Letter from Espargal, 16 of 2012

LAVENDER..... I have risen from my bed at an early hour in order to upload some of the lovely pictures that Jonesy has taken of our wild flowers, punctuated with a few thoughts about the week. (I have discovered three clumps of orchids, all different, in the park these past few days, much to my pleasure!)

DILL..... It’s a week that has entirely disappeared, as though a magician had whipped aside a cloth to show an empty table where the week had lain. That’s because of runnings around, much holiday planning and last minute jobs that take a couple of hours each. Beyond the last minute lies my departure this afternoon to Germany and thence to Canada, where I shall be catching up on family.

HONEYSUCKLE...... Barbara will be staying behind, as I have during her brief visits to the UK, to take care of our demanding household. In a late development, she will be joined tomorrow evening by Llewellyn and Lucia, who are flying down from London to celebrate some leave, along with Lucia’s Australian niece. I look forward to meeting them on my return.

The runnings around were mundane – English lessons on Monday, breakfast with the gang at the Coral on Tuesday, shopping on Wednesday, lunch with May and her visiting nephew on Thursday and more shopping on Friday.

Some of that shopping was intended to help fulfill a Jones wish to drape light curtains above the glass-brick partition in Casa Nada to separate the Bijou Ensuite (her bit) from the workshop (my bit). The actual draping became one of those last-minute two-hour jobs. But it’s done and most satisfactorily.

Another late task was to cover with hessian the dog mattresses that the dogs spend their lives ripping apart and Barbara spends hers patching. We bought several metres of hessian as well as a couple of sacks that we sewed as securely around the mattresses as we could. The three younger dogs can’t lie down without starting to chew whatever material is closest to paw. (Speaking of which, I indulged last week in a brilliant pun that has drawn no response whatsoever.)

CENTAUREA....... The new cobbler in Loule returned my boots with an apology. He couldn’t repair the holed sole in one of them. Ecco made soles that were biologically degradable and not repairable, he explained. Barbara has urged me to get in touch with the company and to see if their soles can be bought separately. I shall.

TASSEL HYACINTH... The planning I referred to has concerned the holiday we anticipate during most of the month of May when our house-sitters will be making their annual visit to Casa Valapena. It started out being quite a simple holiday – some days driving around parts of Spain and Portugal, followed by a visit to the Azores (Portuguese islands in the Atlantic).

GLADIOLUS... The devil, as ever, was in the detail – or possibly in my desire to find memorable places to stay in each centre and determining exactly how to reach them in the car. And there are lots of centres. The route is first to Spain (Caceres, Salamanca, Bilbao, the Picos and Santiago de Compostella) and then back over the border to Guimaraes (2012 European City of Culture), Alcobaca and Lisbon, where we will leave the car before flying to the Azores. I have a file half an inch thick with details of accommodation, hire-car contracts, parking garages, maps, directions and air-tickets.

Carohn has sent several sms messages as she continues her pilgrimage north towards Santiago. It’s been a much wetter and windier walk than she anticipated although she has found much consolation in the company of her fellow walkers. Had they arrived a month ago, they might have walked in unbroken sunshine.

PUPPY AT EASE... The sun has suddenly flooded in through the study window, warming my back and alerting me to our impending walk. By 8.30 the dogs are ready to go, as they readily let us know. They are not in Jones’s best books this week, I fear, for they have caught not one rabbit but two - while puppy killed a bird. Bobby appeared with a kit in his mouth one morning and yesterday little Prickles emerged proudly from the bush bearing a rabbit nearly as big as he was.

This needless killing enrages my wife, who berates me for rewarding the dogs with a biscuit as they hand over their reluctant booty. It’s hard to convince her that I am rewarding them for their obedience and not for killing rabbits. I can’t think of a way to stop them without keeping them enclosed because they love hunting rabbits above everything else, the whole lot of them.

Big Dog is jogging my elbow. He wants to go walking and won't take no for an answer. Big Dog can be very persistent. This may have to suffice for the week. (Forgive the messy layout. Google has introduced a new format that I haven't got time to get to grips with.)