Boring alert: Pat got our way-over-complicated irrigation computers figured out and reprogrammed yet again, and Gerrit fabricated a little shelf for our network router to keep it cool and unshielded without having to prop it on a pile of bags like our prototype version was. We warned you: boring. But it's what we're doing.
Every culture has its own old folk songs. They're usually simple, and easy to sing or dance to. In the US, you'll find old favorites like "Down in the Valley" and "Buffalo Gals" for example, very simple with only two chords. Portugal is no exception, they have a two-chord traditional folk song heritage which is played and danced to at almost every community event. What is jarring to Anglo ears, though, is the singing. They sound slightly out of tune and like they're shouting or shrieking, especially the women. Some cultural barriers just can't be overcome.
Over the weekend after the big Ponte de Lima Feiras Novas celebration, which just wrapped up for this year, our little village of Calheiros stages its own festival. They play music most of the day over loudspeakers at the church in the village center, filling the whole valley. There are Euro-pop tunes, sentimental songs, and even the occasional march from John Philip Sousa (a Portuguese native son), but a large measure of it is the old-fashioned Portuguese folk songs. Here is a recording we made from our balcony of some of the worst of it, amplified a little so it will make it through your speakers. Some Anglos use this Calheiros festival as a cue to get out of town, but so far we're managing to ignore it.
Then the nighttime party begins, and along with the music comes the obligatory fireworks displays. A huge one took place Saturday night Sep 20 at midnight, which Gerrit somehow slept through, and there were bursts of explosions marking the start of festivities in the morning, the lunch break, and the evening. The Portuguese love their fireworks! (Fireworks are called "fogos de artifício" or "artificial fire".)
Sunday Sep 20 was potato salad and rib heaven. Pat harvested a bag of our homegrown potatoes in the morning, cleaned and prepped them, and made her famous potato salad including homegrown onions and the super pickles from friend
Maayan, and she sliced some homegrown tomatoes. Gerrit had started some ribs at 7:30 AM, so it was feast time for lunch. Gerrit thinks that Pat's Portuguese potato salad is even better than her classic. Our potatoes are golden, creamy, and flavorful, and Maayan's pickles are crunchy and flavorful too, so the combination is really a gourmet potato salad. Gerrit is using a similar rub and method for ribs that he did back in Seattle, and they continue to come out great.
|
Here is Pat's harvest from the day. We have: - Tomatillos
- A leek
- Peppers (not sure what they are but they're not hot)
- Tomatoes - Purple Dragon, San Marzano, Yellow cherry, Red cherry
- Strawberries
- Cilantro seeds (AKA coriander)
- Dill seeds
- Potatoes
She also got a nice little basket of apples and made applesauce and apple-fig crumble.
|
|
We finally got the pool rail and mounting feet which Pat had originally ordered in April, five months ago! Orders were lost or mis-shipped, delayed inexplicably, or canceled due to no stock, but finally all the hardware was here in mid-September and Gerrit could start installing. Which involved drilling holes in the granite. Which is nearly impossible, even with a concrete bit and a hammer drill (granite is much harder than concrete, and it ruined several bits). And which is made completely impossible when the impact drill literally falls apart.
A trip to the big hardware store in nearby
Viana do Castelo resulted in a new drill and bits, along with a few other items we couldn't live without. The following morning Gerrit discovered that his old hammer drill had been completely shot. With little or no actual hammering going on (despite the sound effects), holes weren't being drilled and bits were smoking out. The new one glided right through the granite with just a concrete bit. The railing was mounted, finally, and behold. Unfortunately there is quite a horizontal wobble to the rail. This is exactly how it should work, though, with the rail tubing sleeved over the mounting feet posts as it is, but we didn't see it coming. The rail just swivels on the feet. Hmm, we'll see what to do about that. If anything.
(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.)
