October: We headed back for Year 2 of Portuguese language class. With any luck, at the end of the course we will have a B2 (upper-intermediate) language level, and hopefully a bit more ease with conversational Portuguese.

Our favorite neighborhood kid Bianca needed help with a school project and it was Halloween themed, so definitely in our wheelhouse. We battled cardboard boxes, construction paper, hot glue, googly eyes, and an assortment of other crafting goodies to create “Casa Das Bruxas” (Witches House) over the course of two days. She won first prize for our creation, and it is still displayed in pride of place at the family cafe. Every now and again she pulls it down and shows it off to various patrons. Her dad calls us architects of the impossible.

We celebrated Halloween with some household decor and spooky seasonal food, including a rat cheese ball.

We rounded out the month with board games and nights out with friends, seeing cats all over town and finally attending an Olhanense soccer match in person.

November: We attended a second Olhão soccer game, it was a beautiful afternoon. Pets snuggled us and each other (this wasn’t especially unique for November, we are just partial to taking cute pics of them).

Last year we celebrated a potluck Thanksgiving with friends and it was lovely. This year we had an evening language class so we decided to cook and eat at home. We prepared an awesome sheet pan dinner, had a serving for lunch before we went to class, and then ate leftovers for dinner after class.

Unfortunately a few days after Thanksgiving our incorrigible cat Thursday, the notorious road trip escape artist, and main culprit in several attempted escapes when we first moved here, went missing. We think she slipped out of the back sliding door which had been malfunctioning and not locking properly. We printed up fliers and Andrew delivered them to our neighbors, nearby businesses, and vet clinics. We called the local animal shelter. Every Portuguese friend who heard our story believed she had been kidnapped because she is “large, and very beautiful”. We never believed in the possibility of abduction because while she may be the Cindy Crawford of cats in Portugal, she is also least likely to win Miss Congeniality. She is sensitive to loud noises, and trusts almost no one. Let’s just say Liam Neeson would approve of this cat’s ability to fight back if “taken”.

We received a couple of tips from neighbors, but nothing panned out. We quickly learned how many black cats live on the street while searching cat communes, cat feeding stations, and walking the streets many a night. We befriended outgoing street cats and some of them followed us home. We put litter and food outside of our door. We executed stakeouts by setting food outside with the front door open to spy which cat kept returning between 2-4 am for a snack (newsflash: it wasn’t Thursday). We cried A LOT.

Brother cat Morse was very sad and kept searching the house, trying to open cabinet doors and looking out the back door for her. He would sit in the front window for hours staring at a black cat on a balcony across the street, we kept telling him “sorry buddy, that isn’t her”. The weather turned rainy for days on end and we felt even worse about our poor cat kid. I joked, through tears, “she is alone on the street and doesn’t even speak Portuguese.” We showered Morse with attention and extra cuddles.

December: We continued our massive 2 player Gloomhaven quest, Bianca did her best to keep us entertained, and we celebrated a friend’s birthday.

We had a very blue Christmas. The cat was still missing and with every passing day, hope for a reunion was evaporating. I had dreams with actual visions of her furry face turning the corner of our street and walking up to the front door. We didn’t decorate for the holidays, but we did manage to watch some of Andrew’s favorite seasonal rom-coms to cheer us up. During Christmas break, we purchased and played through Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Playing the elephant power up was a hoot and it was a great diversion from the lingering doldrums.

We didn’t feel like cooking a big holiday meal. Fortunately Alzira at Café Bianca was preparing take away for Christmas. We ordered enough food for 10 people: donuts, savory appetizers, two main dishes, and a dessert. Every morsel was delicious. We repurposed some of the leftover Stuffed Pork Loin into a Stroganoff inspired dish served over pasta. Comfort food for Christmas was exactly what we needed. Andrew baked some of his famous spritz cookies to share with neighbors and friends.

Jorge dragged us out of the house for lunch at Faro beach. After lunch we went to Cerro de São Miguel an overlook between Olhão and São Brás de Alportel. The view was still pretty great, even though it was cloudy.