The Gallery: Dads

This is my Dad. I love my Dad and he raised me well. He is a strong and quiet man. He is a loyal man, and no matter how bad Portsmouth FC do, he is and always will be loyal!

I was a Daddy's girl when I was little and remember sitting with him in his armchair, biscuit barrel in hand feeding our faces. When I was sick, my Dad would come home from work and give me cheese (which I loved), and it would make me feel better (dont know the logic there). I remember waking early and watching my Dad shave before going to work and being completely absorbed. He had a nickname for me that only he called me.

My Dad was a hard working man, and worked for the same company his whole working life, he travelled and worked in places that nowadays people wouldnt even want to visit, let alone live, bringing important developments to these countries.

He is very clever and remembers things most people dont even know in the first place.

He helped me with my homework and didnt pressure me when it was time to decide what to do after school but helped and advised me.

He gave me opportunities I would never have had without him.

But things werent always easy for my Dad, he had tough times but stayed strong and carried the pressure, when others may have given in. He cared for my Mum in her long illness.

He loves Freddie Mercury, American Football, Rugby and Football (especially Portsmouth FC)

To me, he is a very special person, who deserves to be happy.

This is the other Dad in my life - my children's Dad and husband. He loves his children very much and would do anything for them. As with many Dad's will give them (mostly) whatever they want.

For most girls, their Dad is their prince, their knight and my girls are no exception.

He is a person who will help others and he works hard to give us a good life and we love him very much.

Unfortunately, we will not be with either Dad's this weekend, but we are sending our love out to you.

Happy Fathers Day

Come along and see the other entries in The Gallery over at Sticky Fingers

Attention-seeking behaviour

I have a couple, well a few friends who are currently struggling with attention seeking behaviour in their children and it got me to thinking what could be behind it.  Im no child psychologist, but what makes some children feel the need to 'play up' in certain ways to get attention?  In these situations that my friends are encountering there is no one factor that could be applied to all, although all the mums are stay at home mums and have two children but the children are all different ages.  In the youngest one, who is almost three, he is pushing children in his playschool, being the most prominent behaviour.  In the others who are older, there are several patterns of behaviour, the most common being, always demanding something and continously asking (even if they have been told yes) to ensure they are dealt with first and shouting. 

But is this behaviour simply caused by the parents not giving the child enough attention (or at least positive attention) or does the child just have a demanding personality, is that even possible at a young age?  It is a problem that I have never really had with my children, not on the scale as these mothers are dealing with, of course, they have their days and their moments when it feels they wont leave me alone.

I would really like to help my friends, but am not sure where the root of the behaviour comes from, what do you think?  Have you ever dealt with this kind of thing with your child?

Spare weekends

So yesterday my husband left for his new job up north and wont be back for a loooooonnnnngggg time!!  Now Im used to him being away during the week as for the past 4 months he has pretty much been working away mon-fri, but now it has come to Friday and Im not picking him up and it feels strange.  More importantly what am I going to do this weekend??  Weekends were our family time, when we are together, we chill and maybe go somewhere, but it doesnt feel the same without him and I feel a little lost.  It is a long weekend here as well, so it is quite busy around, and Im not one for large crowds, especially as they are so rare in these parts (except july and august get a bit crazee), going through the supermarket this morning was like running the gauntlet!! 

I have a couple of friends who are in the same situation with their husbands away during the week and the ocasional weekend, but we have never been apart for long periods and for a long period not so long ago were together 24/7.  Life is changing now and so do I, to adapt to this change, but it may take a couple of weeks to get used to it.

My favourite Portuguese Soup

Here in Portugal, soup is an important part of the daily meal, most people eat soup as part of at least one meal a day. It took me a while to really understand this need for 'soup', coming from a british upbringing of meat and two veg and soup was a lunchtime meal or something to eat when ill (on the most part).  Here you are more likely to have soup and then your main course will be meat or fish with a 'side' of potatoes or rice and often without vegetables or minimal vegetables as your soup is kind of your vegetable side.  So here there is a much larger range of soups produced, normally always homemade (no heinz tomato soup here).

Since coming to live in portugal, I have started making soup and for someone who isnt a very good or willing cook, they are pretty good.  This is pretty much my favourite recipe for Pumpkin Soup or Sopa de Abobora, but what I like about this soup is that it isnt sweet and sugary like some pumpkin soups but garlicy and flavourful.

Heres what you need:
600g pumpkin, chopped into cubes
Chicken stock cube
1 1/2 litre of water
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into medium sized pieces
1 large garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped or crushed
1 large onion, chopped
Olive oil for frying
Pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste, I like it a little peppery.

In a large heavy pan, heat some olive oil, add the onion and fry until almost soft, then add the garlic and fry for a minute, do not allow to burn.
Turn the heat very low and cover, leave for about 10 minutes until it is all soft.
Add  the carrots, pumpkin, potatoes, stock cube and water, mix all together and bring to a boil.
Mix the salt and pepper and lower the heat to a simmer.
Leave to cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft (approximately an hour). 
You may need to add more water if the soup is getting too low.

