{this moment}

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A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

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browsing through October pics, with love

Rain at last

The first day of rain is a happy day. To truly understand why, let me introduce you to the view from our house for most of this month, a fire a day, from one hill to the next, until the sky was thick with smoke, and the sun set red behind clouds of ashes. The hills around Ouro Preto have all caught fire, including ours, and many of them burned down to ashes. It was a sad and unhealthy month of October this one, as the skies did not seem to ever want to launch this year's rainy season.

And finally today, the first proper rain finally came, the one that starts before we get out of bed and goes on until the next, or almost, and it was a happy one. We found a few dry frogs in the past few months, and today they are loud out there, along with the gigantic snails that graze by the dozen the plot around our house.

Leila, Coline and I put on our boots as the sun came out just before setting and found out how much has already grown. We had a feast with the first few pitangas, jabuticabas, raspberries (going fat and strong this month even though this one magic plant has not stopped giving fruits since last year, literally) and (juicy) wild strawberries. And for the first all-indoors day, we dug out many forgotten ways to spend some time together out of the pula-pula, which included recycling wax crayons, making our favorite pancakes, reading tens of children's books, hugging, watching She-Ra on youtube (the girls and Cris) while knitting (me), tea and hot chocolate (separate), paint and drawing on some treasured scratchboard cards and all these little things that happen in 5 min or less and make a full day of being at home active and lazy at the same time, a rainy sunnyday as Coline puts it.

all these stories untold

Some stories are long overdue in this space. I've drafted their account in my mind for many of them and they got caught up in the webs of routine and so many other things to focus my attention on during the post-bedtime hours that I get to spend with myself. Hopefully I'll get to tell some of them to you in person, others in writing and in the meantime, here are a few lines and pictures before the end-of-the-year whirlwind swallows me up until next year.

:: the one where I took part in an all-mummy circus show at Leila and Coline's school



:: the one where I read a book and became a real vegetarian for good



:: the one where I started a (part-time) postdoc in parasitology - hence the pic of us on campus



:: the one where I ended that postdoc and started a new one in polymer science again (full-time - hence the absence of recent pics)

:: the one where we set off to go to the dentist and came back with another young (female) doggy



:: the one where I managed to make homemade natural soap that I really love and make enough to share with some friends and neighbours - thanks to the best ever wedding present: the Braun stick-blender

:: the one about cutting wood with a small axe and feeling stronger than She-Ra



:: the one where we went back to the path to the Pico do Itacolomi and only made is just a little further than the first time



:: the one where I knit in blue for many months (pattern HERE: although I did not like the front so much and ended up adding a triangular piece to close it up)



:: the one where I realized that I LOVE the bedtime routine that has been going on for more that a year now, with some variations according to the seasons or the mood

{this moment}

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A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

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September Hike

This was the day we set out for a little outing and ended up on a proper hike. Our first hike as a family, and what a delicious one it was. At this time of the year the air is dry and not hot yet around here. From our house we often see bushfires on the surrounding hills. A few weeks ago one of those consumed part of the parc of the pico do Itacolomi, luckily not too close to the restaurant and playground where we often spend an afternoon on week-ends. We were heading out to do so today, but Leila insisted that we went for a hike. More specifically she wanted us to climb up a mountain. This came out as a bit of a surprise in the sense that Leila has not shown much if any enthusiasm at walking. In restrospect, I do not think that she sees any relationship between walking (boringly slow and tiring) and climbing up a mountain.

She impressed us today. She kept a fast pace in front of us, so she could pick a rock and sit for a minute while we were making our way up, Coline sometimes on her feet but mostly on Cristiano's back, oscillating between being daddy's sweety pie and an adventurer herself too. We climbed up until we could get a 360 degrees view of the surroundings, although not quite at the pico, because, you know, it was way past lunchtime and lunch was not in the light bag I carried along. Neither was my camera, to my great regret. What was in there, though, was my mini-first-aid kit, to Coline's delight. In the midday sun, on a rock that has holes carved in just the right size for our bums to sit, our hair blown in the wind of the summit, there she put cream on her sores and scratches. We slid and jumped our way down, still without any complain from Leila in spite the many falls, the heat and hunger and definitely full of pride and elation. This was fun and we will come back.

