Friday 28th of march

Today we started in the garden, we put our sunscreen on and went outside. Bryan went up the hill to mow the grass. Megan helped Frank, Denice and Everon to shovel away the dirt. After lunch we stopped and Megan had a workcall. We spent the afternoon cleaning and we worked on the blog. In the evening we called home and enjoyed the rest of our night.

Saturday 29th of march

We enjoyed our weekend and played some games. The only thing we had to do today was go to the supermarket. This time we did not bring Jan and it went smoothly.

Sunday 30th of march

In the morning we took it easy, but after lunch we went for a walk to a monument. We enjoyed the walk and took some pictures on the way there. After 2,5 km we found the monument and dug up some crystals out of the ground. When we got back we did some hobbying. In the evening we ate pancakes and Megan’s stomach did not like that, so we went to bed early. 

Monday 31th of march

Today we started in the garden again. We mowed the grass and shoveled some more dirt. After lunch we continued for a little while until it was too hot outside. We went to get some soil for the garden and sow some grass. Then we had to go to the supermarket again, we cleaned up the camper and were ready to drive when we heard Frank shouting. One of the stray cats gave birth. We thought they were just fat from eating at the house and hunting, but that was not the case. Four little kittens were laying in a crate with pinecones. So we got a blanket and laid it in the crate. The mother liked that so much that she started making biscuits and started purring. We now think that the other cat is also pregnant and will soon give birth as well. We did our groceries a little later and when we got back enjoyed our evening.

Tuesday 1st of april

We started the morning by checking on the kittens and their mother. They were all doing okay. We worked in the garden, because we had to fill the garden bed. Every so often we checked on the kittens and it was all going okay. The mother was taking good care of the little ones, but we had a problem. The little ones can not stay here and the mothers need to be sterilised, so it won’t happen again. After lunch we worked for a while and some time later the garden bed was finally full. So we got more soil to finish it off before we put in the seeds. After work we cleaned up and then it was time for our own work. Bryan worked on a website and Megan gave a tutoring lesson. In the evening we discussed how to go forward with the little ones.

Wednesday 2th of april

This morning we woke up with Jan by our side. We did not have to work today so we spent our time looking up places to bring the kittens to and to sterilize the mothers. Unfortunately, unlike in the Netherlands, animal shelters and veterinary sterilization is rather uncommon so it is fairly difficult to find a decent home for the little ones and a safe method to get the mothers sterilised. We also checked on what we had to do for the kittens, but luckily the mother did most of the work. We are keeping an eye out for their growth. Because of the low quantity of animal shelters here we started to call around. We got a few maybes and even fewer yes’s later. We found out that we did not share the morals of the Portuguese people when it comes to taking care of animals, so we decided that we had to take matters into our own hands. We started a donation campaign to take care of the kittens and the mothers. Luckily we have support from home and most likely have found a place for 4 kittens, but we know a few more kittens will follow.

Thursday 3th of april

This morning we discussed our plans with the family and about what needed to be done in the time they are away. After the conversation we ate lunch and then it was time for our own jobs. When we were done Megan took some pictures of the four kittens, Mama is very proud of them and made sure nothing happened to her little ones. That evening we continued searching for a place for them. After that we took a little time for ourselves.