Plums

Looking at the blossoming trees reminds me of last summer...
Plums, plums, plums, all was about plums, last year. Plums and potatoes. The weather was too uncertain by this time last year to let the potatoes already created under the earth, which should not rot, and then we dig the earth wildly as if there was no tomorrow, to save the potatoes that were already chubby and ready to fill our belly. How delicious were those new potatoes ...
But mainly it was about plums. They were yellow, red, Queen Claudia, Sto. António kind, etc. We had tons of them last year.
We harvested them when matured, almost transparent when put against the late-afternoon sunshine before the expected rain fell and they could fall and rot. We didn't let this happen and then we picked them up, making wild stunts to reach the highest branches of the plum tree, where the most beautiful plums were.
Belly and jam were the biggest uses for them. The whole house smelled of plums, the kitchen was a mess, the countertop and hands were all sticky. I had to sterilize bottles while the plums boiled in sugar in very low heat. And then I had to try its consistency from time to time. Huuummm ... The smell was so good, so warm. And so was the taste. Nearly two hours in the fire, in a monotone moving of the wooden spoon from time to time, but it was comforting to be with the belly by the fire and live the expectation of what would come out of the pot to soothe the palate with barred toasts and hot milk with coffee and give friends something done by ourselves.
In this new life of mine, I restart to realize the rhythm of seasons and that each one bears its own fruit created and given in time, which gives it another taste, the taste of authentic and healthy. I restart to realize that it is a delight to remove the produce of the land and preserve it for the time to come. This means that we can depend on the land to take from it what we really need for our livelihood.
Living this at a slower but intense pace makes me feel a sense of growing detachment by supermarkets. I am not fundamentalist about this, but indeed this is a feeling that has been invading me for a long time. It is quite frustrating to get to the supermarket and bring cheaper products just because they were quickly reproduced at the expense of chemicals and not under the proper weather and sun, this way producing more and more profitable production. Yes, it irritates me a lot to be inserted in this fast growing product society when the real purpose is profit to those who produce it and not realize that when we save money on cheaper food, we will spend it on doctors and pharmacies later.
Well, it was about last summer plums, today... Many, invasive, plums everywhere in the kitchen, but it felt so good! It makes me so happy to know that the earth blesses us and we just have to be good stewards of what it gives us. I am so grateful for these unique moments. I am so grateful to realize that what we do today has consequences for tomorrow and I want that tomorrow is a little better. I just have to work and provide. The rest will happen.

This afternoon

This was a quiet afternoon since we couldn't do more due to my farmer baker boy's injuries. He works so hard that sometimes he hurts himself. So we always enjoy what we can and what we have and give thanks to God for that. This afternoon was a return to the past, a return done in an unexpected way and full of sunshine and gray clouds. But forget about the weather, the important thing is that it was nice to revisit the church that once was "my church", where I was christened at the age of five according to Catholic belief and where I spent my adolescence going to the mass on Sundays to hide the real reason to meet friends and discover life. The truth is that I grew up with the fear of God, something that is built over a lifetime. That is also fruit of parental education and fruit of our own heart and not of walls or religious denominations. This was also a return to the past while contemplating the old roofs that saw me growing up. This is such a feeling that does not abandon me whenever I pass there and where I feel that the smells, the light and the green of the trees are different and special. Is it really so or is it my heart that sees like that? I do not know and do not care. I care only for the truth and the life. And the truth is that the life I live at the moment is increasingly solved with the past. Time yet for a glimpse of what was once a dream in the shape of a house that did not como true but that evolved in the context of a home and a land, which is translated now in the shape of a caravan in the middle of what was once a small jungle and is now a land full of life and dreams.

More of the same

More of the same for those who only watch. But for those who live it, there is news every day! Like arriving "home" and see this blacksmith with such beautiful shiny rust colors.

And see how the potato plants already have flower and are almost ready to harvest.

It is also wonderful to watch the woodpecker. Breathtaking.

IT comes to visit us every day and it barely knows that is already famous and that the Internet is his world, eh eh.

With the mirror wall also lined with the same floral paper, our beauty gets another life and invites you to linger. But the outside is so appealing, the land calls us all the time and there is always immense chores outside.

Like milling the land.

