Update on Portugal - Post 1: personal matters
Where to start? Well, I'm leaving this post unlocked (not my normal style at all) so that I can point non-LJ friends at it and update everybody at once. I'm really really grateful for all the support, advice, and care, but it is very time consuming trying to make sure everybody knows everything! Non-LJers - you can leave anon comments and identify yourself in some way that will make sense to me and you!
I've also decided against cross posting from DW this time though I'm posting this to DW as well. My last attempt at providing images didn't quite work - LJ pics happily upload to DW but the reverse doesn't always seem to be true. Possibly because my DW account is also default friends-locked and might be very kindly hiding my pictures for me.
OK, husband is back in UK for the time being and has brought me up to date so I can tell you all about it under the cut. Non-LJers, just click on the thing that says 'read more' or whatever the current LJ terminology is, and it will open for you. Magic? (It just saves people having to scroll for miles on their friends' page feed.)
First of all, our own position. Note that this is my interpretation of what I've been told and might need amending in future developments.
Before and after pictures for those of you who couldn't see them before - and for some non LJ readers who have visited the house and will know exactly where these were taken.
Our house is a shell. There are walls to about knee height and there are cellars (which open onto the lower terrace) but these are full of rubble. Most of our olives, vines, and fruit trees are gone. There might be EU compensation and we have applied, but folk wisdom says a lot of the compensation will be syphoned off at government level so not to hold our breath. Meanwhile, we mustn't cut down the olives for firewood etc. because they have to stand there to be counted...
Virtually nothing from the house itself could be salvaged. Anything glass or silver melted. Anything with enamel coating lost its coating. Anything wood or fabric turned to ash. (So cast iron pans and metal tools lost their wooden handles.) Anything cast iron or porcelain was initially OK but fell into the cellar where it broke on impact or had some of the roof fall on it. Machinery such as the cement mixer (in the cellar) was crumpled and damaged beyond repair. The only survivors are the wood stoves though those will need new glass and a respray.
The garage (and my car, which was parked by it) is intact - breeze block construction and out of the direct path of the fire which an eyewitness said behaved like a tornado, sweeping down from the hill behind, eddying round the rocky outcrop above our house and then catching on the wooden cladding on the outside of the twin towers. Anyway, we still had a lot of stuff stored in the garage and that can come back to UK. You might remember I was moaning to anyone who would listen that various catastrophes (like the terrace collapsing into the swimming pool) had delayed the fitting of the kitchen. Well, thank goodness, because we are now going to install it in our UK house. It was very expensive, very lovingly chosen, and should mostly fit because the rooms are a similar size and shape, and the UK one needs an upgrade.
There is also a huge pile of furniture and boxes in the garage. The dining-room furniture is saved so we can have that back. We have no idea what is in the boxes because husband had started taking boxes into the house but we hadn't unpacked them yet. And yes, we had labels, but only very general ones, like 'crockery' or 'books' and some of both had been taken to the house and are now gone.
The swimming pool is fine apart from two things. With no electricity the filters aren't working but it can probably be easily restored to its normal beauty once it has power again. It, and every pool in the area, is partially black, with ash and oily deposits that are clinging to the edges but again, should be easily dealt with.
I had left a folding chair and some books in the car..... See? This is why you should never be too tidy or organised!!
The view is probably/possibly even better in the long run as you can see further now that some of the pine forests are gone. As well as the pole that took phone lines across our land to the village.
The insurance company are disposed to be helpful. However, in order to assess the value and make sure we weren't under insured, we need three rebuild estimates. Problem: local builders are run off their feet and will get to us when they get to us. Still, it looks as if we will get the full amount we were insured for, and that will at least cover our initial financial investment, though not all of what we've spent going to and fro and buying more materials as we went along. This is a huge relief and it doesn't actually matter how long it takes as at least we have the UK house to live in!
Everybody wants to know whether we will rebuild. We certainly don't particularly want to live in a modern house on that site, because part of the appeal was the old house. Also, the rebuilding process could be lengthy and more costly than whatever we get from the insurance. The property would then be very desirable (size and location) but houses don't sell quickly in that part of Portugal so it would be a gamble. So, we could rebuild, we could sell the land with its basic amenities (a 'footprint' that allows for a rebuild, permission, electricity and water already going to the property, the pool, etc.) or we could get a more detailed rebuild/new design plan and sell the land with that. An estate agent friend (there) says we would be wiser to sell as soon as possible if we're going to, so we have put the land in their hands and those of our lawyer. But we will have the rebuild estimates and there will be options. My own instinct is to 'take the money and run' - partly because we're too old to start again and the whole idea is less than enticing. It would be two or three years before we could use the new house and have friends or family to stay.
