12 Comments

Portugal was one of the places on my bucket list but so was riding a Harley to Sturgis. Things that I might have waited to long for.

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Oh I hope not, Portugal is a wonderful place. We've only been here a bit over a year and we've had more than 30 guests!

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Lemons look so refreshing! 🍋💛

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Lemons are so picturesque, don't you think?

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Yes, there is something about them. I always keep a bowl of lemons in the kitchen. I grew a lemon tree outside our bedroom window, so we could taken in the heavenly scent when they blossom. 🤗✨

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Aug 7Liked by Sandra Stephens

Loved your article! You certainly served up a nice slice of Portuguese culture. I’ve got some blueberries ripening for my chickens , but let my peaches go this year. Unfortunately my son dropped 9 baby chickens on me in late May. At least 4 of them are roosters, and it’s stressing out the 5 hens. The baby with the bent toes is a very peckish rooster, and not in a gustatory way!! One of the five hens may be a rooster. I’m looking for solutions. Either separation, or giving away. People like free young roosters for the stew pot, which is hard for me to stomach.

My original 7 olive- eggers/ Easter-eggers are more pleasant. These new barnyard variety are pugilists.

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We have a preponderance of roosters on the place - more than fifteen. They are a formerly feral flock, they all get along fine, no fighting, though posturing occurs occasionally....

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I also remember the sound of the backdoor screen slamming and then a thud of the laundry basket on the balcony. I miss the sound and smell of freshly laundered sheets hanging on a clothesline in our backyard.

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it's evocative, isn't it

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Also in Portugal, beer for breakfast. Stopping to get gas and a coffee the others in the attached cafe had little beers instead. Definitely gets them going for the workday!

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How lovely! I live between Switzerland and Spain, currently in Switzerland where the weather is beautiful too (I'm between Geneva and Lausanne). I've been to Portugal a few times, and I'm looking forward to returning. We'll definitely be going there next year, to the Douro valley area, for a wedding in September and I'm looking forward to it. I would love to go to the Algarve, off season of course. I'm going to have a closer look at your Substack to find out more! xx Cesca

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I definitely remember clothes lines. They were a neighborhood standard in my little Massachusetts town. I don’t remember us having a dryer until I was in Junior High. That would have been the late 60s.

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