Look at me me grabbing the cultivator as I were my farmer baker boy. I lack experience no doubt, but I will get there some day, I'm sure. You will not miss me and it's so good to learn to do a bit of everything.

Still time to admire the work of nature together with the work of man. We took a hollow olive tree trunk, put it between two oaks that will press the trunk and give it more stability as they grow. And then it's time to watch the flowers grow and give color and life.

Also time to watch the kids playing, inventing games and activities whose imagination surpasses any fiction film.

It is so good to see them grow in friendship.

But night falls. Today we stay until late. The night is quiet and the fireflies come visit us, filling the air with little fairy lights.

This was the best picuture I could take. I tried other ways to get a good shot but the truth is that it's much more funny to watch life in action than "wasting" time trying to fix it within a camera. Because emotions only live once.

Take a sunny day

To clean the "house"...

To watch the nature that gives us new flowers, new shapes, new colors and new smells every day...

To laugh at the jokes of my little boy, who's pesky and grown up each day ...

To watch the garden...

   
and realize that the green remains one of the most beautiful colors!

and give thanks because the earth rewards us with beauty, strength and fruit ...

To put grandma blankets and cushions to the sun and be delighted at such color and love ...

To paint the old tires that are now a new home for flowers that will bloom in time in bright colors flowers.
Everything in life has its time. Knowing to wait with confidence bears fruit, fruit that will grow and bear more fruit. And so the work will prosper.

Anything that is good to the soul, do it

I wish you all a wonderful day!

Project chickens

Our henhouse is under construction! Let there be materials and workmanship! But as you can see, as to workmanship concerns, we are done! Well, truth be told, do not be fooled, this was only for the picture... ;)

But we've been enjoying this so much, although it's been laborious too! This structure will be our future henhouse and storage room. As a conclusion, it seems to me that our chickens will stay in a luxury condominium at least in terms of area, which will be bigger than the caravan! ;)

He is great, my farmer baker boy, who also has a builder rib. And so our chickens will leave the status of a dream to come a reality. Oh my God, how all this is so exciting and beautiful. Despite all the work that we have had cutting the eucalyptus, load them, peel them, take measurements, open holes, cut, cover it with cement, nailing, etc., all that is done with our hands and heart, which has undoubtedly much more value. It is this simple life that I covet. Simple, practical and economical. Because of all that we take from this life, the most important is love and a full soul.

Water

I always find it interesting to think about the things of life...
I grew up with ecological awareness. I remember doing the sorting of waste in adolescence and sensitize my mother and those around me to the issues of preservation of the planet. Considerations aside, the truth is that I believe we should all do our best concerning the environment subject. Because it is worth looking around us and see cleanliness and health.

Today my conscience goes to water. How many times have we heard that, in our modern times, we often take for granted the act of turning the lights on and opening the tap. Now here is a question I often treasure, treasure by being grateful for this practical aspect of modern life and by trying not to waste water through so many tips to do so that are given to us. But the truth is that it is different to be aware of this issue and live the situation.

 We are facing now what we anticipated would happen coming dry weather: the lack of water. The brook near us dried up as well as our water source despite the strategies to store it. The truth is that plants need water to survive and we are responsible to continue what we started. As long as we can. For now, we try to find out where there is public water sources that allow us to fill our containers and water our garden. So we've gone to the fountains existing in the hill and in the village, fullfill our buckets and transport them in our car to fullfill the containers in the garden.

In all this process it is interesting to see how much we value the water in a much stronger way now, despite never having been wasteful in our homes. Now, every drop is precious and we are grateful for each drop of rain that falls. Each one is good because it means less dependence on trips to the fountain. The care we have with water reminds us our awareness of saving it and the real value it has for us and our survival. And it forces us to another rhythm, a more steady rhythm without hurry because this come and go from the fountain takes us hours a day, hours which could be used in the cofé, at the computer, at work, out with friends, etc. Of course everything is necessary but this work gives us the conscious that it's not worth to be stressed to get or do things that are often not necessary, and gives us the ability to live every minute and realize that every moment of life is to be lived and enjoyed the best way. And the best way is a restful way, pacified and given by Who cares for us and Knows what we need, because ultimately also the birds and the lilies of the field have everything.