sunshine award from polly

a week has passed and i haven't done much of anything. 

just commuting between my house and tó's, and working the last mile to finish my portfolio.

polly sent me a sunshione award (thank you polly!). you're supposed to answer a few facts and tag five other bloggers you enjoy.

favorite color: green
favorite animal: cats and chimpanzees
favorite non-alcoholic drink: water
facebook or twitter: facebook
getting or giving presents: both
favorite flower: daisies
favorite pattern: dots and flowers
passion: traveling
favorite number: i don't have one...

the five (or seven) blogs i'd like to share are:    aprons and birds   .   painted by the sun   .   mdmslle   .   passerat   .   li + belle   .   joanna ludwisiak   .   6x6 life

i don't really like to tag people, but if you read this and would like to partake in the sunshine awards, feel free to answer those little facts :)

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benny in all his glory :)

just because i love him so very much

olive trees

on the day we looked for some old windmills we got this amazing vew.

i absolutely love how the landscape changes from the north to the center, and to the south of portugal.

the tall pine trees and eucalyptus slowly turn into olive trees and cork oaks. the lands go from mountainous to plains. the air thickens.

the creek

a lovely little creek, trapped by a monstruous dam.

yesterday's exploration

yesterday's trip was nothing short of magic.

we were blessed with a sunny day, vibrant blue water and a lot of green vegetation.

we visited the village of 'vilarinho das furnas' which is submerse, and even though the water was rather high yesterday, we still got a glimpse of that wonder.

this is our 3rd valentine's day together.

tonight we'll dine, tomorrow we'll explore a new place :)

i am, truly, a lucky girl!

 photos taken by the lovely sara, last spring

my grandmother passed away last wednesday.

it was somewhat unexpected as she was recovering extremely well from the stroke. in the end it was a lung infection she got at the hospital that proved to be stronger than her.

there are a few things i absolutely loved about her that i'd like to share:

.she live in the countryside and i've always called her 'avó dos mé-més' (something like 'baa baa grandma') because, as a little girl, i'd always see farm animals around her house

. she was feisty and witty and loved to talk

. she had the most amazing memory - she could tell you the entire history of portugal, street names from lyon and the bus lines she used to take there, back in the 70's, and so on.....   still at the age of 88!

. she always shared curious little details about personalities and places

. she was a very giving person

. 90% of my visits, she'd have giant underware out, hanging, to dry  :) she didn't mind i laughed

.she had the funniest facial and speech expressions 

. she would always have her pure white  hair up, in a braided bun

. she loved me and i love her

the chapel and the view

are both unforgettable...

the noisy bulls

as we were coming back to the car, beautiful golden brown bulls were passing by.

they were quite busy eating the grass,  moving their loud bells at the same time, and letting us know they were there!

it was quite the treat :)

yesterday i visited my grandmother at the hospital and i could finally see for myself that she's doing surprisingly well! 

this was one the places i visited last monday.

i'm always fascinated by the brilliant natural position of those giant rocks. and the wooden trail up to the viewpoint was exquisite!

i need to explore more of that area soon :)