Country Love ♥

Olá a todos! Espero que tenham tido uma boa semana, a minha foi o normal, carregadinha de trabalho e com pouco tempo para os meus pequenos prazeres, mas sempre a pensar em coisas bonitas! Já fiz o sorteio da vencedora do poster e a Claire Donovan, do Heart Handmade Uk vai receber este poster e uma pequena lembrança! Espero que goste! Para quem não conhece o blog dela, espreitem, por favor, acho que vão adorar!

E hoje venho falar-vos de uma paixão recorrente e que teima em reaparecer com força, de vez em quando: o estilo de decoração campestre, ou country style. Adoro! Adoro a natureza, jardins, flores, a vida no campo que a minha imaginação romântica idealiza... Casas com um pormenor rústico, british (os ingleses são fabulosos neste estilo) ou campestre dão-me sempre uma sensação de maior conforto. A decoração estilo campagne française é igualmente lindíssima, com um requinte que me lembra sempre os tempos da Maria Antonieta - aqueles linhos são de morrer! Eu confesso que tenho alguma dificuldade em definir um estilo de decoração que mais goste - gosto de tantos! Mas acho que uma casa só tem vida se a decorarmos com peças que tenham uso - pelo menos algumas. Senão, fica a parecer um museu...

Então hoje vou mostrar imagens (algumas delas doces!) que me inspiram e que incorporam estes elementos da vida no campo. Vejam se gostam e comentem, por favor:

Olhem-me só este baby shower... mesa em estilo rústico, com doces de aspecto delicioso

e uma envolvente fabulosa, que enquadra toda a decoração da mesa - fundamental.

Look at this amazing baby shower - rustic, with deliciously looking sweets and the whole

decoration around it, that is fundamental for the final outcome.

Credits: Imprintables, via Merriment Events

Uma das minhas lojas online favoritas - nunca comprei nada lá, mas vontade não me falta!

One of my favourite online shops - the most amazing stuff! Never bought something there,

but I would love to!

Credits: Decorative Country Living

Sem palavras. O blog da Maria fala por si.

Speachless. Maria's fabulous blog speaks for itself.

Estas hidranjas e este cestinho fazem-me suspirar...

These hydrangeas and the basket make me sigh...

Credits: Dreamy Whites

Amores perfeitos!

Pansies!

Credits: Blomsterverkstad

Credits: So British Deco

Hi everyone! Hope you've had a wonderful week! Mine was busy as usual, with little time to my hobbies, but with beautiful things always on my mind!... I already have the give away winner, and Claire Donovan, from Heart Handmade Uk is the lucky one! She's receiving her new print along with a little beautiful thing, I really hope she likes them! If you don't know her lovely blog already, please take a look. Claire, could you please send me an email with your address? :)

And today I'm writting about a known passion of mine, that insists on coming to the surface once and again. I'm talking about my love for country style decoration, which I absolutely adore! I love nature, gardens, flowers, the country life that my romantic imagination takes me to... And I find it cosier when a home has a rustic touch or british details (yeah, I know they are the best in this decoration style). But I also love the campagne française style, so refined, it always reminds me of Marie Antoinette - I die for french linens!

It's hard for me to define the decoration style that I like the most, as I love so many different eras and things. But what I think is that we should have beautiful used items at home, so that it feels alive and not like a museum.

So here are some inspiring country living images (some of them sweet!). Take a look and please do comment. :)

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On My Bike

Over the past couple of weeks I have started to commute to work by bicycle and I absolutely love it.

Although I am not particularly fit and had not ridden a bike for years, I am still enjoying travelling by bike more than by car.  I travel into the city for work, so if I drive I have to pay for parking as well as the cost of petrol.  When I ride my bike I save money and get some much needed exercise and fresh air. 

I bought an Apollo Cruiser bike which I find to be very comfortable to ride and easy to manage.  It only has three gears, but that is all I need.  My trip is only about 4 or 5km each way, depending on the route I take, so it's easily manageable for a novice rider.  I am also starting to use the bike for other short, local trips as well. 

Even my children are impressed that their exercise-averse mother is riding a bike - and they now have no excuse not to exercise themselves!

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200 conversations

200 conversas. 200 partilhas que me levaram a uma das coisas mais importantes da vida: a amizade. Através do blog encontrei pessoas que, de outra forma, dificilmente teria conhecido. E, para mim, é o melhor que isto traz.

