News and current affairs from the Portuguese Algarve.

[Eleanor]

If you die before me, please can I have O'Connor?

You could because you are even more mad than me.  But my son might object.  However, O'Connor is a horror story.  This is the worst dog of your nightmares.

Actually he is utterly lovely, but it depends on how he grabs you.

Charlotte, the blind, incontinent and permanently pissing Pug is still living with the local Vet.  I hoped that I was doing the right thing by having her put down, but I was obviously wrong.  She never did like me all that much so maybe she needed a Vet.

[puglove]

You could because you are even more mad than me.  But my son might object.  However, O'Connor is a horror story.  This is the worst dog of your nightmares.

Actually he is utterly lovely, but it depends on how he grabs you.

Charlotte, the blind, incontinent and permanently pissing Pug is still living with the local Vet.  I hoped that I was doing the right thing by having her put down, but I was obviously wrong.  She never did like me all that much so maybe she needed a Vet.

Ho ho!! I often think about Captain Scarlet Charlotte!

Take good care of yourself.     

[Eleanor]

Ho ho!! I often think about Captain Scarlet Charlotte!

Take good care of yourself.     

You were so kind to me when I was having problems with Charlotte.  What a little swine she was.  Just badly treated before me and I never quite got past that.  So I guess that O'Connor is pay back.

O'Connor?  Who thought that one up?  It was the year of "O" in France and mayhap they ran to of names.

[ShiningInLuz]

In response to a PM query, I have just been informed that the latest figures for the whole of Portugal are 76 deaths and 4,268 cases.  I do not have current figures for the Algarve.

What IS happening here is that the GNR are out in force to prevent unnecessary journeys this weekend.

Lockdown is challenging.  Supermarket trips are OK, and I'm currently checking what we have in our minuscule freezer.  So far it's all good.

But we've found out this morning that Lally had 2 large tics on him, so we're trying to figure out if we can get him medicine for prevention of tics.

 

I presume that vets are still working, just that clinics are closed.

[Eleanor]

In response to a PM query, I have just been informed that the latest figures for the whole of Portugal are 76 deaths and 4,268 cases.  I do not have current figures for the Algarve.

What IS happening here is that the GNR are out in force to prevent unnecessary journeys this weekend.

Lockdown is challenging.  Supermarket trips are OK, and I'm currently checking what we have in our minuscule freezer.  So far it's all good.

But we've found out this morning that Lally had 2 large tics on him, so we're trying to figure out if we can get him medicine for prevention of tics.

 

I presume that vets are still working, just that clinics are closed.

Tics aren't difficult to deal with.  Gently grasp the head which is in the skin and then jerk fast and hard.  It should come out intact..  I have very rarely failed.

However, my youngest son once had one in his hair line and I failed miserably on that one.  I got the tic but not the head.  Probably because i was freaked out.  It never occurred to me to go to a Doctor because tics were a way of life in Singapore.  My son is still here and functioning some fifty years later.  The tic head is still in his hairline.  Dead, of course.

Lime's Disease only comes from Deers.  Do you have Deers in The Algarve?  If so, holler.  But more for the children than the dog.

I have recently removed tics from my neighbour's cats without any problems.

There are a hundred ways to be told how to deal with this.  None of them work any better than my way.

Lally is a really nice name.

[Brietta]

Tics aren't difficult to deal with.  Gently grasp the head which is in the skin and then jerk fast and hard.  It should come out intact..  I have very rarely failed.

However, my youngest son once had one in his hair line and I failed miserably on that one.  I got the tic but not the head.  Probably because i was freaked out.  It never occurred to me to go to a Doctor because tics were a way of life in Singapore.  My son is still here and functioning some fifty years later.  The tic head is still in his hairline.  Dead, of course.

Lime's Disease only comes from Deers.  Do you have Deers in The Algarve?  If so, holler.  But more for the children than the dog.

I have recently removed tics from my neighbour's cats without any problems.

There are a hundred ways to be told how to deal with this.  None of them work any better than my way.

Lally is a really nice name.

I bought a tweezer like gadget from the chemist for tics.  Not had to use it yet either on humans or animals, but the time will come.

