The last few days have been occupied with our visitors Ian and Suze from Dartmouth who arrived on Thursday.  We have been showing them around and enjoying the sun in the shelter of the still persistent cold north wind.

You will see the picture here showing an empty motorway.  This was well used until about 4 years ago when gantries were built along it and tolls were taken digitally.  In order for this happen you have to buy a gadget which goes on the windscreen and registers every time you go under a gantry and then the toll is removed from your bank account.

There was an enormous outcry from the public when this was introduced understandably because generally people cannot afford the tolls and have voted with their feet by using the parallel N125 which is now very busy.  So this is a typical scene on the motorway now.  A stretch of road costs approx 1.50 Euros.  When you think that for example in the markets you can buy 12 lettuce plants for a euro they have to sell a lot of lettuces to be able to afford a trip on the motorway or indeed to buy the gadget.

Recently the European Court has decided that the tolls are illegal and the Portuguese have been told that they must remove the gantries and toll system altogether.

We shall watch this space as they say because mostly the Portuguese ignore edicts from the EU - for example continuing to smoke in cafes etc.   We are not holding our breath that we may see the end of the toll system at last

71 and 75 going on 41 and 45

My birthday.   I had some lovely messages and cards and I treasure them all.  We set off for GLS the courier depot in Loule to collect Michael's replacement cards and sign for them.  He is very relieved to have them at last.  They were sent to Fairing and our house sitter posted them on signed for so that they were secure.

Then just up the road for Lidl for a shop and back home.

We set off again in the evening for a Chinese meal with Rosi and Bob and a very jolly evening ensued.  We met again the next morning with our picnics to walk around the Font de Benemola a well known trail around a river with springs.  The wind was cold from the north (again) but we were sheltered for most of the way in sun and the walk took us 2.5 hours with picnic and browsing stops. 

It was Helen and Jack's last day but as we didn't need to leave for the airport until 6 pm we counted it as a full day.

I finished the binary scarf I was making for Jack.  He is very into Maths and he had written his name in binary numbers for me

01001010

01100001

01100011

01101011

Each line represents a letter in his name - much beyond me - but I managed to incorporate it into some knitting and sewed it on to a scarf for him.  He was very pleased with it and said it was awesome and amazing - pretty good being able to impress a 14 year old young man.

We had a little drive down to the river bridge and had a little walk and then knocked on the door of Joao who used to live in our cottage and his wife Maria.  I took a pot of jam as a present and she seemed pleased with it.  As ever out came the Medronha bottle and some biscuits and we all imbibed a small glass.    

She was sad because her lovely siamese cat had drowned in a well the day before :((((

Their tiny house is immaculately tidy and she showed Helen and Jack around proudly.   The table was set for their lunch and we would have liked to ask them what they were having!

Then home for lunch, snooze and packing.   Sadly we waved them off at the airport, went for Chicken Piri Piri on the way home and bed.

Today we headed to the beach and the beach cafe for lunch.  Sitting there in the sun by the sea in the shelter of the cold north wind it could have been high summer.  A lovely lunch and then a walk along the beach.

After that it was some shopping and home.  The more energetic of us (not me) climbed the hill above us.  Whereas a short time ago we could reach the white trig point at the top (425m) easily, they could only get to 30 metres of it because the scrub has grown so much. 

Michael cooked his speciality - octopus stew - followed by traditional Portuguese custard tarts which Jack is rather partial to.

The abandoned village

Today was a lazy day.  We spent the morning at home and after our lunch and snooze set off for the abandoned village.  It was a cloudy day but thankfully not too windy for our trip.   About 30 mins from here there is a village which was once inhabited by a number of families with their children, dogs, donkeys, chickens, pigs etc and it shows every sign of habitation with 3 bread ovens and a well full of water.    

We can only assume that the last person to live here grew old and left and what remains are their houses with interiors still intact with furniture, pots and pans, beds, china and all the accoutrements of life.  Just left behind for the rats to consume and for the roofs to fall in.