Já tenho este poster há algum tempo, comprei-o no Etsy - a lojinha entretanto fechou... E já há algum tempo que pensava sorteá-lo num give away aqui no blog - gostava de poder dar um presente a cada seguidor, mas não é possível! :)

Para se candidatarem, basta serem um dos lovely followers deste blog, deixarem um comentário e esperarem pela próxima Sexta-Feira, dia 29, data em que anunciarei o nome vencedor.

Espero que gostem!

200 conversations. 200 shared words, through which I've reached one of the most important things in life: friendship. I've met people through the blog that otherwise wouldn't have been possible. And to me, that makes this worthy.

I have this print for a long time, I bought it at Etsy - the shop closed in the meantime... I have been meaning to give it away for quite some time now, in a way to thank my readers and followers - I wish I could give a present to each one of you, but that's not possible! :)

To win this print all you have to do is become a lovely follower, add a comment and wait until next Friday, the 29th, when I will announce a randomly sellected winner.

Enjoy!

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We'll Meet Again - ANZAC Day 2011

As a tribute to all those Australian and New Zealand (ANZAC) soldiers who fought in the wars of the 20th century, today I am sharing two of Vera Lynn's greatest hits.

As a mother of three sons and daughters, I think of all those sweet boys who went away to fight on foreign shores. I think of all the girls who worked on the home front or who joined the auxilliary forces abroad.  And I think of their mothers who stayed at home waiting and praying that their families would return safely. 

They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.  
Lest we forget.

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Easter Sunday

 ¹ After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
 ² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
 ⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
 ⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

                                                                                Matthew 28:1-10, NIV. 

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Easter weekend

Hello! Aqui estamos nós em pleno fim-de-semana e eu cheia de curiosidade em saber o que vão fazer na Páscoa - almoço de família, rituais religiosos, quais os pratos que vão à vossa mesa, enfim, gostava mesmo de vos ouvir...

Nós por cá mantemos a tradição de almoço em família no Domingo, onde o cabrito assado será, concerteza, o prato principal. Também não faltarão as amêndoas e os ovos de chocolate - cá em casa já não cabe nem mais uma migalhinha de doces, os armários estão cheios!

Aqui estão algumas fotos que tirei este fim-de-semana: ontem choveu, por isso aproveitei para fazer umas embalagens de amêndoas.

Hoje vou aproveitar o dia de sol para sair de casa e talvez dar um salto ao Ikea, para comprar destas cadeiras, que namoro há muito tempo... Uma das vantagens é podermos usá-lo dentro e fora de casa. Acho que cá em Portugal não há em laranja, mas também não pensei nessa cor... Gostam?

Last photo credits: Wood and Wool Stool

Hello lovelies! Here we are in Easter weekend and I'm so curious about your Easter plans: what do you usually do on Sunday? What do you eat, do you spend the day with your family?

We usually have lunch with our family and eat roasted lamb. Sugar almonds and chocolate eggs are also common in our house - my closets are full of sweets, we don't have any spare place for any more sugary treats! :)

Yesterday it was raining a lot, so I stayed at home and did some almonds gifts. Today the sun is shining, so I might go out and maybe go to Ikea, where I plan to find one of those chairs - I think we don't have them in orange here in Portugal, but that wasn't the color I was thinking about anyway. The great thing is that you can use those chairs on the outside as well. I like them a lot! Do you?

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Hot Cross Buns

 Hot cross buns,

Hot cross buns,

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot cross buns,

If you have no daughters,

Give them to your sons,

One a penny, two a penny,

Hot cross buns

One thing I like to do every Easter is make my own hot cross buns.  I usually make a huge batch on Good Friday and they last the whole weekend.  They taste so-o-o much better than the bought ones, and are much less expensive.

By Easter Sunday the buns are slightly stale, so I split and toast them.  They are delicious warm, spread with melting butter.

I posted the recipe back in 2008 and you can find it here.  This year I didn't have any mixed fruit so I used currants and sultanas.  The buns are still very tasty, although I prefer the flavour you get from the citrus peel in mixed fruit.*

*Mixed fruit is a commercial blend of candied citrus peel, raisins, currants, glace cherries and sultanas.

  If you can't source it, use any dried fruit of your choice.

