This week I am able to report significant progress with our pool project. (Do I hear a distant round of applause?) We have filled the pool almost to the top, pausing at the bottom of the skimmer to fix a slight leak.
In truth neither the skimmer nor the inlet fitting is completely water-tight in spite of much tightening of the fixtures that clamp around rubber seals. As a result, fine beads of water are inclined to dribble down the side of the pool. From Jodi, who has an identical pool, I gather that such leaks are commonplace and that the only way to stop them is to employ a suitable silicon product to obtain a proper seal.
On her advice I acquired the silicone as well as a number of jubilee clips to tighten the hose fittings. The clips are necessary as the additional lengths of flexible pvc hose (that I bought in order to extend the pump-filter unit) do not mate properly with the original hoses. Moreover, the original clips tend to burst apart if tightened.
Unfortunately, the new clips have proved to be too big for the hoses and will need to be exchanged for smaller ones - evidence that measurement beats estimation every time. Fortunately, the woman who runs the hardware store in Benafim is a honey who will take them back without a fuss.
But all is not gloom and doom. On the positive side I can report twin successes. The first has been to extend the legs of an old plastic table to construct a light frame for a cover over the pump-filter unit - the second to secure the shaky pool ladder neatly to an adjoining tree.
This was not an insignificant achievement. The ladder was not designed for septuagenarians with bad backs. (I am kneeling to type!) On first using the ladder Slavic confided that he thought it advisable for me not to follow suit. To be continued.....
A project still being refined is the rat-proofing of the bird feeder. The birds have yet to come to terms with the enticing nest of sticks and straw now enveloping the rat-obstructing bin-lid at the top of the feeder. Apart from a couple of suspicious doves, by and large the avian community have kept their distance.
It was just a matter of time I explained to Jones, before they flocked back; a little patience was all that was needed. Midweek we asked Natasha whether she had seen any birds eating there as she cleaned. No, she told us, just a rat.
STONE SCULPTURE - THE WORK WE THINK OF OUR SCOTTISH NEIGHBOURSThe week brought our annual meeting with the accountant who prepares our tax return. We have been dealing for years with the woman and the firm concerned, one that caters mainly for expats. We email her the details and try to clear up any issues in advance so it’s usually a fairly brisk affair.
MORE STONE SCULPTURES
The only complication that arose this time concerned the sale of some modest German investments. While I had all the relevant figures I hadn’t a clue about the meaning of various financial terms in the accompanying documents, terms that proved to be of interest to the accountant. Not for the first time I had reason to be grateful to my Berlin-based sister.
TONGUE ORCHID
Another development on the bureaucratic front has been the arrival of our requested birth-certificates at the consulate in Lisbon. Although the officials there are happy to post them down to us (on receipt of a registered, addressed, stamped A4 envelope) we also need to renew our passports and to send off requests for the police certificates that have to accompany the birth certificates. (No, they couldn't be requested simultaneously for reasons I shall spare you.) So we are pondering visits to Lisbon.
As ever, Brexit dominates our media lives with one political drama following another. Yesterday Llewellyn drew my attention to an online petition in favour of revoking Article 50 and keeping the UK in the EU. (petition.parliament.uk). For a few hours I was unable to access it as the sheer weight of petitioners brought the site down.
THE GOOD LIFE
When I was able to reach it middayish on Jones’s behalf (I don’t have British citizenship), just over a million people had registered their (electronic) signatures. By late evening it was over two million. By Friday lunchtime it was over three million. I hope that it doubles and redoubles.
Both Jones and I have spent some hours in the garden - she rather more than I - where an abundance of foliage continues to colonise the paths in spite of the serious lack of rain.
BEE IN LAVENDER
Two more of my established oak trees in the park have died, much to my sorrow. That part of the property depends entirely on the rainfall. In the formal garden - if any area can be so described - we’ve reluctantly started watering the pots and the more delicate shrubs.
Two more of my established oak trees in the park have died, much to my sorrow. That part of the property depends entirely on the rainfall. In the formal garden - if any area can be so described - we’ve reluctantly started watering the pots and the more delicate shrubs.
WILD BOAR DIGGINGS IN OUR FIELD
This is a time of year when irrigation should still come from the skies. As another hot summer looms, the government has issued warnings to property owners of the need to comply with fire-safety regulations - especially trimming trees and getting rid of dry undergrowth. Slavic and I will soon have to strim the knee-high winter vegetation in the park. I’m loath to do it yet as any (longed-for) rain will ensure yet another crop.
What I haven't mentioned is the tree that sprang into the road, just as I was letting the car run back the other evening. Fortunately it didn't do much damage. That's to say, nothing that the panel beaters won't be able to repair. That's if it doesn't prove cheaper to look for a new car. Now there's an idea. I quite fancy the new Honda Hybrid.
Jones moon rises
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