STRAY TOYS
This week doesn't really have a starting point and I'm not sure where or when it will finish. So I'll pick up last Saturday when Slavic emptied the sand from the pool filter drum and then moved the unit across to the new base we had prepared for it. After re-assembling it, we plugged in the pump and it worked just fine. That's apart from a couple of leaking joints. After tightening the jubilee clips around the joints we again plugged the pump in to find that the pressure needle was now deep in the red band. Very puzzling and still to be resolved.
Sunday we went to a neighbour's house to meet a friend with a dog desperately seeking a home. The dog, Jack, proved to be much bigger than we had anticipated. Hoo boy! Were we wise to agree to accept him later in the week? We also waited for rain that didn't come. For 24 hours Weather Underground moved the arrival hour forward three hours at a time until it gave up completely. On Monday a shower that had got lost barely dampened the cobbles. Also on Monday I taught my last English lesson of the term. Easter looms.
On Tuesday I took the 06.00 flight from Faro to Lisbon in order to present myself at the South African consulate promptly at 08.30 as recommended. I needed to collect birth certificates (with apostille) and to apply for a new passport. The process involved pages of accompanying documentation and required, among other things, the submission of fingerprints and three photos of the applicant minus spectacles. I was deeply grateful for the guidance of a sympathetic official in answering opaque questions. It was over two hours before I got away again. The late afternoon flight brought me back to Faro.
Wednesday Jack arrived. He's two years old, about the same size as Bobby and Russ and very strong. We started out by walking all three twice around the block to give them a chance to get used to each other. Fortunately, Jack is very easy-going. He ignored the hullabaloo from the rest of the gang and hardly noticed when Mello flew in to nip his bottom, her favourite trick. Mello is very fussy about our visitors of whatever species.
For the moment we are keeping Jack in a large enclosure beside Casa Nada. We walk him on a leash with the others in the countryside twice a day. He is a natural hunter and pulls with enormous force when excited. Unfortunately, he seems to regard cats as prime targets. Until such time as we can persuade him otherwise, we can't let him into the house or garden. The idea is that Jack will return to his master when the latter comes back to Portugal in the autumn. Stay tuned!
Thursday Natasha reappeared after a fairly disappointing holiday in Madeira. Her evening flight from Lisbon to Funchal was cancelled, leaving her and friend to seek overnight accommodation in a hostel. There was all kinds of confusion about the replacement flight the following morning; nor was the weather in Madeira kind when she and a friend arrived there. I spent an hour at the computer assisting her to seek redress from the airline.
Friday: We had wonderful, welcome showers overnight, showers that look set to continue intermittently for the next few days. A quick glance at the forecast shows that the rest of the country is getting a dousing. How badly it is needed! We have had less than half of our typical winter rainfall this season, with barely a month to go. Come on rain. Fall on our heads, soak our pastures, refresh our flowers, fill our rivers. At least cover the stony bed of the Algibre that has lain bare in the sun this past year.
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