19October1996

My dear folks, Saturday afternoon 19 October

London bound! The visit ended, as always, in a flurry. I took a spade first thing this a.m. to clear away piles of sand which the delivery lorry had dumped across the drive-way. The lorry always comes with a full load & it always has to offload much of it along the steep ascent to the Quinta. It doesn’t matter how often I warn the suppliers or ask them to break up the deliveries into smaller loads. I’d bought 20 huge plastic bags for Eddie Vanko to use in discarding building refuse from the roof of Casa 4 & I stuffed four of them with the sand. At least that way, the supply will still be there when I get the drive repaired; it’s crumbling & in need of attention. It took an hour’s hard shovelling & I was soaked with perspiration for my troubles. There is already a substantial pile of gravel on hand which, like the sand, was dumped to lighten the lorry’s load. At least, the cement & water can be brought down from the Quinta fairly easily. It’s getting things up that’s the problem.

I’m sorry to say that my birthday pump has been playing silly buggers. Eddie met us when we returned from our walk on Friday to say that water supplies to Casa 4, after coming & going all day, had finally gone. The two of us spent an hour with our heads in the pumphouse, trying to make sense of it. There’s a maze of pipes & taps, taking in the water softener as well as the supply to the various cottages. We managed to get the water flowing again but the pump was either starting & stopping without reason, or pumping continuously to no obvious purpose & in the end we gave up. I got on to the pump man first thing this a.m. & he was due to call mid p.m. Jones wished that I could be there for his visit & so did I. But it wasn’t to be.

Friday’s walk - the 2nd outing of its sort - followed much the same route as the first - down the path that leads down to the main road, up to the windmill on the other side, down a steep sheep track on to another sand road, & then much meandering along hill & dale. We stopped off at a cafe-bar for the usual refreshments, a long beer for me & firewater for Jones. It was a longer stop than normal as we were joined by neighbours who were joined by friends for what could easily have become a serious session. We made our apologies & headed back into the hills.

Jones wanted to show me a large rock studded with tiny sea fossils. This meant negotiating some ploughed fields & fences. But it was a wonderful rock & worth the trouble. A little further on we came across a mass of tiny variegated agaves which had been sufficiently watered in the recent rains for us to prize loose & carry back home. There’s a small colony of them which have grown alongside a wall & we’ve been raiding it for years. The plants sprout long spiky leaves from their centre. The big green ones can easily grow 15 feet across. The variegated variety remain much smaller & make welcome additions to the garden.

Eddie’s party had arrived early on Thursday a.m. & we spent the following hours setting up the scaffolding beside Casa 4 where Eddie is renewing the roof. It took us an hour to rig up the metal framework & another hour to fetch the timbers he needed (to stand on) from a neighbour at the bottom of the path. I thanked the neighbour again (Mr Leontinho but better known, he told us, as Boavista (Good View) for family reasons that I failed to discern). I presented him with a bottle of brandy the better to express my gratitude. Then, after the final delivery of building supplies, we talked the lorry driver into taking us down to Maria’s house to fetch her husband’s ancient cement mixer. Between the 3 of us we heaved the mixer on to the back of the lorry & at the Quinta we heaved it off again. It works fine & is saving Eddie much labour.

There was some crossing of palms at various stages of the operation, never called for, but always appreciated. It took a final hour to tie the timbers on to the scaffolding & the scaffolding to the burglar bars - & Eddie was ready to begin. He’s removing most of the tiles from the front section of the roof & cementing them down again. At the same time, he’s creating a line of reinforced tiles across to the electricity supply pole fixed to the top of the house. It should enable the elec. dept to reach the pole without leaving a trail of cracked tiles behind them.

Thursday was our special outing - to a little restaurant nestling in a valley some 15 mins away. It’s relatively new but its reputation has spread rapidly & soon came to the ears of Jones who booked a post birthday lunch there. The restaurant is built beside a restored mill where the family who run it grind the flour used to make the bread. The lady owner, who is also the cook, was only too happy to show us around - pointing out the huge mill stones squatting in the centre of the building, the tiny bedroom which had been home to the miller & the iron waterwheel dipping into the stream below.

Dinner is the big meal of the day &, we gathered, best booked well in advance. As it happened, we were the only guests at lunch. But that was just fine. We liked the decor, huge (stained) pine tables capable of seating 10 people & traditional chairs with woven seats. The place specialises in traditional Portuguese dishes. You have to order your meal when you book. Jones had selected (cozida) a mixed sausage & meat dish, very good but heavy & best followed by an aquavit to settle the tummy.

Sunday 20

Skies are grey - rain expected. Thank you Jones for your update on the pump man (who spent a long time fiddling but has failed to resolve the pump’s mysterious behaviour) & on the late guests (delayed for hours by technical problems, the poor things).

I was met on the stairs last night by Mavis who had heard my arrival & insisted that the girls in the flat below open the door to let him out. But after giving me a couple of sniffs, he went back inside their flat again, making his preferences clear in a quite unmistakable fashion.

I’ve been through the mail & established that we’ve failed yet again to win the lottery - which means that I shall have to take myself to work shortly. Enough for now! Let me get this off to Portugal and Germany - and to Canada tonight.

Sunday night.

I had crazy dreams last night in which Kevin allowed some woman to smoke in his car & I climbed out in disgust, to find myself somewhere near Simonstown naval base & catching a train without any pants (so to speak). Don’t ask me! On a more serious note, I had a word with a very shaken Barbara this evening. A close friend had keeled over dead last night, widowing a woman much our own age. Take early retirement, she urged me! I might...if the BBC were to make me a half decent offer.

Much love, T