Friday and Fish!

The last two days have been a bit laid back.  Marc is diligently working on a submission for funding related to his exposition next October, he is nose deep in the computer whenever he has a spare moment.  Consequently, I’ve been running a few errands, some with the car, some on foot.  We’ve enjoyed lunch both days at Ana’s and Simão, including relaxing on the patio after food and sharing in conversation.

Today, being Friday, it’s fish….in this case Bacalhau com natas….salt cod in cream.  Given my lactose intolerance, this is a dish I have never eaten.  Today however, Simão made it with lactose free cream…..just for me!!!!!  I feel totally spoiled.

First a few shots from our early morning walk.  We are continually surprised with the passing days how pretty well daily, something new is blooming.  Today was no exception.

The avocados are huge but still not quite ready. We did pick/steal (Marc) a couple of them and there is a promise of guacamole in my future!!!

This lightly scented but glorious rose bush is growing in the midst of an abandoned building. The colours of the roses against the decaying walls was quite fetching to the eye.

This plant, aeonium arboreus, is native to Morocco but has been widely planted and naturalized here in Portugal. It is quite beautiful as these large clusters of yellow cone shaped flowers look like hundreds of tiny yellow miniature flowers. WE walked this same route a few days ago and there wasn’t any evidence of them.

This was another surprise. We walked this trail a week ago and this bed was empty. Today it was full of these beautiful periwinkle blue blossoms dancing in the breeze.

This succulent, about five inches tall, is about to bloom. I will be checking it out in another couple of days to be surprised by what shows up!

This enormous cactus was literally the size of a large fence…….about 7 feet tall and probably about 15 feel long. You could see tiny little buds in the centre of each “tube”. It was quite high so we couldn’t actually get a good close of the interior of one of the arms.

And this, also quite high. The blooms were such a beautiful shade of red/orange.

Having walked for almost two hours, we were hungry for lunch, and knowing I was going to have a new experience I was anxious to get going.  I was not at all disappointed.

Bacalhau com natas is a popular way of cooking salted cod in Portugal. It is an oven-baked dish consisting of layers of bacalhau, onion, diced fried potato and cream. I loved it and now know what the others rave about. muito obrigado Simão.

Marc wanted to capture my first mouthful!!!!

Marc also loves this dish and was quite happy. Simão and Elsa in the background.

As I mentioned earlier, Marc is up to his neck in this submission.  I decided to head off for a drive/walk and left him to the solitude and silence of the apartment.  I took a drive into Fuzeta and checked out the progress with the beach work, they are almost done.  I enjoyed a leisurely walk along the boardwalk beside the beach then along the harbour.

A treasure trove for some. I’ll bet the owner knows every single piece of equipment he has here.

This woman was harvesting oysters from a cultivation bed. Yummy

I think I was feeling a bit nostalgic as walking around Fuzeta got me to thinking about my first two or three winters here and how significant this little village plays into those memories.  I am truly blessed to be living this life, to have shared so much of this with so many friends and family, and to have created such long-lasting memories.   Our first visitors will be arriving before the end of the month……….can’t wait to share some of this with them.