October

Teresa and Jay flew to Portugal on Monday 1 for a short holiday. Teresa’s meticulous preparations paid off. They were collected from Old Forge House by taxi at 2 in the morning, and were at their villa in Albufeira by 10 am. They stayed in a villa we had been to before – convenient for town and beach – and used local transport for their excursions. They were lucky with the weather, enjoying some good days on the beach. Other highlights were a day trip to Loule and the discovery of a very good fish restaurant slightly off the beaten track in Albufeira.

◄ Teresa in the fish restaurant

▲ A salmon platter

◄ Jay at the villa

Albufeira beach ►

Back in England, Roger met Helen in Headington on Tuesday 2 for a morning’s shopping, before returning to Toddington together. Helen went back to Headington the following day for a change of air, staying in Jay’s flat for a few days. On Monday 8 Teresa and Jay returned to England and made their way to Oxford, while Roger returned to Headington and with Helen they all had a grand reunion at Oxford station.

A solemn week in the middle of the month, Roger and Teresa attending two funerals, one of a well liked bowler – the first to introduce Roger to indoor bowls at Littleton – and the second that of the only son of a close neighbour.

Unfortunately towards the end of the month Roger began to suffer increasingly from suspected prostatitis. He had to curtail his activities, including his indoor bowling, pending a hospital test to confirm the diagnosis and indicate appropriate treatment.

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