Today I'm going backwards, which may be no bad thing given the mess that going forward has got the world into. It's Friday. I've barely started the blog. It's raining. In fact it's raining hard. This is very welcome because we're desperate for rain. It's also thundering and lightninging, which is the price we're paying for the rain.
Barri hates the thunder. It terrifies her and she hardly knows where to turn. Barbara has sat down with her in an attempt to calm her down. That's my sandalled foot from the recliner. I was about to go off (in the downpour) to Jodi to get my toenails cut. For some years they have been beyond my reach.
It's quite cold. Mello loves sitting by the fire.
That's when one of the cats hasn't claimed it.
Thursday Slavic and Natasha came to work. Slavic spent most of the day cutting down the alexanders and strimming the section of the park closest to the house. Regulations say you have to clear the perimeter for a distance of 50 metres.
The dogs made themselves comfortable among the rocks to observe our labours. You can see how how the vinca has made merry over the winter in spite of the drought.
FARMER WE PASSED IN THE VILLAGE
Wednesday we drove up the motorway to take supplies and medication to friends who are ill. They had received a letter from the Finanças saying that their car tax was overdue. I tried to pay it online but the Finanças site rejected the passwords the friends gave me.
ATTENDANCE ONLY BY PRIOR APPOINTMENT
So we drove to the Finanças office in nearby Tavira to sort it out. The doors were locked, with a sign saying only by appointment. When an official emerged to let another customer in, we confided our plight to him. "Sorry," he told us dismissively, "but we're all suffering!", as if letting us in would have added to his sufferings. So we trailed disconsolately back to the car half a mile away. Eventually we managed to obtain the name of our friends' accountant and resolve the problem with her assistance. (She had changed the original passwords!)
JUST FRIENDS
Tuesday Slavic came again (still going backwards, remember!) He told us where we could find the spare part that was the probable cause of the microwave oven's failure. So we got hold of it and he fitted it. We tested the oven out on the patio. Brilliant! It worked. Well, it worked until we fitted the device back in the kitchen and hooked it up. Maybe it's the plug that's faulty. We have to pull the fridge out to get at the plug. It will wait.
Monday there was no English lesson. There was virtually no nothing apart from Covid-19 madness, announcements, warnings, appeals, exhortations. Loule hospital cancelled a check-up appointment I'd made. We did some grocery shopping. Nearly all the non-food shops were shut. A line of shoppers, keeping themselves the required metre apart, straggled towards the entrance of the hypermarket.
JONES NAKED MAN ORCHID
The rest of the week has vanished into the rolling mists of time or, possibly, of dotage. It's hard to know which, these days. Unless carefully recorded, the days and weeks run together like wet paints.
One thing I recall was the two hours it took me to sew a new band around one of my disintegrating Tilley hats. I was quite proud of my handiwork. It might not meet Parisian fashion standards but it will serve to keep the sun off my head for another season. I was never into fashion.
While Natasha was here, we got her to take a family picture. One or two beasts are missing but the key players are there. (Those are treats that I'm clutching in my left hand, as the dogs are well aware.)
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