Sunday, 26 November 2017
On the Dishcloths Problematic
There's something common to all Portuguese grandmothers. I'm not entirely sure if it's worldwide but I'm certain it's nationwide. I believe all grandmothers have this wardrobe or trunk (in case of my own grandmother it's actually both) full of a variety of dishclothes, all in different shapes and forms. And they also spend a lot of time embroading around regular dishcloths so they added something and made them personal, with a little bit of them. I say dishcloths but this is also appliable to tablecloths, kitchen handles, cooking aprons, among many other possible things that can be "improved" with crochet. Basically any kind of cloth you can think of, I'm sure Portuguese grandmothers have at least 20 of these (and I'm being generous) with personal embroidery, and I'm not even counting with the festive ones - don't let me start on those!
"So what's the problem with that?", you may ask. That's a valid point. And I wouldn't mention this otherwise but here's the dishcloth problematic: once you move out your grandmother will make you bring half of their collection to your new house (and, again, I'm being generous when I say half of it). Since they spent half of their elderlyhood doing that crochet needlework with your moving out in mind, let me tell you how bad you'll feel when you see customized "I love you, granddaughter" on dishcloths and not bring it home with you. Now this creates a new problem: you will have to get either a wardrobe or a trunk to put all your dishcloths in (because if you're unlucky your partner will also have their fair share of dishcloths made by their grandmother) since they won't fit all in the kitchen drawers designated for that effect.
I have a friend who's currently moving out as well and she is having the exact same problem which leads me to believe this is typical of all grandmothers in Portugal, despite the small sample that I have for this study. Her problem is also aggravated because it's not only her grandmother contributing to her evergrowing dishcloths collection, but also her aunts and their neighbours. I, for one, have already three kitchen drawers full of them and had to put the remaining ones in a wardrobe. And I really hope my grandmothers don't give me more on this upcoming Christmas, I'm not sure where I'll find space to put them.
Okay. So you get a lot of dishcloths in your house and you actually have space for those without buying a special piece of furniture for them. You're a lucky one! But now there's another problem: it doesn't stop here. Now your family has a reason to give you any kind of cloth they can think of so you'll eventually run out of space.
"So what's the solution?" you ask again. And now we got to the point I'd like to discuss here. What do you think the solution for this big nation (possible world) wide scourge? We need to change our grandmother's mentalities. We need to make them see we don't need drawers full of them, a couple is more than enough. I'm open to suggestions on how to do this because telling them is clearly useless - believe me, I've tried several times already and the only thing I accomplished was a "you'll find space to put them somewhere".
"So what's the problem with that?", you may ask. That's a valid point. And I wouldn't mention this otherwise but here's the dishcloth problematic: once you move out your grandmother will make you bring half of their collection to your new house (and, again, I'm being generous when I say half of it). Since they spent half of their elderlyhood doing that crochet needlework with your moving out in mind, let me tell you how bad you'll feel when you see customized "I love you, granddaughter" on dishcloths and not bring it home with you. Now this creates a new problem: you will have to get either a wardrobe or a trunk to put all your dishcloths in (because if you're unlucky your partner will also have their fair share of dishcloths made by their grandmother) since they won't fit all in the kitchen drawers designated for that effect.
I have a friend who's currently moving out as well and she is having the exact same problem which leads me to believe this is typical of all grandmothers in Portugal, despite the small sample that I have for this study. Her problem is also aggravated because it's not only her grandmother contributing to her evergrowing dishcloths collection, but also her aunts and their neighbours. I, for one, have already three kitchen drawers full of them and had to put the remaining ones in a wardrobe. And I really hope my grandmothers don't give me more on this upcoming Christmas, I'm not sure where I'll find space to put them.
Okay. So you get a lot of dishcloths in your house and you actually have space for those without buying a special piece of furniture for them. You're a lucky one! But now there's another problem: it doesn't stop here. Now your family has a reason to give you any kind of cloth they can think of so you'll eventually run out of space.
"So what's the solution?" you ask again. And now we got to the point I'd like to discuss here. What do you think the solution for this big nation (possible world) wide scourge? We need to change our grandmother's mentalities. We need to make them see we don't need drawers full of them, a couple is more than enough. I'm open to suggestions on how to do this because telling them is clearly useless - believe me, I've tried several times already and the only thing I accomplished was a "you'll find space to put them somewhere".
