Fun with Seeds and a Warm Cupboard

So, a while ago we decided to try putting random seeds (from foods we ate) into dirt and keeping them in the boiler cupboard. Amazingly, loads of things came out!
For example, pomegranates:



My personal favourite is this mango tree. There's lots of stuff on the internet about how to germinate a mango, but this one grew really easily. Just break the hard shell, put it in dirt, and keep it warm until the magic begins. Here it is on day 2:



And here on day ... well ... 10 or so maybe (the green things around it are baby lemon trees):



It's that easy. Instead of throwing away the pit on your next fruit, try planting it! Such a simple way to get cute house plants.

RIP Our Fish

He died.

Two of the other babies are sick.

On a positive note, anyone interested in Portugues should visit this government site. The interface is attrocious and there are a few errors in the games but it's free and mildly entertaining.

Jogos Lexicais

Memorial to Edward Gorey

Yes, it's been seven long years since he died but isn't it always nice to take some time to remember Edward Gorey, the amazing cartoonist? Everyone has his/her favourite Gorey illustration or book. Mine is one with a bear skating but I can't seem to find it anywhere.

More than just giving us cool drawings to look at, Gorey also greatly enriched public understanding of circumstances that could cause death. Before him, we only suspected that ennui could kill a child; yet poor Neville confirms our worst fears.


A morbid mind directed rightly for the enjoyment of all. God bless America.

Fish Emergency!!!

Does this fish look deathly ill?





Well, he is and he would bloat to death and experience kidney failure without immediate antibiotic treatment. He's got dropsy, a condition where fluid fills the fish's body cavity until he puffs up and his scales stick out like pine cones.

Just yesterday we arrived home to find him like this and went on the web to see what it was. Some forum posts said it isn't treatable. But thankfully there seems to be some new antibiotics out and fish do recover from this infection.

My pictures aren't the best but if you go here you can see classic dropsy symptoms.

It's been a tough time for all of us... Going to the pet store, buying the medication, reading directions, and so on. But we can now hope he's going to make a full recovery.

Bonzai Bonanza

Today consisted of a trip to England to visit a bonsai nursery. Bonsais are awesome, if you like a hobby that takes years and years to get anywhere.

I bought my first bonsai! It's a Japanese maple with 5 roots showing. I'm going to create an exposed root tree that sits on a rock with the roots showing. Here is is today:



António also bought some trees. One was this lush crab apple:



And on the subject of plants, I am growing some cute seedlings. Pumpkins, courgettes, broccoli, and brussel sprouts (for my friend Gaf at Thanksgiving; he's the only person I know who actually likes them). Oh, Ant says he likes them too. 2 people like them.



I actually wanted a Scot's Pine, but unfortunately they are extremely expensive. Maybe I will start my own from seed.

Welcome to Café Pequenino

Olá and welcome to my blog. It's about lots of different things but if it's any reflection of my mind, it'll mostly contain stuff about:
~ learning Portuguese, my latest obsession
~ horses (especially Lusitanos), my on-going obsession
~ plants, my fairweather obsession.

So, enjoy my blog and don't forget that a small coffee is better than no coffee at all.