Tag Archives: outdoors

The shredder is all mine…

Posted on April 10, 2020 by Mairead

The gardening continues. I’ve just realised this might be why my dabbling in the garden previously didn’t bear fruit (pun intended.) It’s a continuous game, gardening. Persistence is rewarded and popping in and out once a month is very much … Continue reading →

Posted in Gardening, gratitude, Travel | Tagged all is well, Ireland, little things, nature, no travel, outdoors, slowing down, travel | Comments Off

My Summer Residence…

Posted on June 16, 2019 by Mairead

(Driving into Chambord) We drove for hours after we left the policeman in Fontenay-le-Comte through beautiful countryside. The avoid toll roads was on again but this time everything worked out and we arrived at my Château in Chambord. (Not actually … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged camper van, Chambord, château, France, hot air balloon, little things, motorhome, nature, outdoors, photography, sunrise, travel | Comments Off

Just hanging around…

Posted on June 7, 2019 by Mairead

(Reflecting) We stayed a second night by the canal. Just being. Walking along the paths. Taking pictures. Getting by without butter, we do have the five litres of olive oil after all… (The neighbours) It’s so peaceful here. I might … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged being present, camper van, canal, France, little things, motorhome, nature, outdoors, photography, travel | Comments Off

Bird Song and Frog Croaks

Posted on May 27, 2019 by Mairead

(Park here… this one’s in Spanish but the picture is always the same) Sunday is the day we travel the longest so from Évora we travelled three hours to a camper van parking spot called Penamacor in Benquerença which is … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged all is well, Benquerença, calm, camper van, motorhome, nature, outdoors, Penamacor, photography, Portugal, travel | Comments Off

Looking for the Sea Glass

Posted on May 23, 2019 by Mairead

(Early morning pilgrim on Praia da Falésia) When I wasn’t watching the waves down at the beach I was watching where I walked for interesting treasure. The sea provides plenty of gifts if you keep your eyes open for them. … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged beach, camper van, little things, motorhome, outdoors, photography, Portugal, Praia da Falésia, travel | Comments Off

Silves’ elusive things

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Mairead

(A glimpse of the wall) There are two things you see a lot of in Silves – the old moorish walls and the storks. Funny enough both are hard to photograph as you walk around. The storks are always too … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged awareness, be present, camper van, motorhome, now, outdoors, photography, Portugal, Silves, storks, travel | Comments Off

Off to the Beach

Posted on May 13, 2019 by Mairead

(Nice flowers in the dunes) One of the great things about Portugal is that no matter how hot it gets there’s always (almost always) a breeze near the coast. So when it got really hot by the river we moved … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged all is well, camper van, motorhome, outdoors, photography, Portugal, Santo André, story, travel | Comments Off

How to sit in nature…

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Mairead

(I loved this place) After Lisbon we went to Setúbal, the place the train would have brought us to if we’d stayed on board. We arrived on a decent sized road and as often happens our sat-nav system decided we … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged camper van, motorhome, outdoors, photography, Portugal, Setúbal, travel | Comments Off

The stars aligned

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Mairead

(The cathedral which is built on the site of the original church. The original tomb is in the basement) We’re leaving Santiago de Compostela today. My friend and I went on a free tour of the town yesterday. It was … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged all is well, Camino, motorhome, outdoors, photography, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, story, travel, walking | Comments Off

Camino’s End

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Mairead

(Bit wet here) We have arrived in Santiago de Compostela! Not the arduous journey that most people take. We were warm and cozy and sitting in Ruby as we entered the city. (Courtyard greenery) This is the end point of … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | Tagged Camino, outdoors, photography, Spain, travel, walking | Comments Off

On the Rocks

Posted on May 14, 2018 by Mairead

(The Clock Tower at Mȇda) Continuing on our journey out of Portugal, two days ago we reached the town Mȇda. We are still in the land of huge rocks and it may not be clear from the photos how huge they really … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged little things, Mȇda, motorhome, nature, outdoors, Portugal, travel | Comments Off

The Olive Farm

Posted on April 28, 2018 by Mairead

(One of the olive groves) There’s an Olive Farm in our adopted town and you can go on a tour. I went along on Friday. It’s just across the road from our garage so we had spotted it last Sunday … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged motorhome, nature, olive farm, olive oil, olives, outdoors, photography, Portugal, travel | Comments Off

Kittens and Coffee

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Mairead

(Spring, spring, spring) We are still at the house of the oranges in the garden. Ruby is still at the garage. We have fallen into a different routine here. Normally we have breakfast and lunch in the van and get … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged choices, coffee, decisions, kitten, little things, motorhome, outdoors, patterns, photography, Portugal, travel | 2 Comments

Thank you, Portugal!

