Belonging

I took the back road to the big supermarket yesterday In our next village 6k away from the Quinta.
  On my way out, I took my camera with me.  Like we all say, "Just in case"..

It was the most beautiful Autumn morning, just as it is today. The sun was shining, I had a cardigan on that I had to take off, as it became warm with the sun beaming through the car window. I felt good and happy and thankful for all the lovely things around us, that go to making a perfect day.
  Knowing i was going the back road, I thought I might just see something interesting, i kept the camera on the passenger seat next to me.. for quick access.
I always take the same route once in the village.. its the next village to mine. It has two larger super markets, where I go every once in a while .

By now, those of you who follow me, know that  I live in a rural agricultural area. With farms that have  vast hectares of land. Old little villages, with their winding cobbled  streets and houses painted diligently every spring with snow white  'Cal'- lime wash. Its the Ladies of the village that paint their outside facade of their village homes.. an age old tradition.  Its always at the beginning of Spring.  Passing by, you can see the smiles and hear their chit chat , exchanging how each one paints and does her very best.

 Every time I drive that route.. I say to myself " that wasn't there before"- yet its been there for hundreds of years.
That's the beauty of living in the country.  Our eyes catch a glimpse of something new.

 I stopped here yesterday, at the street entrance short cut I take to the supermarket.   How this old little street could tell a thousand tales.  Families who have lived here , grandparents , mother ,father ,children and grandchildren, great grandchildren.  When visiting the cemetery , you can see some of their names that go back over the years.
I finished my shopping, having said hello to some of the girls, that I had not seen for months. Country folk are always happy.    I took the same back road home again. Stopping along the way seeing different trees and little houses that i had not seen before.  Isnt that amazing...after all these years.!

 Old Cork Oak trees, that can tell us many stories too, standing like statues in the newly ploughed fields.

  Old Olive trees that had twisted into strange shapes over the years .. maybe god's way of giving a little cover to the wild animals of the night.

                              Old   walls.. what can they tell us.

                                                     The old milestone still used as reference, although we have nice new ones on the main roads.. its nice to see these old ones .. takes you back to the time of when we used to read a map to find out if we were on the right road.. now its new technology.. who would have known a hundred years ago, what GPS meant. Probably even today, the old villagers don't know what it is.

 The story here of this photo.. This is the ' Wolfman's home'- ( lobeshomem)  Yes, he does exist.  When I first heard the story years ago.. I thought the village people were playing a hoax.  He only comes out.. No ! not when the moon is out.! but maybe once a month.  He truly looks like a wolf.  You can hardly see his eyes for his eyebrows have grown over them. His hair is thick long and grey. He is a loner and wishes to remain that way.  He rides his bike into the village and rides back.  He lives up on this hill all alone.

                                              What memories does this old home hold.. its over a hundred years old.

                                  Old gate entrances.. leading up to hidden farm houses within the Olive and Cork fields.. I stopped here, and wondered who it was that lived up here.!

               You will find these little 'Cantoneira' houses all over Portugal.  They are not much in use any more.  Its for the men who used to clear the bermas..(ditches) a well respected man back many years ago.. for he kept the ditches free of leaves , dead animals and the sorts. Working on a rotation system.. weeks at a time. This is where they would sleep, until the next man came.  The municipality and the folk around keep them neatly painted. They still belong to the government.  Now maybe for tools and so on.  This one is up the road from me.

 Look carefully- high upon the hill is an old ruin.  Its called the haunted house.  I found out some time ago, that it was called haunted, because the lovers would go up there.. so their parents wouldn't find out.. they were sure not to go there as it was haunted.. 50 years ago, a girl could not be alone without a chaperone ..What tales can this old place tell.!!

We all need a sense of belonging.  I left my hometown with my parents at a very early age of 8.. and travelled to darkest Africa. Travelled here and travelled, there. Sailed here and sailed there.
But, its here in these beautiful Alentejo surroundings , that I have found my sense of belonging.
As I type, the horses are neighing ,the dogs are barking at the birds twittering about the garden, the sun is shining, the flowers blooming.   I am home.

                          VAL *****

Tuesday morning ,garden at the Quinta.

Its the most beautiful Autumn October morn here in my part of the world.    We have had a week of the most welcomed rain, ever so much needed to fill our dams and water supply .  For the farmers and the crops, the livestock , rivers .. Its wonderful.  Such a change from the scorching heat of the summer months , that seem to go on for ever.
Walking around my inner garden, I thought how lucky I am to be here in my little paradise. The flowers and trees are bursting with life.   Its rained, but we have had warm hours during the day.
The Olive trees are swaying with a very light warm breeze.  The skies are blue ,with some clouds.
There is so much more to observe during Autumn.. I do believe, that its my most favorite of seasons.
I have been working on my garden now for 12 years.  Its really giving me such satisfaction .  In a way, I am sorry that I didnt plant more oleanders around the fences.  They are still giving some amazing blooms.
The pastures are beginning to turn green.  Such a welcoming sight to see.
The Olives are turning black on most of the trees.  Not sure if I will be battering this season.!  The trees need a good pruning .   It will also provide me with wood for the winter.

  9.15am..  the haze was still around.  Its now lifted, and looks like a nice day is with us.

      After all the heavy downpours , My roses are standing strong . They have grown taller this year, due to the feed that I give them.

                                    Jeffrey and Hardy- They follow me everywhere..such faithful companions. sniffing the ground to see if there are any lizards they can catch.   So pleased with my palm trees . They are growing taller each year.  These trees next to the pool, I planted about 5 years ago.

