Month: <span>November 2019</span>
Month: November 2019

We seem to have cleared the decks. I relished every morsel. If you ever said “I would go to the ends of the earth for a good curry” well, this is the place to come. #wp #holidiwali #portugal #sagres #gastrovanners #gastrovanner #curry

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Stationary

Taking advantage of the fact that we are going nowhere today, or any time soon, and catching up on some mundane stuff.

Mr Snail walked the dog and I did some cleaning in the van, two days’ worth of washing up, and a laundry load. When they returned before I had finished, he knuckled down to the water filling and waste emptying. I am in no hurry to complete my tasks and will tackle things piecemeal over the coming days. That being so, we have the table and chairs out and are soaking up some rays. 18°C today, windless, and feels far warmer in the sun.

Dusty hasn’t been out for a walk yet today, nor did he walk yesterday. It doesn’t seem to be bothering him at all and he is peaceful at night. He eats his breakfast and then tucks himself away in the parcel shelf and snoozes some more. It seems wrong to force him awake to go for a walk with us. We planned yesterday to take him out when we returned from a late lunch but the sun was almost down when we returned. He seems to be content to be out on the end of his line for a few hours on this very peaceful campsite (during the day, at least. It is somewhat busier when the surfers come home from the beach at dusk) and apparently enjoys playing in the sand. His line is long enough to allow him to scamper halfway up a pine tree when he feels like it but he has yet to fully understand the length of his line and it brings him up short occasionally.

There was a slight kerfuffle when we found ourselves on one side of the fence and the cat on the other. He had found a hole in the wire that we hadn’t spotted. It took a bit of effort to haul him back through in safety but we managed it and then I went off to secure a brick that I had seen yesterday. The brick turned out to be a rectangular block of concrete and was quite heavy. I staggered back with it until Mr Snail spotted my plight and came to my rescue. Hole now plugged. How long until Dusty works out that he could easily dig his way under? We may need to move his attachment point further away from the fence but he needs to be close enough that he can pop into the van when he needs to. Today’s alarming incidents included an oil tanker delivering to the toilet block… and a herd of goats outside the site.

After yesterday’s disappointment with Terra being closed we have decided that today we shall walk down to Holi Diwali for a curry. I anticipate that again we will be home too late to walk the cat. If he is fretful tonight then we will stir him into life tomorrow morning and ensure he gets a few kilometres in before we get on with our day. He needs it in order to keep his weight in check, I feel.

“You deaded me, you dirty rotten swine! ” Today’s lunch, stabbed to its very heart. Devastated, having read on their website that Terra was remaining open over winter, and trudging around 3 Km only to find that they are closed until March 2020… We ended up at Best Burger Ever. Only, it isn’t. Not even close. It is however, adequate and in fact, better than many. Mine could have been gorgeous (with Feta and caramelised onions and delicately scented with cumin, though the smokey bacon that was included was a strange flavour combination) with just a little seasoning added, and with a few minutes less on the grill. A pink and juicy burger would have been a treat but it did desperately need some salt and, being well-done (as opposed to well-cooked) it was also in need of a sauce or some mayo to help with the dryness. Mr Snail enjoyed his chicken burger (breast meat, not a burger patty) rather more than I enjoyed mine and he recommended that I try it next time. I will take his advice. At the very least, it was filling. I am pogged and there was no space for dessert. We didn’t pass on the coffee though, BBE do a very good coffee. In fact everywhere in Portugal seems to do good coffee. Not sure we have had a disappointing one yet. The absolute best thing about BBE is that they are open and serving food when most places are not, and particularly after a long walk out of town and back making us late for lunch, that’s really useful. Gratitude is due. #wp #gastrovanners #gastrovanner #portugal #sagres

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Cats and dogs

We had a horrible moment on the Autovia this morning.

I think that I actually shrieked and possibly also invoked a deity that I have no actual belief in.

We were bowling along when I suddenly spotted a dog. He was a large smooth-haired lurcher type and he was in the fast lane and on his hind legs, looking over the concrete separator. His blonde colour made him blend perfectly with the concrete.

Mr Snail jumped when I yelled, then also spotted the dog and he applied the anchors whilst also invoking a non-existent deity.

It was a hairy moment, made all the hairier by active imaginations considering just what might have happened.

We drove on in silence and then I said "You know, if we ever want to replace Nell once she has gone, we could do a lot worse (morally speaking) than to drive down here and see which dog decides to adopt us."

So very many of them.

This came hard on the heels of tears at La Rabida yesterday, when we contemplated the large number of homeless cats there. There was one old feller who was clearly unwell and suffering. It was hard not to scoop him up but common sense got the better of me and I realised that handling any of the cats was a poor idea when we had to go home to Dusty.

It’s all very distressing.