WELCOME HOME - AFTER A NIGHT OUTThe house sleeps and so does the village, those residents who are able to ignore the cacophony of neighbours' dogs. I call it the music of the hills and in truth most of the locals are completely deaf to it, unless it's their dogs that are upset about something.
For once our beasts are not involved. That's probably because the night is both cold and miz; late snow has fallen over the northern mountains and the animals are more concerned with staying warm than adding to the din.
AEONIUMS IN FLOWERThe Westminster attack dominates the midnight news as it has occupied the media for much of the day. Our attention has swung between the coverage of the incident and checking the tractor gates to which the dogs return after excursions. We are concerned about Pally, who has been absent all day. He broke out of the property before we were up, we think in pursuit of an amour, and hasn't been seen since.
My poor Jones is beside herself with visions of traps, poison and other evils of a kind that haunt her every time a dog fails to return promptly (which is fairly often). Better that Pally should die doing what he loves than live fretful behind our fence, I tell her - not that I've any reason to think that he has perished. She does not find such reflective nostrums of much comfort.
So anxious was she that she went hunting around the hillside in the hope of finding Pally, only to discover that she herself was lost. High walls loomed around her and huge shrubs did their best to conceal old paths. After a "can you help" phone-call, I set out with the dogs on a rescue mission, only to hear that she'd rescued herself before I had a chance. The picture (reconstructed) gives an idea of the countryside concerned.
Such adventures aside, we've been busy. Slavic joined us on Saturday morning to continue his assault on the flowering alexanders and knee-high greenery that colonises the property each spring. (I read that alexanders are edible; we've enough to feed an army.) We concentrated on the area around the house. He wielded the strimmer while I pruned dead wood from the trees and thinned out the branches.
In the park beyond the inner fence the asphodels and cistus are still in full flower and we'll leave them to flaunt their colours a while yet.
Saturday afternoon we took ourselves a few kilometres down the road to the village of Nave do Barao for its annual wine fest. This is a splendid event if one is into local colour. The venue is the community hall; cars, parked nose to tail for several hundred metres along the narrow road, testify to its popularity.
A dozen Algarvian wine producers and other merchants erect their stalls and promote their products. The rise of Algarvian wines is a recent phenomenon. Until a few years ago, vineyards of note were concentrated in the north. Now the Algarve can boast at least half a dozen wines that would please most sophisticated palates.
This year the organisers provided food as well. The menu was advertised beside the entrance at which visitors paid €2.50 for a large "tasting" glass. A platter of cheese and ham, along with several slices of bread, cost €5. It was good value. Inside the hall, a traditional male-voice choir paraded past the stalls in tight formation.
MEMBERS OF THE CHOIR RELAX AFTER THEIR PERFORMANCESoloists lead the verses and the choir responds with the chorus. I love such singing although it can be something of an acquired taste. After an excellent late lunch we purchased a selection of the wines on offer and then made our way home in time to walk the dogs.
NAKED MAN ORCHIDS - ENOUGH FOR A NUDIST COLONYOn Sunday I prepared Monday's English lesson on reports that Portugal's champion footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo, was about to become the father of surrogate twins. Ronaldo is already the father of a six-year old boy who was born in similarly mysterious circumstances. As a mega-rich celebrities' celebrity who is seen with the slinkiest of curvaceous companions, Ronaldo decorates the covers of numerous magazines.
He also features on products whose manufacturers are anxious to share his glamour, boosting his millions. At the same time he is also able to lock his private life behind some impressively high walls. So while there is a great deal of speculation about the circumstances of his renewed fatherhood, very little is known.
CLOSE UP, WITH BJ'S NEW iPHONETuesday we joined friends for lunch, a Briton married to a Luxembourger, both of whom - like us - spend a lot of time considering the implications of Brexit. Inevitably, the question was a topic of some intense conversation. I might add that Jones, who likes to be prompt (but not too, too prompt) expressed her concern first that we were leaving our house too late - and then that we might arrive at their house (some distance away) too early. In the event our timing was spot on. (Okay, we arrived two minutes early!)
On Wednesday I submitted myself to Jodi's massaging hands while Natasha set about the house in inclement weather. Between the demands of her several clients and the requirements of her talented gymnastic son, she finds herself with little time to spare. She confided proudly that Alex had come within half a point of qualifying for a world championship competition (for which he may still qualify).
Thursday lunch hour: After the usual trek through the hills, we visited our neighbour, Idalecio, to report Pally's absence, in the vague (and vain) hope that he might have come across the dog. The truth of the matter is that Jones can call the little fellow from the hilltop - as she does - until she goes hoarse, to no avail.
BARBARY NUTSHe will come home when he's ready to come home and not before. We used to have the same song and dance years ago with old Samson, who would howl to the heavens until set free to court a fragrant damsel - only to return days later chewed up by younger and larger rivals. He never learned. His genes ruled his head. (Okay,don't say it!)
YELLOW BEE ORCHIDSI am making slow progress through my thick electronic tome on The Reformation. What's clear is that it was very important to the reformers that their ideas should be adopted and woe betide those who disagreed. (Indeed, woe betided a lot of disagreers!) I wonder what they might have made of a TV documentary aired this week, exploring the size of the universe and the prospect of millions (billions, trillions) of parallel universes. That's not galaxies - but universes! As to dark matter and dark energy, I'm still working on it.
AN UNUSUAL BUTTERFLY (A SPANISH FESTOON) IN THE GARDENWe watched another documentary on Porton Down, Britain's extensive chemical and biological (warfare) research centre. It illustrated the effects of such weapons with images of WWI soldiers afflicted by mustard gas and chlorine attacks and of villages wiped out in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. It's hard to sleep well after such sobering stuff. As so often, we give thanks for our blessings.
VINKA IN FLOWERCome home Pally! Please do! We can't relax without you.
FRIDAY LATE: PALLY IS BACK. WE FOUND HIM WITH A BROKEN LEG NEAR THE TOP GATE. I FETCHED A DOG CARRIER FROM THE VET THIS EVENING AND WILL TAKE THE POOR DOG IN TO THE VET SATURDAY MORNING.
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