Category: just life

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in portugal just life

garden visitors

we found this little guy on our garden last week, and i was squealing so much that i think i probably scared him away…

but… IT’S A CHAMELEON! (insert 1000 heart eyes emojis) such a treat! the whole ria formosa park is supposed to be a safe haven for them, but with increased construction in the area, places for chameleons to thrive have been fragmented and keep shrinking. these days, it’s almost impossible to find them outside of specific conservation areas, so we were thrilled that this little guy has deemed our little garden worthy of a visit — i hope he’ll come around again, and bring the family!

praying mantis

little pale praying mantis, watch out! there’s a new predator in town!

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just life

tomatoes!

it started a few months ago, when our neighbor gifted us some tiny cherry tomato plants he had seeded in a tray, since he had too many of them already. given our general lack of a green thumb (for anything that is not a succulent), we didn’t expect much of it… but still, this seemed to be the year to try things out, so i decided to give it a go and plant a few many of these along a wall in the garden.

lo and behold, they seem to have liked it and grew a lot over time! :D soon enough, small tomatoes started to appear in little bunches…

…and a few weeks later, achievement unlocked — we have perfect tiny tomatoes! since the boy doesn’t even like them, they’re aaaaall for me — they make the perfect snack food for a quick break, and i’ve been enjoying a few everyday.

in the mix came some gorgeous pear-shaped ones as well, but none of them has matured yet. i don’t think i’ve ever tried these before, so i wonder what they’ll taste like!

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just life one second everyday

one second everyday – june 2020

june! nothing terribly exciting happened, and yet it was a brilliant month nonetheless. i guess my brain has recalibrated its expectations for the year, and they are pretty low at this point… but this is probably why i’ll remember this month with such fondness. every day was sunny and had one thing or another that made us smile.

the pandemic gardening started to bear some fruits, and we i can now eat tomatoes, physalis and passionfruit to my heart’s content, and there are also 2 butternut squashes that are coming along nicely! i cut my hair and died it red. kept on studying chinese. mail services everywhere are struggling, and yet, postcrossing hit 57 million postcards. i turned 38 and ate a huge bola de berlim. we tried out kayaking in the lagoon after 5 years of living here, and it was fun! and on the deconfinement department, we had one game night with friends, and some socially distanced knitting.

pretty good, in my book. july, bring it on!

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in portugal just life

the plant thief

i’ve mentioned a few times how much i want to bring home all the plants, and how i admire “collection gardens“… so perhaps it was sort of inevitable that i would become one of those people too, grabbing a cutting here and there to bring home. :)

a few years ago on a hike with friends, i noticed the sides of the path we were walking were covered in tiny succulent plants, growing on slates of schist. they looked like little pinecones, thriving despite the harsh conditions. i was in love…

… so i did something not-so-good and brought a small rock home with me. i ended up hiking the rest of the path with a 2kg or so rock in my hands or in my head, portuguese grandma style, to the amusement of the boy and our friend a., who took these pictures.

but look! three years later, this rock is still thriving in a shady corner of the garden, its little “pinecones” now having other species of succulents as neighbors!

i’m really happy about this! every time i see them i can’t help but smile and remember the story that brought them here. may your gardens and plants be filled with interesting stories too!

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just life one second everyday

one second everyday — may 2020

may!

the month was spent mostly working, cooking (baking even!), and doing random things around the house and garden. the boy’s computer suddenly died early in the month, but cousin d. had a spare one that tied him over until the new one arrived. the tomatoes keep growing, and we now have mini-butternut squash and physalis growing in our own garden (!!!). we had a slow “deconfinement”, with the return of game nights, some walks on the beach, and a trip north to stock up the family. no kisses, no hugs… but happy to see that everyone is doing ok.

it feels like summer, and june stretches languidly ahead, without any plans or expectations. i approve.