I don't know whether to laugh or cry....

... but, seeing as we Canadians are supposed to be a tough lot....I better yank on the ol' boot straps.. hike up my britches and get one foot in front of the other...... waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh....I don't wanna!!

Of course, this happens every year about this time.... last year it was April 10....the year before I think it was June 5.... so.... this isn't too bad...........I guess. *pout*.......

It was raining last night so we knew darn well it would look like this when we got up.  It is barely 0C so this new 6 inches will melt quickly...but, the underlying 2 feet or so in most areas...won't be melting along with it.....not yet.  It's all frozen and crusty and icy under this new soggy stuff....

That Elmo...always so ready to help me measure snow.  You'd think as often as I've plopped his bum into freezing white stuff... it'd wipe that stupid smile off his face.

Before I even grabbed a shovel, I grabbed a broom and went out to rescue my poor juniper... knocking off the huge amounts of snow as it was bent straight over from the weight of the heavy wet stuff.

One of the lower branches was already in trouble from an earlier snow fall...it was on the ground nearest the wall.  With the snow off...you can see how far over and down it was pressed with all that weight.  Hope it stands up all the way once again some day.  A couple of the branches are probably going to have to be trimmed off.

I decided to take a walk around the block and see what else got crushed....and...sadly.... plenty.

OMGosh.... this...... well, this was the biggest Mugo Pine bush we have ever seen....and usually the branches are totally upright like raised hands and arms..... oh, dear..... squashed totally.... hope it recovers....

All of them were bent under the terrible weight of the snow....

This guy had the right idea.... shovelling would be a killer today.

Oh, oh........

I couldn't believe my eyes when I rounded the corner to our place..... my sidewalks were clean!!  Oh, thank you, thank you, Dan!!!  He was just crossing the road to the older lady that lives opposite us.  He hollered that he didn't want anybody having heart attacks and decided after doing his own ....he would just do the rest of us.  What a guy!   He's been shovelling our walks pretty regularly all the weeks we were away...and now... he's doing it again.  Says this winter he has used his snow blower more than any winter so far.  So much for global warming..... I still maintain that we are heading back into another ice age.

Even if it is a pain.... I do have to say....it does look beautiful.....

I especially love the look of the drooping or weeping type trees and shrubs....

A poor little robin..... wondering why he came back from Arizona or Mexico or wherever he went for the winter.  They always come home about 2 or 3 weeks too soon.  Just like us.  And...no worms out of the frozen ground yet.  I see them hopping around behind the sparrows and chickadees.  Probably trying to get the lowdown on what to eat before their own food source shows up.... much later now than ever I would guess. They probably lose a bit of weight before it gets nice enough to forage for the good stuff.  All this, after having to fly hundreds if not thousands of miles just to get here.  Not right.  Not right at all.

Well....now...I'm off to bake Dan some strawberry muffins.  He deserves them!  Maybe it's time to invest in a snowblower....even though I usually am happy to do it for the exercise..... or..... save the money to make a downpayment on a tiny house somewhere warm.... so I can follow those robins when they leave in October......

We're home....

and of course, it's the pits.  Even though I'm sure I don't have jet lag....I also don't have any motivation...or energy ...or much of anything really. Getting back into some sort of routine is proving difficult.  I've been just wandering about the house.... trying to decide where to begin.  Of course, it's only been a day and a half.  Or, perhaps it's looking out my front door and seeing this that has some detrimental affect....













after all....it's a long way from this isn't it?....

It's tough to go from sun, sand and surf ....to snow, cold and dull......

That does it.  I'm just going to look at my little collection of sea glass, shells worn to a glass-like finish...and my cute little hand painted souvenirs instead.

..or my cork and silver jewellery.. Portugal is well known for its cork oaks... producing about 50% of the world cork harvest.  It is a great sustainable resource with big impact on the ecosystem and it's now illegal to cut down a cork oak.  No longer just used for high end wine corking anymore either  ..... jewellery, hand bags, even clothing, made from cork, is pretty amazing to see and feel.  It feels like velvet. We even saw an amazing wedding dress in Batalha made from cork.  I'm not sure what happened...we must have been too stunned to remember to take a photo.....or maybe it was because we were so busy looking at all the beautiful hand bags... which we didn't buy but probably should have... they were lovely. It was a stunning dress ...and so unlike any wedding dress I've ever seen.