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Dinner with an Easter touch

Olá! Apesar de estar de férias, não tenho conseguido dar a devida atenção ao blog, pois tenho tido trabalho e não consegui conciliar as duas coisas... Já deixei algumas fotos na página do Facebook, mas partilho aqui convosco a decoração da mesa de jantar que fiz em minha casa, para um grupo de amigas de longa data. É um encontro rotativo, em casa de cada uma (somos 7) e, de dois em dois meses, estamos juntas e pomos a conversa em dia. Adoro-as!

Não gosto de encher a mesa de adereços e decorações, daí só ter dado um ar de Páscoa em alguns pormenores - nas amêndoas nas jarras, nas flores de Primavera, nos cupcakes decorados e nos pássaros e ninhos, cujos ovos são tão próprios da época. Mantive as cores da minha sala (os verdes, branco e azuis), para enquadrar com os tons circundantes e optei por toalha e guardanapos de linho (adoro!).

As fotos foram tiradas ao final do dia e chovia... é pena, pois podiam ser mais luminosas. Ora vejam, e digam de vossa justiça:

Hi everyone! Although I'm on vacations, I still had to work, so I didn't make the time to come here and "talk" to you. I already shared some of these photos on the Facebook's page, but now I'm showing them here as well. I did a dinner at home with a group of old friends - it's a rotative meeting, we gather in each other houses every 2 months (we're 7) and catch up with the news. I love them!

As I don't particularly like very fully decorated tables, I opted for little Easter details, such as the almonds inside the jar, the Spring flowers, the eggs and bird's nest, as well as the decorated cupcakes. Everything in soft tones and in the colors of my dining room - mint green, blues and white. I chose a linen tablecloth and napkins, I really like them!

The photos were taken when the table was set, close to dinner time, so there wasn't much light and it was raining... Take a look and tell me what you think. :)

 

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No Water (and Preparing for a Natural Disaster)

This morning I woke up, went to the bathroom, turned the tap on, and no water came out.

I went to the kitchen, but no water came out of that tap either.

I went to the fridge to see if the water jug we keep in the door had anything in it, but the jug wasn't in there.  The kettle was empty too.

I discovered that the only water in the house was in the fish tank (yuck) and in the toilet cisterns (double yuck).

A quick walk out to the street showed that there was a burst water main a few houses away.  A call to SA Water indicated that it might be two hours before the water supply would come back on.

Fortunately there was milk in the house, or everyone would have been very thirsty indeed!

The earthquakes in Christchurch and Japan and the Queensland floods have made me aware that I should keep a supply of bottled water in the house.  I have mentioned this to several people.  Yet I have done nothing about it.  Part of me can't bear to spend money buying water when it's so easily accessible from the tap -- usually.


However, this event, while trivial overall, has reminded me that I should do more about disaster preparedness.  A search of the internet revealed numerous websites that can help us to prepare an emergency plan, some of which I've listed below.  If you google 'emergency preparation' or '72 hour kit' you will find more; the general consensus is that each household should have a 72-hour store of water and non-perishable foodstuffs, along with items such as candles and a first-aid kit.

• 72 Hours.org
• Ready.gov
• Go Bags
• LDS 72 Hour food kit
• http://www.emd.wa.gov/preparedness/documents/piy_72_hour.pdf 

Have you done anything to prepare in case of a natural disaster or disruption of services?  What have you done?

Can you recommend any other websites on disaster preparedness?

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Palm Sunday

Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. 

Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, ‘Hosanna!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!

Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple.

Mark 11: 7-11 (Revised Standard Version)

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Easter is coming!

Olá, queridos amigos! Aqui estou eu, de volta para vos contar mais umas histórias... Na próxima semana estou de férias e espero poder estar aqui mais vezes. Na Quarta vou dar um jantar para um grupo de amigas e estava a pensar em decorar a mesa com elementos alusivos à Páscoa - já tenho alguns, que vos vou mostrar. Estes passarinhos das fotos farão provavelmente parte da decoração dos guardanapos, mas ainda não decidi.

Ainda estou indecisa nas sobremesas, não sei bem o que hei-de fazer... Queria algo com uma decoração relacionada com a época, mas ando com tanto trabalho que a minha cabeça não consegue deitar cá para fora ideias! Ajudem-me, por favor!

