WELCOME TO Val's Alentejo -I write about my region of Alentejo. My art ,painting, my cottages, Family life, my animals -Travels And my love for Roses- and rural country life.

Monday 28 January 2013

After the weekend

This last week passed very quickly for me.  Even though we had heavy rains and cold weather.  I was catching up on e mails, cooking hot soups, bringing in the wood to keep the wood burner going. 
Until today, its been about 4o degrees..sometimes even lower.  The village people were talking on saturday and saying.. we will be getting better weather.  The shepherds and the farmers know when the weather will change.  
Today it was 4 o early, and around 12 it should take us into the afternoon rising to about 14. So the met  office said on the early morning news.
Then just like a click of the finger.. the light changed and Mr. Sun was peeping through the clouds. 
With camera in hand.. I ventured out to take these early morning shots.
It lifts one's heart, when the sun shows his face.  The grey clouds have gone , the birds are chirping and hopefully I can get my washing dry.
It was a very busy weekend.  My grand niece , and two of my grandaughters spent the weekend with me.  It was all a girly weekend.  Wet and miserable ..I made warm food, bought some comfort choc and cookies.. and we cuddled up watching films.  It was so great to have them. Boy, do they keep me on my toes.  It was fun and giggles way into the late evening. They left yesterday to return to Lisbon .
 Progress on Pete's yellow brick road..  The weather has been so bad, that he has had only a few days here and there to progress.. but its coming on, as you can see.  If the weather holds out with some sun.. Pete will be working away for some hours this week.  Its all excitement.  I am planning to plant some new bushes around the area.. That will be when I return from the UK:

Hope that you all had a wonderful weekend.

Wishing you a great last Monday of January 2013. yes, can you believe Jan, has come to an end and we are about to go into feb.  

val

Wednesday 23 January 2013

North,Central and South

This is a map of Portugal.  Portugal is part of the Iberian peninsula.
Many of my blogger friends have been to Portugal and I am sure are very familiar with the country.
As you can see, its much smaller than her sister country Spain.
Yesterday , I posted about the recent snow that has hit Portugal this year very harshly.
A map of the geography of the provinces..
The North - is where the heavy snow mainly falls.
On some of my comments on yesterdays post.. It was mentioned how good my photos were.!
I would like to correct this and add, that I did not take any of the photos..    They were all taken from newspaper clippings of  yesterday.--  I am sorry if I misleaded any of you.. I omitted to write that all photos were from the net.
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Portugal is divided into various provinces.  It is also divided in two parts, by the Tejo River. North and South
It would take a many posts to explain how the provinces work here in Portugal.  Once you have undersood it, in fact it's a pretty easy and simple way to govern .. as each province has its own district municipality.
This is a map of most of the North of Portugal.  These areas, are where the snow mainly falls .. Some years lighter or heavier than others.
We do not have snow in the South of Portugal.  It has however been known to sometimes snow in the high regions of Alentejo.. but with light snowfall.. once in a while.
These photos are from todays newspaper. People are asked to send in their photos.. 
I thought that I would like to share them with you.   I am hoping soon that this weather will be slowing ending , making way for the new spring of 2013

                                                The northern forests
                                                            Roads cleared for the transit
A Village covered in Snow-

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The 25th of April bridge.  This bridge was the first bridge to built over the river Tejo estuary. Its a toll bridge.. and divides the South from the centre and North of Portugal.
You will see similarities of the bridge to that of the Golden Gate in San Francisco.. that is because it was built by the same engineers.

Here you can see Alentejo on the map.  As I wrote in my last post,
its the largest province in Portugal. The breadbasket of the Nation.
Very large estates and farms. Vast acres of crops -barley,wheat,alf alfa , cork, cattle,sheep
rice paddies, beautiful ceramics typical to the area, to name a few.
Its a very rich province.
You then have central Portugal( the Beiras).. after which comes the North.
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This is the second bridge over the Tejo (Tagus) river .. Its one of the largest estuaries in Europe. " O
Ponte Vasco da Gama" - The Vasco da Gama bridge-
The Vasco da Gama bridge commenced construction in 1995 and finished in 1998 for the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the discovery  of Vasco da Gama of the sea route from Europe to India

All photos are courtesy of the web.  


