Tag: plants

Categories
general

weeknotes, 34/25

got the hsk6 books for the new school year (discounted on vinted, hurray!), and i don’t know how the teacher is going to do this feat of finishing a book each semester… it will be intense, to say the least, and i don’t feel very confident about this transition. i haven’t even done the hsk5 exam yet, and we’re already jumping ahead…

the free days in the middle of the 10 hour ones continue to be the most relaxing ever — like a mini-vacation every other day. i have so much energy to do things on those days, and long postponed to-do lists are just melting away. of course, everything will change when the parents come to visit next week, and when classes start again. but i’ll appreciate it for as long as it lasts!

continuing on our let’s-fix-stuff streak, paulo replaced the battery in my 15 year-old kindle, which refused to switch on. it worked! last week i also successfully sold the portable AC unit my brother had lent us, while our own was broken. why is fixing old stuff or selling stuff you don’t need so extremely satisfying?

this week, i increased the weight i put on the barbell for squats and deadlifts quite a bit, and it felt good to see progress at the gym. i’m still very much a newbie, but i’m enjoying it — especially how quick the workouts are. 30 minutes of sweating, and afterwards i can do sauna and sit a bit in the swimming pool.

also on the list of “things that never get done” was to repot some plant babies, so now there’s a few more specimens throughout the house. we’ve done a good job so far of picking only sturdy plants that can go a few weeks without water, and some of ours are over 10 years old now. i’m hoping these ones will do well too.

Categories
in azores

green patterns

our hiking boots are still wet and the weather isn’t helping them dry… so today we put on our other shoes and went for a stroll on the local botanical gardens here in horta, which were amazing! there are so many species of plants that are endemic to the azores, but they’re threatened by other exotic or invasive species introduced over time. so a part of the job of the local scientific community is to study these native plants, collect their seeds and participate in projects that ensure they can thrive again, all the while educating people.

in contrast with the dry, muted landscapes of the south of portugal, the oceanic subtropical climate here makes everything radioactive green, and i find myself looking around in awe at how luscious this green is, especially in contrast with the volcanic soil. the leaves make pretty patterns too, and i couldn’t resist photographing them:

i wish i could bring these all home in my suitcase! :D

Categories
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

Categories
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!

Categories
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!