So for now we are planning to concentrate on the UK house - not to sell, as we originally intended once we started the Portuguese project, but to enjoy. It still needs a lot of work and had been kind of put on a back burner for the time being. Now, we should have both the time and the money to get it shipshape. A lot of what we'd done to it was years ago and needs redoing!! (Like the kitchen!)
We will still visit that part of Portugal - we have really good friends there and we love the area. Two couples run rental properties so as we are retired and can go whenever it's convenient we can find somewhere to stay with no difficulty. But I think once the land sells, we will sell my Portuguese car as it will be hard to find somewhere to keep it.
I'm sure you can see that a lot of things are still very much up in the air but there is nothing insurmountable. There are decisions to be made and we may have to wait a while for the insurance and so on.
Husband stayed with friends, sifted through rubble, took photographs (which I will eventually have), talked to banks, insurance, lawyers, estate agents etc. etc. and then brought some stuff home. Mainly the new kitchen. He also managed to leave his passport, bank book and one of his mobiles (he had a UK one and a Portuguese one with him)in the pocket of his cargo pants when putting those in the washer - passport is faded but apparently acceptable alongside his driving licence (which uses your passport photo), mobile is functional but battery has now died, and the bank thought the bankbook was hilarious but it will take time before they can replace it - see next section.
He is going back soon, possibly with a bigger van borrowed from a friend who might or might not go with him. There's no point in me going just yet - he needs help with loading the van. I think it will be spring before I go too.
Meanwhile, the UK house is in chaos and we might need a storage locker somewhere for a short while.
We have lost some dreams, almost ten years of work (really hard physical work on husband's part), planning, and of course a lot of really treasured possessions.
It seems somehow trivial to complain about the bookcases my grandfather made me, the shelves my father made, the crochet, tapestry, tatting etc. done by my mother, my grandmother and my mother-in-law, the lovely gifts people had given me from far-flung places, the antiques we inherited, our collection of DVDs, CDs, books etc. Some can't be replaced. Others can but I'm not sure yet what I've lost so can't start thinking about what I'll miss most. I just know the focus of our lives - what has in a sense defined us for the last decade - has gone, helping to create the red skies many of you saw over western Europe on Monday 16th October.
We are truly and deeply thankful that we weren't out there at the time of the fire and that we and our family and friends are safe. It could have been very different.
Because of the length of this post I am going to talk about what happened in the area in general in another post (again, unlocked).
Meanwhile, a very dear friend died in France this week (cancer) and this weekend we are going to Devon for a memorial for another close friend who died in August (also cancer). So I seem to be surrounded by death, and am incredibly busy. I will leave comments enabled but don't feel you have to offer sympathy and please don't worry if I don't reply straight away.
I've also decided against cross posting from DW this time though I'm posting this to DW as well. My last attempt at providing images didn't quite work - LJ pics happily upload to DW but the reverse doesn't always seem to be true. Possibly because my DW account is also default friends-locked and might be very kindly hiding my pictures for me.
OK, husband is back in UK for the time being and has brought me up to date so I can tell you all about it under the cut. Non-LJers, just click on the thing that says 'read more' or whatever the current LJ terminology is, and it will open for you. Magic? (It just saves people having to scroll for miles on their friends' page feed.)
First of all, our own position. Note that this is my interpretation of what I've been told and might need amending in future developments.
Before and after pictures for those of you who couldn't see them before - and for some non LJ readers who have visited the house and will know exactly where these were taken.
Our house is a shell. There are walls to about knee height and there are cellars (which open onto the lower terrace) but these are full of rubble. Most of our olives, vines, and fruit trees are gone. There might be EU compensation and we have applied, but folk wisdom says a lot of the compensation will be syphoned off at government level so not to hold our breath. Meanwhile, we mustn't cut down the olives for firewood etc. because they have to stand there to be counted...
Virtually nothing from the house itself could be salvaged. Anything glass or silver melted. Anything with enamel coating lost its coating. Anything wood or fabric turned to ash. (So cast iron pans and metal tools lost their wooden handles.) Anything cast iron or porcelain was initially OK but fell into the cellar where it broke on impact or had some of the roof fall on it. Machinery such as the cement mixer (in the cellar) was crumpled and damaged beyond repair. The only survivors are the wood stoves though those will need new glass and a respray.
The garage (and my car, which was parked by it) is intact - breeze block construction and out of the direct path of the fire which an eyewitness said behaved like a tornado, sweeping down from the hill behind, eddying round the rocky outcrop above our house and then catching on the wooden cladding on the outside of the twin towers. Anyway, we still had a lot of stuff stored in the garage and that can come back to UK. You might remember I was moaning to anyone who would listen that various catastrophes (like the terrace collapsing into the swimming pool) had delayed the fitting of the kitchen. Well, thank goodness, because we are now going to install it in our UK house. It was very expensive, very lovingly chosen, and should mostly fit because the rooms are a similar size and shape, and the UK one needs an upgrade.
