Azulejos, hand painted tiles

Well, when in Portugal and you get the chance to visit a tile factory where they hand paint azulejos, of course the answer is yes. Especially when it’s just over the road from your hotel, which was how it happened on our walking holiday in Portugal last June.

And by factory, I don’t mean large and automated. Think more of a place for specialist crafts to take place, though they did have a shop and I was very tempted by the tile above, for no more reason than I liked it.

The ‘factory’ was among residential streets, where we returned later for dinner in a local restaurant, and was set away from the main part of the town. Both made us feel incredibly welcome, with our own tour of the workshop and an explanation of the process, which hasn’t changed vastly, as you’d expect with a traditional craft.

The designs created here, are all hand painted, and are stunning. They create the traditional designs, as well as modern designs and take in custom commissions from across the world for private and commercial customers.

On our visit we were encouraged to watch the tiles being painted, and it was great to see. The detail, and process was fascinating and we were shown every stage of the process by our hosts.

Who’d have thought that we’d have the chance to see such beautiful tiles being created? Certainly not me, but I’m so glad we did. We almost didn’t as we’d been out all day and on our feet again, but it was definitely worth it.

Reflecting on my week #127

Well, it’s the first Monday in May and it’s not a bank holiday. The signs were there, had we realised, that this could be a very odd year! Though given that the change of date was made after diaries and calendar went to print it’s possible some people are quite unaware that it’s moved.

We’re back at work, well, at the kitchen table, and today is a momentous day. Yes, we have an online shopping delivery, and for the first time in over ten years, it’s not from Ocado. I’ve already noticed some obvious differences, and am interested to see how it might all work. We’ll see.

The rain that was forecast last week came, and watered in nicely the two jasmine plants I’d moved. Canny gardening that. In between the showers I popped out to the garden, returning with a few stems of fragrant lilac for the house.

The beans I’ve planted have germinated and raced ahead of anything my slower broad bean seedlings might be contemplating, and I’ll need to make plans for them soon. I’ve had success with basil (briefly), all of my basil seedlings have now been munched, as have half of the lettuce seedlings. Clearly whatever it is has quite particular tastes as the parsley, tomatoes, dill and nasturtiums are safe.

Saturday saw plenty of crocheting, and I’m now just one final granny design from finishing my blanket. It’s been on the go for a while so it will be good to see it finished, and also because I think I’ve already found my next project, Which doesn’t seem to be on that’s already on my ‘to make’ list.

I suspect that it won’t be long before we’re all encouraged to cover our faces while we’re out and about, and I have mixed feelings about this. It’s not unusual to see people wearing them already, and those who do are the ones who come the closest, and even lean across people, in shops as If they have some kind of immunity.

Then there’s the point about people buying the types that are much needed by our medics, leaving them even shorter than they already are. And the effectiveness of homemade versions, as well as the demonstrations for making them out of scarves and an elastic band. I think, face coverings are likely to become ‘competitive’.

I will most likely make some from old shirting, or rather from old shirts, and I have a couple of patterns to follow, one of which needs the template printed. Which should have been fine, except that our printer is throwing a wobbly. We last used it, in probably January, and now the toner (which was already low) has evaporated, or completely dried up. It’s fair to say, we don’t print a lot.

Scuppered by the printer some more gardening took place. The Chilean potato plant with its pretty lilac flowers had a small tidy, but the most of the cutting took place partway up the garden with the euonymus and (another) pyracantha which are intertwined. Many full trugs later, and from the front it really doesn’t look any different (yet), which is kind of demoralising, but as ever, not everything that’s important is on show.

Some impromptu lockdown baking has also happened. I’d opened a jar of almond butter (think peanut butter, but worse) and let’s just say neither of us were fans. Rather than let it languish in the cupboard, with the addition of sugar and an egg it’s transforming into cookies, which actually taste pretty good.

Hope your week is as cookie-filled as you need it to be.

The Garden Year: May

My garden has started to really come to life, and we’ve spent some time over the last few weekends trying to tame it. It looks best in spring, but that also is the time that we also have to prune hard, and often the cuttings are more suitable to our green bin than our compost bins.

But it’s a time of year when we know summer is on its way and it’s time to sow and plant out in earnest. Usually it’s the month to look forward to RHS Chelsea, and this year, it will be quite different. We should still be doing the Chelsea chop, which is about as hard as discarding the weaker seedlings. The chop involves cutting perennials back by half, to make sturdier plants and encourage more flowers.

Photo by Richard Burlton on Unsplash

May in the garden

It really is the month where we gear up for lots of activity, whether that’s weeding - and no doubt plenty of it or pruning. Usually its a time for summer bedding, and again, that’s different again this year with gardens centres remaining closed.

On my to do list:

• Nurturing my seedlings in the greenhouse, potting them on to give them the best chance of providing edibles later on.

• This year I’m also growing some flowers from seeds, so

• Continue to cut back and tidy the shrubs in our garden, with the euonymus high on our list.

• There’s still some jasmine care to do - my jasmine’s provide one of those mindful tasks, removing the dried ends by hand is strangely therapeutic.

• Keeping an eye out on my strawberries and the cherry tree - we’re already chasing off pigeons!

• Sow some more seeds, with squash, courgettes and more lettuce and herbs on my list.

• Reduce the height of our lilac once its finished flowering, but in the meantime enjoy those flowers and their scent!

Link up any gardening post

This monthly gardening linky is open to any garden related post, whether it’s planning your own garden, an update on your space, or a garden you’ve visited and enjoyed, or like mine a list of things to do in the garden this month.

All posts are welcome, whether old or new.

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