Greetings from Coimbra! We have survived our first week of classes at the university and are enjoying this beautiful city. We had above-average temperatures last week (55-62 degrees F) but it rained nearly every day. Today was much colder (36-50 degrees F) but sunny, so Raymond and I took a nice long walk around the city, through the botanical garden, and across the river to Santa Clara (but alas – our favorite churrascaria with its delicious grilled chicken and side dishes was not open and seemed to have closed…).

City Views and Jardim Botânico

Other Views of Coimbra

Above (L to R): Raymond giving a street musician a coin via his cute dog holding a plastic cup in its mouth; typical architecture and cafe scene near the university; the historic Church of Santa Cruz with university illuminated above; the fountain of the Jardim da Manga (Garden of the Mango) in the city center; sunset view from the stairway landing outside of our little attic apartment.

Back in Terceira…

Above (L to R): the front ‘yard’ of our house; two potted hyacinths just starting to bloom and a large planter with a lettuce mix; the big terracotta vase with little olive tree and stairs going down to lower level and garden; looking over the retaining wall at the stream. The water seems not to rise as high during heavy rainfall now that I regularly clear it of detritus and obstructive rocks, which were moved to the sides to reinforce the banks and prevent further erosion.

We would like to wish all of our family and friends all the best in the new year! This past year was a grande one for Raymond and I – one which we thank our lucky stars for every day. May the coming year bring good fortune to you all!

Cat Colony – Monte Brasil

We spent a recent afternoon at the cat colony on Monte Brasil, overlooking the historic capital of Terceira (Angra do Heroísmo). It was lovely to return after so many months and get our kitty fix from numerous friendly felines. One in particular (lower left) was the same tortoise-shell cat that was so affectionate with us back in March. Needless to say, we are strongly considering adopting one of the colony cats once we return from Coimbra at the beginning of February.

An Evening in Angra

After a beautiful sunset at the marina and a stroll through the old city, we treated ourselves to dinner and a movie. Initially confused why the theater was not open at the appropriate showtime, we soon realized that the movie (Wonka) was instead being shown at the cultural center. We made it just in time!

Garden Terrace Project

Top six, from R to L: working on the first rock wall and trimming the araçal tree; removal of the araçal tree and completion of the first rock wall; screening of dirt and rocks to create a new garden bed; creation of a second rock wall. 

Lower: the formerly overgrown and chest-high terrace behind the bathroom and bedroom (to the left of the top photos) which we are removing and repurposing to build the garden terraces. The plan is to clear a space 1) for a shady summer patio area, 2) to better access the area behind the bathroom for purposes of building a proper concrete retaining wall into the hill, and 3) to eventually expand the bathroom.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Boas Festas! Happy Holidays! We are excited to experience our first ‘green’ Christmas here on Terceira. It’s been interesting to see how the Portuguese celebrate – the shopping mall was decorated quite festively (above and below) and the shops play the same Christmas music standards one would hear in the USA.

Scenic Drives Around the Island

One of the simple pleasures of life here on Terceira is just driving around and seeing the sights. From a random horse-drawn cart, to countless fields of grazing cows, to otherworldly scenes of volcanic hills (cinder cones) and Japanese cedar forests, there is never a dull moment . Returning home one particular afternoon we even drove through a rainbow! Look closely at the lower-right photo – on a clear day from the southeast coast one can see the island of São Jorge (and sometimes Mount Pico on the island of Pico behind it, towering above).

Hiking Above Quatro Ribeiras

Of course, we go hiking quite a bit, too. A few days ago we hiked up into the hills above our house and were treated to some beautiful views of the next village over (top left photo) as well as our village down below (lower left photo). Interestingly, we found and walked over the upper part of the stream that goes by our house (Ribeira Grande) which on this particular day was dry (lower right photo).

Millstone Deconstruction

Continuing with our project to deconstruct the millstone, we needed to cut the rusted steel rod that once turned the (now removed) upper millstone. We were not able to pull it out as it was affixed to some apparatus below the floor. After considerable effort and sparks, we succeeded in cutting through the nearly 2-inch thick rod and dropped the mechanism to the chamber below. It would seem that at some point water flowed under the mill room and turned a water wheel in this lower chamber. Free from the rusted rod, we applied a layer of cement to seal up the center hole. No more musty drafts nor bugs in the laundry room!

