Sparrowsfart - The Big Breakfast

Mine Host ingesting "Good" Cholesterol!

Our Hostess and breakfast Supremo

The shady corner

Still carbo-loading!


Mike's report on a well-attended off-season walk - the incentives were good!!


Eighteen insomniacs met at 06.45 hours at Café Cansado, Arão on Wednesday 2nd August to participate in SparrowFart 2006. All were surprisingly bright eyed and bushy tailed at the start with a very prompt move-off.

The 19 walkers were: Ian W, Paul & Myriam, Ian S, Mike, Heather, Rory and Anna Symons (Mike's daughter, son-in-law and grand daughter), Richard (Mike's son), Rod, Andrew & Lindsey, Janet, Chris & Antje, Jim, Terry & Jill and Caroline Bell.
Dogs that enjoyed the early morning scents were: Xana, Oscar, Nate and Tiggy. (There were later complaints when they realised they had NOT qualified for the bacon and sausages!)
Anna (aged 9) led the walk throughout using a bamboo diagram direction chart. This proves how effective and easy to operate these direction charts can be. (Even with sundry inaccuracies!)

After a short climb there was over an hour of beautiful rolling hill panoramic views looking at their best at sunrise. 'Grizzly Gulch' was negotiated with relatively little loss of blood (luckily only the Leader's) and no audible whingeing, apart from Paul who complained that the Bamboo Diagram differed by one or two minutes with his wrist mounted GPS, probably affected by his racing blood stream. (Leader's GPS had defaulted to Peaseometers again!)

Whilst rounding the abandoned cottage that overlooks the homeward valley a bee or hornet stung Antje on a sensitive and private part of her anatomy. Several gallant offers to apply antihistamine were firmly rejected and she disappeared round the back of the cottage to deal with the matter herself. (actually Ian S blundered into a wasps' nest, and Chris was savaged on his ankle as well! The fact that it was wasps and not bees robbed Myriam of the chance to demonstrate her suction bee sting extractor, which would have been well worth viewing given the location of Antje's sting!)

The walk was complete in 2 1/2 hours, nicely before the heat of the morning sun became significant. The total distance was just under 10 km.

The following family members joined the walkers for breakfast, chez Pease: Diane, Marguerite, Sue, Troth (Sue's Mum), Deidre, Jyll, Marguerite Pease (wife of Richard) + infant Olivia giving a total of 27.

This year we missed the presence of Maurice and Esmé who will be informed of the event and will receive our good wishes by Blog.

Yes an excellent walk - just about the right length for most, and we retired to Quinta d'Espargosas for a sumpuous breakfast of all the things we are usually not allowed to eat. Many thanks to Jyll, Marguerite, Maggs and the other workers who prepared it all.

Out of Season Training

Ready for Take-Off

The blog has been a bit quiet since the concensus was that it was getting a bit too hot for most WW's. The disappointment was almost tangible, so I have undertaken to rouse myself from a bout of Lyme Disease, (see http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/index.htm ) and the ongoing World Cup, to regale you with an account of our personal activities in the field.

Myriam and I have entered, nay, rushed into the field of Geocaching during the off season. There is a link to the site on the left, which is most informative. We are proudly known as "Team Caracache" - slow - but a bit tasty!, and have to date located 9 caches, and we hope to lay out one or two of our own in the near future. There are around 50 caches in the Algarve and Baixo Alentejo, and more almost every week. Mike and Jyll have also entered the fray, and may be found scrabbling around under rocks and in gorse bushes in the neighbourhood. I hope Terry will join in when he gets his GPS.

Most caches are located in imaginative and scenic spots, and can be reached either by a decent walk if you are energetic (and don't have a 4X4), or approached much more closely by vehicle. Then you have to read the owner of the caches' mind as they devise some ingenious hiding places.

There have been a lot of ticks about this year, the weather conditions seem to have favoured their breeding programme. At least two (Xana and Nathan) of the WW dogs have had tick fever, and I, much to my chagrin, have joined them. It was, I suspect, on a cache hunt in a valley near Sargaçal, where we saw the local shepherd and a large flock of raggedy looking sheep, and a few mangy dogs leaving the area as we arrived. I didn? even see the little blighter that got me, but I woke up on Monday morning with a small itchy bite, which I assumed was from a mosquito. By evening it had grown to about 4 cm across, and by the next morning it was a fierce red looking patch with a black centre, about 12 cm in diameter. At this point I went off to the doctor, and was diagnosed as an infected tick bite and possibly the start of Lyme Disease. The rest of the gory details and photo are below.

