The month of May

Today is the last wednesday of the month of May 2012. May has always been for me the month of hope of giving and love. Hope of a new dawn a new beginning , new buds of may bright lovely flowers in the garden, walks with family, childrens laughter , happy times .. Its the month to rekindle love and friendships but most of all to give unconditional love.

My mother used to be a hopless romantic, and I grew up with the notion that I would fall in love in May and marry in May, alas that was not so.

Lets sit a while and ponder on on the happy days of this month gone by. Of love and happiness that have touched our hearts, where we can keep them warm until our next May comes.
Is it sensible, does it make sense!.. Love is all that matters, thats sensible.

Sweet Kate Winslet and the dashing Alan Rickman in

Jane Austen's classic : Sense and Sensability.
May blossoms bright and happy
Mother and child painted by William Blake ;

...........

Love that never told can be

For the gentle wind does move,silently,invisibly

I told my love, I told my love,

I told her all my heart

Trembling cold, in ghastly fear

Ah! She did depart

Soon as she was gone from me

A traveler came by

Silently,invisibly

He took her with a sigh.

Loves Secrets by William Blake.

In some of his very strange and outlandish paintings we can see figures intertwined in the art of love and passion .. I believe love never dies its forever! Its one of the gifts god gave us that is free!. We are free to love , and choose who we love and when and where we fall in love, an everlasting emotion that is always ours.
Mother's and daughters picking May bough's and branches..walking the fields in May
Happiness is! -laughter and dance..
I am sure that most of you will remember the maypole dances.. May was a joyfull time when I was a little girl . I remember the scents and the smells of spring all around that permeated the air with sweet fragrances. We were light hearted and love was all around, Mr Moon high in the sky and Hop Scotch and skipping. - I was once young!

Joyfull days of May and the Maypole
True love comes in the end.. Marianne marrying her sweetheart Colonel Brandon. Fairy tales do come true.!
Happy in love.. but not true love everlasting!!!
Emma Thomson as Elinor and Hugh Grant as Edward.. All the actors were superb in this classic serial.. and portrayed love .

I wish you all a happy loving Wednesday. Be loved and love in return.

I have enjoyed sharing my May blogs with you all. Tomorrow is the last day of May for this year. Set your table and Join me in my tea party..open your hearts be merry and love.. thats all that matters!!!

Village library

On Friday, I went with Barbara to our municipality to organise a stall for our upcoming annual village festival next month.

While she was organising the paper work, I wondered off into the library section in the same building.

It is really a very nice place to spend an hour or two. Reading some nice books, choosing what you might like to take home. I take some art books now and again. There is a large selection of dvd's..cd's ,national geo. daily newspapers, lounge to sit with ear phones and listen to classical music. There is always something going on.

At the side of the library section is the childrens space. During the holidays, after school care is available. Childrens theatre, and art classes. There are daily story readings. Mother's can drop their children off for the day, the week or the whole holiday. Its a great safe place for the village children to be and mum's know they are safe.

This lovely pink butterfly cought my eye and I decided to make a blog about my library visit.

This little child must have been so happy drawing this butterfly. How sweet it is , took me back to the days of my children .. A time of innocence.

Drawings on the wall , A lovely hand painted mural painted by the teachers and helpers, its a bright and sunny large area .

the middle, i have put a photo of one of the ladies at her stall in the market. We visited on our way out. It's an excellent exhibit. You can see how much detail has been put into the work.

Carpernters yard,The Ferrier yard, baker oven ,the pig yard with a bbq. Children playing in the yard ,skipping all the figueres made out of cork. The white mule and cart, we dont see them any more, very sad. Windmill's of the area..now left in ruin.. Snr. Feliciano Carvalho was born in Alvito, now he lives in Lisbon. He has really depicted through this little miniature exhibit how life was when he was a boy.

The old "nora" a "nora" is probably one of the oldest methods of bringing water up from the well, many of the properties around here still have them, some in use and some not. You can see the tiny little buckets, all of these made by hand and with so much love and effort. The Shepherd with his sheep and his dog for company and to keep the foxes at bay and his little hut to sleep in at night. We still have our shepherds, but they now have cars or their trucks and go home at night.. shepherds now own their own land and do enjoy their work.

Dina is the head of our tourist department and a very lovely person. Speaking Portuguese, French, English, Spanish , she greets the tourists that come to visit our lovely village of Alvito. Here you can see the newspapers and the Computer area with the books on the right..

