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just life one second everyday

2020, one second everyday

oh, 2020… where do we even start?

as the pandemic started in europe, we cancelled all the trips and focused our energy into launching the new forum and the world postcard day, as well as keeping up with postal suspensions all around the world, saving the holidays (and our plans to visit taiwan) for a better year. we went north a few times to check on the family and stock their pantry. i finally got serious about studying chinese and did the HSK4, over 10 years after the first one. we walked, hiked and drove a motorhome. we didn’t see as many people as we would in a normal year, but there were still boardgame nights, and many video dinners with friends. my hair got short and red. we had guests (and dogs!) for the summer, and they got us into birdwatching. the garden bloomed and gave fruits, the succulent collection grew and we switched to eating mostly veggies… so much happened, and it makes me thankful that despite all the worry and distress, 2020 was still a good year for us — a much quieter year, in which we saw less but got more done. maybe we needed that.

may 2021 bring good things too!

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just life

orbea variegata

spotted these pretty flowers in a neighbour garden, and aren’t they a thing of beauty?

they’re orbea variegata, also known as star flowers. it’s a succulent with cactus-like “leaves”, but the flowers were what drew me to them — they grow around the edges of the plant in the winter rainfall season, and are just striking.

i’ve recently gotten my hands on a few specimens to plant in the garden, for further investigation… :P

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just life one second everyday

one second everyday — november 2020

lots of new birds, rain, video dinners with friends, a short caravan trip to hike around alentejo and check on our favorite coast, new succulents, lots of walking… and so much chinese studying.

a good month by all accounts, but i think this year is finally getting to me. :( slowly, tiredness settled in and it felt like my energy was barely enough to keep up with work and studying for the exam. i tried to squeeze in some walking everyday, but everything else just felt like too much.

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just life postcrossing

october’s past

we should be in bielefeld right now, but obviously our annual october pilgrimage to the city that doesn’t exist didn’t happen this year. i don’t remember the last time we’ve spent the last weekend of october home. i miss the long drive from the netherlands to germany and back, the autumn colors, the abendbrot & kastenpickert, the walk to the zoo, geeking out about postcards… and above all, the friends we only see once a year and always on this weekend with the extra hour.

good traditions are not meant to be broken, and i hope we can resume this one next year!

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just life

the grasshopper

lately i’ve been making a lot of posts about the garden… sometimes it feels like the only thing interesting going on around here, since we still don’t go out all that much. so here’s another green tidbit: we have a grasshopper! it’s actually the second generation of grasshoppers we have in this particular mint vase, which they seem to be very fond of. they’re super camouflaged and i only noticed it by chance, when suspicious droppings started to appear all around the vase…

i looked up and whoa! there it was, the color just as green as the mint it had been eating!

at this stage they’re called nymphs and have not yet developed wings. they eat a lot though, and mostly stay around the plant where they were born. one day, they’ll molt, shedding their skin.

they do this a few times, becoming bigger with each molt, and finally spreading those wings! it might not be the cutest pet out there, but it’s still interesting to see it grow and change…

…even if it means we have to share the mint! :|