Pride of Place

While my son Miguel, was cleaning out an old surgery he bought some many years ago for his brand new dental practice.. He asked me to come and see if there was anything i might like..

While looking around i spied this tall chest hidden and covered with dust behind some old papers and boxes,I fell in love with it immedietly. On opening the drawers , there were old medical insturments and all sorts that dentists use old and disusused from the last century.. of course they were duly put into the rubbish.

During the following weeks.. the old tall chest was brought to my cottage.. I worked on cleaning and sprucing it up for a week.. I was so happy with the result.. It now has pride of place in Olive cottage.

I use it for my cd collection, and my files..

The arrangement in the lovely tin flowerd bowl is silk peonies.. they will be there until the roses and flowers start to bloom again and guests come to Rose Cottage.

"Its just a bag"!!!

This could be the one!!!

just love the bow..this would be special!

can see myself with this one..purple roses!

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Reminding myself to keep focused.. "its only a bag"!

One of my christmas gifts from my son Miguel.. a beautiful Hermes dark navy blue purse.. It needs a bag, yes indeed is does.

Another fetish of mine.. hand bags, of all colours shapes and sizes. I tell myself every time i go shopping for a bag, that is--- twice a year. January and June-" dont stress, its just a bag".. but deep down within.. my concience is telling me.."no no..its not just a bag.. its part of me, and i go to great lengths to find the one that i think will suit me..and try to keep focused on what i should buy.

I always go to specific hand bag shops . I like that, i will be in there for at least 2 hours, looking at all the most gorgeous handbags ,it gives me a mental block. My daughter always tells me, take care. "mum, she says..buy a sensible bag", no teenager bags" !..that is of course her point of view. We have had many a laugh about some of my choices in handbags. I do try to keep my bags sensible..but am very tempted at all the lovely fancy handbags around. My preference is a shoulder bag, for me its more practical . It cant be too small, as i seem to put all and sundry in my bag.

I am in need of a change, its the new year . So I will be off to the shops on saturday to buy myself a new winter handbag. Its going to be difficult. I want to buy them all. But however, must stay focused.

I wonder if any of you dear friends , have difficulty in buying a handbag.

Maintaining traditions

The bride to be with her friends.. The folk traditions of "Viana do Castelo" "Minho" province in the north of Portugal . This province is said to be the prettiest province and is rich in history and true to maintaining their traditions and cultural heritage. Full of pomp ,the religious ceremonies are trully something to see. The Minho people are a very happy people.

A wedding is a great occassion and takes some months of preperation. The young girls start to show off their aquired gold necklaces and earings at an early age. Such a happy group of girls. They are preparing for a "Romeria"- A ceremonial religious day.
Three brides to be adorned with their traditional gold necklaces..a sign of wealth.

This bride has the most beautiful necklaces and earings.. Her head vail possibly hand made.

A young Married couple Of all the Folklore traditions of Portugal, the traditional bridal dress of the girls from the "Minho " region, is my favorite. The brides formal traditional attire is black, with a white headscarf. She is adorned with necklaces of pure gold, wearing them with pride. Some of the gold, having been handed down from great grandmother ,to grandmother ,mother then daughter.

Totally a personal family affair for choice of a wedding dress. Many of the girls that uphold the folklore traditions use the "Traje" outfit.. as their wedding dress .

I learned about the traditions of the "Minhotas" from "Viana do Castelo" from the godmother of my middle son Miguel..she too was a member of a folklore group,often showing me her gold. Now handed down to her daughters. She told me many lovely stories over the years ,of the beautiful traditions and ways of her people of that region. That was some 40 years ago. We are still good old friends. I have of course learnt much more since living here.

Tucked down in one of my kists is a traditional Minho "traje" outfit my friend bought for my daughter when she was 4.. I used to dress her in it at party times.. she loved it.

The more gold the bride to be wears ,the larger her "dowry"!. The young suiter on seeing how much gold the girl wears, will be able to determine if he can sustain and keep her.

Long standing traditions.. that are passed on generation to generation.

Of course there is lots to tell about countries folklore and lots to learn. I enjoyed writing this blog, I wanted to share it with you. . "Minho's" traditions add richness to Portugal's culture.

Delights of christmas gifts

How delighted i was to recieve two "Aromatic Bunch". Perfume Diffuser. Today starts the New year for me.. The house is all clean and tidy.. everything back in their places, and a sense of normality and peace around the cottage.

I have a feeling of well being today.. feels like an early spring, feelings of lovely things to come.

One Bunch will go to my bathroom.. The other to my bedroom.. I will light the sticks early afternoon and enjoy the beautiful fragrance around the cottage, and of course the candels to add atmosphere.

Wishing you all a lovely Saturday.. hope that you all enjoy your christmas presents.

12th day of christmas

The three wise men .. Balthazar, Gaspar, and Melchior , came from the east , bearing gifts of Gold Frankincense- Myrrh. To see baby Jesus

In the liturgical calendar of the christian faith. The "Epiphany" is on the 6th of January .. the 12th day of christmas. The first day being the 25th..

Its a day of celebration here in Portugal.. everyone gives a cake to their

friends and family , they talk about the birth of jesus, and thank him for all the good things he gives us.. and in the early evening cut the "Bolo rei". and sometimes even a small little gift.

wishing you all a blessed 6th of January.

New Generation

Four of my grandchildren , and their laptops below. After having 2 days of horrific problems with google.. I trully needed them to be near to me these last few days, to give me a few tips.

This new generation of techno kids, just seem to whizz through it all. Everytime i see them on their computers , they are doing something new.

When grandma, asks " Do you know how to do this".. reply is.. "oh grandma.." its easy peezy..

Like as if! for me that is anyhow! . I have been using the internet and e mails for some years now.. I can find what am looking for quite easily and do most things .. but the blogging is confusing.

When i see my grandchildren and how very clever they are.. I trully think i am getting too old for this. They of course, think its great. They truly keep me on my toes, and for them i must continue.

I took this photo of the 4 of them at my son's Herdade dos Alfanges.. its where i spend most of my time over the weekends and holidays, that is if i dont have guests. He is my neighbour. Its great, i can just walk there or them to me. the kids hop into the jeep and come over ..usually to see whats going on and what grandma has baked..

A sunny tuesday morning

Dear blogger friends.. I have been working all morning to try to retrieve my old blog page..

My computer crashed last evening.. I have filled in countless "fill in this and fill in that".. Its the first time in years, that i have just wanted to shut it all down.

I have lost my gmail account.. and other stuff..very annoying. I have plodded on, feeling very sorry for myself, as i love to read all your lovely blogs and comment on them..

Thank you all for following me. I have made such lovely friends and look forward to visiting you all and hope you continue to visit me.

Some of you , have such beautiful exciting blogs a joy to read.

Please forgive the changes. I still have so much to learn about the blogging process. I hope this reaches you all.!

I have an old blog that is vals, wihout the '... my blog is..( val's alentejo blog..)

Eventualy I calmed down.. made a nice cup of tea, told me myself.."start all over again val".. then took my camera and went to see my poor winter garden, and take a couple of photos.. I found another rose, hiding behind one of the bushes.. the photo formatt is not correct.. but i will get there..

I am surprised that some of the flowers are still blooming, inspite of the frosty mornings and cold nights. We have had however lovely sunny days.. with that slight chilly winter wind.

I scattered some stale bread on the ground for the birds..they love that.

Wishing you a happy 3rd January..