Sunday, February 16, 2014

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - Feb. 2014

Lavender

Welcome again to my garden in the Algarve. This lavender is the star this month, the only plant that seems oblivious to the cold, wind and rain.

Lawn and oxalis
Scruffy is the word for my garden at the moment. I am now sure that I can have blooms outside every month of the year but I cannot keep the garden looking immaculate unless I have professional help in winter. I am allergic to the cold and get ill at a drop of a hat so the garden goes straggly and wild.

My gardener surprised me yesterday by popping in to prune the roses and nearly got bitten by Pandora, my newest dog, who didn't take too kindly to finding a strange man on the property. He couldn't, however, do anything about the grass overrun by common yellow oxalis because everything was too wet.

Lavender and rosemary

By the gate, the rosemary is looking good together with another lavender. I wish I had taken a better photo before the gardener pruned it a bit more than I would have liked.

Yellow orchid

My yellow orchid has taken a bit of a beating from the rain and wind. Next month I'm expecting more orchid blooms from other pots.

Daffodil

I have a daffodil... or two. In this pot there are other bulbs (not exactly sure what I planted there, oops).
Daffodils, etc.
 There's too much happening in this container, too (must avoid that next time).

Assorted succulents
This is one of my attempts at growing succulents. There are more pots around the place but I forgot to take photos.
I find that my strawberries don't do well in this pot (the soil dries too fast) so it has been planted with succulents, too.

And here is the sweet potato vine with the jasmine just waiting for some sun to burst into bloom and add scent to my back patio.

See you next month!

I'm off to May Dreams Gardens to look at what is happening in gardens around the world.



Grow Your Bog Party - postcard winners



Wow, what a party it was! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did. I discovered so many interesting blogs and never imagined I would get so many visitors, myself. I was also overwhelmed by the number of kind comments and new followers.

As promised, today I took three numbers randomly out of a bag and I am pleased to announce that these lovely bloggers will be receiving a postcard from Portugal:

Terri at Cache-Mire
Phoebe at Lou Messugo

Thank you to Vicki and all the people who helped her to make this event so cool!

p.s. I look forward to visiting all the blogs on the list, but it will take a couple of months...



Sunday, February 9, 2014

Nature 2014

Welcome! If you are visiting from the Grow Your Blog Party, you'll find my post HERE.
Internet connection problems and work have slowed down my visits to other blogs at the party. My strategy is to visit bloggers who have left comments on my blog first, then go through the list Vicki kindly organised for us.


This is my Sunday post in response to Jake's prompt - NATURE 2014.

Ria Formosa, Faro
Ria Formosa at low tide
Yesterday I drove along the narrow road/bridge that crosses the lagoon and went to Faro beach. It had been years since I had done that!

At Faro beach, looking at the lagoon
With my back to the beach, I take in a view of the lagoon
I noticed that storms have carried a lot of sand over the low walls along the beach. You can find more photos of my outing on my Portuguese blog.
 
Vegetation on the banks of Ria Formosa, Faro
Swampy vegetation, Ria Formosa

Wildflowers, Ria Formosa, Faro
Looking more closely at some of the wildflowers




















On the way back, I stopped to look more closely at the vegetation.

With all the rain we've been having, wildflowers should abound this Spring. I hope I can spend more time watching nature do its thing.



Thursday, January 30, 2014

Flowers

Welcome! If you are visiting from the Grow Your Blog Party, you'll find my post HERE.

White Almond blossom
Jake suggested FLOWERS for our Sunday post and I thought "Almond blossom" for t'is the season here in the Algarve.
I took these photos today on the way between my school and home. The blossoms vary from white to almost shocking pink. The first photo is of the white blossom variety from the tree below.
Old almond tree in bloom

Nearby I found a tree of the almost shocking pink variety.
Pink almond tree

Pink almond blossom

Almond trees are nothing special most of the year but when they bloom they really liven up the winter landscape.

According to some, they also announce it's time to prune the roses!

For more posts on the FLOWERS theme, visit our host Jake.





Saturday, January 25, 2014

Grow Your Blog 2014

I'm joining the party this year.

Let me tell you a little about myself and my personal blog, just in case you are a Grow Your Blog partyer or a first time visitor.

Africa is where my life story began (Zimbabwe, to be more precise) and the Algarve region of Portugal is where I live now. My parents were Portuguese, from a town to the south of Porto, but it was too cold for someone like me who is literally allergic to the cold! I decided to call my blog Africa to Algarve because I wanted to share with you everything that makes me miss Africa so much and all the things that remind me that moving to the Algarve was a great decision.

I started an A-Z of Zimbabwe and the Algarve, then I joined in Jake's Sunday post challenge, then I discovered Carol's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day monthly meme and Cee's Fun Foto challenge... and here I am, nearly two years later. I even started another blog in Portuguese. Rather surprisingly, I have found that lately that blog is getting more page views than this one.
Aloe arborescens
A-Z Zimbabwe - Aloes
Algarve chimney
A-Z Algarve - Chimneys
My smallest dog
Sunday post - Captivating
Orchids
Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
Arade River, Silves
Cee's Fun Foto challenge - Water
My job keeps me very busy. I'm a English teacher in a state school. In the past 2 years the financial crisis has taken its toll on most people in Portugal and I am no exception. I'm working longer hours for less than I earned 5 years ago and the fear of redundancy is ever present after almost two decades in a secure position! Posting may not be like clockwork because, quite frankly, I do it for the fun of it and when I can or when something inspires me. My A-Z sections are a work in very slow progress. When the weather is good and here it is a lot of the time, I have to be in my garden or out walking my dogs.

I hope you will stay a while, read a post or two and find something you like. I have found many interesting blogs and made friends with many gifted bloggers since I started my blogging adventure.

If you like getting postcards from different parts of the world, leave me a comment with your email and you may be one of the 3 people I will be sending a postcard to on the 15th February. I'd love for you to follow my blog on Google Friend Connect or Google+, but it is not a requirement for getting a postcard.

Thank you for reading and thank you to Vicki at 2 Bags Full for organizing this blog party.

Best regards,
Mara Paz


Edited to add:

Today I am taking Pandora for her first obedience training session. I may take a while to reply to comments but I promise I will answer each one and visit each blog asap.



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