Nobody is there now and so it is quite eerie and we imagine all the noise and buzz of the life which once existed here.

Then we went on passing enormous plantations of eucalyptus and cork and came around to the track at the back of us and home.  A nice round afternoon trip.

I cooked what was going to be coq au vin but on discovering we had no red wine (help!) it was coq au port instead and all enjoyed.

Romanesque cauliflower grown by Peter

Today was warm again and Jack slept til late morning.    After lunch and a snooze we headed off to Messines (nearest town) for shopping and errands.  Helen always enjoys looking around the town at the different shops not least the Chinese shops selling all manner of things.   Then we met up and set off for Rosi and Bob's house where a welcome cup of tea was waiting.   After much chatter it was to Chicken Piri Piri on the way home and our favourite meal of spicy chicken, chips and tomato/onion salad. 

No time for Scrabble - straight to bed.

Wednesday 18 February

Up early to head for the airport to meet Helen and Jack who are going to stay til Sunday evening. Jack is now 14 and we have seen him recently but there is still that shock to find a young man coming up to greet you when you are expecting to bend down and pat him on the head.

So it was back to QV, via the post office to find Michael's replacement cards had not arrived yet, for some welcome breakfast - they had left their house at 2 am so were starving.   It was a warm sunny day so it was spent chilling and relaxing and chatting.  

Of course Scrabble in the evening and Helen won.  Darn it!

This morning Peter came up to help Michael with a job that has been hanging around for ages.  It was a bitter cold wind - even difficult to stand up in sometimes - so not the best morning to have chosen.

This week is Carnival Week and all the towns and villages have their Carnival Parades and activities.    Today we went to the Carnival at Loule, a major town 30 miles east of here.

We went with some friends and arrived early enough to get some seats on one of the stands.  It was a chilly windy day with some sun but even then we bought blankets and I bought a flask of brandy and some pancakes to keep us going.

There were thousands of people there and a complete razzatamazz of noise, people dressed up in costumes, children in the carnival outfits, streamers and confetti.  There were beer stalls around but no one appeared to  be drinking (apart from us with our brandy) and everyone was extremely well behaved.  There was no trouble at all.

At 3pm the Parade started and it moveed around from one roundabout to the next until 5.30 pm when it stopped.

We have been a few times before and it is always a great afternoon out with a great spirit.

Monday 16 February

Some new friends from the Garden Club came for coffee and cake this morning and we showed them round and had a nice chat.  They live about 10 miles south of us in a similar property and we will be going round there in a couple of weeks.

Later Peter wanted a lift to the garage to fetch his car so we picked him up on our way shopping.  When we arrived at the garage it was closed so we decided to head off and do the shopping and Peter had a few things he needed anyway.   By the time all that was finished it was 2pm so we went to Chicken Piri Piri (our favourite) for lunch.    On the way back we dropped Peter off and the garage was open by now.    We met up again at his house and shared a gin and tonic before heading home.   A nice day out for all.

Valentine's Day    We shared a couple of glasses of the Passionflower Brandy we had bought in the Azores, had lunch  and went to sleep.  Which was probably the best way we could have spent a cold, wet, dull, rainy, grey, windy day.

I thought I would bring you up to date on our recent social activities.

Peter invited us out for a meal on the 31st January to meet his son Andy's bride to be.    This sounds very ordinary really but it was a momentous occasion..   For this reason...... Andy is lives in the UK is 42, very handsome, in a well-paid job, but has always remained single.    His mum Irene longed to see Andy married and every time he had a new girlfriend she always asked if she needed to buy a hat.

Sadly she died last year and never saw saw Andy get married.     So it was with more joy than usual that we helped to celebrate their engagement on that evening out.  We raised a toast to Irene and all agreed that somehow she had fixed the whole thing.

