{ Blog 365 #118 - Friday }

Today I'm bringing a post from a few years ago.  I used to have a Friday Feature called Remember When?  In which I talked about my childhood, family stories, vacations, places we lived and so forth.  I don't know why I stopped doing it because it was a great way, to write down the memories that formed our family, and I think I may start it back up again.

But for today, I wanted to introduce you to who I am, and where I lived.  I hope you enjoy!

When we first moved to Portugal, it was in the 70's and right after the big Independence war in Mozambique, where I was born.

We left with nothing.

First fleeing to Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe), and then hopping a plane to Lisbon, Portugal.

I was but 2 years old, I didn't know what was going on, why we had to leave so suddenly and why we were now living in a completely different country. 

Things were not easy. 

For the first few months or a year that we lived in Portugal, the only place my parents could afford was this tiny little room in one of Lisbon's buildings.  Rua Sebastiao Saraiva Lima.

It's funny how I remember so many details even though I was really young at the time, but I think that some things are so deeply etched into your heart and memory that you will recollect them for many years to come.


One of the things I most remember was the front door to the building.  This massive wooden door, it always made me feel like I was walking into a castle.

Source

The buildings foyer was huge.  It had staircases on the left and the right going up to other rooms, but ours was on the bottom floor, almost as if in the basement.

I remember walking in, and turning to the right, going down these little stairs and then a hallway with a few doors.  Our room was there, behind one of those old wooden doors.

There were 6 of us in that bedroom.  My parents, me, my 2 older brothers and my baby brother who was but a few months old.

The two of us slept on the floor on a mattress, I would sleep right next to his bassinet and it didn't bother me that I was on the floor, I didn't know any better, I didn't think anything was wrong.  I kind of liked sleeping right next to the baby.

The only thing that I didn't like and would drive my parents insane, is that there were mice all over, and I would sometimes lay in the dark hearing their little feet scrambling across the floors, praying and praying that they wouldn't come anywhere near me.  For the most part, they stayed outside of the room, but there was the one night where not only did they come into the room, they ran right across me, onto the bassinet and across my baby brother.  GROSS!!!

During the day, my dad would go to work, and my stepmom would stay home with us.  There wasn't much to do, but we found ways of staying busy.  We pulled out pots and pans and would take them to the backyard of the building.  If you can call it a backyard.  It wasn't much of one, just a little area surrounded by big stone walls, a few potted plants and chickens.

Oh the chickens.  The smell is so unique that I have never forgotten it.

One could say that we were poor, but I don't think we were.  We were just starting out, in a new country, my parents desperately trying to plant roots, and start a good life for us all. 

Lisbon was a busy place.  Beautiful, old, full of history.

There was never a dull moment and we never ran out of places to see and visit.  All you had to do was take a walk in any direction and you were surrounded with cafes, shopping, museums etc.

Source

These are the kind of streets I remember. 

The kind of places I visited.

Source

And my favorite thing on earth to ride???  Carro Electrico.  The Tram Cars. 

These Trams have been in operation since 1873 and a huge favorite for tourists.  I was always fascinated with them and if we had to go anywhere, I would ask if we could ride those instead of taking a cab.

Mercado da Ribeira

Another favorite of mine, were the big markets.  We would go once a week for the fresh produce, fish, eat etc.  The smell was indescribable, it assaulted your senses.  On the one hand you had the smell of fresh fish, but then you had hot coffee, and flowers, and fruit and vegetables.  It was a kaleidoscope of scents.

The tiny streets that only fit one car going one way.

The alleyways between the buildings, stairs that seem to go on forever, and the hanging clothes above.

There was always so much to see, and as a child I don't think I need to tell you how exciting it was.

 Source

There's something magical about Lisbon.  The sights, the scents, the people.  It's such a gorgeous city and I'll always remember my times spent there, not only as a young child, but as a young adult when I returned to visit.

