New Year's in Serra Do Cipo

In the last days of December we set out to the Serra do Cipo, where we spent a short holiday with our neighbor friends. Whereas last year's six hour road trip to Ibitipoca had me wonder whether it was worth it driving anywhere with claustrophobic young children, this year was a three hour walk in the park, north of Belo Horizonte, with four happy and playful family members enjoying the view and the music and ice-cream on the way.

We went to Serra do Cipo to swim in waterfalls, and for that we were not disappointed. In the four days that we were there, we swam plenty, in all types of places: natural pools in a stream, with hundreds of little fish nibbling on our leg, a river with sandbanks and strong currents, an artificial pool below a 10-m high waterfall, and an inflatable pool at the pousada, which turned out to be the most popular attraction for the littlest of us and quite a relief on us parents once the afternoon rain had dragged us away from the wild. Wild was the fauna around us, in particular the mosquitoes before dawn. Luckily, perhaps (can I really say that) their predators were fully there too, and that includes some spiders that build a nest in a tree and a collaborative giant web every night. I could not believe my eyes when I first saw this and felt drawn to their magnificent work as they make a web, each spider around itself, on lines spread across trees and power lines, and destroy it in the morning. The more I write on this blog, the more I realize what a fascination I have for spiders, as much as they scare me.

We also attempted hiking in the national park of the Serra do Cipo, which we regretted after carrying our children on our shoulders on muddy trails and through itchy grass. It may be another few years before we try the experience again.

A highlight of our stay was horse-back riding. Coline made it clear to me from the start that she trusted Cris a lot more than me for handling a horse, and I must admit that I was not a hundred percent confident at first. We had such fun that we can't wait to do it again.

zoom in and you will see that every little dark spot in the sky is actually a spider.

Some stuff to feel good and our pancake recipe

Today, this made my day.

:: My facebook page opened onto this, and I stuck to it

:: My kitchen wall speaks to me in these words: "This day is a gift, breathe and notice."

:: Leila and I remembered the laugh we had last night when Scratchy helplessly clung onto a sliding blanket to try and not fall off her bed.

:: Coline, in her underwear, hands in a fist, on her waist, spoke out to Thembile (the dog) in these words: "I am Buzz lightyear, I come in peace".

:: there is rocket, swiss chard, parsley and rasberries in my veggie patch.

:: I found two hours of sewing in the middle of the afternoon, just like that. Bonus: both Coline and I like the apron that came out of these two hours.

:: we had pancakes on the terrace, in the sun, with our landlady and here is the recipe:

200 g white wheat flour (as mine was discovered to have turned into mold, I used wholewheat flour and added an extra egg and it turned out fine. I sure will do it again)
50 g brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 large eggs
250 mL whole milk
1 tea spoon vanilla extract
1 tea spoon orange blossom water
50 g butter, melted
Mix all dry ingredients. Add eggs into the dry mixture and beat with a wooden spoon adding a little milk at a time. Add vanilla extract and orange blossom water. Add melted butter while stirring continuously. Pour half a ladle of dough on a pancake-size pan (no need to butter the pan). Cook until bubbles form on the surface, flip over and cook for another 20 s. Enjoy straight from the pan (my way), with banana slices (Leila's), blueberry jam (Coline's) or your own way and don't forget to let me know about it!

:: My sweetheart acted like one and introduced me to this music by John Butler and I was stunned (make sure to watch how he plays his guitar).

:: After a whole day spent in our home just the girls and I, I witnessed Leila falling asleep as I sang to her, and later on Coline fall asleep on her bed, on my chest, her favorite spot to fall asleep to this day.

As I write these lines the air is filling up with the smell of granola for breakfast tomorrow. A sweet, sweet day.

In one wild day

During the holiday Cris and I found time to and pleasure in reorganizing space and things around the house. There was a lot of cleaning, tidying, bleaching off mould and shelf making too, with all its sanding and varnishing and drilling. The house feels more and more like home, like where we blend in. Sometimes it does not completely, though, like when mould seems to take over every single piece of clothing, furniture and even food. I never thought that I would call bleach my best friend, but after lemon, sun and sodium bicarbonate had the fungi laugh at my face, it is happening.

There is another reason why we sometimes feel like we do not belong here, in the wild hills of Ouro Preto. I do not particularly mind the neighbour's dogs (all of our neighbours' dog are apparently male and want to mark our house as theirs). I feel sorry for the mice that get caught between our cat and dog's paws. I was relieved the day my friend told me how to painlessly end their agony. I do not mind the frogs and rats so much. They avoid us, anyway. As I mentionned before, I am not a big fan of the spiders of all sorts and sizes that we get around and in the house. In this case I call Cris or, when he is away, the bravest part of me steps in. The one on the terrace last night fascinated all of us with its slow monkey-like motion and must have scared Coline a bit too, given how she woke up in the middle of the night, worried that she had one on her. She quit painting at noon when she did find one (not so big but not small either) on her arm. The three of us held each other, all of us a bit shaky. Most of the time, though, we marvel at the hummingbirds, butterflies and all kind of beautiful insects that fly around us, like this perfectly flat and round ladybird we saw today for the first time, and the firefly that spark the sky at night.

