The week has been wet. It began with intermittent drizzle last Saturday, light enough to permit Slavic, Andrei and me to do some serious clearing of the heavily overgrown plot that we have just acquired. We uprooted giant clumps of prickly wild asparagus, cut back bushes, trimmed trees and generally thinned out the jungle.
ONE OF SEVERAL GREAT PILES OF CUTTINGS - CENTRE STAGE
At 03.00 on Sunday, the heavens opened and didn't close again for 12 hours. The deluge came in horizontally on the back of a gale. Everything on the covered front patio was utterly soaked. For the first time in months we missed our morning walk. It was all we could do to persuade the dogs to go outside to relieve themselves.
Much of the valley floor disappeared under a shallow brown lake. We were grateful to live high on a hill. To our great surprise, our electricity supply - generally the first casualty of such storms - held up throughout. Twice I had to empty the overflowing rain gauge. By the end of the day I had measured just over 100mms - a record for us.
The authorities had issued a red alert for the Algarve - another first - and had emergency teams stationed around the region. In the event they were hard pressed. The holiday town of Albufeira took a real hammering as a torrent over a metre deep swirled through the streets, inundating buildings and snatching vehicles in its path.
NEARBY ALGIBRE RIVER IN FLOOD
More showers followed the next few days. By the end of the week the skies had cleared and some truly welcome sunshine had returned. In the valley, the lake has given way to a rich green carpet.
DRAGONFLY THAT LANDED ON A BRANCH IN FRONT OF ME
On Monday my English class discussed university fees. They explained that students typically pay €1,000 a year towards their tuition while the government picks up the balance. On Thursday we tackled the thorny topic of taxes. As ever my struggle is to get them to speak English - the whole purpose of the exercise. The moment there's any disagreement, fierce Portuguese arguments break out across the room.
SQUINTY ON A ROCK, UP WITH JONES ON THE TELEF AT SUNSET
By the end of the hour I'm in need of a generous whisky. However, and here's the rub, I'm on the straight and narrow for a few weeks - mainly. This story really begins with a neighbour who for some years has given up alcohol for a month each year, generally in the autumn. Other neighbours are following suit.
ON THE APARTMENT PATIO IN MILFONTES LAST MONTH
Impressed by his self-discipline, I thought I might test my own resolve. I got as far as lunch on November the 1st when we enjoyed a meal with friends at the Hamburgo. The restaurateur, well aware of my tastes but unaware of my good intentions, poured me a glass of fine red wine; it would have been crass to reject it or not to help the others finish the bottle. Before you mock my efforts, I should add that for nine of the past 11 days I've stuck to my resolution.
Tuesday I took the car into Honda. Twice in the past few weeks I've had dashboard warnings of an engine problem requiring workshop attention. The warnings persist for a day or two before disappearing again. After dropping the car, I took Honda's shuttle into the Algarve Forum to pass the morning while the mechanics checked things out.
JONES IN SINES ART GALLERY
When I messaged Jones to ask if she wanted anything from the shops, she replied "a necklace from Swarovski" before hastening to say "just joking". In the event, Swarovski didn't have any necklaces that appealed to me. But I did find a rather nice one elsewhere.
RAIN CLOUDS OVER THE VALLEY
Honda told me on my return that the warnings were prompted by the valve controlling exhaust emissions. The engineers had serviced it but if it continued to play up, it would need replacing. I can't complain. In six years - oil and tyres excepted - I've had to replace only windscreen wipers, switches and couple of light bulbs. The car has just topped 100,000 kms.
THE NEW HONDA HRV
I was interested to inspect Honda's new HRV - baby brother of the CRV - on the showroom floor. It's the first I've seen. Unlike the sqarish discontinued model, the car now looks similar to the CRV - not that I was tempted.
SODDEN CUTTINGS PILE AWAITING BURNING IN OUR FIELD
Wednesday morning brought a haircut and toenail trim from Mary in Benafim and a massage from Jodi five minutes further along the road in Alte. I then fetched Jones and we took ourselves to lunch at Faro beach under lowering skies while Natasha set about the house.
Jones, who doesn't have the best of relationships with her mobile phone, has recently changed the ring on her incoming Whatsapp messages because she was missing so many of them - generally because her phone was some distance away or in her bag. To remedy the situation she has selected chimes reminiscent of Big Ben striking the hour. She shouldn't miss any more. Like her, I find Whatsapp a most useful bit of software.
Of an evening when there's not much to watch on TV (being allergic to soaps) we have been putting on episodes of a series called Foyle's War. Llewellyn gave us a 12-disk pack some time ago, recommending the production highly. We endorse his judgement. They provide welcome entertainment on long autumn evenings.
The photo shows a box of Brekkies dental chews for dogs, alongside the contents. It's the first time we've bought this particular brand - and the last. You can see why. We got them only because our usual supplier, Aldi, was out of stock. The dogs go wild for the chews, which provide just about the only means to tempt the orphans back inside the gate after our walks.
THE GIRLS BACK TO BACK - PALLY SNOOZING IN FRONT
The orphans continue to make inroads into the house. One morning Jones found the two girls asleep on the lounge sofas. In principle we've no objection, having long since reconciled ourselves to sharing the furniture with our pets on the firm understanding that they don't damage it. The problem is that Mello chews anything she can get hold of while Pally pisses on every available chair leg - and of course the regulars hasten to assert their territorial rights. The little guy has to be snipped asap.
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