The Sun...

Hello, dear friends

Just a few snapshots to bring you some sunshine...

The boardwalk

The ocean ahead

A stroll by the ocean

Sunset--on the other side of the river, Spain, the setting sun is reflecting off of some windows

Sunrise in Alentejo

I can't get over all the beauties around me...

Hope you had a fantastic weekend!

XXX

School summer camp in Oeiras

We're off to see the Wizard...

the wonderful Wizard of Oz... (or maybe not...)

We want the Sun! Bring back the Sun!

Hope you have a nice, bright, sunshiny day! 

xxx

40ºC yesterday...

The hottest day so far this year, yesterday we had 40ºC by noon... so we decided to refresh ourselves a bit at the beach.

Portinho da Arrabida, a tiny, beautiful little bay and beach nested in front of the Serra da Arrabida, one of the prettiest around the Lisbon / Setúbal area and a National Park due to its unique vegetation...

I just love this little island sitting right in front of the beach!

Cristal clear and calm water (we actually saw an octopus wondering by and a lot of fish :)) We had to leave before noon because I still can't sit out in the sun (but I did go for a quick swim!) and it was quickly getting too hot!

These were taken earlier this year, yesterday the beach was a bit crowded... but it's always gorgeous!

Another beautiful picture of it I found on internet

...as well as this one, that gives you a clearer view of the fishing boats.

So... how was your weekend?

xxx

A long walk...care to join me?

Yesterday I felt the sudden urge to go for a walk by the ocean... so there I went, off to the beach!

As I was nearing I noticed the trees had blossomed... into red pompons! How cute can they be?! I'm not sure if I had ever noticed them before, but then there are a lot of flowering trees around that I hadn't noticed before... Is it me or is it an exceptional year for flowering trees?! The others that are just starting now are the jacarandas that make me sigh in awe each year...

And off I went on my quest for some sun... not too much because the doctors say I'm getting quite a bit of radiation and don't want to add on to it the sun's... So there's no chance I can lay there in a bikini (wishing it  would fit lol) until 2 weeks after I end the treatment. But they didn't say I couldn't get some sun on my face, or legs!

One day I'll have to find a way to go here. This lighthouse stands alone in the middle of the Tagus River mouth, just in front of Oeiras. You can take a closer look at it here or here. It was once a prison :( but now it's just a lighthouse and they call it the Guardian of Lisbon and the Tagus River.

I set foot on the "paredão", the sidewalk by the ocean that was built not long ago to join the beaches of Paço d'Arcos and Oeiras, all the way to the Marina. I wasn't planning on going that far, this time (it's almost a 10 km walk, there and back home).

...and even stepped over the little bridge where the fishermen are usually casting their poles (nobody there at that time) to get a better view of it, the rocks and the fortress.

See those tiny people on the sidewalk? Well, one of them could have been me :) 

Looking back at the little beach of Paço d'Arcos...

And closer to the Forte de S. João das Maias, which was recently restored... this is what it looked like before and this is what it looks like now, after the wonderful work they did on it, last year. My picture doesn't do it justice...

...but I kind of like this one, even if it's a bit out of foccus! Not a cloud in the sky...

well... barely any!

...and I finally got to the beach of Oeiras, where I used to spend my summers as a teenager :) 

Couldn't resist stepping into the sand and getting my feet wet...

--and suddenly I spotted a bottle of Coke in the water which reminded me of "Message in a bottle" by Nicholas Sparks (one of my favourite books, by the way)... I had to pick it up--no, no message there, but I was a good girl and trashed the bottle in the garbage bag...

...but sort of miscalculated the strength of the waves wopsss!!! Wet sweats...

Oh well... just had to sit down on the warm sand for a while enjoying the rays of sun soaking in while I waited for the pants to dry up ;)

And that's it for today :) says Teresa the red-nosed girl, hope I brought a little warmth and sunshine your way! 

xx

Survival kit :)

Second walk to the beach, this one a bit longer. Don't forget I've been indoors all Winter, not even a few little walks, dreading the cold and rain and catching something nasty that would set off my treatments and postpone "The End". So walking to the beach is a major deed for me right now--my joints are still resenting the lack of exercise, plus the side effects of Taxol don't help. It's only been 2 weeks since "The End".

So yesterday (I had no company on this journey) I packed a little backpack with some stuff to help me survive on this adventure. A bottle of water, of course. A wallet with some coins in case I wanted to go to the little coffee shop on the sand. A sweater (only to find out that it was 24ºC - 75ºF outdoors!). And, of course, my crochet... A couple of projects, in case I got bored. I probably thought I was going to stay there for a whole week...

But of course I had to go for a walk too... 

And take a couple more pictures to show you what it's like. Fishermen all over the place! But then, fishing is in our traditions...

I love driftwood. I wish I could use this on something... but considering it was a huge log I decided to drop the idea!

And on my way back couldn't resist this. Someone decided to turn a bit of wasteland by the railway into a sweet little garden. Slowly but surely they've been cleaning the soil, setting the rocks around it beautifully and adding little flowers and bushes to create a little oasis in the middle of nowhere. This is probably what they see from their window, I bet the person lives in the building right next to it--and I was on the railway crossover path.


Isn't it pretty?

Have a wonderfull weekend!


xx

First walk by the beach :)

Yesterday I was lucky to have my son around in the afternoon. Funny how little boys grow to be great companions in such a short time... I totally miss when he was a little boy, how cute he was giggling all the time and always in a good mood (except if you put a plate of food in front of him!) but I also love seeing him turn into a grown-up day by day. 


So anyway, he asked "Mom, why don't we go for a walk by the beach, it's such a beautifull day..." 


It was indeed, like it is today. A totally gorgeous, sunny, warm Spring day. And we're lucky to live close to the beach, it's only a 15 minute walk there. I've been trapped indoors for so long fearing a cold or whatever since I've been ill that this felt like heaven! I even walked down to the sand and collected some tiny seashells :) and yes, I'm planning on doing it again today--even though I don't have company today. It will help me recover and not worry--Monday I'll be back for another small surgery before being able to start radiation therapy. But that's something I don't want to think about today.


Here are some goodies for you--a bit of the Portuguese sunshine, the seashore, the wild flowers. And us :)

You can even see the bridge in Lisbon (twin of the Golden Gates in S.Francisco)

Wild flowers along the sidewalk

Mother and son

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of Oeiras :)


xx