Beware of Ticks!!

Taken on the third day after the tick bite, this is typical of early stages of an infection which could lead to Lyme Disease. See http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/index.htm The first day was just an itch with a small raised red patch, the second day, the centre of the bite went black and the red circle expanded to about 10 cm. The whole area was very hot and I had muscular aches and pains. I then went to the doctor, and was prescribed antibiotics, but the red area kept expanding until day 6 when it started to become paler, and I began to feel better. The worse part, of course is that the minimum 10-day course of antibiotics is meant to be undertaken without the benefits of fine wines to enhance morale!! On a threat to change doctor for a second opinion, she relented and conceded that one glass a day would be good for the patient. And have I got a good glass!!!

For those that missed it!! Sunrise on the Summer Solstice

"And gentlemen in England, now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,"
So said Henry V according to Shakespeare, and it was well worth getting up for it!!
Myriam's smile was brighter than the sun, and even Xana and Maio raised a grin!

Summer Solstice 21st June 2006

It was a Wednesday after all, so Myriam, I and the dogs were off to Ponte de Piedade at an unearthly hour to watch the sun come up. If you click on the pic to enlarge it, you can just make out Myriam in silhouette between the trees.

Seven stroll by the Sea, WW 07.06.2006

Leader: Paul
Present: Myriam, Janet, John, Rod, Lindsey, Andrew
NO DOGS!!!
Walk: Ponte de Piedade and past Luz and return (22 km)
Time: 5 hrs 15 minutes walking (Total time 6 hrs)

Before Mike pulls me up on the discrepancy between the Title and the lead photo, ace cameraperson, Myriam has not mastered the time delay shot yet!
In anticipation of a very hot day, I decided that it would be a good opportunity to avail ourselves of the Atlantic onshore breezes, at least on the way back, and try to get out and back without returning on the same path. The overall result was not too bad; except for the section through Luz, and the back way down to Porte de Mos, it was achieved. Had the tide been anything other than at it's highest, mid walk, we could have crossed round the headland between Ponte de Piedade and Porte de Mos in one of the directions.
This was the first walk in living memory in which we were not accompanied by any of our dogs! Regrettably Maio is not up to it any more, and Xana was recovering from a mild bout of tick fever, so they were out. Of Rod's pair, Purdey is in the same boat as Maio, and Pooky was left to keep her company, as it looked a hot day with little opportunity for dog drinking water.
Janet turned up sans socks and had to cadge Andrew's second pair (brave woman!). Fortunately for the assembled team, she seemed to have remembered everything else, and The Magnificent Seven set off soon after 9 am with a tour round the lighthouse and north up the coast for a warm-up on the undulating coastal path. Hardly had we left when Andrew suffered a 'senior' moment, and couldn't remember if he had locked the car, so jogged back to confirm that he had! The route progressed inland after we had confirmed that the tide was too high to get round to Porte de Mos via the beach, and from there again inland through the soon to be completely urbanised area between Porte de Mos and Atalaia. A slight navigational error, during which we discovered the DIY House (photo below) resulted in howls of anguish from shorts wearers as we took a direct route through some overgrown pastures to regain the track. Fortunately the absent Mike was on his way to London for a quick coffee with his brother, so no blood was spilled.
Arriving on the escarpment near the Trig point with the panoramic view of Luz, Janet opined that she didn't care for walking through the town (the temptation of too many tourist shops!!) and would turn back. Bravely she descended from the top to the lower plateau before turning round, thus burning an extra 568 calories according to my pedometer!
We stuck with the coastal path towards Burgau, and admired the newly redecorated 'Arab House', which has lost some of it's kudos with a pale grey colour scheme and a hand-painted floral tile frieze below the eaves. We didn't see Osama at a window, but it is pretty obvious that he is camouflaging his Algarve HQ.
Lunch from a commanding viewpoint gave us a different aspect of the huge orange house
pictured below. We returned to Luz through a mix of earthen paths and undeveloped plots, and the rapidly growing urban sprawl inland, to be faced with the prospect of the scramble up to the trigpoint. I announced to the disbelievers that it was actually only a 4 minute climb and about 60 vertical metres to the Trig point. Andrew, Rod and myself went for two variations of Route One straight up to the top, and the others took a slightly longer and less steep path. The point was proved as I broke my record to reach the Obelisk in 3min. 32 secs followed by Andrew (4 min. 02 sec), Rod, (5 min. 09 secs), Myriam and Lindsey in 6 min. and 20secs, and then John strolled up from another direction looking remarkably cool in 7 min. and 10 secs.
The reason for all this macho posturing came when we reached the Cafe at Ponte de Piedade, and Myriam innocently revealed that she was supplying cashew nuts and Japanese crackers with our drinks, because I had managed to survive another full year on God's Earth, and I had been trying to prove I can still cut the mustard although I must be almost into my Fifties now!! Lindsey made it an even more auspicious occasion by gifting us some Kumquats (for Myriam's Marmalade Factory) and some French beans for dinner! Thanks Lindsey.
 

