Letter from Espargal: 26 October 2013

Thursday evening.

Where to start? My list of potential topics is not encouraging and I have few pictures to offer you. There's the sniffles that I passed on to Barbara (she's hoarse) - and to Anne, the female half of our house-sitters. There's the weather - grey, miz and wet. There's the diet I've embarked on - for the umpteenth time in my life - disheartened by the tummy that starting to overshadow my toes. (I've told Jones it's 85kg or bust!) There are our muddy treks across the hills as we exhaust ourselves trying to tire the dogs. And there are the worms still crawling all over the show and the spiders spinning mathematical webs in the bushes.

And that's about the size of things.

Anne and Ian - now regarded by the zoo as foster parents - returned to us on Tuesday evening after spending several days in the Alentejo. They drove down in a lull between the departing depression and the arriving one. On the Wednesday, as they headed for the airport, we handed the house over the Natasha and set off on our monthly pilgrimage to the refuge at Goldra with a boot full of dog food. As ever, Marisa was very pleased to see us. So were the gaggle of dogs that came running up to welcome us (biscuits all round). We wondered how long our ten-sack contribution would last the 100-plus animals that Marisa and her volunteers tend.

En route home, Jonesy nipped into the optician to see if he could squeeze us into his morning. The answer was no. He was attending to one client with two more waiting and Jones - never a good waiter - wasn't going to join the queue. We have made a double appointment for Friday in the hope of seeing straighter.

For a while my wife has spent more time peering over her specs than through them - not good. And I've been unhappy with the left lens of my prescription dark specs. So we'll see what Mr Rahmani, the optician, can do for us. He's a German-speaking Iranian, married to a Portuguese, who spends most of his time looking after the German community down here. Judging by the number of clients we see in his shop, he seems to do very well.

Friday afternoon.

Time has moved on. We saw Mr Rahmani, who changed the angle on Jonesy's specs and adjusted my dark glasses, saying "now try that" - and things sure improved a lot. "Come back any time there's a problem," he insisted, declining any money. One can't complain about service like that.

So here I am back in the study after a siesta on the bed. My siestas are a daily treat. Jonesy often settles down in the living room but she doesn't really have the knack of siestering. I fall deep asleep and awake feeling refreshed - unless, that is, I'm roused by my phone or the dogs.

The sun is squinting uncertainly through the clouds like a nervous actress through the wings, the first we've seen of it all week. The rain is just letting up. Over 50mm (2 inches) has fallen since I emptied the rain gauge last night. That's a lot of rain. We expected the Algibre river (which lies between us and Loule) to be in flood but there was just a muddy stream coursing down the centre of the river bed when we passed.

We've maintained a small fire in the wood-burner each day to keep the house cosy, and to dry the washing that's hanging out on the rails upstairs. (We don't have a clothes drier - other than the sun!)

The dogs are letting me know that they won't survive the night without a walk, even if we all have to wade through the mud. They nudge my elbow to make the point.

It's time for another pause.

Friday night:

Jones is putting together our usual mega vege-salad supper. On the TV a knowledgeable fellow is explaining the development of the symphony. The accompanying music's lovely. The animals have settled down and I can gather my thoughts again.

Like most people, I get a lot of scam emails. Most of them come from gentlemen in West Africa, begging me to allow them to deposit large amounts of money in my bank account. So the one below from "Joan Mannix" in Australia was a new experience:

Attached are two outstanding invoices, owed to JSP Melbourne. These invoices relate to the audit carried out for the Benson Superannuation Fund for the years of 2011 and 2012. I have only recently taken over the debtors in JSP (Melbourne) Pty Ltd as opposed to JSP Partners and I am endeavouring to clean up some old outstanding accounts. As you can see, both these invoices are way outside our 14 days trading terms, so my apologies for the delay in bringing these two to your attention. If your records show that you have previously paid these invoices, can you please forward details to me to allow me to correct ours. If you have not paid them, could I please request you to do so at your earliest convenience. Please ring or email me if you wish to discuss further or have any queries.

One has to wonder how many people have received her demand - and whether anybody or company has paid it. I can't think so. Yet Ms Mannix obviously thinks the effort worth it. I have forwarded her email to JSP.

On the spring house-sitting front, our annual visitors have informed us that they feel it's time to call a halt to their canine-caring duties. They're both well into their 70s and have had some bad experiences with ill health. We heard the news with regret as they've been brilliant with the animals down the years and their visits have allowed us to get away each May. We've invited them to return as our guests instead.

Better news comes from our friends and former neighbours, David and Dagmar, who have finally sold their house after an uncertain year. Previous buyers, who committed to buy it, had to cancel the deal when one of them was diagnosed with cancer, just as D&D were on the point of moving to new premises. We'll join them for a small celebration over the weekend.