Outside Space Makeover | Festival of Monsanto Castle Portugal

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:10]Only Portugal would let off fireworks um on a Sunday morning at 8:00 in a misty Monsanto.

[00:00:29]>> [music] >> Good morning and welcome back to a fresh new week. And yes, today I begin the clear up operation of this side of this outside space that I am transforming into a social area. I need to come up with a name for this area actually as to what to to call it. So as things evolve, let's see. But yes, if you have any name suggestions of what I can actually now call this space, which is going to be for friends to and for me to sit and enjoy. Um, and I'm even going to put a hammock I'm hoping to put a hammock here as well. Yeah, if you want to um suggest something, please put it in the comments.

[00:01:50]>> [music] [music] [music] >> I am [music] loving how the light forms in here with the shadows [music] um and the sun. Um it's beautiful.

[00:02:30]I'm now just trying to move these [music] big wooden supports over on top of the [music] pallet to protect them in case it rains.

[00:02:41]So, I don't want them to get wet from [music] underneath on the ground and [singing] uh yeah, to keep them dry.

[00:03:00][music] >> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> So, guess what I'm going to be doing?

[00:04:52]I'm going to paint [music] this white.

[00:04:56]And I know that it's going to transform this area. I'm very excited. You might be able to tell >> [music] >> Heat. Heat.

[00:06:25]Today I am up on the top of Monsanto because this weekend is a big festival happening here. It's to celebrate the uh end of a sevenyear siege that happened in Roman day times. So this is like remembering that and um there's something very particular about this festival in that they um do a procession to the very top to the castle and then from the top of the castle ramparts they throw off uh flowers and um pots to signify the throwing off of a cow with its belly full of grain. And it was the last food that was available at the end of the siege. And it was to show the Romans that we've got lots of food when actually they had none at all. And so the Romans believed them and left and the siege was over. So this is um a celebration of that. Um yeah, so uh I will show you more of that a little bit later.

[00:07:35][music] >> [music] [music] >> Starting [music] [music] [music] Love that the older ladies are in their traditional costumes. The lady there is holding the cockaral that uh signifies like the Monsanto.

[00:08:21]Some children that are in costume too organizing themselves.

[00:08:31]The lady there at the back.

[00:08:36]flowers.

[00:08:39]>> They are really heavy.

[00:08:46]>> And this is we have some dancing.

[00:09:07]My [music] I love you.

[00:09:24]See you there.

[00:09:29][music] praise to How many in my hand.

[00:10:15][music] >> And then it was my turn to join in. Can you see me there? I'm now at the back with black trousers and a patterned top.

[00:10:41]I got a round.

[00:10:47][music] Rolling [music] together.

[00:11:43][music] Let's do a Now to see the Let's try for an hour.

[00:13:23]>> [music] >> You ready?

[00:13:47]So, what amazes me about this time of year up here in Monsanto is all the beautiful roses.

[00:13:57]If I'm coming up from Ra, this is the way I walk.

[00:14:09]Here we are. How this side of the space is looking at the moment with the wall painted. I've just put the table and chairs in here. I have a bit of a space issue because of these big pieces of wood and the number of tiles I've got.

[00:14:41]Um, but they're not going to stay there forever, but it's at the moment it's it's temporary.

[00:14:47]I'm thinking I might even sell these now just to get them out the way.

[00:14:53]And yeah, over here is kind of all my gardening stuff. These bags have got sand in them which I need for repointing the walls on the outside of the house.

[00:15:09]However, oh, Bejos has come to Can you see him? Beos has come to dinner. Hey, Bejos investigating this new space. The wall probably needs another coat of paint on it, although I'm not sure that I want it so bright. So, it's it's okay.

[00:15:30]Now, I still have a lot of work to do in this area. Really, this all needs to be leveled here.

[00:15:38]The wall here, I need to remove all this old clay from the wall because it's crumbling out of there and I need to repoint it. So, that is going to be a big job and I really should do that this year uh as well. So, there is still lots to get on with.

[00:16:00]I just love this.

[00:16:03]What an image.

[00:16:08]I have been growing this cutting here of a climbing rose. It has a beautiful white flower on it and smells absolutely gorgeous. Uh old lady who lives up in Monsanto. Actually, she's um one of the main adoof ladies playing those drums that you saw on the video. And yes, it's been growing from this little stick for about a year now. So I am going to plant it just here in front of this pillar so that it starts to climb up this pillar and then I will train it across the front of the posts here. But it's going to take a while I think to get there but it needs to get in the ground.

[00:17:05]So there we are. planted the little rose, climbing rose in here, protected it with some stones, and now this will grow up here, and I will guide it where I want it to go, which will probably be along the front here. Um, but it's I don't know. It's going to take a while to go, I think.

[00:17:36]Myself and my neighbor then christristened the new area for the first time.

[00:17:44]>> Cheers. Cheers. Cheers to your beautiful new drinking area. Thank you.

[00:17:58]>> Whilst I was digging the hole to put the climbing rose in, I found some treasure.

[00:18:05]And at first, I thought it was a Roman coin cuz it was very dirty. And all I could see was this round shape of it.

[00:18:15]And I put it in some vinegar to clean it up. And it's actually um from a wine maker in the Porto region called Real Company Valia and it is the oldest um wine maker in Porto. They've been going for 265 years. So since n uh 1756.

[00:18:46]So in a way it is treasure. So I will be doing something with this to preserve this um here as a little piece of history of someone opening um a bottle of wine. And who knows how long this has actually been in the soil here. So that was exciting.

[00:19:12]the Royale Compia, which translates to the old company, the Royale old company, and on the back it has this I'm not sure if this is their kind of was their kind of logo um at the time.

[00:19:38]The other thing that I want to mention is that when you're watching this video, I hope you've watched it to the very end. It's actually my birthday on Sunday today. But of course, I am the future Suzie [laughter] saying that my birthday is on Sunday.

[00:19:58]And tomorrow evening I leave here to fly back to the UK because I am spending my birthday weekend in the UK with um actually some friends that you know if you've been watching my channel with Phil and Kimberly and Jan and a couple of other ladies as well. one who's flown in from America. And so that is going to be a wonderful weekend. And we're going to be in a holiday park um in Clton on Sea of all places. I've never been there. It's in Suffukk on the east coast of the UK. I'm hoping that we're going to have nice weather um so that I get to see some nice sunsets um while I'm there. And I will be back next Wednesday back in Portugal. And uh I have actually prepared a very special video for the following Sunday. And that is a time lapse of the whole renovation of the old kitchen. So that will be definitely one not to be missed. So thank you for watching. If you're new here, please subscribe. That would be a wonderful birthday present for me. And I will see you next Sunday.