Alvito is a very lovely village . Its where the main Municipality buildings and the finance offices etc., our main post office. Alvito is a quiet charming town ..on approaching the beautiful Alvito pousada castle greets you.

Hope you enjoyed my little visit..

Happy tuesday to you all

"Rose Cottage"- Rosie

The horses were looking so happy as I left for lunch yesterday with friends , all looked as it did every day, they were eating away at the wonderful pasture, and enjoying each others company.

On my return from lunch . I went to look to see where the horses were, as i like to know where they are ,that they are safe and all accounted for. As i was watching them, I thought i saw 4 little legs at the back of "Shilah" the white dabble grey.. No! I thought..I am seeing things. Too my surprise I wasnt.

I hurried inside to get my camera and went to the bottom field where they were grazing and there she was..not but half a day old with her long lankey little legs wobbling around. The most beautiful little filly anyone could wish to see.. She is perfect in every way.

Her actual time of birth , I cannot say, but it was for certain sometime early yesterday morning. She was being protected by mummy Sheilah and I had'nt noticed her.

I arrived home around 4 pm and this is the beautiful sight I beheld...I present to you " Rose Cottage." Our "Rosie"
Her official name is "Rose Cottage".. we will call her Rosie.

Her coat is like mink velvet..she is so so adorable.. I hugged and stroked her.

I will be bringing her closer to the inner garden tomorrow. She can then get used to being around me,and start to play a little.

Here she is with her aunty "Pascoa" checking her out. Yes, she says you will fit in just perfectly.

Is'nt she just the most adorable little creature...long long legs.. She will be a beauty. Mum is so proud of her and We are proud of mum.

Aunty's looking on with curiosity. She was suckling with vigour, her little tail wagging with sheer elation .
Its a happy happy day here at "Rose Cottage"- She was born here, I called mr M over to see her, we both wheled up with such joy. We named her "Rose Cottage"- to us all she will be little Rosie.

A new birth, brings hope and joy to our hearts. A new day begins.

Its my grandson Thomas's birthday today, he is 13. Tom rides "Shilah" most weekends,joined by Diana and Filipe . We phoned him to give him the news . He was so happy.

Hope you enjoy the photos of our new little addition. I am in love.! Joy to you all.

Wishing you all a happy weekend.

Around the garden and lunch

I had a friend over for a late lunch today. I started out walking around the garden , did some dead heading. The fragrance from my roses is wonderful.

I had decided on lunch menu last night. Once I know what i am going to cook , its simple. I love to cook and like using different ingredients .
I cut these 4 enormous roses .. Their perfume fills the air. I have a bowl of roses on my table every day. Unfortunately they dont like the heat.
Nothing sophisticated. We are old friends and enjoy each others company.

It also started to get very hot. After lunch we moved inside as it was much cooler, with the air con. I have slowly started to get my patios sorted and cleaned. This is the patio outside Olive Cottage..my canadian wooden cabin. I spend time between the two cottages if I dont have guests.
This is one of my bushes that gives very big blooms. I noticed aphids today..so it will be a spraying for them tomorrow.

yellow daisy bush..its laden with daisies.
I forgot to write the name down of this creeper. its really flowering nicely on the patio trelis.

The end result of my lunch dish today.. Curried prawns.

Green peppers , garlic, and diced onion sauted in my own olive oil. When they become a little soft , then add the prawns with the curry mix.

A bottle of Alentejo red and chilled Vinho Verde. "Green wine" its delicious with fish and sea food.

Here the onions garlic and peppers are cooking on a very low gas light.. I mixed coconut milk with the curry powder, my cousin brought me from India, all together with the prawns. notice the prawns are peeled already. If you cant get fresh ones, fresh frozen are also good. Mine were fresh frozen today.

Mixed salad with little heart tomatoes. I like to add a little mint and garlic to my salads sometimes.

The curry mix.. peppers and garlic.
Basmati rice. A must for this dish . 1 large mug of rice to two of water. Basmati cooks very quickly.
Coconut milk. also delicious to drink. Ideal to use in many recipies.
Fresh coriander , chopped tomatoes with tomato paste. The corriander and tomatoes go into the prawns after the prawns are in the pan.. stir well..all the time the prawns must simmer..do not overcook.
It was a lovely afternoon and we cought up with lots of news and chit chat. We finished off with ice cream and an extra glass of wine and a coffee.

Wishing you all some good cooking days. You might like to try this dish.. it takes less than 20 min ..to put it all on the table.

Do you like to cook ?