A Creative Spirit
All through Saturday the constant revving and whir of hedge cutters from gardeners working at a nearby property drove us mad. However, I am not unreasonable and accept hedges need to be cut and clippings need to be blown into submission and/or sucked. We have a monster Malaleuca hedge which we/aka Gnome manages himself, so... Continue Reading →
This week's flown by. The seed order I placed two weeks ago finally arrived on Thursday. All 45 packets of them! The packing list just a glorified till roll receipt presented a challenge in patience as I tried to translate Portuguese to English and then cross-check against my friends' orders, calculate who ordered what and... Continue Reading →
It can be tough finding a smile when you are 'shielding' locked away from the world. That said when you focus on the positives in life they can far outweigh the negatives as you learn to adapt, develop new skills and appreciate things that a year ago would have passed unnoticed. So I've several smiles... Continue Reading →
Acacia longifolia REF: Acacia longifolia and Plants for a Future Another useful reference to identify plants is The Plant List Do you enjoy taking photographs of wildflowers, bugs, birds, snakes and other curiosities found in the wild? Every Wednesday I will be sharing a photograph of wild flora or fauna in my local area. Who... Continue Reading →
It's been a challenging week. Maybe I should have titled the post: Six Challenges One of the solar Pestbye cat scarers I bought through Amazon Germany and delivered last week has died already! I reported it but as they are having a high volume of traffic it may be some time before I get a... Continue Reading →
Also known as Hoop Petticoat Daffodil: Narcissus bulbocodium L, Campainhas-do-monte, Cuckos. Also found this in the wild Narcissus gaditanus Boiss or Narcissus jonquilla?. ETA: It has since been suggested the above flower could be REF: Narcissus jonquilla or Ref: Narcissus gaditanus Boiss. what do you think? I have just been informed: If this is growing... Continue Reading →
It has rained at some point every day this week, apart from Friday when the sky was blue and the sun shone with the heat of an English summer. Removing layers of jumpers I stripped down to a t-shirt. Starving mosquitoes, after weeks of rain, lost no opportunity in feasting on my bare arms as... Continue Reading →
I first started taking photographs of the Milk Vetch back in December while walking along the cliff path at our local beach, and it is still flowering in mid-February. I've noticed some of of the flowers are now turning to seed pods. I did take a photograph, but the strap of my mobile phone was... Continue Reading →
Finally, Six on Saturday. Yesterday was one of those days where anything that could go wrong did. Google informed me that my inbox was full and so all the photos I'd taken for SoS did not arrive. On further investigation it transpired I had sent all my mobile phone pictures to a Google cloud in... Continue Reading →
The theme for Fake Flamingo's poetry challenge this month is friendship. This poem is a collaboration between myself and a talented young poet, Darren White. She brings purple to grey braille to fingers turns trees to chanting dryadsHe brings indigo to bleak daystears down defencesinto my essenceto him I am agape She is the lightning the fierce cracking energy spreads her... Continue Reading →
This week for Wild Wednesday I have chosen the wild antirrhinhum. Who knew Antirrhinums grew in the wild? They grow near the coast, in pine forests and even in sand, as pictured below. They are also called: Boco de lobo do literol or as loosely translated: WOLF MOUTH Several walks along the cliff tops or... Continue Reading →
This has not been a good week and to top it off all the photographs I took earlier this morning are still stuck in my gmail send box. Late this afternoon, I finally found a work around by sending the photos via Yahoo and they sent within mintues! So much for getting up early to... Continue Reading →
If last week was one of those weeks I would like to file in a box, firmly shut the lid, lock then hide the key on the top shelf of my bookcase, this week I have wanted to throw the key away. At the beginning of January I made the conscious decision (NYR): not to... Continue Reading →
Also known as : common ramping-fumitory Fumaria is a genus of about 60 species of annual flowering plants in the family Papaveraceae. The genus is native to Europe, Africa and Asia, most diverse in the Mediterranean region, and introduced to North, South America and Australia. Fumaria species are sometimes used in herbal medicine Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumaria_officinalis... Continue Reading →
The temperatures this week are back to 'winter' normal so I can pack away my thermal underwear and stand down from fire duty. Remembering to feed the fire with logs all day to keep us warm, is a time-consuming and a labour of love. 1. Cats %&G&$$, CATS! - How Do You Deter Them? This... Continue Reading →
As I enjoy taking photographs of nature I decided to create a MEME called #WildWednesday. Every Wednesday I will be sharing a photograph of wild flora or fauna in my local area. Who will join me? How it works: Simply post a photograph to your blog with some relevant blurb if possible. Include the words... Continue Reading →
This week we were greeted with a rare and unexpected ground frost which took us by surprise. While it is common to have minus temperatures down in the valley, where we are upon the cliffs, not so much! We've just gone back into COVID lockdown but as we've become a pair of hermits it does... Continue Reading →
While daytime temperatures during the previous week were warm and sunny this week the sun has been replaced by mostly cloud and an icy wind driving temperatures down to as low as 9C. As well as the cold, we also have to contend with the humidity. Not the type of humidity usually associated with oppressive... Continue Reading →
It's been a while since I participated in Six on Saturday so with my 2020 personal challenges hopefully behind me I have decided to take up gardening with renewed enthusiasm and reconnect with my gardening blogging buddies! Raises spade to a 'Hopeful' New Year. Over the years I have been tempted to abandon my often... Continue Reading →
Piglet in Portugal 