Originally from Portugal, I now spend my days absorbing Britishness and missing home in equal measure, all at the same time.
I am a lover of natural light and colour. And… Cats. Mum’s food. Dogs. Soup. Mafaldinha. Penguins. Yellow. Elephants. The sea. Grilled fish. Oregano. Fresh salad. Books. Red. Laughing. Lists. Seasons. Ice cream. Ice cream under a blanket. Films. Wild flowers. Freshly ironed bed sheets. Chamomile tea. Sunshine. Science. Little snippets of life.
I write. Writing is my first love. Growing up, I wrote and wrote and wrote. As a teenager, poetry was very much my thing. And then one day I couldn’t write it anymore. Instead, my blanked-page notebooks filled with short stories of nostalgia and a pain I not always lived but felt in the words that abandoned me onto the paper. I used to write a blog in Portuguese – Testar a vida – which has some of those writings. In English, I found my writing to be equally honest, but so much happier!
I photograph. Mainly in colour, but some B&W occasionally appears. I’m always searching for that light. Little snippets of life (also known as stuff) are my absolute favourite to photograph.
I sew. In colour. I’m setting up a little corner of a room to become my studio and the thought alone makes me happy. However, I dream bigger than that – I dream of a full blown studio all to myself. And a cat. Oh the chamomile teas I could have there!
I knit. Also in colour. Knitting soothes me and makes me appreciate the natural rhythm of things more; there’s no hurry, really!
I run. And I love it! In June 2010, the person who thought running was the dullest thing ever, gave it a go. Turns out, love at first run exists. Part of my dislike of running came from the fact that I thought I couldn’t do it; the reason I couldn’t was that I wanted to do too much too fast. When I tried again over three years ago, I followed a programme for beginners by Runner’s World UK. If you’re new to running, I would definitely recommend this. Running keeps me sane, fit and happy. I’ve done a few races already and my next goal is a half-marathon in April 2014. My current motto is: “I often hear someone say I’m not a real runner. We’re all runners, some just run faster than others. I never met a fake runner.” – Bart Yasso
If you want to know exactly how LMJ the blog began, you really should read this.
If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to drop me an email at littlemissjoey @ gmail . com (without the spaces). I welcome all feedback 🙂