Tuesday 22 January 2013

Cold spell and snow

This last week, and still ongoing. we are experiencing heavy storms and rain. 
 As some of you know, I live in the southern region of Alentejo where the climate is warmer. That is not to say..that in the upper Alentejo districts..there have been years when snow has fallen. I remeber a couple of years ago, that I had some icy frost on the ground.
 We came to live in this region, as Mr.M was born about an hour from here. Alentejo has  much milder weather. compared to the northern regions.
 We are also the hottest region in the country.

I was watching the news this morning, and many photos were sent in of the heavy snow fall's in the North of Portugal, during last week and over the weekend and today.  Guarda.. Mangualde, Bragança, Serra de Estrela.. The Serra, pretty much has snow most years during January, as it is very high up.  It is also a ski resort.
                                                  Serra de Estrela



                                          A lady holding a pretty red umbrella ..taken in Aveiro..
                                               Fallen trees ..the same storm that passed by my place this last week. In the middle of a square in Porto.
                  84 metre cargo carrier "Merle" that ran aground on the 19th jan. The ship is intact. It apparently it had some engine problems.. landing on the sands of Sao Jacinto.. Aveiro.
The sea's of the west coast of Portugal are sometimes very inhospitable and very dangerous.. many yachts and have floundered coming too close to shore.   When the fishermen dont go out..you know the weather is going to get tough.


The wind still continues to blow here, the trees bending like ballerinas with outstreched arms and swaying too and fro.

We had a little respite yesterday.  Today its been intermittent  with heavy downpours ,then a respite, while Mr.sun tries to shine through the low clouds.. Then the wind starts again and the heavy rains come.

This year is exceptionally bad.  This cold front has hit many countries in Europe.

So many of you have been putting your snow posts up.. We dont get snow where I am..but today I am sharing these lovely photos of the snow in the North.

Happy Tuesday to you all.  Stay warm dear friends in the colder climates.. and friends in the sun.. I will be thinking of you.

val

Sunday 20 January 2013

After the storm.

Friday afternoon started the heaviest downpour and storm, that I have not experienced in many a year.  During the middle of the night , I thought that I could be Dorothy.. !! Thinking to myself..gosh! with the winds blowing at about 80 miles an hour.. my roof might blow off.  I then nodded off and took a trip to the land of Oz.! My garden chair was on the other side of the grass. You can see the green fence netting was blown and ripped off the fence..  When it rains here, It really rains. My road is a dirt road , off the main road.. there are pot holes and puddles all up and down. 
  This morning Jeffrey said he wanted to show me the damage.!  Netting torn off.
                                   More netting blown away..

                                              Yuka plant overturned..  Nothing much to worry about really. Just a little more work to add to the spring garden clean up.
             I decided to go out for lunch today.. As I was driving down the road.. I stopped and took these photos.. A flock of homing pigeons.. they belong to one of my neighbours. Incredible how they fly around all together.   The sky was dark and low..
                          Not sure if this is an eagle or a hawk.. Its too high up..and I dont have a longer zoom. He has been hovering over head here for a few days.. He was out this morning looking down at what the storm had left for him.

                                      Pascoa and Shilah.. feeling a little forlorn.. Turned away from me this morning, as if to say.. we dont like this weather.
                                I had a very traditional Alentejano lunch..  Cod fish cakes accompanied with herb rice and brown beans.. nice and warm ..Very inviting for a wet day like today. A small jar of excellent red house wine..  My mind was taken away from the heavy rain and cold days..  Everyone talking about the heavy storm.  One of the villagers had a tree totally pulled out of the ground..  We do have to remember.  Its a village!!!! and the stories are sometimes ..well, you can imagine..):

 Back home before the sun went down.. To my doggies and a nice warm cottage.
Hope that you all had a good weekend..
Been reading many blogs and lots of you out there have had heavy snow, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Have a happy week.


val

Thursday 17 January 2013

Corfu Workshop & Off to Norfork

In 2008 I went on my 3rd overseas art workshop.  
I started some years ago, combining holiday with a workshop.
  I have found this a great way to see other countries,enjoy their cultures and also paint at the same time. 
I went to the Island of Corfu, along with some other 8 or so ladies.

