Category: weeknotes

weeknotes, 39/25

another mostly quiet week, briefly interrupted by an impromptu trip to the north to take the boy’s mom to do an MRI. she tripped and hit her head, but stubbornly didn’t want to do what the doctor recommended… 🙄 anyway.

other than that, just getting stuff done ahead of world postcard day, preparing blog posts, newsletters, zoom gatherings and writing postcards. i refilled one of my nice fountain pens with permanent ink that i got in sweden in june, so i can write all the cards with it.

i finished both tom lake and every summer after this week… and then realized i shouldn’t have read two books that take place by lakes at the same time, because now they’re all mixed up in my head! i started the summer i turned pretty because lots of people were mentioning the tv adaptation… but found the book so meh that i ended up quitting. still making my way through daisy jones and the six and now also remarkably bright creatures (audio).

the best entertainment of the week though was a youtube movie by brothers quentin & owen reise called listers: a glimpse into extreme birdwatchers. this is the blurb that got me curious about it:

Listers is a must-see, quirky, charming, homemade documentary about two brothers competing to spot the most number of birds in a year – the list. To make it more challenging, they know zero birds on day one, and they have no money so they sleep in their car as they travel the country for a year, and of course they film everything and it turns out they are remarkable nature photographers. The bird footage is award-worthy, but the rest of the film has the vibe of a shaky punk skate video. They constantly mock birdwatching and the obsessiveness of listers, while they become deeply obsessed themselves. This is not about birds; it’s about extreme bird-watchers, and it’s funny, entertaining 2 hours is a master class in obsession and what is possible to learn in one year. This doc has a lot of heart. Streaming on YouTube for free.

the movie was hilarious — birders are a different species. :) it did make me want to get out there and see some birds though… we’re going to miss the birdwatching festival in sagres next week.

because of extraordinary attorney woo, we tried our hand at making gimbap! paulo did a better job than me, as i ended up with deconstructed slices. 😅 to end the week and fortify us for the busy times ahead, we went for some soupy chicken with chickpeas on the hills above tavira, one of our favorites.

weeknotes

weeknotes, 38/25

we’ve had an eventful week with the bicycles. first, the electric bike started doing a weird noise when pedaling, so it went into the shop for maintenance, and ended up having the pedals replaced. when it came back, it was doing a different weird tinkling noise… turns out one of the spokes is broken, which is a more serious issue. 😩 we’ll have to deal with that next week. but on the better news, the boy managed to replace the tire of my other bike with a bit of brute force, which yay! i missed riding that bike — it’s amazing how much comfortable it is.

other than that, i reached inbox zero on my work emails, an event that happens maybe once a year. i tried an aqua fitness class and the boy ran a 10k race in town, and did well!

the week was also busy in terms of entertainment! we watched a few episodes of extraordinary attorney woo and also the thursday murder club movie, which i really enjoyed and felt like it did a good job bringing the book to life – i hope they’ll do the rest! we attended david fonseca’s concert in olhão too, always a sing-aloud, high energy affair with a bit of dancing thrown in. :) and we went to see an exhibition in town about some neighborhoods that were built by the population in the post-dictatorship years, but the exhibition was way too abstract and thus a bit disappointing. these newspapers from that time were one of the best parts about it:

we arranged a home swap for azores early next year, which is exciting! we’re always ready to visit the islands for hiking and birdwatching. although winter isn’t ideal, i hope we’ll still have some sunny days in between all the rain, so we can get out there and enjoy nature. maybe we’ll even see some whales!

weeknotes

weeknotes, 37/25

another delightfully boring week, just getting work and life under control. the shelves have finally been filled with stuff and i can see my “table” again in the ~~bath~~craftsroom! i listed a few more things for sale, and have slowly been taking inventory of what else i want to get rid of. there’s quite a bit of stuff, but who will want to buy a 15 year old scanner whose drivers probably don’t even work anymore? we’re saddled with this old tech that still works, and it feels impossible to give it a good home. :(

finished reading the song of achilles, and oh, my poor heart. like someone wrote on the reviews, madeline miller could write a shopping list and i would give it five stars. and also, now i kinda want to visit greece, and connect the stories with the place, their cruel gods and their favors and revenges. appropriately, we cooked a lamb meatballs with tatziki recipe this week, and it also made me yearn for these fresh flavors straight from the source.

now i’m listening to tom lake (read by meryl streep!) and reading daisy jones and the six. i feel like i’m years late to all these popular books that everyone has already read, but it’s ok! we also started watching extraordinary attorney woo, which has been delightfully quirky so far.

i used a couple of the pumpkins my parents left us to make pumpkin jam, which is the best! i’m sure i’ve written about it before, but making jam always feels so gratifying — like i’m getting ready for whatever comes, like i’m bottling pieces of sunshine for when it’s not so bright outside. i don’t really know why i get this feeling, since i don’t even eat it myself…

just life weeknotes

weeknotes, 36/25

a full week with the parents + the small cousin around! there was a lot of beach and a lot of “first times” for her: first time in the ocean, first time seeing jellyfish and crabs, first time on a boat, first time writing a postcard, first time using binoculars and seeing flamingos…

wanting company on her walks, my mom promised her an ice-cream for every 10k steps she did, and she had icre-cream every single day! 😂 to pass the hot hours, we played uno and she painted everyone’s nails, as if she were a professional nail technician. i hope she’ll keep fond memories of her time here, and that she’ll want to return someday. :)

i ordered some sturdy shelves and we put them up on the bathroom we use as crafts&storage room. they look huge, and i hope they’ll be a good place to put the stuff that has been spread a bit all over the house. this messy room has been making me anxious for a long time now – hopefully when things are tidier, it’ll be easier to use it.

on saturday, we drove north with the parents so we could attend the 25th anniversary dinner of our uni class! it was fun — everyone is older and telling stories about their kids now, but the faces and the voices are all so familiar. we all spent so much time together, and it feels like we slot right back into those times.

we also had a bit of time to squeeze little niece and cover her in kisses… before finding out she has lice. luckily, we don’t seem to have caught it!

just life weeknotes

weeknotes, 35/25

just a quiet week, filled with busy work days in which nothing else happened. we worked, and went to the gym, we ate and took care of things, preparing for september and its winds of change.

we finally received the samples of the new batch of commemorative postcards (they look good!) and then they were on their way to latvia, and off to the shop.

i listened to the martian, which was good, but not as good as project hail mary. super looking forward to the movie!

my old birkenstock were splitting apart in the back, and i macgyvered them with a bit of silicone. let’s see how long they’ll last!

on my getting-rid-of-stuff spree, i sold the old treadmill + a pair of new shoes. the shoes were bought in desperation for an event a few years ago, but they were too large for me and ended up staying in the cupboard, unused. it’s good to see them fly to another pair of feet!

and then on saturday, the parents and little cousin came, with their usual whirlwind of activity and energy. :) i can’t believe this kid has never seen the ocean… it’ll be the first thing on our list!