Lunch and Running Repairs

Lunch above a modest dwelling between Luz and Burgau. Andrew took the opportunity to carry out some running repairs, as he had sacrificed one of his pairs of socks to Janet who had had yet another senior moment and left the house minus some items of clothing - that is her socks!! Although we had no shade, a pleasant breeze from the cool Atlantic made it reasonably comfortable.

Hasn't she grown!!

View of Luz from the 'obelisk' Trig point (110 m). The town seems to have grown by about 20% since I last looked! Much speculation from the assembled experts as to whether Luz could be self sufficient power-wise if the energy from its' human waste, chip and hamburger fat and bullshit uttered in the bars, could be harnessed!

"Des. Res"

This edifice between Atalaia and Luz looked to have been 'modified' by an enthusiastic amateur DIY exponent!! Rod picked up a few tips for his own construction! 

Terry's Tor Tour - WW 31.05.2006

A Welcome break - after 20 minutes!!


Leader: Terry 1
Present: Lindsey;Mike; Chris; Antje;Thyl;Myriam;Paul.
Oscar; Tiggy
Length: 16.7 km
Total time (including stops) 5 hrs 20 minutes.

You can always tell a good Leader - if the Cafe at the meeting place isn't open - he leads you to another before the caffeine levels get dangerously low!! And so it was. We gathered on a gloomy overcast and humid morning at the Cafe Soc. Rec. Torense which was deserted apart from a few forlornly empty bottles left from the night before. Thyl arrived in a cloud of dust just seconds before the scheduled 'Off', and sensitive to the rising tide of mutterings, Terry reversed his planned walk and we set off into the heart of the surprisingly large metropolis of Tor. Twenty minutes later, and technically out of Tor, we found an open Cafe Funchais, (pictured above) where morale was restored.
This was another of Terry's largely new walks, and it proved to be a 'Walk of Two Halves'. Another 6 minutes after the coffee, and 2 kilometres into the walk, we finally left the urban area into the countryside. The morning was fairly level on decent tracks, with a little bit of paddling as we negotiated a couple of streams which were still flowing quite well. One highlight was meeting a group of workmen repairing the branch road that led from Loule to Tor, one of whom was clutching a 'v'-shaped twig and professed to be identifying the route of a spring under the road. Whether he had just hastily snatched the twig, which twitched in his hands, just to impress the 'estrangeiros' I couldn't possibly comment, but suddenly Lindsey loudly claimed to be an experienced water diviner, and took the twig from him to test it herself. Regrettably it didn't work, but she excused herself saying that she normally used metal rods for the purpose! (See photo below).
I didn't have many firm memories of having been in this part of the Algarve before, until we arrived at a large deserted Quinta after about an hour and a half. Others recalled having been there before, possibly with Maurice, though Thyl thought it was with Ian Cooper.
We pressed on past a quarry and up towards a well signposted 'Cesteiros' (basket maker) which duly appeared complete with three senior practitioners of the art.



Soon we had to negotiate some high stepping stones (Blondin eat your heart out!) and arrived at one of the most luxurious locations we have had for lunch this season. A spirited conversation on the merits of various headgear ensued, and Mike proposed that we set up another sub-committee to advise walkers worldwide on how to select and customise their hats.

