we flew back on a monday, and went straight to the hospital for the boy to have the miracle injection, which will hopefully bring everything under control. then we were off to the north again, for the second wedding of the month! my godchild daniela got married, ahead of her move to belgium, and we celebrated with lunch at her parents.

her nieces (my cousins once removed?) are the cutest kids, and we spent time drawing together. the youngest made this adorable picture of paulo:

isn’t it just the best? :D

after the celebrations, we drove south, back home, at long last. our garden in the backyard had grown so much in the last month, and there were tiny tomatoes and peas! these are sugar snap peas, and i like to eat them straight from the vine, as a crunchy snack.

the newlyweds came south with us for a week of sun in the beach, and we cooked some nice food together — including some chinese and sri lankan dishes that we hadn’t made in a long time. it required a trip to the asian supermarket all the way in albufeira, but now the kitchen is fully stocked again and ready for more exotic cooking shenanigans.

and then, out of nowhere, a big dog showed up on our street one day!

he was really huge, but so quiet and friendly that no one was scared. we called the animal services and then the GNR at their referral, and they came to check him. they read the microchip and called the owner, who quickly came to pick him up. turns out, rufus is quite fond of escaping the farm where he usually lives. he was really peaceful though, and for a moment there, made me wish we had the kind of life that can accommodate a dog — it would be nice!

when we were away, my brother and his wife spent some time in our house, and they brought one of their nieces too. the kid left one of her socks here… so i made a little parcel for her, with a story about the sock going on an adventure around the world and writing her some postcards.

that was fun! i hope life slows down a bit from here onwards, so that i can have more time for creative endeavors like these. i feel like i need a whole month of quiet days to recover from the intensity of may.