I only hope that one day I can my children and my husband to Portugal.  For now, I'll continue to tell them about my life there, what I did, where I went, what I saw, and maybe they can live vicariously through me, at least for the moment.  :)

{ Blog 364 #13 - Remember when? }

 

 

Good morning sweet ladies, how are you all doing?

Come on in out of the cold.  It's quite chilly this morning, which means I am on my second cup of coffee.  

So here we are, it is Friday morning and for my Blog 365 post, I am going back in time.  I am firstly, bringing back a feature I used a lot back in my early blogging days.  My Remember When!

It was a Friday feature where I told a story of my childhood, a family time together, showed you a place I once lived, took you on little tours and so on.  It was such a great way to remember my childhood and my life growing up in Portugal and South Africa.  I don't know why I stopped doing this feature, I mean, I guess as time went on, I didn't have the time, or I wasn't blogging as much, or I simply just forgot about it.

But, I thought it would be a great way to help with my Blog 365.  If I have certain days for specific posts, then at least I know those days, I don't have to think so hard about what I am going to bring on that day.

Anyway, sit back, grab a cup of coffee or tea, this is going to be a bit of a longer post than usual.

 

 

 

I was laying in bed this morning, and suddenly the name of an old suburb we used to live in, back in South Africa, popped into my mind.....quickly followed by a vision of the house and the warm feelings it invoked in me.

 

When something like this happens, I just follow the nudge.  I know that for some reason, God is prompting me to talk about it.  I don't know why, maybe it's just the Holy Spirit helping with an idea for a post this morning, or maybe it's something I'm supposed to remember.  Whatever it is, I am sure glad it came up.

So, my early childhood was spent in Portugal, but when I turned 10, my dad got a transfer from his job in Portugal to Johannesburg, South Africa.  That is where the remainder of my childhood was spent, until I was 24, had just married my husband, and moved to Boise, Idaho, here in the United States.

While living in South Africa, we moved quite a few times, so I have memories of different houses, different suburbs and of course, different experiences, and I intend to share those with you in upcoming posts.  But for some reason, this specific house, in the suburb of Towerby, just came out of nowhere.

Towerby is a suburb of Johannesburg.

I tried to find pictures of the suburb but couldn't really find anything online.  That's ok.

I think one of the reasons why this home was so special to me, growing up, is that not only did myself, my 3 brothers, dad and stepmom, live in it, but so did my grandmother and grandfather, and my great grandmother.  At one point, during a few months, so did my uncle and aunt.  

A packed house to say the least, but that is what I was used to.  A lot of people, big table set for dinner with animated chatter and the most delicious food to eat.  Conversation, laughter....just wonderful memories.

It was so long ago, I think I was around 12 or so at the time, so I don't remember the exact address off the top of my head.  The next best thing to do is obviously open Google Maps, which I did.  I quickly found the last home we lived in before I left South Africa and then *drove* the distance to Towerby.  It was literally just down the road, a suburb or two away.

 

 

This view, is of the road I would have walked, yes, walked down many many times.  On the left corner, where it apparently now houses some sort of adult shop, used to be a corner little cafe where my brothers and I would walk to, to play pacman or buy candy.

It's so sad to look on it now and see just how awful everything looks.  How the streets, stores, houses have been destroyed.  

As we continue straight ahead, the road starts to curve and just a little down the way, is 444 Rifle Range Road, Towerby.

Or, it used to be.  

My heart just breaks seeing what our house looks like now....ok, our old house I should say.  It used to be the most gorgeous white house, with big round windows and a veranda out front.   Green grass surrounded it, there was a small white wall that encircled the house and showed off the big columns at the front door.

 

 

This is what it looks like now.   I want to cry. You can still see some of the white, but my goodness.  

 

I guess I can't be surprised, so many decades have gone by, but it's always sad when you return to a place where you grew up and still have a vision in your mind, that is completely different to the actual state of the property.

