Feliz Natal!

Merry Christmas from (sometimes) sunny Terceira! The above photo captures the capital city and marina on a particularly sunny afternoon after Raymond and I finished work.

Though we do not have a Christmas tree, it’s nice to seem them around (above, at the local bakery and restaurant). We did, however, put up our stockings at home! The neon lights celebrating Happy Holidays were another festive reminder of the season, even if the sun and sea did not convey Christmas.

Wind Storm

The island had a horrible wind storm in December with gusts of 65 mph. It made for some very dramatic waves at the port in neighboring Biscoitos. Unfortunately, it knocked over two big banana trees in our orchard, destroying their bunches of unripe bananas. Between the wind and rain, there was also some serious erosion on the other side of the stream.

Stream Side Planting

After many months of enjoying various potted plants that were found on or near our property, I finally started finding places to plant them. The tree fern, Japanese cedar, and dracaena all found homes along our patio wall. Aside from looking beautiful, they should help secure the stream side from future floods (we have plans for additional Japanese cedars to be planted as well).