Once all cooked, blend the soup to a smooth consistency and taste, add more salt or pepper as you like.  When serving, adding a dash of cream makes it a dream!

My kids love this soup and it never lasts long in our house, try it and let me know what you think.

So Portugal what happens now?

Today Portugal begins a new life, we now have a new government that promise complete transparancy and work to an absolute.  A government that 'will not rest' until they see Portugal growing.  Im all for this, this is the party I would have voted for if I could have.  I just hope they can deliver on what they promise.

Portugal is a great country, very traditional, very proud, but it has lost its way big time.  There was always quite a big social class difference although this has closed alot since the revolution in the 70's, but there is a huge difference on income bands, you are either driving a mercedes/ beemer or a 10+ year old car.  You either earn between €475 (min wage) - €800 or well over €1000, most people (dont know official figures) around 70-80% earn the lesser wage, with 10-15% earning the latter and a minority in the middle, but the spread is so uneven. It is something that always annoys me.  But hopefully now the future is looking better for portugal.

Photo from Sapo

I love this photo, it gives a great idea.

Moving on from the crossroads.....

Hi

For those of you who follow my blog or read my recent post standing at the crossroads, you will know that after a long period of difficulties we were at a point of change for the better with two potential opportunities. 

Well I am very happy to say that my husband got the job up in Porto and starts next week.  Although the downside of this is he will be away from several months but it is a worthy price to pay to move forward in our lives for our family, we will know where we are going, have financial security and as much job security as anyone these days.  The company is strong and developing in spite of these tough financial times. We are so happy.  They said they would call, at the latest, on wednesday after they had seen all candidates on tuesday, but it was getting late, and I was losing hope, but trying to stay positive.  Then he called to say he had got it, I was screaming, jumping in the air, so happy, all the more for thinking that it was lost! 

For anyone who has been in this situation, and having that feeling of not knowing where you should be or where you are going, you will know how much relief it is to finally have a direction, instead of feeling like a kite blowing in the wind and to know what you need to do.  I feel relieved, happy, and positive for the first time in a long time.  And motivated, ready to move on with our lives.

The Gallery - What Im grateful for

What am I grateful for, many things but I am most grateful everyday for my family. My husband and two beautiful girls.  They are my life, my world, my strength and my reason for being.  I am very lucky as some people are not so blessed, they are healthy and happy.  When times are hard, I keep going for them. I love to see them smile and to see them grow and change and learn. 

Come see the Gallery

Standing at the crossroads, hoping lady luck is watching

As some of you know, the last couple of years have been very difficult for my family and I.  We decided to move to Portugal, as my husband had been offered a good job with better money, he had been looking for equivalent positions in England but had been unsuccesful, not sure why.  I had just been made redundant from my job and we were standstill.  So when this opportunity came along, we took it.  It was good to start with but unfortuantely after a year, my husband was made redundant and things became difficult.  We decided not to go back to England (right or wrong) as our house was rented (nowhere to live) and we still wanted to give it a go here. 

When we arrived in portugal, my plan was to learn the language and get a job but portuguese is a very, very difficult language and Im a little ashamed to say, after almost 3 years my portuguese is weak.  I have done an EFL teaching course but have been unable to find work.  But with family support we have managed to weather the storm and hold on, but there have been tears, sleepless nights and shouting and a lot of unhappiness and stress and we are not out yet.  My husband is working now, but the job is not good at all, there are no conditions to do his job and is not a situation which can be sustained.  So we are really no further along and in no way secure.

But out of nowhere came an interview this weekend, so we packed up and drove all the way (almost all the way) to the other end of the country to Porto.  Courtesy of a contact, we stayed in a beautiful 5star hotel, Hotel Infante Sagres, and he had a long interview, hopefully a good sign.  The job is good, but means he would need to be away for several months, which I can deal with if the conditions are right and will be in our benefit to do it.  So by wednesday we will know, or we have another option.  We are looking at the possibility of renting a bar in town, the bar is all fitted out ready to go, but its risky in this climate, but to stay as we are is not sustainable either.  So we are at the crossroads, trying to find the right path to a better life, keeping our fingers crossed for better times. 

Some things about me

1. I have done a bungy jump in New Zealand  which is the most amazing place in the world and if you haven't been, you must go!

2. I love roses, (but never get given any, boo hoo)

3. I hate bad drivers and rude people, especially people who invade your private space or push you out the way.

4. One of my big frustrations is going into a shop, where they have clearly given NO thought to a mother with a pushchair, meaning either I can not go into the shop, thereby the shop loses a potential customer or I have to leave my child at the door, like lugguage.

5. My dream is to win the lottery, so not only could I change my life but also others by creating jobs and opportunities for education.

6. I have not had a holiday for almost four years.

7. My favourite colour is Red.

That's some things about me, I would love to know some more about you too.