Slow Life \ Update

 Hi,

It seems I keep being slow when it comes to making blog posts. I always mean to write something, but then my phone gallery fills up with all the things I want to share, and they end up getting lost. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve started a vlog and forgotten to finish it, and then everything just piles up. Before I know it, I lose interest.

But a new year is starting, and I’m in desperate need of better focus and better habits. I want to be more organised and share more of what I love.

Over the summer I’ve been a bit distracted. Yllin has been quiet with sales, and I’ve been thinking deeply about my life. We’ve made it through autumn, and here in Portugal winter is just beginning.

One evening in early August, while I was preparing dinner, I went outside to call my cat. She’s a black street cat—she used to belong to my neighbour, but now she belongs to me. As I stepped out into the garden, out into the street I noticed what looked like a black rock sitting under the streetlamp. I’ve been collecting rocks for my garden, which is probably why it caught my eye. As I walked closer, I found myself wondering, Why does this rock look like it’s watching me? How strange… Then I saw it: the “rock” had two pointy ears.

I screamed to my husband, “I think I found a kitten!” Before I knew it, I’d run back into the house, grabbed a tea towel, and rushed back to the street. Up close, I saw it really was a tiny, scrawny kitten. I went straight into rescue mode—circling around behind her so she could only run one way. She darted into a corner, and I scooped her up with the tea towel. She gave me a little hiss but didn’t struggle at all.

My whole life, I’ve always dreamed of finding a kitten, and that little dream finally came true. I brought her inside and fed her. She purred nonstop—nothing like a feral cat—and that was it, we decided to keep her. She wouldn’t have survived much longer out there; it was 40°C and far too dangerous for a kitten to be on her own.

This is Mali (Amália) 

Now I can tell you I didn't realise how much hard work a kitten is, but she has taught me to be calm and the times of cuddles are to die for.