I would sit on the front wall of the house, watching the cars go by, or chatting with my friend Lisette.  She lived across the street and about 2 houses down to the left.  We would sometimes go to her house after school, and her mom would give us peanut butter sandwiches.  I remember it so vividly.

We were friends all through Primary (elementary) school, but when we passed to high school, we drifted because we had moved closer to my high school which was The Hill High, and she stayed in the same house.  Her high school was just about a block or so behind her house, so she went to Forest High.  

I wish I had tons of pictures to show you, but I don't, at least not with me.  I have asked my stepmom, back in South Africa, to get send me as many as she can, but I'm not even sure if she still has any.  

 

All I know is that I have the fondest memories.  We had a huge staircase that my brothers and I would slide down.  We would grab our sleeping backs, climb in and then slide all the way down the carpet stairs.  Sometimes we went head first.  Crazy I tell ya.  If I saw one of my kids doing that today, I would flip out hahahah

 

Downstairs we had a huge living room.  It was to the right of the front door.  And to the left we had my great grandma's room, next to it the dining room, and then the kitchen.  She loved it, it was her domain.  She spent most of her days in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning and making yummy desserts for us.  I love her, and I miss her so much.

 

 

To the right of the kitchen was a door to the backyard, and next to it, down a little hallway was a small bathroom, and then a smallish room where we kept our computer.  Our ONLY computer, which was shared by all four siblings.  I don't think I need to tell you how that went LOL

 

I do remember playing King's Quest, and Qbert on it.  We also played this Decathlon Sports game, that we had to hit the two keys really quickly to make the person run and then the space bar so they could jump over the poles.  All you would hear was 4 young kids excitedly yelling and the constant clicking of the keys followed by a hard slam of the space bar.  I can't tell you  how much we laughed.

Upstairs we had 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.  Two of the bathrooms were full HUGE bathrooms, and then in the middle a smaller one with just a toilet and a sink.  

Those bathrooms used to be my doll bath areas.  I would line up all my dolls, from my bedroom, all the way to the bathroom and then give them a bath, one at a time.  Hahahahah   Then line them all up again, all the way to the bedroom and pack them away.

While I did this, I would listen to my favorite album at the time, which was a compilation of hits of the time.  We Built This City by Starship, Lessons in Love by Level 42 and so many others.  

 

When I wasn't washing all my dolls, I would be trying to recreate the series V.  I tell you, I had an imagination like nothing else.  I pretended to be Diana.  I thought she was just so beautiful and amazing, and I wanted to be like her.  So I would go to the veranda, stand by the door inside, and make that Wooshhhhhh sound of the door opening, then I would step through and pretend I was on the spaceship.

 

Wow, those are some memories.  

If I get the photos from my stepmom, I will come back and share them.  For now though, my memories are all I have and it's in my head that it will have to remain.

I will say, I had an amazing childhood and one which I am so incredibly thankful for.  It does make me want to go back in time, right there to those moments.  *sigh*

Remember When????

It's Friday.  Yay!

I always feel relief when I wake up and realize it's a Friday morning.  Somehow all the craziness that has gone on the whole week seems to come to a screeching halt, and it's as if my body and mind scream out "So and So happened......who cares???  It's Friday!!!".

It also means that I'm going to tell you another story.  Last week I had woken up thinking about a time when we moved to Portugal, and I proceed to tell you all about it.  Many of you really enjoyed it and so I thought that I would continue with this feature every Friday, telling you more about me, where I've lived, things I've done.  I have so many stories, that I think I'll have enough posts for quite a while.

Back in 2006, I used to do a Friday feature called "Remember When?", in which I told you all some funny stories about my family.   You can go back and read those if you wish.  (just check under the March 2006 menu in the archives)

When we first moved to Portugal, it was in the 70's and right after the big Independence war in Mozambique, where I was born.

We left with nothing.

First fleeing to Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe), and then hopping a plane to Lisbon, Portugal.

I was but 2 years old, I didn't know what was going on, why we had to leave so suddenly and why we were now living in a completely different country. 

