Eight years ago I acquired a car, by acquired I don’t mean I nicked it, I was given it. The car sounded a bit clunky at the rear end and I immediately thought, shock absorbers.

A poem, 'Covid' by author, Fred Steel.

Have you ever stared at a clock face that is caught in a large mirror? Well if you have,  you will understand the dilemna that was created, as I sat there in the barber's chair.

A couple of years back I was informed that as a resident I had to have a Portuguese driving licence. As my wife and I were due an annual flu jab I waited until we saw our doctor in the Autumn, had the jab and I asked her for the necessary health certificate I needed to get a driving licence. She scribbled something in Portuguese on a bit of paper and handed it to me.

From 1996 the Algarve is the place where I have spent the winter. It started with 6 weeks and up until last time it was 4 months. In a one  room apartment, not very glamorous but with a first class view, seafront, beautiful !

The crisis will get worse, say scientists. Bureaucrats will continue to delay the distribution of EU funds. Will a control group at the Presidency use best practices?

Once, I wrote an article on drones for firefighters, hospitals and companies to check fertilizer need in agriculture, or details of facades in tall buildings, as Global Drone Tech does.

"Super Fiendish and Killers" have filled most of my mornings over the last six months. These Soduko puzzles plus a run through of all the free web based papers has usually left me in dire need of physical exercise during the afternoon hours.  So some days I have enjoyed isolated scrambles, inland over the western Algarve and over the cliffs/beaches stretching from Vale de Boi to Cape Vicente. "Magnificient" is the only word that describes these adventures.