The Gallery: Boys

This week on the Gallery over at Sticky Fingers is Boys.

So in this case I would like to introduce the new boy in my life and I am totally in love with my new boy!

Our boy Thomas arrived to join us on 30th January 2012 and what a sweetheart he is!  We are all adoring of our new boy!  It took a while but third time lucky he made it!

The Gallery: Eyes

This week's theme on The Gallery is Eyes.

This is my youngest daughter Grace who has amazing eyes, this photo was taken quite a while ago but now she has these huge, and I mean huge eyelashes, that a supermodel would be envious of and a little speckle of brown around the iris, as does her mother.  

Pop over to the Gallery to see more!

The Gallery: 8pm

This week on The Gallery, the theme is 8pm.  What do you do at 8pm?

In our house generally it is bedtime, not for me, (although sometimes it could be!) but for my two girls.  Although 8pm can also on occasions be dinner time, if we are running late or its the weekend or holidays!     

Come and what others do at 8pm on The Gallery.

The Gallery: Breakfast

This week on The Gallery is Breakfast

Breakfast in our house is one of two things if its weekend or holiday time, is usually very late and lazy but if its school time, its rush, eat, eat, eat, lets go!  

Breakfast in our house generally consists of two things, toast and cereal.  Mum eats toast pretty much everyday (i dont like cereal anymore) and the kids vary between toast and cereals.  Their favourite cereal is a portuguese cereal called Cerelac, which is a sweet flour based cereal which you mix with milk or water.  

Pop over and see what else is on The Gallery

The Gallery: Beauty

This week's theme on The Gallery is Beauty.  

There are so many things that can be interpreted as beautiful and it is a very personal thing.  To me there are many things beautiful, the most being:

My children!

Beautiful landscapes and views

Things Mother Nature has given us

There are so many beautiful things in this world, and beauty is truly in the Eye of the beholder!  

Come and what else is Beautiful on The Gallery

The Gallery: Sky

This week's theme on The Gallery is Sky.

Normally the skies are pretty clear here and this soft blue, not the deep blue that you get elsewhere but this quite perfect blue.  Obviously if the sun is shining on a calm sea it is like an amazing blinding light on a mirror that hurts your eyes. 

 But occasionally when we have some clouds, I guess with the heat they create these candy floss like shapes of whispiness!  

Come over and see some more skies at The Gallery

The Gallery: Food

This week's theme on The Gallery is Food,

So to go with the theme I wanted to add a typical Portuguese food.

Snails or caracois as they are known here.

My husband and daughters love these, but not me!  I am programmed not to eat garden snails!  But they are very popular here in summer.

We usually eat them out in cafes or restaurants as a snack, but at this time we had some at home.  As you can see, while they were soaking and cleaning, some of them kept trying to escape.  Another reason why I dont like them, I dont like to see my food moving!!

Come and see the other entries in the Gallery

The Gallery: Extreme Close-up

This week on The Gallery, the theme is Extreme Close-up.  Looking through my photos I found this.  Its not a great picture but is definitely close-up!  

Come over and see the others on the Gallery

The Gallery: Colour

This week's theme on the Gallery is Colour!

So I chose this image of some beautiful flowers that a kind friend gave me.  It doesnt have a lot of different colours, but doesnt nature just give the richest, finest colours and tones, dont you think?

Come over to The Gallery and see some more!

The Gallery: Landscapes

This week's theme on the Gallery is Landscapes

Living in the East Algarve, I am very lucky to be surrounded by some beautiful landscapes along the coast.  We are situated on the Ria Formosa natural park, giving us some amazing landscapes and stunning beaches that are only accessible by boat or on foot at low tide with beautiful white sands and mostly calm waters.

And on a clear day I can see all the way to the Spanish border (to the left of the photo), some 15 miles away from up in the hills.  

Not bad I think!  Come and see the others in the Gallery this week

The Gallery: Eyes

This week's theme on The Gallery is Eyes.  So there was only one choice, my gorgeous Grace who has the biggest eyes.  People are always commenting on her big eyes, and when she was a baby they were very blue but now they have gone more green but have this strong blue line on the edge, which you cannot really see in this photo.  

Come over and see the other entries in The Gallery

The Gallery: My Awesome Photo

This week's theme on The Gallery is 'My Awesome Photo'

For those of you who are familiar with my blog, you will know I quite like photography and my camera but wish I was better at it and would love to have some training to help me improve.  Quite often I find I see something amazing/lovely/spectacular that would be a great photo but often it turns out to be a disappointment. In this case, it was the reverse and turned out really well and is one of my favourite photo and I think its pretty good, if I say so myself.  It has lovely contrast and I love the old, traditional houses and cockle pickers in the background, giving a real 'authentic' feel.

I hope you like it, come and see the other entries on this week's Gallery

The Gallery: Something I am proud of!

