Summer starts...

Capoeira Pals.

International children’s day started the month, Silves had been balloon bombed, shops and cars had pink and blue balloons attached to them before dawn, what a lovely thing for some to do. The boys had a day trip to Zoo Marine with school then their Capoeira group had the class outside, Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art, that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, and music, its great to watch and an excellent way to get the boys moving. 

APAA shop in Silves.

I have been volunteering at the Association for the Protection of Animals in the Algarve (APAA) charity shop for some months now one day a week, its in the centre of Silves on a pedestrianised street paved with the traditional Portuguese stone paving calsadas. Keeps me out of trouble and I can bag some bargains at the same time as helping raise money for the charity.

Not himself...

Ryan had an accident at school, jumping over a handrail to the ground which was lower than the level he was jumping from. Unfortunately it was third time unlucky, he clipped his foot, back flipped and landed with a bang. The school called me and the fire service who operate the ambulances, I arrived to find him pretty spaced out and surrounded by concerned faces. It wasn’t long before we were in the emergency waiting room in Portimao hospital, it seemed that his arm was the issue, however, when I asked him about the ambulance journey to hospital and the sirens he could not remember, after further questioning we soon discover he could not remember anything at all of the day. Confirming what hurt we found out he took quite a bump on the head, taking this into account we had to stay in the hospital for 6 hrs. 

Back to normal.

After getting and x-ray and his arm in a cast he nodded off, thankfully he woke up his normal joyful joking self. Phew!!! I was very relieved as were the doctors. We went home. Such experiences are tiring and I have to say all in all it went pretty well. Ryan slept with me for a couple of nights as it was painful to move is arm and to be honest after taking such a bang on the head I felt it was best to be near him, this had an added benefit I could look at him while he slept… 

Angelic!

Ryan is as tough as an Ox, he was back to school the next day (to show off his plaster mainly). Now, how will we get on at the beach with 4 weeks with a cast…?!?!? Thanks to a Bloccs cast protector which I would highly recommend it was swimming as normal!! 

11 years of marriage to celebrate, gifts were simple and homemade again with a family day on the West Coast.

Foil Flowers.

Bulgarian Sunflower.

The Patstones.

West Coast Sunset.

The boys knocked of school for the Summer and their end or year treat was the Benagil Caves Boat Trip, it was pretty awesome. The woman who takes the bookings was very informative and when I asked advised us to go at mid tide otherwise some caves are not accessible due to too much or not enough water. We zipped around the coast and in and out of caves in a very organised yet exciting fashion, we really did shoot into one of the caves which caused a bit of a wow with all of us riders. Such fun!!

Praia Senhora de Rocha.

I had a quick trip to the UK to belatedly surprise Mom for her birthday which was back in May, I didn’t go in May as she was on holiday, at less than £50 return it was ideal. We organised for the boys to be talking to Mom on skype when I rang door bell, this didn’t quite go to plan as Neil sent Mom to see what was outside, which was nothing. I was actually still saying my thanks and cheerio to the lovely Anne Birch who dropped me off; funny. Anyway, within I few moments I was ringing the door bell and Mom and Dad were over the moon to see me, we had a lovely four days of shopping and dining out at our leisure, without distraction or interruption.

Mom and Dad at the Chinese, always good!

The month as usual had many trips to the beach plus other lovely locations...

Eager to cool off.

Merman.

Hey Dude!!

Barragem do Arade (Dam of Arade)

Silves is a City of Storks and I love them, everything about them and the wonderful thing is they do not fly south. I love their bill-clattering (they do this thing with their beaks which I have never heard before), I love the way they grace the sky when soaring, the gangly awkwardness with which they come into land with amazing precision on their nests. I love their huge nests which often house many other species of bird.

The Storks of Silves.

Silves Stork Community.

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