The Daily Grind,and then some!

That feature photo today is beautiful  São Miguel, photo taken as I was walking up our road to connect with Bonnie and Ken where Bonnie and myself were going to hike to the top.  A beautiful sunny day, perfect temperatures and a great hike and gab.

Bonnie and myself as we finished the hike….she wore me out she walked so fast!!

Ken and Bonnie basking in the sunshine and the serotonin from the hike.

After the hike we all headed off to Estoi for lunch and a wonderful visit with folks there.  A pretty perfect day it was.

Sunday morning Marc and I were up early and ready to head off to Lisboa to pick up Laurie (our beautiful sister in law….my brother Terry’s wife).  We are quite excited to have her with us for a month to explore Portugal, show off the things we love about it and find new corners.  The six hour drive back and forth flew by as we gabbed the entire time.

We decided not to wear Laurie out on her first couple of days and planned a low-key kind of day for Monday.  A walk in the countryside, lunch at Restaurante DoCampo just down the “lane”, run a couple of errands, perhaps another walk then a relaxing evening.  Worked out just perfectly despite the arrival of some unexpected rain.

My “action shot” of the day. You can see the wind was keeping us company but none of us blew away.

Laurie and Pat, all pink cheeked and wind blown.

Myself and Marc…….notice how my halo is so bright??

Patricia and Gary…….how grand are those smiles?

The other four enjoyed the prato do dia of frango stroganoff.

I had an omelette. It’s a kiler being lactose intolerant sometimes as the stroganoff looked wonderful.

Laurie enjoying a taste of her first galão which is a hot drink from Portugal made of espresso and foamed milk.

Later in the afternoon Marc stayed home to bake a dessert for dinner, a version of Pet de sœur with pears. The rest of us headed our for a walk in the nearby countryside……. wonderful to have people who like to walk……Pat and Gary go almost every afternoon.

Our dessert maker………yes, he is dapper with his hat on!!

Our recent rains have brought about a deluge of new blooms.

This tiny little thing was a first for us……..very hardy looking and quite tiny. A puzzle for Patricia to solve as to what it is…….she’ll find it!

A field of chamomile flowers.

And he cistus are multiplying.

A perfect first day for Laurie and a wonderful ongoing day for the rest of us.  We are sadly moving into the last segment of this trip with Pat and Gary, they will head off to Lisboa on the 29th for a few days of exploration then home to Canada on April 1st…..no joke!   But still lots of time left for us and we are looking forward to many great adventures with Laurie…..stay tuned.