This week's theme on the Gallery is Something I am proud of

Without a doubt, the thing I am most proud of is my beautiful girls!  Being a parent isnt an easy thing and it's hard work at times, but when they are growing up well, you cant help but be proud.  They are and Im sure will always be my greatest achievement.

Come and see the other entries in this week's Gallery

The Gallery: 11.11.11

The theme on this week's Gallery is 11.11.11

Here in Portugal on the 11.11.11 is Sao Martinho Day, where traditional you eat roasted chestnuts and drink a special kind of wine called Jeropiga or Agua de Pe (foot water).  

We went to our local bar and had our chestnuts, but not the jeropiga, which was home made and did smell of feet!! so we passed on that.

Also being a huge jackpot, we had to play the lotto.  Unfortunately we did not win, oh well, always next time!

Come and see the others in The Gallery

The Gallery: Faces

This week's theme on the The Gallery is Faces

I found these two pictures of my eldest daughter from different times, of my two children she pulls the funniest faces, or at least the ones that stay long enough for me to catch a photograph of.  She loves to sing and if you point a camera at her, she will pose, like a rock star, like a princess or a dancer!  She is quite a shy child but point a camera at her and she is there!

Oooh, look at me!

Grrrr...

Come and check out the other 'faces' on the Gallery this week

The Gallery: Home

This week on the The Gallery, the theme is Home.

Home is where the heart is, and my heart is where my family is.

  

This is my lounge, it is messy, but it is where we spend most of our time.  It is a seating room, a TV room, a workspace, a playroom, a dining room and a library(?)  This is the place where we can all do our things and be together, this, as messy and disorganised as it is, is my favourite place in our house.  Although I wouldnt complain to have a separate play room and dining room and office, but first I need to win the lotto, so for now, this will do me to have my family together.

This week's theme on the Gallery is home.  What is 'home' to you?  Come and see the other entries over at Sticky Fingers

The Gallery: Guilty pleasures!

This week's theme on The Gallery at Sticky Fingers is guilty pleasures!

My 'current' guilty pleasure these days is a glass of wine or two and crime drama or if Im lucky some american comedy, post-children's bedtime, while I work or read.   I would say my other guilty pleasure is time at the Spa but that would simply be untrue!   


This is a really interesting theme, Im intrigued to see what other's guilty pleasures are, come and see at The Gallery.

The Gallery: Animals

This week on The Gallery, the subject is Animals.  So I searched through my photos, last week I took some photos of the first deer I had seen here in Portugal but they were not clear enough, crappy lens!  It was great to see and I would have loved to capture it.  A few days later I went to the same park and a deer was not 10 metres away but I didnt see it until it turned and ran, would have been a great picture, maybe next time!  Must be more ready next time.

Anyway, so I found these photos I took a few weeks ago.  Very common sights here in the Algarve, the traditional sheparding and a stork nesting on a post, or chimney or pylon or anthing high and a reasonably sized flat surface. 

Come over and see the others in The Gallery

The Gallery: World Photography Day

This week's theme on the Gallery is World Photography Day, I love taking photos but dont do it as much as I should.  This week Tara asked us to take a photo from this weekend to celebrate World Photography Day. 

We had a pretty quiet weekend but one thing we did do was find a new park. One thing I really miss from england is the woodland parks, where you can walk and have picnics etc.  Here, in Portugal it can be quite difficult to find those kind of areas, and the beach can become abit samey, not to mention the sand in the sandwiches! But finally we found one, near my home there are signs for a 'parque de lazer' (leisure park) and I had tried to find it but couldnt, (signage is not always the best here), but I thought I would give it another try and we found it.  Where I grew up, we had lots of woods and I spent many a happy hour playing in the woods and fields, and its something I want my kids to have.

Its nice, with small pine and eucalyptus trees and paths to discover.  Lots of space for picnics and for little people to run and a play park.  What we also saw was a family of deer, (I did take a photo but my lens wasnt long enough), something familiar to me but not my children.  It is quite and peaceful, a nice place to spend time as a family and teach my children about nature.   And the views are great, you can see for miles.

Here they are with a quite random model of a cow, not so unusual in Portugal.

On a mission, in their stride

We are looking forward to many more hours spent discovering our newly found 'parque de lazer'.

Come over and see the other entries on The Gallery this week.

The Gallery: Black & White

This weeks theme at The Gallery on Sticky Fingers is Black & White.  

These pictures where taken on a wander around our part of the Algarve a few weeks ago.  This was taken from one of the old forts in a very small typical Algarvian village with small, whitewashed houses with blue shutters, and the views are great!     

A typical image in the sultry climate of the Algarve, never quite imagined I would live in a place with palm trees.

I love these pictures, but love them even more now I put them in Black & White, it gives a whole different look, and reminds me I should take more in Black & White.

Why not come and see what else is on The Gallery this week.