Merry Christmas!

Today I drove to Monchique and found this Nativity Scene beautifully carved in wood. My photos don't do it justice.

Merry Christmas!

I apologize for the terrible photo but I wanted something original and you have no idea how hard I worked to get this onto my computer. I took it on my smartphone this morning because I finally realized I must have left my camera at the north house. Then I discovered that my smartphone isn't talking to my laptop (via bluetooth or wi-fi). This is the best I can do without expert help. 

Anyways, 

May the spirit of Christmas be with all of you!

 

 

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.

 

Do they know it's Christmas?

I wish you a Happy, Peaceful Christmastime!

Personally, I'm not ready for Christmas. This afternoon I thought I'd just pop in to the nearest shopping mall for a few things but after seeing the queues, I drove in and out of the underground parking area in less than 5 minutes!

You see, instead of shopping yesterday, I drove all the way to Lagos to visit a dog shelter. Instead of resting or shopping or putting up the Christmas decorations, I lost my head and adopted another dog, a female that has spent her entire life in the shelter (nearly 2 years), and looking back at all the others that were left behind, it occurred to me, "Do they know it's Christmas?"

All roads led to Africa today

Watching the news reminded me that everyone who is anyone on the world's political stage had to be in Africa today.

It seems fitting to post a Nativity scene with an African feel, too.

Blue Christmas

In complete contrast to the previous one, here's a modern Nativity scene in my favourite colour!

It's looking a lot like Christmas...

A traditional Nativity scene

It's December and it's looking a lot like Christmas. However, I can't stand the "buy, buy, buy" aspect of the season so I've decided to focus on Nativity scenes until the 25th. The first one reminds me of the ones my cousin used to lay out in a corner of my grandmother's living room, after an outing into the woods to gather moss.

Most or all of the photos will be from an exhibition I happened upon unexpectedly in January of this year. Many of the materials used to create these Nativity scenes are recycled, as you will see.