Lancaster

I arrived back in grey Lancashire yesterday afternoon. Sim picked me up from John Lennon airport  and after a quick drive up the M6 there I was in Lancaster. Tired after working in the Algarve sun on Andy's acre of land. clearing the brush and moving concrete blocks from one space to another. Loads of wildlife inside the holes in the blocks. A snake we thought a viper, a dozen lizards of various kinds, a wasp nest and insects aplenty. Spring happening. Sporting Clube de Portugal baseball cap necessary for protection against the sun and I still caught it on my face. Nice. Not the hat-I'd borrowed that.


A different season here. Cool and cloudy. The people grim looking. The big difference I notice every time is the predominance of the written word everywhere you look. Public information-or misinformation. Do this-don't do that. Labels complex and ubiquitous. Marketing everywhere you look. From the plane onwards. Boundless oceans of the written word. Is this what sophistication means? 

But then the upside. Straight down to Lancaster's public library this morning and I came away with a pile of reading material for the next week. And useful stuff too. All of it related to the upcoming work. And that, after all, is why I'm here. Time for action and putting the sunglasses away for a while. Sadly, no vipers or 'vespas' to fascinate. Mother's garden to look after and that will have to do. All in good time. We need, at times, to step back to look forward. 

Early Spring in the Algarve

Got down here yesterday after leaving Picoas and getting a taxi to Oriente. Sat and did some work on bringing together different approaches to provide an answer. A combination of TBL and a lexical approach with an eye to concordance information and the grammar and lexis of spoken English.

Still finishing off the last part while I sit in somebody else's Algarvian mansion with swimming pool, duck pond and tennis courts. It's isolated out here.

Memories. It's all very fresh.

Leaving Carcavelos

The eve of departure from my lovely little flat. Been packing for the last two days and the place is already feeling empty. Echoes have started to reappear with every bang of boxes or footstep. Teresa posted the flat on Facebook and although the decor is has a lighter touch than mine the photos capture the feel of the place. It was a good home to have these past years.



Only minutes from this!

Amendoeiras

Warmer after cool nights here. My street name merited remembering as I prepare for return to Lancaster in a few weeks from now. Rua das Amendoeiras must have looked something like this some years ago-still looks nice and I can see the odd tree from the windows of the flat. 

Blossum to all.