Country Life

Marvellous, thanks for the day out LOL!

 

You got it wrong LoL we were on our second lap and about to overtake them I should have stopped off and had a drink with you :rolleyes:

 

The Alentejo region which borders Algarve on it's complete northern boundary from Spain to the west coast was the subject of today's outing.

I'll actually start with something quite astounding. Last October Portugal had it's worse floods in living memory and we passed through some of this area. These were near on full-sized Eucalyptus ...





... and the raging river was up over these banks ...



In this same little village, Eucalyptus wood and cork stacked ready for transport to processing plants (this was only a fraction of it ...



... a lovely little community atop an Acacia mearnsii covered hillside ...



... wild heather, about metre tall, and seedsling of the Acacia mearnsii ...



... a nice cluster of Eucalyptus globulus ...



... and a Pousada (state-run hotel) on a hillside ...



... to be continued ...

[ 04. March 2007, 10:20 PM: Message edited by: Lady of Leisure ]

 

... continued ...

The Pousada from the dam at Santa Clara ...



The Pousada itself ...



From the left side the rooms face the valley ...



... and from the right side to the lake ...







And I just cannot go into stork region (we saw dozens and dozens of nest, one on every other telephone pole, without taking a photo or two. This chappie / chappette did a nice pose for me ...



... and then took off and I got the backside in flight ...



Shame it was such a grey, dreary and drizzly day.

 

Looks like you had a great day LOL.Thanks for sharing.What i wouldn`t give to be part of that little community at the top of the hill.Not the Pousada though.Does that translate to prison??

 

4th picture from the bottom would make a lovely subject for you to paint LoL. Everything looks so green.

I checked on my eucaliptus today and it has survived the winter. when it gets estableishe I intend to cut it to base every year.

 

Thank you, elainefiz. Pousada actually translates to lodgings. They are State run and can be very cheap ... I don't think this one would be with the views. There is another VERY expensive on in Alentejo in Monsaraz.

 

That serves me right for being lazy and not googling.I did think it looked a bit cushy for a prison.

 

Sorry, Waco, you and I posted the same time.

Funny you should say that ... that is exactly why I took that photo! Yes, when we've had a bit of rain it is very green ... mostly populated by those sodding Oxalis!

elainfiz ... :D :D :D I must say I was a bit surprised by you asking that!

 

Lovely, we'll have to do this day-trip together next time!

I agree with Waco, that picture would make a good subject to paint.

 

now as to those xxXXxx Oxalis, I have the same problem with them as little tuberous things in my garden weed catagory.

as I like to work with a plant rather than against it, I planted some lovely cultivated varieties which do very well, BUT I tried to grow some bulbs which looked fantastic on Parker Bulb web site and they look terrible, so don't know where I went wrong?

K-G Great minds think alike!

 

I have the cultivated sort also, Waco, a lovely pink one, but it doesn't seed itself all over hell's half acre and the remainder of the world.

We're told our came up from Africa and, as you rightly say, they are a bulb but they get in every crack and crevice! :eek:

 

Eucalyptus globulus :D

Nice pics LoL, all that space.

 

There is SO much spacE here I think a few more folk should come along to enjoy it ... but, please, don't all rush at the same time ...

 

ok than it's me and BM booked on the next flight!
I will clear all the oranges in the area!