No blogging for some days (I hope not too many!!!)

Our two computers are having serious problems and I don't know how long it will get to solve them, so I won't be blogging for some time. I hope to visit you soon and to blog soon. Blessings to all my bloggy friends.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING DAY!

Children Watching Turkey in Pen

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Portugal but I want to wish all my American blogging friends a wonderful day.

E para os Portugueses que não sabem bem que dia é este, aqui fica a informação que retirei da Wikipedia:

O Dia de Acção de GraçasPE ou Dia de Ação de GraçasPB (em inglês: Thanksgiving) é um feriado celebrado nos Estados Unidos e no Canadá, observado como um dia de gratidão, geralmente a Deus, pelos bons acontecimentos ocorridos durante o ano. Neste dia, pessoas dão as graças com festas e orações.

História

Estados Unidos da América
Os primeiros Dias de Ação de Graças na Nova Inglaterra eram festivais de gratidão a Deus, em agradecimento às boas colheitas anuais. Por esta razão, o Dia de Ação de Graças é festejado no outono, após a colheita ter sido recolhida.
O primeiro deles foi celebrado em Plymouth, Massachusetts, pelos colonos que fundaram a vila em 1619[1]. Após péssimas colheitas e um inverno rigoroso, os colonos tiveram uma boa colheita de milho no verão de 1621. Por ordem do governador da vila, em homenagem ao progresso desta em relação a anos anteriores, uma festividade foi marcada no início do outono de 1621. Os homens de Plymouth mataram patos e perus. Outras comidas que fizeram parte do cardápio era peixes e milho. Cerca de 90 índios também atenderam a festividade. Todos comiam ao ar livre, em grandes mesas.
Porém, por muitos anos, o Dia de Ação de Graças não foi instituído como feriado nacional, sendo observado como tal em apenas certos Estados americanos como Nova Iorque, Massachusetts e Virgínia. Em 1863, o então presidente dos Estados Unidos, Abraham Lincoln, declarou que a quarta e quinta-feira da terceira semana do mês de novembro seria o dia nacional de Ação de Graças.
Mas em 1939, o presidente Franklin Delano Roosevelt instituiu que esse dia seria celebrado na terceira semana de novembro, com o intuito de ajudar o comércio, aumentando o tempo disponível para propagandas e compras antes do Natal (À época, era considerado inapropriado fazer propagandas de produtos à venda antes do Dia de Ação de Graças). Como a declaração de Roosevelt não era mandatória, 23 Estados adotaram a medida instituída por Roosevelt, e 22 não o fizeram, com o restante tomando ambas a quinta-feira da terceira e da quarta semana de novembro como Dia de Ação de Graças. O Congresso americano, para resolver este impasse, instituiu então que o Dia de Ação de Graças seria comemorado definitivamente na quinta-feira da quarta semana de novembro, e que seria um feriado nacional.

Canadá
O primeiro dia oficial de Acção de Graças realizado no Canadá foi festejado em 5 de abril de 1872, tendo sido reconhecido como feriado nacional pelo Parlamento Canadense em 1879. Em 1957, o Governo Canadense instituiu a segunda-feira da segunda semana de outubro como o Dia de Ação de Graças.

O Dia de Acção de Graças

O peru é considerado o principal prato do Dia de Ação de Graças.
Tanto nos Estados Unidos quanto no Canadá, o Dia de Ação de Graças é geralmente um dia quando as pessoas utilizam o tempo livre para ficar com a família, fazendo grandes reuniões e jantares familiares. É também um dia em que muitas pessoas dedicam seu tempo para pensamentos religiosos, serviços na igreja e orações.
O Dia de Ação de Graças é celebrado também com grandes desfiles e, nos Estados Unidos, com a realização de jogos de futebol americano. O principal prato típico do Dia de Ação de Graças geralmente é peru, o que dá ao Dia de Ação de Graça o nome de "Dia do Peru"(turkey day)

Outros países
No Brasil, o presidente Gaspar Dutra instituiu o Dia Nacional de Ação de Graças, através da lei 781, de 17 de agosto de 1949, por sugestão do embaixador Joaquim Nabuco, entusiasmado com as comemorações que vira em 1909, na Catedral de São Patrício, quando embaixador em Washington. Em 1966, a lei 5110 estabeleceu que a comemoração de Ação de Graças se daria na quarta quinta-feira de novembro[2]. Esta data é comemorada por muitas famílias de origem americana, igrejas cristãs, universidades confessionais metodistas[3] e cursos de inglês.

About me

I found this at Alfazema and thought it would be fun to do it.

What time did you get up today? 8.30

Diamonds or pearls? Both.

