Here we are being entertained to a banquet on Marie and Olly's patio. Marie says she's just put a few scraps together before laying on a feast that would embarrass a monarch.
Chloe demonstrates her home-made cream tart which, like a great many sub-atomic particles, didn't last very long.
We were entertained again at the Benafim community festa to fado and large helpings of newly-barbecued chicken. My preference for pork and porridge was not shared by my companions.
A serious investment in the Tombola stall brought a host of prizes including the hamper basket. Having removed from this haul the more desirable objects, we returned the rest to the organisers for future Tomboling.
The gang joined us for drinks on our patio one evening before we took ourselves to dinner at the Hamburgo. The dogs ensured that they were properly looked after.
We returned from dinner to find, not for the first time, that our beloved pets had remodelled their beds. For this they were heartily sorry, and spent the whole night repenting on our bed. Note Mini up in Business Class!
Jones, unable to squeeze into the remaining corner, had earlier retired to a mini-mattress beside the glass doors, where she was able to enjoy a breeze and the night sky as well as a little solitude. (Yes, we know it's simply ridiculous. We're working on a solution!)
This little fellow would appear on the patio wall after sunset to await visiting moths. These he would approach and gobble up in an instant although he hesitated - perhaps wisely - before adding green bugs to the menu.
Portugal is suffering its annual torment by fire, mainly up in the north. (Poor Madeira, our holiday destination in a few weeks, has been devastated.) Barbara was remarking that at least we haven't seen fires around here. That was shortly before Marie drew our attention to a cloud of smoke rising from the hills to the north of us. The evening provided us with a spectacular sunset that we could have done without.
In my wanderings about the internet I have come across a moderated site that addresses wide-ranging questions about English - in which, as you may be aware, I have an interest. The site is: http://english.stackexchange.com/
Anyone can join and ask or answer a question. One gains status and rank by amassing points that are allocated by other users to one's contributions. Some of the users are seriously academic and can get quite tetchy in their responses. I have had to look up the meaning of words such as "anaphoric". On the plus side, the site serves to keep one humble and on one's linguistic toes even if at times it resembles a pedant's paradise.
Particularly persuasive "phishing" emails purporting to come from Microsoft and PayPal have landed in my inbox. Their creators went to great trouble to achieve verisimilitude. As it happens, our Skype account (set up by Llewellyn) is in Barbara's name and not mine - which immediately triggered an alarm; not that I click on links in such emails. I forwarded both emails to the real companies' cyber security departments. Take care! It's a bad world.
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