change :: June update

June in the UK had Spring days and a vague promise of a summer which we can finally feel. I'm loving the long days and how they make me feel like I have unlimited time to do whatever I want with my days. Pure joy!

I did all I set out to do in June which is such a good feeling! Either I'm getting better at this or June was indeed very good to me. The most surprising thing to me was having run 10K. For a number of reasons, I barely ran this month so I thought I'd need to let this one pass. My good friend Nicky ensured I made it; thank you!

And we've now tipped onto the second half of the year... That was quick!

::inspiring Mondays::

Today (or more accurately, from last night to the early hours of today) my hometown celebrates S. João. Once again, I am not there. Once again, I’m not eating grilled sardines nor joining in on all the fun. A boo day for the Joey, then! And it just so happens it's a Monday.

What could cheer me up on a day like today? A chilled morning cycle, enjoying the silence and the route. A yummy lunch reminding me of Sunday dinner. Red trousers. A delicious dinner with M. I guess it’s all good!

:: texting and emailing Little Brother. Non-stop. Hihi!
:: Despicable Me 2. So very funny!
:: cycling. Enjoying it more and more.

:: raspberries with white chocolate sauce. 
:: Game of Thrones season 2. 
:: Saturday afternoon very high tea in excellent company!
:: concert tickets!

How's your Monday treating you? I hope you had a warm day, filled with smiles :)

Photo workflow I

How does one tackle one’s photographic archive, which one has not kept on top of? One pretends it’s all done and never really finds a method that suits one. One also goes off on one, speaking in the third person so as to detach oneself from one’s photographic chaos. Or... one gives oneself a goal!

One of my goals for June is to create a photo workflow which makes me happy. A good start to this seemingly overwhelming task is to look at what I already have and see what works and what doesn't. 

Looking at my photo chaos, I can clearly identify two problems:

Archiving.
I have been wanting to create a photo archiving system which works for me pretty much since the minute I started taking digital photos. My original system, which largely still stands, was to create a year folder with several sub-folders, numbered in chronological appearance. At the end of the year, I end up with a year folder which has over a hundred sub-folders with a brief description of what’s there. In 2011 I was really into “morning walks” and “wandering around”. Clearly not the most practical photo keeping method when one wants some sense of cohesion to one’s archive (ie all my morning walks in 2011).

Backlog.

This year, I am doing Project Life weekly. This means ALL my photos get looked at fairly quickly which is the BEST way to do it. Previous years are a different story. I have folders and folders of chronologically organised events filled with photos that I have not even looked at. Fear! Not only is there a lack of archiving system, but there are also loads of photos to sort through.

Now that the problems have been identified and clearly labelled, I can have a cup of chamomile tea and a slice of warm bread while I think on how to solve them. I will be writing about my solution later in the week. 

Do you also have this problem? Or have you been blessed with an eureka moment at the right time and now have the perfect system AND are on top of your photos? If you already have a system you’re happy with, please share in the comments, I’d love to know what other people do and what works for them.

become immortal

An amazing campaign for organ donation in Recife, Brazil. Such an important topic and so difficult to change people's perceptions; well done, Ogilvy.

Bike to work day

What a great initiative! A group of us cycled from Oxford all the way to work and were rewarded with a nice breakfast. The atmosphere was good too and people got chatting in the sun while drinking orange juice. 

I have been cycling to work more but frequently I use a train station mid-way to complete the journey. This is the most strategic thing to do and saves a lot of time while still giving me/us all the benefits on an early morning cycle - like that absolutely fantastic view! 

Yesterday however, we cycled all the way and I loved it. I really think the Cycle to work day is a fantastic initiative, that gets people on their bikes and chatting to one another in work. Please, keep it up!

*Joey - you SHALL see her!

Tired Tuesday

***SPOILER ALERT – BOO POST AHEAD***

I am a nostalgic person. I’ve explained more about it here and what I do to not let that get in my way, but the truth is every so often I let myself go down the bittersweet road of nostalgia. Tired Tuesdays are particularly prone to my nostalgic episodes. Especially when accompanied by incredibly good pieces of writing, like this one. It’s in Portuguese and I’m not quite sure an auto-translator could do it justice!

In a nutshell, the writer tells us about his convoluted move to Brazil, leaving *his* Lisbon behind. Unlike me, he’s not nostalgic. Unlike me, he doesn’t look back and wonder about life back home. He made his home where he is now. Our life circumstances are quite different and I have a large family to whom I’m very attached to, but still. I admire his ability to let go, not to mention his beautiful writing.

So why I am boo today? Well, a nostalgic person can give you a very long list of reasons, but I’ll stick to two. It makes me boo to not be able to just let go. The funny thing is I know if I were to move back today, I would then have the reverse feeling for all I would be leaving behind… can’t win, really! And it makes me boo that I no longer write in Portuguese.

I started this blog much because of my friend Nicky. He wanted to be able to read what I  wrote and together we wanted to improve our photography. LMJ came of that and I’m so glad it did. My writing has evolved immensely since the first few posts and my photography has become a reflection of me. I’m happy here. However, sometimes I miss writing in Portuguese and it’s silly because I could just do it, but I don’t. I just miss it instead.

There’s a lot to be said for us, nostalgic types hey…!
I'll just have another sip of wine, for now.

::inspiring Mondays::

There’s a lot to be said for non-Spring days in what should be Spring. However, I shall not say it because the only thing it would inspire is bad vocabulary and I try keeping this place clean when possible.

