Crochet Amigurumi named Jeremias

Crochet-Amigurumi

I grabbed another amigurumi pattern I found in the book Animal Friends of Pica Pau by Yan Schenkel and made Jeremias, the frog!


Jeremias is a very talented amigurumi frog named after Miss Potter’s character.

He had an amazing olimpic carreer as a professional swimmer when he was a young frog. He traveled all arround the world with his team! After retiring from the olimpic games he wanted to use the amazing vocal sacs he developed as a professional swimmer. So he started to sing and training his voice instead! He met Paul McCartney who invited him to join his famous frog choir. Today Jeremias loves to pop into his crochet swimming shorts and dive into the river with his yellow fins. And then he hums some music under the summer hot sun!

  • Crochet-Amigurumi
  • Crochet-Amigurumi
  • Crochet-Amigurumi
  • Crochet-Amigurumi
  • Crochet-Amigurumi
  • Crochet-Amigurumi
  • Crochet-Amigurumi

Materials and a pattern review

As usual, to make Jeremias amigurumi I used cotton Catona Scheepjes yarn and simply followed the crochet pattern. I love cotton yarn crochet in summer: it’s light and cool in your hands. And I like it specially for amugurumi crochets. Plus, they are very simple and easy projects to make anywhere you go on vacations! As with the ones I already made, this crochet pattern was very easy to follow. In fact I think all Yan Schenkel Animal Friends patterns are very easy and perfect for beginners too. The thing I love the most is that they always inspire me to create a story arround the amugurumi I am making. Since I usually don’t keep them, I love to add a small story to fill their soul.

Perfect summer crochet project

After so many ocean and river swims I had, Jeremias turned out to be the perfect amugurumi crochet to end my summer season. And just in time to meet his new baby friend Lucas who may arrive anytime soon. What’s your next amigurumi project?

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Easy Homemade Pesto Recipe: done and gone!

homemade pesto recipe

Homemade pesto sauce is one of the most versatile things I know. And basil is one of my favorite herbs that represents summer like no other. Who has never had a pot of basil in need of a trim after several months growing in the kitchen? Basil is an annual herb, an ingredient that appeals and brings back summer memories. It can hold up until the first days of cold weather but it will die before the freeze arrives. It’s in its genes. My basil pot had been in my kitchen for months. I grabbed a leaf here and there. With summer in full force, I couldn’t resist: I had to use it all up before lit goes wild!

I used only the traditional pesto ingredients for my pesto recipe.

At first the quantities were a guessing game until I got the version I liked the most. The improved recipe only involved a few septs. In a food processor, add a cup of fresh basil, half a cup of pine nuts roasted for 5 minutes on the stove, two cloves of garlic, extra virgin olive oil and parmesan cheese to taste. Then you just grind it adding more olive oil until you get the right consistency. In the end I always taste to correct the salt.

The homemade pesto sauce is ready to go!


I can’t talk enough about how good this pesto sauce is with just a good dose of wholegrain spaghetti (or other pasta really) and a few shavings of parmesan. And nothing else! Any fresh pesto pasta can go the all way from a starter dish, but it’s so good that I insist on making it as the main dish. For the more demanding ones I suggest pesto with walnuts in your pasta and more basil leaves to crunch. It’s the best!


Pesto sauce can be used in many different ways and the second best is, without a doubt, is to add it to some beautiful tomato and mozzarella cheese to a classic pesto salad for a summer picnic. But it’s also perfect as a pesto dip for crackers or nachos, in a pesto pizza, pesto gnocchi. Add it to any stuffed pasta like tortellini to a pesto pasta salad, or to a baked pesto chicken or baked pesto potatoes with a touch of lemon.

Fresh pesto sauce recipes, especially homemade pesto, should be refrigerated with an extra layer of olive oil and must be consumed within a week or two. It is certainly superior to any pesto sauce you can buy at the supermarkets. Mine only lasted about 2 days, just because it was so so good. Anyone else with a basil needing a trim?

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She needed a hat!

(scroll for the English version)

Ela precisava de um chapéu!

