The rains have come in the mountains. The grey clouds have rolled in. After weeks of early winter warmth and blue skies the inevitable has happened. Mist and sunshine vying through the low-lying valleys gave way to moisture-laden air and dowdy fog. Twenty-plus temperatures less than halved in the space of a few hours. Such is mountain weather near the sea coast.
We just made it down to Fernando’s in time for bacalhau and ice-cream before the sleet hit. Right now, the wood-burner is doing its job and the dead cold weather is halted at the window sill. Warmth continues its reign.
During the good spell the last window-frame was fitted within the wooden structure and the angled struts placed upon the strong frame of the pergola. There is no way these wood structures can be compromised.
Ironically, down the road, the concrete-framed structure surmounted by poor wood and local terracotta tiles gave way and collapsed, its untreated timber frames eaten away by termites.
The calçada laid on the western-side of the property has formed a Fibonacci rectangle 
awaiting in-fill with citrus fruit trees and grasses to conform by the golden mean that highlights entirely the new-found principle of a bucosmic design, both in thought and exteriority.
Ah, so much for trying to take advantage of the new place where we live.
