Bluegrass in Portugal?

We had been having rain on and off for a week or so prior to Friday Sep 4, but that day was clear and sunny.  Gerrit propped up and dried out the granite flagstones he needed to glue down at one end of the pool, and the following day was clear again so he did the deed.  It's all ready now for the wiring and pool cover installers.

Meanwhile Pat was conferring with our landscaper Alex about Phase 2 of our garden renovation.  They started putting plans together for the front yard and further enhancements in back.  Our own blueberry plants?  They're on the agenda.

Pat also picked (and picked up) a couple dozen apples from our little trees in front, for eating, desserts, and applesauce.  Her applesauce has no added sugar, just a delightful natural fruit sweetness with a hint of cinnamon.

On Saturday Sep 6 we went into Ponte de Lima for the Saturday Market, and also did some grocery shopping and picking up mail-order deliveries at a couple lockers.  We noticed about a dozen tractors with big trailers full of grape bunches converging on the town all morning.  We think it was harvesting day for the local Adega vinho verde coop, located there in Ponte de Lima, and the farmers were all bringing in their bounty.  Adega coop wines are great, we've enjoyed them from the supermarkets many times, and we'll soon be enjoying the fresh 2025 vintage too.  And we saw it when it was grapes!

At the market we met with our favorite farmer, the woman Pat now thinks of as her Portuguese mom.  We exchanged beijinhos (little kisses) and bought some beans from her.  We took some of her basket of them, then more, then all of them.  Gerrit, feeling sporty, said "Todos os feijões!" (all the beans!)  She looked quizzically at him, he repeated himself clearly in his flawless Portuguese, and she shrugged and looked at Pat like "do you have any idea what this guy is talking about?"  Total incomprehension.  This communication business is way harder than it looks.

The pool wiring installation has been delayed a week, so I guess it will be good that they won't be bumping into the solar panel installers...

...except that at 5 PM the evening before the installation was to take place we got a message that they will be delayed for five days.  And the panels which were to be delivered by the installer will be coming directly here, so we need to be home for two days for that.  Oh, and there is a SIM card and WiFi access required, which nobody mentioned until now.  It will be good to get all this over with.

On Monday night Sep 8 we went to a bluegrass concert which Pat had heard about and gotten tickets for.  Yes, bluegrass in Portugal!  It was a house concert hosted by some other American expats living about 20 minutes away.  They had a big room and loft at their place which was filled with about 40 guests, the lighting and sound were good, and the band, "Crying Uncle", was astounding!  They have a modern bluegrass style (alas no banjo), but they do old standards, rock ballads, and their own compositions too.  They are four wunderkinds from California, and this was their first visit to Portugal.  Portugal actually has a lively bluegrass scene, and Crying Uncle is here to appear in a show near Lisbon.  There will be bands from all over the world.  Who knew bluegrass was so popular worldwide?

Here is a link where you can see some YouTube videos of the band, and below is a few seconds of the show we attended.  What an unexpected treat!  We also saw many familiar faces there from the expat community and everyone had a great time.  The hosts served food and drinks too.

(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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