{starting a collection}

I got this little owl at a fair recently and it made me want to start a collection. It was hard to choose from all the ones this guy (tell you his name as soon as I find his card) had for sale because they were all so unique and special. I did get another one that I can't show yet because it'll be a gift for someone...

Here are some cute owl items to drool over...

1. cute owl bank


2. night owl print


3. owls in a row.

4. owl totebag in the perfect shade of blue.


5. owl softie.


6. wooly owl.



7. lovely detailed wooden owl brooch.

8. sad and sweet illo.
9. owl pendant.


10. cute todler t-shirt.


11. gocco print.

{metamorfoseando para receber o outono}

Life goes back to routine slowly, after a busy summer. There are meetings to discuss new curriculums, meetings with other teachers, with the parents. There's planning, writting, daydreaming, fearing, hoping... I'm eager to see the kids again. This time, not only to engage in musical activities with them, but also other projects. It looks like it will be a full year, but I'm looking forward to the new chalenges. In the meanwhile, I'm trying to get the house organized (have I shared my burden of beeing a messy, messy girl?) so I won't start to panic when the new schedule comes crawling in. Just breathe deeply.

I still have some things to share from the holidays... Just little sneak peeks, maybe.

Autumn brings the scent of change, yet I always feel extremely nostalgic when the seasons are changing...

May this new season bring you lovely things.

just a wee taste...

{curtas}

:: as 3 semanas de acampamento foram muito especiais, cada uma à sua maneira e por diferentes razões. Agradecida pelas pessoas com quem trabalhei, pelas pessoas cujas vidas foram transformadas, pelas memórias construídas... por tanta coisa. Cansada, mas de coração cheio. Acho que o blog do ABS vai ganhar uns posts novos muito em breve...

:: muito desafiante ouvir hoje o Jorge e a Alice Pratas a falarem da experiência em Moçambique... E que prazer falar com a Alice ao vivo e a cores.

:: amanhã dá-se uma celebração especial. Um ano inteirinho de 1+1=1! God is great! Há muito ainda para aprender, but that's the beauty of it. Ja koam che, T. ;)

:: tenho saudades da minha Alice... já lá vão mais de 3 semanas... :(

:: 4ª feira partimos para uma viagem há muito sonhada... Ireland, here we go! Estou em pulgas. Por conhecer o país e por rever os preciosos Somervilles.

{até já...}

{nota rápida}

Sábado é o último dia de acampamento de crianças. Estou derreada. Cansada. Dorida até mais não. Mas a destilar sorrisos por dentro. Sinto-me tão feliz rodeada destes príncipes e princesas. Todos tão especiais.

Já sinto saudades por antecipação...

{soundtrack for these days}

If i find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy,
I can only conclude that I was not made for here
If the flesh that i fight is at best only light and momentary,
then of course I'll feel nude when to where I'm destined I'm compared

Speak to me in the light of the dawn
Mercy comes with the morning
I will sigh and with all creation groan
as I wait for hope to come for me

Am i lost or just found? On the straight or on the roundabout of the wrong way?
is this a soul that stirs in me, is it breaking free, wanting to come alive?
'Cose my comfort would prefer for me to be numb
And avoid the impending birth of who I was born to become

For we, we are not long here
Our time is but a breath, so we better breathe it
And I, I was made to live, I was made to love, I was made to know you
Hope is coming for me
Hope, He's coming

[C.S. Lewis Song, Brooke Fraser]

{hello and goodbye}

Almost off to 3 weeks of hard work at camp, in my favorite place. It's such a joy to go back every year and be a part of something so special.

After that we'll be leaving for a special celebration in Ireland. I still can't believe we're going. It's been a dream for so long to go there that it's hard to believe! And we can't wait to see the dear Somervilles again :)

May your summer be a happy, peaceful, blissful and meaningful one*

p.s.: I'll miss my crazy Alice all this time and T. (since he's not there for the whole 3 weeks)...

To see the Summer Sky
Is Poetry, though never in a Book it lie -
True Poems flee.
~Emily Dickinson

{Sally and Molly}

"Sally day-dreamer"

She dreams of lying in a field of flowers all day long...

"Molly, the rain-keeper"

She loves the rain so much, she keeps it in a pocket for hot summer days.

{still working on some props and details for them and they'll be available soon}

{Loving Mozambique}

Please, bring your love and cheerfulness over and support this project :)

Visit the Pratas' family blog, too.


Traz o teu amor e alegria e apoia este projecto :)
Visita também o blog da família Pratas.


{As fotografias foram gentilmente cedidas pela Alice Pratas. The photos were kindly authorized by Alice Pratas}

Hortênsia | Hydrangea

Since I couldn't go to the post office on time, this little friend wont be travelling with Eren... But I'm already thinking of another way I can use her to bring hope to someone else...

{cumulonimbus}

{memory monday}

Starting a weekly challenge for myself. Each Monday a different object from my past (near or far). This week's object is a ring given to me by my grandma. It belonged to my greatgrandmother. When I see it I'm reminded of her. She was a small framed woman who had long hair, always fixed up in a bun. I remember visiting her little home sometimes. There was a particular smell and colours that made it familiar. I remember she had these two silver peackocs with ruby-colored eyes and a jug of some kind of homemade liquor (ginja?). She had a funny way of pronouncing one of my brother's names ("Jonátas" instead of "Jónatas"). I remember the day she died.