Last Wednesday we were invited by Cath and Dave to Dave's 65th birthday party.   It was in a local restaurant which the party of about 20 pretty well took over.   It became very merry indeed and ended with us all at the table singing all the old songs from way back.  There was much laughter and jollity and it did all our hearts good but there would have been a few sore heads in the morning - mine certainly was - good job Michael was driving

Then the next evening we shared a meal in a restaurant with Rosi and Bob - I drove and so refrained from alcohol.  We had a lovely meal and made plans for our forthcoming 5km walk and picnic around the Fonte de Benemola on my birthday.   More of that later.

Porco on guard duty

Nothing happened today!! For which I suppose we should be thankful considering the date.  I went shopping and Michael did some strimming. All very mundane.

So I thought I would tell you about Porco.    It was Michael's 70th Birthday coming up and I had spied Porco for sale.    Our dear friend Ian was staying at the time and I enlisted his help.   We told Michael we were going out to see a man about a dog and went down to the rescue centre where Porco was.   I did the deal and we loaded him into the boot.   Unfortunately we couldn't quite fit him in and he had the unfortunate indignity of having a white hanky tied to his nose all the way home.

On arrival I distracted Michael while Ian hid Porco in the cottage.    After Michael had retired for the night we placed Porco in full view of the windows so that when Michael pulled the blind up on the morning of his 70th Porco would be the first thing he would see.   It worked like a dream and for a mo he was completely fooled as many have been since.

We have collected a big pile of wood over the months and today was the day of the bonfire.

Here lighting a fire is only allowed between October and April and we have to phone the fire station (Bombeiros) and let them know when we are starting and again when the fire is out.  

They have firespotters around and if we didn't do this an alert would go out and a whole load of fire engines would turn up. Although we like things to happen here that would probably be a step too far.

So the phone call was made and once lit the whole lot went up at once - scary to see even at this time of year how dry everything is and how easily fires could start. 

The Bombeiros who also run ambulances do not receive any state funding - rather like the Lifeboats in the UK.   They depend on donations and fundraising which to us is crazy.  Our track is well maintained because it is a fire track and, because we appreciate this and the good that they do, we pop into the Fire Station every now and again and put some cash in their donation box.

There have been weather warnings about the extremely cold temperatures this week even frost on the coasts which is very unusual.   The locals' houses are not built or set up for these kind of temperatures and there are centres in the towns so that they can collect blankets and warm clothing if they need to.  Sometimes a branch or tree falls on the track and we notice that it doesn't stay there very long before someone has picked it up for another day's fuel.

Fortunately we have our cosy fire and underfloor heating thanks to a diesel boiler in the garage.  We don't have oil delivered in bulk although there is a large tank here because of the fire risk.  The boiler takes the oil from a small tank and we buy canfuls for topping up when we are out.

The diesel boiler and back up generator are the only non-eco aspects of our life here. (Apart from our flights out and back, petrol for the car and gas for the cooker)  Very difficult to be all-out eco.

Two baby cork trees for our mini cork plantation - now 6 trees.

True to form another thing happened today!   If we see five vehicles on the track it's been a busy day.  Some we never see - we only hear.  It is only if they come along the back lane that we see them.

I was collecting the washing from the garage and a small minibus came by.  I waved, they stopped.  It was about 6 Portuguese men on their way to plant cork.   We introduced ourselves and they gave us small cork tree each.   

Heaven knows why they are investing so heavily in renewing the cork plantations in the current climate of plastic corks.  True to say, they make all sorts of things from it like handbags, belts, mats, all sorts of things which are for sale in the shops but they are planting literally thousands of them.   Same with the orange trees - a heavy investment in an uncertain future.

We realised we were getting short of wood and using it faster than Michael can saw and split so it was time to order some more.

I phoned the woodman -the conversation was in Portuguese.  I said

'Gralha logs'

He answered'Ah Gralha logs - possible today - this afternoon?

'Yes this afternoon'

Goodbye   Goodbye

As if by magic a truck appeared later bearing logs!

