Bom Carnaval! Terceira is known as the “island of festivals” and even in the heart of winter they find a reason to celebrate. Like the more famous carnival celebrations in Brazil, Portugal uses the weeks leading up to Ash Wednesday to let loose before the somber season of Lent begins. And unlike in France (and I suppose in the USA, to some extent) this letting loose is not limited to just one ‘Mardi Gras’ or Fat Tuesday!
Bailinhos do Carnaval
Terceira has a long and unique history of carnival culture. Local groups comprised of musicians, dancers, and actors work for months on their costumes, music, steps, and skits before traveling around the island to perform at each village’s public theater space (sociedade). The above photo is from the sociedade in Quatro Ribeiras on “seniors night” (most performers were above age 60). The skits (bailinhos) were interspersed with music and choreographed dance steps (reminiscent of line dancing). Even if we couldn’t understand every word and missed nearly all of the innuendo, it was fun to see and be seen by the community.
Yard Projects
The extension of the retaining wall near the stream is finished and looking great! Raymond and I like the extra height over the existing cinder blocks so much that we are considering continuing all the way to the orchard. The fava bean garden bed in the back is doing well and they are starting to flower. This giant boulder is the foundation of our side patio area and we started clearing off the ferns, moss, and lichens that covered it. Raymond is in the process of scrubbing / pressure-washing it with the intention of applying a bright white lime wash. Lastly, I cleared more of the cane grass from the stream-side along the driveway and we are loving the clearer views of the stream and little waterfall.
A Visitor!
Raymond and I are delighted to host his mother again! It’s been fun playing cards, seeing the sights, and showing off our house and yard projects. We are doubly excited that she will be able to attend the main carnival performances in our village tonight!
Feliz Ano Novo! Raymond and I had a low-key New Year’s Eve and like most years we were in bed by 10 PM (only to be woken up by some nearby fireworks at midnight). If there is one word to describe the month of January it would be WINDY! This was actually our first full January here as we were studying at the University of Coimbra on the mainland last year. I guess I didn’t realize just how windy, cold, and drizzly it could be…
Tree Trimming
The good news is we took advantage of any good weather we got. Like giving the annona tree nearest the house a much needed trim. In addition to encroaching on the clothesline, the tree has not produced fruit for two seasons now, and we are hoping that a severe pruning will inspire it to fruit.
We also did some cleanup along the stream, sawing down six invasive nightshade trees. A few had fallen across the stream and needed removing, and the rest were simply garbage trees that are easy to despise (our neighbor told us that they are locally known as “crap trees”). Aside from being rather messy with weak branches that break easily, their leaves reek of kerosene and shed irritating hairs when disturbed. Raymond and I can see the difference in the tree line above the stream – so much more space and light for everything else now.
Earthquake
January 14 was the anniversary of the 4.5 earthquake that struck Terceira last year. Thankfully our house and yard were unharmed (and we were on the mainland at the time) but unfortunately the only road that goes along the northwest corner of the island was damaged by fallen boulders and deemed unsafe. It has been closed for a year now (the barricade was painted with “first anniversary”) and is quite a point of contention in island politics. The second photo shows the hillside newly bulldozed in an effort to keep boulders from falling into the road. Still no word as to when the route around the island will reopen…
There was another largish earthquake on January 19 of this year. Raymond and I were in the kitchen preparing dinner at the time and heard the glasses in the cupboard rattling. This happens from time to time – usually for tremors around 3.0 to 3.5 – but this time was strong enough that we both rushed for the doorway. The tremor stopped before we got outside. When we checked online it showed that the earthquake was a 4.3 – the strongest that Raymond and I have experienced here.
Rain
As I mentioned above, January seemed to alternate between drizzle, bursts of heavy rain, and windy mist. We had two instances of “high water” in the stream (I don’t want say “flood” because the water never spilled over into our driveway or patio area). It is always a little scary when this happens…our little babbling brook becomes a raging torrent (which is a bit unnerving to hear while trying to sleep). With this torrent is literally tons of rocks and sand that fills up the agricultural water tank at the street. The municipality came one day to scoop out the rocks and sand only to have it fill up, again, just 24 hours later with the next rain.
Yard Projects
We found a large truck tire across the stream and repurposed it to create a raised bed of sorts around the little avocado tree. The bonus is this seems to have stopped the birds from scratching away at the mulch and dirt every morning.
