Post Comment Love 28 - 30 June

Hello there and welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo a friendly linky where you can link any post published in the last week. Both Morgan and I know you’ll find some great posts to read, maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked and share some of that love.

Finally there’s been some warmer - and drier - weather. And hasn’t it been welcome?

Greenwich Park has sprung to life with the warmer weather, and it’s been interesting to see people relax and enjoy the space rather than rush through, going about their business. That still happens, but I know my journeys have become much slower, as the humidity seems to sap my energy both physically and mentally. I’ve found it hard to do the most simple of tasks, but hey ho - the sun is shining!

I’ve been going through old photos this week and came across this rather ornate sewing machine, which I saw back in 2016 at Killerton, one of the National Trust properties in Devon.

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Port and patterns

in a great demonstration of dithering and procrastination, today I’m sharing photos from a trip to Portugal. But not our most recent trip there, from just the other month, but from our trip there in 2017. Partly because I’m struggling to believe it has been two years since we visited the Douro Valley, but also because it delays editing the photos from our recent trip!

So today we’re off to Quinta da Bomfim on the outskirts of Pinhao in the Douro Valley. We took a taxi there as the day before we’d done a bit of a recce and only made it part-way up the drive before realising we might have bitten off more than we could chew, especially in the temperatures which were freakishly high for October.

But when we got there on our second attempt, it was well worth the views.

The views over the vineyards, of the terrace and the products, if you know what I mean.

And with views like this it was hard to motivate ourselves for the long walk back.

But eventually we did, and of course not before a visit to the Ladies, which, as I’ve said before, wasn’t quite what I expected for such a traditional surrounding.

For a pattern lover, it was a blast though.

It was the sort of place where you weren’t quite sure where the floor ended and where the wall started, though of course you’d quickly discover that if you walked a bit too far.

You can see how pleased I am with this loo discovery, or actually it could be down to the port sampling.

And now this post is out of the way, who knows maybe I’ll even get around to editing some of those more recent photos…

Reflecting on my week #89

Thankfully the weather has improved since last week, though I’m still carrying my umbrella in my handbag just in case. There’s thunderstorms threatened and some more rain, but somehow in London we’ve got to that stage where a thunderstorm to clear the air would be welcomed, as it’s already got to the “too hot” stage for some. I could do with less muggy-ness, but I’m pleased it’s warming up.

There’s been a sudden burst of fruit activity in our garden and we’re regularly picking - and eating - handfuls of strawberries. I love it when plants just carry on producing when left to their own devices, it’s the best type of home grown veg. Short on effort, but long on flavour.

It’s been a funny week in Greenwich. There’s been a couple of big events at the Old Royal Naval College, where a tremendous amount of fantastic flowers have been brought in to make a stunning place look even better. Then on Friday some cattle arrived and took up residency in a large gilt picture frame as part of the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival.

They were hefty old cattle and while I was keen to have a peek I stayed firmly on the outside of the picture frame and did my best not to make eye contact. There was an electric fence, but let’s face it this city girl wasn’t going to put that to the test. It was quite an attraction though, and without the cattle I’d have happily tried the picture frame seat for size.

On Sunday we realised why people have those collapsible fold-up chairs for picnics and such like. We headed over to Greenwich Park for one of the first Bandstand concerts of the year. Sunday wasn’t as nice as Saturday, but armed with a picnic blanket and an impromptu picnic which mostly contained cheese, which was perfectly fine by me. It’s been a few years since we’ve been to a concert in the park, and in those years it seems the ground has got a lot harder, and a lot more uncomfortable!

There’s plenty more bandstand concerts to come throughout the summer, and we’re hoping to go along to more where we can. Each weekend there’s a different ‘flavour’ to the music, this week was country. The one I’m hoping to get along to sounds as if it might be more Cuban, with a band name of Here to Havana, i think there’s a fair chance, don’t you?

The other thing we’ve been picking from the garden over the past week, while enjoying the heady jasmine smells, is cherries. We’ve bowlfuls of them - the pigeons have stripped the top of the tree, but seem reluctant so far to strip the tree bare. So we’re making the most of it, and of my photo editing software as you’ll see below.

I’d been wondering how we could use them, as while some are sweet enough to eat as they are, I prefer them cooked. Today, while having a bit of a browse of the Craft Gin Club site I spotted a recipe for a boozy gin and cherry trifle. Yes, i know, I wasn’t really looking for this, but once I’d found it I knew it would be useful. While we could make our own swiss roll and custard, I’ve opted for some specially made for us by Marks & Sparks, so we can concentrate on the main event, i’ll let you know how we get on!