Harry Potter, Festival F & IRS/AIMI Check

For once, I have absolutely no animal stories to write about – no new dogs, no territorial seagulls, and no bats needing a cardboard box rescue! I'm not complaining though, I think I've done my bit for the Algarve animal kingdom this summer!

Instead, I made it over to the Medieval Fair in Silves that I mentioned in my last update. It was definitely worth the trip and it was a shame I didn't dress up (or so I thought) after a couple of tankards of sangria...

I also took a slightly less medieval trip to the cinema to watch Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for its 25th anniversary. It weirdly put time into perspective, having watched it in the cinema almost 25 years ago!

I'm still waiting for my Hogwarts letter, but I presume it's lost in the Portuguese postal system (or maybe there's an owl needing to be saved!).

Sukuna is also finally coming towards the end of his heartworm treatment and only has one more month of taking it easy. It's been a long few months of medication and restricted exercise since I found him back in April, but we're nearly there. With the Algarve heat still refusing to disappear, I decided he deserved an ice lolly to cool himself down.

On the events side, summer might technically be winding down, but Portugal isn't quite finished yet. From September 3rd to 5th, Festival F returns.

The festival takes over the centre of Faro with Portuguese music, food and entertainment spread across multiple stages. If you're around the Algarve this weekend, it looks like a pretty good excuse for one more late night before autumn arrives.

Finally, there's a slightly less exciting September activity: checking what happened to the IRS return you submitted back in June.

It's worth logging into Portal das Finanças and checking your final Nota de Liquidação to compare it against the return you submitted. This is especially important if you have foreign income, investment income or anything else that makes your tax affairs a little less straightforward.

And for those of you who own higher-value Portuguese property, September is also the month to keep an eye out for AIMI (Adicional ao Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis), as this is when the annual payment falls due.

Maybe next month's update will remain free of animal emergencies but let's wait and see!

And as a treat, here are two bonus photos of Sukuna – one after bathtime and one after I had to unlock his jaw and fish out a shed lizard skin…