Funny how a new and exciting holiday routine becomes so quickly embedded...and yet getting back to the old and familiar, or perhaps the mundane, takes much longer.  Hmmmm........

There I was..    having coffee by myself this morning (ours seems to pale in comparison) ..... wishing I had some company and some lovely Portuguese bread for toast..... then I found myself surfing the 'net for recipes for breads... Portuguese breads.  I did find several.  Bookmarked now.... and ready to go..... I sure hope I can manage a dense, tasty cornbread like some we found... mmmmmm..... not anything like the cornbread we think of at all.  This is a rustic, yeast based loaf...with a firm dark crust.... oh, man..my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  I'll keep ya posted....

I remember thinking about how I would be so organized before we left.  Oh, sure....absolutely.  I was going to take photos.... upload them.. label things... write about them... blah, blah..blah.... yeh...right...as if......

Both Maria (my friend and wonderful hostess) and I... somehow managed to take at least 100 to 150 photos a day!   Every single day!  Hahahahahah.... and, now?   Three weeks have evaporated; I have totally forgotten some of where we were; what we were doing and even which day it was.  And, who even wore a watch or cared what time it was either? So...I will probably just post lots of the beautiful pictures and try to add a name or a town or something and call it a day.

If I do post some that you absolutely must know the name or origin of, ... please just ask.... I will definitley enlist Maria's help...and let you know exactly where it is....


ps...... oh, great....I just looked out the window...and it's snowflaking....arrghhhhh!

Nazare...

from above...... and believe me... that is a loooooong way down.  People on the beach appeared the size of tiny ants.... if you click on the photo... enlarge it and squint reeeel hard you might be able to see them.  There was an elevator, more accurately, a funicular, in which to ride down and back again if you wanted...but, we drove down and wandered around the beach and the beach front.....another perfect day.  We have been so lucky weather wise.. not hot...but, sunny and breezy and just right.

Property is through the roof price wise...

This appeared to be our only viable alternative....a fixer upper.   However, Mr. BV... a veteran remodeller... was slightly overwhelmed..... ..so.... we opted for free stuff.  We could look at the beautiful ocean instead ...

....we didn't even have to pack a lunch...

When we were kids...our Mom used to pack us a lunch if we said we were running away.... if we had brought anything here from home it would have been like taking a ham sandwich to a banquet.  There is wonderful food everywhere we go....and the prices are so reasonable we feel guilty when it comes time to pay the bill. 

   

..it a person was really hungry?...oranges and lemons fall from the local trees.....

 Cheeses and olives are abundant..

Okay...now this was just shockingly amazing!!  At a lovely little seaside restaurant in Peniche..

These were starters even before we got our meal!!

...and this is the sort of thing we make at home after our meals there.... fresh fruit is inexpensive..the veggies are huge.  I have never seen peppers as big as my head... and they are almost that size@! People in the markets must think we are lunatics...laughing and having fun being amazed by the food.  It could be just because we are on holiday...but, I've never tasted fruit so sweet and amazing.  Of course, stuff at home is shipped from such distant lands.... it is probably picked well before the sun has a chance to give it any flavour.... no idea where the fruits here come from...but, I'm sure it is much closer....

Downtown Entroncamento... everybody goes walking... and they all stop for all sorts of coffees during their day.... and well into the evenings after their suppers....

... and the "pastelarias"....ooooohhh.........

Mr. BV...the chocolate nut, found this ultra tasty morsel..... 

.... and....this one's for you Anne.........I have indeed fallen in love with the local favourite.  Some type of egg custard tarts... this one was my best yet... a twist on the original I'm told... slivered almonds on top instead of the usual "torching" that the locals love.  MMMM>>>> ffff...... must get a recipe...somewhere.....

.... and gone to sea........

I've run away from home.....

... crazy crafters....again..

