green tea

(Look at the book paper butterflies!)

We’re sitting in a cafe in the afternoon both in our phones. This is so romantic… well maybe it is. Isn’t romance when the other person turns up with just what you wanted? Or when they ask you what you want and then bring it to you? Or when they’re interested in you and your interests?

(Can you smell the bread?)

Anyways, we’re both interested in reading (him) and writing to you (me) on our phones and that’s how we do romance here in the cafe in Portugal. Plus the sun is shining after a downpour this morning. I was on my get-some-photos walk when the hailstones started. I did have a rain coat and an umbrella but I still ended up with soaking jeans. They’re dry now and the rain clouds are gone… so maybe I’ll stop talking about the rain. Sure I will.

(Flowers in the park)

When we walked in here (to the cafe) there were two ladies chatting and as the locals do I said Bem Dia (good day) and they said Bo Tarde (good afternoon). I think you can say good day at any time.. but it might be just for mornings? Then I asked for thé vert which is the French for green tea… and the waitress said Chá Verde, the Portuguese for green tea.

(That’s how you say green tea in Portuguese)

All this to tell you, no matter what you want to say the Portuguese will help you say it. They are very welcoming and interested in what you want. Like I said romantic.

Isn’t it lovely when someone is interested in you, Mairead.

Coffee

(This way. This way.)

It’s a bank holiday weekend in Ireland so we celebrated and had our lunch out and now we’re having coffee (for him) and green tea (for me) as well. My sister-in-law (Hi Helen!) thinks I spend all my time in coffee shops and I can see why she might think that – I talk about them a lot. But this week I’ve only had coffee (or tea) out twice. Considering it was a busy week for me that’s probably a lot!

Julie s Garden

(Julie’s favourite garden at Bloom)

When I was littler, maybe about ten, the big treat in our house was for my Mum and me to go on the bus to a town fifteen miles away called Clonmel. I used to think we were there all day but I now know the bus dropped us off at midday and we had to be back on board and heading for Cashel by 3pm. Our town didn’t have the great shops they had in Clonmel. Years later when I met my friend Frieda she told me that she and her Mum used to do the same thing. Except she lived in Clonmel and drove to the great shops in Cashel!

Pepsi Can Eagle

(Pepsi Can Eagle in the Rehab garden at Bloom)

We never left without a visit to the coffee shop. It was in a little room behind a bakery. There was a small window and the chairs weren’t very comfortable, but to me it was luxury. Spending time with my Mum, being treated like an adult eating salad sandwiches and cake. No wonder I love going to coffee shops. We were still making that trip when I was a teenager and much later when my children were toddlers their favourite game with their granny was The Bus to Clonmel, where the sofa was the bus!

Mum and Helen

(My Mum, my sister-in-law Helen and my very embarrassed brother, Lar)

Today (Tuesday) is my Mum’s birthday, she shares the day with the Queen’s Jubilee, but the Queen can’t make it to Cashel this year, maybe it’ll be quieter for her next year. I’m remembering all the nice things my Mum did for me including teach me the value of taking time off to go to the coffee shop.

Thank you Mum and Happy Birthday! Mairead.