The secret of staying young in spirit 

Dorothy Boilter’s  100^th birthday

     “She goes with the flow and doesn’t let much bother her,” says her eldest daughter, B.J. Boulter.

     That may be the secret of Dorothy Boulter’s popularity, happiness and longevity.

     Many family members and friends gather in the Algarve village of Estombar to celebrate Dorothy’s 100^th birthday on 9^th May.

     Twenty-nine members of her family came from as afield as the United Kingdom, Finland, Greece and the Netherlands to enjoy this very special, fun-filled occasion.

     Dorothy, whose father was English and mother Italian, was born on the island of Malta during the First World War.

    She served with the British Royal Navy during the Second World War. 
    She and her husband, Royston, together with their seven children, spent 16 years in Africa before coming to the Algarve in 1962...
    They bought the renowned Solar Penguin guest house on the seafront at Praia da Rocha. Dorothy ran it for 45 years.

      Widowed in 1981, Dorothy retired in 2007 and now lives independently in Estombar near B.J. 

     At 100 years of age, she is still quick-witted, humorous and always smiling.

    

    

    

Azure-wings are here to stay

     April sees the start of the breeding season for many birds in the Algarve, none more remarkable than the Azure-winged Magpie, which is strongly defying predictions that it may be facing extinction.

     About the size of a blackbird but appearing bigger because of its multi-coloured body and much longer tail, the Azure-wing’s brash and boisterous behaviour also make it easy to spot.   

     Male and female are identical in appearance and they remain gregarious even though winter flocks are now loosening. Young couples, as well as monogamous pairs that have already bonded for life, will this month be home-building on the basis of a single new nest per tree.

     In Europe, Azure-wings occupy the southwest corner - the Algarve, southern Alentejo and the neighbouring Spanish province of Andalusia. They are found nowhere else except on the other side of the world - in China, Korea and Japan.

     Pleistocene fossil evidence has ruled out any notion that exotic Azure-wings were imported from the Far East by early Portuguese explorers. The resident European and East Asian populations were slowly split apart a million or more years ago with the advance of the last Ice Age.

      Once fairly scarce in the Algarve, they are now flourishing in woodlands, parklands and orange groves all across the region.  

     Their numbers seem to be ever increasing despite an ominous study published some years ago in the international science journal Nature.

     Researchers forecast that a quarter of all land and plant species in the world might be driven to extinction if greenhouse gas emissions were not drastically reduced.

     The authors of the study named the Azure-winged Magpie as one of the top ten climatically threatened bird species in Europe.

     The study predicted a loss of between 50% and 95% of the Azure-wings, depending on their ability to disperse and occupy suitable new areas in response to habitat changes brought about by global warming.

     While even now they do not care for sparsely vegetated, wind-swept areas and would be forced out by desertification, Azure-wings are extremely adaptable when it comes to diet.

      In addition to all sorts of creepy-crawlies foraged from trees, bushes and the ground, they enjoy fruits and nuts and are thus regarded by some farmers as a menace.

     Their popularity is also tainted by the fact that they will take eggs and young from the nests of song birds.

     Their audacity commonly stretches to swooping into gardens and backyards to raid kitchen scraps or leftover biscuits in cats’ and dogs’ bowls. Cheeky, but as Darwin explained, it’s the most adaptable and fittest that survive.

     While aggressive in some ways, Azure-wings within their own communities show compassion. Individuals within loose breeding colonies help each other with nest building, supplying food to incubating females and feeding fledglings.

     Along with other fellow members of the crow family, this is one of the brainiest species in the bird world. Its brain-to-body ratio equals that of the great apes, whales, dolphins and porpoises. It’s only slightly less than ours.

     Extinction? Not in our lifetime!   

Photo taken in the Algarve by Colin Key

Winter and long-lets increasing

     The English couple at the centre of the first episode of the BBC’s “Get Away for Winter” series broadcast last month are among the ever-growing number of foreigners renting properties during the off-season, or even all-year-round.

     Trish and Dave Guilford from Sussex stayed in Ferragudo from mid-December to mid-February after their specially filmed search for an ideal winter getaway.  

      They chose a two-bedroom apartment at €650 a month and enjoyed their first stay in the Algarve so much that they have booked accommodation in Ferragudo for six months throughout the whole of next winter.

     Mandy Hughes, a Lagoa-based property consultant who managed the majority of the venues for the “Get Away for the Winter” filming in the Algarve last October, says the winter rental market here is very buoyant.

     “Every year we are seeing more visitors from both Europe and further afield, particularly America and Canada.”

     She says the winter trend provides a great option for local owners who rent their property out in the summer months but often have it standing empty over the winter.  

     “A quality, two-bedroom house or apartment in a good location can often be rented for between €500 and €800 per month plus utility costs in the winter.

     “There is not a great demand for villas over the winter as those visiting from November to April tend to be retired couples.”

