Today marks our 42nd day of living in lockdown in Ferragudo, Portugal. And it ain’t bad at all!
Of course, Not everyday includes mimosas like in the photos below which were taken on Easter Sunday, but we have settled into a routine of sorts.
A normal day consists of the following;
8:00 a.m. – Rise and shine. Wander downstairs, make coffee, watch CNN or BBC World News then turn it off when it gets too depressing or there are too many clips of Trump. Check our overnight email.
OR… if it’s Friday or Saturday, we throw on our clothes and rush to the fresh fish market which is only open on these two days of the week between 8-10 a.m. We have gotten delicious tuna steaks and sea bream from here, and we can special order shrimp.
9:00 a.m. – Wander into the the kitchen and enjoy a breakfast of eggs and bacon, or granola topped with choices of fresh fruit, or avocado toast or a frittata or omelette or whatever we can think up to start the day.
10:00 – Shower and try and decide what clothes I hate less to put on and wear today. You’ve got to realize that I have been wearing the same clothes now since I left the States on January 14th. Not only are they winter-weather clothes, but now I truly HATE THEM! With no stores open to buy anything new, I’ve taken to removing the turtle portion of the turtlenecks and cutting off 1/2 of the long sleeves. My tights will soon become capris!
11:00 – Off for our daily walk. We try to walk at least 40-minutes each day and have set routes now that take us up steep hills, across the beach or circle the village via the cobblestone streets, always on the lookout for new murals or tiles, a bougainvillea archway or another view of our neighborhood castle for new photo ops. This time could also include a walk to the closest big grocery store, Lidl, with our pully-cart in tow for a big-shop. And yes, we must queue to enter the store and have hand-sanitizer and our masks with us to use and wear.
12:00pm – Lunch time! Sandwiches of grilled ham and cheese or BLTs with huge, ripe tomatoes, soup (Joyce made homemade tomato/basil yesterday) or leftovers.
1:00 – 5:00pm – Read, write, nap, make calls to the States (as friends and family are now awake ), work in the garden…..
5:00pm – Toddy Time! with a few nibbles to enjoy along with.
6:00 – 8:00 pm. – Dinner time. Time to prepare and enjoy our evening meal. It can be anything from fresh grilled fish to pasta and shrimp, roasted chicken, steak, hamburger and fries, or one of Joyce’s vegetarian specialties all accompanied by fresh vegetables and/or a salad. Joyce loves sweets so a scoop of ice cream for dessert is not unusual.
8:00 – 10:00pm – After we have cleaned up the kitchen and turned on the dishwasher, we put on our jammies and settle down in front of my little 13″ Mac Air to watch a Prime Video, Netflix or Acorn movie or program. So far we have really enjoyed Unorthodox, Bosch, The English Game, Deadwater Fell, Vera, Brokenwood Mysteries and Making the Cut. Being from Chicago, I was thrilled when I found out I could watch ESPN’s The Last Dance on Netflix, all about the last season and 6th NBA Championship of my Chicago Bulls.
10:00 pm – 8:00 a.m. – We both end our days with about 30 minutes of reading before saying good-night to another day in lockdown. The god-awful flocks of seagulls wake us each morning with their horrid screeching and loud squawking! Joyce gets it the worse as they seem to love her balcony where I get the church bells that start toiling and boinging each day at 7:00 a.m.
We really can’t complain about our life here, though it can be a wee bit boring. Portugal is still in lockdown. You can only venture outside to go to the grocery store, pharmacy, hospital, or take a short walk with no more than 2 people. But whatever food and goods we’ve wanted or needed, we’ve found. Wine is plentiful and cheap and the people we do interact with have all been wonderful!
So here we will stay. Right now all of Portugal remains in lockdown until May 2nd when, we have heard that, perhaps some of the smaller stores may reopen. (Clothes!!) Restaurants may get to start reopening May 18th for other than take-out orders. The airports are still closed to incoming flights, and the borders to all but citizens. I talked to American Airlines this week, and they are still thinking maybe mid-May for a return of some international flights. TAP, the Portuguese airline, says it will start flying into NYC on May 8th – maybe.