Posted on April 25, 2018 by Mairead

(Normally closed these shutters keep the house cool. Can you see the thickness of the wall?) We are staying in a house on the edge of town, did I tell you that? It’s a very cute traditional Portuguese house. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged all is well, awareness, little things, motorhome, nature, outdoors, photography, Portugal, problems, travel | 1 Comment

Oranges and Lemon

Posted on April 20, 2018 by Mairead

(A gift from our French hosts) We are moving slowly along the Algarve again today… about 15 kilometres from last night’s spot. In the middle of the countryside again at a French campsite… well the owners are French with very … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged little things, motorhome, nature, outdoors, photography, Portugal, travel | Comments Off

Life’s a beach…

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Mairead

(There was a boardwalk to the beach so we took a quick look…) The Algarve area of Portugal is very popular. We’ve been officially in the Algarve for three days now but most people (or maybe just me?) think of … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged all is well, beach, behaviour, little things, motorhome, outdoors, patterns, photography, Portugal, travel | Comments Off

Sunshine and Breeze in the Countryside

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Mairead

(Sunset by the lake near the mining town) We’ve moved on again, just 90 minutes south of the mining town to the middle of the countryside. There’s no town nearby just sheep, although they could be goats, they are very … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged all is well, crafts, little things, motorhome, outdoors, photography, Portugal, travel | Comments Off

The Mining Town

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Mairead

(The lake near our car park) It’s sunny! In fact it might be a little too sunny…. just joking! It’s just perfect, perfect. We have moved to a new location beside a very peaceful lake, it’s also near an old … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged copper ore, little things, mining town, motorhome, outdoors, photography, Portugal, storks, travel | Comments Off

The Portuguese Cafe God

Posted on March 21, 2018 by Mairead

(Yesterday morning I had to cross this scary bridge, it goes over two dual carriageways! I sang Christmas songs to myself to stop me closing my eyes and lying down. I went back today to take pictures for you.. you’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged all is well, camper van, choices, coffee, getting lost, nata, outdoors, photography, Portugal, story, travel | 1 Comment

The view is blue…

Posted on March 18, 2018 by Mairead

(The view from the bedroom, blue sea, blue sky, blue bunting) Every stitch of clothing had been washed and the sun came out so we went for a walk down town. When we arrived yesterday it was too wet to … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged camper van, Ericeira, little things, motorhome, nature, outdoors, photography, Portugal, surf, travel | Comments Off

To Lisbon by river…

Posted on March 11, 2018 by Mairead

(Art in the park… looks like LEGO but made from plastic crates) After the ruins we moved an hour further south to a small town called Villa Nova da Barquinha. It is right on the river Tagus. That’s the river … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged all is well, being present, camper van, motorhome, nature, outdoors, Portugal, problems, rain, thinking, travel | Comments Off

Do. Or do not. There is no try. – Yoda

Posted on March 10, 2018 by Mairead

(Today we went to see the ruins!) The rain stopped and sun came out…and off we went to the roman ruins at Monografico de Conimbriga. These are the ruins of the old city (about 1800 years old!) of Conimbriga and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged camper van, choices, Conimbriga, follow your dream, little things, Monografico de Conimbriga, mosaic, motorhome, nature, outdoors, patterns, photography, Portugal, roman ruins, travel | Comments Off

Watercolour Clouds

Posted on March 6, 2018 by Mairead

(Look at that amazing fluffy cloud!) We stayed a second night by the sea and now we’re at a different aire with electricity. The rain stopped, long enough for me to take some pictures, well of course it did. Every … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged aires, camper van, clouds, electricity, laundry, little things, nature, outdoors, photography, Portugal, rain, travel | Comments Off

Furadouro by the sea

Posted on March 5, 2018 by Mairead

(That’s the Atlantic Sea out there) We’ve travelled a little further south and now we’re in a car park behind the sand dunes at Furadouro. It rained when we got here. It rained all night. Really. All. Night. It’s raining now. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged acceptance, all is well, awareness, behaviour, camper van, little things, outdoors, Portugal, problems, rain, story, thinking, travel | Comments Off

Communing with Deer

Posted on March 4, 2018 by Mairead

(There’s a big map in reception showing the path through the park) I woke up early this morning to birdsong. The rain had stopped and I had an idea. Before I could change my mind I had popped on some … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged all is well, being present, birds, birdsong, calm, camper van, camping, deer, impact, little things, motorhome, nature, outdoors, Parque Biológico de Gaia, Portugal, travel | Comments Off

It’s not a Zoo!

Posted on March 2, 2018 by Mairead

(He’s in a bit of a hurry) Turns out the Zoo I thought we were staying at is more a nature reserve with botanical park, called Parque Biológico de Gaia. There are no elephants but there is a dinosaur… (There … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged animals, birds, camper van, deer, ibis, little things, nature, outdoors, Parque Biológico de Gaia, photography, Portugal, travel | Comments Off

We are up in the hills…

Posted on February 28, 2018 by Mairead

(Sunrise this morning) Do you remember the first time we took Ruby to Portugal? (I’ve put a link here if you want to remind yourself.) We ended up on teeny tiny roads searching for internet access. Well we’ve done it … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged all is well, being present, camper van, campsite, little things, meditation, mindfulness, outdoors, photography, Portugal, travel | Comments Off

Warm hugs from the south…

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Mairead

(Our car park tonight is just around the corner from this beach) We’ve moved again further into Portugal… just a little bit. To a town called Viana do Castelo, less than 100km north of Porto. There was a temptation to … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged all is well, behaviour, camper van, driving, little things, mororhome, nature, outdoors, Portugal, travel | Comments Off

Discomfort Zone

Posted on February 24, 2018 by Mairead

(Freezing grass) It was absolutely freezing when we got up this morning. It was also literally freezing… outside the van. Luckily it was over the 4℃ necessary inside to keep the drinking water inside the tank. We decided in spite … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogroll, Travel | Tagged baby steps, camper van, choices, comfort zone, courage, decisions, discomfort, just do it, little things, nature, outdoors, patterns, photography, Portugal, problems, Spain, travel | 3 Comments