After lunch the walk changed - first we crossed the river and returned to the stepping stones via some muddy reed beds, and Antje managed to get a wet boot. Then, the Master of the Bamboo Diagrams was severely tested as Terry cut off uphill on a narrow gorse-infested path to the top of the valley side. To be fair, he was wearing shorts himself, but blood was spilt!! Thyl dredged up a memory of having been on this path some years previously on a famous walk led by David (now moved to Andorra) on which my daughters, Tanya and Oriana had come, fashionably wearing short shorts and tank tops, and had been irredeemably scarred, and also accompanied by the Canadian Ambassador to Washington and his son, who was not amused by the hostile terrain (the son that is).
We emerged to better paths at the top, and continued through a few small hamlets, with pretty houses, and along some narrow but well-preserved caminhos to arrive back at the Tor Recreational Club, which was now open for a well deserved apres-walk Bohemia. Alas and Alack - Terry's good leadership score suffered a mighty blow, when our hostess revealed that not only did she have no Sagres, but she only had 'boys' size' Superbock!! As I write, the Chief Blogger is still suffering from the effects of having to substitute a couple of bottles of Cristal for his preferred tipple.
Despite this, it was an excellent walk - we were lucky for the overcast which kept us cooler, and we completed the 16.7 km in a total of 5 hours 20 minutes, of which some 3 hours 50 minutes was actually walking. With my new GPS the stats keep coming!!! Average Moving Speed - 4.3 km/hr.

Terry provided comfortable facilities for lunch! 

A Test of Balance - Seven High Stepping Stones. 

The Divine(r) Lindsey - and new best friends! 

Ian's Foia Flirtation - WW 24th May 2006

Don't tread on the daisies!

Leader: Ian S.
Present: Rod, Paul, Myriam, Terry, Lindsey, Andrew, Chris, Antje, John, Hazel, Simone, Thyl
Xana, Tiggy, Pooky

Ian had chosen a sensational day for the assault on Foia, an unnamed peak and Madrinha, and not only did we have the essential cooling breeze, but also we had wonderful visisbility when we had struggled up high enough. The news was leaked early on that the recce for this 6+ hour walk had only taken two and a half hours the previous Thursday, but Ian bluffed his way through it enormously well, only leading the group down one grassy cul-de-sac (well they do all look alike!) on the way up from the Monchique helipad to Foia. The Chief Blogger had a slight S.O.H.F. when Xana arrived at dog heaven - a small farm with loose chickens, which had mysteriously not been spotted on the recce!! Luckily she appears to be either slowing up or has joined the Animal Rights Movement, and no damage was done either to the chickens or my wallet!
It was a seminal day in the history of Bamboo Diagrams as I had recently taken possession of some new technology - a Garmin Foretrex 101 Wrist mounted GPS - which lent a hitherto lacking degree of accuracy to the distance measurements. The crosscheck with my own pedometer proved that the pedometer was wildly optimistic, but Lindsey's proved to be slightly more accurate.
We welcomed Simone back after an absence of some two years. She is as fit as ever, and hopes to join us next week too.
On the higher slopes we visited, there are still plenty of flowers, while the area below is becoming increasingly brown. The views were fabulous and lunch was taken on the rocks at Madrinha.
The round trip took 6 hrs 40 min, elapsed time being 20.8 kilometers and a walking time of 5 hrs 11 mins. (Thankyou Garmin). Yet again no Sagres Bohemia at the end in the appropriately named Cafe Descansa Pernas, but we were thirsty enough to make do with the less sophisticated offering without too much whimpering.

Geocaching: As the walking season comes to an end, and consequent to the acquisition of our new GPS, Myriam and I have taken up the 'sport' of Geocaching. We have found our first cache - at Ponte de Piedade, and are keen to rack up a good score as well as plant our own caches in the near future. You can read all about it at http://www.geocaching.com and it is fairly easy to get a list of the caches in the Algarve. Try http://www.geocaching.com/seek/nearest.aspx?lat=37.105683&lon=-8.679967 All you need is a computer, a GPS, some tough gloves and a lot of patience.There is a whole new vocabulary of 'muggles' and 'Travel Bugs' to be explored. Good hunting!!



 

'Twas a very clear day.

View from the top nearFoia. 

Madrinha - and blue sky.

Someday my son - this will be all yours!! 

Caption Competition!!

What did Lindsey say - and at what was she pointing!! 

