TREATS AT THE END OF A WALKSaturday: I'd planned to work with Slavic but put him off following heavy rain the previous day. In spite of a generous inch of the wet stuff, we found not a drop flowing in the bed of the Algibre river that winds through the valley separating us from Loule. We're really puzzled and suspect that the stream is being dammed at the site of a fancy new golf-hotel.
LOOKING FOR ROCK CRYSTALSunday: As I have remarked to Jones: "It's tough being a god!" Don't get me wrong. I'm neither blasphemous nor illuded about my mortality. What I am is the focus of nine demanding dogs. Although Jones loves them as much as I do and they're always pleased to see her, in the Valapena hierarchy she is, at best, a useful middle-ranking deity.
Canine worship is reserved for god at the pinnacle of the Valapena pantheon. Flattering as it may be, it's also exhausting. As soon as I sit down, Mini is onto my lap, Ono is at my feet, Prickles wants his tummy scratched and Bobby his head. Gods don't get time off! Little wonder that I'm losing my hair.
AUTUMN CROCUS - ONE OF FEW WILD FLOWERS OUT NOWMonday: In my English class we talked about poverty in Portugal. Of its ten million people, two million are estimated to live on the breadline. We began by listing major household expenses and working out how much money a typical 4-person household might require to get by. The consensus was around €1000 a month. Given that the minimum monthly wage is less than €600, life is tough for most families with a single bread-earner. Without food banks and clothes banks I don't know how people would survive.
ON THE TRAIL
Tuesday: I was seriously relieved when my third and final 90-minute session at the dentist was over. I don't claim to have borne it stoically. At least this time I emerged with a new tooth, albeit an enamel facsimile, glued to a peg anchored in my jaw. We retreated to the Electrico at Faro Beach where a cautious sandwich followed by a sunny afternoon snooze in the car greatly improved my disposition.
BARBARA WITH ONO - GOING ON 17Such outings always entail a leg-lifter snifto for our travelling companions, Ono and Prickles. They had the adjacent lawn largely to themselves. Summer's crowds are long departed. The car parks were occupied mainly by recreational vehicles, TV antennae angled to the sky. EasyJet and Ryanair took turns on the runway beyond the estuary.
On our way home, we took a look at the airport alterations. It's been mired in construction materials all summer as it's transformed into a travellers' shopping mall.
Our thoughts were on the US election taking place across the pond. We had noted with dismay the impact of the FBI's new inquiry on Hillary's lead. I didn't expect to get much sleep on Tuesday night.
COURTESY OF AN EQUALLY CONFOUNDED NEPHEWWednesday: Nor did I - or Barbara for that matter. Earnest TV reporters spent most of the night telling us just how close the race was - until the swing-state results emerged. At 04.30 I retired despondently to bed. It was clear that Americans had elected a draft-dodging, tax-dodging, abusive, lying, climate-change denying, racist demagogue as the new leader of the free world - a banner they might as well hand to Zimbabwe. The outcome is as depressing as Brexit and even more frightening.
HOOKING DOWN POMEGRANATES AT SARAH & DAVID'S HOUSEI shared my fears with Jodi later that morning during my weekly back fix while Natasha was busy at the house. She also had an appointment with the dentist to look forward to. I wished her well.
ALEX, 3rd FROM LEFTNatasha passed on to me a photo showing her son, Alex, with his gymnastic team on podium after they secured 2nd place in a recent international competition. She is proud of him and little wonder.
SPOT THE MOONWe supped early at the Hamburgo. For once the restaurant was nearly empty. The swordfish steaks that Graça prepares are a treat. We shared a bottle of the house wine which, as I acknowledged to Jones & Manuel (the restaurateur), was quite acceptable. The more enticing offerings in Manuel's wine cellar have been placed off-limits until the pound settles down - or should I say settles up!
PICTURE FROM ROLF, HIKING IN SCOTLANDThursday: It's gorgeous in the autumn sunshine if you can avoid the cold wind that's tugging at the shutters and unsettling the trees. I visited Benafim mid-morning for a toenail trim from Mary (the hairdresser), a service I greatly appreciate. I've both weed-spraying and ploughing in mind but the former is impractical in the wind and the latter unpleasant. Fortunately, tomorrow's another day.
BACK FROM THE WALK
Friday: We have arranged to meet the long-standing maid of our late friend, May Bunch, to hand over the bequest that May left the good woman in her will. To keep things simple, the Scottish executor has made a transfer to our UK account that we are passing on in euros.
DISTANT SEA AT SUNSET
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