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The Last of My Treasures from Pau

These are little treasures as opposed to the wonderful wooden artifacts and furniture I was gifted, they are personal gifts to me from Mr P’s mother that she squirreled away for me as a thank you for my help.

She knows of my love of glass, especially as she heard all about our adventures in Murano several times over!  In light of this, and Mr P’s love of wine, we were gifted a beautiful set of cut crystal wine glasses that have been in the family for many years.

They have followed her on her travels from France to Morocco to Portugal and then back to France again.  I am so glad that after all that traveling I managed to get them back to Portugal all in one piece. They are quite exquisite and have a gorgeous feel to them and an incredible tone when “pinged”

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Eusébio Morreu: R.I.P. Eusébio da Silva Ferreira

Portugal, and the world of football (soccer), is  in mourning today after the death of one of its favorite sons — “The King” of Portuguese football Eusébio — has died from a heart attack aged 71.

The funeral is tomorrow.

Three days of National mourning have been declared by the president.

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Wooden Yoke Treasures from Portugal via Pau

As well as my beautiful fountain, I accumulated some more treasures from Pau which I promised to share.  These are both made of wood, a material I have a great affinity for in all its states. I love trees and what they are crafted into. I love having pieces of history around me and our new house allows me to do just that.

Once again, these are huge, heavy, pieces of wood that were once fully functional equipment in rural Portugal.

In its previous life, this piece was a yoke for oxen who were attached to it and then were used to push – as opposed to pull other equipment around.

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The Nunnery Door

As you know by now, I spent some helping clear out the aged aunts house at Pau.  The upside of this was that I was offered my choice of the goodies on offer — i.e first dibs on the treasure. There was one thing I particularly wanted, and I had the perfect space for it.

The piece looks unassuming — like a tired old door — which it is. In itself, it is an interesting object — showing its history in the layers of paint and the markings where the ornate hinges were once placed. It was recovered by Mr P’s aunt from a derelict nunnery in the south of France.

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Kitten Explosion!

I have had to move away from my old house, I have children of my own to protect from the unfriendly dogs and the foxes.

I do sneak back from time to time — and thought I would update you on some of the changes in the growing family of Alentejo cats .

I had heard rumours about new kittens and thought I would go and investigate.   My first couple of return visits I saw nothing but the usual crowd I knew all growing up well. Little Squeak is no longer frail and tiny.  He is growing up into a fine specimen of a cat and his sister Bubbles is blossoming too as is the aloof Nimbus.

Here is Mr B.  One of the naughtiest cat I have ever met!

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Science Park: A Last Look Around Pau

Pau is a small provincial city, it has long been a haven for the British wanting to escape Blighty for the good of their health. There are many spas in the area and the climate is reputed to be good for your health. The older architecture is a mix of “alpine’ grand villa and a good dose of British garden. There is a cathedral and a university and the small provincial airport is now opening up to fulfill Pau’s emerging status as the gateway to the Pyrenees.

The airport’s development and the expansion of the scientific departments at the University have led to the development of a science park on the outskirts of the city.  I have, on past visits, caught tantalizing glimpses of some of the buildings and was determined to explore further before we left Pau for good.

After one particularly frustrating afternoon, I declared a time out and went exploring and headed straight for the science park.

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On Being AWOL: The Great 80 Day Internet Disconnect

You may have noticed that I have been absent a while — there are two reasons for this. The first was losing my internet lifeline — the first storm of the season rendered our already stressed internet connection null and void. 13 kilometers of line had to be replaced along with some of the electricity lines.

There is no rush here in Portugal to undertake such work — SAPO who own all the lines and infrastructure are next on the privatization list and do not want to invest in capital at present — the internet providers who have to use the infrastructure, and pay to do so, quite understandably have no desire to fix a problem that is not theirs.

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Apple, Apple and More Apple

Autumn is the time of harvest, and there is nothing more potent than apples as a sign of the move towards winter — especially in Europe.  Tomatoes and pumpkins and squash are considered summer fruits which might overlap into autumn — but the apple harvest signifies that autumn is here and winter is approaching.

Thanks to my over zealous neighbors, I have had nigh on a hundred buckets of apples to deal with over the past few months.

First were these red — almost purple beauties. We have been unable to find what exact variety these are. We do know that they are classified as “Heirloom Portuguese” and that the trees they came from are over 50 years old.

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Neighbors: Insight into Extended Family Life in Portugal

One of the unexpected delights of our move to this house has been getting to know our neighbors – they live over the field to the right of the house – they are the parents of our landlord and the lady of the house supplies our bread – and our pizza dough, and tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, apples, lettuce, onions, garlic, mushrooms and anything else we have use for.

To say they are farmers is to underrate their innate ability to work with the land and belittles the considerable skills and talents they possess throughout the whole family.

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The Hidden Waterfall in Villa Nova Milfontes: Here is the Key to the Gate — Just Follow the Track

There is a hidden waterfall “in” Villa Nova Milfontes – its location is a well-kept secret. It can be accessed in two ways – the first way being a long walk over farmland and, finally, down a steep hillside. Various permissions should be sought before crossing land and you have to be “in the know” as to how to get there.

The second way is to be given a key to a certain gate and be told to “follow the track” which meant we could visit by four-wheel drive car. Our neighbor and landlord has the magical key to the gate and agreed we could visit – they own the land around there. Even then it is not simple as you will find out.

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