A three week Madeira blog

[KentGardener]

Hi All

I have been in Madeira for the past week and have been posting a brief blog on the jungle garden forum I am part of.  Yesterday someone suggested that I post the blog on here too.  The plants may not be of that much interest to alpine gardeners - but the sunny pictures and flowers may help to brighten cold snowy days?

I'll try and get the first seven days posted today if I have time....

Friday 17th December
Got on a plane at Gatwick Friday at 1pm - taxied out to the runway in a blizzard - was third in line to take off and they then closed the runway and we had to return to the stand. Left us sitting on the plane until just gone 4pm - then a cherry picker came and washed the wings off with antifreeze. Eventually landed in Madeira after 7 hours on the plane. Was a driving rain storm when we arrived.

Saturday 18th December
Woke to heavy rain - feared the worst but went out with our rain macks. 11am the sun broke through and the rest of the day was fantastic (I almost got sunburned!  )

Visited Gerald's 'Madeira Magic Garden'.

[KentGardener]

Saturday Evening

Went into town to listen to the choirs singing in the streets by the cathedral. As can always be expected the Madeiran's love to have magnificent nativity scenes in the streets. Ate in town and then returned to the hotel for the entertainment of 'two championship dancers' - helped to pass an hour. (and I must admit that they were extremely fit!)

Someone hanging about like they desperately need the internet - so must sign off without posting the rest of the pictures I intended to post!! 

Hope it is not too cold and snowy back in the UK.

[KentGardener]

Sunday 19th December

Woke with a stinking cold! Bloody people who kept coughing on the plane! Mum and dad went into town and I went back to my room after breakfast to get some more sleep. I put the do not disturb sign on the door but the maid ´'burst' into the room at 10.30 and woke me up. Apparently I had put the sign the wrong way round and it said 'please come into my room and tidy'.... D'oh!

As I was awake I decided to go for a gentle 2 hour walk on the levada behind the hotel. A few photos along the way.

[KentGardener]

Monday 20th December

Fantastic lightning storm last night. Not streaks but the whole sky was stroboscopic. It stormed from 6pm until 6am with driving rain that managed to find a way in through my apartment window and make a puddle on the floor. The cold some b*stard on the plane gave me has turned into a real stinker. Woke up shivering and sweating at the same time. Went back to bed after breakfast and managed to sleep until midday (which is unheard of for me  ). Have no energy so have kept within a mile of the hotel complex to take todays pictures.

Luckily the sun is trying to come through but the wind is still very fierce.

Loads of Canaries following me around today.

[KentGardener]

Tuesday 21st December

Dashing out to dinner - but one quick photo from today to show that there are snowmen here too! 

[KentGardener]

More Tuesday

Amazingly I woke completely better - 48 hours of shivering and sweating and sleeping seems to have had the bug run it's course and it is almost like I have not been ill. It must have been all your get well wishes. 

The weather was pretty crummy all day with driving rain showers. I stayed around the hotel complex and made use of the indoor swimming pool and gymnasium. Thought I was going to have to settle for a picture from the hotel balcony as today's offering.

But at 2pm the weather broke and we headed into town.

Mum and Dad got the bus back after an hour but I wandered back to the hotel through a couple of the public open spaces and took a few flower pictures to cheers the winter blues.

[KentGardener]

Tuesday Final....

"Caption competition!"

[ranunculus]

'Santa's little helper'   

[ranunculus]

Roll call:-

Present : "Present"
John : "Present"
Present : "Present"

[ranunculus]

'What's Alan Grainger doing in Funchal"?   

[ranunculus]

"I didn't expect Santa to give me a belt on the head!!!"

[KentGardener]

Wednesday 22nd December

Woke to more rain - still raining after breakfast - dad has now come down with the bug (hence him feeling so cold yesterday I presume - that or being 80 years old). Dad went back to bed with a temperature after breakfast and I took mum out into Funchal. Visited a tile museum, a herb garden and another museum garden that I have forgotten the name of. Came back to the apartments and woke dad for a walk along the lido promenade to watch and listen to the waves tirelessly pounding the shore. Rained all day above 200 ft and had a rainbow most of the day - but was also one of those Funchal days where it stays sunny if you keep low enough down the hill.

1 & 2 - Firstly can anyone ID this flower? I feel that I Should recognise it (first thought was yucca) but a name wasn't forthcoming.

3 & 4 - I rather liked these mirrors and tiles wall thingies and took some pictures as I wonder if I can do some similar repeating pattern 3d enhancement with my next stained glass project.

5 - Found some stray cats to feed (was surprised at just what out of my packed lunch they were happy to eat - even Madeira cake!  ). This one was pulling a stupid face.

[ichristie]

Hi John, thanks for posting the sunny pictures we do have sunshine here daytime but still minus 8c. Snowdrops are just round the corner
 cheers Ian the Christie kind.

[KentGardener]

Some flowers from Wednesday

[Brian Ellis]

Nice to know you got there and are still with us!  Hope your Dad is alright, some lovely flowers to brighten this dull Christmas Eve, I wonder what they are!  That Schleffera (spelling?) looks super.  Happy Christmas John.

Brian and David