Joyce has invited me to return to Atlanta and stay with her until we find out how Mexico is surviving the virus and when it would be a good time for me to return. But hers is the moronic governor that opened his state’s tattoo parlors, beauty salons, massage parlors, and gyms plus those much-needed bowling alleys this weekend. We and anyone else with brains believes because of his idiocy there will be a resurgence of the COVID-19 cases in Georgia…so here we will stay. Our Schengen Visas have been extended and are good until June 30th so we have plenty of time to see how this all plays out.
Until next time… please stay home, stay safe and stay well!
My Home on the Roam 
ReAnn, your days sound lovely! Much nicer than here! You have beautiful scenery and wonderful food, and good company! I always get hungry after reading your posts! I hope you and Joyce stay well, stay safe, and find some new clothes soon! I so enjoy your posts!
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Thanks, Robin! So good to hear from you. I hope all is well ‘Up North’. Would you please let us borrow your Prime Minister?
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Still a beautiful place to be quarantined in. Sorry about the winter clothes. We are still in quarantine as well. Since we are moving to a smaller house with no stairs (yay!) in 2 weeks – we have used the downtime to “sort” and pack. The Last
dance was fabulous! We lived in Northbrook during those wonderful years and were Michael Jordon fanatics 😁 Be safe and enjoy.
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Hi ReAnne,
Where are you two staying? How did you secure the place? Is it a rental one? Or???
❤️
Lili
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Lili – We are in Ferragudo, which is in the Algarve. It’s a large, 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bathroom rental. I rented and lived here 3 years ago for a long time so knew the owners and contacted them directly.
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Not much different here we are in lockdown. I cannot go to the silver shop so that’s a blast. Started putting my stuff on ETSY just for something to do no buddy has bought anything yet and probably won’t but like I said it’s something to do. Going to be close to 100° today. I didn’t walk Because I went to Tucson medical center yesterday and got a stent change from my kidney to my bladder. Sue is doing fine as it is still a shitty life for her. A little more dementia. She’s just a little bit ahead of the rest of us on that matter.
All my kids are home working from there.
Rob still goes into work but he’s isolated. His girlfriend works at the hospital so she goes in also. Nobody sick here in the park so that’s good. Course all we do is walk in order stuff from Amazon. I go shopping about once every week or so for vegetables fruit milk etc. I’ve been drinking Clorox all along like the president said. All I noticed is that my teeth are a lot lighter and my poop doesn’t smell. Lucky he told us about that. Lucky he’s such an idiotBut I don’t even give him credit for that I think he’s lower down on the scale.
Glad you were enjoying Portugal Nice place to visit. Take care, peace to you and yours. Al
On Sat, Apr 25, 2020 at 9:13 AM My Home on the Roam wrote:
> ReAnn Scott posted: ” Today marks our 42nd day of living in lockdown in > Ferragudo, Portugal. And it ain’t bad at all! Of course, Not everyday > includes mimosas like in the photos below which were taken on Easter > Sunday, but we have settled into a routine of sorts. A” >
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I talked to my FL friend Sandy Jamieson this morning, and asked her when they thought to return to their NC home in Waynesville. She said that they would not be able to because 2 weeks groceries in the car would be required, and they would not be able to leave their house at all. I am guessing that is because they have FL plates, and possibly because their county my have a spike in covid cases. It is somewhat like the wild west here with each state, county, city (eg Cuomo) setting rules within their authority. I agree that the situation is very different from one location to the next, but it makes it difficult to navigate. Although GA may open fitness centers (!), I was not able to shop for upholstery fabric at Foam and Fabric. The store was open, and we queued up in respectful masked lines, but you could only buy quilt fabric and elastic for masks. As you know, I have no shortage of quilting cotton . . . They are only allowed to sell “essential” products, and would not even let me enter the upholstery section; I thought maybe I could get the information I needed to order online. Alas, no.