Mike's "Pilgwimps Way" 17th May 2006

The Cistus Flower has been adopted as the emblem

for waypoints on Via Algarviana.

Here is a fine example flowering this April.

Mike's fair and balanced reporting of his walk below!

Date: 17th May 2006
Walk Name: Pilgwimps Way
Distance: 15.7 km overall (including diversion – see below)
Time (including stops): 4 hours, 45 minutes

Present:

Leader: Mike
Bloggers: Rod, Stan, Chris, Paul,
Blogerinhas: Elaine, Myriam
Blogs: Xana, Pookie. Apologies for absence were received from: Oscar (septic foot) and Tiggy (poorly)

The start, at Pereira, was somewhat delayed whilst a friendly passing motorist helped extricate the Mitsubishi 4 WD car of an unnamed walker from the ditch into which it had disappeared. This was not one of the intended ‘steep downhills’ noted in the pre-walk blurb. Regrettably, the official Blog Photographer’s lens shutter was not open at this time of day. So, no record was taken for posterity. (the official photographer was rather more concerned in helping the distressed driver, specifically by loaning his Lidl Nylon Tow-Rope and directing the rescue operation, rather than taking embarrassing snaps, which could have been used for lampoonery later. The opportunity to take part in a live re-enactment later was churlishly refused by theerrant driver! C.B.)

B’nas Elaine and Myriam graciously undertook to lead the group, regrettably not astray, but following the bamboo direction chart provided by Mike. They did so with excellent effect. However, some ‘Triad’ quibbles were registered regarding the precise placement of the little dots on the chart.(ie Where are we Mike?? C.B.) As intended, some adjustments were identified for later correction. This practice should ensure the production of a reasonably foolproof final bamboo direction chart. Paul has now produced a Mk IV template and, hopefully, this will be the final version for all subsequent use.

The day was hot and airless so tiring for brisk walking. Fortunately, the majority of the route was on ridge tops or with wide valley bottoms where what little air there was could be found. We reached the trig point at Barranco do Milho (509 ft) in approximately 2 hours. From here and onwards excellent views were to be had northwards over the NE finger of the Barragem Bravura, the small hamlet of Guena, the uniquely shaped Table-Top Mountain and northwards to the hills of Monchique and Foia as they pass westwards and seawards. To the south, excellent views could be had, for much of the route looking towards, Mexilhoeira Grande, Alvor and Portimão. A diversion of some 20 minutes resulted from a search for paddling water for Xana and Pooky.(and also to locate the path we should have been on were it not for a momentary lapse of concentration! C.B.) Lunch was taken in a eucalyptus grove close to the trig point at Penascoso (712 ft). Two steep downhills were negotiated successfully but only with great care. Uphills were taxing in the conditions but were not excessive.

The following calculations may be of interest to AWW mathematicians, physicists and collectors of scientific ambulatory trivia. Prior to the walk it was determined that Myriam takes 67 paces to walk a measured 50m level section of tarmac. Mike, with more ostrich-like strides, covered the same distance in 56 paces. By extrapolation, it was determined that Myriam takes 1,340 paces to cover 1km as against Mike’s 1,120 paces. But, allowance should be made for ups and downs, that are arbitrarily taken at 30%. Incorporating this factor into the equation, and assuming an average AWW 15 km walk, it is likely that Myriam takes some 26,163 paces against Mike’s 21,840. This might encourage the makers of ladies boot wear. However, Myriam daintily dances over the ground with butterfly-like steps compared to the galumphing infantryman-like tread of Mike. The conclusion is, therefore, that whilst Myriam, as somewhat representative of the fair and gentle sex, may take more strides this is unlikely to constitute a heavier usage of hiking boot soles. Q.E.D.

Comment: Yes, high drama from the start with the "Incident of the car in the ditch"! As far as "Pilgwimps Way is concerned, we had the Pilgrims, but the Wimps stayed at home, lounging by their pools with crystal glasses of cold rehydrating fluid in their hands. Even, as mentioned, two of the dogs came up with convenient excuses! It was rather hot and humid, for mid-May, and it reinforces the need to start earlier as summer approaches. This was Stan and Elaine's last walk before they head back to UK via the Rioja Region, and with a walk in the Hebrides planned. I am awaiting confirmation from Lindsey that Elaine has handed over the considerable WW drinks fund, before I stand down Border Security on the Spanish Crossings. As is often the case, today was much cooler and with a stiff breeze, at least in Lagos, so we may have a good few more weeks to go before it becomes unbearable.

