Thursday, August 15, 2013

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - August 2013

Welcome! Although it's been very hot and dry, most of the roses are blooming well and there is a lot of colour in my Algarve garden. These shots are from the 13th because I knew it would be impossible to photograph my blooms today.

Let's begin with the roses.

My roses
The red roses are doing extremely well since I began opening an umbrella to shade them from the midday sun.

Iceberg rose

 Now for the oleanders and hibiscus...
Red-flowered oleander
You can just make out the red hibiscus on the left. The day before I took these photos it had several large blooms, then it went shy on me. The variegated oleander is looking just as good as in July. Only the peachy-coloured one has stopped blooming.
Yellow hibiscus
This hibiscus is thriving.

This lavender is flowering for the first time since I bought it and introduced it to a new bed. The one I showed you in July is still going strong.

I'm falling in love with succulents!
Lavender, cuphea and aeonium
This is my first attempt at creating a simple arrangement with the succulents I already have.
Arranging succulents

And that's all for today. Thank you to May Dreams Gardens for hosting this international monthly tour of blooms.



Sunday, August 11, 2013

A telegraphic Sunday Post

The weather is great.
The outdoors beckons.
I have visitors.
Writing blog posts and even reading other blogs cannot take priority.

A Sunday drive in the Algarve 1

A Sunday drive in the Algarve 2

I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday, wherever you are in the world!


Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Great expectations - Silves Medieval Fair

Everyone I had talked to spoke highly of the medieval fair at Silves, so I had to see for myself. Here are some of the photos I took.
Silves tower
Silves Town Hall

Morrocan stalls
 The streets were lined with stalls.

More stalls

There was music and dance at the main door of the cathedral. 
It's a beautiful building!
Silves Cathedral 2

Silves Cathedral steps

Silves Cathedral 3
Behind the cathedral there were more stalls and more eating areas.

Preparing to feed the masses
Hmmm? Did they have stainless steel in the Middle Ages?

I had great expectations but, having visited other fairs of this type, I was disappointed that in such a beautiful setting the atmosphere wasn't that of medieval times. It felt more like an arts and crafts fair to me. Street animation was promised in the programme, but I didn't see any. I was hoping to visit the castle but the only way to do that was to pay an extra 3 euros to see a show inside. To watch the jousting, it was another 3 euros.  The Archeology Museum was open and well worth the visit but some other exhibitions closed very early.

Having said this, I'd still recommend a visit, but be prepared to pay more than the basic entrance fee of 2 euros if you want to be entertained and wear sensible footwear because the cobbled streets are very slippery. This fair ends on the 11th of August.


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