“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”
– Diane Ackerman
As I write these words on the last day of 2025, Lily and I are sitting on a bench outside, enjoying the hesitant warmth of the winter sun. Streaks and puffs of clouds paint the sky, while birdsong compete with my thoughts in an otherwise silent landscape. It is as if the world has turned introspective along with me, and as I soak up the beauty and peacefulness surrounding me, I am reminded of why I love the quinta.
Today is the third day of glorious winter weather. The first time this winter that I feel like I want to spend my days outside rather than inside. Midnight and Lily followed me over the last couple of days as I hung up laundry, spent big chunks of the day pruning, or just sitting with a cup of coffee breathing in air laced with the chill of snow lying thick on the Serra da Estrela.
My thoughts are eagerly anticipating the new year, and although I don’t actively engage in conjuring up unrealistic goals and wishes for me to fail at, I do ponder the things I want more of in my life. For me it is a way to anchor myself in the moment, while also carving out a rough roadmap for my dreams and desires in the coming year. These days small steps can feel like giant strides. If I’ve learned nothing else since moving to Portugal, it is that dreams take time and patience, but also more hope I ever thought I would need.
Notes:
# During Michael’s first visit during the month, he and Lawrence capped the well where we eventually plan to build our greenhouse. Although he cautioned me about walking on the bricks, he was the one who actually almost fell into the well when two of the blocks broke. Luckily for him, only one leg went through, and although he was bruised badly and gave us all a fright, nothing was broken.
# Michael continued with the electric wiring of the workshop which he started at the beginning of the month, when he visited again the week of Christmas. He also played with the underfloor heating in the workshop, not only trying to prove his concept, but also teaching himself how it works. We weren’t overly impressed with how it was done in the house by the professionals, and doing it himself, not only scratches his curiosity itch, but also empowers him to be able to fix and improve what we have in the house.
# Not that we often get guests in the evening, but every time over the years that we did, we kept saying that we must install an outside light, which Michael finally did the last time around.
# An enjoyable project for me was to tidy up and redesign a part of the space where I had my vegetable garden during the summer.
# A doctor’s appointment in Coimbra late one afternoon prompted my, by now usual inclination to make use of it as an opportunity to explore something I have not seen or experienced yet, while spending a night away from the quinta. Rain marred a couple of planned stops on the way to Coimbra, but I didn’t allow it to deter me from stopping at Moinhos de Portela de Oliveira for a quick look around before my appointment.
The next day on my way back home I stopped at the monastery in Lorvão and took a short walk to rock formations called Livraria do Mondego before I, once more, drove into the rain on my way back home.
A Special Memory or Moment of Joy:
Snow has been falling on the Serra da Estrela, on and off since the 7th of November, so when Michael was prepared to take a day off from work for a little drive up the mountain on the 24th, I was thrilled. It turned out to be the perfect day out. At our first stop mist turned the scenery into the set of a fairy tale, while at the highest peak, bright blue skies and almost no wind made for the perfect setting to enjoy a winter landscape that one doesn’t usually associate with Portugal.
Curiosities of Unknow Facts about Portugal:
Nativity scenes is an important feature of Christmas in Portugal, and they pop up in every village, town, and city, sometimes in the most creative ways imaginable using mostly products sourced from their direct environment. A presépio always include the holy family or Sagrada Família, but the rest is really up to the imagination of whoever is creating it. The largest of these can be found in Sabugal, not far from where we are.
Written by: Jolandi
Feliz Ano Novo
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Oh I just love the little scene at the end with the cows and pigs. Pedro set up a Nativity scene in the house this year that I made myself, and it feels extra special for that. I am not religious, but have enjoyed those little baby-in-a-manger scenes all my life.
Your rock work is beautiful and reminds me that there are rock projects I want to get to in 2026. I am pretty sure I will this time, because the other, more pressing things, are now complete. I think cleared paths and rock paths and rock walls look appealing. I’m jealous of the heated floor (ours was half done when we bought the house and we haven’t had the courage to learn enough to finish it yet), grateful Michael didn’t get seriously hurt in the fall, and interested in the adventures. Love that 1699 carved into the wall.
Most of all the SNOW!! must have been so exciting. I think being able to drive to the snow in a day is as perfect as it gets. Maybe a day or two at the house, but my preference is to be able to drive to it if we are really in a snow mood. I am glad that you two were able to do that and marvel at the extraordinary scenery of a white landscape with icicles.
Happy Happy New Year to both of you from Pedro and me. Here’s to 2026!
I love that you made a Nativity scene yourself. These things always have more meaning when we are creatively involved in their creation. It will be fun to see what rock projects you come up with this year, Crystal. I hope you and Pedro find the courage at some point to finish your underfloor heating system. I cannot recommend that high enough as the best way to heat a house! I honestly don’t think I can live without it EVER again, unless of course I move to a tropical island. 😇 As for the snow, I love that it was a short drive away, and that the quinta doesn’t get covered in it every year. Wishing you and Pedro a peaceful and blessed 2026!
Happy New Year to you both. May 2026 be filled with joy and prosperity.
