moth2fic

And finally...

If you've been with me so far, I've dealt with our immediate circle, and our own situation, and I've described the effects of the fires on our immediate area. Now I want to talk about the effects on Portugal as a whole. Bear in mind that I'm not an expert, just an interested observer. All this is speculation but it might serve to underpin your understanding if you read or see anything else about the issues. It also has implications for disasters world-wide.

As before, the cut will take you to my longer post.

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And that's it for now. I will post pictures when I have them.

Now to talk about the area around what was our house, and the people who live there.

A lot of you will be hazy about Portuguese geography so I make no apology for starting with that!

Simplistic explanation: think of Portugal as a rectangle standing on one of its short sides. Draw a Christian-style cross on the rectangle. Our house was roughly where the two lines meet in the middle. The Algarve - sunny, touristy, and unaffected by fires, is on the bottom short side. Lisbon, the capital is about a third of the way up the west long side and Porto, the other main port, is about two thirds. The top short side and the east long side border Spain. Everything from just south of us to and beyond the Spanish border in the north was affected by the fires. The bit a little further south only wasn't because they were burnt out in June of this year. The coast escaped comparatively lightly though Aveiro (just south of Porto) had some fire in outlying districts and the Lisbon coast was likewise affected.

Portugal is small, about the size of England with Wales, Scotland and Cornwall removed. It has a low population - about 10 million which makes it roughly the equivalent of London. It is also quite poor and has recently just started to recover from severe financial difficulties and a period of intense austerity. More about the effects of that in a later post - for now I'll stick with our area, centred on the town of Oliveira do Hospital (nothing to do with modern hospitals but named for one of the town founders, a Knight Hospitaller and his olive orchards).

Oliveira is/was our main shopping centre, about 15-20 minutes drive from the house, but visible from it - you have to drive down a very steep hill then along the river valley then up again at the other side to reach town. It's also the centre for our local council, police, courts, fire service, banks, hospital, supermarkets, etc. etc.

The area around is mostly rural with large villages and their outlying farms in the foothills of the Serra de Estrela (Mountains of the Stars), the highest mountain range in Portugal. (For Brit readers, the main peak is three times the height of Snowdon and there is skiing in the winter.) The main 'industries' are/were timber, sheep (wool and cheese), wine etc. and tourism. It was making rapid headway as the centre of a revitalisation of central Portugal, along with other local towns, Seia, Arganil and Tabua, all of them just far enough from the city of Coimbra (nearer the coast) to be important in their own right.

For details about how the fires affected the Oliveira area, click on the 'cut'.

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In a third post I will talk about Portugal in general and the wider implications of the events of October 2017.

Where to start? Well, I'm leaving this post unlocked (not my normal style at all) so that I can point non-LJ friends at it and update everybody at once. I'm really really grateful for all the support, advice, and care, but it is very time consuming trying to make sure everybody knows everything! Non-LJers - you can leave anon comments and identify yourself in some way that will make sense to me and you!

I've also decided against cross posting from DW this time though I'm posting this to DW as well. My last attempt at providing images didn't quite work - LJ pics happily upload to DW but the reverse doesn't always seem to be true. Possibly because my DW account is also default friends-locked and might be very kindly hiding my pictures for me.

OK, husband is back in UK for the time being and has brought me up to date so I can tell you all about it under the cut. Non-LJers, just click on the thing that says 'read more' or whatever the current LJ terminology is, and it will open for you. Magic? (It just saves people having to scroll for miles on their friends' page feed.)

First of all, our own position. Note that this is my interpretation of what I've been told and might need amending in future developments.


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Because of the length of this post I am going to talk about what happened in the area in general in another post (again, unlocked).

Meanwhile, a very dear friend died in France this week (cancer) and this weekend we are going to Devon for a memorial for another close friend who died in August (also cancer). So I seem to be surrounded by death, and am incredibly busy. I will leave comments enabled but don't feel you have to offer sympathy and please don't worry if I don't reply straight away.