Latest movie in a movie theater? High School Musical III (Just imagine why!!!)

Favorite TV series? I'm in a TV fast right now.

What did you have for breakfast? Orange juice and a piece of toast.

What's your middle name? Gisela

Favorite food? I couldn't name just one.

Which food don't you like? Lamb. There's probably something else I don't like but I cannot remember right now.

What's your favorite CD at the moment? I don't usually hear CDs. I used to some years ago but not now. When I feel like to hear some music I go to You Tube. But lately I've heard several times the Mamma Mia Sountrack, because my DD has it and she loves the music. Not only her. I also do!!!

What car do you drive? I don't drive. But I should. I have a WW Golf waiting for me!

Favorite sandwich? I don't know. It could be ham, cheese or tuna fish. But no tomatoes or lettuce, please.

Which human traits can't you stand? I don't like quite a number of them but I just pray because I know that God can change people.

What are your favorite clothes? Dresses. But I don't have many.

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? England. Always England. I just love that country. I wish I could live there. If I could take my whole family with me, I would certainly go and live there. But as I cannot do that, I hope to be rich and be able to go there once or twice a month!!! LOL

Favorite clothing brand? I buy whatever I like and can afford.

Where would you like to retire? Well, when my DH retires, we could go to England!!!

Favorite time of day? Mornings

Where were you born? Lourenço Marques - Mozambique.

Which is your favorite sport to watch? None

Coke or Pepsi? Coke

Soccer or hockey? None.

Are you a morning person or a night owl? A morning person!

Pedicure or manicure? Both

Any exciting news to share? We're going to Madeira to celebrate the New Year!

What did you want to become as a child? I just wanted to be a wife and a mother but as I thought it was an impossible dream, I told everyone I wanted to be a teacher or a singer. But God made my dream come true. Not like I wanted (I would love to have many children but I have only one. But I am very thankful for my DD's life. I love her so much and she is such a blessing) but I accept His will.

Best childhood memory? I cannot think of just one.

Ever been to Africa? I was born there.

Ever rolled anybody in toilet paper? No! And I don't really think it is something funny to do.

Have you ever been in a car accident? No, thanks God!

Favorite day of the week? I love everyday of the week because I am at home, the best place to be. But I could say Sunday because I love going to church.

Favorite flower? Roses.

Favorite - Hot dog or Chinese food? I like hot dogs but I prefer Chinese food.

Do you own a bike? No. I'm not very good at it.

Who was you latest e-mail from? My Mom.

Where would you like to shop more if you could afford to? Like Alfazema, I would say «anywhere in England»!

Bed time? Somewhere between 1o:00 P.M. and 12:30 A.M.

Latest person to share dinner with? My husband and daughter.

What are you up to now? Loving every single thing about my «wife/mother/homemaking career».

Favorite color? Blue, pink, white.

How many tattoos? I hate tattoos!

Water saving tips

We are constantly been reminded that we should save water, for environmental and economic reasons. I must say that I've not always been very good at saving water. But now I decided to change this. There are lots of places where you can find good water saving tips but I'll leave you with this one. I still have two difficult areas: I hand-wash dishes under a running tap and while showering, I cannot turn off the water when I shampoo my hair. But there's another tip that I've heard about recently and I'm really saving a lot of water by doing it: while I'm waiting for my shower to heat up, I capture the cold water in a bucket and use it in the toilet or for cleaning.

Award

I got this award from Mari. Thank you, Mari. For the award and for being my bloggy friend. I will pass it to Linda, at Ivory Blossom, to Alfazema, to Sandra, at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom, and to Paula, at Ensino Doméstico - Aprender Sem Escola.

Lincoln

For those of you who would like to see the photos of our trip to Lincoln, you can go there.

Show and Tell Friday

For the first time, I'm going to participate in the Show and Tell Friday. I'm showing you a part of our living room where we used to have a door. I had it decorated with photo frames for a long time but now I've decided to change a bit. I left some photos frames but I decorated it with teacups and a teapot that I like very much. You can also see the flower garland, made with Saint Therese roses, that my princess wore on my wedding.

Bookworm Award

I've been tagged by Sandra (thanks Sandra) and the rules for this award are:Pass this on to 5 blogging friends. Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56. Write the 5th sentence, as well as two to five sentences following that.

From Aspects of Lincoln - Discovering Local History, by Andrew Walker

«Traditionally these shops had dealt with minor first aid and dentistry as well as shaving and cutting the hair of male clients. Traditionally too they provided strong waters, possibly as a mild anaesthetic for their surgical practice. There were only two recorded in the first half of the centuryy but nine between 1662 and 1684. This increase can be attributed to the general adoption of wigs by men with any social pretension.»

