Have T@b will travel: Slow news day

Hi folks! Sorry there has been a slight gap in our posts. I guess the old saying no news is good news might apply here. That said our trivial day to day activities may not be a thrilling read for you! We are continuing to enjoy our time in Portugal! Duh!! Summer has arrived in this small valley and it is hot and dry! Today is reported to get as high as 40 degrees Celsius! Thankfully we have the thick walls of this beautiful old home to keep us cool! Who needs air-conditioning when you have 2 to 3 foot walls surrounding you! We did a temperature check in the bedroom and it is a comfortable 22 degrees. We have also noticed that the hot weather has been bringing out the critters. Small and big! We now have a small lizard sharing the living room with us. He is quite comfortable and doesn't seem to want to leave, which is ok by me, I hope he eats the spiders! He enjoys sunning himself on the tile and watching Mango, who seems to be oblivious to this small creature. Snakes… ugh. Depending on our work day or lack of, we encounter at least one a day. From the wonders of google we have deducted that it is a harmless snake that will only bite if provoked, great! The Montpellier snake can grow up to 8 feet long. Yesterday Graham encountered one on our front porch. Excellent! Moving along… The fruit trees are starting to produce! Pears, apples, cherries, grapes, and a few other unidentified fruit varieties, perhaps plums, or nectarines? Well! There you have it! Our days have become a welcome routine for us both. Graham is still out early before the day gets to hot. Trying to win a never ending battle. The grass grows quicker than he can cut it, and I happily rake or weed behind him. I think he secretly enjoys this ongoing game between man and nature! We eat well. Everything tastes better when you have to work for it! We continue to eat no meat, which makes me happy! Who can look at a hunk of meat when you have prancing lambs in the surrounding fields? When we set out on this adventure in January 2013 we agreed to try and eat vegetarian at least once a week. Here we are now, one year, 5 months and one week later (to be exact!), and we are hard pressed to think of our last meal that included meat…. Perhaps In-N-Out Burger for me, mmmmm….. Sorry cows. On that guilty note, next week is going to pick up! We have rented a car and are heading to the Algarve for a mini vacation. I think you could call it a vacation, inside a vacation…. inside a vacation!? I leave you now with some random photos!

Berberomeloe majalis, or the Oil Beetle. These bugs live in the Mediterranean region, mostly Spain. They can grow up to 7 inches long, and are one of the largest beetles in Europe. This one was about 3 inches! The females have these beautiful orange markings, and the males are boring black!