Yard Work

(Clockwise from upper-left:) We have continued with the garden terrace project – the new wall is coming along nicely and we are still working on moving and screening soil from behind the house. After much deliberation we decided to transplant the two banana trees growing near the BBQ to the back orchard with the other bananas – it already feels brighter and more open and will make a perfect location for some perennial herbs. Lastly, we have been treated to a bumper crop of oranges!

November 30 marks a momentous milestone for us – the end of our resident visa validity! From this point onward, we are here solely on our temporary residency IDs. This also marks the longest we’ve ever been continuously in Portugal (the previous limit had been the 90-day “visa free” summer trip in 2022).

One of the ‘perks’ of the residency ID is the discounted airfare on Azores Airlines, which we have used to book tickets to the mainland for January. Raymond will be taking the A1 level intensive Portuguese course at the University of Coimbra and Lukus will be taking his second course. We are both excited to return to Coimbra – such an amazing place! Here are some photos of the university and old city:

In a bureaucratic win, we are happy to announce that we now have Portuguese social security numbers! These will allow us to work locally and to sign up for the national health service. For the time being we still have private health insurance, which is very reasonably priced, but we plan to sign up for the free national health service soon.

Heavy Rains

Ilha Terceira received some heavy rains over the weekend and it was a little unnerving to see how high the stream grew (above: flowing over our street). Thankfully there was no damage to our retaining wall nor garden, save for two big rocks that tumbled down from the neighbor’s hillside near the anona tree.

By Monday, the stream was back to its normal, placid flow. But the torrent of rain had washed away the concrete blocks that Raymond has been making. Lukus climbed down to the lower level of the stream to retrieve them from the thigh-high water trough.

Yard Work

L to R: The recently-pruned apple tree leafing out; the orchard partially cleared of invasive ginger back in October; recent removal of large clusters of taro near the bananas. Below: close-up of the taro removal project and reconstruction of the rock wall that forms the property line with our neighbor above the hillside (plus transplanting of canna and lilies).

A Momentous Millstone

To better utilize space in our laundry room, we decided to remove the millstone today. Using a crowbar, we were able to pry the upper stone from the lower stone (still secured in the floor). We were then able to very carefully stand it up and awkwardly roll it out of the basement. The plan at this point is to use the millstone as a paver heading out to the orchard.

November is here and we are thoroughly enjoying nature’s bounty. First and foremost has been the long-awaited ripening of the custard apples (aka anona or cherimoya). We’ve been eating one or two a day for the last week or so (and have about a dozen more in a box ripening above the refrigerator). If you’ve never tried one, they are highly recommended! They have a creamy, soft pear-like consistency and a sweet flavor that is like banana-meets-pineapple. We have also been eating our bananas daily and have sampled the odd orange or two (kind of tart still – hoping they continue to ripen).

There is a Portuguese tradition we learned about that we wanted to follow. The saying goes that “every home should have an olive tree” so we purchased a little olive tree from the market. It’s just a small thing but we had just the pot for it and it’s already sprouting some new leaves!

Back Yard Clearing

We finally started to tackle the overgrown back yard / orchard of vines and invasive ginger. It has been a multi-week labor of love (Lukus has the scars to prove it) but we are delighted by the open space now! Upper left photo: banana trees and orange trees; Upper right photos: back of the property with three chestnut trees (a great place for a chicken coop or quail hutch); Lower photo: orange trees in foreground and big anona tree.

Native and Endemic Flora

For all the times we’ve written about ‘invasive this’ and ‘invasive that’, we wanted to point out a few native plants we discovered in the back. Above is one such beauty, first mistaken for a holly, called Myrsine africana or Tamujo in Portuguese. It has shown potential as a little hedge where we found it, growing at the base of a mandarin tree, so we put some stones around it and gave it a trim. The second native plant we were excited to find is the famous Laurus azorica or Azores Laurel (below) which is more commonly found in high altitude ‘cloud forests.’ We have two small specimens near the chestnut trees and a third that Lukus transplanted into a decorative pot near the house. The leaves smell lovely – like the closely related Laurus nobilis or bay leaf.

Kitchen Progress

The “chimney room” in March 2023….