     As many of the major holiday resorts almost shut down over the winter months, less publicised places such as Lagos and Ferragudo  are entertaining the bulk of the winter visitors. Mandy says.

     “The long term rental market, involving lets of twelve months or more, has also become increasingly busy.

     “Property sales are a very important side of our business and we see that many overseas purchasers are opting to rent before they buy – giving themselves time to decide on their preferred area over a twelve month period rather than basing their property choice on relatively short holiday experiences.”

       Mandy notes that many of those investing in an Algarve property may be well placed to enjoy it either as solely a second home, or making the most out of their investment with holiday and long term lets.

     “In Algarve Sales and Rentals we have found that property owners are turning to us to manage the whole rental process for them. That includes advertising, finding tenants, arranging contracts and then getting the tenants settled into the property.  

     “The incentives to do this are many, not least of which is no  longer having to pay utilities, gardeners, maids and pool maintenance.

     “Once they have taken all their costs into account, 95% of owners come to the conclusion that they actually make more profit for a long-term rental than they do for the summer holiday market.”

      Trish and Dave Guildford, retirees who have fallen in love with the Algarve as a result of taking part in the first episode of the BBC’s “Get Away for the Winter” series, are also expecting to make a profit next winter.

     While renting in Ferragudo again, this time for six months from next October, they intend to rent out their Sussex home. They anticipate a far higher income per month from their own house than they will be paying in Ferragudo, plus saving on UK heating bills, food and other less expensive items here.

     Trish and Dave, who stayed in Ferragudo from mid-December to mid-February, say they would consider renting elsewhere in the Algarve in future years.

     “We love the Portuguese and especially the Algarve area with its beautiful scenery and glorious beaches and walks.

     “The feeling of friendliness from the locals is really lovely. We feel safe here and less stressed.”

  Trish and Dave

Aquarians of very different ages

Some fascinating comparisons between British expatriates born in the first week of the Aquarius sign of the zodiac are personified by Charles Every who turned 102 on January 20, and twin sisters, Mariota and Catriona Anderson, who are celebrating their  20th birthday today, Friday 26.

Although their homes are within a few kilometres of each other in the Lagoa area, Charles and the Anderson sisters have never met.

Despite the generation gap, and leaving aside all the usual horoscope baloney, they do indeed have much in common.

For starters, they have distinguished family backgrounds. The second son of the 11th Baronet Every. Much of Charles' early life was spent in the historic mansion of Egginton Hall in Derbyshire, Egland.

The Anderson sisters are direct descendants of the greatest Scottish bard, Robert Burns, and their original home was a castle near St Andrews in the kingdom of Fife in eastern Scotland.

Neither Charles nor the twins show any signs of pretentious aristocracy and they have certainly downsized in terms of accommodation.

Charles was educated at Harrow, one of England's foremost public schools, founded in 1572 by a Royal Charter granted by Queen Elizabeth 1. He disliked the school because “the people there were all too posh”.

The Anderson girls attended the Algarve International School in Porches, before studying for international baccalaureate diplomas back in Scotland.

A the age of 20, Charles was studying for a degree in architecture at London University. The Andersons are at present studying at King's College, London, for degrees in international relations.

Charles became familiar with international matters in his twenties during the Second World War. He served with the British armed forces in India and Burma. After the war he spent more than two decades pursuing a successful career as a town planner in South Africa.

On deciding to move to Europe in his early fifties, Charles ended up buying a house on the outskirts of Carvoeiro and moved into it permanently in 1969. He has lived here ever since.

The Anderson twins were just four months old when their parents, Fiona and John, brought them to settle in the Algarve in 1998.

In Charles' generation the young faced a deeply uncertain future because the world then was steeped in social and economical turbulence as well as international conflict. And so it is for Mariota and Cariona's generation today.

It's a very different world now, of course, with very different challenges. Life was generally much better in the old days, according to Charles.

The Anderson twins acknowledge that modern technology has both bettered some everyday problems and worsened others, but say that as students they must remain optimistic.

People generally are living longer nowadays. Population statistics have soared. The total population of the world when Charles was a lad was less than two billion. It's now about 7.6 billion. If the Anderson twins make it to Charles' present age, the world will be inhabited by an estimated 11.8 billion.

Females have long had a higher life expectancy than males, though the gap is narrowing. In Britain, when Charles was born, the average life expectancy for a man was 60 years. Today the average life expectancy in Western Europe is79 for a man and 84 for a woman.

As for Brexit or no Brexit, Britain for Charles is a thing of the distant past.. He intends to spend the rest of his days in Portugal and in the place he loves most of all the aquatic garden in his Carvoeiro home.
     While specialising in international relations, either or both of the Anderson twins may wish to pursue careers abroad, but their beloved “home” will always be the Algarve.

Mariota and Catriona 

Recent photo of Charles by Lisa

+ Sadly, Charles had to spend his birthday in hospital and undergo hip surgery after an early morning fall. He is  recovering but, given his age, is expected to remain in hospital for a week or more .