Now I'm going to tag:

Ana, at Prisma

Carla

Alfazema

Mari, at My Little Corner of the World

Linda, at Ivory Blossom

Have fun doing it!!!

Giving Thanks - Thursday

Today is the last day of this «Giving Thanks» celebration. I've listed some of the most important things I am thankful for but there are so much more. For today I have chosen homeschooling. I am thankful for the opportunity God is giving us to homeschool our daughter. I is amazing how God led us in this direction and, although we have been criticized and/or regarded as odd by many people, we truly believe that homeschooling is a biblical form of education. It is not easy to homeschool but we believe that when we make our children and their training a priority, God will bring us many blessings.

Never Alone (Thanks Sandra)

Sandra created this beautiful award and she also wrote a beautiful post that you can read here. I'm passing this award to all my family and friends, especially to those who read me. Thank you for visiting and commenting. I would also like to pass this award to A. & M., who have just wrote me from Belfast. You are very recent friends but very special ones.

Giving Thanks - Wednesday

Today I am thankful for my home and for the opportunity God has given me to do what I have always dreamt about doing but never thought it would be possible: to be at home, caring for my family.

But I want to confess you one thing and I hesitated before doing it because it is not easy to share our weaknesses. Although I love being at home and everything that has to do withthe home, it took me a long time to learn to be thankful to God for this particular house where we live in. My husband and I don't own this house. It belongs to my in-laws and, although they're always telling me that this house is also mine, it is not the same as having a house of your own. I cannot do everything I would like to do and this house is miles away from the house of my dreams (and I tell you that I don't have very expensive dreams). I won't get into more details about this situation but I just wanted to tell you that God showed me that it is possible to have contentment in situations that don't please you. It took me a long time but I've learned the lesson and I am very thankful for the house where we live in: our home, sweet home.

Papiamentu

Linda taught me something I didn't know. I had heard about Curaçao but knew nothing about it or about its language. And now I know it is also similar to Portuguese and it was great fun learning more about the ABC islands and the papiamentu language.

I'm posting here an introduction I found at www.papiamentu.com, but go to that site to learn more.

Bon Bini - Welcome
Papiamentu is the local language of the ABC Islands -Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao

Papiamentu is a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English, French, and it also has some Arawak Indian and African influences. Papiamentu is one of the few Creole Languages of the Caribbean that has survived to the present day.
Papiamentu is predominately a spoken language among the local people of Curaçao, Bonaire, and Aruba. The official language is Dutch, and the written Papiamentu is limited to some local newspapers and literature. Also the schooling system is Dutch, and people typically don't get any formal training in their language. There have been some discussions about introducing Papiamentu to be taught at schools as well.
Compared to other languages, Papiamentu is spoken by very few people: less than one third of a million in total. Papiamentu is also a fairly simple language, and it is quite common that certain expressions or more complicated grammatical constructs have to be simplified in order to be translated into Papiamentu.
From island to island, small variations in Papiamentu mainly in spelling and vocabulary can be observed. Some efforts have been made to standardize Papiamentu and its orthography, however, Aruba decided for a spelling that is closer to Spanish, whereas the other islands tried to stay closer to the roots in that respect. As a result, some words may still have more than one way of spelling it, e.g. Papiamentu - Papiamento, Korsou - Korsow, kwater - cuater, sinku - cincu, etc. In general, words are spelled exactly as they are pronounced, e.g. "flet tair" for flat tire.
Suggestions for improvements to this page are always welcome.
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Giving Thanks - Tuesday

Today I am thankful for my friends. Those I've known for a long time and those I've met more recently. And I've made a lot of new and wonderful friends at the Reviver church, where I've been for almost three years now. And I'm also thankful for my blogger friends. I never thought I would make so many friends when I decided to start blogging.

I've heard many people saying that it is not good to have many friends, that you should have just one or two good friends because it is impossible to have many good friends. Well, I'm sorry but I must disagree. There are a lot of good people in this world and I'm thankful to God that I know quite a good number of them. I love having many friends. They are different, each one of them has a different role in my life, but they are all very important to me. I love them all and feel very blessed that God has placed them in my life.

Giving Thanks - Monday

Kelli is hosting the week of Giving Thanks.
Today I will be thankful for the love of God and for the family He has given me. I wanted to post photos but I don't have anymore time left. Sorry!!!

My new apron

You know how much I love aprons. I have a new one that I bought in Lincoln and that I would like to show you. Here it is:

Prayer / Oração

Three Girls Praying

When I was a Catholic, I used to pray at a specific time of the day (usually morning and night) and I did formal prayers. Most of the time, I didn't even know what I was doing. I was just doing what I think was right to do: to pray at least twice a day. I'm not saying that all Catholics pray the same way but it was like that with me. I believed in God but I didn't know Jesus the way I do now (well, I'll write about that another time when I tell you my testimony).