Things were not easy. 

For the first few months or a year that we lived in Portugal, the only place my parents could afford was this tiny little room in one of Lisbon's buildings.  Rua Sebastiao Saraiva Lima.

It's funny how I remember so many details even though I was really young at the time, but I think that some things are so deeply etched into your heart and memory that you will recollect them for many years to come.


One of the things I most remember was the front door to the building.  This massive wooden door, it always made me feel like I was walking into a castle.

Source

The buildings foyer was huge.  It had staircases on the left and the right going up to other rooms, but ours was on the bottom floor, almost as if in the basement.

I remember walking in, and turning to the right, going down these little stairs and then a hallway with a few doors.  Our room was there, behind one of those old wooden doors.

There were 6 of us in that bedroom.  My parents, me, my 2 older brothers and my baby brother who was but a few months old.

The two of us slept on the floor on a mattress, I would sleep right next to his bassinet and it didn't bother me that I was on the floor, I didn't know any better, I didn't think anything was wrong.  I kind of liked sleeping right next to the baby.

The only thing that I didn't like and would drive my parents insane, is that there were mice all over, and I would sometimes lay in the dark hearing their little feet scrambling across the floors, praying and praying that they wouldn't come anywhere near me.  For the most part, they stayed outside of the room, but there was the one night where not only did they come into the room, they ran right across me, onto the bassinet and across my baby brother.  GROSS!!!

During the day, my dad would go to work, and my stepmom would stay home with us.  There wasn't much to do, but we found ways of staying busy.  We pulled out pots and pans and would take them to the backyard of the building.  If you can call it a backyard.  It wasn't much of one, just a little area surrounded by big stone walls, a few potted plants and chickens.

Oh the chickens.  The smell is so unique that I have never forgotten it.

One could say that we were poor, but I don't think we were.  We were just starting out, in a new country, my parents desperately trying to plant roots, and start a good life for us all. 

Lisbon was a busy place.  Beautiful, old, full of history.

There was never a dull moment and we never ran out of places to see and visit.  All you had to do was take a walk in any direction and you were surrounded with cafes, shopping, museums etc.

Source

These are the kind of streets I remember. 

The kind of places I visited.

Source

And my favorite thing on earth to ride???  Carro Electrico.  The Tram Cars. 

These Trams have been in operation since 1873 and a huge favorite for tourists.  I was always fascinated with them and if we had to go anywhere, I would ask if we could ride those instead of taking a cab.

Mercado da Ribeira

Another favorite of mine, were the big markets.  We would go once a week for the fresh produce, fish, eat etc.  The smell was indescribable, it assaulted your senses.  On the one hand you had the smell of fresh fish, but then you had hot coffee, and flowers, and fruit and vegetables.  It was a kaleidoscope of scents.

The tiny streets that only fit one car going one way.

The alleyways between the buildings, stairs that seem to go on forever, and the hanging clothes above.

There was always so much to see, and as a child I don't think I need to tell you how exciting it was.

 Source

There's something magical about Lisbon.  The sights, the scents, the people.  It's such a gorgeous city and I'll always remember my times spent there, not only as a young child, but as a young adult when I returned to visit.

I only hope that one day I can my children and my husband to Portugal.  For now, I'll continue to tell them about my life there, what I did, where I went, what I saw, and maybe they can live vicariously through me, at least for the moment.  :)
 

Blame Canada!!!

I'm slow people, so I just found out that apparently it's De-Lurking week, and here I am on the LAST day possible, asking you all to just De-Lurk and give me a HI. Really I know there's people who read my blog but never comment, and that's ok, I do the same with some of my favorite blogs, but I invite you to just pop in and out, can you do that for this sickly person who is always behind on the cool blogland stuff?




