How Was Your Week? Physio, Painting, Portuguese and Poorly Plant

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you it’s been a long week with hardly a moment to catch my breath! I don’t know about you, but for me, some weeks drag as one day slowly melds into the next, and while I set out with good intentions that a quiet week at home should allow me time to catch up and clear the backlist of jobs on my To Do list, of course, I don’t. Perhaps it’s because time is like cupboard space: the less time you have, the more you accomplish. We have a saying if you want something done, ask a busy person. Have you heard this?

The Cost of Animal Care in Portugal

Monday mornings are always well spent volunteering at the local ACCT Charity shop, which raises money to help animals.

To be honest, I’m not surprised at the number of abandoned pets. The cost of a vet’s bill is eye-wateringly expensive. Recently, a friend’s dog needed treatment. The cost was nearly €1000! Okay, she could afford it, but low-income families don’t earn that amount in a month!

Why is veterinary care so expensive? Is it because they know some people would rather remortgage their home than let their pet suffer that they charge such exorbitant prices?

Portuguese Course – Yes, another…

I managed to squeeze in on a FREE Portuguese course that had just started in our local village. Friends told me they’d put my name on a ‘waiting list’, but after a couple of weeks, I grew impatient and took matters into my own hands, tracked down the woman who was organising the lessons and begged for a place. I started on Tuesday. The course is only one hour twice a week. No stress parking, and the building is easily accessible. A triple bonus is that I like the teacher. I am determined to crack it this time around. I’ve bought the three textbooks and am already reviewing the lessons I’ve missed.

Physio — OUCH!

Have you ever suffered from tendonitis? OMG, it is so painful. It’s in my hip, and after my first of ten physio sessions, I was in agony.

Hobbies and Interests

I am pleased to say I finally finished my Buddha painting and have started a new project while the creative juices were flowing.

Hobbies: Acrylics – Buddha in the Making

What projects have you completed recently?

Save the Plant or Should That Be THE Tree?

This week, we were on a mission to save our monster Dracaena plant. For weeks, it has emitted a nasty musty odour, which has gradually worsened. We knew it would be a huge task, so we planned to dig it out of the mammoth pot, remove and replace all the soil, and replant on Tuesday when our home help would be there to assist us. Except she couldn’t come. I wanted to cry. Mr. P had already uprooted the plant, and it was sprawled across the floor by the time we knew. No matter, Brit stiff upper lip and all that …

After hours of huffing, puffing, bending and lifting, we removed all the dry, spent soil and realised that apart from a small rootball, the rest of the roots were dead.

We refilled the pot with a multi-purpose compost but there was not much in the way of rootball to support the plant. Thinking outside the box Mr. P lugged in some rocks from the garden. Let’s just hope they will be enough to stabilise the plant until and if the roots reestablish. I don’t know if it will survive.

I’d like to linger for another coffee but my job list is getting longer and I have not completed my Portuguese homework.

Do pop over and check out the other #weekendcoffeeshare blogs over at Natalie’s.