Steeper than it looks!

 

WW equivalent of the stocks!!

Couldn't find a corner to make Rod sit in!! At least he's upright this time.
This chair was not marked on Mike's Bamboo Diagrams

Amending the Bamboo Diagrams 

Rod's Out-Back walk 10th May 2006

The heat was such that most of the party required sticks for support!!

(Rod's report below)

Leader: Rod

Present; Janet, Gack, Ian S, Paul & Myriam, Terry A, Terry M, Monica, Kevin, Hazel & John, Dina & Vitor, Chris & Antje (and Jill A for the start)

Xana, Pooky, Archie, Tiggy (and Nathan for the start)

Area; Serra de Silves / R. de Odelouca

Weather: Mostly sunny, very warm...mid to upper 20’s and little wind.

Time; 5 hrs.

A 0900 start from Silves Cemetery with a 10 k drive up the S.Marcos road saw this unexpectedly large group, with a few new faces, set off from a point just below the Louro trig point. Of course we had to ascend to the trig point for the view as well as simply because it was there. Having taken that in we continued along a eucalyptus clad track heading south west. From it we had splendid views of the Odelouca valley, Picota and Foia in the background. We could still benefit from the recent fires in that much of the tree growth had been burnt allowing uninterrupted views. What was most evident however was the speed of recovery of the undergrowth and shrubs; particularly noticeable was the recovery of the arbutus which will doubtless be good news for the medronho drinkers.
After an hour or so we started descending to the valley floor. Despite a few reminders that every step down meant a step up on the return, nobody backed out! Towards the bottom, arrival at a ruined farmhouse reminded some folk that we had been around these parts before but from the opposite direction. It is a beautiful valley but soon to disappear for ever beneath the waters of the Odelouca Barragem construction of which is apparently about to recommence.
We had a few apprehensive moments teetering along a few tree trunks to cross the Odelouca but nobody got more than a wet foot. We wandered further along the banks of the river until we came to a verdant, shady patch where we opted for an early lunch. Better make the most of this lovely spot for in a year or two it will be under 30 m of water!

At this point it was decision time! Either to continue SW along a very long contour path to the new dam and then scramble up the west side back up to the ridge; or continue north on the east of the river and up that side before descending, crossing the river again and ascending back up again towards the start point; or , rather unimaginatively retracing our steps…..the easiest way back. A look round a few red and perspiring faces and considering it was a hot afternoon and we were on the lee side of the hill, we opted for the easiest choice, or some might say the wimpiest! …..in the event probably the right one!

Bridgebuilder Brunel Scott set off early from lunch, announcing that in the public interest he was going to improve the log bridge. Nobody even got their feet wet this time so he must have achieved something!

So we slowly plodded back up to the ridge, with one has to say quite a few recovery stops! ….. those with any energy left skipped up to the trig point again for a final look at the view, others took the less demanding contour route round the hill….and back to the cars. We repaired to the bar on the road back to Silves for a fairly welcome drink.

Comment: The hottest walk of the season so far - even the mild zephyrs along the ridges failed to alleviate the mid twenties heat. We had the pleasure, for the first time, of the company of John and Hazel, friends of Ian's who had recently immigrated full time from Dubai (no problem with the heat then!), Terry M's wife Monica, and Kevin who was over from UK to assist with painting Terry's house - and this was his reward on his day off! I measured the walk at 11 miles/17.5 km, and it seemed it, but it was probably less. Rod's decision to turn back and retrace our footsteps was applauded by most, and only partly because of a rare show of compassion for those less match-hardened, but also because he had attracted a larger number of walkers by advertising it as "gentle undulations 4-5 hours!" I think the original intention had been to cross over to the new Odelouca Reservoir, and link up with a previous walk. That we will have to leave for a cooler day.

Lunch on the river banks

Prefabricated Bridge - later improved!



Hazel, John and Ian among the greenery


Terry tries a spot of fishing.


Rod chewing on the problem of whether to go on or back!!

First Aid!!

The Horse Flies were out in force, perhaps angry at being fooled by the preponderance of horse-dung puffballs that had grown up on all the tracks in the area after the rains. Ian bore his pain stoically and enjoyed the attentions of Nurse Janet!!