Merry Christmas!

Nativity scenes are very popular in Portugal and this year the little town of Guia, famous for its chicken piri-piri restaurants, has a very interesting one that invites you to walk along its narrow streets between two churches.

You start here, then cross the  road and walk along...

And, to the left and further up you find the second church.

 

 If you like churches, you may like to visit my Portuguese blog, where I'm going to start a Sunday post featuring churches from different parts of the country.

 

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - December 2015

After some serious hassles when my free Windows 10 update from Windows 7 malfunctioned, I'm finally back to blogging.

This is how my garden looked mid-December.

I have been careful not to show you the grass. Fortunately, the gardener has been round with his lawnmower, so it's looking OK now. I asked him to cut back my damaged lavender but, to my dismay, it had to go completely as the old woody core was rotting. I guess all good things have to end at some point...

Next time the gardener comes, he'll be pruning the roses, cutting back the other lavenders and moving some plants. I'm afraid that I no longer have the time or the energy. 

This is just one of the plants that needs to move, at least into a bigger pot.

This is is all I have time for. 

See you all in the New Year for more gardening updates from my small Algarve garden.