Midweek: The noon bell in the Benafim church tower has just struck. The weather is perfect - pleasantly warm in the sun, pleasantly cool in the shade. If only it were ever thus.
An engineering team from a local firm, Joao and Fabio, left a few minutes ago after completing the installation of air conditioners in the study and the guest room. We had got in touch with the firm (TermoCelcius) after hearing from the Dutch ladies how pleased they were with their own installation.
It was on Monday that the boss rang to ask if the team could come the following day. That was fine by us, giving us a full week before our house sitters were due. I assured Jones that they'd be done by lunch time and that Natasha could clean up that afternoon.
Well, they were done by lunch time but it was lunch time the following day. The pair were perfectionists. Everything was measured and marked to the millimetre. We had no cleaning up to do afterwards as they vacuumed up any dust as they worked and removed every scrap of litter. There was minimal drilling involved. For most purposes they used a nail gun to attach frames and tubing clips to the wall.
The unit in the study is a sophisticated model that (in automatic setting) regulates itself - and switches itself over to economy mode some minutes after detecting no movement in the room. The installation did not please all the household. The dogs didn't much like the invasion of men and machinery. Nor did Jones who, fearful of clouds of invasive dust amid the impending disruption, fled to the further ends of the property to collect carobs while I oversaw the workers.
PLUMBING THE OUTLET PIPE INTO THE DRAINShe collected a great many carobs for which our farmer neighbour was most grateful. (To show his gratitude, he brought us another bucket of strawberries that we have shared with neighbours.) We'd like to finish bringing in the carob crop before we go away. Our departure is set for next Friday afternoon so this may well be my last blog for several weeks.
Mini continues to make a big impact. She spends hours play-fighting with the two female orphans. The three sprint around the house and garden in a game of canine cowboys and indians while the older dogs wonder whether they should be joining in.
Where we struggle is to limit her food intake. She's been promoted to Hyena Number One, well ahead of her much larger rivals, Bobby and Russ. The little dog wolfs down her meals before we've even finished dishing out the plates and then tries - often successfully - to get her nose in others' bowls.
SETTLING DOWN FOR THE NIGHTWe returned home one evening to find a few torn shreds of cardboard on the cobbles, all that remained of the unopened box of treat biscuits that I had foolishly left on a table. We have our suspicions as to the main culprits but our inquiries have made little progress.
As ever, we've had a fairly social week. May's nephew, Ken, joined us for dinner at the Joli Bela, a small, hugely popular chicken and chip restaurant that hides in the back streets of Loule. Jones and I used to frequent it while living at the Quintassential but we hadn't been there in years.
It hasn't changed. The bar area was all but hidden behind the crowds waiting either for a seat or take-aways. Two waiters struggled to keep up with the demands of the diners. I'm glad to report that the chicken and chips were as good as ever.
RUI CONFIRMS THE MOUNTING POINT AS THE BOSS LADIES LOOK ONI slipped up to the community centre in Benafim one morning to witness the installation in the dining room of a TV set to which we made a contribution. It's a flat screen model that replaces a smaller bulky set that diners strained to watch.
My contact, Rosa, confided that she had just retired from the administration although she continues to spend a lot of time there. She's about to set off on holiday to the Azores as we pack for Madeira.
Half a mile away on the other side of the town is the busy studio where Mary runs her hair and beauty salon. She agreed to let me snap her picture while she trimmed my toe nails. This is a service I greatly appreciate as it's not a chore that Jones fancies nor one that I can easily accomplish myself. Mary has a couple of assistants who attend to the beauty side and the perm basics. She's cheery, chatty and not too fussed about the time. Her salon is not a place to go when one is in a hurry.
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