥️🙏🏻 Bom fim de semana! 🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹

[@terrylink6174]

Great work 😊

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Thank you!! 😊

[@marcelmathijssen7562]

You can get a wood cutting/grinding disk (metel disk with teeth on it) for your angle grinder. Works much faster than with the hand tool. The disk realy eats through wood and it gives a good finsh.

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Thank you ☺️ I think Michael is secretly enjoying working with his hands but we have this as a backup!

[@gregorygdempsey9519]

Sorry for your loss my Jesus be with you guys and sending prayers

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Thanks so much 🙏🏻

[@reginaceliavelascodearaujo4124]

Estou encantada com a sua casa, mas preocupada pois não usa máscara devido ao pó. 😷 Brasil!

[@katiadp2145]

🔥 🔥 😢😢😢😢❤❤🇬🇷 🇬🇷

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

♥️🙏🏻🇵🇹

[@philippesouris9435]

Finito ? 2299 ?

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

How did you guess? 😅

[@davidclark8699]

You know, a hand plane would do wonders for smoothing those timbers. It would make fairly short work of them. Of course, you would have a pile of shavings to sweep up, but the hand scraped timbers would look pretty amazing.

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

Thank you 😊

[@CynthiaEvans-i2f]

❤

[@PortugalonaPostcard]

👋🏻💛