Jo’s Monday walk : Talking to the trees

Funny how an idea can spark from an innocent remark. ‘Have you done a walk featuring the personalities of trees?’ asked Frank, on my last walk. ‘Well, no-o…but?’ Frank likes walking on beaches, but his interests range far and wide. I like walking on beaches too, but they’re denied to me at present. So the idea of taking a twirl with a tree or two was born.

I talk to the trees, but they don’t listen to me

I talk to the stars, but they never hear me…

  • Could you use a little shade?
  • Or a place to sit awhile?
  • I’m afraid I’m a little twisted
  • And I’m having a bad hair day!
  • Calm down, guys! Just look at that blue sky
  • How about a game of hide and seek?
  • Climb on me- I don’t mind!
  • Not us! We’re fragile
  • How did I end up like this?

They surround me. Olive trees, ancient and new. Oranges and lemons, side by side, their fruit a dangling temptation. Figs and pomegranates are bare branches now, but their turn will come. This is the time of the almonds, bitter with dark pink blossoms, sweet, much paler. Both delicate.

  • Juicy oranges
  • And tangy lemons

I choose a path between fields lush with Bermuda buttercups. Over a stone wall, a new plantation of water-guzzling avocados. A flitter and a fluttering as a lime and lemon butterfly dances past, alighting for a few precious moments. I hope for the wings to still to display their full beauty. Bubbles of vibrant mimosa echo the lemon.

And then, the definitive old gnarled tree trunk. A home for bugs, birds and even small rodents. The perfect hiding place for acorns. With a peephole or two for that watchful eye. So full of character!

  • White blossom contrasts with the rocks
  • And a rock rose peeps out
  • I’ve got my eye on you!
  • Lanterna, everywhere, in many shades
  • A tree with a view
  • Dangling beauty

So many forms, and all part of my world right now. The boundaries are meaningless to you, but a beautiful straitjacket for me. I hope you enjoyed A glimpse of my world as it is at the moment. Thanks to Sheetal. A myriad of sights to gladden the heart.

walking logo

As does sharing your walks. Find time for a browse?

……………………………………………………………………….

Margaret did make me smile with this! You see, anyone can go for a walk… anywhere!

Virtual dog goes on a virtual walk

When it comes to smoke and mirrors, Drake has it all beautifully covered :

Cheating morning

Dressed winterly

Winter down hill

So nice to have a bit of poetry to accompany a walk. Thanks, Mari!

A Walk for Edward Thomas

Cadyluck has a very sad story to relate, but it makes a fascinating walk :

Jo’s Monday walk : Southampton, UK

Feel the heat, Down Under with Carol! Anyone for a paddle? Don’t miss the dragonflies and butterflies in the second post!

Down by the Water

Getting Back to Nature

Going back to virtual walks, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather walk with. Margaret, come and join Annika? You’ll love the location.

Duality of Walks

Some time this year we’ll be free to walk where we choose, I hope. Lucy has some great suggestions :

Five fantastic walking holidays in the UK

And Marie shares some wild Irish beauty :

Out and about in Ireland’s Heartland- Cavan Burren Park

Tying in nicely with my walk this week… a peaceful interlude with Lynn :

Local Walks: A Lake and a Forest in the uiet season

Nudging forward into 2021. One step at a time. Take care of yourselves, and join me next time on Jo’s Monday walk!

Six word Saturday

So much water under the bridge

Awesome, isn’t it? Heavy rain brings the red soil tumbling down from the hills. We’re back to clear blue skies now. Have a happy weekend!

Six Word Saturday

6wsButton

Mellow Yellow

Undecided whether to throw all my eggs in one basket (and make scrambled eggs- nice and yellow!) or to saunter through the month, trailing yellow behind me for Jude’s Life in Colour Challenge. Chuck in a sunset or two… always makes me mellow.

  • You can leave your hat on…
  • Nossa Senhora
  • No children’s carnival parade this year
  • Bee orchid in the wild
  • Cultivated frangipane
  • Oxalis and insects
  • A nice place to hang your hat
  • Somebody asked for custard, honestly!
  • The shell is mine, too
  • Chilling with a view…

Speeding home, in the days when you could go somewhere, we were racing the sunset. It won! A blaze of glory…

Wishing my very beautiful daughter a happy 50th birthday! Sending hugs, darlin…

Monday Mural

A mural for our times. I’d gone for a stroll by the water in neighbouring Cabanas when this curly headed cherub caught my eye. The following day there was an outbreak of Covid-19 and it became a place to avoid. Fortunately numbers seem to be decreasing locally and we have hopes of a return to normal life.

Monday Mural

Six word Saturday

Some beauty to add to Saturday

Hope you have a happy one. And join Debbie for Six Word Saturday.

6wsButton

Just One Person From Around the World: Balboa, Spain

I really don’t do this, but I’m having some ‘think’ time this week, and this is a great idea you might enjoy meanwhile.

CadyLuck Leedy's avatarThatTravelLadyInHerShoes

I have stopped watching the news….I have dropped all social media, except for my blog, which I try to keep to positive vibes…. there are a lot of folks in the world, who are everyday folks, just trying to provide food and shelter and love……….they are trying to make a living…….keep their kids educated and basically just take care of their families, without an agenda.  Me too. I think there is more of us…. Just trying to live our lives….. So, I would like to take the time to focus today on one elderly gent I spotted in the ‎⁨Plaza Nueva⁩, ⁨Balboa, Spain⁩.

