Women who homesteaded the West

So cool! I can imagine the hardships these women faced, but also the sheer freedom and joy, as well as satisfaction at a day’s hard work done. Pioneers, leading by example – seriously admirable in my opinion. https://www.hcn.org/issues/343/16929-women-homesteaders Wish you all a great Friday and start to your weekend! Jojo xx

Soulmates

“Soulmates.  I don’t know how it is you are so familiar to me – or why it feels less like I am getting to know you and more as though I am remembering who you are. How every smile, every whisper brings me closer to the impossible conclusion that I have known you before, I…

Finding fond memories

I’m looking through some old boxes my folks brought me from Portugal, when they drove over a couple years back. Yeah, they moved there and it’s just been an absolute blessing. Anyways, I find this book I haven’t read since 2000… it’s called Wild Swans by Jung Chang. It’s a stunning story, full of history…

Tiny vegetation close-ups

Photos taken in Viseu, Portugal, and Luxembourg, during February and March 2020. The flowers, petals and leaves are tiny, the drops reflecting the Samsum S8 phone I’m using to take the shots. Just lovely, wild, beautiful, gorgeous, amazing nature! 🍁🥳🌈🥰☔🌺🦄💎🌼🌻🏵

ode to Jessica

I first met Jessica in a church while singing in the choir… she was a quiet and timid girl, with a wealth of sunlight shining from her. Pause 1, 2, 3… Okay, well the latter part is true at least! 😉 We were kind of in a church – it was a Sunday for a…

The Parting, by Michael Drayton

Since there’s no help, come let us kiss and part Nay, I have done, you get no more of me; And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart, That this so cleanly I myself can free. Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows, And when we meet at any time again, Be…

meditations

“Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity”   I was having a conversation over the weekend at a friend’s birthday gathering. We were discussing housing in Luxembourg, and the fact that a lot of first-time buyers can’t actually afford the housing in the city.  I mentioned my own housing situation and the fact that…

lessons from a tree

if you feel like you’re losing everything, just remember that trees lose their leaves every year, and they stand tall, content, waiting for better days to come. JojoBean xx Written and photographic content is © All rights are reserved.

the best is yet to come!

If you are reading this right now, please know there is more, and perhaps even the best, still to come. Something wonderful is going to happen in your life soon because you are making the effort. …and it will bear fruit!   Keeping the faith! JojoBean x

the irony of Q

the word queue is ironic: it’s just a Q with a bunch of silent letters waiting in line.