The first thing she did was carry the garden table and a few chairs to another place, behind our kitchen. I suddenly saw them sitting there, mother and daughter, both with hair down to their waists. Son Remi also wants to let it grow again, and when I first met father Erwin, he also had long hair.

The eye of the master: the most beautiful view over the fields

She may do it, because she is home. Even though we haven’t seen or heard from each other for 17 years, that doesn’t make any difference to the feeling of being at home. Jela first came in 2001, when we’d just arrived here. Good times. Everything was new, the enthusiasm flowed almost palpably through our village, and we did all kinds of things.

There were quite a few people walking around at that time. Friends, volunteers, supporters, passersbyers – everyone welcome, everyone joining a meal. Daniëla was 19 and came as a volunteer. At that age you may have a lot to process and you might want to determine the direction for your future. Perhaps the Termas helped determine that direction a bit….

There was another volunteer who persistently kept calling her Da-nie-jèl. That’s not a disaster, but I also find it annoying when people call me Els or Hellen. So I corrected him just as persistently: “No, Harry, it’s Daa-nie-jayla, Jayla. Just Jayla.” And that’s how it stayed. In the Termas she is still called Jayla.

Jayla Master. A very appropriate name, as you will learn

After six months of stay, I thought it would be fun to create a nice wall painting in the renovated holiday house. The house had been baptized Isis (at that time still a divine name without connotations), and I had found a picture of the goddess Isis in the colors of the house. Jayla, very modestly: “I can paint quite well. Shall I make a sample somewhere?”

In the bathhouse we had plenty of white walls on the top floor, so go ahead! The result was absolutely impressive! Unfortunately, it’s no longer there because everything has been renovated and changed since then, but below you get an idea of what the hand of the Master is capable of.

After her stay in the Termas, she worked for a long time as a mural painter – what is the official name for a special profession like that? – with a lot of fun assignments. But she had also met Erwin, and that had quite a few consequences. Two serious consequences, in fact. And I had never seen them before, because a lot changes in 17 years. Although, certainly not everything….

“You both haven’t changed a bit!” I shout as we greet each other again after all this time. “And you made 3-D copies of yourself, I see!” Remi and Silke are grinning a bit; grown-ups always say strange things – at least that’s what I thought as a child, so maybe I’m projecting.

We started a mosaic workshop the next day. Only the children, because otherwise the luggage would be too heavy. In the meantime Jela and I continued chatting. Of course, a lot has happened in those intervening years. It’s just like old times, very familiar.

Jayla is one of the people you can be quiet with. And that is very special. Not that we have done that now, because there is way too much to catch up, but I still remember that it used to be that way.

You can’t be silent with her daughter around, by the way. “I always talk,” says 9 year old Silke while we glue her mosaic on a piece of plasterboard. We are standing together at the big table, and it is fi-nal-ly happening. She already had to wait for a few hours! “And I don’t have patience either,” she adds. “No, I find that a difficult thing too,” I say, “but I do like it when Mira is patient, for example, when she has to wait for me to go for a walk. But I am learning it, little by little.” “Oh, me too, probably,” Silke answers, “but not yet! Can I take a walk with Mira myself, together with Remi?”

The two mosaics turned out beautiful.

The eye and the hand of the Master are clearly inherited

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P.S. And then they suddenly – just like in the good old times – start working on our pile of rubble! I’ve thought and walked around it a bit; getting rid of this pile is a Herculean task. And the four of them went at it and managed to get two-thirds of it away! Is that something?

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We moved here in 2000 from Rotterdam, Holland to the Termas-da-Azenha, Portugal.

A big step, especially with two small children.

We are busy to rebuild one of portugals cultural heirlooms: Termas-da-Azenha, an old spa which has been turned into several holiday houses, rooms and a campsite.

You’ll find mosaics and paintings everywhere.

Since 2018 we call ourselves the first B&B&B in the world – Bed & Breakfast & Bathrobes. You can buy a home-made unique bathrobe/housecoat with us.

Each week a little blog about what is happening around us. An easy read. A few minutes in another world. A little about what it going on in Portugal. If you plan your holiday to Portugal, it might be a nice preparation

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