PHAGNALON RUPESTRE
There's not much to say this week, so rather than risking the wrath of subscribers by trying to say a lot about a little, I'll keep it short and insert such modest pictures as we have to offer.
PREPARING SUPPER
A good time and place to begin would be Tesco's supermarket car park in Almancil last Wednesday morning. Barbara had gone into the store to get a few items while I sat in the car and read. When she reappeared some 15 minutes later, the car wouldn't start. I had left the headlights on. And because I hadn't opened my door, I hadn't got the usual (turn your lights off) warning beep.
So I phoned the road rescue service, the first time I've had to do so in 20 years. About an hour later the rescue man turned up. He fired up the engine and was happy to accept an acknowledgement of our gratitude as we got underway. From Almancil we travelled east along the motorway to the village of Cabanas, where we met Liz Brown for lunch at a little eatery on the water.
(Forgive the poor stock photo. It didn't blow up very well. But you get the idea.)
Cabanas is a lovely little village, popular with holiday makers - of whom there were few. We lunched at a pavement table overlooking the boats bobbing around on the swell. The ladies sat on wooden stools; I stood, the better to humour my back. The occasion was the first time we'd seen Liz since Mike's death. It was good to catch up.
RUSTING BARREL INTO WHICH JONES ONCE PLANTED A COUPLE OF ALOES
Thursday Slavic and I put in a Herculean effort to clean up a thickly overgrown patch just across the driveway. Over the years strands of stubborn vinka, a metre long, had all but swallowed up a barrel holding aloes. The vinka combined with various tough and thorny creepers, intertwined with several muscular bushes and overhanging trees, to construct a no-go area to all but the smallest creatures.
We took it on an inch at a time, engaging in no-holds-barred hand-to-hand combat with the invaders. In the process we rediscovered the rough stone floor that we'd laid all of a decade ago. Two tractor loads of greenery were dispatched to the heaps of browning cuttings to await burning - probably next winter.
TRYING TO SNAP MELLO IN HER BATH
Also Thursday Jones and I plotted how best to catch Mello, who had a bothersome leg. The little dog - she's a smart cookie - twigged that we were after her and wouldn't be enticed inside the house. Eventually we managed to secure her - she is completely passive once held - and inspected the leg.
WICKED ARROW-HEAD GRASS SEED
A thorny seed - not the one in the picture - had become embedded in it. Little wonder that she was troubled. Jones managed to remove it while I distracted Mello with treats (and tried to keep the other slavering mutts at a distance). Then we cut back her long curls, removing several more spiky seeds, before releasing her none the worse for wear.
Friday - that's today - is another story. Because of the delay with the flat battery on Wednesday, we'd had to postpone some shopping. Friday morning the car once again refused to start. I tried to run it down the driveway to force-start the motor but without power steering, I couldn't negotiate a corner.
Fintan and Olly, bless them, turned up to save us but - cutting a dusty story short - on the advice of Vitor the village mechanic, after thanking them for their kindness, we awaited his arrival instead. He warned me that their cars did not have batteries big enough to do the job.
HOYA
Of these events, exciting as they were, I have no pictures. One doesn't think of taking pictures while trying to figure out, peering under a bonnet and trying to stay upright on a steep driveway, which terminal of a car battery is which. (No, there were no positive and negative symbols, nor was there a clue from the cable colours.)
STRELITZIA AMONG THE SPIDER'S WEBS IN THE FRONT GARDEN
After lunch Vitor arrived at the house in his jeep and started the car with his jump leads. I followed him ten minutes back to his workshop where he installed a temporary battery. This he will replace with a new one this coming week when he services the car and takes it for its annual inspection. There you have it.
LARKSPUR
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