APAPS 22.12: A Chinese Take-Over, Europeans Outnumbered

 Well, last week´s minor Eastern Influence became a full-scale Chinese Take-Over this week. Read all about it.

Luckily, things were made easy this week for the Blogger because, quite unprompted, our anonymous contributor has once again provided a comprehensive report on the latest APAPS outing, saving the Blogger from too much compositional thought, with only a few other  incidental comments being required. 

Here is our contributor´s masterpiece, in full, unedited and unexpurgated. Do not worry if some of the references and words are unfamiliar to you; a glossary is appended to interpret.

Confucius, he say: "The world belongs to those who get up early. "

Aristotle, he say: “I agree, old chap!”

Europe Men 2 - Asia Ladies 4. Outgunned.

Faye, Hazel, Myriam, Yves, Rachael, JohnH

Having thus established the basics, the happy troop of early-rising walkers and their Leader left the sleepy café in the hope of a dry outing.

 The sky looked ‘mi-figue, mi-raisin’ with broody clouds surrounding a hazy sun, somewhere in the East… As if to underline that we were surrounded and outnumbered by Eastern ladies; we did not mind: we IS mens!

Myriam spotted a hollow tree and truied iot on for size.

We soon realised also that among these ladies were at least TWO World Champions: one Squash player with never-ending legs and enough reach to floor Cassius Clay and one Apnoeic talker with enough lung capacity to outlast anyone daring to put in a word edgeways…

Aristotle mark 2 gives a horticultural lecture on the prickly pear

We won’t mention Figaro’s Mum who was recovering from his injuries: apparently, the Young Moggie gets into noisy scrapes that do worry Mum as she tends to hurt paws and feelings!

As is his prerogative, the Leader had instructed the troops that 07.30 was good enough and that the outing would be ‘easy walking’: Pah!
Before we even left the tarmac area, we encountered the first 1-in-3 slope! ‘Easy walking!’ Mercifully, it was only 12-feet long… A marker had been laid.

This was followed by a couple of 1-in-4 reaching almost 10 yards! Where was the Leader? In front, well out of earshot, that’s where!

Big dogs and.......

small dogs.

As the terrain eased up, the ladies found their natural gait: leisurely to lazy, with many stops to scrump figs and pomegranates................ 

Indeed, there was so much scrumping going on that a poor scarecrow decided that he was not up to the job

and gave up.

........to admire the surroundings, to chat with field workers and delay them as they race to finish their ploughing before the rain,.......... 

a month ago, this field was full of stone terracing

now it is completely flat. 
Myriam and Hazel asked the farmer and her dog where the stones were

She had tried to sell them but nobody was buying, so she dug a large hole in the field and buried them. She will now plant strawberries in October ready for sale in the spring.

.....to pet dogs, to have a chat, to explore the bushes off-piste, to reminisce about the markings on cork trees, as is ladies’ wont…

Back to school?

Unfazed, the leader guided his charges back to the café with unerring punctuality.

´Àllo, ´Állo. I shall say  wear this only wance

 

We were met at the café by Chris and Antje who shared breakfast with us.

Rod then appeared, too, and he suggested that he might start walking again: good man!

There he is, at the far end.

Breakfast was the usual happy, noisy, joyful mêlée of food shared, jokes exchanged and general banter that our hosts are familiar with by now: ‘It’s that lot of Estrangeiros, led by a Scotsman…Smile at them.’

As some had to leave, the heavens opened and the dash to the car was sufficient to negate the need for a shower at home: drenched, your writer was!

Never mind, it had been another good morning; thanks to all!

Your Glossary as promised

 Confucious: Kong Fuzi. a clean shaven Chinese sage: c.551 -c. 479 BC.

Aristotle: a bearded Greek philosopher and polymath: 384  -322 BC.

Aristotle mark 2: a bearded 21st century AD Francophone walker, photographer, wit and raconteur: extant.

Mi-figue: half fig.

Mi-raisin: half grape.

