CAITLIN, MINI & JONES
Our Goddaughter, Caitlin, joined us this week on the second leg of a flying visit to Europe from her home in New York. She flew in from Lyon (via Lisbon) late on Monday night. It was a return visit to Espargal. She and the dogs promptly reestablished their mutual admiration relationship.
Tuesday we nosed around Estoi and Faro and supped on chicken at the Hamburgo. It was only after we got back home that I received a "can you help" call from Natasha, who was stranded with a friend at Lisbon airport. I should backtrack a little and report that I had used a credit card a week earlier to book flights to Madeira for the pair of them.
NATASHA OVERLOOKING FUNCHAL HARBOUR
They had arrived in Lisbon in good time to find that EasyJet had cancelled their evening flight and that it wasn't able to find them overnight accommodation, nor could I.
What's more, they couldn't access the check-in site with the boarding cards for the following morning's flight. One way and another it proved to be quite a busy night. It was in a good cause. As you see, they arrived safely.
Wednesday we got another call for assistance - this time from Maria (the lady with the broken shoulder) whose visiting relative had left an important item behind. It needed to be returned to him post haste. I carefully took along the necessary envelope and registration form to her house, congratulating myself on my forethought. We dropped the parcel off in Benafim before heading to Loule station to book a ticket for Caitlin on the following morning's train to Lisbon.
TIME FOR A TREAT
At the station I discovered that I'd left my bag (containing wallet, licence etc) at Maria's. So back we went to fetch it. Then we returned to Loule station. To my surprise, we found the ticket office closed. There was a serious communications problem, an official told us, and it would remain shut for several days; but trains were still running and we could purchase a ticket in Faro.
We lunched at the beach rather than in Faro, consuming enormous sandwiches and watching the planes coming and going across the estuary. While the ladies went for a walk, I managed to book Caitlin a ticket online (the system's a bit hit and miss). Thursday we were up early to get her to the station. She's spending 24 hours in Lisbon before flying home. (I broke my two month period of abstinence to celebrate the excellent bottle of whisky she brought me.)
EARLY MORNING ROMP IN THE PARK
We also assisted a neighbour whose uni-lingual Portuguese courier needed detailed phone directions to find her house. And we made several calls to the fire service on behalf of another who wanted to burn off cuttings. The requests were denied. The country is in a state of drought. There has already been a big fire upcountry and the bombeiros are playing safe.
Coming home through the valley we saw that all the native road-side trees had been ripped out - dozens of them - and were lying on the verges awaiting disposal. The wild-fire season looms. Leaflets have been stuffed into postboxes warning householders of the need to take all necessary fire precautions by the end of the month. With luck we'll get a drop of rain over the weekend. We need it badly.
There are a couple of minor successes to report. Birds are returning to the "rat-proofed" bird feeder. The sparrows come in groups. The doves play king of the castle. I haven't spotted ratty recently - not that he's likely to have gone far.
And I have turned the tripod from a defunct telescope (not mine) into the handy stand for my keypad and mouse. More often than not, I find it more comfortable to work at the desk standing up than sitting down.. You may have noticed: today is Brexit day and Brexit is as far off as ever. What a circus!
IT'S ALL SO TIRING
PS. The clocks go FORWARD this weekend.
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