Spring is Sprung

It just crept up on me. One minute I had my head buried in accounts, textbooks and the like, the next everything in the garden is budding, sprouting, flowering away, like the ornamental cherry tree here, the weeping willow, the bulbs I planted only last month.

The downside is the huge quantities of yellow dust given off by the pines, covering everything and getting into our lungs. 10 cm of growth in a week on the lawn is a daunting prospect too. We could do with some rain to settle the dust. Strangely, only last week I was saying "I'm sick of all this rain" - not something you would expect to hear from an Englishman in Portugal.

And the days are getting longer - more light for golfing! Now all I need is some time off work (fat chance) to make the most of this beautiful time of year.

Season's End

I never really took much notice of the Portuguese habit of stating that the seasons begin and end on the equinoxes and solstices, perhaps because in England it can snow in April, rain all of August and get unbearably hot in May. But this week has put and end to summer with a vengance.

I spent a merry afternoon clearing drains, in the rain. Very prudent, you may think, but it was a reaction to the flooded garage during Thursday morning's downpour, due to lack of maintenance. Then I get in the shower and find my so-called tan rubbing off. I hate it when that happens. Will anybody notice I'm cleaner, whiter (pinker!)?

The coincidence of the week was swapping CDs in the car. What came up? "Season's End" by Marillion...