Saudades

 

Quando a chuva e o vento batem nas nossas janelas, eu penso no verão e nos dias de céu azul que hão-de voltar (eu adoro dias de céu completament azul)...tal como aquele dia no verão passado quando apanhámos pêras e ameixas com o Vovô! Os meus pequeninos divertiram-se tanto nesse dia...e adoraram provar a fruta também!

When the rain and wind are hitting our windows outside I think of summer time and that blue sky days, will come again (I love days with completly blue sky)...just like that day last summer when we were harvesting  pears and plums with Vovô! My little ones had so much fun that day...and loved to do the tasting as well!

Hans Christian Andersen

Por vezes, quando penso nas férias deste ano (que aprecem ter sido já há tanto tempo...) volto aquele dia perfeito em que fui a uma exibição fantástica do trabalho de Hans Christian Andersen, com as minhas queridas tia Qué e prima Luísa na linda Alcobaça! Que dia maravilhoso...cheio de inspiração, doçura e gargalhadas!

Sometimes thinking on this year's holidays (that seem to have happened so long ago...), takes me to that perfect day in which my aunt Qué, my cousin Luísa and I went to an fantastic exhibition on the work of Hans Christian Andersen in the beautiful Alcobaça! What a wonderful day that was...full of inspiration, sweetness and great laughs!

37

Hoje fiz 37 aninhos e esta é uma das minhas fotografias favoritas ...quem não se lembra do elefante do Jardim Zoológico de Lisboa a tocar o sino quando recebia uma moedinha? Uma das vantagens de fazer 37, é ter muitas e boas memórias!

I am 37 years old today and this is one of my favourite photos of all time...who (in Portugal) doesn't remember the elephant from the Lisbon Zoo that rand a little bell everytime he received a little coin? One of the advantages of being 37 is that I have many, and good memories!

Bola de Berlin

Today is my blog's anniversary! In the summer of 2007 I started discovering the online crafty community and fell in love with reading blogs...so much that I created my (sometimes neglected) own. There has been a lot of changes in my life in these 7 years, naturally, and I love to see that documented on the blog. A few weeks ago, a dear friend of mine asked me why had I never written a post about the name of the blog...so I have decided to celebrate this special blog-anniversary day with a little piece on that and a recipe.

I must start saying that I love cakes and all sweet things. That's the main reason why I'm not in speaking terms with my weighting scales, but I think that life wouldn't be as fun without cake so I keep eating them! Anyway...my love affair with the Portuguese cakes called "Bolas de Berlim" started when I was child on holidays in Montegordo (a beach in my beloved home country of Portugal). The sea water was warm and I loved nothing else but swimming and playing in it…except when I heard a man walking down the beach, all dressed in white, singing “ooooooohhhhh bolinhas berliiiiiiiiim”! That was it; I was out of the water as quickly as I could and straight to my parents’ parasol asking “please, please, please” for one “Bola de Berlim”. The man carried a wicker basket and inside were these lovely golden cakes in the shape of a ball ("bola" in Portuguese)…he’d stop whenever people approached him wanting to buy these delicious cakes and you would see him surrounded by kids and grown ups alike in no time.

Nothing tastes like it to this day…maybe it’s the taste of sweet memories that make it extra special for me. I named my blog after my favourite cakes because I wanted it to be as sweet as them. I know...but it's true :)

Bolas de Berlim – Recipe (found in an old family recipe book)

Ingredients:

* For the dough:

   – 0.5kg flour

   – 25g baker’s yeast

   – 75g sugar

   – 1 dl lukewarm water (to dissolve the yeast)

   – 1 egg

   – 3 egg yolks

   – flour (for sprinkling)

* For the Portuguese Pastry Cook Custard (filling):

   – 0.5l of milk

   – 1 lemon peel

   – 60g of flour

   – 150g of sugar

   – 6 egg yolks

First, dissolve the baker’s yeast in lukewarm water. then mix it with the flour, egg, egg yolks and sugar. Knead the mixture well, until it acquires the consistency of a bread dough, then sprinkle it with flour, place it in a container and cover with a cloth.

Leave it to ferment for about an hour in a warm place. Then knead it lightly and cut off 50-gram-pieces of dough. Shape these into small balls. Arrange the balls of dough on a narrow, spread out cloth sprinkled with flour, and leave them to ferment until they double in size. Pick them up carefully one at the time and fry them in moderately hot cooking oil. then drain and sprinkle them or coat them in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon in the proportion of five parts of sugar to one part of cinnamon. Open them up in the middle with scissors and add the filling.

For the Portuguese Pastry Cook Custard: mix the sugar with the flour, add the egg yolks and then add the milk little by little, stirring continuously. Heat this up with bubbles, stirring continuously especially near the side of the pan. remove from the heat and pour into a cold container.

