It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. To be frank, not only have we been doing a lot of unpacking and filling-in of empty spaces in the house (we’ll do a post of our new home once things are tidied up a bit more), I’ve been incredibly busy at work. That is both good and bad - good because having work is good, bad because Ann has been doing most of the unpacking and I’m mentally wiped at the end of each day so I’ve not been much help. I’ve just completed a big project and decided I needed a few days off. Not only does it mean that I can finish off the last of the unpacking (and getting my office into shape), I have some time and mental space for a blog post!

One of the things Ann and I are learning to adapt to here in Portugal are sizes of things. The problem, so to speak, goes well beyond the simple English to metric conversions, or knowing that a men’s size 9.5 shoe is a European 43, or even that it isn’t miles per gallon but instead liters per 100 km. It springs up in all sorts of ways, so we figure we might as well touch on some of them.

This past Saturday Ann and I made a trip south a bit to a nice town called Penafiel. Part business part pleasure, it was a way for us to make one final trip before our household goods get delivered and so much of our free time is occupied by setting up house. As it is with most adventures, not everything went the way we’d hoped it would, but it was a fine day (so to speak) nonetheless!

Our household goods arrived! But as it’s been this entire journey, let’s just say it didn’t go off without a hitch. On the bright side, all of the effort I put into preparing our customs documentation worked - we didn’t have to pay 23% VAT on our household goods! On the other hand . . . well, join us to find out.

I’ve never been ashamed to acknowledge my photographic influences. Some influences appear more in my work than others, but I cannot deny that there are several photographers who have truly influenced how I see the world photographically. Rarely though (read: never) do I go out with an intention to make, for example, an “Ansel Adams image.” It doesn’t work like that. Nonetheless, there are times where, due to subject matter, lighting conditions or whatever the reason, it does, indeed, seem as if I’m copying another photographer’s work or at least style. Probably a better way to put it is that my photographic journey has me following their footsteps. In any event, that just might be the case with a series of images I made during my wanderings in Vila Nova de Gaia.

The past few days have been pretty exciting times here in the Terrell household, particularly yesterday and today. It’s been another one of those let’s-check-to-see-where-she’s-at periods. I’ll cut to the chase. It’s Thursday September 17th and our ship is in Leixões possibly unloading our household goods right now! But before I get ahead of myself, there’s a lot more to share than that.

The Saturday after our trip down to Vila Nova de Gaia, Ann and I decided to take another trip to Barcelos. This time to make a day of it.

When I was a kid, there was this tv commercial for hair coloring that went, “Does she or doesn’t she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure!” Well, that’s the question I have for the CAP Jackson.

I’m interrupting the flow of blog posts I’ve already prepared for a couple of reasons. Some things are just too good to let sit. Anyway, I’ve had a slow work at week this week (that has already changed), but I’ve been taking advantage of that down time to get ready for the arrival of our household goods next week (fingers crossed). Yesterday we went into Matosinhos (past the port in Leixões where our ship will arrive) to go to Ikea to get some things that were in stock there that isn’t at the Braga store. On the way home we decided to stop at a restaurant that we’d had on the top of our list. That was definitely a brilliant idea.

A week ago Friday, we took a trip down to Vila Nova de Gaia, the city that lies across the Douro River from Porto. While Porto is often associated with Port wine, it’s actually the port from which it used to be shipped. The famous Port Houses are in Vila Nova de Gaia. Our reason for spending a half-day there has nothing to do with Port though. Ann needed a haircut.

It’s time to do a quick update on things we’ve blogged about lately, some expected and some unexpected.