A minha afilhada D. passou dois dos seus primeiros meses em isolamento social por causa da pandemia de COVID-19. Estava ansiosa por sair cá para fora mas, com o tempo a aquecer, andava à procura do seu primeiro chapéu! Como estava tudo fechado, eu pus as mãos na massa e, numa noite, fiz-lhe um bonnet, o meu modelo de chapéu favorito para os mais pequenos. Além de protegerem a cabeça do sol, protegem o pescoço e os olhos. Também protegem do vento, permitem atar sem apertar o maxilar e não incomodam a dormir. Para a D. usei um tecido azul liso e outro com passarinhos coloridos pelo que o chapéu é facilmente usado com todas as cores sem pesar constantemente no habitual cor de rosa. São ambos 100% algodão, um aspeto essencial para promover a respiração da pele. Além disso é reversível!

She needed a hat!

My goddaughter D. spent two of her first months in social isolation because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She was looking forward to going outside, but with the warm weather, she was looking for her first hat! Since everything was closed, one night, I got my hands to make her a bonnet, my favorite hat model for the little ones. In addition to protecting the head from the sun, bonnets protect the neck and eyes. They also protect from the wind, allow you to tie without tightening the baby jaw and can be wear while sleeping. For D. I used a plain blue fabric and another fabric with colorful birds, so the hat is easily used with all the colors. Plus I ran away from the usual baby pink color. Both fabrics are 100% cotton, an essential aspect to promote skin breathing. It is also reversible!

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Nature journal: August, September, October

Há algum tempo que não vos dava actualizações do meu Nature Journal embora já tenha o registo feito há semanas!
Agosto e Setembro no meu Nature Journalfocaram-se sobretudo em experiências, caminhadas, dias passados perto da natureza. O verão é uma época em que todos passamos algum tempo extra cá fora, apesar do meu Nature Journal mostrar que qualquer época do ano está repleta de biodiversidade próxima de nós.

I did not give you updates of my Nature Journal for a while although I already had the all the things registered for weeks!
August and September in my Nature Journal focused mainly on experiences, walks, days spent close to nature. Summer is a time when we all spend some extra time out there, although my Nature Journal shows that any time of the year is filled with biodiversity close to us.

O mês de Agosto foi repleto de oportunidades para observar biodiversidade. Durante um passeio na Serra da Freita vimos uma pequena família de codornizes a sair quese debaixo dos nossos pés quando, ao passar, saíram assustadas de um arbusto onde estavam escondidas e fugiram agitadas para o abrigo mais próximo. Vê-las correr lembrou-me um video jogo: os seus saltos combinados com o bater de asas pareciam dirigi-las ao de leve sobre as rochas do cimo do monte.

The month of August was full of opportunities to observe biodiversity. During a walk in Serra da Freita we saw a small family of quail coming out from under our feet as we passed. They jumped frightened out from one bush where they were hiding and fled restlessly to their nearest shelter. Watching them run reminded me of a video game: their heels combined with the flapping of wings seemed to drive them lightly over the rocks at the top of the hill.

A semana seguinte foi dominada por uns dias de descando à beira mar com uma bela oportunidade de visitar as poças de maré! O calor era tanto que nos deixávamos ficar sentadas numa pedra, com os pés dentro de água. Não tardou a que uma amiga fosse mordida por um mexilhão atrevido!

The following week was dominated by a few days of seaside relax time, with a beautiful opportunity to visit the tide pools! Those days were hot so we used to seet on a rock with our feet under water. It was not long before a friend was bitten by a cheeky mussel!

Os dias 12-13 de Agosto são quase sempre marcados pela famosa chuva das Perseidas, uma chuva de estrelas derivada da passagem do cometa Swift-Tuttle e que são assim são denominadas porque têm uma origem próxima da constelação de Perseus e da Cassiopeia.

The days around 12-13 August are marked by the famous Perseid shooting stars, a phenomenon derived from the passage of the comet Swift-Tuttle and that are so denominated because they appear near the constellation of Perseus and Cassiopeia.

