Keeping busy in Santa Luzia

 Tuesday 26/07/22

We love the evenings when it starts to cool down and we get magnificent sunsets.

On Monday we drove Bokkie down the very narrow lane in Colos to see the mechanic and, in spite of language difficulties, he managed to find and repair the cause of the brake problem.  

One side of the brake slave cylinder (the muscle that pushes the brake shoes onto the drum) had corroded and was not releasing the shoe.  This meant the brake shoe was permanently rubbing against the drum causing the tremendous heat build-up.  

We basically fixed Bokkie next to the road as his workshop was so full.

Luckily he could clean it up and we were soon back on the road again. He charged a ridiculously low fee for his time so we tipped him well as his expertise was very welcome, and he was super friendly. 

The drive down the narrow lane through the village to get out again was even more stressful, avoiding parked cars, overhanging roof tiles and overhead cables.  We wouldn't normally venture down such a narrow road with Bokkie but it was worth it.

If life hands you a lemon, just eat it!

The second heat wave seems to be breaking with a north-westerly wind keeping the temperature in the low 30's for a change, but the house is still very hot inside and will take a few days to cool down.  

We had a bit of a rough night last night, partly due to the heat and the fact that we were woken at 11:30 by the cat (just saying hello, hello, hello) and at 01:00 by Bokkie's alarm (spider spinning a web in front of the internal sensor).  We park Bokkie quite a long way from the house to find some shade so it's a fair old  walk to go and check up on her.

A lovely walk through the cork forest, very dry!

We decided to go for a really long cycle this morning (1.5 hours of dirt road, with plenty of hills and dust), so are both feeling a bit worn out today - but glad for the exercise. 

Molly, now worm and flea  free and as cute as ever.