THURSDAY MORNING MIST IN THE VALLEY
As I go to cyberspace there are several significant photos I lack. One is of Barbara waiting at Loule station early on Wednesday for a train to Lisbon that didn't come (strikes!);
LLEWELLYN, LUCIA & DOGS
another of her sitting in the Aljustrel sunshine outside the cafe (where I had left her) waiting for Llewellyn to fetch her. (Aljustrel is a little town off the motorway, about a third of the way to Lisbon.)
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As I write, she is safely in the bosom of her family or, at least, exploring Estoril and Cascais in their company and that of their dogs . She returns on Saturday evening - hopefully this time by rail.
Estoril and neighbouring Cascais are attractive resort towns on the peninsula that juts out west of Lisbon along the mouth of the Tagus. It's there that Llewellyn and Lucia have rented a house while they look around for a permanent residence in the Lisbon area. They are both beach people and love the nearby beaches as much as their dogs do.
\\This blog will be brief as there isn't much to say. I shall leave the pictures to do most of the talking.
We "celebrated" Christmas quietly. Jones prepared a delightful bobotie (that has since served me well) and I opened a special bottle of wine.
We also visited our friend Armenio's little museum to admire his latest acquisitions and to share a dram. Here he holds a fossilized rock that he found locally - apparently an ancient coral.
Back at the ranch, in Jones's absence, life revolves around dog walks, animal meals, flower pot waterings (ours and a neighbour's - no rain in sight) -
JONES WATERING A NEIGHBOUR'S POTS
- along with chores, swatting the occasional mosquito (where do they come from in December) and last, but not least, considering one or two useful purchases.
I find that I can concentrate best on such "investments" when Jones isn't around. It can take a while for her to spot the purchases on her return, by which time I can remark: "That old thing! We've had it for ages."
Thursday night. There's not a sound to be heard as I write. Mini and I watched James Bond rid the world of yet another dastardly villain. I wish! Downstairs there's a fire glimmering in the stove.
The dogs have settled down for the night and it's time for me to do the same. Friday is nearly upon us.
On Saturday Slavic, Andre and I will finish cementing the goatfold floor that we laid last weekend in preparation for our intended pool.
We did a good job, first laying a bed of gravel and a light metal grid to give us a solid foundation.
On Monday night we will raise glasses of something appropriate to family and friends around the globe in the fervent hope that 2019 may be kind to us all.
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