Yep, it's all YOUR fault. Apparently some cold front coming in from Canada has turned us into walking popsicles. I'm freezing people, and I don't mean just a little cold and over exaggerating....it is seriously cold here. It started yesterday and I just brushed it off to me not feeling well, but then I saw the weather report and since I had to blame someone, I blamed Canada. LOL

It's currently 15 degrees but with the wind chill it's -20.....hmmmmm do I really want to step outside my warm cocoon and face the cold harsh weather???
Not really, why is it that on days like this the kids are fine and then on days when it's nice and warm outside is when they're actually sick and can't go to school??? I'm just saying you know!!!

I am up, I'm tired and I just want to crawl back into bed, why you may ask? Well I got up at 5:15 am, like the good little wife that I am lol, and I fixed coffee and pancakes for my husband so that he could eat before going to work. Wasn't that sweet of me??? I still feel awful, and I think the reason is that I let it go too long before I realize "Hey, I'm actually really sick shouldn't I be taking something?". Yeah not really condusive to a fast recovery if you ask me.

I think I should hibernating every winter, I could certainly put away the necessary food without even flinching, I'm ALL for eating. But it would also allow me to sleep for long periods of time (something moms are not allowed to do apparently), AND I would be able to not get sick all the time....I don't know about you all but from where I'm standing I only see Pro's to this Hibernation thing.

Don't you??? Look at the bear all snuggly and warm....the one thing I COULD do without is all that hair on my body LOL

I'm so irked, remember I posted my Portuguese Chicken Recipe yesterday, and then I said that I would take a picture and post it for you all right??? Well......before I could get to the picture the family had dug in and went about devouring it. COME ON, are you THAT hungry that you can't wait for a minute just for me to snap a picture??? Then they started spouting stuff like "just take a picture of my plate?"....."just take a picture now?"......Yeah I don't think people want to see that half eaten chicken leg or the pretty much empty serving dish.

Guess you guys will have to wait until the next time I make it, which should be soon since they raved about it and pointed out the fact that I don't make it very often.

Anyway, it's Friday, and I remember when I first started my blog, I had this feature called "Remember When???". Every friday I posted a funny or memorable story from my family, either from when I was just a wee little one or teenage years or whatever. I stopped doing it for.....well, I really don't know why I stopped LOL But anyway, like I was saying, I think I'm going to start it again, and I'm going to start adding a Mr Linky if anyone is drawing a blank for that day and wants to share a funny story with us.

This is one of the stories I shared back then.....I'm just reposting for you all, I KNOW that you guys didn't read it, unless you had the strength and patience to ever go back on my archives that far, if you did, I admire you. *Hats off*



This is one of those short funny memories that I will always have.

We were visiting my grandparents house in Johannesburg. We had spent the day there and when it got to late afternoon we were heading back home. My brothers and I got in the back of the car and my stepmother and dad in the front.

We all sit down and buckle up, and right before my dad starts the car he starts sniffing around, like something smelled really bad. My brothers and I say nothing and just look at each other. He turns around and says "WHAT IS THAT SMELL???".

He is met with the "I don't know, it wasn't me".

He continues to sniff around and again asks what the smell is. Then he says "you guys stink, good grief can't you wait til you get home, that's disgusting", and he is going on and on and on about it. LOL
We keep telling him it wasn't us, and my stepmom turns to him and says "you know, maybe it's you". My dad gets this insulted look on his face and says "No, NO it's not", but then just as quickly adds....."OH, ACTUALLY, it was me, I stepped in dog poop". HAHAHAHAHAHA

We about died laughing at him. If you guys could have seen the look on his face, all that insult at being told that maybe the smell was coming from him, and only to find out that indeed it was LOL

If you're reading this dad, just know that we will NEVER let you live that one down LOL

I tell you, till this day whenever we all get together that is one of the stories we tell and still laugh just as hard as we did that day, sitting in the back of the car.

I'm not putting up a Mr Linky today because I have no idea if anyone would be interested in playing along or not, if you are then I'll set one up :)

Well it's almost 7:30 am and I need to get Jasmine up and ready for school.

Have a wonderful weekend all,