The rains are over and the temperature is going down; soon, it will be nice to sit outside and enjoy fall before it gets cold again. It is hard to imagine for the people who have newly arrived (to still 34 ºC) that winter really can be cold, but there you are.

I have now taken to pimping my terrace...when we moved from our house in Pushpanjali I took plants with me (mostly from the vegetable garden) but they haven't survived the summer and the heat at the terrace, so finally I went and bought palmtrees, shrubs, and my favorite, a Frangipane (guaranteed to bloom within two weeks...but this being India, I think that is a bit optimistic).
I painted my weather-beaten wooden shoes (we ARE dutch...), the stands for the sunshades and a very ugly little sidetable in Algarve blue - a sunny happy blue that goes really well with the plants and the once-white of the walls.
Everything looks crisp again (the ugly sidetable is still ugly but at least in a happy blue)...I am starting to adhere to the Indian tradition of painting everything fresh just in time for Diwali!

Inside the house also walls need to be painted; we have had serious leakages due to the heavy rains, and the whole hallway, part of the study and the guest-bathroom look rundown with big fungus patches on the wall. According to the landlady it has never happened before and she therefor blames the Noisy Neighbours who have been knocking at walls ever since we moved here (and a year before that). Personally, I am wondering, because the quality of Indian construction leaves somewhat to be desired. Still, it will need to be fixed at some point. Then, next monsoon, we will probably start all over again. But that is then...

Now, as soon as the pain in my back from trying to lift too heavy plants and pots has gone, I can enjoy our sunny Algarvian terrace with the sound of a stone quarry in the background!