WAGS 27.05.2020: Quarantine Diaries Week 11

Well well, John very kindly took the pressure off me this week, by posting his draft before I even started, so the Leader and Vanguard goes to him.

Our WAGS status remains uncertain. We have been called the WAGS Irregulars and the WAGS Occasionals, even although our turn-out during “these troubled times” (to use the BBC´s over-worked cliché) has in fact been remarkably consistent. Why we do it, we don´t even know; perhaps we should be called the WAGS Irrationals.

Anyway, last week, we thought that we had come some way towards regaining our full respectability when Rod condescended to join us and we thought that the Inner Circle would now consider re-admitting us. Their deliberations, no doubt, continue; they cannot be rushed.

And then this week we learned that Rod now prefers a date with his dentist to a walk with us. Ah well!

Be that as it may, the usual four of us met up at Poço Frito´s Café Martins at the earlier hour of 7.30 am, we being mindful of the heat later in the day.

Not exactly High Noon

As always, it was interesting to see how the various building projects in the Caravela area were going- both the new builds and the ruin rebuilds. One of the latter, with a French number-plated car outside it, now shows a remarkably well-finished perimeter wall and dazzling expanses of calçada. This led one of our number to comment on how timely it was for the French to bring some civilisation to the Algarve. This felicitous remark est tombé complèment à plat (went down like the proverbial lead balloon). Only the resident French dog didn´t seem to mind.

Wild Life Encounter no.1

One of the day´s more demanding hills

We headed westwards along familiar tracks, avoided some wild horses, and passed the Strawberry Field patch where the various crops were looking especially healthy. 

Wild Life Encounter no.2

We then turned eastwards and worked our way across country, all rather flat. At this stage, Maria was itching to climb a trig point but there were none to be seen. But then we came across a magnificent cork oak .

Maria decided that, if there were no trigs to be had, tree-climbing was the best acceptable substitute.

In 2015, she had crouched underneath it. Thank goodness, Hazel was there to take the strain.

Now, having insisted that Yves give her a leg up, Maria was able to sit on it.

and Yves, gallant as always, was there to help her down.

.Shortly after that, we had our third encounter of an animal kind, this time a donkey one.

Wild Life Encounter no.3

We then made our way back to base, noting as we passed the posh end of Caravela that infinity pools seem to be de rigeur in these ultra-modern edifices.

"Look, there´s the café

Thence back to the bar for drinks.

I don´t know who the Martins who lent their name to the former Café Martins are or were but, if they were the proprietors who provided the APAPS with a few bacon and egg breakfasts in recent years, they have now gone. The establishment is now proudly re-named Snack Bar Martins and is under new management. A menu for the day on the board outside included bifanas, but we didn´t sample any. Another time perhaps. The service was reasonable enough if a trifle amateurish – ask Hazel, who had some difficulty in getting the coffee she wanted. And they had no copos canecas– extraordinary!- which somewhat diminished the pleasure of the Leader´s pint of shandy. A 33 ml glass is just not capable of delivering that magical initial gulp of cold liquid in sufficient volume

The noise in the café was on the high side too, which aggravated Yves. Can´t say I blame him. What with the TV audio on high, the shouts of the cooking staff, and the persistent whistling of a pressure cooker, the decibel level was high and dampened the enjoyment of our customary intellectual post-walk conversation which on this occasion included a comparison of the likelihood of there being thunder in the month of May and of a male donkey being born without certain key appendages (apparently a traditional bawdy Algarvean proverb).

Whether the new management are up to the full English breakfast , we shall have to wait and see. We shall also have to see if there is an appetite for a revival of the APAPS; not much enthusiasm detected so far.

The Track and the Statistics

(Thanks as always to Hazel for the floral photography.)

       The Lagos chapter didn't really distinguish themselves with a full WAGS criteria effort this week, as one of us is still on the 'I'm in Pain' list. However we set off determinedly at about 10 to 8, having done our usual delayed exit.    
         Basically the walk went round town, so we could get some early cooler, fresher air and see how long it took to remember the pain. And the answer was - about 45 minutes, and we got back in 8 minutes under two hours for a casual stroll of just over 5 km..

