The rain is no more. A mighty thunderstorm over the lower Alentejo signalled the last downpour of the season. The remains of the fire that glimmered in the wood stove a few days ago are smudged faintly on the glass.
DAWN WANING CRESCENT MOON
Hard on the heels of the departing rain came eager summer, bounding over the hill like some giddy teenager. Temperatures have soared into the 30s. Watering the garden is again a daily chore.
Sunday we went walking with David and Dagmar, friends who moved a while back from Loule to an apartment on the fringes of a lightly wooded area by the sea. The sweep of countryside is beloved of walkers and cyclists from nearby Quarteira - and little wonder.
Barbara and Dagmar observed a large snake slithering down from the branches of this carob tree before disappearing into a hole in the trunk. I regret that David and I were slightly ahead of them at the time and didn't see it. It was gone before Jonesy could snap it.
Snakes aside - and they mind their own business - there's room enough for all to wander at leisure among the trees. Seating comes in the shape of fallen trunks. Sitters are advised to keep a sharp look out for the ants that often infest them.
Monday restaurants reopened as the government further relaxed the Covid-19 confinement measures. We celebrated with supper at the Hamburgo. Strict rules limit the number of clients according to space. Tables are carefully set out, two metres apart.
MANUEL, PROPRIETOR OF THE HAMBURGO
Serving staff are required to wear masks at all times. Diners have to wear them to enter and leave the restaurant and while crossing the floor to visit the loos - lest they should cough in the presence of others.
The one place they are not required is the kitchen. Graça, the chef, put one on to come out and have a word with us. As is clear from the photo, diners there were few. Manuel says they will decide at the end of the month whether it's worth their while to continue.
Each time we return home from an outing, we admire the vibrant display of poppies in an adjacent field. Our poppies are pretty spectacular too but are interspersed among the bean plants.
The neighbour's, on the other hand, are simply a floral symphony. Their intensity reminds me of the rainbow parade of tulips that dazzled us on a visit to the Netherlands many years ago - great swathes of brightly painted countryside.
Wednesday, while Natasha set about the house, we shopped for pool equipment - our summer cover is disintegrating - before heading to Faro beach for a take-out tuna sandwich, consumed in the car over a leisurely view of the estuary. Small groups of families were camped on the sand. New rules dictate beach use for the foreseeable.
At the airport across the estuary there was no sign of life. Aircraft were glued to the apron. Only Lisbon airport is still active. Faro flights are expected to resume next month. (We changed our easyJet passwords after hearing that hackers had stolen millions of client login details.)
On the way home we stopped at our favourite Loule snack bar for our first coffee and (shared) rice cake in months. How good they tasted! We've really missed them. From behind their masks the staff welcomed us back.
Another small success that day was the arrival of a long-awaited replacement coffee flask for the study coffee maker. Finding a supplier took a lot of google time. The first two outfits that listed the flasks came back to us to say they were out of stock and not expecting any. A Spanish firm was finally able to supply one.
Thursday we took our first swim of the year. The water's a comfortable 26*C. We had spent most of the day working our cotton socks off with Slavic - weeding, pruning, strimming and clearing. It's the time of year when the garden has to be stripped of winter's excess. Load after tractor load of greenery was deposited on one or other compost heap.
JONES CRESCENT MOON
The process is a bit like undressing a bulky lady to find she's been wearing everything in the wardrobe, and there's a surprisingly slim figure underneath.
Carpets of these lovely blue flowers can be found along our walks. We've long admired them as we perspire our way around the hills. Neither of Barbara's comprehensive guides to local wild flowers listed them. Eventually we tracked them down on the internet - Scabious Jasione Montana. (I bet you were just dying to know that!)
No comments:
Post a Comment