Experiences
The last feat of Senhor Felix
Senhor Felix must have been quite a character, and his farm – the pride of the entire village. Half a hectare of sunny terraces – and he must have had a good go at covering it all in vines, fruit trees and vegetable beds. Older people tell us about it in the local bar, putting [...]
News from the Laundry House
This morning was almost the most glorious thing I’ve ever seen. It was positively hot outside my front door . I put Jackie’s basket out for him on the snow which he loves. But then I went down to the bottom lawn to take a picture of my snowman (pathetic I know) and it was [...]
The water diet
By Gavin Last night Margo made spaghetti with a tomato and salami sauce. It was very tasty and I had a second helping. That was very tasty as well so I had a third helping. Since no one was joining me, I piled the last of the spaghetti and sauce into my bowl, and topped [...]
The Urban Yurt
By Monica Early February. Winter stretches on, strong and stern, and I can see the point of hibernation. To sleep through the bitter cold, the grey days, the never-ending rain; to curl up in your den, in your hay, in your fur, ah the joy… to awake in mid-birdsong on a sunny-crisp-and-clear day in March. [...]
Stephanie’s News from the Laundry House
We had a weekend of dire weather warnings – a freezing wind from Russia would engulf us in the worst snows of the year – and it came to pass. Gavin and Margo came last Thursday before the icy onslaught began for a very long weekend (only left for Edinburgh today, Tuesday, with me) so [...]
Magical Memories
A very long article by Rupert who was asked to write about magic for a Romanian magazine…
A taste of old times
By Monica It’s been a while, but I’m back. Let me recount. My holiday from writing started over a month ago (first it was a relief, then a creeping cramp, growing and gnawing, and now a numbness I struggle to overcome. To do so I’ve so far tried coffee, lists, and compulsive cooking. Nothing worked, [...]
Christmas holiday slideshows
See Rupert and Moona’s Christmas photos …
“even if the cockcrow heralds the dawn, sleep on”
By Magnus Wolfe Murray It was my day to go to the regional capital, Viana do Castelo, quite a nice Port town nestled between the sea and the mouth of the river Lima. I wanted to dig through an old register of watermills in Monção county, where we live. For some reason it’s held there, [...]
An old poem by Lara
A few years ago When I was in France My mum wanted to go And see some white statues. But I didn’t And I started crying. I sat on a rock I liked them. People came to ask me Questions in their language, And then my mum came to ask Me why I was crying. [...]
Nikita’s school band
By Magnus Wolfe Murray As pretty much the solo drummer in the school, Nikita has joined THE band. So they had to practice like crazy and get a couple of songs lined up. As the band transport slave I secured a sweet spot up front at the gig… This is a middle school – along [...]
Writing on the fly
We’re about to get in a taxi and go to the airport where we will board a Lufthansa plane, change in Frankfurt, and tonight we’ll be in Scotland. Meanwhile, from another corner of Europe is coming another contingent of Wolfe Murray’s — Moona’s mob — but they’re journey is complicated compared to ours: Moona is [...]