Jo’s Monday walk : a floral dance

You may remember last fortnight I had a mild flirtation with the trees here in the Algarve. I enjoyed it so much that I thought I might get a little closer to the ground this week. Across northern Europe, Spring is beginning to bloom. Here it is already well established. Shall we dance?

  • Mimosa shimmy in the breeze
  • Marguerite sway, in more stately fashion
  • But blossom…
  • can reach the dizzy heights of the floral dance

Life may have its limits for us humans right now, but nature doesn’t seem to have noticed. Colourful blooms burst forth with exuberance, and we can only try and replicate the joy of their dance. Remember Terry Wogan’s terrible Floral Dance? He was never without a smile.

Bees buzz and twirl in partnership with the wild flowers that carpet the land. Yellow seems to predominate in amongst the luxuriant green, with here and there a spike of deep lilac or a smudge of blue. The dance can lead us up to the hills or out towards the sea, dipping to stroke and admire, filling our senses. The white broom shivers seductively in the hint of breeze, its days already numbered.

  • Gates control the flow of salt water
  • Shadows dancing as we tread the narrow path
  • Gently brushed by soft white broom
  • The sea so near, tantalising, but out of reach

Filled with the serenity the sea can always bring me, I turn my steps inland. Here the cistus are flirting with the hills, dancing in wild abandon.

  • Tiny blue stars sparkle in the shade
  • While one cistus finds a strange partner
  • And another basks in warm sunshine
  • But all are outshone by the flouncing skirts of this beauty

Much water has flowed down these hills this winter, and the gurgle of a stream we sometimes cross has become a clamouring torrent.

  • The stepping stones have vanished
  • Beneath the frolicking water

Time to turn our steps for home, but the dance is not yet done. Almost on my doorstep, the blooms still court my attention.

  • Flamenco red lanterna
  • Aeonium pulsating with colour
  • Delicious jasmine scents the air
  • Ameixa (plum) or pessego (peach)?
  • And my very own bougainvillea

The softness of an Algarve Spring is all around me. A world full of softness and abundance. I hope that Ann-Christine approves.

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #137 – Soft

walking logo

Walks proliferate this week. I noted in my Reader this morning that there are a couple of others and I’ll include them next time. Please try and visit each other. I’ll be back in two weeks. Join me next time on Jo’s Monday walk.

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A volcanic lagoon seems like a great destination to me. Thanks, Graham!

A walk around Kiholo Bay

Fancy a bit of a climb? Carol will make it worth the effort, and fill you full of wonder :

Don’t Count, Just Go Up!

Where There is Water

Marsha and Vince are enjoying territory new to them :

#Prescott Walk 5: Peavine Trail

Prescott Walk #6 Willow Lake Trail

Drake is a man who loves an adventure in the snow :

Snowy walk

While Lady Lee simply loves snow!

February Love Me 14

Did you ever see such icicles? Wrap up warm, Rupali!

Weekend 115: Let’s walk together – A glimpse of real life

I think it’s warming up a little where Yvette is!

Walk with Jo and Thoreau Quote: Deal with brute nature. Be cold, hungry and weary.

The stuff of my dreams, with Gilda :

Hiking the Rugged Cinque Terre Coastline

Scaling the heights with Sheetal was ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’. Truly!

Story of my Spirited Hike to Daulatabad Fort

Much easier but less thrilling, unless you play with the Bunsen Burner, a low level walk with Denzil :

The Eikelberg Walk in Gelrode

English villages are easy on the eye. There’s usually a pub and a church. Join Shazza in Lancashire :

Bolton-by-Bowland walk

And it’s always easier reading a book than walking, but Mel likes to do both :

The Highs and Lows of the South West Coast Path, GB

Love a stroll in a city by the water, just looking at life? So do I, and so does my friend Cady :

Just Strollin’ in Oslo

Twelve years ago I spent a special birthday on Madeira. Lovely memories rekindled for me by Becky :

A hiking adventure in Funchal

That’s all for now. Feel free to join me any time with a walk of your own. Take good care, and have a happy March!

