Treasures.

One man´s trash is another woman´s treasure. And so it was that all of these beautiful things came to be mine. Among the loot were 2 patchwork quilts which I need to repair because some of the fabrics are torn. It will be a fun job.

It is getting super cold outside (and inside), temperatures will drop to -3 and they say it will snow at 1000 meter altitudes and above over the next few days. Uuuuu... that should be fun. I am not particularly fond of the cold but I have never lived in a place where it snows, and even though it will not snow here, our town is at the bottom of a valley, I am sure it will somewhere near. Today the small pond at our place and the water in a bucket that had been left outside overnight had iced over.

I am continuing to work on scarves on the loom, but I can barely stand it in the studio. Today my breath was foggy! I have a gas heater, which is dangerously close, to keep me warm and I fear the whole right side of my body where it is nearest will roast or develop some long term damage. An alternative winter workspace is needed. The studio is just too holly to practically and inexpensively make and keep warm. This should not come as a surprise, it used to be a barn to keep animals and farm stuff, the walls are made of stone and the floor concrete. Perfect in Summer.

Very talented friends: Jorge Vaz Gomes

Photography: Jorge Vaz Gomes

I have been meaning to do this for quite sometime. I am getting a little tired of showing you my stuff all the time and considering I have some very talented friends it is a very good opportunity to share with you their work. This is the first of a series, we have to start somewhere, where you will see many outstanding talents. 

This Summer my very special friend Jorge Vaz Gomes came to visit me and the studio. He is a wonderful and very talented photographer. He describes himself as "... a photography and video plastic artist." I am glad he did not miss the opportunity to take some photos during his visit. These are just two of the photos he took. The first is of yours truly working away on a patchwork quilt and the other of the beautiful stonework window and the garden outside.

Today is the official launch of Jorge´s online portfolio and you can have a look at his brilliant work here, www.jorgevazgomes.com. Enjoy! :-)

Finally my first...

This week I finished my jacket. I wove it in 4 parts. The back and front were woven in one piece followed by the hood and the 2 sleeves. I was supposed to have made 2 pockets but in the end I ran out of warp, not due to a miscalculation but because I forgot I had decided to leave less than the recommended 20cm between each of the woven pieces. I think it looks great like this but the pockets will come in handy and so I will weave them separately when I get the chance. I had to make some unforeseen alterations because the original instructions were for a jacket made with much thicker wool but I think that considering that it was my first jacket and that the instructions were in French, it turned out pretty good. I need to thank my super helpful translators, Roni and Rui.

If you like this jacket and would like to have one made you can get in touch with me. Now I am getting on with weaving more scarves so that I can have them ready for sale as soon as possible, because if you live anywhere near this side of the world you must be feeling the cold by now. We sure are. Brrrrr.

This week I also finally managed to post a friend a small selection of wild aromatic plants I collected and dried during spring and summer to infuse and make "tea". I have a nice selection including St. John´s Wort, Pennyroyal, Heather, Linden, Lemongrass and Lemon Verbena.

I finally got around to visiting our town´s cemetery.

And I also at long last got to see Angelina bake her famous wood fired bread, which is absolutely delicious.

Today I realised after seeing the sun set on my way home that we don´t get to see it from our town. This is quite sad and even sadder to forget that the sun sets at all just because you have not seen it do so in a long time.

And so it seems it was a week for many firsts and finales, which as it turns out were actually the same.

Rainy day, mushroom pillow...

Mushrooms, mushrooms and more mushrooms. Some can kill you, some smell like aniseed and are excellent to make sweets. I have been exploring the countryside and am amazed by the variety of mushrooms. The other day I saw some that looked like fried eggs "sunny side up" and others that were tiny and looked like nests with eggs inside them. Amazing really.

There are also chestnuts to collect to roast or boil with aniseed and Irish strawberries to pick and get drunk on, straight off the tree.

