Category: weeknotes

week 40 has been… tough.

– still recovering from the world postcard day’s backlog, and we’re already back north again to accompany p.’s parents to doctor appointments. some upcoming changes mean that the family has to adapt to new realities and ways of doing things… which are not easy at the best of times, but are especially hard when you’re in your 80s. sigh.

– the fig-leaf gourd jam was laborious but amazing. i’m not sure what is it about making jams that gives me this immense satisfaction. i could stockpile on these till my cupboards were full and i don’t even eat that much of it.

– said goodbye to my long-expired passport and made a new one. not really sure when we’ll be able to use it, but it feels good to be a little bit ready.

– for now though, i just want to go home. i want long stretches of weeks without plans to go anywhere, i want quiet routines and hours spent reviewing characters. i want time for what i read to sink in, time that i decide how to spend. soon, i hope.

it was a busy busy week — the busiest of the year. the world postcard day took place, and it feels impossible that something we worked towards for so many months can come and go so quickly. it was a joy to see postcards being celebrated though, and thousands of them being sent all around the world. but now i’m tired and could use 2 weeks to recover from all the excitement.

– we have a closed fireplace, at last! now that the house is ours, this was our #1 priority on the long list of improvements, and it’s finally done. i hope it helps us have a nicer winter, which before was only manageable by layering up as much as possible and turning up the AC. despite everyone’s denial, it gets cold in algarve — and especially so when you’re sitting around the whole day.

– i made spicy quince jelly (basically throwing some peppers in the jelly-making water) and it’s lovely! somehow, jams give me a lot of pleasure to make and gift. i got some gila (fig-leaf gourd) from my mom, and shall attempt to turn it into a jam next.

– today is the first meeting of the new “community garden committee”! we’re making a new food garden in a nearby abandoned terrain that the town hall made available for this purpose, and it’s really exciting to be able to take part in something like this. wish me luck!

– one of my uncles passed away earlier this week. dying isn’t easy for those who stay behind, so we went up north to be with the family — especially my mom, who spent a lot of time caring for him in the past few years. the family is ok, mourning, but hanging in there.

– this is the best photo i ever saw of him, taken a few years before i was even born, at my parent’s wedding. me and him weren’t close, but i remember him like this, laughing and playing around, getting along with everyone.

– incidentally, if we ever caught covid, it would be at a funeral. jesus christ, so much hugging and touching from everyone… nobody (me included) knows what to do to express grief and empathy without touch, without getting close and whispering comforting words.

– since we were already up north, we stayed for the grape harvest on friday. a few of my cousins and uncles came to help, and made quick work of the task of making the wine. my mom cooked a really nice bean stew, my grandma fried some codfish for a hearty snack, and everyone was happy and relieved that it barely rained the whole day.

– rain, at last! a couple of stormy days early in the week brought on lots and lots of rain. it’s definitely good news for our poor neglected garden… but bad news for all the infiltrations we haven’t taken care of yet. sigh.

– after watching one too many mark rober‘s videos, the boy wanted to give it a try making elephant’s toothpaste, so we grabbed some hydrogen peroxide, soap, food colouring and yeast, and did it! the result was a super pretty foam.

– this year’s edition of the rota do petisco has started, and we’ve timidly ventured to a couple of restaurants to try new dishes. we’re not quite at ease with eating out yet… but we’re slowly coming out of our shells and getting there.

– we made the hot and sour soup! i looked very convincing, but confess i didn’t enjoy it all that much… i guess sour soups are not my thing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

– dani, the last of our summer guests has left. the house is super quiet and it feels a bit like summer has ended. there’s less than 2 weeks left for world postcard day though, and much to get done… but today has been declared a day-off, so hurray for that! :)