Starting over

Did you notice the John Lennon title link to my last post?  I’m thinking it’s probably easier to write here than to try to keep up with each of you individually, lovely as you all are.  Yes, I wanted to come back with a brand new blog, full of the pure exuberance of life and the beauty of the Algarve, but it’s not practical at the moment, for a variety of reasons.  So, simply an update.

You know those Indian Summers we sometimes talk about in the UK?  We’ve definitely been experiencing one here in the Algarve.  Temperatures have just started to dip a little, which is good news for my walking friends.  The first Striders walk of the season, on 2nd October, was kept to a miserly 10km in the Algarvian hills, but nobody was sorry when the walk was over.  A long table was set up beneath an awning but, by the time we’d finished eating, the sun was avidly gobbling up the shade.  It was time to down the wine and move on.  But not before coffee and cake, of course.

The Strollers walk on the following Friday fared a little better.  We were near the salt marshes, with a hint of a breeze now and again.  A different mix of people, some of whom we hadn’t seen in a long while, and another wonderful accompaniment of hugs, smiles and traded stories.  Does it feel different now that we’re to become a permanent part of the community?  Not yet, but I have noticed subtle differences.  At one time I couldn’t bear to be out of the sun, and would feel myself twitching if I was in the shade a fraction longer than was absolutely necessary.  Now that sunshine has more or less become a constant, I can seek shade with equanimity.  Maybe Winter will change that, but for now we find ourselves adopting the Portuguese custom of pulling down the blinds in our house to keep out excessive heat.

Our third walk included a train ride with a ticket collector who was greatly amused by 27 Brits, smiling and brandishing passports at him at 8.30 in the morning.  Our discounted fare was 80 cents for the 10km, two stops, ride.  We then walked back, a loop of town, pine forest, beach and countryside totalling 14km, all on the flat.  More reunions and friendships renewed, and lots more hugs and smiles.  We are all so appreciative of what we have here.  Not just the wonderful climate, but the lasting warmth of companionship.  Few of us have been unscathed by anxiety or illness, but a sympathetic shoulder is never hard to find.

Since coming here, I’ve cast a fresh look around our home.  Aside from outstanding DIY (phew, Mick’s department!) there are a few issues about storage and how we use the space we have.  Cupboards and wardrobes have been given a stern looking at.  We’ve joined the local library and a small army of English language books will be making their way to a new and worthwhile home.  An antique television set, weighing a ton but producing not a single programme, in any language, has made it’s way to the refuse collection, located down an exceedingly pretty back lane.

The negatives?  Knee deep in photo albums prior to departure, I forgot a couple of things I normally regard as essential to my Algarve life.  The cable to download photos from my camera and my memory stick, so I’ve had to improvise for photos.  And my diary!  Unheard of, this last, so I’ve taken to recording events online on the notepad.  Not entirely satisfactory.  🙂  Still to do?  Partly due to a wretched cough I’ve not yet joined an exercise class, nor a language class, but I will!

You’d laugh!  As I finish writing this, rain is bouncing off the table on the patio.  But I’m smiling indulgently and enjoying the sound.  Good thing we finished that painting!  And tomorrow is set to be dry for another walk.  Have a great weekend, and I’ll catch up with you when I can.  Our Internet is feeble, but we’ll fix that too.

147 comments

    1. Morning, Andrew! 🙂 🙂 The scene from our rooftop, though I haven’t been up there today yet. The tiles needed a good scrubbing after a couple of years neglect (we’re always on holiday normally 🙂 ) and I’m glad to say yesterday’s rain has washed them beautifully clean. Thanks, hon! Where next?

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  4. Glad to hear you are settling in well Jo. Oh those cords can be such a nuisance. I seem to have permanently lost one in a recent trip. Ugh. Sending best wishes and hugs and looking forward to all the walks we shall do in Portugal.

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    1. It’s still cloudy this morning and I just opened the patio doors to check the weather and was greeted by a wonderful waft of rosemary, Sue. 🙂 🙂 Not ours- the neighbours. Our small garden will be a work in progress once we’ve finished the painting. We haven’t been able to look after plants in our nomad existence. Hope the snow has fled? Thanks, darlin, and sending hugs in return.