We really are a crazy bunch, us/we(?) crafters.  We save the darndest things. "In case need them" .. or  we think, .. "hey, I can use that", and we stash it in our ever growing little (and sometimes not-so-little) container or containerssss (very plural)  of bits and bobs.

Here is my latest.  Look at the beautiful satiny ribbons I've been finding on even the cheapest of t-shirts I've bought in the past few weeks.  Extra little straps for hanging them so they don't slip off hangers I guess...... when the heck did they start doing that for $9 t-shirts?   I haven't bought any for a few years........maybe it is not that new to everybody else.

Menswear has always been so nicely finished with edges encased and nowadays with the insides of collars even having velvet ribbon.  I love looking at mens clothing and marvelling.  And...the past few reeeelly cheap little articles I've purchased.... look at this!  Instead of just zigazg crap finishing ..... ribbon!
On my 2/$20 t-shirts for heaven's sake.  I was very surprised, to say the least.

And.....look how much of that ribbon for hanging there actually is....

Fully fourteen inches on each side .....

I can use it for a multitude of things...trim..bows... collars.... attachments.  Cute little bows .. and how many.... now I'm thinking these t-shirts are an even better bargain.  For $10 I also get 28 inches of 1/8 inch satiny ribbon.  Such a deal!  I've now got some black, pink, yellow and turquoise...... I think I need to begin another bits and bobs box.  Wonder if Rubbermaid has some on sale.

I think I have a cold....

.... ........ my nose is dribbling so I guess it's a cold...... I kind of forget what one feels like.  This is the first for ...erm.... 16 years? .... haven't had one since '95.  Broke my lovely long streak.   Darn it.  Probably my own fault... I was getting a bit cocky...thinking I was now totally immune to cold germs.  But, this time Mr. BV brought home more than he could handle on his own I guess and some appear to have marched right in.  Probably 13 abreast or something... the little buggers.....

Oh, well....it was a good run.  And, if this is the extent of it... big deal.....

Did a tiny bit of work on little Rumpel...that's what I've taken to calling him.... but, not much really..... no time to play.  I'm in holiday mode...and am busy organizing things......













Worked up a wire armature for a body.... wrapped it with some cotton batting and tape..

some foil on arms and legs in case I decided to put clay on top.... but, ... haven't really decided yet.... it may be clay..... it may be thicker padding and taping...

He's going to be a funny looking little manny..... his feet will eventually be larger than they are here.... for now..they are just wire bent to hold him up.... you can see he is not very big.  Only 9 inches tall....

..I've decided if he could spin straw into gold....he certainly didn't have to be of the "common" portion of the realm.... he could be more "of the court" if you know what I mean.... .....didn't have to wear any old woollens or shabby duds, did he?  My Rumpel is going to be in rich fabrics.... ... perhaps velvet..... and cloth with shiny gold highlights.....  a dapper little manikin....

Wordless Wednesday..

check out this giveaway....

Hurry over to Shelley's blog and get in on a great giveaway!  Make a cute little dolly with her pattern.
We all need one of these to carry around don't we?

Look at the sweet little gals she makes...  I'm waiting for a certain other little bear or kitty to appear on her site.... so I can buy one.

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Well, that was pretty funny.  Mary Ann guessed right off.  Rumpelstiltskin.   But, maybe I should have chosen something or someone with a much simpler name!  Every time I write it... which, of course, now is quite often...  I have to look back at it, say it out loud to nobody in particular, and assure myself it's correct!

I put on ears and baked him...but, kind of forgot about him because I was on the treadmill.... jumped off and raced upstairs just in the  nick of time....whew...only the tips of his ears got over toasted.  And...in the long run...I could have left him a few more seconds to a minute longer anyway.  He would have been a bit browner on the tips and perhaps a perfect colour.

As it is...I did some painting... with several shades of pinks, browns, and yellows to get what I liked for his face, lip and mole colours.

It is a bit difficult to get a perfect shot that shows the real life colours.... but, ehhh...you get the idea.

Still a bit more work to do on the colouring.... but, he's close.... and, of course....some hair..... hmmm...but, what...I'm off to have a look in my stash of goodies...                                                                    

Wordless Wednesday..