15 de enero
Birthday: Card from wife and sweet note from our Portuguese neighbor downstairs, Diana as well as U.S. friends Toby and Debe plus other friends and family members
Rainy: Slow, constant, soft rain. Probably staying in today. Wanted Salmon roast tonight, but may just have leftover soup for dinner.
ML continues with sinus infection. Feel bad for her. Did not know that a human could drain through the nose to such an extent. Will she have any sinuses left?
Saw no murmurating birds. Have seen no birds at all.
Still feeling excitement and joy about having finally received our new resident cards. They are good through Dec 2029. We are starting to look at travel opportunities within Shengen. Maybe cruise; cruise combined with train? Maybe just fly?
I think my Portuguese is improving, but slightly, ever-so-slightly.
16 de enero
Script for hidroterapia, water therapy (to bring symptomatic relief to my pleistecene-era human joints), had expired on the 15th, so I got a request to renew and delivered it to my PCP's office. Not renewed by my scheduled session today so I snuck in and got away with it. I love being mischievous.
My flock of murmurators were not to be found; probably the rain discouraged them.
This was a severe rain/wind/cold storm; I considered bailing on the hidroterapia at one of the bus stops, but I soldiered-on and completed my mission in the pool. Glad I did.
17 de enero
No murmurators visible this morning. Are they resting up? Seeking shelter? Damn sissies. Today's birds just ain't the brave lads of old, right?
19 de enero
Our Socialist candidate for President of Portugal, Jose Antonio Seguro, captured about 31% of the yesturday's vote, about 8 points ahead of the Chega (MAGA-type) candidate, André Ventura. This is a somewhat surprising outcome since Ventura polled much higher in pre-election polling. I am pleased with this outcome.
Today was cold and damp. I had a good day at aqua therapy, and I am now tired, and these very old knees are fussing at me a bit, but I soldier on.
Trump remains president, has not been incarcerated, and continues to display his senility for the world to see. The wheels of justice spin ever so slowly, and his family shows no signs of intervening on behalf of the dawdering, bumbling old fool.
And I did not see my murmurators murmurate outside my window this morning. Murmuration is the act of birds in aerial flight--a synchornized ballet. I often enjoy this along with a view of the Atlantic shore from our dining area window--the advantage of being on the fourth floor of a building facing west.
20 de enero
Got some good steps in today as I walked to the health food store for some of Mary Lou's special items and some fennel seeds (sementes de funcho) and ground sage (salvia). Got some ground pork (porco moída) and made pork sausage to go into the sauce for the spaghetti. This experience reminded me that some bottled tomato sauce is actually rather good.
21 de enero
Rain, Rain, Rain (a chuva). What a wet winter here in Porto.
We picked out a Viking river cruise from Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam to coincide with the end of our visit with the Aveys, our Texas/California friends whom we shall meet in late September in Berlin. After two days with them, they go onto other European adventures and we travel 7 hours by train to Basel, connect with the Viking ship and enjoy 7 days on the River with numerous stops and tours. This is equivalent to a bucket list adventure.
24 de enero
Chuva,Chuva,Chuva. Isso vai parar???
We adventured for about 6 hours yesterday in Porto and Guia. My legs screamed at me, my breath labored, fatigue tormented me. But we had a great lunch, bought some useful kitchen ware, and I'm glad we did it.
ML pressured me into sitting through two episodes of a BBC version of an Agatha Christie something-or-other; mostly boring for me. She now pressures me to watch the final episode out of which I walked. Guess I'll do that for her.
25 de enero
As I have often said, "Listen to your wife and carefully heed her words." I watched the concluding episode of Seven Dials, an Agatha Christie story on BBC. So glad I did. Brilliant story telling. Brilliant acting.
But before that, I made bread today, adding a bit more flour than usual, and am pleased with the better texture. I'll stay with this method. I do this and the pasta without adhering strictly to a particular recipe, relying instead on my sense of smell, touch, sight; and I don't use a timer. That has always been my cooking method.