I called 112 last night. This was the first time I have made an emergency call. We had been sitting on the balcony, enjoying a glass of wine and the mild evening when we spotted a burst of orange light from across the valley. Just like that a fire had started, or rather a fire had been started. It began to grow and spread very quickly, so we called the emergency service.

It was in a forested area and by the time we went to bed had spread quite significantly. Disappointingly, we found out this morning it was one of four fires that had been deliberately started in the area over the course of the night. Most fires in Portugal are started by humans; either by carelessness (eg discarded cigarettes, bonfires that had got out of control or sparks from agricultural machinery) or with real malicious intent. Only 2% of fires are caused by natural causes. Now it is pouring with rain and the fires are out but it has been a theme of the summer.

We haven’t put up a blog post for a while now. August was boiling hot and we tended to stay in and around the house. Everywhere was dry and crisp.

It also meant Ponte de LIma was full of tourists and returning emigrants, the traffic was terrible and restaurants full so we were happy to stay at home. Our favourite event of the month, the cider festival, was cancelled as it coincided with the 900 years celebrations (although you would have thought there was plenty of advance warning for this!). In fact, August saw the largest ever fire recorded: 64,000 hectares were consumed compared to the last record from October 2017. Although it must be stated that it was reported lightening from a ‘dry thunderstorm’ caused this initial spark.

So barbecues were the order of the day. We managed to find a Greek recipe for the red peppers mentioned in the previous post…

and we discovered what was eating the 4 o’clocks:

September bought more good weather and more guests. Which, along with the vinho verde museum, also means…

the annual trip across the Minho to watch La Vuelta. There were more Portuguese supporters than usual with João Almeida on for a podium finish (he came second) but it was the pro-Palestinian flags that were out in force:

After a short visit back to the UK, packed full with seeing family and friends, it is back in the garden to put in loads of new plants before the weather turns. The new red oaks are certainly enjoying the rainfall we are having now.

We voted in the local elections in which you can vote for the town mayor, the town council and the parish council. Unlike the rest of Portugal the Ponte de Lima town council has been dominated by the CDS-PP coalition although the local PLMT (Ponte de Lima, Minha Terra / Ponte de Lima, My Land) puts up a good fight and has 3 of the 7 seats of the local councillors in our parish. A surprise result was the neighbouring parish which knocked the CDS-PP off its perch with a victory for JCS (Juntos Somos Capazes / Together We Can). In fact, in the country as a whole, independent parties won 20 town councils of the available 308 (Chega only won 3) and 388 parish councils of the available 3259. There were all of 60 parties to choose from (not all of course for each council) including coalitions such as PPD/PSD.CDS-PP.IL, PPD/PSD.IL.PAN and PPD/PSD.CDS-PP.IL.PPM.MPT.NC. It’s not for the faint hearted!

A recent offering of quinces meant the last of the jam making (in this case jelly); the shelf in the pantry is evidence of how often the preserving pan has come out over the year.

Betty is plodding on. She is quite dodgey on her back legs, often falling over when she has a shake or first thing in the morning, but despite that is still fairly keen on on the walks.

And now in October, once the weather improves again, we will continue with the Lourear a Pevide event: a glass of Ponte de Lima’s finest and a special petisco for 4 euros from a number of local restaurants. We have until 30 November to go to all 20 so plenty of time for that. Saude!