Hello, my dear friends! Here I am, back with some stories to tell you. I'll be on vacations next week, so hopefully I'll be here more often. I'm also having a dinner at my home with a group of old friends. As we are on Easter time, I thought about decorating the table with a few items related to it. These litlle cute birds that you see on the photos might be a part of the napkins decorations.

I also want do have something special for dessert, decorated accordingly, but I have been so busy at work lately that I can hardly think of something else and my head feels empty... Please, help me! I need inspiration!...

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Books I am Reading: a Look at WWII Thriftiness

 Do you ever read books on a particular theme together?

Lately I have been reading a great deal about World War II and the lives of families on the homefront, especially in England.  I feel that I have a great deal to learn from the thriftiness, resourcefulness and self-sufficiency of those who survived the Great Depression and the Second World War.

Probably my favourite recent book on this subject is Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall's

The Ministry of Food: Thrifty Wartime Ways to Feed Your Family.  As the author points out, issues such as reducing waste, growing our own food and eating seasonally are now issues all over again, if for different reasons than during the War:

Today, instead of fighting Hitler, we are combating economic recession.  But unlike our forebears, we are fighting on several fronts – against waste, junk food and the depletion of fossil fuels.  In hard times the battle for survival can be exhilarating, and it does bring rewards: the satisfaction that comes from self-sufficiency; pride in seeing children grow up strong and healthy; and the friendships that develop through co-operation with neighbours. (p.13)

Written as part of a 2010 exhibition at the Imperial War Museum in London, The Ministry of Food is a wonderful combination of social history, cookery book and gardening guide. It is filled with fascinating anecdotes, recipes and posters from the period.  Highly recommended.

Also of interest to those wanting to learn from wartime thriftiness are two smaller books;

Make Do and Mend: Keeping Family and Home Afloat on War Rations

and Eating for Victory: Healthy Home Front Cooking on War Rations.  These books are fairly basic compilations of official Second World War Instruction leaflets.  I have only read Make Do and Mend so far, and while I found its tips and hints fascinating (I didn't know there were so many ways to darn a garment!), I felt it could have benefited from an index.

The next book on my reading list is Nella Last's War: The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife 49'.  As stated on the back cover, "In September 1939, housewife and mother Nella Last began a diary whose entries, in their regularity, length and quality, have created a record of the Second World War which is powerful, fascinating and unique."  While this Mrs Last's wartime diaries were first published in 1981, I have only learnt about them recently and can hardly wait to get my hands on a copy.

What are you reading at the moment?

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Homegrown Ginger in a Pot - in Adelaide

Have you ever grown anything that isn't supposed to grow in your area?

I have always thought of ginger as a tropical plant and had never considered growing it until last spring.  I planted a woody bit of bought ginger in a terracotta pot and, to my surprise, a few weeks later it was sprouting shoots.

Throughout summer I watered the ginger plant with diluted worm juice and today I dug part of the plant up to see if any ginger roots had developed.

To my surprise there are quite a few fat roots in the pot.

The roots are quite different from commercial ginger as they don't have that brown skin and don't appear to need peeling.  Instead, the outside of the homegrown ginger varies from soft yellow to a delicate pink.

I used a knob of fresh ginger in a marinade tonight and it was delicious!

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Weekend blogger

Estou a tornar-me uma blogger de fim-de-semana. Não consigo ter tempo à semana, e acabo por apenas conseguir postar algumas fotos na página do Facebook, para mostrar ao Mundo as coisas de que gosto. Desculpem, mas não tenho mesmo conseguido...

Aqui vão algumas ideias que tenho tido e que gostava de vos mostrar. Espero que gostem.

Uns pormenores na decoração da prateleira que separa os hall dos quartos da sala

Decoration details on the shelf that separates the bedroom's hall from the living room

Esta fitinha azul vai ser trocada por outra, em verde esmeralda

This blue ribbon is goingo to be changed by an emerald green one

As almofadinhas das meninas: a Carlota é o Bambi e a Conchinha a gatinha

The vintage pillow that I gave my daughters: Carlota has the one with the Bambi and Conchinha has the kitten one

Uns bolinhos de chocolate e açúcar mascavado - deliciosos!

Chocolate cakes with brown sugar - super yummy!

I'm becoming a weekend blogger. I just don't have the time during the week, so I end up posting a few photos on the Facebook page, to share the things that I like with the rest of the world... I'm sorry, but I 've been really busy lately...

Here are some ideas that I've been having and that I would like to share with you. I hope you like them.



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