Esta semana, por causa da chuva de estrelas, as saídas à noite também me ofereceram a possibilidade de apreciar o voo dos morcegos. Os morcegos são mamíferos com má conotação devido a mitos e folclore com muitos anos de história… Por essa razão, e porque gosto da ideia de sensibilizar para uma atitude mais positiva para com estes mamíferos, resolvi dar-lhes o espaço merecido no meu Nature Journal apesar de não ter sido capaz de identiicar a espécie que observei com exactidão.

This week, because of the shooting stars, the night time also offered me the possibility to enjoy the flight of the bats. Bats are mammals with poor connotations by humans due to myths and folklore with many years of history… For this reason, and because I like the idea of raising awareness for a more positive attitude toward these mammals, I decided to give them the space they deserve in my Nature Journal although I was not able to identify the species I observed.

Os restantes dias de praia e de calor permitiram-me ainda voltar às poças de maré e retratar mais um organismo que podemos encontrar nas rochas: as lapas! Das coisas mais engraçadas que já vi foi uma lapa colada a um virdro que me permitia ver o organismo pelo lado de dentro. Elas têm um músculo fortíssimo que as permite fixar-se ao substrato e, com a boica, raspar as rochas de algas e outros microorganismos que constituem a sua alimentação. Por vezes é até possível ver nas rochas o rasto que as lapas deixam ao longo do tempo…

The remaining days on the beach allowed me to return to the tide pools and to paint another organism that we can find on the rocks: the limpets! Of the funniest things I’ve ever seen was a limpet “glued” to a glass which allowed me to see the organism from the inside. They have a very strong muscle that allows them to attach themselves to the substrate and, with their lips, to scrape the rocks of algae and other microorganisms that constitute their diet. Sometimes it is even possible to see  on the rocks the “scraping trail” that the limpets leave over time…

Na última semana de Agosto tive a oportunidade de me deslocar a Évora e detectei naturalmente uma grande diferença na paisagem em relação ao norte do país, muito embora tenhamos muitas espécies em comum. Apesar de conseguirmos observar libélulas e libelinhas um pouco por todo o país, este passeio deu-me o tempo necessário para as comtemplar, fotografar e fazer um esboço que pintei mais tarde, ao chegar a casa.

On the last week of August I had the opportunity to travel to Évora and I naturally detected a great difference in the landscape compared to the north of the country, even though we have many species in common. Although we could observe dragonflies all over the country, this tour gave me the time to contemplate them, photograph them and make a sketch that I painted later, when I got home.

O mês de Setembro foi turbulento… mas havia tanto que recordar da minha visita a Évora e do Caminho de Santiago que tive muito por onde desenhar! Claro que tive de remeter para fotografias que tinha tirado já que as oportunidades para desenhar na Natureza foram mais limitadas. Voltei a recordar évora por mais umas semanas porque não queria deixar de retratar alguns dos seres vivos que tinha visto naqueles dias.
Exemplo disso foi uma pequena osga que, colada na parede quente de um edifício  aguardava que a luz de um candeeiro atraísse o seu jantar! As osgas são outro exemplo de seres vivos com péssima conotação mas que além de serem absolutamente inofensivos, são companheiros regulares das habitações humanas e que tratam de eliminar os insectos perto das nossas casas.

The month of September was turbulent… but there was so much to remember from my visit to Évora and the Camino de Santiago: I had so much to draw! Of course I had to refer to photographs that I had taken since the opportunities to draw in Nature were more limited. I remembered Évora again for a few more weeks because I did not want to stop portraying some of the living things I had seen in those days.
An example of this was a little  gecko that, glued to the warm wall of a building, waited for the light of a lamp to attract its dinner! The geckos are another example of living beings with very poor connotation by humans but besides being absolutely harmless, they are regular companions of the human dwellings and eliminate the insects near our houses.

Por fim, não pude deixar de retratar o burro que vivia no descampado mesmo atrás do meu quarto. Ver um burro em Portugal não é algum incomum mas há anos que já não ouvia um burro zurrar… de cada vez que ele o fazia, eu sorria porque me lembrava de quão divertida eu achava a Burra Vitória que havia em tempos no Parque Biológio de Gaia!

