WELCOME TO Val's Alentejo -I write about my region of Alentejo. My art ,painting, my cottages, Family life, my animals -Travels And my love for Roses- and rural country life.

Sunday 31 March 2013

Easter

Wishing all my dear blogging friends a very HAPPY EASTER.
                                       Here at "Quintinha das Rosas.".  We will be having  Easter egg hunt for my 3 year old Max.. chocs and goodies for the older children.. Lots of hot tea and good cheer together as a family. Will miss some of my other children. Hopefully we will skype. Mr. M will join us too, not fun without grandad.  Laughter will be in my cottage once again, and fill our hearts with gladness.

Some of you will already have had your Easter morning.. Some not yet.  To all my blogging friends near and far.  Enjoy your day. Be happy and rejoice .
                               Just a little decoration of hand made little Easter chicks -for Max-  Dear Suzy from- Rustic Vintage Cottage -kindly made them for me.. She is always available for any challenge.
                 Flowers from My son and Heleen..
With no sun around.. you cant really see the effect of the lovely yellow  bunting Suzy also made for me.
but , it adds a little bit of happiness to the room.
We all need a little uplifting around , with such awful weather..  Its been non stop rain since I came back from Uk at the end of February.  On and off a little sun peeking through.. but simply depressive weather.
 The children will   bring their joy.  I have hidden eggs and goodies around the house.. as we cant go outside.

Thank you Suzy for all the hard work you have done ..

To my dear blogging followers..   Wishing you a very blessed Easter Sunday.

val x x x x x

Thursday 28 March 2013

Holy week

Holy Thursday, 
Falls on the Thursday before Good Friday.
The Easter Tridum.
The period which commemorates the, death and resurrection of Christ.


                        Wishing you all a blessed Holy Thursday and Good Friday.

Peace and joy to you all during this holy period.
A few moments to thank Our lord for all his blessings.

  ..................................................................................................................................................
   


I have had some problems with blogger, i hope that it will be sorted out with this post.

Thank you to all of you that left comments on my last post.

Val 

Sunday 24 March 2013

val's alentejo: Wet weekend & daydreaming

val's alentejo: Wet weekend & daydreaming: Can you see her!  As I was coming home yesterday from grocery shopping. I saw something move very quickly as I was approaching my car por...

val's alentejo: a lost post

val's alentejo: a lost post: I was looking at my post that i posted earlier.. and i cannot find it. I am not sure what happened. wishing you all a happy weekend. f...

Saturday 23 March 2013

a lost post

I was looking at my post that i posted earlier.. and i cannot find it. I am not sure what happened.
wishing you all a happy weekend.
from val.. These are 4 of my babies. Its been a cold wet rainy day. 

Wet weekend & daydreaming

Can you see her!  As I was coming home yesterday from grocery shopping. I saw something move very quickly as I was approaching my car port.  I abruptly stopped and turned off the car.
Like most of us, I carry my camera with me. I crept very slowly out of the car and was able to take these two photos.  She was hiding close to the fence pole, and thought i couldnt see her ..It was like she was playing statues.
A mummy Quail.   I know I have a few on my property, but they are very evasive. I was so pleased with these two photos.
                               This morning.  I ask myself.  what is one supposed to do, when the rain has not stopped now for over a month!.  We just had a couple of days respite.  Here you can see the water dripping down from my canopy.. and the ground is soaked. Some of the plants are becoming water logged.  Its a wet and miserable day here again.
                 I lit the wood burner.  The fire is bright, warm and cosy..  I took a few of my home decor books from my shelf.. and browsed through.
                               My 4 babies wanted to join in.  Lady the eldest is in her basket the other side.
wood stacked . I browsed through the pages.    I like to dream sometimes .. thinking I might change this or that.  You can get some nice ideas in the books too.

  I sent these two images (internet) to a friend of mine yesterday.. she is wanting to use grey with magenta and white tendencies.. I think it will look fab.

                                                     Love this 'funky' black and white striped chais lounge, and the wall lights.
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A very inviting lounge.  I like lounges that are lived in.  Love the plates and artwork on the walls.  soft side lamps. and books on the table.   Makes me want to decorate again.