Casaquinho de bebé novo :: New baby cardigan

Já vos posso mostrar o casaquinho de bebé que tenho andado a tricotar nos últimos meses (muito devagarinho, com outros projectos ao mesmo tempo). O casquinho chama-se "Little Coffee Bean" e podem encontrá-lo aqui.

Foi um prazer tricotar este casaquinho! Foi muito fácil, muito bem escrito e perfeito para eu usar lã que eu tenho no meu "stash". Só tive problemas em encontrar os botões certos...tenho que dizer que a retrosaria local não tem uma grande variedade de botões mas, felizmente, eu tinha "alguns" em stock; mesmo não sendo do tamanho certo para mim (eu gostava que tivessem sido um pouco maiores), eu corrigi o tamanho das casas dos botões. E assim o casaquinho esteve pronto a tempo do Baptizado do bebé Rían.

I can finally show you the baby cardigan that I have been knitting for the past few months (very slowly, with other projects also on the go). The cardigan is called Little Coffee Bean Cardigan and you can find the pattern for here.

This cardigan was an absolute pleasure to knit! It was so easy, so well written and perfect for me to use some yarn of my stash. I only had trouble finding the right buttons...I must say that the local harbedeshery doesn't have a great selection of buttons but, fortunatelly I have "a few" in my stash; although they weren't the perfect size for me (I would have liked them to be a little bit bigger), I corrected the button cases instead. The cardigan was ready on time for little baby Rían's Christenning.

Fora do normal :: Out of the ordinary

Uma coisa for do normal aconteceu no final de Junho...eu ganhei um concurso na minha rádio favorita, fui passear com o meu marido sem as crianças (pela primeira vez em 5 anos) durante um fim-de-semana e participámos numa das corridas de cavalos mais populares do país! Foi muito entusiasmante...

O prémio do concurso na rádio incluía uma noite neste hotel maravilhoso e um dia no Festival "Dubay Duty Free Irish Derby"na Curragh, no condado de Kildare. Foi um bocadinho mágico...ainda que eu não seja uma grande fã de corridas de cavalos ou de apostas, adorei o dia, a ver as pessoas passar (era o dia das senhoras e havia conjuntos impresssionantes), as corridas e a comer comida maravilhosa. A minha parte favorita, devo dizer, foi a nossa estadia no hotel...eu adorei o quarto, a comida e o ambiente (o "cozy pub" na traseira do hotel era encantador).

E tudo isto por adivinhar o ano de uma das canções mais marcantes da minha vida..."Sit down" dos James, a música com a qual acordei definitivamente na Unidade de Cuidados Intensivos (quando tive o meu acidente de bicicleta aos 13 anos) e vi a enfermeira a dançar ao seu ritmo :)

Something out of the ordinary happened at the end of June...I won a competition on my favourite radio station, went away with my husband without the kids (the first time in 5 years) for the weekend and attended one of the most popular horse races in the country! It was a very exciting time... 

The prize from that radio competition included one night at this beautiful hotel and a day at the "Dubay Duty Free Irish Derby" Festival in the Curragh, in County Kildare. It was just magic...although I'm not crazy about horse races or betting, I really enjoyed the day, watching the crowds (it was ladies day and there were amazing outfits around), watching the races and eating gorgeous food. My favourite part, I must say, was the night stay at the hotel...I just loved the room, the food and the atmosphere (the cozy pub at the back of the hotel was lovely). 

And all of this because I  correctly guessed the year of one of the most important songs of my life..."Sit down" from James, the song to which I definitely woke up to in the ICU (when I had my bicycle accident) and watched the nurse dance to it :)

A little bit of knitting

 

 

No início deste ano, durante os meses em que a nova casa estava a ser remodelada e nós espeavámos  e desesperávamos, houve sempre tempo para um bocadinho de tricot. No princípio de Marco fiz umas botinhas, um casaquinho de bebé e um gorro para uma amiga...em breve partilho mais alguns projectos que, neste momento, sao secretos.

 

In the beginning of this year, during the months in which our new house was being renovated and we were waiting and "despairing", there was always time for a little bit of knitting. At the beginning of March I completed a pair of little booties, a baby cardigan and hat for a friend...soon I will share some of the projects that are now secret.

A brincar :: Playing

A Isabel já se sente completamente à vontade na nova casa...tem de novo um quartinho só para si onde nos manda sentar e nos serve chá à mesa (ela adora o seu serviço de chá!), onde brinca às escondidas, brinca com os puzzles e jogos e lê os seus livros. Assim vai crescendo...e o quarto com ela também se vai modificando. Dentro de uns meses vamos substituir o muda fraldas que agora serve de estante por uma estante "verdadeira", as barras da cama vão ser retiradas, os cortinados feiros e a decoração vai ser completada. Este é o plano, claro...

