FIRST MOONRISE OF 2018
Our new year has carried on where the old year left off. I hope that yours has made a satisfactory start. Astrophiles will have noted the super-moon that heralded the arrival of 2018. Jones, whose head is often in the skies, was determined to get a good shot. In fact she got several.
Here's the orb in all its glory. There's another full moon at the end of the month, both a blue moon and super-moon. What a month for lunatics!
On Monday Jones found a silver ring that she had lost a few days earlier. It's the one with the green stone inset. She feared that it had slipped into the bowl of washing-up water that we fling into the further reaches of the garden. That would have been bye bye for ever. There are a million cracks among the rocks.
But in a moment of inspiration she checked the vegetable basket beneath the kitchen towel on which she dries her hands.
And there it was, lying in the onion bag. Happy days! Although the ring's value is almost entirely sentimental, such sentiment counts for a great deal. Jonesy was thrilled.
Also on Monday we mulched half the pile of branches that Slavic had cut from the top of a large tree that was spoiling Jones's view. She's very particular about her views.
The first job was to separate the mulchable twigs from the branches that held them. The shredder won't take anything much thicker than my thumb. Indeed, it's quite fussy about what it will digest. On Tuesday we mulched the other half of the pile. The task took us some four hours altogether. You can see evidence of our efforts bottom-right above.
I have decided (yet again) in the interests of longevity to lose weight. In truth I also need to get back into my protesting jeans - and there might be just an iota of septuagenarian vanity as well; for I've taken not the least pleasure in the increasingly rotund figure that peers (or is it leers) at me from the mirror. Jones, who has borne my previous attempts to slim down, is not holding her breath.
FEEDING THE SPARROWS
On Wednesday we ran the car into Honda to replace various sets of bellows. I had no idea that cars had bellows until I was told they needed replacing. We took the courtesy van into Forum Algarve while the work was done.
There I bought Jones a new phone case as her current one was starting to disintegrate. I suggested pink as the most visible cover, given her phone's predilection for hiding away. But she thought that a bit loud for a woman of her generation. So we settled on the model you see. Another purchase was a modest box of After Eights for the receptionist at Honda, one Susana Jones - a Portuguese Jones - to mark the New Year or, at least, to support the Joneses.
To our surprise, sparrows at the seed bowl were interrupted one day by an azure-winged magpie. It was the first we'd seen in weeks. We thought they'd migrated.
Our meteorological neighbour, Nicoline, who sends us monthly and annual weather reports, says 2017 was the driest year she's recorded since arriving in Espargal in 2006. We had just over 420mm. Little wonder my trees are dying. 'Tis Thursday as I write. Friday is forecast to be wet and possibly Saturday too. Let it rain!
THURSDAY CLOUD CLAMPED OVERHEAD
Speaking of which, I tried to watch the movie Noah the other night. What a load of dog droppings! Fallen angels staggering around like Frankensteinian monsters.
TWO MAGPIES - GORGEOUS BIRDS
Wednesday afternoon, after getting back from Honda, Natasha and I visited the accountant in Benafim. There's only one I know of, and he's been looking after our affairs for years.
THREE MAGPIES - WHAT A TREAT!
For several days I've been pestering the vet's receptionist to chase up the laboratory that's processing specimens from Russ. In spite of an initial negative blood test, we suspect that he has leishmaniasis. Under my prodding, she phoned the Lisbon laboratory concerned.
RUSS WITH TYPICAL LEISHMANIASIS HAIR LOSS
The vet later called me himself to apologise and explain that the lab had shut down over new year, delaying things. The results probably won't be through until early next week. Russ should survive well enough until then.
Nothing more exciting in prospect than haircuts and a Lidl shopping run. That's it for this week, with a glorious Jones sunset to sign off.
PS: Friday afternoon. It's raining, really raining - and it's wonderful.
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