{meaning}

"If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning."

- C.S. Lewis

{clay polka dot tiny cup}

{a very special WIP}

I hope I can finish on time to send to this lovely project.

{a couple days with the little godson}

{reencontros de maio}

Só tenho uma única prima de sangue. Quando eramos pequenas passávamos muito tempo juntas, especialmente os verões no terreno dos avós, na praia, no Algarve... sweet memories...

De há uns anos para cá, a prima trabalha na Inglaterra. É (quase) mais britânica que portuguesa (ai se me ouve dizer uma coisa destas!). O bocadinho que passou cá foi muito bom. If you're reading this... I love you.

O outro reencontro deste mês foi com a turma da faculdade. A Sena disse qualquer coisa como "Não vai haver na ESE uma turma melhor que o nosso PRI B". Pode parecer pretencioso mas, em muitos aspectos acho que ela não está muito ao lado... eh! É engraçado constatar como em poucos anos já houve tantas mudanças (casamentos, filhos, trabalhos em áreas diferentes...) mas como o espírito PRI B se mantém. Fiquei com pena de ter ficado tão pouco tempo, mas foi bom pôr algumas conversas em dia. Gostei muito, muito. No entanto, fizeram-me imensa falta os meus dois cromos especiais, os meus dearest ones da ESE - Zu e Ângelo. Saudades...

Enjoy life's little poems everyday.

smiles...

The idea isn't mine, it's Katie's. These little glass smiles travel in my bag so I can drop them wherever I want. Hoping to bring a smile to someone's day. Check hers here.

Have a happy day. Make someone smile.

parabéns, Mami :)

Obrigada...

... porque ao longo dos anos me tens ensinado (se calhar sem dar conta) de que não há situação alguma que não possa contribuir para o crescimento.

... por me teres ensinado a perguntar "Para quê?" em vez de "Porquê?".

... por me fazeres ver a forma como Deus cuida dos pormenores e dos detalhes que tantas vezes nos escapam e por me ensinares que é bom olhar para trás e constatar como as coisas se encaixam e fazem sentido.

... por "dares o litro".

amo-te muito***

p.s.: vai lá à janela e pega nos binóculos, que te estou a atirar uns beijinhos (e a tonta da Alice também)!

*** say 'cheese', bday boy! ***

Maninho... you and your camera go so well together!
Um dia a abarrotar de coisas boas para ti!
É muito bom ser tua mana.
Até logo ;)

{flickr favorites friday}

1. this time around, 2. Untitled, 3. quand la pluie tombe chez moi, 4. Sweater, 5. Tea Party, 6. Untitled, 7. Stapje voor stapje, 8. -, 9. Untitled

{today's favorites are dedicated to you, S. because there are many ways to speak}

We come with beautiful secrets

We come with purposes written on our hearts,

written on our souls

We come to every new morning

With possibilities only we can hold,

that only we can hold

Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces

Calling out the best of who we are

And I want to add to the beauty

I wanna tell a better story

I want to shine with the light

That's burning up inside

It comes in small inspirations

It brings redemption to life and work

To our lives and our work

It comes in loving community

It comes in helping a soul find it's worth

This is grace, an invitation to be beautiful

This is grace, an invitation

{from last weekend}

:: beautiful girls
:: wise words
:: silly words
:: playfulness
:: laughing
:: a gazillion photos
:: a chick flick
:: yummy food
:: pj's
:: talking 'till you couldn't keep your eyes open

Here are some of their own lovely photos... I just edited them.

{in my favorite place in the world and then some sillyness}

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Easter break :: part 2

We had a lovely time in a beautiful place...

... waking up to the sound of a donkey

... playing with the donkey and dwarf goats and observing deers and horses

... free from TV

... walking on the beach and feeling the calmness of the sea breeze

... looking up a lot and staring at the clouds

... playing Mancala

... trying new foods

... eating the best ice-creams we know of

... studying about bullying

... talking

...

{see larger}

a colorful thursday with a little friend :)

{ainda abril}

:: completamente cosida à mão ::
:: tecido vintage, das mãos da avó que o comprou há muitos, muitos anos ::

:: completely handsewn ::
:: beautiful vintage fabric from grandma who had bought it years and years ago ::

{relembrar zeca afonso}

Durante as duas últimas semanas, debrucei-me com os meus alunos sobre a revolução de Abril (com a ajuda deste livro, entre outras coisas) e, mais especificamente, sobre a música de intervenção. Falámos um pouco sobre a biografia de Zeca Afonso e as crianças fizeram retratos (ou ilustrações de músicas) ao som de "Venham mais Cinco", "Grândola Vila Morena", "Canção de Embalar" e outras tantas. Alguns andavam super curiosos e entusiasmados e chegavam às aulas a dizer que tinham ído pesquisar mais, que tinham visto o Zeca em algum programa de televisão ou que tinham encontrado um CD dos pais.
Senti-me arrepiada ao partilhar algumas coisas com as crianças e ao ver as suas reacções. Vale a pena lembrar.

{treasures on the way to work}