Closer to the house, we started to properly fix the missing retaining wall near grill. The rubble, dirt, leaves, and branches we’ve dumped there were only a temporary measure, and, if not for the wild cannas we planted, the walkway to our backyard would have long eroded away. So I raked out the leaves and branches and dug out a space for a new wall foundation. The existing wall was made with rocks topped with concrete and cinder block so we are aspiring to match it. Raymond had the great suggestion to pour a concrete pad first for an extra bit of stability (seen above between batch #1 and batch #2 with rebar placed). Thankfully all the rocks we needed were nearby in and around the stream. Concrete and cinder blocks coming soon!
I finally got around to scraping the old, peeling paint off the gate pillars at the end of our driveway. We decided to paint them white with blue trim, like our house, and topped them with two lovely round rocks (possibly to be replaced by matching decorative pots). Now just to continue the whitewashing project to meet the pillars.
Feliz Natal! This was our second Christmas in the Azores and I still can’t get over how ‘un-Christmaslike’ it is. Aside from the occasional string of lights or Santa decoration, it is easy to forget what time of year it is. We had a rather nice stretch of weather in December – minimal rain and a number of sunny days. Daytime high temperatures tended to be in the low 60s and only a few degrees cooler at night.
Christmas Market and Botanical Garden
Raymond and I spent a lovely day in the capital perusing the Christmas Market. It was held in Praça Velha (old square) in front of the historic city hall, bedecked in lights and with a beautifully decorated Christmas tree inside. I was expecting the market to be like those in Germany, with a variety of vendors selling their wares, but on this particular day all the vendors were selling food. So, we sampled a number of traditional cakes and pastries in the square before going to the Botanical Garden to walk them off.
Bird Competition
While researching the Christmas Market schedule online, we noticed there was a ‘bird competition’ listed. Curious, we stopped by the agriculture pavilion on our way to Angra. How interesting it was! We stepped inside the indoor arena to the screeching cacophony of birds. Literally hundreds of canaries, parakeets, lovebirds, and parrots were in individual cages for the judging. Raymond and I had no idea there were so many varieties of canaries – some frizzy, some with orange heads, and some with Beatles-esque ‘mop-top’ feathers! We enjoyed whistling at them and seeing them respond (some sang quite beautifully).
Garden Projects
After more than a year of collecting bits of pottery, porcelain, and glass in the yard and garden, I finally got around to making a mosaic above the grill. It makes me smile to walk by and see the colors, including bits of Blue Willow like my family had growing up. Raymond calls it “a bit of whimsy.” I also made some improvements to the garden beds, edging each with old terra cotta roofing tiles from the rubble pile. It’s been great to amend the soil and keep it where we want it. We already planted more lettuce and beets in the additional space.
Behind the bathroom and perched between the wall of the oven and the hillside was a very large rock. We wanted it gone to expose the back of the oven and make way for the future retaining wall along the terraced garden. So Raymond drilled some holes and was able to break it into two large rocks.
The first photo shows the overgrown rubble pile to the left of the butternut squash garden bed (in October). We started to clear and expand the top terrace by first raking all of the vines and loose terra cotta tiles. Since there was a substantial amount of decades-old leaf litter mixed in, we have been grating the rubble and distributing the lovely compost to each garden bed. The bottom photo shows the top terrace’s new stone wall (meeting a mostly buried wall which marks the property line) and the new gravel walkway. The idea is to for this path to follow along the future retaining wall all the way to the oven roof on the left.
Left: more clearing of the soil and rocks along the oven wall. Right: the Golden Hour – sunrise on the newly expanded top terrace.
Fall is here again on Ilha Terceira. Rainy, cool days are disrupted only occasionally by little bursts of sunshine (often with simultaneous mist). And let me tell you about the wind! It gusts through our little gully like a wind-tunnel, howling through the rafters in our attic and rattling the reed grass that grows along the stream. One upshot to the cool wet weather is that the landscape has become incredibly green again.
Kitchen Update, Part 2
Having modernized our stovetop from gas to electric, we decided to do the same for our old, rusty gas oven. The vent fan rattled loudly and, for some reason, the burner was not able to regulate its temperature (it was just ‘on’). So Raymond and I shopped around a few appliance stores and found a Black Friday deal on a nice convection oven. We baked a delicious apple crisp today it works like a dream!
Out and About
One particularly sunny day, Raymond and I took the opportunity to visit a forest park near our house that we had driven by dozens of times. The trail wasn’t very long, but it did reveal the tallest tree fern we had ever seen (note me standing next to it). Another day with especially big surf we visited the swimming area in nearby Biscoitos to see and hear the waves crashing on the dramatic black lava field. The last three photos are snapshots taken from the car – just some local scenery on the way to get groceries!