                      This is a beautiful creepeer - bright red.  I need to make a trellis for it to creep up.  They like it in the wooden boxes, I bought from the garden shop. I put white stones around the pot.  Most have the plants have been happier this year.  You might remember , I mentioned in a post, that Pedro had put the drip system back working.  What a difference.

                                Good morning mummy-  When do we get our rations.  Surprise , Pascoa and Venus.. they love a little chat in the early morning.  They are giving me a little smile.. Horses are very sociable animals.  Last week, I had to give Surprise a whack on her nose.  I was giving her some apple and she nipped me.  Many of you who have been following me,will know how naughty Surprise is. She teases me. Pascoa, turned 22 this year.

 The pepper trees are overloaded...drooping under the heaviness of the peppers. My D.I.L  Heleen, was here a couple of weeks ago.. she picked loads of them to put together with the black pepper corns in her grinders at the Hotel.

                                                           Palms and pepper trees

                                            Hard work, getting this creeper to creep up the fence.. but its starting. It seems to want to grow along the ground.  Another project to attack.

                                               Olives  ready next month.

                                                        The sky at 9.15am - At the moment am in Olive Cottage .. its cosy during these Autumn days.   I will move back into  Rose Cottage, when the guests have gone.  I have the fishermen here at the moment.   Its their 3rd year now.  They love it and catch lots of fish.. for sport.. they dont kill them or eat them.

                                                                                             

                                                   So surprised  this little  fuschia is giving these gorgeous light pink and lilac blooms.

Thank you dear Blogging friends who follow me, for all your kind comments that you leave.. and thank you for taking the time to read my posts.

Wishing you all a happy day , full of happiness and good health.  

Val

Weather change

Last Friday evening gone. The heavens just opened up within seconds and we were blessed with diluvial falling rain.  We have been  waiting so long for it. .  I sat next to my window and just watched it for some hours., thinking -here comes the cycle once again.  When it rains here, the smell of the rain falling onto the dry fields , stays forever with us.   Its a unique smell the dry earth omits ,after the heavy dry heat of summer.
I was happy , its  good for the trees, the animals, the new crops.  It was wonderful.
Short lived however.  Today the clouds were there again, but alas wandered off into the distance.
This afternoon the sun shone and the day was lovely.
  I can't remember it being so dry .. its been a very hot spring and summer. Now we wait for a little more. Its most welcome.
 Autumn.  is a  lovely month.  The olives are turning black. The flowers and bushes are at their best , most of mine are overgrowing. The roses are in full bloom , with colors of pink,white, yellow, apricot,deep red velvet red and multicolored red and white.     There is a little show of green in the fields and pastures.  Perfect weather.  We get the rain, but its not cold, the doors and windows can be left open.
Outside was like a fish pond here and there. This morning its totally gone.  Its like semi-tropical storms that come and go.

                                                   Early morning rain clouds

                                                            Dry pastures

                                                  Hardy and Isaa, trying to pick up the sticks, on our morning walk

                                                Looking a little forlorn.. waiting for their rations. See how baby Venus has grown, she is taller than her mother.  Pascoa turned 22 begining of this month.

                                                   The roses took a real thrashing from the rain. Some stronger than others, lovely rose petals fallen bellow each bush.

           As George Eliot wrote-
                 'Roses'
 Imagine the fields in the valley full of white and pink petals, soft to tread on
 Smelling so sweet.
It would be like sleeping and waking all at once.
( little snippets of the poem)..

Val

Mum and Cardigans

Hello dear friends.  Its been a while since I posted.   I have had an up and down 6 months.
Now happy to say making headway and feeling better.

I am sure it happens to many of you , when thinking about what  to blog.  One gets writers block.  (what should I blog about today!) I have been in that mode for a while.  Passing some time on IG.
Yesterday, it was the 3rd time that I drove myself to the village.   I was very chuffed with myself indeed.
  We have a clothes shop in the village , Dona A sells just about everything - all except Raglan sleeved cardigans. No luck, of course I have to settle for one that fits nicely and looks ok.  I  will have to be in the city to find one at the more up market clothes shops.
 I really am short on cardigans,  I need at least a nice new one for these cooler days of Autumn.  Its on my clothes list for winter.     Its cooler here in the mornings and evenings and i am slowly getting my lightweight in between season clothes out again.

With a little chuckle to myself, while driving home ,my dear mum came to mind.  Today, I suppose she would be called a fashion guru!! She loved beautiful things and beautiful clothes, she always looked lovely.  Even to do her shopping, she would wear her hats, and the finest of shoes. A fetish I inherited.

From an early age , I remember my mother taking me shopping for clothes.
Her choice for cardigans for us all was 'The Raglan Sleeve'- Ladies would show mum all kinds of cardigans , but mum would only choose the Raglan, said it looked smarter and fitted better.
I had a collection of beautiful Raglan cardigans in my wardrobe all of various colors, nothing to gordy of course.
Since those early years , thats what I still prefer.   I find the normal rounded off sleeve hangs of the shoulder, and doesnt look as smart.
Today I thought I would post about the Raglan ..

When my children were born. Mum knitted a few lovely Raglan sleeved little jackets.. even for them , when they were newly born.. in soft white wool.  

Just a little bit of something different today.

Thank you all my dear friends who left comments on my last post.  I have missed you all.

What are you preferences in cardigans.

Val