RIP Nessie . . .

Drama and tragedy here yesterday, during and after the early morning dog walk.

As usual, Erin was on a lead, Suki and Nessie were running free, in and out of the forest. After 40 minutes or so, on the way home, Nessie stopped, trembling, slavering and shitting . . . though making no sound.

I picked her up and carried her the mile or so back. Near home, Erin started wobbling too . . . and slavering. She made it home and lay down. Both declined to drink.

I rang Jan's dog-loving friend, Paul, who came straight round and whisked both off to the vet, while I fed the other animals.

Nessie died there, having ingested poison somewhere along the walk. Erin recovered, having apparently had a minor fit from the stress. So sad and difficult for Jan, working away in England.

The source of the poison is unknown. Previous cases in Portugal have involved dangerous dogs (Nessie is the little one in the photo), dogs roaming in bird-breeding territory, spraying against mosquitos and my guess, the Pine Processionary Caterpillar. The photo shows caterpillars near Portalegre recently. The local forest is mostly pine and eucalyptus plantation.

Now it's just two dogs walking, twice daily, both on leads . . . less fun, but they seem to accept it . . .

Sunday socialising . . .

. . . after Saturday without human contact, Sunday has been social . . . after the early dog walk, a wander by the off-grid dwelling of Chris and Hanneke from Holland, an invitation for coffee, then lunch . . . philosophy and a good connection . . . wandering back and Jose, the neighbour who has lived in France, lost his sight from using cutting tools, brought home-made aguadente, issued an open invitation, is outside . . . a coffee with him and his wife Lucinda . . . discussion (in French) about politics, what's happening with the crisis . . . a taste of home made sherry . . . and back for a long walk with the dogs . . . another sunny, summery day . . . and ideas starting to take shape about the places we can create in the marginal lands, where spirituality, self-sufficiency, sharing, synthesise in international collaboration . . . new/old ways of being in community . . .

life school in Graca . . .

Yesterday was busy, preparing for Jan's departure to England . . . some shopping in Figuero dos Vinhos (or Fig for short) for stocking the cupboards with Dao wine, avocados . . . though the local shop has enough essentials and luxuries for the three weeks . . . enough fuel to feel confident that the car will manage the return trip to Pombal comfortably . . . running cars on quarter tanks and less being a potential source of anxiety as well as pointless . . . the glass half full/half empty cliche illustrated in car form . . . fuel full means peace of mind . . . and there is enough for an occasional trip before the next Pombal run in three weeks time . . .

So, settling here, with several sentient beings relying on me, simplifying basic requirements, spending time wandering the woods, wondering which humans to engage with . . . awaiting the tests which are essential to embed the theoretical learning on self-suffiency, spirituality, psychology, philosophy . . . planning projects . . . practical ones right in front of me, which will make life a little easier . . .

Theory is mostly from Facebook these days, from sources which resonate, shared by friends, some of whom I have met, some not yet . . . J.Krishnamurti (too late to meet him in this life), Joanna Macy, Mooji, Ram Dass . . . and many folks not yet famous with experience to share . . .

Selection of sources is vital, of course; and sifting for previous (mis)information, no longer serving . . . building a body of knowledge on foundations of lies is like building a palace on sludge . . .

Meditation, mostly walking allows insights to enter occasionally . . .

And when life intervenes and problems arise, the choice is to catastrophise them or welcome them for their learning opportunity . . . either way they are there, and will keep returning in different forms until we accept them, solve them and welcome the next (and harder) one . . . how else will we graduate from life school?

Coimbra and Graca

Since the bus to Graca was at 13.30, the morning was free for tourism . . . including the university, a UNESCO world heritage site; the new cathedral, a surprising modern building in the style of the old ones, though less impressive; and the city museum, an amazing experience, with Roman catacombs at the base and priceless sculptures and other treasures, mostly religious, bringing to mind a quote from Pope Leo X in the 16th century, found this morning in the novel picked up at the car boot sale, The Last Templar: "It has served us well, this myth of Christ". The whole drama is well illustrated in the museum, with the most incredibly ornate carvings depicting the cast.

After the culture, a stroll to the bus station and a brief conversation with the driver, who worked in Hartlepool some years ago and was still amused by the monkey story. Hartlepool folk play along with it, even electing the football team mascot "Hangus" as mayor. I hear he did quite a good job . . .
Back to Figuero dos Vinhos and the return stroll to Grace . . . one more day and it's just me and the dogs, cats, guinea pigs and chickens . . . more pics to come . . . for now here's Suki, who is a cutie . . .

Coimbra

An early saunter to Figuero dos Vinhos, 6km along a quiet road, to catch the 9.15 bus to Coimbra . . . which is packed . . .

The city is small and manageable, with the river on one side and the old town, with ancient university and cathedral on the hill . . . lots of traffic free streets to wander in the warm sunshine . . . and very hot shower at the youth hostel . . . which is nice . . .

In the cathedral cloister, a warm encounter with a young Portuguese man, Diogo, a graduate in nutrition, now interested in other matters, notably scientific explanations of spiritual questions (he may like to correct me or develop this in a comment, since he has the blog address).

A few hours wandering in the morning, then back to the countryside on the bus, ready for my three week stint with the animals and local humans too . . . looking forward to it . . .

settling for a while . . .

Some good connections over the past few days . . . Bob, 50, from Somerset, who is a builder and friend of Findhorn; Chris from Holland, living off grid nearby; and very friendly neighbours Jose and Lucinda, who hijacked me after a lovely long walk in the forest, offered home made red wine and olives, plus Portuguese lessons . . . they lived in France for 16 years, so we can converse while the lessons progress . . .

. . . leaving Jan digging trenches and plumbing in the new toilet . . . very self-reliant and well aware of my DIY skills . . .

Tomorrow to Coimbra - 45 minutes on the bus and some tourism before settling down to Graca life and dog and cat care at the weekend . . . not forgetting guinea pigs . . . and chickens . . .

Optimal time for central Portugal . . . Spring beginning, mosquitos still conspiring or whatever they do before launching into action in summer . . . now, how far North is mozzy free, yet still hot?

Graca . . .

Settling down for a month in central Portugal . . . establishing the basics of water (cold and hot), heating (though Spring seems to be here), cooking (with gas) . . . a cosy caravan and maybe even flushing toilet soon . . . enough being enough . . .

A trip to a nearby car boot sale, a mix of English and Portuguese folks . . . and a few things to make my settled life more comfy - coffee maker, pan for veggie stew, some books . . .

The trip shared with Terry from Stockton, recently early retired, and Mitch from Tottenham, who has been here ten years . . .

We return with two extra cats (making six in total) . . . two or three dogs are leaving this evening . . . another possibly arriving soon . . . will need an animal inventory before being left in charge of the menagerie . . . in 5 or 6 days time . . .

All feels good, some synthesis time . . . good info from Jan, who has lived here a while . . .

Drawn to study the Templar story . . . and Portuguese (beginners class next week) . . .  and rest for a while, having wandered the south . . . Coimbra is close as is the Dao . . .

Hereabouts perhaps rather anglified for me, though reflecting on the paradox of desire for fewer English settlers as an English wanderer, wondering whether Portugal is the place to be . . .