29February1996

My dear folks,

If you don't get this you can blame my printer. There's no point in testing the printer before I write it because that may simply sap the device's remaining strength. Today was not a Canon recharge day. Printer spent the whole day, like the cat, in MCP's little kitchen. Unlike the printer, the cat was twice seen to move from its favourite spot near the fire, once to clamber on to John Vincent's lap & once on to Jones's. There was once a time when the beast would rather have been seen dead than on a human's lap. But times have changed & the cat has changed with them. Indeed, I was woken in the early hours of the morning by a loud purring next to my ear. Cat had decided that since the fire had died down, it might as well try the bed. Jones said that she too had become conscious of its presence & was hoping it would stop purring as she knew this would wake me & lead to the unceremonious eviction of the cat. She was dead right on both counts. I do not entertain cats in bed.

When I challenged Jones on this point, she insisted that in my absence she too did not allow Noite to join her on the bed. I have no choice except to take her at her word since Noite merely stares into the fire & declines to discuss the matter further.

The day started grey & soon became drizzly, then positively wet. It had dried sufficiently by 11.30 to permit us to walk down the Loule where we were to entertain our friends (the estate agents) Amandio & Isaura to lunch. We tried a new path through the hills - there are endless variations on this theme - & arrived in time to make a few purchases before meeting our friends on the stroke of one. Together, we strolled a few hundred yards to a favourite restaurant - it's a great advantage of Loule that you can stroll virtually anywhere within in environs - where Isaura had tuna steak & the rest of us had salmon steaks. Both kinds are food for the gods. Scrumptious!

Afterwards, Jones walked home while I accompanied Amandio to an old farm house he was restoring. I was particularly interested in the methods he was using to waterproof both the pitched & flat roof sections in view of our leaks. I took careful note of his methods as we're going to have to do something about the Casa 3 flat roof before the summer is out. He dropped me off in Loule where I had my hair cut at a handy new establishment just across the way from his office. It was drizzling again when I emerged. I made my way to the bus station in the hopes of getting a ride up the hill. No luck! The next bus was 45 mins away so I braved the rain & walked the 2 kms up the hill. It's a good puff I can tell you, and the crux comes right at the end.

MCP's fire was both welcome & welcoming. John & Olive dropped in shortly afterwards for coffee. They'd parked here while visiting a woman reflexologist just behind us. Jones has also had the benefit of her treatment & finds it relaxing which is more than I can say for the attentions I received from Mother's Austrian therapist. After their departure, we spent two hours carrying out long overdue maintenance & repairs in Casa 3. Our Dutch guest is due to move in there next week to allow (prior-booked) British guests to take over Casa 4 for a week. John is join me again tomorrow for a day's painting. Until you've seen the havoc wreaked by the black & green fungi on interior walls by an Algarvean winter, you will not understand why. The humidity is so dense that clothes sprout green, wooden bowls turn fungal & tools grow brown with rust. It's a local phenomenon that has to be seen to be believed.