(Aristotle mark 2 is here using a French  expression "mi-figue, mi-raisin" (which is a way of saying of a person´s character that he behaves in an ambiguous way) to describe a morning sky that hasn´t yet decided to be clear or rainy. I told you he is a wit, didn´t I? ´) 

Apnoeic: describes one who, when talking, does not pause to catch breath.

Thanks to Rachael and Yves for some excellent pictures. Here are two more:-

Our closing music continues on our recent theme of atmospheric conditions and is in recognition that the rain held off during our walk but did eventually arrive.

Falling Rain Blues, by Lonnie Johnson:-

                               Finally, a moment for reflection

                                         Requiescat In Pace

APAPS 22.11: Look Out ! The Eastern Influence Is Upon Us.

A strong Chinese influence on this week´s APAPS. In addition to Myriam and Hazel, we were joined by Hazel´s niece Rachael and Rachael´s fiancé KC.

Lots of photographers at work with some excellent shots, so no need for very much commentary in this blog.

At the start we saw one of those mysterious stork migrations where seemingly endless streams of the birds move from the Arade to settle in a meadow by the Odelouca river.

  Even so , hundreds of them still remained on the Arade. All very strange.

 

Hazel very pleased to be wearing her spanking new sage-green Tilley.

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KC and his shake-proof video camera.

 JohnH and his antique hand-held; very shaky.

and the Maestro - "Look. No hands!"

As always, Yves found artistic inspiration at Clube Nautico and in the reflections in the canal waters..

The Track and the Statistics

Distance: 7.9 kms. Moving time: 1 hr 50 mins. Moving speed: 4.2 kph.

For once, it was Myriam who changed into her finery for breakfast since she had go off early on a date. 

Mira Rio´s breakfast as good as ever.

Hazel especially enjoyed the bread. Is it sourdough or what?

But, despite that hearty breakfast, she was still able to tuck into a massive calzone toscana later that evening at The Pig Gourmet, real Italian food in Silves, recommended by Yves and Catherine, and a jolly good recommendation too.

Antje joined us for breakfast after two weeks fine dining in Scotland and Yorkshire. Whether she was really  there for the breakfast itself, or to show off yet another polo shirt,is debatable. 

As she left us, Myriam was well-equipped.

One topic of conversation at breakfast was the on-going  series of the vulpine v. feline confrontations at Casa Esperança.  The fox seems remarkably unafraid of human beings and, although Hazel is worried for young Figaro, he seems to be able to hold his own.

Hazel´s intention is to trap the fox. We shall see.

We shall close with more music on the theme of the moon (picture kindly provided by Yves).

Whether it is a good idea safety-wise to go sailing in the moonlight, we will let Chris and Antje advise us.

COWS 2 ( 31.08.2022): THE RULES

 

Now don't be unkind!!

Naked COWs

      Despite this being the second occasion on which John has kindly offered a walk with the COWS on my behalf, there are still only 2 active members in the field. There seems to be some misconcepton spread by the repressed and inhibited, that the COWS is a club purely intended for the gratification of those with high libidos and less than healthy intentions. 

      I thought I should clarify for those that have been influenced by this adverse propaganda

       The COWS are a Registered and affiliated Walking group to enjoy the freedom and liberty of fresh sea air, bathing the skin, and being unashamed of what God Gave One.. For it was said:-

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and Naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”

   PURSUIT (def'):  

an activity of a specified kind, especially a recreational or sporting one.

"a whole range of leisure pursuits"

The motto of the COWS is:- "It's nice out - I think I will leave it out!"

And now we come to the Rules of COWS:- 

First Rule.of The COWS: -You do not talk about the COWS.

Second Rule of The COWS:-  You do not Blog about the COWS

Third Rule of the COWS: If someone yells 'STOP', goes limp or taps out, then the walk is over, so disperse peacefully.

Fourth Rule of  COWS: No shirts no tops, no bottoms . Only hats and shoes (optional}

Fifth Rule of COWS:  If this is your first outing with COWS, you must be registered and dressed according to Rule 4

   Having said that, I appear to be in breach of Rule 2, so instead I will end with a couple of recruiting songs.