                          And here I sat next to the woodburner.  Warm and cosy out of the rain , reading my decor books and drinking my first cup of hot chocolate, out of the beautiful mug , I bought from the Harrods shop at the airport on my way home from the UK


 I  am using the lovely burgandy tin that the mug came in for my chocolate sticks.
Please take one.
Hope that your weekend will be warm and cosy.
I see that there is bad weather in the UK.. and other parts of the world.

A little day dreaming is good for the sole.  

Greetings to all my dear blogger friends.

val

I am trying to publish this again.. as it totally disappeared.. 

Monday 18 March 2013

"Could it be spring"!

What a beautiful morning this morning.  After one month of solid rain , soggy ground and grey skies.  I was becoming quite depressed. 
Today the sun is shining down and the skies are blue.  
  There is still a nip in the air, I can handle that, especially when Mr. sun is out with his friendly smile. 
I was able to take a few photos of some of the plants that survived Sat night's big storm.  And the new plants, that are still not planted .
 Friday afternoon , during a little respite. I went to the nursery and bought a few plants. 
You will all remember from one of my last posts the beautiful path that our family friend Pete built for me. I think it looks really nice.  
The little patch of grassed area next to the path hopefully  during the next week will have some new flowers and plants.  
I bought a fully grown lemon tree .  It even has lemons already on it.  
Some pansies, Fushia , Gerda. and a wihite daisy bush. -
  The other photos are from around the garden.
Petunias.. just a little more sun and they too will be smiling.
My soft lilac daisy plant. I cut it completely down  beginning of january..and its blooming again.  How perfect Mother nature makes her flowers.
Wishing you all a wonderful Monday.. Val  @ Rose Cottage

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Some curious things.


It's pouring with rain . Not very inviting to be outside. What should I blog about today.  I thought I might just share with you some of my collectables a few of many.   This is a Southern African Ostrich Egg.  This one is carved by the native Zulu's . If you look closely at the second photo.. you will see that there is a Giraffe carved out of the egg. It sits on my shelves with my two little chinese ivory figurines that my sister gave me over 40 years ago.  The little cup I painted with a coat of arms, next to it the tiniest little teapot I have ever seen.


This is the size of an ostrich egg.  It usually holds around 12 yolks, sometimes more.
The Ostriches feet. I wouldnt like to be kicked by that.  I have however ridden an ostrich.. such good fun.

Mummy Ostrich with her babies.   The male is the more beautiful of the two.  He is a magnificent specie , when strutting around.   In the upper regions of Southern Africa ..The farmers use ostriches as guard dogs.. yes.. First hand info.     Myself and a friend went to visit some friends up in the northern Transvaal.  We had to park the car a walk away from the main farm house.    We couldnt see any sign of anyone.  So we shouted.. 'hello' hello'..  My friend Sandra, was walking in front of me and I was behind her.. Its low lying bush in that area.    I saw her face frozen. She said to me."val, dont move".. I replied with a laugh "Why".. and at that moment a long neck came over my shoulder with big eyes staring at me.  It was a male ostrich.   We both stood still in our tracks.   They were following us.
Apparantly they are better 'guards' than dogs.  so they are trained from babies.   I can tell you dear friends.  Were we glad when we saw our friends coming to greet us.   The ostriches , went about their duty.  Something I will never forget.
Male and Female Ostich. - The Ostriches from Somalia, Ethiopia north east Kenya are slightly different  at the neck.
When an ostrich in the wild is threatened , he lies flat on the ground..thinks he cant be seen, or buries his head.
If you get too close to him or her.. they cannot kick backwards.. They kick forward and the kick can kill with one blow.
I have had this Dutch Jenevre  antique ceramic dispenser.. for over  45 years.  I love it.  Its  designed in the style of the old Dutch houses.  The cork is at the top, where possibly the Jenevre was made the old fashioned way and then poured into the jar... It is also a musical box.  When I bought it.. I was expecting to hear a lovely Dutch song, but it plays 'oklahoma'.. its always been a vocal point to chat about around my dinner tables during day's gone by.