‎⁨Plaza Nueva⁩, ⁨Bilbao⁩, ⁨Basque Country⁩, ⁨Spain⁩

He walked with his head down…..was he thinking about how many times he had been in this plaza and all the things he had seen here? Was he sad? Was he lonely? Did he live in one of the balcony apartments?…

View original post 280 more words

Jo’s Monday walk : lanes and salt marshes

I’m afraid it’s smack down to earth again with today’s walk. No more high flying in Barcelona, but it was fun while it lasted. I’m having to be much more prosaic, because we are again under restrictions here in the Algarve. Depressing, isn’t it, but I’m determined not to wear a long face. The sky here is mostly blue, the fields are wave upon wave of nodding golden oxalis, and the almond trees are hastening from bud to blossom.

The beaches, with their wide open expanses, are once more closed, which makes me sad and seems to make little sense. But there are compensations. Even after all these years I can still find a strip of unexplored territory, if I try hard enough. And that always makes me smile. The freedom of stepping out into an almost unknown world is purely joyful. A narrow path, between stone walls, has me looking out on a scene I know, but how different it feels from the other side of the field. The oxalis colonise every possible crevice in the wall, and where they don’t intrude another invader creeps in.

The olive trees twist and twine, holding each other up. Yawning holes gape in their trunks, a readymade home for small creatures. I’m astonished to spy a bright pink cistus struggling out through the green. Surely it’s too early! But a heart-shaped hole in the rock makes me smile.

But there is no doubt that Spring is here. An asphodel nods in the breeze. Wisps of cloud drift across the sky, and suddenly a shaft of light illuminates the heavens. A moment of glory, and I gaze, transfixed! The almond blossom flutters shyly and a bird pauses, high on its perch.

A change of scene now for, across a road, the salt marshes stretch, away to the sea. The nearest I can get to the forbidden beaches. And so I wander between the channels of salt water, observing the process which will produce Flor do Sal, the area’s precious salt commodity.

A system of gates and pumps move the water from one channel to the next, in an age old method, culminating in the height of summer with salt crystals. Turning away, I head for home, not yet visible in the distance.

This is my reality now. A far cry from bright lights and big city, but beautiful in its own right. And I’m holding hands across the world with many in the same situation. We’ll get through this together.

walking logo

It’s funny! Some weeks it just rains walks… or potential walks! If I’ve missed anybody out, I apologise in advance. Just give me a nudge! I now seem to be operating on a fortnightly basis, but I’ve no idea where I’m going next. Planning, hey? Join me on Jo’s Monday walk.

………………………………………………………………

How spectacular is this, from Sue and Dave? Tempted? Well….. not really! You know I love the sun :

Grotto Canyon Ice Walk : Winter Hiking Wonder

Certainly gentler scenery, but still beautiful with Anabel :

Fife Coastal Path: Cambo and Tentsmuir

Fife Coastal Path: Lower Largo to Earlsferry

Another coastal walk from Jonno and Jo, well wrapped up!

Herne Bay to Reculver Walk

Boston, a city I’d love to see! And an Ice Sculpture trail. Pop over and say hello?

Last Day of 2020, Afoot in Boston Harbor

Still in the States, I found this rather beautiful. I’m a compulsive water follower :

Croton Gorge County Park

You can always find beauty, if you look. And always in Lynn’s company :

Local Walks: A TWO-FER

And Cadyluck Leedy has a kwestion for you! The answer’s easy!

Why Would You Want to Go to a Botanical Garden in Gothenburg, Sweden?

While Drake makes his own music with the natural world :

January Symphony

Casual hills

Join Margaret for a bit of fun, in and out of the woods :

Sun getting up? Or sunset? The Answer

And have you met Emma? She has some beautiful self catering accommodation :

Jack & Jill and Chattri Memorial South Downs 8.5M/13.6KM Circular

Easy walking in sunshine sound good? Alice is your woman!

Leisure Loop

And something a little different from Rupali :

The Shapes of Emotions

While we’re having some fun, can you spot Teresa in these photographs?

Where are you Going?

Kelly warns you not to get lost in this market. It’s very easily done!

Bangkok Walk

Ending with a beautiful flourish of winter white from our Snow King and Queen :

Slow snow walk

Thursday Thoughts

That’s it for now! Hope you enjoyed it. I should be back with a walk in 2 weeks, come rain, come shine! Take good care in the meantime.

Looking up and back!

This is where we started, isn’t it? Awestruck by the amazing spectacle that is Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia. I can’t resist another couple of images.

But it would be wrong to stop there. Barcelona is so much more! A kaleidoscope of colour and interwoven parts. Come with me, one last time!

  • Dangle your feet by the waterfront
  • Cross the wavy bridge
  • Admire the yachts
  • Gaze down from Montjuic
  • Watch the fountains trickle
  • Blow big bubbles
  • Congregate in Placa de Catalunya
  • Not the bridge of sighs!
  • Catalan pride
  • Art Deco
  • Café culture
  • Sacred Heart of Jesus
  • The one I missed, captured at the airport!

Thanks, Becky, for being a wonderful hostess, and for letting me revisit Barcelona. I’d forgotten how magnificent it was.

#SquareUp (plus 3 oblongs) P.S. Did anyone see this from Andrew?

Six word Saturday

Time to make a supreme effort!

It seems only fair to include the Cathedral, often overshadowed by Gaudi’s Basilica. Not forgetting the geese, and St. George and the dragon.

  • Up on the roof
  • The mighty portal
  • Heavenly light!
  • And the dome

Tomorrow is the last day to join Becky. Meanwhile, Debbie’s still jetting around?

#SquareUp

Six Word Saturday

6wsButton

Don’t look down or you’re scuppered!

What about that for a view? All of Barcelona at your feet. We’ve hit the heights at Tibidabo’s fairground. If you look hard you can see La Sagrada Famila down there, and all the way out to the harbour. A huge relief that the big dipper wasn’t working that day or I might have been scuppered!

#SquareUp