Saturday Slavic and I dodged passing showers to get a few essential jobs done. Mid-morning the local techie arrived to sort out my wifi. After leading him upstairs, I brought up the wifi-installation guide-page on my computer. To my astonishment, the software that had balked at installation two days earlier was now happy to play ball. The techie checked the settings, inserted the new code and bingo! I was back online. He didn't even bother to check the antenna that I'd micro-adjusted to spot the beam. It either worked or it didn't, he said, and it was working. QED
After lunch we joined the throng at Nave do Barao's spring wine-fest, just down the road. So did the neighbours. A payment of €2.50 at the entrance bought a glass in which to taste the numerous offerings on display in the hall. Eats were available for consumption inside or out. We opted for the generous tapas board at €7 a time, a spread of cheese and smoked hams with half a loaf of sliced fresh bread - accompanied by a glass or two of wine.
From the table beside us a traditional male-voice choir serenaded visitors between courses. Each singer leads in a verse, which is then taken up a cappella by the rest of the group. I love their music. We came away with several boxes of wine, 10 euros for five acceptable litres from the local vineyards. The only drawback with the boxes is the ease with which one can draw another glass.
AZURE-WINGED MAGPIES
Having discovered the cat biscuits that we've been putting out at the second bird feeder (as well as the first) the magpies are now flocking to it. But they're so shy and so quick that we've battled to get a decent picture of them. The moment they glimpse Jonesy at the kitchen window or the upstairs balcony, they're gone.
Monday: I nipped into Benafim with Jones to fetch an Amazon-supplied rain-gauge from the post office (a replacement for the cracked unit in the front garden). Prickles and Russ came along for the ride, Prickles tucked in as usual behind the front passenger seat and Russ sprawled across the back seat; on our return we like to pause in the valley for a stroll with the dogs.
RUSS
The police were stopping vehicles on the main road to check papers; they pulled me over. My papers (passport, residence, car test, car ownership, insurance) were in order but a 30kg dog unsecured on the back seat was not. We waited nervously. One policeman took his time to leaf through my documents while another nosed around the car. Russ, bless him, didn't move, his bulky presence obscured by the darkened back windows. Eventually we were waved on. Jonesy said she needed a baggy but we made do with coffee at Ponte de Encontro.
PRICKLES
Prickles has not been on top of the world. He would seem to have eaten something that's upset his stomach, an ailment that manifests itself in a distinctly unsociable manner. He's not the only one. All the dogs appreciate the new grass brought on by the rain. Jones is the main mopper-up. But I'm not far behind. The washing machine works overtime. We debate sometimes whether (having) eight dogs is more work than eight kids. It's hard to know but it seems like it.
MAGNIFICENT "JONES" MAN ORCHID
Several times I've had to put off phone-callers for 30 minutes or so while we feed the dogs. As I explained to one of them, we have three dogs that have to be persuaded to eat and five that can't get enough. Their twice-daily meals comprise three varieties of dog biscuits and four kinds of canned meat (with gravy please), along with pills for a heart condition (Ono & Pally), arthritis (Ono & Bobby), leishmaniasis (Bobby) and hip dysplasia (Barri, who has to be hand-fed). Did I say 30 minutes. Better make it 45. I forgot to mention the waifs and strays and the cats.
YELLOW BEE ORCHIDS
Tuesday we lunched with Marie and Olly on tapas in bright sunshine under a lapis lazuli sky in Salir's church square, cringing each time the church bell clapped painfully in our ears. Conversation ranged over lots of things including our plans for a remodelled kitchen and Trump's action against transsexuals in the military. In London we were acquainted with a ship's captain who had left his wife and kids to become a woman before settling down with a guy. Marie said that she for one was perfectly happy being female. Olly said that he preferred her that way too.
THE AMAZING SPIKE
The damp weather has gone away for the moment. Jones says it's time that she got into her garden. The park is already waist-high in spring greenery. Following the devastating wild-fires last year, the government has passed legislation requiring property owners to comply with new wild-fire safety measures. Exactly who is included in the measure is a cause of some confusion. We have trees dotted all around the house and the park and no wish to remove any of them.
BUMBLEBEE ORCHIDS
Wednesday afternoon I received a call from Loule Hospital asking me if I would kindly arrive at 16.00 rather than 16.30 for my appointment with a dermatologist. I kindly obliged, only to wait until 17.00 to be admitted to the surgery. There the surgeon spent 20 minutes removing the troublesome cyst from my back, commenting to the nurse as he did so. Good riddance. The cyst caused me problems enough. I'm back to bandage-changes at the hospital every second day.
BARBARY NUTS
The (see my private pictures) ladies and (dear beneficiary) scammers whose missives arrive daily in my spam folder have recently been joined by people anxious for me to win a fortune in their online casinos. Typical is the "20 Jaw-Dropping No-Deposit Free Spins" unmissable offer from MrFree Slots. The only jaw-dropping element I can see is the amount of money I'm likely to lose. There are apparently tens of thousands of online gamblers already addicted to these digital machines.
EMERGING TONGUE ORCHIDS
Thursday Jones and I had yet another extended discussion over our rival ideas for modifying the kitchen. We think that we have reached a compromise. I won't pretend that it has come quickly or easily. We have submitted an outline design to our friends at Austral Kitchens, whose visit and suggestions we await.
I'll leave you with a final orchid, a sawfly. They'll soon be gone, back to where-ever they hide until next spring. Every year we discover them anew and every year they bring us as much pleasure as the year before.
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