Thanks Silvia! You're wonderful! Did y'all have any luck with the stuff I sent you? I'm trying to remember what I sent. Cilantro? Arugula? I'm so ready to have fresh arugula all the time again. I've tried it in pots in the shade, but my shade is so far from where I remember to water that it hasn't worked very well. I had one pot that somehow produced well by accident, from late-set seeds that got stuck out in the shade to avoid the termite tent in early June. Surprised me when I found Arugula in July that was light-colored from the shade, but tasty, tender and not at all bitter from the heat. So I figured I'd try more shady arugula, but then I forgot to water and got nothing. The green zebra I'm trying this year is from you, along with some ground cherries I'm really looking forward to and the green cherry doctor and coure di bue you sent me. I have extra Arkansas Traveler if you're interested. And some interesting hot peppers. Bellingrath Purple and Hungarian Wax (a hot banana.) I know I bought both because they were supposed to be good for our climate, and I'm going to try again this year with them, but I didn't have any luck last year. Want to try them? In looking at the seed box, I also have an Ecuadorean Aji from you I'm looking forward to. And some acorn and delicata squash, but as I recall, you already grow those. Let me know what I can send you in return. Susannah

I was offered to buy a seedling for 120 EUR and it's from another EU country. I am thinking what to do as I have no idea if Portugal allows importation of palms from other countries of the EU. When I asked the Portuguese Embassy and the transshipper, they told me to NOT bring any plants or soil into Portugal. Regarding climate 66F or 19C at night only happens mostly during summer months here. I am about 2 km from the coast and it is a very slight slope probably not more than 6%, so I may not be at a very high elevation, probably 100-200 m above sea level. The location is Santa Luzia on the main road almost midway between the cities of São Roque and Madalena. The absolute minimum this past winter was 7.7C one night and 8C one night and a couple dozen nights at 9C including one day at 9C and the rest is 10C and that is early morning and night temperatures (Santa Luzia do Pico). The lower lying cities on the coast may be a bit warmer a degree or two including urban heat index. Day temps here in Santa Luzia are usually 13C to 18C during the cold period of the year, with a very occasional 19-20C closer to spring. I think humidity here is quite high, but when there is no rain for a week or two I would guess the humidity may go down as low as 50%? Some days a few days in a row can be very windy and then rain, but lots of sunny days anyway. I think this is a very good climate for those who do not like heat, does not like their skin to crack in February and who hates frost. Germinating tropical palms here may be a challenge, which I am still to endure and test. So far Washingtonia seeds placed in pots of soil last year gave no germination at all at the temps of 10C to 18C. I am now trying to cover the pots with large plastic cut bottles to create a greenhouse effect for the seeds, so far no germination for Washies either. Seed germination may be a challenge in the Azores!

We may need to change the the nickname of forum members to TKO&TGO!! A mouthful but I think it's kinda true here! Claire- your pup looks a bit like my girl, Bailey. Sydney and friend are sure cuddly cute together! Must see Annakin! And love the name! Name choosing for a pup in a family takes on a life of it's own doesnt it? We took Cooper and Bailey for a swim on Sunday in a local lake. They love to retrieve balls from the water. It is their fav thing to do. as well as ours - we are going first thing on the 4th too. Pirula-We have found that not all goldens take to water- not like labs. We started early, after they bonded. A slow gentle approach with a small hard sided kiddy pool( Petsmart has them ) with a bit of water,add more gradually,never force them, is a good way to introduce them to water, we found. What fun! Our first golden,Cody, a rescue, would not go near the water and we wanted to make sure that these guys love the water. Of course, now our next house MUST have a pond with a bit of land or a lake house. Dreaming of it anyway. Happy 4th! Sue

Be safe Carolyn! We do go to restaurants, but here almost all servers, etc. are masked. I assume their employers are requiring this since we do not have a mandate. I do appreciate their consideration of their customers and employees and I will certainly wear a mask into restaurants, shops, etc. in consideration of others. We have recently changed over to the good masks since the cases here have gone up so quickly in the last couple of weeks. Yes, the vaccines seem to be helping with severity of cases but the O is so contagious. What really irks me is those who are not vaccinated and will not wear a mask. Of course you don't know who those are. On the rare occasions I am in a store, I hate it when someone without a mask gets right up in my space. Seriously? It's your right not to mask (or vaccinate for that matter), but stay the h#!! away from me. How hard is it to mask up and keep your distance? If only people would care just a little about others. SIGH!