Thanks, Peggy! May you and John have a healthy and blessed 2026❣️
Happy New Year! I’ve enjoyed following your days on the quinta, if only vicariously through your posts. Your weather sounds better than California’s, where it has either been pouring rain or socked in fog. I’m just glad it’s not as cold here as it is in Vancouver or Seattle. Take care, and tell Michael to do so as well! Agricultural work is considered one of the most hazardous jobs in the United States.
I will do that, Hangaku. He often either gets injured, or narrowly avoid to. It drives me nuts. As for the weather, rain and fog is no pleasure, so wishing you sunny days for the start of 2026. I hope it will be a good year for you.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you both. We hope that 2026 brings you both joy and successful and uneventful completion of many projects around the Quinta. Thank you for sharing your journey with us, we are always awestruck by how much you have achieved and your perseverance in creating your dream home.
Hope to catch up at some point.
All our love,
Mike and Debs
Thanks, guys! I hope you are well. I’m not at all on social media these days, so am completely out of the loop as to what is happening in your lives. It would really be nice to catch up again, so we should make a plan to make it happen soon. Wishing you a healthy and adventurous 2026!
That photo of the frozen chairlifts is definitely not an image I associate with Portugal. But then I had my first proper snow in Lebanon, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. Like you, I don’t do New Year’s resolution, but I do like to think of a rough idea of what I want in my life for the next few years. Your quinta is looking more and more beautiful. It’s nice that the hard work you and Michael have put into it is paying off. Happy New Year, Jolandi! I wish you good health and a peaceful year ahead!
I always think it is wonderful to find snow in places one doesn’t associate it with. Thank you for your kind words, and lovely wishes, Bama. May 2026 be a special year for you with good health and some wonderful trips.
The snowy landscape looks like something straight out of a fairy tale! I also really loved the photos of the monastery. I’m so glad to hear that things are coming together for you, and I hope 2026 brings even better things—full of wonderful and pleasant surprises.
Thank you, Sarah. May 2026 be a great travel year for you, with much joy and an abundance of peaceful moments thrown into the mix.
Happy New Year, Jolandi! In addition to thinking about what might lie ahead at the beginning of a new year, I often look back at what I did or did not accomplish in the preceding year. All that to say that YOU can certainly look back with so much pride and happiness at what you and Michael have gotten done on the quinta! I’m amazed every month at what you are doing there. Love the snowy scenes … from afar! (That’s not even totally true; I like snow in person as well, as long as it is for a brief time, part of physical activity, or outside my window! 🙂 )
Looking back is most probably as important as looking forward, Lexie. You are right about how we feel when we look back onto what we have achieved thus far on the quinta. It often feels like projects are dragging, but as long as one keeps moving, the results can be quite astonishing. I loved our snow experience, but I am definitely like you, and am very glad our quinta doesn’t get covered in it every winter! Best to be enjoyed from a distance, or brief physical moments.
I so enjoy following your days on the quinta and your explorations further afield. The winter wonderland, and the nativity scenes are an added bonus.
I swapped computers a month ago, and I probably missed the link to your last month’s post – but I will catch up in the fullness of time. At the moment, I am delighting in keeping on top of the emails that come into my new computer. Hopefully I won’t overload it as much as the old one.
Louisa continues on her road to publication. The typesetting is done. Now the proofreading. Very frustrating. As fast as one error is corrected, another creeps in.
I wish you, Michael and the kitty-kats every good thing in 2026.
New computers can be wonderful, but it isn’t always plain sailing when the transition takes place. I hope your emails won’t overwhelm this one too quickly, Gwen. What a journey it is to get a book to publication! I’m so looking forward to reading it, but I suspect this will be the year. Wishing you great success with it, and a very blessed and healthy 2026!
Happy New Year to you! I hope this year brings joy, peace and blessings. I love the photos of the Quinta you post to see how it has evolved, You and Michael are creating a beautiful space to live, enjoy and are carving your own piece of heaven on earth. While there are challenges, and many lessons to be learned, it is so fun watching you create this life for you both.
Cheers for a beautiful 2026.
Terri
Thank you, Terri. May you also have a lovely 2026 with plenty of good books and some travels thrown into the mix.
I love the opening shot of the frosted/snow-covered chairs… it reflects what I see outside in Czechia right now. The grip of winter is here 😊. You chose a perfect way to close the year, in both the quiet rhythm of the quinta and that brilliant day on Serra da Estrela. I agree with your idea of treating the New Year as a chance to live the “width of life” through small, steady steps rather than big resolutions. You’ve created such a hands-on life with projects, healing bruises, and little explorations to places like Lorvão and Livraria do Mondego… it all makes your days feel perfect in the sense of living fully. Wish you all a brilliant 2026 ahead.
Czechia must be beautiful, but freezing cold at the moment, Randall. I must say that I prefer the ‘warmer’ winters in Portugal with having to drive to the top of the highest mountain in mainland Portugal to experience it, instead of having the quinta covered in snow. It appears that there is more snowfall in many places in Europe than usual, or as I’ve been told, it is more in line with what winters used to be like decades ago. I hope that in 2026 you will also have many opportunities or days in which you can explore and live the ‘width of life’. Stay warm!