a piece of cake ?

humm, I guess sometimes it pays off to have an amazon wishlist ...



And thank you for all the b-day wishes and messages, I really appreciate them. Here's a little piece of cake for you guys ...

weekend

a picnic in the park





resting by the pool and admiring my red sandals



favorite summer foods: lots of salad and gazpacho



and we had to try this summer pasta recipe (with a sprinkle of parmiggiano on top). The verdict: it's delicious, so if you like tomato, basil and garlic just try it.

sunny day list

Jane has been talking about rainy day movies (I've added a couple of those to my to-be-seen list, how come I never watched Easter Parade or The Umbrellas of Cherbourg ?), but what I've been compiling is my sunny day list (you know, when it's so hot that you can't bear to go outside) or the next batch of bbc period series. This summer will be all about costume dramas around here...

on more series I've been watching:
* dexter : loved it, which was kind of unexpected
* studio 60 on the sunset strip : still watching it, but it's been quite unappealing so far (how I miss the west wing !)

and the winner is ...

thanks s-o much everyone, for all those comments on last week's post and sharing all that about you. I've been enjoying reading them a lot, each and every one of them, and I'll try my best to reply to all of you individually (although that may take a while)

I was going to ask A. to give me a number from the top of his head, but he's out right now so I've decided to use the random number generator again (you didn't think I was going to type all your 77 names into little slips of paper and then pull one out, did you ?)



The winner is comment number 10, which means it's maribob ! Mari, you'll be getting a sad bear sometime soon, so please send me your address (and loved reading about your trip to Japan)

I'm in a writing mode today, so I've decided to reply to the 7 random things meme that F. tagged me for, and base some on a few of your comments instead:

1) (to Ana B., who mentioned yoga) Yoga is one of my favorite things, it's actually the only physical activity that I've never been bored with yet (with the exception of skiing, I guess). I've practiced asthanga yoga for a few years and I love it. Although I haven't been able to continue my practice as frequently as I would've liked, I know it's something I'll go back to eventually. And I practice at home whenever I can (and I'm not feeling too lazy). If you're in Lisbon and looking for a good place to practice, I suggest this place

2) (to all of you Canadians) It was great finding out I had so many Canadians reading this blog. I've been to Canada several times (I have family there), including Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Newfoundland, and I love it. My cousin A. (are you reading this, Ange ?) who lives there says it's the best place to live in, and I might have to agree with her.

3) (to those who said you didn't know how I do it, with my full time job and the crafting) To be honest, I don't know either. Crafting takes up a lot of my free time, but I always do it for pleasure and never as an obligation. For those of you who didn't know, I'm a software engineer, although I'm working more in the client services/project management area these days and not so much into programming anymore. It's funny because at work I'm all rational and 100% logical (at least I think I am) and in crafting I'm so totally the opposite.

4) (to all of you who mentioned books) I've loved reading ever since I can remember. I've always read a lot, and since discovering bookcrossing a few years back I've been reading even more. The last couple of years I haven't read as much as I would've liked, particularly due to the time I spend crafting instead, but I've never lost the habit of always carrying a book in my bag (which really comes in handy a lot of times, like when you're standing at the supermarket queue, for example). This year has been abysmally slow, with only 32 books read, compared to other years, but I'm trying to make up for it.

5) I never drink coffee (I actually hate the taste, but love the smell), but I drink a lot of tea

6) And I'm not usually picky about food, but strangely enough for a Portuguese I hate grilled sardines. And contrary to what some people may think, I am not a vegetarian, although I do love vegetarian food (A. and I even did a macrobiotic cuisine course a few years back) and that's what we usually eat at home.

7) I almost completed a 3 year shiatsu training course a couple of years back to become a practitioner, but I still haven't done the required training sessions and final exam. I'm still hoping to do that someday, but for now I just can't see myself doing shiatsu for a living. I sure miss all those weekly massages, though ...

I'm not tagging anyone else for this, since I think everyone I know has either done it or been tagged for it already, but it's fun to read what people write.

Ah, I wish I could give you all a flower for taking the time to read me, but since I can't I've posted some photos of my beautiful orchid which is blooming once more. Just for you guys.

weekend * fim de semana

:: enjoyed the perfect weather with some hiking



:: and lunch with a view to the sea





:: and finally started on that doll quilt

weekend

on a whim of the moment on Saturday, we decided to paint the rest of the hallway green, to clash with the red. Couldn't take any decent photos to show you the real color, so this is the best I was able to manage.