So… how can a non-Spring-Monday-when-it-should-be-Spring be inspiring? Because if you forget seasons and the passing of time, eating ice cream under the duvet while watching Game of Thrones is pretty cool. And cosy!

:: a ‘fix your bike’ workshop at the Broken Spoke. It was pure awesomeness!
:: watching Game of Thrones in marathon style with M. over pizza and wine. and ice cream.
:: lazy Sundays when even laundry seems like an ok task.
:: progress on my Little Birds cardi!
:: bought the cutest fabric to sew my first piece of clothing… a tunic!
:: pyjama days! Big yay for pyjama days!

How’s your Monday coming along? Sunny, I hope it’s a very sunny Monday, for you and me!

the story of a war re-enactment

At the end of May, yours truly and Co. went to Blenheim Palace for a picnic and a live history lesson. These Sealed Knot people mean business! 

Although we were there for the war re-enactement, I was most impressed by the village setting they created and how they go about "living" in it. 

Blenheim. Always wow!

There's spinning. I loved it. and I was secretly upset I couldn't have a go. 

Note for improvement: let the Joeys of this world play with the spinning thing! Please, pretty please!

And cooking. Lots of cooking, all day long, as back in the day things took a tad bit more time.

It smelled beautifully and even though I had just had lunch, I could have had a bit more if offered. Which didn't happen. Maybe next time, hey?

See what I mean about cooking? And life happens around it too. Everyone is in on it, even the kids. The outfits were superb, really detailed and lived in.

Of course, not everyone is busy. Someone needs to do the "this is how they rested" bit. Well played!

War re-enactment here I come. The cannons are almost ready.

As are the troops.

And the horses. So beautiful!

Oh no, they're upon us. With spears. But wait, we have riffles!

Oops, these low-tech spears still work. And they mean business.

Oh bummer, the cannons are at it!

Not everyone seemed particularly fussed by the troops. Maybe this is just play... hum...!

We had a commentator. That was cool!

It was a good thing we had that commentator. He was quite a bit more thorough than me and did a fine job of explaining who was who and what was happening. Unlike me above, but you get the gist. It was sunny, I had fun.

::inspiring Mondays::

The middle of June is upon us and much as this Monday, I didn't really see it coming. I'm sure this is what getting old means - a complete unawareness of the passing of time. Could be worst, really! Or maybe I was just too busy this weekend enjoying punting and BBQ-ing to notice.

:: BBQs. I love them!
:: punting!
:: Pimms in a punt. with strawberries dipped in chocolate. brilliant!
:: June. and a glimpse of summer. or how spring came late!
:: lazy Sundays knitting and watching Game of Thrones (just starting...) and other films.
:: cycling cross country from work. so nice!
:: freshly washed bedlinen (I'm pretty sure this is a repeat, but it's sooo good!)

Have a lovely early-to-mid-June Monday evening :)

series I like

Life on Mars. Absolutely brilliant. I love the characters, the plot, the 70s style and the Mancunian accent.

Call the midwide. I’ve watched season 1 and loved it! Sadly, I don’t think season 2 is as good, but I’ll give it a go nonetheless.

Little birds

My current big knitting project is a sweater made from the Little Birds pattern by Ysolda Teague.

I have knitted Ysolda's hat Gretel several times and it's without a doubt my favourite hat pattern. The Little Birds pattern had caught my eye ages ago but my knitting skills needed a bit of consolidating before I could tackle such a difficult-to-me project. The time as now come when I feel confident in knitting this. Slowly, if need be, but steadily and excitedly.  

Reading other users' Ravelry notes for the pattern, Little Birds looked perfect as yet another big learning experience as far as knitting goes. So far it has not disappoint. I'm incredibly grateful for Ravelry and notes from experienced users though, I wouldn't be coping with the instructions otherwise. 

My chosen colours were love at first sight. Let the needles begin!

::inspiring Mondays::

The sun is shining. It’s June and the sun is shining. That is enough to make it a good day, whatever day it is. Sunny Monday, you rock!

The beautiful weekend just gone had some sunbathing time in the park and knitting in the garden. Sunbathing means more freckles, but who cares, really when the sun is finally here? There was Pimms too. And cider. And quality pub time with friends. And even a football match for good measure. Such a nice weekend that I woke up today feeling rested – love that feeling!

:: sun. sun. sun. sun. sun. sun. sun. LOVE!

:: O2 and their international favourites. Absolutely brilliant plan for foreign customers. Ta mucho!

:: post office on a Saturday. Genius idea!

:: my growing Little Birds cardi. More on this later in the week.

:: bare feet on the grass. What a great feeling!

:: watching Life on Mars with LMrJ.

:: ice cream!

How’s your Monday going? Hope the sun is shining where you are :)

June goals

June is here and I can’t quite believe how fast this year is going. Really! I’m fond of June, always have been. Not sure why and all I can think of is Children’s Day and Mum giving me yet another book of my choosing then (all the way to my late twenties, thank you, Mother!). Things have changed a fair bit since then, but June still has a sweet taste to me. 

In January I embraced change. In February I created change. In March I somewhat learned to deal with change. In April I accepted change. In May I (let myself) enjoy change. In June, I want to settle in the change.

:: be kind

:: run 10k

:: create a photo workflow system which works for me

:: plan holiday breaks

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You can read all my monthly goals posts here and my change :: one little word posts here.