Leveling up to 36
Everybody has phases. Good ones, bad ones, “meh” ones. I have frequently blamed Mercury in Retrograde for stretches of time where nothing seems to quite fall into place the way it should, and at least 50% of the time, Mercury was indeed to blame (conveniently). This is not one of those times. On the eve of my “leveling up” to the tender age of 36 (just go with it, I am the birthday girl after all), it feels like I not only paddled at the right speed, managed to
We bought land! Now What?
Almost a year. That’s how long it took us from the moment we first saw the property we fell in love with to the moment we signed the papers that made us its official new owners. Well, 11 months to be exact. Ten, maybe, if you count from the moment we decided we wanted to buy the place. No matter how you look at it, it has taken quite a while. We are partly at fault, because we wanted to cross all the T’s and dot all the I’s –
Learning from Pain (and Puppies)
Last night, we had our first puppy crisis. If you recall, life with Mojito is pretty wonderful – he’s curious, clever, clumsy, adventurous, and full of energy. Although I’ll never understand quite how it happened, the puppy got his leg stuck between the last step of the tiny house we live in and the tiny house itself, leading to a deep gash on his right hind leg and a late-night visit to the vet for seven – seven! – stitches (so he officially 5-upped Francois, who got two stitches in
A Day in the Life
From recent conversations with friends, it has become clear that many of you wonder what in the world we are doing, not big picture but on a daily basis. So, here’s a taste of what a Cramooz day sort of looks like-ish… Ever since the arrival of “Mojito the mutt” – our adorable puppy born Feb 14 and adopted by us April 23 this year – into our lives, my daily routine begins around 6am. I get up, let the puppy out so he can respond to the call
Living the Dream: Zen and the Art of Navigating Bureaucracy (a Cramooztopia update)
Many of you are probably wondering what we are up to, where things stand with our project, and what we are doing with our days. I have to admit, I have been pushing off the writing of this blog for months in the hopes that instead of a lukewarm update, I could share some epic and exciting news. Today, I have decided to rip off the Band-Aid and share the frustrating truth – but rest assured, all that means is that the big news is on hold. Let
On Learning Portuguese
Or why you should learn the language when you move somewhere. Aside from not quite understanding why anyone would move to a foreign country and not make the effort to learn the language, in Portugal my experience suggests that depending on other people’s grasp of the English language may not be your best bet. This doesn’t refer to social chats over a beer, because in that context, any words or bits of language that allow an approximate exchange are fair game! Two other exceptions: First, if you’re in Lisbon or Porto, it’s
The Olive Harvest
When we agreed to participate in the Vinha da Manta olive harvest, my mind conjured bucolic images of a team of volunteers bundled up in the cold November mornings but stripping down to t-shirts as we worked in the warm sun throughout the day, shaking down olive trees and gathering the fruit they delivered on nets placed on the ground. We had a great team, with eight people flying in to help for the week. Most were Dutch, with two Canadians thrown into the mix – and us, of
The 7 Stages of Bureaucracy
Portugal is an amazing place, and there are many, many reasons why we chose to relocate here. However, I would be crazy if I said it was perfect, and delusional if I did not mention the biggest challenge we have had to deal with: bureaucracy. We knew this going in, of course, and accepted it as a small price to pay in the grander scheme of things. That helps, but unfortunately does not make us immune to the challenges of dealing with the issue. This week has been particularly frustrating,
After the fires
Background This year, Portugal has as usual suffered from innumerable fires. Some had natural causes, linked to how dry the year has been, and others were initiated by human intervention – whether unintentional (such as a government worker cleaning the side of the road, his blade hitting a rock and creating a spark, and voila) or criminal (yes, apparently that’s a thing). This happens every year. What is different this year is that two particularly nasty fires, one mid-June and another just a few weeks ago on October 15, have ravaged
Post-Fire Land Management
**This is copied from a Facebook post by Frankie/Chiquita Bonita. I am posting here to make it easier (hopefully!) for people to share, because the information is essential and very useful to anyone dealing with a fire-affected region. This comes after one of the worst fires Central Portugal has known in at least a decade if not more, which affected more than 300,000 hectares and countless individuals, families, homes, and animals. Note that the advice is in some cases specific to Portugal, but can be applied anywhere with slight adjustments