Generous Gestures

Elliott and Mike out in the 37°C, 6 o'clock heat, still working on the wall, see how neat and tidy that bit looks. Huge amount of work, stones taken down, random rogue olives and oak branches cut down (too many for my liking), wall rebuilt, and new wire fence going up above it, salvaging as much of the old netting as possible. Elliott has scraped the post and has now begun to paint it. And see the new solar powered motion sensor light, so I can see what I'm doing when there's no moon and I have to open and shut the gate. Sand and gravel ordered so they can continue cementing the drive under the gate, so I don't have to stand in deep dust (or maybe, one day again, mud). 

Market this morning. Maria, as usual, adding all sorts to my bag and refusing payment, including a large bunch of her grapes, in season now. She thinks it was probably a lizard snapping the end off one of our vines.

And then, out to the hotel where we had our anniversary meal last night to collect my bag, I'd left it by the pool while taking photos of the waning moon over the buildings. Have added extra to yesterday's Blip so it's on the right date. We've watched the hotel being built beside one of our walks, and it was opened while we were in the UK, decided to try out the restaurant. Superb food, of the artfully arranged blobs on mounds of foam in the middle of large plates variety. Beautiful to look at, and way too expensive for food, but was a one-off special, and I'll know what to say about it if folk want recommendations. And our waiter was one of the guys in our catechism class. And another table were celebrating a birthday, they sent round large slices of birthday cake to all the other diners, such a generous gesture.

Meanwhile, Elliott was trying out his Portuguese with our friends, including the Padre, at Morango Bar.

Gratefuls:
- a relaxed meal with Mike, we are both so grateful for our years together
- the constant generosity of Alentejanos 
- our entrance looking a lot better