A Happy Hump Day

When you work, hump day (Wednesday) can sometimes be a good thing, sometimes bad, depending on your perspective.   When you are retired, or on vacation, it’s a whole other sentiment.   This hump day was a grand one!   Sunshine, cleaning lady, a trip in the mountains, great food, good company, a stop to check out local pottery, and in some cases, actually make purchases.  And the days not over just yet.

Following a morning of relaxing on the upstairs terrace, we headed off for Bemparce, something that was on Laurie’s list from last year.

A partial view from our restaurant table. We never tire of this glorious vista.

Many of the succulents in the tiny garden beside the restaurant, were in bloom. This cluster was about the size of a tea cup.

This flower was about the size of a penny. Such beautiful detail.

This lavender had a deep purple blue colouring with the tips almost black. Quite pungent.

Enormous clusters of wiled gladioli all over the mountainsides.

This is called a Hottentot Fig

A closeup of hottentot Figs

This is a Holm Oak in “flower” or “seed”

Translated it means…..Thus Well It is Paid……I’m sure it is slightly different in Portuguese

Patricia and Moi

Laurie and Marc

Laurie attracted a new friend who begged and begged.

On the way home we stopped at a place that we were considering for Marc’s birthday dinner in April, Vila Monte.  We had a walk through, looked at the evening menu and have made a reservation.  We’ve been there for lunch in the past but never an evening, looking very much forward to that.

As we were in Moncarapacho, we decided to make a stop at the local pottery and check things out.

Parked next to this old wall that’s been taken over by morning glories. They grow quite wildly all over the place and have been in bloom pretty constantly since our arrival in November. Always a lovely splash of colour.

I liked this cluster of various pieces. They were off in a corner and seemed to have been discarded.

This, and the next few photos, amused me. I did however get my knuckles smacked (figuratively) for taking photos.

About an inch tall.

I loved the expression and the hat!!

And it was at this point I got chastised for taking photos so the third, and funniest pig remains unphotographed!

A wonderful day and our return to a spotlessly clean, and wonderfully scented house.  How could anything be wrong in the day after that?

And in closing, my final succulent flower of the day……quite tiny, never seen by me before.