life lessons that are priceless – la soixantaine

«Now that I'm 60, every morning I look in the mirror and say, "I don't know who you are, stranger, but I'm gonna shave you anyway."»

Milton Friedman

Or, never let yourself go, cool old men are not slobs.

life on the river – salty dog

The continuing adventures of Twix, the Jack Russell, in dog paradise – master and commander of the Flor do Canal, sprit-rigged shallop: "Look sharp there at the helm, mate! Steady as she goes."

Rio Mira, Vila Nova de Milfontes – Aug '15

country life – le repos d'un autre guerrier

Carocho, the old horse, quietly munching sweet field grasses – dreaming of young fillies and old capers in horse heaven. Perhaps wondering if those weird bipedal creatures also have dreams; and, if so, what can the old man in front of him be dreaming of?

Vila Nova de Milfontes – Aug '15

country life – le repos du guerrier

Twix, the Jack Russell, Son of Pimm's, Son of Tintin, dreaming of his exploits in dog paradise – chasing beetles, tracking partridges, snapping at bees ...

Vila Nova de Milfontes – Aug '15

motoring life

Landie Melo not quite believing its luck – back in the Southwest, and being driven and pampered by a flight of gorgeous girls every day for a week. I wonder if it will deign even starting for me when I get there next Friday.
Vila Nova de Milfontes – July '15

life lessons that are priceless – damn straight!

"You must believe in God, my dear, whatever the clergymen say."

Benjamin Jowett, Master of Balliol College, Oxford

life in the solar system – a mnemonic

Mercury’s right up in my face

Venus is a hellish place

Earth has caught the human race

Mars is just a basket case

Jupiter’s girth is a disgace

Saturn twirls with dancer’s grace

Uranus is rather base

Neptune plods at wretched pace

Pluto is now lost in space

in Sunspots, Simon Barraclough

musical life – the soundtrack of tranquility

Love, I get so lost, sometimes

Days pass, and this emptiness fills my heart

When I want to run away

I drive off in my car

But whichever way I go

I come back to the place you are

All my instincts, they return

And the grand facade, so soon will burn

Without a noise, without my pride

I reach out from the inside

In your eyes

The light, the heat

In your eyes

I am complete

In your eyes

I see the doorway

In your eyes

to a thousand churches 
In your eyes
The resolution

In your eyes

of all the fruitless searches 

In your eyes

I see the light and the heat

Oh, I want to be that complete

I want to touch the light

The heat I see in your eyes

Love, I don't like to see so much pain

So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away

I get so tired of working so hard for our survival

I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive

And all my instincts, they return

And the grand facade, so soon will burn

Without a noise, without my pride

I reach out from the inside

In your eyes

The light the heat

In your eyes

I am complete

In your eyes

I see the doorway to a thousand churches

In your eyes

The resolution of all the fruitless searches

In your eyes

I see the light and the heat

In your eyes

Oh, I want to be that complete

I want to touch the light,

The heat I see in your eyes

In your eyes, in your eyes

In your eyes, in your eyes

In your eyes, in your eyes

In Your Eyes, Peter Gabriel

The resolution of all the fruitless searches.

life on the hill – patience

Aloe polyphylla. I like some aloes, like those we had in the old house by the sea and flowered exhuberantly at Christmas, and remind me of wonderful childhood days in a beloved house. I have some on the Hill, and they are coming along, and, I hope, will one day cover the hillock by the gas shed and hide the shed from view. But this is a different species, visually much more akin to a cactus, and I don't like cactii. Someone gave it me, and I did what I do with unwanted gifts of its kind: I plant them somewhere inconspicuous, and leave them to their own devices. If they survive they may be deemed worthy of figuring in the overall scheme – and I may even grow to like them. Otherwise, it's curtains for them.

This one's been on the ground for almost ten years, and I'd all but forgotten about it when suddenly it flowered this June (I didn't even know it was supposed to flower, much less when). And I find myself growing fond of it – in the way one admires hardy creatures, which don't complain and just get on with their lives.

They say that patience is its own reward. Up to a point, Lord Copper. Sometimes flowers (or a lonely cherry on a tree – or building a house at 50 after dreaming about it for one's whole life) are the reward for patience. The Fool is a patient man – who values discretion, hardiness, and constancy.

Welcome, little aloe, long may you prosper.
Colina, June '15

life on the hill – the cherry on top

Two pear trees (one prolific, the other giving fruit only every other year); two peach trees; another two of a different kind (nectarines); one cherry tree (of two planted originally), which for years seemed unlikely to survive but has just borne fruit for the first time – one cherry, just the one, to top the Fool's cake. Life is good. 
Colina – June '15.

pears

peach

nectarines

the cherry

life on an older hill

Ambient temperature 28º C. Granite. Water. Mmmmm … – Pedrafurada, Easter 2015

life lessons that are priceless – keeping one's head below the parapet

“Never be a pioneer […] It’s the Early Christian that gets the fattest lion.”

Reginald’s Choir Treat, Saki (H. H. Munro)

the soundtrack of prudence – if you can't do the time, don't do the crime

Heart of mine be still

You can play with fire but you'll get the bill

Don't let her know

Don't let her know that you love her

Don't be a fool, don't be blind

Heart of mine.

Heart of mine go back home

You got no reason to wander, no reason to roam

Don't let her see

Don't let her see that you need her

Don't put yourself over the line

Heart of mine.

Heart of mine go back where you have been

It'll only be trouble for you if you let her in

Don't let her hear

Don't let her hear you want her

Don't let her hear know she's so fine

Heart of mine.

Heart of mine you know that she'll never be true

She'll only give to others the love that she's gotten from you

Don't let her know

Don't let her know where you're going

Don't untie the ties that bind

Heart of mine.

Heart of mine so malicious and so full of guile

Give you an inch and you'll take a mile

Don't let yourself fall

Don't let yourself stumble

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime

Heart of mine. 

Heart of Mine, (Bob Dylan) cover by Blake Mills & Danielle Haim

life lessons that are priceless – marital advice

"Sailors [make] excellent husbands, often away and handy about the house when ashore."

The Surgeon's Mate, Patrick O'Brian

Just so.