Outside My Window

Posting early, as wanted to enter the what's-outside-my-window Community Cultural Blip from here in Mourão, before we leave for the UK today.

This was looking from the balcony of the bedroom in our rented flat - we are the only house with 3 storeys, so we get a good view - at the top of the town is the ancient castle, partially destroyed over the years by various armies and by the 1755 earthquake, and partially reconstructed and reinforced as well over the years - you can see parts of the star-shaped bulwarks on the right and in front of the main entrance - constructed when guns became more powerful. The white building within the walls is the parish church of Our Lady of Light. The round chimneys are a unique feature of this town - supposedly to a Moorish design; on the one on the far right, you can see a stork standing on its nest; there is another, harder to see, on the tall non-circular chimney in front of the church.

The roof on the top far right is the large Home for the elderly who can no longer live alone - their neighbours can easily visit them.

The tall trees on the horizon to the left mark the town's main square, a lovely shady area, full of flowers and an ancient bandstand. Bottom left are the orange trees that line many of the streets, with last year's oranges still there where no-one could reach them; this year's are tiny green balls - December is when they are traditionally picked.

Clouds in the sky - a bit of rain in the night and lovely to see them - clear blue skies will be the norm for many months now (if there still is a norm for weather these days)...

As I stood on the balcony, the bells were tolling loudly for a long time - someone has paid to have them for a funeral today - I don't know who's died, but I know the woman who sets the bells tolling - she's called Sandra, and is raising three teenagers on her own, as her husband spends his days drinking, probably because he cannot get a job.

I also heard some storks' beaks clacking, followed by one of them swooping past me (I did catch it, but this is a better photo). Then I heard the trilling horn of the van that sells fruit and vegetables - you hear the horn and go out to buy; likewise bread and cakes in another van, and clothes in a huge Roma van. No big shops round here, and many do not have cars to go further. There was the soft roar of the leaf blower, as the two men with learning difficulties proudly cleaned the streets, obviously enjoying themselves.

And that was what was outside my window at 9:30am this morning, here in the Alentejo region of Portugal, 7 miles from the Spanish border. And now I better pack...