A keen eye might notice that the descent at the beginning and final climb indicated that we started at the door to our apartment. We descended rather more quickly than we climbed back up!

       Most would think that an urban walk is boring, but on this walk we saw a variety of wild life, and blossom. Ornithology, flora and fauna were  available to the alert and curious.

    The first sighting was of a specimen of 'homo transientis' probably having headed south for the winter from his native cooler climes, but unable to fully shake off the urge to hibernate!

He or she - for there were a pair of pink slippers adjacent - had picked a sheltered spot that caught the morning sun, under an awning outside the primary school, which luckily is closed presently, or he/she would be unlikely to have the luxury of a lay-in.

Just after this another, this time on a push bike with 3 large dogs attached to him by leads round his waist. How they obtain these dogs, unlike WAGS dogs who would have had him sprawling as they took off in different directions, I'll never know.

Next some flora as the jacaranda trees on the Avenida da Republica are in full bloom/

At least I think they are jacaranda, but braced to be corrected.

We saw a splendid one later near Henry the Navigator's Square.

      To continue, first one of many examples of ornithology common in Lagos, a stork on its nest and raising young already. This begs the question, that if storks deliver babies to human mothers - who delivers baby storks to storks? Answers on a postcard etc.

The red Palm Beetles that destroy palm trees have unwittingly helped the storks by providing a nesting place uncluttered by sharp palm branches.

Des Res at the petrol station with another with the best view in town behind.

       We cut behind the Sports centre (Lagos em Forma) and after a short chat to catch up with Marco, who was in reception without much going on, we headed for the road bridge over the Ribeira de Bensafrim towards the Marina.  On the bridge we saw another casualty in the gutter.

This appears to have been a Brown Grass Snake who hadn't studied the Highway Code.

A lovely cool morning over the R, Bensafrim.

Another stork on the nest near Pingo Doce, with a rare camper these days.

A nice view of the Centro Ciencia Viva de Lagos.

Henry the Navigator (Infante D Henrique) is not presiding over many tourists currently.

But in a nearby tree we spotted a rival to Yves' Silves Python - the endangered Black and White Lagos Tree Pony.  At first we thought it was just a common Panda, but closer inspection proved otherwise. We beat a hasty retreat!

A short encounter with an Eco-Ambiente  bin, tastefully decorated by the eccentric bin lady who had gone for coffee nearby and we were home.

It is worth a picture of this Ocellated Lizard, alas also post mortem, which Myriam saw later. A wonderfully intricate pattern, and a fairly large specimen.

Addendum: fortunately, our inexperienced finches appear to have become bored with sitting on their eggs, and I doubt they will hatch.

   Of more concern was the fact that I caught them having a quickie last night ( its always a quickie with finches) so there may yet be a new batch of eggs on the way!!

   As a value added item for the blog, I have great pleasure in announcing that the past week was British Sandwich Week. Here we prefer our Tostas Mista and Bifanas, but I don´t think they have a week long celebration of such in Portugal. Perhaps we should institute one!

   British Sandwich week is a week-long celebration of the greatest food to go and quite possibly the most iconic  British Culinary invention - the Sandwich.

On the theme of celebration, the sandwich industry also holds its Annual Awards, The Sammies, where the Best New Sandwich, Sandwich Retailer of the Year and many more are crowned.

Visit 'The Sammies Awards' website  by clicking the words.

Why are they called Sandwiches?

I mean, people eating meats and/or vegetables on or in bread has been with us for as long as bread itself! Indeed, but then along came a card-playing nobleman...

The modern sandwich is named after Lord John Montague, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, but it’s probably true to say that the story might not be an accurate historical account. Lord Sandwich, a “dedicated” gambler, did not like to take time out from the game to have a meal. He would, therefore, ask casino waiters to bring him slices of meat between two slices of bread; a habit well known among his gambling friends. Because John Montagu was the Earl of Sandwich others began to order "the same as Sandwich!" – aka the ‘sandwich.’

An alternative story is provided by Sandwich's biographer, N. A. M. Rodger, who suggests Sandwich's commitments to the navy, to politics and the arts mean the first sandwich was more likely to have been consumed at his work desk [Source: Wikipedia]. You can believe what you like but whether he was dedicated to work or play, Sandwich was not a man to be prised away from whichever table to engage in the formalities of dining. 