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    1. I’m waiting for the clouds to drift away this morning, Sami, but I still love this place, even when it’s grey. 🙂 🙂 I’d rather the weather be a bit moody now than when my family come later this month.

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  7. Hi Jo! It reads like you are settling in nicely with your “new” lifestyle and catching up with friends. I can totally relate to those “soaking up the sun” days that are turning into “it’s OK to not constantly soak up the sun as it will be there tomorrow” moments. Mark and I are still in the first phase, as we finally have some sunny days in the state of Oregon, after weeks of grey and rain. But, as we approach and enter and remain in California, it will be OK to sit inside again when the sun is out. 🙂

    I’m using a cheap app called “Day One” on my tablet, which I write my diary entries in and is off line. Maybe you can grab that as well? I hope you can somehow retrieve the items you forgot in the UK!

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    1. Hi there, Liesbet. 🙂 🙂 Obviously skin cancer is a big issue here and so I’ve grown more cautious over the years but it’s not easy to stop being a sun worshipper. My notepad is offline, but I enjoy the experience of pen and paper. The downside to that is an accumulation of diaries, of course. 😦 And who ever has time to read them all again?

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  8. Woohoo! Thanks for the settling-in update and for those wonderful sharp photos. I was amused by your new relationship with shade, one I’m very familiar with in an Australian – or indeed Polish – summer. No doubt your relationship with rain will change too. I’m trying to both delight in ongoing dribbles and get my washing dry for a trip away on Sunday. That’ll teach me not to wash for more than a week! Good luck with language and I hope the cough evaporates soon. It’s obviously enjoying your company too much.

    And fancy leaving your diary behind, and the photo gizmos. Two crucial components of your life!

    Enjoy a gentle transition and all the delights of a familiar place under new circumstances.

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    1. So very happy to have you here, Meg, however briefly. 🙂 🙂 I will respond to your email but sometimes the days just tumble past and I wonder how I ever had the time to blog AND live my life. I know you’ll understand that. I had already confided to Jude that I forgot to bring make up over here too. I don’t use much but my eyebrows are non existent without pencil so that was my first expedition to the shops. Half hour before leaving ‘home’ I was still whizzing through photo albums, playing ‘stay’ and ‘go’ so the last things I tuck in my bag were just completely overlooked, in a sort of everything’s there mindset. Enjoy your trip, darlin, and I’ll catch up soon.

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  10. I got like that with the sun in Hertfordshire this summer – it is wonderful when you can believe that will shine the following day too.
    And we certainly aren’t having your temperatures, but I was out walking in a shirt in Edinburgh and Dundee this week – no jacket! in Scotland! in October! We’re being promised a bad winter though, so we may all be fleeing your way very soon.
    Anyway, you sound as though you are settling in well and revelling in your new life. I am so pleased, Jo. A move is such a good way of reducing and reorganising – I think I need to move! And your last image is simply wonderful – what light! I am thoroughly jealous.
    Enjoy your weekend and give us another update soon

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    1. Thanks so much Debs. 😃😃 There’s a bit still to do but hopefully we’ll get there, despite the Internet! So long as you flee one at a time you’ll be very welcome xx

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  11. I know an optimistic tone when I hear one.
    Wishing you all the best in your new country, Jo ❤
    We have an Indian summer too, but not in your scale 🙂 🙂

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  12. Jo, it is lovely to hear your update. I am glad you already have so many friends there, it certainly makes the transition a lot easier. Also…360 days of sunshine, what is not to like?

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  20. So glad to hear you’ve landed successfully. I’m sure they’ll be a lot of fettling to get things as you want them. The light in your photos is blissful. And we’ve had rain here too – much pattering in both our terrains then. All best wishes to you and Mick with the settling in – in this, a new ‘staying’ frame of mind.

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    1. The rain was a complete surprise, Tish, because it’s been glorious, but you can almost hear the earth (and me 🙂 ) sighing. Mick said our country walk tomorrow may be muddy. Picture red squelch! Sound like fun? We’ll see! Thanks, hon! Lovely that you’re first here.

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