Isabel is perfectly comfortable in the new house...she has a bedroom just for herself again where she tell us to sit down at the table where she serve us tea (she loves her tea set!), where she plays hide & seek, play with her puzzles and games and read her books. And so she grows...and the room is changing with her. In a few months we will substitute her changing table that is working now as a book/toy shelf for a "real" bookshelf, the bars of her bed will come off, the curtains will be made and the decoration completed. That is the plan, of course...

Mais ou menos de volta ao normal :: Kind of back to normal

 

Já estamos mais ou menos de volta ao normal...já estamos na casa nova e livres de quase todas as caixas! E de vez em quando, tiramos umas "férias" de arrumar e limpar e vamos passear, ver coisas novas. Como na semana passada o Festival de Artes de Carlow tinha numa das suas exbições, uma peça da Joana Vasconcelos, a Valquíria Enxoval, nós "tivemos" que ir  lá vê-la! Isto não acontece todos os dias...e nós adorámos e divertimo-nos muito!

We are "kind of back" to normal...we are already in the new house and have almost no boxes around! Sometimes, we take a break from tidying up and cleaning and go somewhere to see something new. As the Carlow Arts Festival had an exhibition with a piece from Joana Vasconcelos, the Valquíria Enxoval, we "had" to go see it! Something like this never happens around here...and we loved it and had a lot of fun on the way!

On the move

We're are still in the middle of moving house (we left the one we lived in December but the one we are going to live in is not quite ready yet), we still have most of our beloggins in storage and we are counting the days :) I'm sorry I haven't been around here but I just have been exhausted!! See you all soon x

Happy Happy

Só uma pequena nota para vos desejar a todos um ano novo de 2014 muito muito feliz...eu vou voltar aqui a meio de Janeiro, depois de recarregar as minhas baterias com a família e amigos em Portugal :)

Just a little note to wish you all a happy happy new year of 2014...I'll be back here in the middle of January after recharging my batteries at home, in Portugal :)

Cachecol da Raposa :: Fox Scarf

Parte do meu trabalho como trabalhadora comunitária consiste em apoiar o desenvolvimento de um grupo de tricot numa área não muito previlegiada da vila...é um projecto muito gratificante! Um dos modelos mais populares nesse grupo de tricot é o "Cachecol da Raposa" e, como não podia deixar de ser, eu também tricotei um...para o meu menino "grande". E aqui está ele a posar para a fotografia com o seu cachecol novo, o meu menino doce, doce e reguila!

Part of my work as a community worker is to support the development of a knitting group in one of the most disadvantaged areas of the town...and it's a very rewarding project! One of the most popular patterns in that knitting group is the "Fox Scarf" and, of course I had to knit one...for my "big" boy. And here he is, posing with his new scarf, my sweet, sweet, cheeky boy!

A gozar a Noite das Bruxas :: Enjoying Halloween

A noite das bruxas foi muito divertida este ano...o James adorou as decorções, o artesanato, a comida, o seu traje...ele adorou tudo mesmo! A Isabel estava mais interessada em deitar a mão à maior quantidade de guloseimas possível :) Eu já estou a ver que as épocas festivas vão ser ainda mais divertidas a partir de agora...e mal posso esperar! Espero que tenham tido um dia divertido...

Halloween was so much fun this year...James was super excited about the decorations, crafts, food, his costume...everything really! Isabel was more interested in reaching as many sweets as possible :) I can see that the festive seasons will be even more fun from now on...I can't wait! I hope you and your had a lovely day...

James loves to draw

O James revelou recentemente (talvez com alguma ajuda da chuva a cair lá fora) que adora desenhar e colorir. Consegue fazê-lo durante algum tempo todos os dias, sem interrupções, e gosta de descrever e assinar as suas obras primas. Podemos dizer que, juntamente com o brincar com o Lego, desenhar/colorir é a sua actividade favorita :) Eu adoro guardar todos os seus desenhos (alguns já destinados a molduras), pedacinhos deste tempo precioso!

James has recently reveled (maybe with a little help of the rain falling outside) his love for drawing and colouring. He manages to do it for quite some time every day, with no interruptions, and likes to describe what he draws and sign it. We can say that this is one of his favourite activities, just like playing Lego :) I love to keep all his drawings (some already on their way to frames), little pieces of this precious time!

Casaquinho das estrelinhas :: Little stars cardigan

 

Só agora tive a oportunidade de vos mostrar o último casaquinho que tricotei para a Isabel. É deste livro e muito fácil de fazer...mas, como á não estou habituada a coser muitas peças quando tricoto, achei essa parte um pouco chata. Eu estou contente com o resultado final e minha modelo também parece estar...

Only now I had the opportunity to show you the last little cardigan I have knitted for Isabel. It's from this book and very easy to knit...but, maybe because I'm so used to knit in the round with no seams, I've found the sewing of the different parts of the cardigan a little bit boring. I'm happy with the final result and I think that my little model is happy as well...