A Creative Spirit in Portugal
Piglet put the kettle on Piglet put the kettle on, Piglet put the kettle on we all want some tea... Except we won’t have some tea because the pigging thing won’t work. A couple of months ago we had a problem with our kettle. Now in the grander scheme of things a dodgy kettle is... Continue Reading →
Here we are hurtling towards the end of October enjoying the sun when autumn arrived quite suddenly. One minute we are swimming in the sea and enjoying temperatures of 25C while the cloudless blue sky suggested not a hint of rain and then it turned cold and wet... I should have known better, our wedding... Continue Reading →
The theme for this week's WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is "Wrong". I often reflect on the heated and ongoing debate about the traditional spectacle of bullfighting which is popular in several countries including Spain and Portugal. While some people refer to bullfighting as an "Art" others refer to it as "Sport". Either way should people... Continue Reading →
You certainly reap what you sow! I've devoted hours tending my vegetable garden this month and I'm now reaping the benefits with an abundant crop of tomatoes, lettuce, radish, carrots, peppers, red cabbage and French green beans. The crops are fed at regular intervals with the MiracleGro kindly donated by a friend. However, I can't... Continue Reading →
The theme for this week's WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is "Inside" In 2011, stranded in the UK due to the volcanic ash cloud we took the opportunity to visit many old towns and villages in the Cotswolds. Rather than taking their quaint charm for granted we viewed the architecture with fresh eyes and appreciated its... Continue Reading →
I love painting street scenes, however because I'm absolutely hopeless at drawing and especially "perspective" I needed to find a creative way to overcome my lack of talent. With this in mind I decided to cheat and with the aid of Photoshop created an outline picture from one of my favourite photographs which I could... Continue Reading →
This post is inspired by the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge. This week's theme is "Fleeting Moment" Trying to take a photograph of this flower stand in a busy street in Lisbon, you can see what happened next! And in this case now you see them now you don't!
On Monday I met with one of my blogging buddies Sami of "sami's colourfulworld". Sami lives in Perth, Western Australia and was in Portugal visiting family. When she suggested she delivered the prize I'd won on her 100th blog POST and GIVEAWAY in person, I was absolutely delighted! It felt surreal to chat face-to-face rather... Continue Reading →
Shame on me. I completely forgot to write my monthly vegetable diary for May and I only took one photograph of the raised vegetable area. In my defence, I was away for several weeks so my garden was left very much to its own devices. Unfortunately this created problems with bugs and of course my... Continue Reading →
Several weeks ago you may recall I published a joke email about the treatment of The Elderly in Nursing Homes v Criminals in Prison. Guess who receives the best treatment! The post resulted in one of my facebook subscribers posting a link on my Facebook wall: The Forgotten Ones: International Card Exchange for the Elderly.... Continue Reading →
There's certainly never a dull moment when you attempt to grow your own fruit and vegetables, especially on Piglet's plot! One minute they are all fine and the next... Before we returned to France I went to our local plant and hardware shop to buy liquid fertilizer for my fruit and vegetables. After performing various... Continue Reading →
I enjoy going to the country markets and one of my favourites is the market at São Teotónio near Odemeira, in the Alentajo. I refer to the term "country" because I'm not so keen on the markets held in the tourist towns of the Algarve. These are usually full of the rip-off-tat such as fake... Continue Reading →
This traditional Easter recipe is courtesy of a friend in Northern Portugal. Tarte de Páscoa (Easter Tart) Ingredients Filo pastry (18 circles). I used 2 x 230g packets of *PÂte Feuilletée which I think is ready-made filo pastry. 1 medium onion (finely chopped) 500gr Spinach 4 Hardboiled Eggs 2 Uncooked eggs 70gr Parmesan Cheese 30gr... Continue Reading →
I am not sure if this is an unusual Rhubarb Forcer or an unusual use for a plant pot destined for the garbage after Mr Piglet burnt a hole in the bottom with red-hot ashes! Researching on the Gardeners' World website I've just realised I should have plugged any holes to exclude light. Now there's... Continue Reading →