David and Maurice

Woke to a chilly but glorious morning and very happy to be back.   🙂

We had another unexpected visit today.   There were quadbikes and bikes tearing around the tracks this morning.  It happens sometimes at the weekends - they come up here to enjoy the surroundings just like we do but in a different way to how we enjoy them.  They career around for a hour or two then disappear.

This morning two mistook their way and came up our drive only to find us sitting there.  They came over all embarrassed and started to turn round when we waved and went up to them.  Young lads - early 20's - one was born in South Africa and spoke good English and the other was Portuguese with some English.  

When they realised we were English I heard the word 'hooligans' and we had to reassure them that not all English are hooligans.

Anyway they turned off their engines off and we started chatting.  I came in to fetch Michael's medronha and four glasses and we gave them the typical Portuguese hospitality.  They were knocked out with our view from here and said they would like to have something similar one day.   They liked the peace and quiet of the countryside.

They said they were a club and it was an organised ride out - even the local ambulance went by and was in attendance.

It was a lovely moment and we were so encouraged to meet lads with such a good attitude. They said they would never forget our meeting and said they would call in again next time (Remember to buy some more medronha)

It is odd that when we are at Fairing days go by and nothing happens.  We are here all alone and something happens nearly every day.

Downtown Lisbon

We booked a Ponta Delgada city tour on Thursday morning wiith the same driver who took us on the tour yesterday.  City? Well hardly but we were interested to see the fruit, veg and fish market, the Convent and the Botanic Garden.  

 Then back to the hotel for a taxi to the airport and our afternoon flight back to Lisbon - all very uneventful and easy.   We had booked the Holiday Inn we had stayed in on the way out which is near the airport but we asked if we could transfer to their hotel in the city centre.  All was agreed and we were in another taxi to Lisbon city itself.

Once there it was crash out time for the rest of the afternoon.  Then we walked to the riverside square to find a restaurant.   All went well until after we had walked back to the hotel Michael found his wallet was missing with credit cards and cash in it.  We called the restaurant but no luck.  We took a taxi back to the restaurant but still no luck.  I phoned M&S Card Protection with whom I have had a policy for nigh on 30 years and stopped all the cards.

His driving licence was also gone which was a blow.   We are covered for the cost of replacing that, up to £200 cash (which was roughly the amount that was gone) and up to £200 to replace the wallet.  So much reassured we had a peaceful night.  

We went to the Police this morning to make a report for the insurance and were dealt with most efficiently.   We were assured that most likely that someone had taken the wallet out of the zipped bag while we were walking back in the dark street even though Michael was holding it tightly around him.   We came away with the necessary paperwork to make our claim.  

Then a walk through the central streets, a sit by the river in the sunny but cold morning, some lunch and back to the hotel to collect our bags and a taxi to the train station.    The train was on time and we were home and dry in QV by 6pm.

All in all a very good trip.  Everyone was most pleasant everywhere and made our holiday very enjoyable except for the lowlife rat who pinched his wallet.

An overview looking east

Today we booked a tour of the island and were delighted to be picked up at the hotel at 9 am by a minibus and driver and just us.   So we sat in the front and off we went.   First we went to the west and saw the twin lakes at Sete Cidades crater - we had a beautiful overview - and learnt that because of light conditions and the different depths of the water in each lake - one can look blue and the other green.  Sadly we didn't see that effect but it was lovely all the same.

We learnt that whole island archipelago is volcanic.  This island Sao Miguel has three large craters, two of which contain small towns, and any number of small pimples all over.

We were perhaps disappointed to see how very manicured it is everywhere.  All the roadsides have been planted with hydrangeas, azaleas and camellias and the ginger lily grows wild among it all (it is a pest here).  At this time of year it was all heavily pruned to shape which to our eyes looked unnatural although we were assured how colourful it is in the summer (if you like that sort of thing)

What attracted us was the plane trees everywhere all pruned at this time of year to look like big bonsais.  Also the cryptomeria trees everywhere - evergreen fir - which provide their wood requirements (brought in by the Japanese)  These two touches and the heavily pruned shrubs gave a Japanese look where we were expecting to see a more wild appearance.