Finally, I could not help portraying the donkey who lived in the open ground just behind my room. Seeing a donkey in Portugal is not unusual, but for years I had not heard a donkey bray… every time he did it I smiled because I remembered the lovely Donkey Victoria I always at Parque Biológico in Gaia when I was a child!

Depois veio o Caminho… Confesso que me reservei de desenhar muito sobre o caminho já que não levei comigo o meu Nature Journal o que tornava complicado desenhar. Mas aquela raposa foi o ponto alto da penultima jornada a Santiago de Compostela desde Ferrol. A história daquele momento foi muito especial para mim. Com pena, talvez com a anisedade da recordação, não consegui captá-la como gostava no meu Nature Journal. Acho que um dia escreverei a história dela e prometi a mim mesma repetir uma página, 3 páginas, 20 paginas, só para ela…

Then came the Camino … I confess that I didn’t drawing too much during the Camino since I did not take my Nature Journal with me which made drawing complicated. But that fox was the high point of one of the last days to Santiago de Compostela from Ferrol. The story of that moment was very special to me. With pity, perhaps with the anxiety of the memory, I could not grasp it as I would like in my Nature Journal. I think I’ll write her story one day and I promised myself to repeat a nature page, 3 pages, 20 pages, just for her…

A gaivota… as gaivotas: eram aos milhares e pareciam sondar o edifício do Terminal de Cruzeiros de Leixões como quem procura o calor do colo quente de uma mãe. Uma mãe de Betão. Estava há poucos dias ali e já lhes havia percebido os hábitos, as travessuras e as dinâmicas. Em breve será inverno e cherarão mais e mais para passar os meses frios. Com elas espero ver outras espécies invernantes.

The seagull… actually there were lots of seagulls: they were thousands and seemed to surround the building of the Leixões Cruise Terminal as if looking for the warmth of a mother’s hot lap. A mother made of concrete, though. I had been there for a few days, and had already noticed their habits, tricks, and dynamics. Soon it will be winter and they will wash more day after day to spend the cold months in Portugal. With them I hope to see other wintering species!

O olhar sereno de uma mão cheia de peixes zebra, nervosos, assustados mesmo, num aquário à mercê dos olhos esbugalhados de crinaças e adultos, de música e barulho incompreensível. Senti alguma compaixão por eles e pela frustração de não terem escolha senão estar ali com a máxima de sensibilizar um público altamente disperso. Dirigi-lhes alguns momentos de comtemplação por respeito mas sobretudo por carinho.

The serene look of a hand full of zebra fish, nervous, even frightened, in an aquarium at the mercy of the eyes of children and adults, music and incomprehensible noise. I felt some compassion for them and their frustration of having no choice but to be there with the maximum of work for a highly dispersed public awareness. I give them a few moments of contemplation for respect, but especially for tenderness.

A águia que sobrevoava o Castelo de Marialva, contra o vento gelado que contrastava com o Sol quente. Era um juvenil revelado pelas manchas brancas no interior das asas compridas e que, como jovem que tem o mundo aos seus pés, ansiava queriam cobrir de sombra o morro elevado.

The eagle that flew over Marialva Castle, against the icy wind that contrasted with the hot sun. It was a juvenile as revealed by the white spots on the inside of its long wings and who, as a young man who has the world at his feet, longed to cover the entire hill with shadow with just its wings.

E por fim, um trilho de madrugada por terras de Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, os carvalhos começavam a amadurecer: os ouriços ainda verdes pareciam frágeis e fofos e, no seu interior, as Castanhas já cresciam redondas. Não pude sentir um certo carinho por esta tentativa de proteger algo tão precioso, adormecido. Estava ali eram 7h, já a meio do trilho, e os ouriços lembravam-me os cobertores que tinha deixado na cama…

And finally, a trail at dawn by the lands of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo where the oak trees began to ripen: the still-green hedgehogs looked fragile and cute, and inside, the Chestnuts were already growing round. I could not stop feeling a certain amount of affection for this attempt to protect something so precious while it is asleeping. It was seven o’clock, we already did half of the trail, and the hedgehogs reminded me of the blankets I had left on my bed…

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