In an effort to make the oven area of our kitchen more usable, we have been, bit by bit, cleaning, scrubbing, scraping, cementing, and painting. From removing the open-air double burner stove, to stuccoing over the leaky stone archway, to cementing up the oven opening and smaller floor opening, it is finally approaching the bright, clean Mediterranean look we desire.

Regarding the loss of the big bread oven, well, we were never going to use it anyway – its smokey, open-air chimney meant that smoke had to exit into the “chimney room” which itself was previously sealed off outside. Who knows, maybe someday we will open up the oven again and repurpose the space for a wine cave or a pantry (it was huge, about five feet deep and wide!).

Yard Work / Roof Work

The days are getting shorter, the nights cooler, but things are still green and growing on Ilha Terceira. In preparation for the rainy season, we’ve taken our newly acquired cementing skills and patched a few spots on the bathroom roof and around the big, traditional chimney. Unfortunately, there is a small leak in the roof near the living room window when it rains heavily – we’ve reached out to a local builder about repairs.

We finally took down the rusty, non-functional satellite dish. We also bought a pressure washer – amazing what a difference a little power-washing makes! We’re excited to soon give the house and chimney a fresh coat of paint.

With the leaves starting to fall it seemed like a good time to trim the fruit trees. The poor apple tree had been nearly choked to death by vines from above and invasive ginger from below. Here’s hoping it is more productive than the one apple we got this year! 😅

And lastly, we FINALLY got rid of the hideous sink/vanity in the bathroom (it literally fell apart as soon as Raymond started to move it!) and replaced it with a cute, modern sink that makes the bathroom feel much bigger.

We had our much-anticipated appointments with Portuguese immigration on September 28 in Terceira’s capital, Angra do Heroísmo (“Cove of Heroism”). It was the culmination of a year’s worth of planning – from setting up a bank account and obtaining tax IDs to gathering copies of every manner of document imaginable to sending fingerprints to the FBI for a background check to the visa appointment in NYC – and it went more smoothly than we could have imagined! We were almost shocked by how anticlimactic the whole experience was and treated ourselves afterward to a delicious lunch of alcatra (a slow-cooked beef delicacy of the Azores).

Our residency permit IDs arrived today and it’s official – we are temporary residents of Portugal! What a relief to call this place home…

Festival in Biscoitos (next village over)

Progress in the yard – repurposing terracotta tiles

Playing with cement in the kitchen

Apologies for the delay – after waiting four weeks for installation, we now have high speed fiber internet! What a relief…

It is a beautiful, sunny day today and we took a walk to a protected nature reserve and lava field about 2.5 miles away (uphill both ways…) that offered some stunning views:

We have been making great progress on the house and garden. Every day it feels more comfortable and more like home. After a week or more of cleaning and laundering, the house and furniture have fully aired out and we have learned how to keep the humidity under control. The new appliances are also working splendidly.

As far as the garden is concerned, it has developed by leaps and bounds! From removing bushel loads of vines and invasive juniper to trimming fruit trees to creating a new terrace behind the bbq, we’ve been busy. We also harvested our first bananas (!) and planted some perennial collards along the stone wall of the terrace.

And lastly, we started clearing the overgrowth from the stream as well as clearing rocks from the middle and securing its sides. The sound of the stream is lovely and we can even see a glimpse from inside the house!

Happy return, settling in, hoop-jumping

After five months of visa delays, we arrived safely in Terceira on the morning of August 21. Right away, we got to work cleaning…mold and mustiness on the inside of the house from months of being closed up and a jungle of weeds and vines on the outside along the driveway and lower patio level. Aside from an initial walk through the garden/orchard, we have not even started tackling the morning glory vines and invasive ginger in the back yard. We’ve also been busy ordering appliances, attempting to get internet at our house, meeting with an immigration attorney, and buying a used car (to be picked up today!). Needless to say, we’ve been VERY tired by the end of each day…

It has been reassuring to see just how well the fruit trees prospered without us. We counted four big bunches of bananas, numerous unripe custard apples (cherimoya), and an apple on the mystery tree from March.

After much delay, headaches, and handwringing, we finally received our passports with Portuguese residency visas today! [huge sigh of relief…]

Here in Dundee, we celebrated by harvesting sunflowers, carrots, potatoes (11 lbs), and the first of our tomatoes. So gratifying to get our hands in the dirt and partake in nature’s bounty (grilling some potatoes right now!).