Letter from Espargal: 16 January 2015

This week is short and sweet, at least as far as the blog is concerned. I've few pics to speak of although Jones tells me that she's taken some and I shall scratch through them in a moment. The days have run away with us. Friday afternoon has arrived and with it a flurry of unpredicted showers. The rain is welcome even at the price of the paw prints trailed across the floors. The first half of January has been so dry that Jonesy has had to start watering again.

Fortunately, she saw fit to cover my newly-delivered bags of cement this morning before we set out under blue skies for Alte where I had booked my troublesome back in for another session with Jodi.

IN FRONT OF THE FIRE

That done, we took ourselves 15 minutes further down the road for a light lunch in Paradise - that's what the restaurant is called.

There's a formal dining room where the serious diners gather and the snack-bar where the Portuguese settle themselves down at tables around the TV. The main news - Islamic nutters aside - was of the snowfalls in the mountains and the subsequent traffic chaos.

Ahead of us this afternoon is a visit to our insurance brokers to fix up a policy for Natasha's flat.

Looking back: the boys arrived last Saturday, as usual, and together we finished the Great Wall of Espargal. It is a most beautiful wall, a strong contender for the wall of the year prize. Only Hadrian and some Chinese emperors have done better - although Sarah and David's new wall might be considered among the entries.

We also moved the compost mountain from its long-established position opposite the tractor gate, heaving it load by load on to the tractor and strewing the contents across the fields, some for Jones' garden, some to burn and some to plough in. In the space it occupied we plan to build an enclosure for the strays, hopefully tomorrow if it doesn't rain.

Last Sunday, after brunch with the expats at Cantinho in Alte, we continued to the giant Leroy Merlin hardware store in Guia, looking for a catflap and other items. No catflap but we did find suitable posts for the enclosure and more wood preservative for Roslan to finish painting the pergola midweek. After his efforts with the gates the railings, the place sparkles.

That night I started on Hack Attack by Nick Davies, an account of the extraordinary behaviour of journalists on Britain's most popular weekly tabloid, The News of the World, until scandal and criminal prosecutions shut it down. For any media person who lived through those times in the UK, it's compulsive reading.

THE CATS BOOK THE BEST PLACES

Jones, who'd returned from the UK a few days previously, confessed to having a sore throat - a very sore throat - presumably from something she'd picked up there or on the plane. I found her some pills in my extensive (and often criticised) pharmaceutical stock. Thus far - fingers crossed - I haven't caught it from her. This is a welcome surprise as I am always more susceptible to these things.

We warned May that we wouldn't take her out to lunch on Monday as we didn't want to share the bug with her. Jones did her shopping as usual and we took her a hot meal.

JONES CLOUDS

I found time to visit the nearby workshops of the firm we have contracted to supply our new front door. Our contact there is Marco. We had already agreed on the price and design. The details hinged on the dimensions of the catflap to go in the side panel.

Marco directed me to a pet shop in Almancil where I found a cat flap that I delivered to him. We hope to have the new door installed some time in March.

In my English class we discussed an attempt by Spain to have the UN declare Portugal's southernmost Savage Islands to be merely a rocky outcrop. Although these tiny islands close to the Spanish Canaries are worthless in themselves, except to seabirds, at stake are the vast surrounding seas and their mineral wealth. At present these are Portugal's preserve. But if the islands lose their status, the valuable economic zone around them passes to Spain.

Monday night we celebrated the re-opening of the Hamburgo with Espargal's expats after five long hamburgoless weeks.

Barbara had a bad night, coughing, spluttering and feeling excessively miserable.

THE WATER OF LIFE

Tuesday Marco came to the house to measure up. On the back patio the dogs barked their frustration at being unable to see who he was or what he was up to.

After an afternoon session with Jodi, I continued to Gilde's hardware store to order the fencing panels that I need for the enclosure. Isidoro promised to deliver them the following evening (and did). He is brilliant. I don't know what we'd do without the Hamburgo or Gilde.

Jonesy is still coughing although she insists that she is better.

Wednesday Roslan came to give the pergola another coat of preservative. Fortunately the weather was kind to him. He had an hour to spare at the end of the day. We devoted it to clearing the space for the dogs' enclosure.

I reversed the tractor along the soft ground with the box lowered, digging up the earth and levelling it out - although it still slopes. Lots of work remains to be done. The boys will be lucky to finish on Saturday.

I had planned an area 5m x 7.5m but I think it might be just 5m x 5m. I doubt the pups will be pleased.

Also Wed, neighbours Mike and Liz and the Dutch ladies delivered a selection of toys to Benafim's community centre after making a collection among our expat group. The centre is always looking for clothing but on inquiry Mike learned that toys for deprived children were the priority - and were much appreciated.