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.

Friday 20 June 2014

progress on storeroom .

The flowers next to Olive cottage are blooming and giving a nice show. 
This morning, I missed two great shots. Sitting on the patio having my coffee.     When the noise of a fighter jet flew overhead.  Flying next to it was a military cargo plane.  looked like they were on an excercise. The noise was deafening. I wasn't quick enough..my camera was in the house. Then flew over a kite or small hunting bird . Flying at the back of it, came a big stork.  Gracefully flying through the sky.  

  Pedro arrived at 9am , this morning and started knocking down the wall from the old storeroom through to the new.
It's really coming along .  The broken bricks, he smashed and then put them on the drive.. covered them with soil.. Tomorrow more gravel will be arriving, which he will then spread over the rubble. My driveway is subsiding and leaving a hump in the middle as one drives up to the cottages. Its been gradually getting worse.
                    I decided to use an old sleeper, that I had around for many years instead of concrete as a beam support.   the ceiling looks , will get touched up once its finished..but i must say, i do like the pink. The roof tiles are on, but difficult to take a shot.


                                       Pedro, knocking through the wall.
                                                Now open. You can see where my old little store room was.. the new one built together now.. gives a new perspective to the storeroom.
                                            All clean and tidy.. just some ods and ends to take out.. next step plastering and putting the door and window in.
                                                     view of my fields looking out from the storeroom .. The grass is slowly going brown.
                                   some of my oleander trees, ready to be trimmed..  drooping with so many blooms. Oleanders, don't need much water.  They are a very sturdy tree and can survive a few days without water. They give out a sweet scent.
                        My   geraniums..  get water every other day.  This plant gives such big red blooms.   I watered really well today.
As summer approaches, we have to be careful with the water.  Even though we had heavy rain and downpours.  It still wasn't enough.    If I had my choice, I would have the water sprinklers going twice a day.   I think the garden is not doing too bad.   I am happy with it.
Always work in progress.

                                                  .................................................
 "And thank God for home-sweet things, a green and friendly hill,
   And red geraniums upon my window sill." ( snippet - from a poem "Red Geranium" by Martha Haskell Clark).

 Geraniums give such a colorful vibe to a garden.

Wishing you all a happy weekend- Gardening, walking, theatre or whatever you are doing. Enjoy the sunshine.

                                                                        Val        

14 comments:

  1. beautiful blooms! glad the progress is being made on the storeroom! and really glad you can use the broken bricks to fill in the potholes in the driveway, too!

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    1. Thank you Tex.
      I am pleased with the storeroom progress.
      My driveway is long and needs attention. The fill in was indeed a good idea.

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  2. You're getting so much done this summer. I know it feels great to get the work done. Love your flowers, too. Lots of beautiful blooms to enjoy! Have a good weekend my friend. We have some rain on the way tonight and we sure do need it. We're starting to see some brown grass, too. Sweet hugs, Diane

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for coming over Diane..
      It does feel good to get work done.
      My geraniums are thriving..but i would like a few more.
      summer is here. Hope we get a little rain.

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  3. Thanks for stopping by today....It was hot here today, too. The temps are already in the mid 90's. July and August will be well over 100.

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    1. Always nice to see you Meggie.
      We are having same temps..
      July and August gets hotter here too.

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  4. Much excitement in the sky over your place, Val. Fighter jets followed by 2 interesting birds. I know what you mean about missing special snapshots; happens to me all the time too, despite camera at the ready. I can see by the grass you really have summer happening there, while we are getting a little cool and rain. Your geraniums look lovely, beautiful big blooms. Happy gardening, and Happy weekend! xx

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  5. Hi Val: How nice it will be to have a larger store room. We all could use one or two of those. Your flowers are so beautiful. I think we will hear any day now about conserving water..Happy Weekend and first day of summer..Judy

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  6. I bought geraniums this year too, Val but they are not as pretty as yours!! The store room is really big now and using the boards was a good idea, I think!...:)JP

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  7. Such healthy looking and beautiful geraniums. Don't you just love the way they smell? Good progress on the storeroom. What exactly do you store in your storeroom? Seeing a stork flying over would be such a treat for me!
    Hope your weekend was perfect with your four lovely doggies!

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  8. Your old storeroom is coming along nicely, Val. Pedro is doing an excellent job. It's starting to look clean and ready to go. Your red geraniums are gorgeous! I was wondering.....are they hard to take care of? They look like sturdy flowers, and I would love to plant some. The red pops out with color, and I bet they're a sight every time you pass them.

    It sounds like the June days are being good to you, Val. It's going to be another hot one here today.

    Enjoy your week.

    love,
    ~Sheri

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  9. Hi Val. I haven't been around much lately and have missed you! Your store room is looking great and your flowers are beautiful as always. It's nice to stop by to see what's up with you!

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  10. Dear Val,
    So nice to look around your garden and also to see that new storage space coming together.
    The red geraniums look wonderful in your terracotta pot. Just how I remember Portugal all those years ago. Oleanders are great plants for the summer and are used as street plantings here.
    Take it easy in the heat.
    Betty ox

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  11. Such gorgoeus flowers and that new store-room is going to be so useful, Val.

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