                                        The Jenevre bottle and next to it an old antique Delft vase.  This was given to me many years ago, by the mother of one of my old friends. She comes from the region. The little relief enamel plate..is hand painted by moi.. Its about to get a new hanging space.
                                                Side view
                             I would love to know what year the ceramic bottle was made. It's from the De Kuyper distilleries.
A small collection of my shells.. Pebbles and star fish we picked up off the beach in 'Salvador' Brazil, during our sailing days . A bottle full of the tiniest little shells.   The wooden box is hand carved by the Brazilian indian's.  Its always been my hiding place for my cotton and needles .. It too has sailed many ocean's

                                  This set was handed down to me from my mother.  It's over 55 years old!
Its ' Yamasan' China.. Made in Japan.   A unique history behind this company and Japanese ceramics in general. The relief  dragon work and the gold painted head is unique. Not everyone's taste.. but it has family history behind it.
                        My mother used it once.  Its never been used again.   When you finish your tea.. you can see the beautiful face of a 'Geisha girl' at the bottom of the cup.
                                        A miniature 'Saki' set.  My grandaughters, used to love to play with it.
                                       How can they design such sweet little pots. This has a special place on my shelves.
                      In the days when one could travel by plane and carry our curios with us on the plane. I brought this magnificent hand made 'soap stone' Giraffe figurine  home with me. Its heavy , my arms were longer, when I arrived home with all I bought.  Its Made in Zimbawe.  I bought it in Durban.

Its still raining my dear friends.   I am much better from my cold. still just a little sinus.. but I am taking myself out for lunch.   I am getting 'cabin fever'

wishing you all a wonderful Tuesday.

Today, we might find out who the new Pope of the RC church will be.!


val

Friday 8 March 2013

World Women's day


Wishing all my dear blogging friends a special day today world women's day. 

         This day started in the early 1900'S.... To fight for woman's rights and equality , that many women around the world are still fighting for.!
Quote:- (wikipedia)  The 8th of March is the day of rebellion of the working women against kitchen slavery.
Its a day to celebrate economic and social achievements of women past , present and future.

There are still some in equalities out there around the globe .. Some of which I see for myself on a daily basis.!"
My thoughts on these matters are education.   Only  through education can we achieve knowledge and better our world.

Still many women all over the world suffer  horrific indignities.

On the brighter side.   The man who invented the dishwasher, should be given a gold medal ):
                                    The same goes for the washing machine ):
                                     The vacuum cleaner
                                     Microwave
Many women do not have the opportunity to have such luxuries.. for some of us they are just a normal way of life and make up part of our kitchen's.


                                              ,,,,,,,..............................................................
A suggestion for a book, that I myself couldn't put down.. that all women should read.

Its about the life of Nomad Somalian  'Waris Dirie'-  Many of you will have read her books.

Desert Flower.
Desert Dawn
Desert children.

Waris Dirie has fought against female genital mutilation , written about it . Of the indignities that these women suffer. and it still goes on.

A flower for you all today. Let's remember and thank many women that have gone before us to enable us to live better lives today.  At least in the western world.!
                                   
Waris Dirie.

Monday 4 March 2013

Winter ! wants to stay

Camera on the ready. I had thrown some bread out for the birds and the big naughty Iberian blue Magpie comes swooping down and scares off all the little sparrows and other birds.  I took the photo from my kitchen window.
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In January, we had better weather , than what we are having now. Once again , winter has hit with avengence .   Its cold , raining and the wind is blowing.
It doesnt seem that Mr. Winter, wants to leave us.
This is how the skies are looking at the moment.
Hope we can see some spring weather soon.

I went with a couple of friends to the garden centre on Friday.  They hardly had any small plants for my pots. I was a little dissapointed to say the least.   We bought a few petunias and pansies.

The weather has caught up with me.  I have been in bed all weekend, with an awful flu. It seems most people have been getting it.  Today, I feel a little better.

wishing you all a happy Monday.  Hope you are having better weather where you are than we are.!


Val