Year after year I fall in love with fall. Although this year it feels more like summer with temperatures hovering near +38C, the crisp morning air brings me instant energy. The leaves have finally started to turn and I’m delighted every time I see a tree full of fuzzy chestnuts. This week’s heavy rains signal [...]
I spent the last week getting lost in the hills of Portugal with Daddy Bravo. We hopped into our trusty Yaris every day and drove into the wild blue yonder. We drove and drove … and drove … until we could drive no more. Hot damn(!) do I ever love traveling with a GPS. The [...]
We had our first serious rain earlier this week which quickly highlighted the areas of the house which need a bit more work. Guttering scored a very high mark. While I’m sad to see the end of summer heat I’m thrilled to be well into autumn. The mornings are crisp, the days are mellow and [...]
Sit on the porch without no shoes A-picking the bass Playing the harp and singing the blues … * . This week for chick<8000clicks>chick we stayed home. I’m wailing out of tune with Penfold on the left and djbeat is soft and cuddly on the right. Want to play along? Leave a link to your [...]
This morning I patiently listened to the window guy as he explained, in great detail, how he had fixed our arched doorway. Of course, given that he was speaking Portuguese at 100 miles per hour, I nodded and smiled politely as I tried to catch every fourth or fifth word. Sim, as janelas and obrigada [...]
This may be the last weekend of summer but there’s no end in sight for the hot Portuguese sunshine. I’m constantly looking for creative ways to cool off but so far nothing beats a refreshing glass of vinho verde lemonade or a cold shower. You, my dear readers, will be thankful that I couldn’t take [...]
I’m having a love/hate relationship with our garden these days. After nearly fifteen years of neglect the land is completely overrun with hideous weeds and choking vines. Eu adoro the potential beauty every time I uncover a new fruit tree or grape vine but detesto my seeming inability to impose any order on this chaos. I [...]
Everyone I’ve met here has been warning me about the August heat but it wasn’t until this week that I believed them. Baby, it’s quente! This week’s chick<8000clicks>chick theme is the colour red. I’m (melting) on the left and djbeat is cool as a tomato on the right. . Muito obrigada to Penfold, Daisyfae, DaddyP [...]
I know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day*. Eating a good, nutritious breakfast sets the tone for the rest of the day. Only a misguided fool would skip the most important meal of the day. Mine is on the left. * This week´s theme for chick<8000clicks>chick Obrigada to DaddyP, Lo,TG, stinkypaw, [...]
A city chick and a country chick, together in spirit but separated by more than 8000 km. There are surprisingly few things I miss from my life in Vancouver but the gorgeous and ridiculously talented djbeat continues to tug at my Canadian heartstrings. This is our way to stay connected to each other through the [...]
