With Musical Instrument

There is no religious procession in northern Portugal that is not accompanied by a band or two - drums and brass instruments usually play an important part in the festivities.

In contrast, here are some interesting musical instruments from Zimbabwe.

Whatever the instrument, music is something I cannot imagine life without. This Sunday post was of course inspired by Jake.

A Place to Relax

The resort town of Vilamoura has a long garden in the middle of the main avenue. This is the shady part by a fast food restaurant that shall remain nameless.

It is a lovely place to jog, cycle, walk the dog (on a lead) or just stroll and relax.

You can hear the cars going by but there is also birdsong and the chatter of people enjoying themselves.

This post is part of Jake's Sunday post challenge. I hope you had a relaxing weekend.

Transport

Horse-power!

This is my take on Jake's Sunday post prompt TRANSPORT. 

If you were looking for something with four wheels, you could have a look at my previous Sunday post and check out a vintage motor home.

Have a pleasant week!

Unique

Unique motor home

In winter we are used to seeing many motor homes from other countries in the Algarve. Some are big, some are small and most are white and modern. But when I saw this one yesterday, I immediately thought it would be perfect for Jake's Sunday post challenge: UNIQUE.

I fell in love with the details on the back of the vehicle. Isn't it incredibly cute?!

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 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!

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.

 

Swampy vegetation, Ria Formosa

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.

Flowers

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

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.

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

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.

Fantasy

This ceramic panel is my choice for the interpretation of FANTASY, Jake's Sunday post prompt for today. Click on the horse and you'll be transported on a FANTASY tour.

Reality

In the early 60s this was my reality.

 
My mom was beginning the daunting task of turning a bare plot in the suburbs of Salisbury into a garden. That must be where I get the passion for gardening from.

This is my first Sunday post of 2014 for Jake's challenge. Click on the horse and see how others have interpreted REALITY.

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.

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

Urban Design

"Urban design is the process of designing and shaping cities, towns and villages."

I have never lived in a big city - I grew up in a suburb of Harare (Salisbury to me), lived for many years in a village near Portugal's second largest city, Porto (which is still tiny compared to London or New York) and now live in an even smaller village a few kilometres from the beach resort of Albufeira, on the Algarve coast. 

But my heart belongs to Harare, a well-organised city with lots of modern buildings, tree-lined avenues and well-planned green spaces.

Here are two photos by my friend, Judy Jane (I've posted the second one before).

For many more photos, have a look on skyscraper.com. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the quality of Harare's urban design.

This post is part of the Sunday post challenge hosted by Jake. Check out more Urban Design at Jakesprinters.

Bridge

A pretty bridge over the Arade River, Portimao (Western Algarve):

There are actually three bridges in this area. When I took the photo below I was standing on one of those bridges and you can see the other two in the distance.

This is my contribution to Jake's Sunday post challenge.

I like the way they painted that bridge blue and yellow. What about you?

Perspective

I'm a bit frightened of nervous horses, so from my perspective I was a bit too close for comfort when I took this photo.

Medieval fair procession through a narrow street, Santa Maria da Feira - 2012

This is my (late) entry for Jake's Sunday Post.

Window

Window is Jake's theme for today's Sunday post.

My selection of photos consists mainly of windows from older houses:

South of Porto

Silvalde/Espinho

Praia da Granja, South of Porto

Armacao de Pera, Algarve

Armacao de Pera, Algarve

Castro Marim, Algarve

This is a stained glass window from a church:

Armacao de Pera, Algarve

And this is one of the windows of the train station at Praia da Granja:

Praia de Granja train station

Before I send you off to Jake's blog to look at windows from all over the world, let me tell you that Maluda, who was a famous Portuguese artist (1934-1999), loved painting windows. 

Why don't you visit the Maluda site's archive for "janelas"(windows) category" and click on each "janela" title to see her window paintings.

Mother's Day

In Portugal, a Catholic country, Mother's Day used to be celebrated on the 8th of December, when we celebrate Our Lady of Conception. Then someone decided to change it to the first Sunday in May but some countries celebrate Mother's Day today.

My mother loved flowers so I always knew what to get her on her birthday or Mother's Day - another flowering plant for the garden.

Today I am remembering her by sharing photos of some of the plants she enjoyed over the years.

One of the first - a red camellia japonica

Santa Terezinha roses

My mother loved these and she adored her large red roses, but I don't have a photo of them.

It took a while to find this Viburnum opulus 'Sterile' for her, but I finally managed it.

 

I wish she could see how the magnolia liliiflora has grown!

Happy Mother's Day!

This is a Sunday Post, so visit Jake's for more interpretations on the theme.

Attraction

Jake is back this week and has suggested the theme "Attraction".

Living in the Algarve means that you will see just about anything turned into a tourist attraction. Some things lose their charm when that happens, which is why I love to find things that are definitely attractions but haven't lost their spontaneity or authenticity. Those are qualities I discovered in the displays along the EN 125 on the 1st of May.

Satirical view of the Portuguese prime minister and his finance minister

Passers-by were wondering how the "prime minister" kept waving

Portuguese passers-by loved the beheaded "finance minister" and the satirical poems!

I chose to see this at lunchtime, worried about the congestion I might encounter in the afternoon. There were many foreigners already snapping away and many Portuguese, of course. I even had the chance to chat to one of the locals who had put out the display below and came out to see how passers-by were reacting to his work.

This scene was so perfectly set!

So much attention to detail!

That's all for today, but I will be posting more about this, both on here and on my Portuguese blog.

Entrance

From the very elaborate...

Taking the waters at the Melgaço Spa - glass and wrought iron entrance

Arouca Monastery - elegant entrance to a courtyard

Alcobaça Monastery - grand main entrance

 ... to the very simple...

Entrance - archway to the fort at Armação de Pera, Algarve

Although I had made plans to take many photos at various locations during this year's Easter break, it rained and rained and then rained some more so my camera stayed in its case most of the time.

When I read Jake's suggestion of "Entrance" as the theme for the latest Sunday Post, I thought of all the entrances I would have loved to share with you but, alas, I don't have photos of most of them. Maybe next time..

Right now you can visit Jake's to find many other takes on the theme.