LISBON STREET TRADER 1

At one time, only a few years ago, I thought these people were a dying race

They peddled their wares from bootlaces, to ice-cream, to document plastification.

I imagined that when they were gone that would be the end.

But, no, there is a new breed taking to the streets, where they don't have to pay the horrendous overheads of owning a shop and where they can just pocket their earnings without interference from the tax man.

These people are actually street-smart businessmen/women.

I think I may join them.


NAMASTÉ

MY OWN LITTLE EDEN

This is the view from my front door and verandah.

I'm surrounded by the positive energy of plants, flowers and fruit growing almost all year round.

This is my shelter from the storm - where I listen to the twittering of many bird species, check the rate of progress of my own pot plants and gaze at the sky to wonder what my overhead patch will reveal next.

Sometimes, in the cool of the night, I can hear the surf crashing on the shore five kilometres away.


NAMASTÉ

GARDEN 12

"Way out" is what this little display had to say to me.

You see gardening, like everything in life is in the detail.

And knowing precisely what plants would look good together and in what setting.

And so I sat in the shade of my cousin's verandah and contemplated my afternoon's work and her fifteen years of devotion to this small corner of Portugal.


NAMASTÉ

Don't forget to click on the image to see an enlargement

PURPLE HAZE

No, not the title of a Jimmy Hendricks song, but after staring at this small patch of my cousin's garden for more than ten minutes I did come over all dizzy.

My cousin told me she once fainted when staring at snow falling - maybe this floral psychedelia had the same effect.


NAMASTÉ

GARDEN 11

And so we near the end of the mini-tour around my cousin's garden.

You haven't seen the lawns, the trees, the many, many pots, the shrubs, the rhodedendron, the irrigation system and the continual presence of the tribe of cats and dogs.

But, you may get the idea that she has green fingers.

Not forgetting, of course, that gardening is hard work.

But, when you are labouring at something you love, it can't be classed as work.

NAMASTÉ

GARDEN 10

Pots, again.

What is it about them that is so fascinating?

A whole garden in one, self-contained package.


NAMASTÉ

GARDEN 9

Hydrangeas.

As found in the Azores.

Paper petals of delicate shade.

Nature's candy floss.


NAMASTÉ

Don't forget to click on the image to see an enlargement

GARDEN 8

Rap - what would it make of nature?

Not a lot I suspect.

It ain't an issue.

Nor does it have enough vocabulary.

And this palm?

Words fail me too.


NAMASTÉ

GARDEN 7

Are plants more interesting than people?

No two plants of the same variety are alike.

Their beauty, like people, is in the eyes of the beholder.

In fact city dwellers may not like them at all.

Prefering the concrete negativity of their prisons.

But, just look at the incredible beauty of this example.

The Portuguese have a word for it - "Espantosa".

Fantastic isn't it?


NAMASTÉ

GARDEN 6

A small patch of grass revealing so many variations of shade of green.

Don't stare at it too long.

And don't be on the grass while you're doing it.

Too much jungle in there for the average machette!


NAMASTÉ