149 comments

  1. You have taken us on a delightful walk on this sunny Monday, Jo, and I can almost smell the blossom on your trees and the scent of the broom sweeps across from Algarve to Isle of Wight. My garden is slow to leap into flower this year but the mimosa is budding, the camellias are just about to burst forth, the daffs are well into their stride, Daphne is almost over and the tulips are awaiting their time so that they can be hog the limelight when they appear. Meantime, covering the walls, the winter yellow jasmine has decided it’s really spring flowering and the montana is biding its time until it can have the entire wall to itself. But I’m waiting for my roses. Sounds as though I have an enormous plot, doesn’t it. Wrong, I just can’t resist cramming things in and buying plants! Enjoy the spring weather and hope you and your family will soon be able to meet up. It’s something to look forward to, as well as summer.

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    1. It all sounds rather wonderful. Never marry a garden designer. That’s my advice! He likes drawing them and looking at other people’s but our own is distinctly uninspiring. We seldom agree about what we like so nothing happens quickly. I’m trying not to think too much about summer but I’m hoping! 🤗💕

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    1. Most of these are a decent size, though not the jasmine or bougainvillea. The mass of yellow Oxalis are like giant buttercups. We spotted some wild irises this morning. So pretty! 🤗💕

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    1. I forget which bit of the world you live in but I know it’s cooler than here, generally. I would settle for year round Spring 😍 Thanks so much for sharing 💕💕

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  4. Well Jo, I must say you have really outdone yourself this week! This could have been three or four posts but you showered us with spring’s bounty all in one! The glory of springtime’s exuberance shines through in every step and I loved your comments on each segment. Bravo!!

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    1. I am getting a bit carried away with all this talking to trees and dancing with flowers, Tina. I’ll be off to the funny farm soon. Blame Covid! 🤣💕 As always, it’s lovely to have you on board 😍

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  5. What a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious floral walk it was ! In fact much of your words were sheer poetry and then there were pictures of the enchanting blooms. Definitely a different walk but oh so beautiful! Also googled Terry Wogan and the Floral Dance . I hadn’t heard of him or his song . Now I do . 😀
    Thank you for the link up too. Much appreciate it.

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    1. I used to love Terry Wogan, Sheetal! He was such a ham, but a very warm human being. Whenever I think Floral dance I can’t help but think of him so he had to get a mention. British followers will quite possibly groan! 🤣💕 Always glad to make you happy 😍

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  9. Spring comes early to the Algarve – many of our summer flowers in this bouquet I noticed. Especially for you here is a real English spring garden, though of course it’s not really as so many of these plants have made their way from overseas.
    https://wp.me/p79zFr-3Mj

    And in nearby Helston they hold a Floral Dance or Furry Dance annually which is of course where the song originates from. Not this year though, like so many other things it has been cancelled.

    “As I walked home on a Summer night
    When stars in Heav’n were shining bright
    Far away from the footlight’s glare
    Into the sweet and scented air
    Of a quaint old Cornish town”

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      1. You will have to come back and view it on the laptop. Too many galleries that will be overwritten with text, plus some of the photos really need to be clicked on to enlarge them so you see all the details.

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  10. Pingback: Meteorological spring – Cornwall in Colours

      1. That is good for your walks, more sunshine than showers. Many more sunny walks for you. All good over here…we are heading towards autumn though. Already missing that sunshine 🤗

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  12. Aaahhhhhh, Jo, Jo, Jo…now you triggered all my spring buttons! WONDERFUL. I am ENVIOUS. We have some tiny snowdrops, that is all. I will have to rely on your soft beauties for some days now…

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    1. Sorry I didn’t stick more closely to your theme, but when I get an idea, or a bee in my bonnet 👒? Glad you like them anyway! It’s cloudy today, but there are still flowers ⛅🌹💮🌼💕

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      1. Field officers for Landcare, to build and set out Common Mynah traps, collect and euthanise the birds.
        They are a pest species that has severe impacts on local endemic species of birds, reptiles, small gliders and possums. 🙂

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