I am making a hooded jacket on the loom and it is coming along nicely. But today it was so cold that it hurt to touch everything in the studio. As it turns out the studio is like a massive fridge. Great in Summer but not so great right now.

A book was given to me as a gift to help me learn how to sew. It will come in very handy. I also just realised that all the Heather that is still abloom all around our place is excellent to make tea and so I got busy collecting and preparing to dry it.

So many things to do.

New quilt and New pure 100% wool

This week I started a new little patchwork quilt and then my sewing machine decided that it needed a break. The machine is now being repaired by a very friendly old man that cuts hair by day and fixes machines by night. I am quietly confident that soon I will be sewing again.

Also this week a new lot of wool arrived. It is "Escocesa", 100% Portuguese new wool. The factory that made this wool no longer exists and so I am trying to buy as much as I can find so that I have enough wool to keep on weaving.

This week it rained for 2 straight days and the temperatures dropped quite dramatically. Even thought it is only just the beginning of Autumn and the leaves on the trees are not yet going yellow, every night we have lit the fireplace.

With the sewing machine out of action and while waiting for the wool to arrive, it was a week for other things.

And so the list went:

-collecting firewood- check

-picking quince to make quince jam/marmelade- check

-planting cabbage and lettuce in my wicking chest- check

-drying figs- check

-suspicious cute little cat- check

-friendly neighbour making illegal firewater (the whole town smells like a brewery)- check

Berries, pie, Schnapps and scarf

So Summer has all but gone now but there are many fruits to collect and savour and preserve for the colder months. There are still many wild blackberries to be picked though many have started to wither and dry. And the figs are also just starting to ripen on our tree, a little later than normal but very welcome just the same. I decided to make a pie with them. If you want to make a pie it is the simplest thing on earth. I bought the fluff pastry and the nectarines from the supermarket. You can use any fruit that is juicy and sweet. I imagine peaches, plums and pears work well... well it is really up to you, but I would use seasonal fruit because it just makes sense. So... line your oven proof tray with your pastry, leave lining paper. Sprinkle the pastry with a tiny bit of brown sugar and then make a first layer with the berries, just throw them, no need to arrange them in neat rows. I think the berries work best underneath the rest of the fruit because they remain nice and juicy. Then cut the rest of the fruit and arrange in neat rows, this helps with even baking and restoring some order to the universe, and sprinkle again with a little bit of sugar. Bake at medium heat and check it now and then, when the pastry begins to cooks around the edges and turns a nice and golden, it is ready. Yum!

There are many Hawthorn trees, near our place by the creek, and I decided I needed to make something with the ripe berries. Schnapps... yes...of course. It will be ready just in time for the super cold months and the Christmas and New Year festivities. I have never made Schnapps before, but I am sure nothing can go wrong here. I followed this Hawthorn Schnapps recipe and it seems to be doing what it is supposed to do... but maybe on second thought I should make some more. All you need for this recipe is time, berries and vodka. The Schnapps you see is only one week old and the colour is already so beautiful, you can see how the colour has all but gone from the berries to the vodka. Triple yum!

To end the week... another scarf finished.

Release the hens!

Yesterday was a good day. We finally got our little chickens. The coop is ready to receive its guests but it still needs some final touches. But I think it looks pretty good already. The floor we covered with chopped up bits of dried grasses and pine needles. There are eleven chicks and they seem happy with their new home. Well... they were behaving like chickens should anyway, scratching around, stretching their wings open and catching some sun rays, pecking about looking for what I don´t know.

The five little egg shaped dishes I got from the antique fair in Guarda about a month or so ago and they had been inspiring me. I hope our chickens are happy enough to lay lots of eggs, if they come out in pastel colours they would be very handy come Easter time. The embroidered children´s bib is also very fun with the girl feeding the chickens and such a creative design. The bib belongs to Sra. Rita, she is now in her 80´s.  I might make one for me as a top and wear it to let the chickens know I am only there to feed them. I can´t get my head around the thought of eating them.

More weaving.

And one massive beautiful cloud to end the day.