But since Christ came into my life, my prayers have changed. I understood that I don't need formal prayers anymore and that I can pray as if I was (and I am really) opening my heart to a dear friend. And the greatest friend is Jesus Christ. I also understand what the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 meant by saying that we are to "pray without ceasing." No, it doesn't mean that we should give up all other activity and only give ourselves to prayer. That would be impossible to do. It means that we are to pray whether we feel like it or not. It means to have an intimate relationship with our loving Father. And it means that we have to be persistent, not to convince God to act but because, by being persistent, we are keeping in touch and growing in stature as one of his blessed children.

And although I'm learning to pray, and I'm enjoying to do it, I still have a long way to go. When I'm with other people and if I am to pray for someone, I still get stuck because I worry too much about the words I'm saying, rather than focusing on what is really important: the relationship with God, through Jesus. I know it has to do with the habits I had for such a long time and also with the fact that I have always been terribly shy. But I know that God can change that and I'm praying for that too.

Quando eu era Católica, rezava a determinadas horas do dia (normalmente de manhã e à noite) e fazia orações formais. Na maior parte das vezes, eu nem sequer sabia o que estava a fazer. Fazia aquilo que achava que tinha de fazer: rezar pelo menos duas vezes ao dia. Não estou a afirmar que todos os Católicos fazem o mesmo mas comigo era assim. Eu acreditava em Deus mas não conhecia Jesus da forma como conheço hoje (escreverei sobre isso noutra altura quando vos der o meu testemunho).

Mas desde que aceitei Cristo na minha vida, as minhas orações também mudaram. Percebi que já não preciso de orações formais e que posso orar como se estivesse (e realmente estou) a abrir o meu coração com um amigo muito querido. E o maior de todos os amigos é Jesus Cristo. Também percebi o que o Apóstolo Paulo queria dizer, em 1 Tessalonissences 5:17, com «orai sem cessar». Não, não significa que devemos pôr de lado todas as nossas actividades e entregarmo-nos completamente à oração. Isso seria impossível. Significa que devemos orar, quer tenhamos ou não vontade. Significa ter uma relação íntima com o nosso Pai, que nos ama. E significa ser persistente, não para convencermos Deus a agir, mas para nos mantermos em ligação com Ele e crescermos.

E embora eu ainda esteja a aprender a orar, e esteja a gostar de o fazer, ainda tenho um longo caminho pela frente. Quando estou com outras pessoas e tenho de orar por alguém, ainda tenho dificuldade porqu me preocupo demasiado com as palavras que vou dizer em vez de me concentrar naquilo que é realmente importante: a relação com Deus, através de Jesus. Eu sei que isto tem a ver com os hábitos que tive durante tanto tempo e também com a minha enorme timidez. Mas sei que Deus pode mudar isso e já estou a orar também por isso.

Apple Pie, Scones, Panettone & Tea. And Friendship, Love & Fun

We had a wonderful time. And the pie was delicious. As you cannot taste it, I'll leave you with the photos.

Five o'clock tea

Elegant Tea II

I'm having a five o'clock tea with some family and friends. Not so elegant as the one in the picture (!!!) but that's not what really matters. We're having scones and apple pie and surprising it may be, it's the first time I'm making apple pie. I'll tell you later if it is good. It is in the oven now so I cannot show you any pictures yet.

Curry

My sister told me that curry is good for colds so I decided to cook a chicken curry today. I love curry so it's a good remedy for me!!! I hope that it works for me and that I'm feeling better tomorrow.

Faithful God

They sang this song at Life Church in Lincoln and I loved it as well.

My Redeemer Lives

I also love this one and Lídia sang it at New Life Church in Sleaford. I just hoped you could hear her wonderful voice.

Who Am I

My friend Lídia showed me this music and I just loved it. Just wanted to share with those who still don't know it.

Back from Lincoln and missing England (even the weather!!!)

Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, UK, Europe

I'm back from our weekend in Lincolnshire. It was a wonderful weekend but I don't have much time now to write. I just wanted to tell you that we wad a great time. And thank you for your prayers.

Too busy to blog this week

Garden Friends: Busy Bee

We had a wonderful weekend. Thank you all for your messages and prayers. I'm having a very busy week so I won't have time to blog. I have all the usual things to do concerning homemaking and homeschooling but I'm also preparing our trip to England. I will be in England from Friday to Monday with our Pastor Tito and other three people from our church. Next week, I'll write and post photos from both weekends. And once again, I'm asking you to please pray for us. Love to all my blogger friends.