Mixed Meterology!

The weather simply can’t make it’s mind up today. One moment we have dark heavy skies and the mountains around us are invisible. The next thing it’s pouring down with heavy rain then ten minutes later, blue skies accompanied with strong winds, tossing the trees and plants all about not to mention my hair!!

Given it’s our second last Saturday here we opted to make our way into the Olhão farmers market simply to breath it all in, do a little shopping for the next couple of evening meals, and happily to have a bica with our friends Ana and Simão. A wonderful catch-up visit but sadly also, an ” au revoir” till January 2023.

I’ve mentioned before how much we love going to this particular market. Today we purchased fresh artichokes, avocados, blackberries, raspberries, and sweet potatoes, all local and in total we spent about eight euros! A stop at our favourite bakery for pão then peixe, which I will prepare for dinner this evening. We will miss this tremendously when we head home and of course from what our friends tell us, the prices will put us into a tailspin! My moto however has been and will remain “it is what it is”. We feel blessed to have this wonderful reprieve from Canadian winter and although we (I) will whine for a little when we get home, it won’t last as there is much we look forward to also.

It was lunch time when we arrived home, still raining as we rushed from the car, and we were both hungry. We prepared sandwiches then while eating took notice of the glorious sunshine returning and I decided to take advantage of the calm, grabbed my camera plus the recycle and headed to the bins then onward for a walk. Marc called out to me as I was leaving and asked me to take a couple of close-up shots of poppies for him, I love a challenge and as the wind was still up, it was going to take a bit of patience to get a close shot but hey…..you be the judge,

The rain appeared to have had an impact on the luminosity of everything as the colours seemed more vibrant than usual, which is saying something.

An unexpected treat this walk as I was fully prepared to have to race home to avoid rain however happily it continued to get sunnier and right now it’s brilliant blue sky with a few small cotton-ball clouds and it’ surpassed the temperature they predicted. All this makes me a happy man.

I was nearing home when I noticed a pale colour up in the trees near our drive. On investigation I discovered a rose vine, one I had never noticed in previous years, and there, tucked in the branches of the old carob tree, a cluster of roses, way up. Thank goodness I have a great zoom function.

As I neared home I was suddenly struck with the various types of trees/plants that are within a few feet of our door that have suddenly started either flowering or, the fruit itself has started to form. This is not even taking into consideration the almonds and figs growing right outside our gates. All of these shots were taken within 20 feet of our door.

Mother Nature, what a gal!

This final shot was taken on one of our terraces. Marc had called out to me as he discovered it…….growing out of a tiny, hairline thick crack in the cement on the terrace off his atelier. A true testament of the survival instinct and heartiness of what appears to be an otherwise fragile thing.

They say in Portuguese,
Tenho saudade do que fomos;
I feel longing of the way we were