There is also a huge pile of furniture and boxes in the garage. The dining-room furniture is saved so we can have that back. We have no idea what is in the boxes because husband had started taking boxes into the house but we hadn't unpacked them yet. And yes, we had labels, but only very general ones, like 'crockery' or 'books' and some of both had been taken to the house and are now gone.
The swimming pool is fine apart from two things. With no electricity the filters aren't working but it can probably be easily restored to its normal beauty once it has power again. It, and every pool in the area, is partially black, with ash and oily deposits that are clinging to the edges but again, should be easily dealt with.
I had left a folding chair and some books in the car..... See? This is why you should never be too tidy or organised!!
The view is probably/possibly even better in the long run as you can see further now that some of the pine forests are gone. As well as the pole that took phone lines across our land to the village.
The insurance company are disposed to be helpful. However, in order to assess the value and make sure we weren't under insured, we need three rebuild estimates. Problem: local builders are run off their feet and will get to us when they get to us. Still, it looks as if we will get the full amount we were insured for, and that will at least cover our initial financial investment, though not all of what we've spent going to and fro and buying more materials as we went along. This is a huge relief and it doesn't actually matter how long it takes as at least we have the UK house to live in!
Everybody wants to know whether we will rebuild. We certainly don't particularly want to live in a modern house on that site, because part of the appeal was the old house. Also, the rebuilding process could be lengthy and more costly than whatever we get from the insurance. The property would then be very desirable (size and location) but houses don't sell quickly in that part of Portugal so it would be a gamble. So, we could rebuild, we could sell the land with its basic amenities (a 'footprint' that allows for a rebuild, permission, electricity and water already going to the property, the pool, etc.) or we could get a more detailed rebuild/new design plan and sell the land with that. An estate agent friend (there) says we would be wiser to sell as soon as possible if we're going to, so we have put the land in their hands and those of our lawyer. But we will have the rebuild estimates and there will be options. My own instinct is to 'take the money and run' - partly because we're too old to start again and the whole idea is less than enticing. It would be two or three years before we could use the new house and have friends or family to stay.
So for now we are planning to concentrate on the UK house - not to sell, as we originally intended once we started the Portuguese project, but to enjoy. It still needs a lot of work and had been kind of put on a back burner for the time being. Now, we should have both the time and the money to get it shipshape. A lot of what we'd done to it was years ago and needs redoing!! (Like the kitchen!)
We will still visit that part of Portugal - we have really good friends there and we love the area. Two couples run rental properties so as we are retired and can go whenever it's convenient we can find somewhere to stay with no difficulty. But I think once the land sells, we will sell my Portuguese car as it will be hard to find somewhere to keep it.
I'm sure you can see that a lot of things are still very much up in the air but there is nothing insurmountable. There are decisions to be made and we may have to wait a while for the insurance and so on.
Husband stayed with friends, sifted through rubble, took photographs (which I will eventually have), talked to banks, insurance, lawyers, estate agents etc. etc. and then brought some stuff home. Mainly the new kitchen. He also managed to leave his passport, bank book and one of his mobiles (he had a UK one and a Portuguese one with him)in the pocket of his cargo pants when putting those in the washer - passport is faded but apparently acceptable alongside his driving licence (which uses your passport photo), mobile is functional but battery has now died, and the bank thought the bankbook was hilarious but it will take time before they can replace it - see next section.
He is going back soon, possibly with a bigger van borrowed from a friend who might or might not go with him. There's no point in me going just yet - he needs help with loading the van. I think it will be spring before I go too.
Meanwhile, the UK house is in chaos and we might need a storage locker somewhere for a short while.
We have lost some dreams, almost ten years of work (really hard physical work on husband's part), planning, and of course a lot of really treasured possessions.
It seems somehow trivial to complain about the bookcases my grandfather made me, the shelves my father made, the crochet, tapestry, tatting etc. done by my mother, my grandmother and my mother-in-law, the lovely gifts people had given me from far-flung places, the antiques we inherited, our collection of DVDs, CDs, books etc. Some can't be replaced. Others can but I'm not sure yet what I've lost so can't start thinking about what I'll miss most. I just know the focus of our lives - what has in a sense defined us for the last decade - has gone, helping to create the red skies many of you saw over western Europe on Monday 16th October.
We are truly and deeply thankful that we weren't out there at the time of the fire and that we and our family and friends are safe. It could have been very different.
Because of the length of this post I am going to talk about what happened in the area in general in another post (again, unlocked).
Meanwhile, a very dear friend died in France this week (cancer) and this weekend we are going to Devon for a memorial for another close friend who died in August (also cancer). So I seem to be surrounded by death, and am incredibly busy. I will leave comments enabled but don't feel you have to offer sympathy and please don't worry if I don't reply straight away.