Seconded to the parish of Tililngdon, the Reverend Dolores has been presented with a challenge.

She’s living in an antiquated house and she’s cold. Furthermore, her new Bishop, Bishop Alice does not approve of ‘showgirls in dog collars.’

Determined to prove the Bishop wrong, she sets about warming her house – who cares if it smells of horse! There is the crochet club, jumble sale, and soup run to organise. And this year, the church bells will ring, no matter what threats are made. Even more so, the newly formed choir will spread a little joy this Christmas, even though they can’t sing – yet! And with a little help from Phil, her bassist, this year could be full of magic.

However, she has a fight on her hands as the townies out in Knob Hill – she must stop calling it that, are trying to stop her from ringing her bells. When Krystal with a K decides to do some volunteer work, Dolores sets out to see just how committed she really is.

Up to her ears in granny squares and squawking choristers, Dolores is revving up for Christmas, yet a deeper darker secret is beginning to emerge!

A secret that could blow the whole parish apart and put Dolores in danger.

(available from Amazon)

Papaya Production Increases

By Samantha Gannon on 1st March 2025 8:50 pm

On a visit to a papaya farm on the Ribeira Funda site, the Regional Director of Agriculture and Rural Development, Marco Caldeira, made it known that the regional production of papaya reached 500 thousand euros in 2024

In 2024, papaya cultivation occupied an area of 6 hectares, reaching 189 tonnes of fruit, and these values have remained fairly static. Furthermore, in 2024, farmers were paid an all-time high of €2.64/kg (average).

to ensure success, Madeiran and Porto Santean farmers received continual and free technical support, as well as aid from MicroLab in the production of dwarfing varieties, – a laboratory under the responsibility of the Regional Directorate for Agriculture and Rural Development, whose main mission is to encourage agriculture by creating disease resistant plant species that are of manifest regional interest -.

The goal is to create larger diversification and sustainable incomes for farmers.

Samantha Gannon

info at madeira-weekly.com

Published in Agriculture, Economy, Food & Beverage, Government, Madeira and NEWS