Working on the Walls

It has been a gorgeously cool day, lower temperatures than predicted, a kind introduction for Elliott. I walked him round the Land early on, and then he's been helping Mike mend a section of wall.

This afternoon they both got a lift with Sr Zé to collect the car from Reguengos, whence Mike had taken it for a service. There is only one bus a day now that schools have broken up. I was going to go with them, but realized what I'd really like is time alone. 

It was good. Sat at the table outside, reading a book Elliott brought with him, Hal Borland's Book of Days, his observations about nature and life for each day of the year. I looked up often to watch the birds at the bath, their interactions. Only the Iberian magpies are relaxed enough to bathe, sometimes four at once, with others waiting; the blue tit, sparrow too nervous to do more than a quick drink. At one point, a blackbird gave its warning chitter, thought it had noticed me, but then saw a black and white cat slinking through the garden.

Gratefuls:
- coolness, makes everything lovelier
- good conversations with our guest, learning from each other, he knows a lot about coffee, nature, ecology, all sorts
- wholemeal spaghetti with a good tomato sauce (if I do say so myself), melting blobs of local cheese and basil from the garden, yum!