we shall all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately (Benjamin Franklin)

Sala de Aljubarrota do Museu de Alberto Sampaio

Tomorrow is the big day. I have just finished putting together the powerpoint presentation of my master's thesis in museum studies. I just hope I can hang in there or I am sure they will hang me in the end! 

[The whole thing was too easy....]

my cross-processed summer

So here they are, some of the Diana photos I picked up yesterday. It was a slide film so I had it cross-processed. I know that you can do this with a simple click of a button on any image software, or even Pedro's phone, but the sensation of not knowing how the photos will appear, waiting patiently for them and being amazed at the effects that you have no control over, is the best thing about using Diana!

I should have already finished reading my thesis... but I haven't.

I should be sitting at my desk preparing for next Tuesday's presentation... but I'm not.

I think I'll head out for just a bit to pick up the 2 Diana film's I had developed... I know I shouldn't, but I can't help it.

forecast for today

Sad and grey morning with rain.

Hopefully at around lunchtime it will look like this.

And I'm sure the sun will be out in the afternoon!

os ferreira

A little sneak peek at what I have been working on these last few days. It's slowly being embroidered so it can be just perfect for her 60th birthday. So Mary, tell what you think of it so far?

3 corpetes, 1 avental, 7 fronhas, 1 lençol, 3 camisas do enxoval...

A new header and a classic Portuguese cinema scene to welcome it.
I like her checkered skirt, striped socks and polka dot apron.

siblings

After I was born my parents always thought that their second child would be a boy. So they bought blue baby clothing. Then my sister Helena was born. And then they were absolutely sure their third child would definitely be a boy. Then my sister Luisa was born. And after this, they gave up: three is in fact a crowd even though we always wanted a brother. 

I live with a rock star

Not many people can say they share the same house with a rock star, but I can! Though it sometimes is quite an inconvenience with all the paparazzi camping at our door step... but you learn to live with it. Joana is the lead singer of a major international rock band The Exception and she has an amazing deep voice: very energetic, tough around the edges and sweet whenever necessary. They'll be performing tonight at Bacalhoeiro and I'm going to put on my dancing shoes...

photo lab

Tonight is photo lab night. Last week I developed 3 rolls of black and white film. The rolls are from last year, can you imagine? 

ready to hang up

Now all I have to do is choose a place to hang them up and bribe Pedro with a massage or pastries for him to  do the things guys do around the house.   

helena in the corner: the wall hanging

After being almost a year away from my needles and threads, I've finally been actively working on some embroidery projects. It's very relaxing and it keeps me away from horrible monsters like my thesis. 

I enjoy the idea of picking out a photo from the old family albums, drawing them out and selecting the right one to embroid. And, I particularly like how the very fine wool yarn goes great with old linen. As for the hoop, I was waiting for my package of metal embroidery hoops I bought on ebay: for some reason, no shop sell them here in Lisbon, nor have shop owners ever heard of metal hoops. 

bike

 

I still don't own a bike, but when I do, it must be a red one. This one is going into a wooden frame.

helena in the corner

I called her Helena. But she's not my sister. I have no idea who she is, I just thought the photo was pretty. I drew her a while back. 

hand drawn font

In between reading my thesis and embroidery, I finally drew up a proper font for this blog. I'm making some final adjustments. So what do you think?

boy in stripes

This is Carlos Manuel in his Sunday's best back in the 1950's.

help me find Zézito!

Some weeks back, on a trip to the flea market I bought a bunch of old frames to start hanging things on the walls. The first photo I framed is my blog's header!

This week's old photo is from a family album I bought last year. The photo I use as a header is also from this album. The little boy's name is José (or Zezito, the way his father signs on the back of each photo) and dew to some strange fortune for me (unfortunate for Zézito) I have his childhood album: from birth to around 5/6 years old. I wonder how can anyone lose such a precious family treasure... So... item 43 on my list is to try to find Zézito (an Amélie style thing to do!!) and give him back his album. I don't have much information about him, no last name, no father or mother's name. He was born in the 50's and I think he lived in Lisbon and they sure did travel alot, because most of the photos are of summer holidays. 

I'll be posting more of his photos in the hope someone might just recognize him. For the mean while I'm having fun drawing Zézito!

olive picking

 

What to do on the weekend? Go olive picking to Lousã. And so wee did.

The event was promoted by two local folk groups that wanted to recreate traditional.olive picking. We didn't work much, just appreciated the scenery, the singing, taking photos and inquiring on how to cure olives, which was something I could have put on my list. After gathering, picking and cleaning, and considering we were the only foreigners that had attended the event on purpose, we were invite to join them for very Portuguese lunch.... feijoada. The rest of the weekend was spent visiting historical villages, geocaching, and picking ripe black olives to take home.

Piodão at a distance

Old photos

I think I'll draw him next.

today isn't going as planned

Frustration is an awful state of mind.

ele e ela

Last night I water coloured the boy and drew the girl. I don't know what I'm going to do with him, but she's going to be embroider. The boy on the swing is almost finished: I bought some metal embroidery hoops to frame him and all I need is a pretty ribbon to hang it.  

1 year old!

Hurray! This blog is 1 year old today! It all started with a tree and a bit of inspiration. 

To celebrate, I took my Polaroid for a stroll through Principe Real!