Drama sometime hits us too, as it did tonight while Leila and Coline's pre-bed-time frenzy (them running around in the school uniform tee-shirt and underpants, singing "I am a princess"  - Leila - and "I am a mummy fairy" - Coline - while flying they long hair in the wind of their run - actually a silk scarf) was cut short by Leila being stung on the leg by a very hairy caterpillar (which her scarf most likely picked up from the floor), after which Cris, who had gone out (barefoot) to release the caterpillar heard Coline's little voice saying excitedly "daddy, there is a spider" only to find out that the spider was actually a scorpion, and the scorpion was next to Coline's little bare feet (and he had almost stepped on it too). As I am not a big fan of this type of drama, tomorrow I will just focus on the view and on where we step, and keep gardening in my long sleeves, jeans, boots, hat, leather gloves, no matter how hot.

Welcome 2014!

This new year has already greeted us with lots of sunshine, heat, baths in waterfalls, electricity blackout, a midnight countdown by a bonfire, dry water taps (no pump, no water), a flat tire and a new baby among our friends. 2014 rocks!

I wish you too a new year full of adventure.

Singing Jingle bells in December rain

The rain has not stopped in a month (I am taking a deep breath). A small river has formed at the back of our house and our clothes are starting to smell like blue cheese. Hopefully this will not put Santa off because he is highly expected, by Leila, at least. She actually has no doubt that he will come for we have a fireplace in the house. How he manages to come down such a narrow path has puzzled her in the past but seems to be of minor importance lately. I sewed some Christmas stockings for the family and hung them up in front of the fireplace only to remove them shortly after and start a fire. Well, I thought I was starting a fire but gave up after I found out that all our small wood, newspaper and matches (!) were too damp to light up. Cris got his way using alcohol (needless to say, dear South African friends, that even if we wanted to use some, firelighters are not an option here) and we gathered all our bedding to try and dry it up a bit. This is not my dream tropical Christmas or summer holiday. A lot of DVD-watching has been happening, generally to cool down the spirits that are missing some outdoors energy release. I am so grateful for our veranda, not just to dry the amazing collection of umbrellas (all of which were gifts from visiting friends / family / colleagues!) but for the bike-riding, valley watching and umbrella-house building that has been happening there in spite of torrential rains.

 

The girls have easily taken in the idea that although Santa brings some Christmas gifts, it is totally fine and necessary to count on the participation of all parents and community. They were pleased to deliver themselves some presents to the post office in Ouro Preto, which will deliver them to some children from around here who wrote a letter to Father Christmas. And then on Saturday, as we went to visit their cousins in Belo Horizonte we were invited to join Cristiano's cousin on his own initiative to deliver presents to children of the neighboring favelas. Some exciting times!

Who knows who will be dressed up as Santa next year...

Stripes // tights // something on her hair === fun

speckled vision of the end of year

Glitter season hit us rather early this year, at the end of November, just a few days after Cristiano's birthday. Since then we have been decorating Christmas tree drawings with glitter, wearing glitter and eating glitter. It generally starts early morning and by lunch time our table looks like a glitter fairy crime scene and when enough has been drawn, painted and glued the girls generally move on to the computer where their Edwardian advent calendar awaits them with a new activity every day (thank you granny and Jacquie Lawson!). As Coline gets frustrated she goes back to last year's Alpine calendar which they never stopped enjoying.

A glittery snowman

Our breakfast table

Coline and the advent calendar

Glitter just seems to be everywhere we look, and so is mold, for the weeks before Christmas are the wettest around here, and not so cold either. I am not a big fan of mold, I hate the smell of it on our clothes. I even think that I am allergic to it, and so I am in the process of trying to get our house rid of it. So far the more natural solutions have failed to remove mold from wooden furniture (lots of air, sodium bicarbonate and vinegar). Lysoform (ammonia based liquid) seems to work better but if you know a better way, please let me know!

Rosario church from our window, through the rain.

Last year's Christmas tree was a homemade recycled substitute, which I quite liked. This year I was keen to get a real live tree that we will plant on the property where we now live. I like it that there is a tree almost as old as me that grew from small to as big as the house where I spent all my childhood. I did originally look for a proper pine tree but eventually settled for one that cannot handle the weight of tinsel, but will hopefully look as beautiful and majestic as the full-grown neighbor's tree. This tree is called araucaria. I have admired how their outline is etched on the side of hills. They look like thousands of arms carrying pompoms towards the sky. They produce nuts that are about five centimeters long and although I do not enjoy their taste, I am sure that some bird or squirrel will benefit from it. In other words, I love our Christmas tree.

our baby araucaria

the neighbor's araucaria

I have being going through a knitting phase and discovered that I am more of a hat knitter than a jersey knitter, and so all of a sudden we all seem to be wearing more hats than ever. I love the fact that I can browse through thousands of free patterns on Ravelry and learn something new everytime. I may tell you more about the things I knit once I have given some away as Christmas presents, for I would not want to spoil the surprise. 

Until next time, I wish you a merry and glittery festive season!