Thanks for your post Sil ... I had forgotten that my dog is due flea and tic treatment (there is nothing else going on in the world at the moment !!!) so I'll find out on Monday if our vets are open

[Eleanor]

I bought a tweezer like gadget from the chemist for tics.  Not had to use it yet either on humans or animals, but the time will come.

Thanks for your post Sil ... I had forgotten that my dog is due flea and tic treatment (there is nothing else going on in the world at the moment !!!) so I'll find out on Monday if our vets are open

The Tweezers don't work, Brietta.  The cold and hard metal frightens the tic so it just holds on harder.  Fingers are much better.  They don't feel it coming.

But to each his own.  Although I do purport to be an expert at this.  What a laugh.  My one claim to fame.  Eleanor the Tic Killer.

[puglove]

The Tweezers don't work, Brietta.  The cold and hard metal frightens the tic so it just holds on harder.  Fingers are much better.  They don't feel it coming.

But to each his own.  Although I do purport to be an expert at this.  What a laugh.  My one claim to fame.  Eleanor the Tic Killer.

AND saviour of unlovable pugs. I'm really good at making omelettes and worming cats. But not at the same time.

[puglove]

Christ, I'm so bored I could eat my own arse.


 

[Venturi Swirl]

Christ, I'm so bored I could eat my own arse.


 

After losing 3 stone in weight my arse wouldn't make much of a meal these days, so bored as I am I will stick to eating the occasional apple.   I might treat myself to a sugar-free Digestive in a bit.

[Eleanor]

AND saviour of unlovable pugs. I'm really good at making omelettes and worming cats. But not at the same time.

But I did eventually bail out on Charlotte.

Look you, Dear Shona,  I thought that there was nothing left to save.  I was obviously wrong.  But then I didn't have the money to pursue this, presuming that she would ever be anything beyond her own self interest.

Seven years, and I did try.  It isn't a lot of fun when you know that your dog doesn't even like you.

[ShiningInLuz]

These are purely personal observations concerning my neck of the woods in the Algarve.

Normally, we can hear a constant hum from traffic on the EN125 between Lagos and Portimão, a busy stretch.  There is still traffic noise, but at about 1/10th the level of what it was before.

We also live near to Lagos airport, and it is usually standard to hear private flights close by many times per day.  That has totally stopped.

The bread lady is either considered essential, or she is breaking the curfew.  Her normal van arrival time is about 10 AM, as she does her rounds.

For whatever reason, UK TV is mentioning a shortage of eggs, which I find baffling if it is actually true.  Our neighbour has a small business raising farm products, so if our supermarkets run out, we will be asking him for a few eggs as a favour.  The hens he keeps do not stop laying eggs just because the humans are in lockdown.

Because she can be an awkward sod, my wife has decided she is going 100% pescatarian today.  That's vegetarian plus fish.  This after stocking up our fridge-freezer with meat products.

She likes a full British for breakfast.  So I'm working on a full Welsh instead, with a Glamorgan sausage (cheese, leeks and breadcrumbs).  Her fads normally last only about 7 to 10 days, but she likes to keep me occupied.

I've got to go.  It's time to cook breakfast for Lally, and basically he's a carnivore.   

[Eleanor]

The traffic here has slowed a bit.  This is good.  Lann Georges is the only Hamlet in Brittany with a 70 kilometre speed limit.  Cats get killed.

Meanwhile the post is still being delivered.  More brave people.  Who knows what could be on a letter?

[Mr Gray]

The traffic here has slowed a bit.  This is good.  Lann Georges is the only Hamlet in Brittany with a 70 kilometre speed limit.  Cats get killed.

Meanwhile the post is still being delivered.  More brave people.  Who knows what could be on a letter?

yes...what could be on a letter...we are all going to get one from Boris here...need to be careful

[Eleanor]

yes...what could be on a letter...we are all going to get one from Boris here...need to be careful

All that I am seeing here at the moment is truly brave people who go on doing essential jobs.  And absolutely no one is making a song and dance about this.

I know my Check Out Lady at the Supermarket and she is there every day.  But she does have a screen in front of her now.

There is only common sense to be done.  If I wasn't so old I probably wouldn't care.  But such is the way of The World.