So on we went around the whole island.  Craters, villages, viewpoints, tea and liqueur (made from local passion fruit tasting.

They grow their own tea and tobacco (this we did not sample)  

We ended up at the hotsprings at Furnas - an amazing sight with steam and bubbling water everywhere.  They cook their meat and fish in hollows in the hotsprings and we were lucky to see a restauranteur recovering his dish of beans from one of them.

The main square Ponte Delgado, Azores

Good flight with TAP Portugal - 2.45 hours - arrived Ponte Delgada in sun.   Sadly the forecast is far from good but we shall just have to be brave and we booked a full day tour of Sao Miguel island for tomorrow.

We have been totting up the cost of this trip in pounds

Train                                     40

Lisbon hotel 2 nights            100

Flight                                   160

Hotel Azores 3 nights            120

Equals                                  400   so that's 200 each  

The trip we have booked tomorrow is 190

So we took a walk around the town and found that pavements, buildings, everything is made from dark volcanic rock  - the pavements are charming with intricate tiled patterns.   Our room overlooks hills and rooftops.   We think that these islands were not affected by the distastrous earthquake that hit Portugal in 1755 that destroyed pretty well everything in the Algarve and most of Lisbon which has been rebuilt.    So we may be seeing what Lisbon looked like before that happened in terms of architecture but not in terms of materials.

We are waiting at Lisbon Airport for the flight to the Azores.   Yesterday we boarded the train at our local station (free parking) and 3 hours later arrived in Lisbon  (26 euros £20 return)   A taxi to the Holiday Inn near the airport, some supper and that was it.   

While I am waiting I thought I would share some linquistic anomalies with you:

The Portuguese word for seniors is idiosos

The  Portuguese word for disabled is deficiences

The Portuguese word for fire brigade is bombeiros

Just shows how bored you can be waiting for boarding gates to open.........

More later when we get there 

Just one of the many sunsets we saw

We arrived back at QV from the timeshare on Friday and have been busy turning ourselves round ready for departure for the Azores tomorrow.   This is our wedding anniversary treat to ourselves and we have absolutely no idea what we are going to find and see.  

Re the timeshare - we can now action our get out clause and leave altogether after 27 years and we thought long and hard about whether to or not.

 We consulted the salesman and he pointed out to us that for the first time in all those years we are now in the happy position of being able to call the shots because they do not want us to leave of course.

 This means we have more options over choice of apartments etc so since we do still love it there we have decided to give it another year and then review.

We have to pay our annual maintenance again and we worked out that allows us to stay there for £40 a night so you can't knock it.

Michael has just gone out to plant some seeds - ever hopeful - the recent cold nights will not enourage them to push through.  The rest of his veg patch is looking good with broad beans in flower, lettuce, leeks, peppers all looking strong.  

When turning the compost heap we found a butternut squash had spontaneously grown and produced three good squashes which have gone into some delicious soup.   Free food!

Being Sunday the hunters are around here in force but we have not heard any shots yet - we are on the side of the wild boar and hoping they are lying low.  Unfortunately they get the dogs to flush them out which is hardly fair 'sport' - but then what sport is?

By the way Portugal has paid off its bail out money early.  Let's hope this means it is turning the corner.  Much hardship has led to this - the average wage is 800 euros a month and the population is barely 10 million and falling -  many are farmers and smallholders sustaining a living and do not contribute to the economy so the burden falls on a few.

Unemployment benefit cannot be claimed unless the job lasted for more than 15 months.  Few last that long in a job in the tourist industry where many are laid off in the low season.

The next blog will be a report from the Azores.

PS The shooting has now started reverberating around the hills. I have just remembered that today is the end of the wild boar hunting season until the autumn so they are having a field day.