White flowers in the Algarve

The Algarve countryside is covered in these at the moment.

It's time to start walking and rediscovering the beauty of nature!

Algarve Wildflowers

They are everywhere this year- never seen anything like it!

F is for Flame Lily

Gloriosa superba
Photograph kindly provided by the author of Zimbabwe Absurdity

The beautiful and delicate Flame Lily is the national flower of Zimbabwe. I remember finding one growing in the wild and wanting to dig it up and plant it in our garden - I resisted the urge however because it was (and still is) a protected plant.

Isn't it superb?

Cee's Fun Foto Challenge: 2012 people, animals, outdoors and nature

I am joining Cee's challenge for the first time and starting off with a combination post:

People and Animals

Walking back and forth all day in the summer months, selling his wares cannot be easy, yet he always has a smile for anyone he meets along the way.

Locals at the monthly market in Algoz - shopping and catching up on the gossip.

This guy had the good sense to choose a sitting position!

I have used this photo of a participant in the street animation at a medieval fair before on a post for Jake's Sunday post challenge.

I can't resist introducing my 4 dogs. There are quite a few posts about them on my blog. Here are 2 in the garden.

Here are my other 2 on an outing to the beach.

Outdoors and Nature

A carob tree, common in the Algarve landscape.

An almond tree in bloom, also common in the Algarve in January/February.

A cloudy morning at the Aveiro lagoon.

Click on the image below to visit Cee and learn more about her challenge.

Cee's new blog url updated on 9th November 2013.

A is for Aloes

This my first post on my personal A-Z of Zimbabwe.

Aloes will do nicely for the letter "A".

Aloe arborescens in flower

Aloes are native to Africa and the Aloe arborescens, also known as the Krantz Aloe, is endemic in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Malawi and Mozambique. 

You can see it growing naturally in mountainous areas, rocky outcrops and exposed ridges, hence the common name Krantz Aloe as "krantz" means "rocky cliff" in Africaans (a language I learnt at school ages ago but quickly forgot). 

Gardeners love to plant these aloes in rockeries because they tolerate difficult conditions and liven up the garden in winter with their vibrant red/orange flowers.

Close-up of the same group of plant

Taken from another angle, this photo reveals the bluish tint of the succulent green leaves. 

I love aloes. 

My high school had a beautiful rock garden (I think it was modelled on the Great Zimbabwe ruins) where the art teacher once took us to sketch. I did a pencil drawing of an aloe. It turned out to be the only artwork of mine that ever made it into the school's open day art exhibition. I was so proud! 

The following year we had to choose our "O" level subjects and one of the choices was Geography or Art. What kind of a choice was that?!