The artist I chose to take my workshop with  was"Jan Blanch" of Wroxham Barns. Norfolk. Jan is a wonderful lady and communicator and I like her method of teaching.  Jan is a very accomplished and well known watercolour artist in the UK. 

 All  the pupils on that course met up that month of September, and flew direct to Corfu from Norwich airport.
It was a delightful 8 days. Lots of fun and laughter.
For me   as a beginner just not enough time really to take in the beautiful Greek architecture ,draw it and paint it 'plein air' in situ!
 I did feel however that I had learnt a lot , that i liked it, and would try to paint with watercolours when the time was right , once back home. This I have done.

It was the very first time that I had been on a watercolour workshop, or painted with water colours.   I  paint in oils.
I felt that it was time to give it a go with watercolours, and now I am hooked. Its a very relaxing hobby .

                                                     
                                                        Some photos of Corfu
CORFU OLD TOWN.  SOME OF THE LADIES SKETCHED THIS SCENE.. I WAS A BEGINNER AMONGS SOME PRETTY EXCELLENT ARTISTS  .-THE VIEW IS OF ST. SPYRIDON'S CHURCH.. A MAGNIFICENT CHURCH THAT I WILL NEVER FORGET.
VIEW FROM OUR HOTEL IN "SAN STEFANOS"

MAIN TOWN AND FORT  CORFU. WE HAD A GREAT LUNCH IN THE CENTRE OF TOWN ON THIS DAY.   I LOVE GREEK FOOD!

OUR HOTEL. JUST A STONE'S THROW FROM THE BEACH.    NO TIME FOR BATHING.
JAN HAS A FULL ITINERY OF BEAUTIFUL  SCENES FOR US TO SKETCH AND PAINT. I WANTED TO GET IN AS MUCH AS I COULD.  


VIEW OF "PALEOKASTRITSA" FROM THE HILLTOP
                                           A BEAUTIFUL VILLAGE.

                                                      San Stefanos harbour
VIEW FROM HOTEL VERANDAH..IT WAS A WONDERFUL SEPTEMBER THAT YEAR.. 

                                         THE HOTEL POOLSIDE.  Cocktails at the end of the day and critique.. that was also great. We could see and appreciate the other artists work .

This first painting on the left  below is my first attempt at watercolour.. Its a view from the beach in San Stefanos.. looking towards the mountains of Albania.
The second painting is monochromatic.. its of the Monastery at Paleokastritsa.. Simple light brown on plain white background.

In October 2012.. I decided , that i was ready for my 4th workshop.. My choice is water colours again.
with JAN BLANCH.
I leave from Lisbon on the 11th of February and will attend Jan's feb workshop.
I am already starting to get excited. 


GETTING SOME OF MY BRUSHES AND PAINTS IN ORDER.

THIS IS WHERE I WILL BE GOING.
TO NORFOLK.
I WILL TAKE TWO MEMORY CHIPS WITH ME FOR MY CAMERA.
I AM HOPING TO SEE SOME OF THE OLD TOWN AND THE AREA AROUND THE BROADS, AFTER THE COURSE.
MANY OF YOU HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT SNOW!  THIS MORNING JAN TOLD ME THERE IS SNOW IN THE AREA.  I WILL BE GOING IN 3 WEEKS.. SO WE WILL SEE HOW THE WEATHER IS.
WHATEVER THE WEATHER. I HAVE NOT BEEN TO THE UK IN 4 YEARS, AND AM REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO IT.


SINCE I CAME BACK FROM CORFU. I HAVE PUT MY HAND TO SOME WATER COLOUR PAINTINGS.. OF WHICH A COUPLE I HAVE GIVEN MY FRIENDS.





          Wishing you all a wonderful Thursday..
                             
           VAL.