A Day in Angra do Heroísmo
As is so often the case, our cloudy, misty side of the island is juxtaposed with the sunny, bright south side. On a recent trip to Angra we got a dose of sunshine and visited a fabric store we know to check out material for curtains. Back at home I sewed the fabric into three handsome curtains: one for the main bedroom (see below), one for the living room, and the remnants fit precisely in the guest bedroom window.
Garden Projects
The fava bean garden bed in the back yard is doing well – great germination rates and lots of leaves from the chestnut trees for mulch. The black plastic was to cover and help compost the yard and garden waste we had filled alongside the logs (it also helped to kill weeds and opportunistic tomato sprouts).
In the terraced garden near the house we are still harvesting beets and carrots (and occasionally black-eyed peas from a grouping that seems to have found its second wind). We replanted more beets, along with lettuce, in the near half of the lower terrace and dug up and transplanted an araçal tree to make way for an expanded planting of carrots in the far half. In the middle terrace the potatoes are doing well and the leeks are ever-so-slowly reaching maturity (I need to start replanting there as well to replenish what we’ve harvested).
The upper terrace, once full of yellow pear tomatoes, is now entirely covered by sweet potato vines! They are growing remarkably well despite the cooler weather and less sun. As I understand it, the plants require a soil temperature of 70+ degrees to produce sweet potatoes, but I’m hoping that by establishing themselves so well now they will be primed for producing by Spring.
Ah – the return of the dark and stormy North Atlantic. As beautiful as the sea and sky were in the summer, that brief season has passed and the great grayness of winter is now upon us. When the undistinguishable sea/sky is broken only by distant white caps and occasional breaks of blue. When the thunderous sound of waves crashing resonates in our house and yard. The reality is that this moody scene was so common over the past year that its return feels like a homecoming. Summer is for tourists…this is the real Terceira!
Chestnut Season
What a difference from last year! Since clearing the undergrowth from around the three chestnut trees, the shiny brown nuts are much easier to find. We have been gathering upwards of a pound of chestnuts every day.
Photos, L to R: the first harvest (mid-October), a single day’s large haul, boiled nuts being peeled, Raymond and I and a pile of shells. Below: Raymond made a contraption to pull off mature spiny-husked clusters from the trees (before rats can get them overnight).
So…what do we do with the finished peeled nuts? We’ve tried cooking them all kinds of ways. A favorite is simply sautéed with some olive oil and salt, but we also made a French cream of chestnut soup (gray and kind of bland), sautéed them with butter and brown sugar, and have tried candying in sugar syrup. At this point, we’re starting to freeze the peeled nuts due to gathering more than we can consume.
Kitchen Upgrade
After more than a year using the camper-style butane gas stove in our kitchen (and dealing with the corresponding fumes…) we are happy to share that we’ve joined the 21st century and replaced it with an induction stove top. We are absolutely loving it! So fast…so evenly heated…so precise in its levels of heating…why didn’t we replace the old stove sooner!
Boulder Breaking: The Finale
After much drilling and hammering, we finished the boulder project! Well, we removed enough that we were able to cover the remaining rock and considerable excavation hole with dirt. What a relief it is to be able to walk behind the house without stepping over a giant boulder.
Before and after: Oct. 2023, April 2024, Oct. 2024
Whitewashing
After stuccoing the stone wall of the driveway, Raymond suggested applying whitewash instead of paint. He did some research and realized that now, while the cement is fresh, would be the perfect time to try this traditional method. So for 1/20 the cost of a big bucket of paint, he bought a 50 pound sack of lime. Just mix with water and apply the whitewash thinly (and again, and again…). Raymond has so far applied 5 coats and the wall keeps getting brighter and brighter. Aside from the price savings, lime is also non-polluting, anti-mildew (to hopefully keep the moss and lichen at bay), and actually soaks into cement further hardening it.
The back garden between the chestnut trees freshly planted with fava beans.
Happy Equinox! After a very warm July and August, it was a welcome change to have cooler days (and nights) in September. Of course, all of this is relative – where we are on the north side of Terceira the hottest days in August were only about 81 degrees (in September the average has been around 73 degrees). Doesn’t sound like much, but with the addition of cloud cover it has made all the difference.