(I wrote this a few years ago to a prompt from a writing group. I’ve tweaked it slightly to bring it up to date. It’s a kind of homage – and maybe we all wish it could be last year and 2016 could be re-run with edits?)
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(Crossposted to my Wordpress blog and my author Facebook page)

Gryphons by Alyx Jae Shaw

I was lucky enough to read the first draft of this book and loved it then. I bought the 'polished' and extended version when it came out. The author, who has published with various Indie publishers, couldn't find a home for this so published it on Lulu. As a result, the print version is quite expensive for a paperback but is worth every penny. I promised a review, and must state straight away that although I know the author online (she's on my LJ f'list) I have paid full price for the paperback book and the review is completely impartial. However, I would recommend the e-book version for anyone who is either poor or not sure! Details under the cut.

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Go and buy it. Go and tell your friends about it. You won't regret it!

I'm leaving this post unlocked so if you want to point it out to friends who might enjoy the book, go ahead!

NeuroTribes by Steve Silberman

I can't praise this book highly enough. Anyone interested in autism, in the history of psychology or psychiatry, and even in the history of medicine should read it.

I have written a long review because I am anxious to 'sell' the book. I have also left the post open, contrary to my usual practice, so do send along anyone you think might be interested.

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Please try to get this book from your local library. I would suggest buying it but really, I'd like to see it on library shelves in the hope that the word will spread!!

I've done all my Christmas shopping for this year - yes, I'm super-organised but that's because I can't cope with last minute crowds. However, if I or my family had any more space for calendars I'd be going for this one. I've been reading about the daily lives of these pretty chicks and here they are in their very own calendar. I hope the creators do something similar next year a little earlier!
If you can, go and buy - you'll be supporting some beautiful birds!

http://delaese.livejournal.com/807…

16 icons - well, 17 if you include the one I've used - for you. I chose an early date so that you could use them for Christmas, but there are some that are appropriate any time of year. I deliberately left all but one without text. Feel free to add your own captions - or ask me. Enjoy - grab some or all, and credit, please! Comments=love.

Bases are taken from pictures on IMDb then cropped, enhanced, resized etc. using Photoshop and inserted into themes using various online photo editing sites.

I have put them under a cut because I can't work out how to have them all nicely side by side like our advent doors.
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For any of you who might have been worried.

I was offline yesterday for various reasons for about 12 hours and when I came back there had been a short sharp revolution back at OTW/AO3

This is to reassure you all - because I've seen some of the panic in assorted places.

The org and AO3 are fine. Ove 500 committed volunteers are working hard to keep them that way.
The staff and volunteers are fine - a bit shell-shocked but we've been partying.
The newly elected Board members are fine. Ultra-busy but fine, with lots of support.

(This was a result beyond our wildest dreams. All sorts of hopes can now be realised and most of us are giddy with delight.)

Your works on AO3 are safe. The ones imported by Open Doors are safe.
Your information in Fanlore is safe.
Your access to TWC is safe and so are your submissions.
Your reliance on defence by Legal against copyright take-downs etc. is safe.

We don't have all the details and new plans yet. How could we? We didn't expect this.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, the entire current Board of OTW just resigned effective 15th December, leaving Matty and Atiya, the newly elected members who take office on 1st December in glorious isolation. They are extremely competent and completely trustworthy. All is well.

(This replaces today's planned post. Normal service will resume tomorrow. )

I am taking a day's 'hiatus' on posting about myself, my adventures and my writing, to share my feelings about the horrors of Friday night. j_flattermann inspired me with her beautiful post but hers is f'locked whereas I shall, for once, leave mine public.




Manchester Town Hall wore the Tricolore last night to show solidarity with Paris.

My love and grief and thoughts go out to all the victims and their families, and the unharmed witnesses at the scene and throughout France who must be so shocked. And there were yet more atrocities in Lebanon leaving distraught and bereaved people.

We - the world of sane people who value humanity and democracy, however flawed those might sometimes be - must not let these vicious terrorists win. They are not representative of Islam, or indeed of anything except their own distorted political views. They are international criminals and should be brought to justice.

Meanwhile, we must stand with Paris and Beirut, and let their citizens know they are not alone.