 Pico do Itacolomi seen from a neighboring hill 

a short pre-hike in the parc of the pico 

I checked the map before starting our hike, went away a few steps, came back, saw this creature slowly crawling where I had been standing, froze, and realized it was not a snake but just a slightly gigantic kind of earthworm. As far as I am concerned it is deadly, given how my heart stopped when I saw it so close.

{this moment}

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A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

. . . . . . . . . .

{this moment}

. . . . . . . . .

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

. . . . . . . . . .

special dedicace to Titie, a l'autre bout du fil virtuel

{this moment}

. . . . . . . . .

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

. . . . . . . . . .

{this moment}

. . . . . . . . .

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

. . . . . . . . . .

{this moment}

. . . . . . . . .

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

. . . . . . . . . .

out came a rainbow

As my preoccupation turned into anxiety I started feeling a weight on my shoulders that my body could not bear. My limbs were burdened by gravity as if they were made of lead. I could not imagine lifting one arm, and so I decided that I was not going to swim, as the three of us normally do on Monday nights. I got Leila and Coline in their swimsuits, flip-flops, hats and goggles and set off to put up posters. The puppies turned 5 week-old last Monday, and this is what was weighing so heavy on me.

After many weeks of talking about them to friends, neighbors and strangers, putting up pictures on fb and a small black and white picture of one of them with the message that they were up for adoption, I had not managed to find a home for any one of them. Our neighbour did insist on me giving one to her, but she is the only person that Thembile barks and growls at, she did not allow the puppies close to her and she assured me that she would not mind the mess a young puppy can make, given that they would just stay on a leash in a concrete area. I was in despair, wondering whether I should euthanise them now or allow them to stay with us and get at least a divorce out of that. The battle that went on in my mind on the value of life and what it means to end it versus making mine miserable drove me to a tearful breakdown in the car as I went on to do what I considered was my last chance: put up posters in town and in the local supermarkets.

As I did so, four supermarket employees jumped on me telling me that they all wanted one and in the middle of that confusion I received the first phone-call (our dentist does not only do miracles on our teeth, but she also put me in touch with a loving lady who took our first puppy). I started looking around searching for the hidden video-camera. That scene was so unreal!

Since last Monday many people have called me, three dogs have already left us and another two are reserved. I cannot believe how much people like dogs here, so of them as garden trophies, but many of those I dealt with out of pure love for dogs. Some sounded disappointed when I said they are stray dogs but in the end I am glad they are, as I prefer their owners not to mind about their pedigree. I could not help but take a picture of the couple who went away with Nelson, Cris' favorite. They had a crush on Nelson and he looked as if he belonged in their arms.

That Monday evening was a good lesson for me. One I have learned before but often forget when I need it most, that life is exactely this, unpredictable.

Meanwhile, Leila made up her mind and will keep Anna, while Elsa is the last one in need of a home. My herb patch and many of my plants / flowers / trees have already been chewed down to the roots, my old pair of socks-turned-toy shredded to pieces and I found one of my slippers in the neighbour's garden. Luckily they have adorable little faces. All is well in puppyland.

{this moment}

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A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

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Puppy update

{this moment}

A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

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Trip to the north pole

This was a Sunday night moment of playing "we are flying to the North pole". Sweet playful  imagination.

{this moment}

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama, which I am about to make a Saturday ritual instead. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

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Happy easter

: : new friends - a colleague of Cris, a cheerful young girl and her creative mum - from Sao Paulo : : 

: : silk paper-painted Easter eggs : : 

: : wet felting : : 

: : Ouro Preto's Easter procession and its wood-shaving carpets : :

: : a treasure hunt for homemade chocolate eggs : :

: : bacalhoada : :

This is how we celebrated Easter this year.