Poring Over the Plans

Having been told that the architect and engineer would be arriving about eleven, we were ready - house clean and tidy, roses in jug, legs epilated; I'd even made an apple tarte to have with coffee. Two hours and two minutes later, I started to worry they'd had an accident, so texted... no problem, said he, shall we have lunch in the Adega in a bit? 

So that's what we did. We know enough about Portuguese culture to know you don't discuss business while you're eating, so we ate our three course meal in relaxed mode.  And then the whole afternoon up here, looking at plans, walking the Land, drone photos taken, ideas discussed. Extra of the building we're dreaming about. Love Luís's enthusiasm and creativity, and amusing to see Pedro reining him in with practical considerations. A wave-shaped pool/tank to reflect the shape of the Lake? A rectangle would be a lot easier... and so on.

We ended with the apple tarte on the outdoor table, and I know enough about Portuguese culture to know I needed to put a tablecoth on it first. But not sure I'll ever figure out Portuguese time...

Gratefuls:
- seeing our Land and its possibilities through fresh, but knowledgeable eyes
- Mike putting shade cloth up on the west side of the house, it's getting hot in the afternoons
- Luís and Pedro driving down from Porto for the day, that's over nine hours driving altogether