Mutts !

　

A little commentary on the whole wonderful doggie world !



Hubby patting a pooch,

Since I met my husband, 37 years ago, we have never ever had a dog !! I was brought up with a variety of dogs having spent quite a few years on the family farm and also when my parents had a wonderful 16th century coaching inn with a good few acres of land.



A free roaming flokati carpet ?

On the farm we had a variety of dogs, all working -- none were idle or thought of as pets as such and never allowed in the farmhouse at all. There was a few border collies for rounding up the sheep and cattle and a terrier for ratting (I was never allowed near this fierce little bugger and was well trained to avoid him !) .

There was also a lean greyhound which my uncle used for racing at the grounds in Aberystwyth. I suppose he was as near a pet as a farm would allow (or at least, my grandfather) in those days. A pampered pooch though? - doubt it very much, everything had to earn its keep. I am talking about the fifties here when money was scarce and resources well managed!! No easy-to-get bank loans.




He adopted us at the last campsite

The nearest thing to a personal pet a I had as a very young child were orphaned lambs. These were cute but not soft and fluffy as one imagines (their fleece was quite wiry when very tiny)and their feeding with glass bottles and teats fun to start with even though their tugging at the bottles was ferocious. Sadly they soon outgrew me and became very boisterous indeed. Then it was time for them to join the flock and mingle a little more with their own kind !!?

My next personal pet was a POODLE !! A little black ball of fluff and fun...... looking back, I reckon my mother got me this as a distraction when my father went into hospital full time. Looking back, I think she thought it would help me by being a sort of surrogate for my father. A transference of love from daddy to a new and exciting puppy all of my own.

I actually gave her the name of SOOTY as at the time I was a great fan of the Sooty and Sweep Show, most unoriginal, but what do you expect from a 7 year old ?? My brother got the hamsters to keep him busy !!

So back to the mutts ......



 

 A shaggy pile enjoying the sun.

Dogs in this country are almost always on a lead, especially in towns and around children in parks etc. In Spain and Portugal, the opposite is the case !

  I have yet to see a spanish owned dog out for a walk with their owners - they are mostly regarded as watchdogs for their properties and bark/snarl/charge at fences and gates whenever you pass by on rambles etc. A bit disconcerting and sometimes quite frightening !! I'm a wimp when it comes to growls and bared teeth....


The other thing they do is just let the dogs wander at will ... anywhere and everywhere... especially in the country villages. These have a great life and are obviously traffic savy enough to survive the manic drivers too - we never saw any corpses scattered around the lanes like we see mangled badgers here - a very sad and quite commonplace sight nowadays.

The bigger one was very snappy !

Have often wondered if you can eat badger (it's about the same size as a decent turkey I figured). We went through a phase of hoicking dead pheasants off the roads and casseroleing them - quite delicious in red wine and lots of thyme.

Once we got them home, I'd pop on my rubber gloves and instead of trying to pluck the feathers off would simply flay them with feathers intact straight into a plastic bag, gut them and then leave them to hang in the garage a few days before they hit the pot !! Simples....I love food for free.

Was a bit upset a while ago to have missed a hind - passed her on the roadside legs up on the verge - but had a client to go to first and when I got back she'd been snaffled !! Shucks..think hubby was relieved though, all that butchering to do....

Our permanent doormat !

Anyway, these free roaming dogs are the cutest looking as they are proper mutts..see what you think. Invariably scruffy, scraggy and adorable on the whole with a whole lot of character ....


They especially seem to find my husband adorable, but then so do I !!
 





 

 Soooooo cute, aint they ?


Monsanto



Dwarfed !

This is the most incredible village that I have ever been to in my life so far. It has so much character and is quite incredibly quirky !!

The first time we went there, we parked in the lower village and walked up the main road as it zigged and zagged up the steep mountain side. Even
 at this  stage the boulders were immense....


There was a reason for our being there - an orienteering sprint race around the village and surrounding hillside was to be held late afternoon and so we were doing a 'recce' as well as sight seeing.

The village seems to be have been built in and around and under the huge huge boulders perched on the mountainside. These could never be moved due to their size and so the people just built where they could and left the stones standing.

 It makes for an amazing sight as quite a few of these boulders are larger than the houses!



A lot of the cottages have been renovated and tarted up but an awful lot are almost semi-derelict and just crying out for some tender care.....

The views are wide ranging from most of the village, but from the ancient ruins of the Knights Templar castle on the very top they were breathtaking.

We could see down to the lake where we were camped up easily and probably over to Spain as well.


A whole new meaning to 'infill' !

On our second visit, which was much more relaxed, we spent more time rambling all over as time was not as issue. The second viewing was just as exciting as we explored some different part of the village and this time I ventured right up to the top of the hill - the view was a big draw !!

The is a village of steps, steps and more steps !! Lots of twists and turns and tucked away little corners.

 I even found a tiny garden hidden between boulders - I'd sat awhile, on a handy boulder (what else ?), catching my breath and was watching an elderly lady come back and forth with a watering can. Eventually she pulled a sort of makeshift fence/gate to and sallied forth home. I had a peek over the gate - broad beans in full growth and a few olive trees. A tiny space, well tended and productive despite being amongst the boulders.

 A natural shelter belt and all the heat absorbed by those giant boulders would have been freed in the cool of the evenings.


One of the quirkiest things we found were the old pig styes - at least that's what we reckoned they were in the end. Right at the top of the village, and again built in and around the boulders and all made of stone - of course. Very rudimentary but adequate. Each sty had a small yard, a water trough and a little stone house with a domed stone roof which had been turfed over by time.


None of them was in use now, sadly. So much easier to pop down the supermarket for some pork chops ?

The only livestock we saw up there was a single chicken caged in one of the disused styes and  a small herd of goats - some of which were fettered but despite this managed to scramble along and rocks and walls. Qute a feat really.

We had a coffee and cake in one of the little cafes and they asked us if we'd like to go outside on to the terrace. Goodness me - it was built onto one of the giant boulders and we had to scramble up the steps get to the eyrie!! Felt like being on top of the world. I was most uncomfortable despite the addition of a little stone wall and a hand rail around us.

I was practically hanging on to the table to make sure I didn't fall off the boulder into the street below.
 Best almond and walnut cake I've ever eaten though, really moist and light. Yum.

On our second trip we were lucky enough to come accross a local singing and dancing troop - they were all dressed in costumes for a photoshoot on the wide communal terrace. No performance sadly though.

 One of the older ladies balanced a huge arrangement of flowers on her head and was walking comfortably around with it perched there. Quite a sight.

One thing I noticed in particular was the abundance of terraces and stone benches outside the doorways. Obviously a very communal style of life must have been led here in Portugal. It is often warmer in the sun outdoors than tucked away in an unheated house and a good chat can be fun and companionable, and of course these days the tourists are a great source of amusement !!



The ultimate roof insulation !!??

We have not come accross any central heating anywhere here, and most people just wear their coats when indoors even when working!! Museums, art galleries, shops, cafes etc - all are quite cool this time of year.
 Now, in mid-summer that is probably a blessing ?

Wish we had that problem here in Britain !!