Stitching and Mending

On Sunday June 8 we had plans to go to the cherry festival in the inland town of Resende with our friends Maayan and Dan, but the day prior we all decided it would be too hot there with temperatures expected in the mid-30s C (well over 90 F).  As if on cue our friend Bernardo then invited us to lunch at a cooler oceanside restaurant with his family and some friends.

The restaurant was north of Porto, about an hour's drive south of us.  The weather was breezy and temperate, we sat outside, and we all had a great time and shared some fresh Portuguese seafood.  The main course was grilled turbot, a delicious white fish.  We met another American expat couple there, Sande and Lloyd, from northern California, who have been in Portugal since last September.  Sande lived and studied in Brazil for several years, so she spoke Portuguese quite well.  The conversation was an interesting mix of Portuguese and English, with Sande and Bernardo interpreting sometimes.  We got a good deal of the Portuguese on our own too, which was quite exciting.  Below is the best of four group photos.  Too bad it looks like Gerrit was hurling.

Restaurant scenery

The main course

The happy group (minus one)

Gerrit had the best language experience ever when we went shopping on the following day: he was recruited as an actual interpreter!  At the hardware store (where we are quite regular customers) an English-only customer was trying to work a deal on a lawn tractor with Carlos, one of our favorite employees there.  Carlos caught sight of Gerrit and motioned for his help.  Gerrit told the customer he spoke a little Portuguese and maybe he could help.  He went back and forth between them, switching languages and explaining to each of them what the other wanted, using the simple words he knows.  A deal was struck including a price match, complete with home delivery, and Gerrit left feeling pretty proud of himself.

Then at the checkout line we met the customer again.  The clerk there was not sure that he understood about the credit he had earned on his account with his purchase and her English was weak, so she turned to Gerrit (whom she knew spoke English) and asked for his help.  Gerrit explained the credit to the guy and all was well.  What a thrill!

Later we were at a huge cash-and-carry store, similar to a Costco, for the first time.  We picked up a big jug of a special super-eco-friendly biodegradable detergent, made in Portugal, but weren't sure whether individuals could shop there or only businesses.  At the checkout two clerks were trying to explain it to us.  They were sincerely trying to help but we weren't getting it very well.  They asked if we had financial numbers (NIFs) which we did, but they seemed to need a card showing that.  Finally we understood that they were asking for a business NIF, but it was fine to shop there as individual customers too.  We all smiled in relief, we paid, and then one of the clerks came over to help us to the car.  He carried the big jug and cheerfully wished us a good week.  We thanked him, shook his hand, and left, quite overwhelmed (again) with the kindness and decency we find here all the time.

All this shopping happened in the morning, before it started getting roasting hot.  It got up to 34 C (93 F) in the afternoon and we turned on the home air conditioning for the first time.  Even set to 27 C (81 F) it provides blessed relief, both due to the cooling and the blowing air too.  We are still on conventional electric power, so when we use A/C it pulls from the grid and costs us too.  Soon, within a few weeks, we'll have our own solar panels and the equation changes.  At that point we will actually unload the grid, even when we use heating or A/C, as long as there is some daylight or battery.  We'll be creating our own electricity and being less (or none) of a burden on the grid.  It seems like cheating.  We've always thought "gotta save power", but soon that will hardly ever apply.

Pat has worked up another batch of limoncello, again from our own lemons.  She makes the best limoncello, better than any commercial varieties we have tried.  The peels need to be marinated in vodka for four weeks, agitating them daily, and then the nectar is strained and a simple syrup is added.  The latest batch has just emerged and it is delicious!  Liquid citrus sunshine (which will be the title of our next indie song).

There is a small patch of adjoining land above us which is for sale, but the owner wants a ridiculous price for it.  With the help of our real-estate friend Bernardo we said no thanks, but that the land does need to be maintained and thinned for wildfire safety for us and for our neighbor.  We didn't think anything would actually come of that, but on Tuesday June 10 a crew showed up and started felling trees.  They seem to know what they're doing, tying off the trees so they don't fall on our property, and it will make for a safer wildfire season.  We'll miss having the trees 15 m (50 ft) outside our back door, but the law says they do need to be cleared for fire safety.  And maybe someday the seller will come to their senses and we can buy the land and re-landscape.

Pat visited the big aquatic center in the nearby town of Arcos de Valdevez with Maayan on Thursday June 12, and they both had a good swim in the big pool there.  They are both water lovers, Maayan has been swimming there a long time, and they think this will become a regular thing.

We are on the mend.  Pat has some good topical antihistamine for her mosquito bites, and we have found a good solution for mosquitoes in the bedroom at night: one of those wall-outlet insecticide vapor gadgets.  Pat found one which uses pyrethrin, derived from chrysanthemums, which is not toxic for humans and has no odor.  It's been a few nights with that and we've been bite-free in the mornings.  Ahh...  And Gerrit's knee has been healing nicely with very little pain or weakness remaining.  He is back on the rowing machine daily, resuming his workouts gently and keeping to minimal knee bending, and everything is fine.  It's sobering how fragile you get as you age and how long it takes to recover.

(As usual, you can click on any photo to enlarge it, scroll through them all, and click outside a photo when you're done.  Also, you can click on the bold underlined phrases to play the audio.)

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