It was a bit sad to see our local swimming area close for the season. The last few times Raymond and I went to swim there were far fewer visitors and the sea was noticeably cooler. Alas, summer has past…
New Garden Bed
We expanded last year’s small fava bean patch into a much larger garden. Because the property slopes from the neighbors hillside to the stream, wished to create a more level area. Following permaculture best practices, we repurposed some recently sawed tree limbs and backfilled with smaller sticks, leaves, and kitchen compost to create a level area with increased soil fertility. It’s already attracting lots of worms. We can’t wait to plant a winter crop of favas again!
Back Wall Project
Before and After:
The stone wall has reached the end of the property and it is now a matter of building it up higher (in time). We had an interesting surprise while completing this section: a big rock we had been using as a seat near the chestnut trees was, once we flipped it over, a water trough chiseled in stone. So we placed it in the wall as a birdbath and lined the sides with rocks (I call it “the grotto”).
Nature’s Bounty
We were delighted to harvest our butternut squash and made a DELICIOUS soup with one of them (can’t wait to have eight more!)
It’s the time of year again for araçal fruit. We finally got a bird net for the trees and, between the trimming last fall and the netting, they are huge this year and have ripening perfectly (the red ones are from another tree). They are a little tart but sweet, and when extra ripe taste a bit like a pineapple/banana (the red ones taste like strawberry/cherry).
Raymond and I also harvested our watermelons – a total of six and an even mix of ‘good’ and ‘lackluster’ – plus black-eyed peas (daily) and the occasional bunch of bananas (pictured: new flower opening).
Boulder Breaking
After removing the old terrace behind the house, we discovered that a humongous boulder lay at its base. For months we navigated around it knowing that it had to be removed eventually in order to level the ground. So Raymond ordered some ‘wedge and feathers’ (from Amazon of all places…) and started drilling into the boulder. It was amazing to tap them into the drill holes and hear the pitch change higher and higher…and then the anticipation as the rock begins to crack. It has been slow-going but the boulder is about 2/3 gone at this point. We are looking forward to pouring a slab of concrete over this area for the purposes of a tool shed / future bathroom expansion.
August 21 was the one-year anniversary of our arrival here on beautiful Ilha Terceira! It has not escaped Raymond and I just how fortunate we are to own our little slice of paradise, and how blessed we have been over the course of the past year. In that time, we have become fixtures in our little village; greeted when walking along the street and recognized everywhere from the swimming area, to the home improvement store, to our favorite bakery. We have made our little house into a comfortable, cozy home. We have transformed our yard from an overgrown jungle into a productive terraced garden and bright, open orchard. It has been a lot of work but absolutely a labor of love.
August 2023 vs. August 2024
Back Wall Project
It has been incredibly rewarding rebuilding the wall in the back yard. The orchard now has a defined border with the neighbor’s hillside and feels so much bigger! We even built in a few ‘bench stones’ for sitting. The wall is now all the way to the back near the chestnut trees and nearly complete. Next we plan to expand and improve upon last winter’s fava bean garden bed with the excess soil from the wall project (more to come on that).
Enjoying a cerveja at the Bar/Sociedade in Quatro Ribeiras
It has been said that Terceira is the “island of festivals.” Indeed, especially in the summer, one can go from festival to festival every week in some corner of the island. Raymond and I were happy to share in our village’s annual festival this past week in honor of the local parish, Saint Beatrice.
On one particular night there was a fado concert (traditional Portuguese folk music) in the church yard at the center of the village. It was fun so see so many locals out after dark, partaking of beer and bifanas (simple pork steak sandwiches). The music was fantastic!
Of course, the highlight of the festival was the bull running! We had attended the tourada in other villages, but it was amazing to see the crowds and beer/food vendors come to our sleepy village. To review, the bulls are on long ropes held by a cadre of brave men and let out in 15-minute intervals to run around in the center of the village. Brave bull ‘fighters’ then attract their attention with red banners and umbrellas, taunting the bulls as they run circles around them. The bulls are then returned to their carriers to run in another festival.
Bull #4 noticed us at the end of the first day of the tourada, just as the sun was setting and we were heading down the hill to our house. Such a beautiful golden hour!
Summer’s arrival has brought us a truly magnificent gift – sunny warm days and the cool sea just minutes away. We have been swimming almost daily at the swimming area just a five-minute walk away and appreciating the little changes from day to day…the cycles of tides, the still days and big surf days, the occasional troublesome jellyfish incursions…
The above photos are from the swimming area in the neighboring village of Biscoitos. Despite having visited many times through the year it has been amazing to see it come to life in the summer – more sea life, more shades of blue, more tourists. Even the novelty of walking across the plank bridge to further lava field swimming areas. We are proud to share that we FINALLY jumped from the high ledge into the “Belo Abismo” (beautiful abyss) area that consists of a channel 24-30 feet deep that cuts through the lava rocks and allows for some spectacular diving (below: Raymond and his mother there back in April).