A selection of sarnies.

   And to finish of course, a song about sandwiches:

TANDEM !



At last Rod's much considered piece arrived, towards Sunday lunchtime but 'melius sero quam numquam', or melhor que nada (perhaps more literally 'antes tarde do que nunca') - all useful phrases to have ready to blurt out on the right occasion.

And here it is - unadorned with photography - not even of the lovely dentist - so I had to add one of the patient.

Having failed to meet Paul´s strict deadline by a greater margin than usual I was about to consign this effort to the bin, particularly since rather like the Chief Blogger himself these days, it actually has nothing whatsoever to do with a walk....then I thought well if anyone is going to consign it to the bin it might as well be him so that he will know that at any rate I tried!

Well as it happens Frew filho was actually working and Frew pai had to pay a second emergency visit to the dentist since the extraction of a wisdom tooth had caused some collateral damage to surrounding teeth and tissues.

Curious things these wisdom teeth and certainly curiously named. Some people

never have any, teeth that is (well or indeed wisdom) , others have them removed at a very early stage and some even appear only at a later stage in life; furthermore, unlike the rest of our teeth (for those that still have some!), they also have actually very little to do with masticating. Whether they have anything to do with wisdom seems a moot point although I have to say that in my case having had three of four removed it just about equates to my own declining level of wisdom.

Well anyway we were obliged to tender our regrets to the kind invitation of the WAGS Irregulars to join them this week. Of course no offense whatsoever was implied nor indeed should it be inferred. Naturally I would much preferred to  have been on the hoof although I have to say that gazing into the blue eyes of my dentist is an attractive alternative except that these days all is hidden behind masks and visors of course.

This week John has raised the issue of their group´s  nomenclature. Partly my fault perhaps having carelessly called them The Occasionals in my draft report submission last week. They obviously prefer  the IR prefix so The Irregulars it is apparently.

Well I was silently castigated last week as my use of The Occasionals was somewhat irreverently (!) edited out of my draft without reference to me.

This week I  note he has added a further suggestion...The Irrationals. Well indeed that is a distinct possibility.  However this caused me to further contemplate the issue and with the aid of the Oxford English Dictionary (the Compact version as I didn´t want to run the risk of too many alternatives) a number of other titles also appeared possible. In the very early days of lockdown I have to say I rather felt that The Irresponsibles might have been appropriate, but that would now certainly be a bit harsh. The Irreconcilables or the The Irredeemables were possibilities but perhaps seemed just a bit too irrevocable(!).   Perhaps The Irresolutes just about gives that air of uncertainty as to whom they really belong and might well be a suitable alternative.

However what really caught my eye, particularly given my own current circumstances, was a word which I have to admit doesn´t frequently feature in my vocabulary and indeed probably not in yours either for that matter... The Irridentists !

To save you all the trouble of rushing off to find your dictionaries let me quote the definition for you; « a person believing that territory formally belonging to their own country should be restored to it». Well perhaps it doesn´t take a great leap of imagination to rephrase that to « a person believing that footpaths formally open to us all should be restored to us»  With the proliferation of fences, gates chains, notices and other impedimenta to our erstwhile ability and in many cases rights to follow old trails, perhaps this might be the most suitable title for the WAGS as a whole.  Or perhaps we should just forget all this and stick to WAGS for everyone.

Roderick Frew

 .'Irridentist' seems novel and reasonable at first, but maybe it has connotations of terrorists, freedom fighters, democratic protesters or right/left wing extremists  depending on your point of view.

  I found a book of synonyms which quickly dismissed 'Irregulars' as merely the absence of a good quality! and 'not conforming to 'rules, custom, accepted or normal behaviour..'

Being a fan of alliteration, I started to think of a useful adjective for John's sub-section beginning with 'W'. Apart from a generic term which has no place in this family publication, I found this quite difficult, and after a short mull, stuck with the term WAGS Wannabe's which however is unsatisfactory as they are clearly paid up members, having led, blogged, photographed and participated as much as anyone else. 

   Now is your chance to redeem yourself and create a good descriptive term for John's WAGS group.