(Dawn, your beautiful artworks are one of the first things I see every morning)



and some bits of sunday lunch





... and a little wip

weekend

so nice to be able to wear a skirt and sandals again ...

on heroes and others

I don't talk much about tv series here, but truth be known I'm addicted to them. And I like to craft and watch tv at the same time, so give me a good tv series and some knitting and I'm all happy.

So last night during another dim sum dinner with friends, some of them had such distinct opinions on the season finale of Heroes - which I couldn't comment because I hadn't seen it yet - that I arrived home and had to watch it at once. Unfortunately, I have to agree, it's quite bad. All that plot building throughout the whole series and this is how it ends ? I think they could've done better, much better. On the other hand, the S6 of 24, which was quite bad most of the time, had a somewhat unexpected finale, and I'm mildly curious about Jack Bauer's next thing. Also, a quick note for BSG S3, which I thought had a good start but totally sucked at the end. For later tonight I've saved Grey's Anatomy S3 finale - this season was probably the best one for me so far - and Gilmore Girls S7 series finale - I'm sad it's finished, but it's probably for the best since this last season was just not quite the same.

And to finish during the weekend, the last season of the West Wing, which has to be one of my all time favorite tv series (thanks to my friends who insisted on introducing me to it). I've been watching it non stop from season 1 since last year and I can't say exactly what it is that makes me enjoy it so much. Well, the brilliant and fast paced dialogues might have something to do with it. And I guess the excellent acting and constant quality of the episodes. Anyway, I have 12 episodes left to watch, and I'm already missing it.

There's loads of other series I've been meaning to see, and just didn't have the time yet. I have these saved up for the summer already: Studio 60, House S3, Brothers & Sisters, Weeds (1 & 2), Rome S2, the Tudors. See, I did tell you I enjoyed watching tv, right ? I know I'm hopeless, I truly do (but no more than a few other people I know .. right, girls ?).

But I'll leave you with two recommendations for BBC series I've watched recently, which you must see if you haven't already. After many suggestions on this post, I decided to try out Wives & Daughters (Elizabeth Gaskell) and Our Mutual Friend (Dickens). What can I say ? They're both excellent, although Our Mutual Friend totally blew my mind. The acting, the characterization, the plot (hey, it's Dickens, although I'm ashamed to say I never did finish this book), the whole setting is amazingly well done. And Anna Friel and Steven McKintosh are the perfect Bella and John, although I also enjoyed the rest of the cast so much. I'm trying to get my hands on a few more period/costume series, particularly The Aristocrats and the rest of the House of Elliot, but right now on top on my to-be-seen pile is Bleak House, Upstairs Downstairs and Elizabeth I (2005).

So that's my take on tv blurb at the moment. Can't believe I wrote a whole post about it. Sorry, next week we'll resume our usual program of craft related posts, promise.
(But if you have any more good recommendations, please do let me know :)

weekend ...

back in Lisbon since Saturday, and although a bit jet lagged, enjoyed the weekend just the same (a visit to this fair, another to this exhibit and dim sum lunch and origami session with friends)

The rubber stamp was a gift from Marta, hand carved by her and inspired on the William Morris flowers I had on my blog background before. It's beautiful, and I love it, thank you so much

 

dragon eyes

speaking of strange fruits, I wonder how many of you know of or have tried this one ? It's one of my favorites, but I never get it in Portugal, so whenever I find it somewhere else I get all excited. It's called longan or dragon eyes, and it's from Asian origin. Pretty much like lychees (fresh lychees, of course, not the canned ones) but I like their taste better.

felted

I guess this is what happens when you let your husband do the laundry ...
(I'm not mad anymore, dear, but you owe me a new sweater)

 

a full weekend

wow, thanks for all the bedroom love, here and at flickr. You've probably noticed already that I played with the blog template a bit. Just felt it was time for a change around here... I'll probably miss the William Morris flowers but this cleaner look seems to suit me better.

We had a full weekend, not much to say but here are a few photos:

* a beautiful wedding (congratulations cousin V. :) more photos of the lovely day here





* with a full lunar eclipse on top





* and on sunday, just enough time to rest from all the festivities and watch some of these



(thanks X. for the BBC recommendations, and C. for the Deepa Mehta ones)

And how was your weekend ?

weekend walk

around the block to watch the sunset ...




 

saturday morning walk

ok, so I spend a bit more time in traffic now than I used to before we moved to our new place, but when the weekend comes it all seems to be worth it when I can easily take a few walks like this.



oh, and I bought a pair of inline skates last week. During the ski trip a few people have said that inline skating made all the difference in their skiing abilities, so I'm willing to give that theory a try... Never tried this before, so any tips I should know of ? I'll probably be spending all my time on the floor anyway ;)