Tree Trimming
In an effort to bring more sun to the orchard, we cut down a few trees growing along the banks of our stream. First down was a tall Australian blackwood tree that unfortunately fell on a banana tree, destroying its bunch of bananas. Next down was a nightshade tree (also Australian, also invasive) that is an especially troublesome tree here – their brittle branches break easily and, along with their leaves, are covered with irritating hairs that cause a rash (they also smell like gasoline…). Lastly we cut down a smaller blackwood tree that was shading the passionfruit vine and the terrace. With some additional cutting back of the wild cannas we had planted (on the left) and our neighbor cleaning up his hillside, the yard is feeling really open and airy!
Garden Progress
Our little watermelon patch is doing really well! We planted them around the stump of the “cherry” tree we cut down last year (we have since learned it was actually a plum tree). The butternut squash are taking shape on the uppermost terrace – it’s unbelievable how large the vines are! The collards have been cut back to provide more light for the beets and carrots in the lower terrace, while the black-eyed peas are vining like crazy on the middle terrace, and some yellow pear tomatoes are ripening on the upper terrace. Lastly, the fig tree has really taken off in the last month or two. It has lots of new leaves and a few side branches forming.
Front Wall
The stone wall that runs along our driveway and parking area was in need of a little help. A few of the rocks had become loose or fallen out allowing rain to flow through the wall towards the stream (above photos, left and center). So we filled the gaps with small rocks and, batch by batch, cemented the entire length of the wall. Afterward, we went over it again with a smooth stucco.
Back Wall
The property line with the neighbor’s hillside is not well defined along the orchard. There is evidence of an old stone wall but it was overgrown with vines and collapsed in places. It has been a lot of work clearing the vines, digging up mounds of invasive ginger, and consolidating rocks. We are looking forward to continuing the rebuilt wall section, completed last Fall, all the way to the back of the property.
Lukus’ grandfather suffered a severe stroke on June 2. Over the course of the following week, as his daughters gathered by his side, he continued to decline before passing away peacefully in his home on June 8 at age 95.
We departed on a flight to Lisbon early in the morning of June 10 (because it was a national holiday – Portugal Day – there were only limited flights off the island), and after a 5-hour layover in Lisbon we boarded a flight to New York – JFK. Arriving at 9 pm, we spent an uncomfortable night in the airport before departing for Detroit at 6 am. After 30 hours of travel we arrived back in Michigan – the first time in almost 10 months.
Grandpa’s funeral was held in central Michigan on June 12. The service was beautiful and we were both glad to be there to say our goodbyes. It was great to see so much of Lukus’ extended family, even if the circumstances were sorrowful.
In honor of Grandpa, we joined Lukus’ aunts for an evening of Bingo at Soaring Eagle Casino. It had been their weekly tradition to play Bingo with both Grandma and Grandpa, until Grandma’s passing 11 years ago, and with Grandpa in the years since. Sitting at their table and joined by their ‘lucky’ stuffed animals, the four of us pooled our money and had a great time winning round after round! It certainly helped to offset our air travel costs.
Summer’s Arrival
We stayed in Michigan for a total of 10 days, celebrating our wedding anniversary and both of our birthdays with Raymond’s family before returning to Ilha Terceira. It was a relief to be back here and experience our first summer solstice on the island. The orchard is doing great: the fig is bigger and has developed a few side branches, the new mango tree is doing well, the passion fruit vine is getting taller, and various bunches of bananas are still developing. In the garden, we have harvested the last of the fava beans and potatoes, and are patiently waiting on the leeks, carrots, and beets to mature.
Nature and Wildlife
L to R: the bathing area near our house (now officially open), waves crashing over the lava flow, Raymond in the stream at the edge of our property, a European eel in the stream (‘critically endangered’ and one of five we saw that day!), and the pair of Eurasian Collared Doves that we’ve been feeding near the house (they tolerate us being near them and even come flying when we call to them!).
Sanjoaninas Festival
We were excited to experience our first Sanjoaninas Festival on the island. It runs from June 21 – 30 in the capital, Angra do Heroísmo, and is the largest festival in the Azores. The festival corresponds to the birthday / feast day of St. John the Baptist and consists of sports tournaments, bull fights in the arena, street decor, parades, music stages, and food & drink kiosks. The city was a beautiful sight and it was amazing to see all the people out and about (the festival is quite the tourist draw).
