We're home....

and of course, it's the pits.  Even though I'm sure I don't have jet lag....I also don't have any motivation...or energy ...or much of anything really. Getting back into some sort of routine is proving difficult.  I've been just wandering about the house.... trying to decide where to begin.  Of course, it's only been a day and a half.  Or, perhaps it's looking out my front door and seeing this that has some detrimental affect....













after all....it's a long way from this isn't it?....

It's tough to go from sun, sand and surf ....to snow, cold and dull......

That does it.  I'm just going to look at my little collection of sea glass, shells worn to a glass-like finish...and my cute little hand painted souvenirs instead.

..or my cork and silver jewellery.. Portugal is well known for its cork oaks... producing about 50% of the world cork harvest.  It is a great sustainable resource with big impact on the ecosystem and it's now illegal to cut down a cork oak.  No longer just used for high end wine corking anymore either  ..... jewellery, hand bags, even clothing, made from cork, is pretty amazing to see and feel.  It feels like velvet. We even saw an amazing wedding dress in Batalha made from cork.  I'm not sure what happened...we must have been too stunned to remember to take a photo.....or maybe it was because we were so busy looking at all the beautiful hand bags... which we didn't buy but probably should have... they were lovely. It was a stunning dress ...and so unlike any wedding dress I've ever seen.

Funny how a new and exciting holiday routine becomes so quickly embedded...and yet getting back to the old and familiar, or perhaps the mundane, takes much longer.  Hmmmm........

There I was..    having coffee by myself this morning (ours seems to pale in comparison) ..... wishing I had some company and some lovely Portuguese bread for toast..... then I found myself surfing the 'net for recipes for breads... Portuguese breads.  I did find several.  Bookmarked now.... and ready to go..... I sure hope I can manage a dense, tasty cornbread like some we found... mmmmmm..... not anything like the cornbread we think of at all.  This is a rustic, yeast based loaf...with a firm dark crust.... oh, man..my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  I'll keep ya posted....

I remember thinking about how I would be so organized before we left.  Oh, sure....absolutely.  I was going to take photos.... upload them.. label things... write about them... blah, blah..blah.... yeh...right...as if......

Both Maria (my friend and wonderful hostess) and I... somehow managed to take at least 100 to 150 photos a day!   Every single day!  Hahahahahah.... and, now?   Three weeks have evaporated; I have totally forgotten some of where we were; what we were doing and even which day it was.  And, who even wore a watch or cared what time it was either? So...I will probably just post lots of the beautiful pictures and try to add a name or a town or something and call it a day.

If I do post some that you absolutely must know the name or origin of, ... please just ask.... I will definitley enlist Maria's help...and let you know exactly where it is....


ps...... oh, great....I just looked out the window...and it's snowflaking....arrghhhhh!