Sunday evening Jones called me on to the upstairs balcony to behold a glorious moon and (a rather outshone) Jupiter close by - just visible in the photo at "11.00". It was indeed an impressive sight. I'm not sure why the picture shows beams radiating from the moon top and bottom. My phone camera has a night setting that I'm still experimenting with.
Rather more impressive is Barbara's moon-shot with our real camera, which doesn't get much use these days. At full zoom the camera tends to hunt around for something to focus on. Every now and then it gets things exactly right. Barbara has a thing about the moon, as you may have gathered. I suspect that it was full the day that she was born.
Monday a digger started levelling the plot (across the road from ours) where our neighbour Idalecio is planning to build his new house. He has been waiting for a building licence to begin work. That's the village's water "deposito" (in white) just above the plot.
Just around the corner, our plum trees are doing us proud. Apart from our own pickings, we have received a load of lemons, courtesy of neighbours. Barbara has stocked up with brown sugar with a view to producing an ample supply of marmalade along with bowls of stewed plums. Pots are bubbling away on the stove as I write and seductive smells are rising from the kitchen.
Leroy Merlin has at last contacted me re last week's saga, the undelivered wooden shed. The nub of the problem appears to be that although there is a kit in-store, it either lacks parts or is damaged or both. The assistant who rang wasn't sure. She said a colleague would call me with the details. It would be available at a discount if I wanted it; alternatively, I would have to wait several months for another. I wait to hear more.
Monday afternoon the sky turned an ashen grey as distant plume of smoke heralded a big wild fire north west of us. The fire service's online map (the excellent fogos.pt) pointed to a serious blaze in the Sao Marcos area, about an hour's drive away.
It burned fiercely into the evening, filling the air with the stench of burning scrub and smearing the western horizon an ominous oily orange.
Tuesday morning - helicopters bearing water bags clattered overhead once more. The fire season is well and truly upon us. These past few days it's been stinking hot, with temps soaring into the upper 30s although fortunately there has been little wind to fan the flames.
Mello dives into her pool the moment we get back from the morning walk - and at any other time she feels inclined. The others tend to drink from it, often with their front paws immersed.
At the human pool, close by, the water temperature has reached a dizzy C30*, not far short of the jacuzzi. A downside of the heat has been the number of bees that alight on the water to refresh themselves and are then unable to take off again.
So many were in need of rescue that we decided to put the disintegrating summer cover back on while we await the delivery of a new one at the end of this month. Each afternoon we fish out a dozen or more struggling bees, along with a host of other insects. It's jolly hard to swim vigorously while they're buzzing around.
Tuesday I visited Jodi to get my toenails clipped (as they have been these past several years beyond my reach). At the same time I popped into the Alte post office where I was delighted to find three Amazon parcels waiting for me. Cristina, the post mistress, had suggested that I direct our online orders there after so many had gone astray - allegedly because the CTT-expresso courier couldn't find our house.
PROPOSED SHED
Leroy Merlin called again, this time offering me a short video of the "damaged" shed and a discount. All I could see is some discolouration in the timber. It looks like water staining. So I've expressed a strong interest. The only question is whether all the pieces are present. The assistant can't be sure. He says they're totally out of kits for sheds of all sizes at present as these are imported and national borders have been closed by Covid for months.
As I finished watering the garden late on Tuesday, the hose caught a small pot holding a succulent. Instinctively I grabbed the plant to save it from toppling over. Next time it can fall! The fleshy leaves are spear-tipped and really mean. Not that the minute lesions testifying to my painful punctures will earn me much sympathy - a case of inverse proportions. (Post Script: Barbara is similarly punctured after losing an argument with a rose bush - although I can't think that she suffered as much!)
Our thanks go to Marie and Olly for passing on Poppy's possessions. Both Squinty (in situ) and Mini have been making good use of her bed. Still on the animal front, Barbara has been making several visits a day to Sarah and David's cottage in the hope of seeing (and feeding) Not Robbie, who has disappeared. I fear that the omens are not good. Stray cats are not known for their kindness to their fellows.
Wednesday morning a man from the council turned up to follow up our request for another water meter (to install a separate supply for Casa Nada and our field). A useful chat ensued at the bottom of the garden as the procedure is complicated.
Thursday: to hold a second meter, Slavic built the standard plastic box into the wall beside the existing one. We now have to inform the council that it can make the connection. They drill appropriate holes through the walls of the box and set up the pipework. Then we have to apply for and pay for the meter to go inside the box -before completing the plaster surround. Then we have to cut a small channel all the way up the drive to take the pipe to Casa Nada. Then we......(to be continued).
SPONGING DOWN HIS HANDIWORK
Also Thursday Slavic laid the pavers along the front of the slab intended to take the wooden shed.
He did a fine job, even managing (with a pig of an angle grinder) to shape the final paver to fit around the pole at the end. I've watered the new concrete to slow down the drying process in the heat. Now we wait (once again) for the delivery of the shed, this time, due on Wednesday.
The final job was to build a short paver-path to access the two bird baths in the south garden, replacing the rather hazardous tree-stump segments that used to disappear under foliage in winter.
NO, IT'S NOT A HAT OR A HAIRSTYLE, IT'S A SUCCULENT!
It's an area where Jones is often to be found working away at her plants. One day, she says, she will get the garden looking the way she wants it to. It won't be today because Pally has ripped out a host of succulents. Jones says he doesn't deserve his supper, an empty threat if ever I heard one. One way and another it's been a busy week - of which I have said sufficient.
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