*If you want a fun moment, please go to youtube and search Quarantine with Bishop Jose’ – Episcopal diocese of WNC. Trust me, it is worth it, and you will understand why I was loathe to give up chairing Fiscal Ministries for the Diocese. The man is out of control.*
Delivered another 20 masks to the Celo Health Center yesterday. Somehow, there does not seem to be a dent in my stash. Luckily, I can donate excess at Maples coffee shop in Micaville.
We are probably going to build on the shop 5 acres, overlooking the barn. Actually, you can’t really see the barn, and it will feature a covered materials roofed area behind the barn. The roofed area is a marital requirement, and got agreement on that. Yes! Hoping to get Horace and Lisa Williams to install greenhouse(s) and nursery stock in the “front yard” of the barn. That lets us begin to landscape the front of the property and has potential mowing benefits. 😁We hiked yesterday trying to locate separate driveway and house site options, and also found lady slippers just getting ready to bloom. Cool.
I’ll let you know if I hear anything new about relocating, but it’s pretty tight in our area. We are worried about TN and SC news that they will be opening up. We do not want their cooties, for sure, and to date, we have been somewhat protected from a corona invasion by the mountains.
Glad you all are well and fed. I hope to see your new wardrobes soon. Now if I could just find a black market hair cutter.
K
On Sat, Apr 25, 2020 at 12:13 PM My Home on the Roam wrote:
> ReAnn Scott posted: ” Today marks our 42nd day of living in lockdown in > Ferragudo, Portugal. And it ain’t bad at all! Of course, Not everyday > includes mimosas like in the photos below which were taken on Easter > Sunday, but we have settled into a routine of sorts. A” >
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Glad you are in a safe spot. I live near Yosemite and we are pretty safe up here also. A blogger I know of that lives in Mexico, is having a tough time, Feeling very alone, and said there were Police cars with lights on at night driving down the road, telling everyone to stay inside. Also an issue finding medical. So you are in the best place you can be during this virus.
Stay well. vivian
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ReAnn, love your pictures and your posts. We all do get a bit bored at times and we do wear the same gear over and over, but, in this hottest season, at least it’s not turtlenecks! Re GA, I think many aren’t following the Governor’s advice, but I still believe they will pay the price. We talked to ATL friends today who are not going out for their usual monthly tattoos and bowling league gatherings (smile).
Please do keep us posted since we care a lot about your wellbeing. Love to Joyce, too! oxoxo N
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Hi ReAnn,
Hi Joyce,
Your time in Portugal sounds charming. Once all of this Corona Virus quarantine is over and done with, Portugal is one of the places I was thinking of spending the winters in the future. Not too warm â but temperate. And a super interesting place!!
Glad youâre doing well. Itâs probably a good idea to stay in Portugal for a while. Itâs surely safer there than in the States.
Wishing you all the best! Stay healthy!!
Pearl
Pearl Nitsche
Florianigasse 55/25
1080 Vienna, AUSTRIA
http://www.pearls-of-learning.com
⦠als Seminare bewährt ⦠nun auch als BÃCHER erhältlich!
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OMG, laughed so hard that I almost Snorted my morning coffee when I read the part about how you’re “modifying” your winter clothes. What a great mental picture to create for all of us sitting in isolation wondering what activity to try next!
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If you trim very close to the serged sean that holds the turtleneck onto the shirt it will still have a very nice seamed edge finish. (So saws a life-long seamstress who is missing her fabrics and machines!)i And when you chop off the sleeves (trying to make sure you chop each of them the same length) a knit will automatically do a little roll. Soooo cute! – not I cannot tell you how happy I was when I learned that the local charity thrift shop opens on Monday morning! I plan to arrive 30-minutes before the doors open.to be first in line!
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I was just re-reading your post and thinking how much your days sound like ours (substitute coffee looking out the window at snow – yes, in May, since even Mother Nature is off kilter this year – for mimosas outdoors), how grateful we are to be able to binge British mysteries on Acorn, and how much I miss shopping at Lidl. Stay safe – and keep on keeping us entertained with your travel escapades please!
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I lived in MN for 23 years so snow in May, especially on Mother’s Day, was always such a treat! NOT. I am getting ready to start a new post as just booked flights home! Details to follow.
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