Sunday, 19 November 2017
5 Things You Can Never Have Too Much of At Home
Last week I finally had a big change in my life I was very much looking forward to: I moved in with the boyfriend. And that came with a lot of shopping and finding a lot of things were missing we wouldn't even consider at first. So we decided to keep a list on the fridge of things we discovered that we didn't have and couldn't forget to buy next time we went shopping (of course one has to remember to bring the list when one goes shopping). Unsurprisingly, the list grew bigger everytime we entered a new division, mostly the kitchen, because there are really so many things one never thinks one needs except when you actually need them. Here's five things we discovered we can never have too much of:
1 - Outlet extensions: Rather obvious, this one. However, we pretty much need an outlet extension for every outlet we have in the house. We bought three of these and we still need another one!
2 - Tupperwares: While I agree this one can be a trap we definitely don't have enough of these at the moment and I think you only have too much of them if you've bought 50! I feel like tupperwares come in so many shapes and sizes it's very easy to fill all the ones you have with something and, therefore, very easy to run out of them!
3 - Hangers: Trust me on this one. When you think you may have too many of this you'll find out you need more and that you're actually putting two or three things in the same hanger. The only exception is, of course, if you have a quite limited wardrobe space. In this case it may be easier for you to reach your limit amount of hangers but you'll see you wish you could have more.
4 - Clothespins: You not only use these for clothes but also to clip food packages like cookies and chips. Bascially everything and anything that is sold in packages and is not eaten or used immediately. You (and by you I mean me) can easily lose them or break them so having a good stock of them is essential, in my opinion!
5 - Bags: Either paper or plastic these are essencial in any home. Since they introduced the bag tax here in Portugal whenever you go grocery shopping if you forget a bag, you have two options: either you carry everything in your hands or you buy a big one. So whenever a store gives one out for free when you buy something you can bet I'm keeping it for later use! Now, you have to be selective about this one because you can quickly become burried in a miscellany of different bags so it's important to keep different sized and very resistent ones, throwing away the ones that don't make this cut or the ones that become too old and used.
And that's pretty much it! I hope this was somewhat helpful and if you have any suggestions please let me know, because I may need to actually add them to my fridge list!
1 - Outlet extensions: Rather obvious, this one. However, we pretty much need an outlet extension for every outlet we have in the house. We bought three of these and we still need another one!
2 - Tupperwares: While I agree this one can be a trap we definitely don't have enough of these at the moment and I think you only have too much of them if you've bought 50! I feel like tupperwares come in so many shapes and sizes it's very easy to fill all the ones you have with something and, therefore, very easy to run out of them!
3 - Hangers: Trust me on this one. When you think you may have too many of this you'll find out you need more and that you're actually putting two or three things in the same hanger. The only exception is, of course, if you have a quite limited wardrobe space. In this case it may be easier for you to reach your limit amount of hangers but you'll see you wish you could have more.
4 - Clothespins: You not only use these for clothes but also to clip food packages like cookies and chips. Bascially everything and anything that is sold in packages and is not eaten or used immediately. You (and by you I mean me) can easily lose them or break them so having a good stock of them is essential, in my opinion!
5 - Bags: Either paper or plastic these are essencial in any home. Since they introduced the bag tax here in Portugal whenever you go grocery shopping if you forget a bag, you have two options: either you carry everything in your hands or you buy a big one. So whenever a store gives one out for free when you buy something you can bet I'm keeping it for later use! Now, you have to be selective about this one because you can quickly become burried in a miscellany of different bags so it's important to keep different sized and very resistent ones, throwing away the ones that don't make this cut or the ones that become too old and used.
And that's pretty much it! I hope this was somewhat helpful and if you have any suggestions please let me know, because I may need to actually add them to my fridge list!
Sunday, 5 November 2017
Book review: Harry Potter: A History of Magic (Various Authors)
This year, 2017, J. K. Rowling, Bloomsbury and the curators of the British Library joined together in a once-in-a-lifetime colaboration to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. A brand new exhibition opened its doors in London, taking visitors in.
Harry Potter: A History of Magic is the companion to that unique collaboration, filled with weird, wonderful and inspiring artefacts from the British Library archives and unseen treasures from J. K. Rowling's personal collection. This book invites you to delve deeper into the curriculum at Hogwarts School of Witchraft and Wizardry - from Astronomy and Potion classes to Charms and Divination.
A host of experts (Steve Backshall, the Reverend Richard Coles, Owen Davies, Julia Eccleshare, Roger Highfield, Steve Kloves, Lucy Mangan, Anna Pavord and Tim Peake), who offer a personal perspective on their magical theme, are on hand to guide you through each magical subject with a commissioned essay, leading you into a treasure trove of artefacts from the British Library and other collections around the world. Readers will be able to pore over ancient spell books, marvel at celestial globes and unfurl amazing illuminated scrolls that reveal the secret of the Elixir of Life, vials of dragon's blood, serpent wands, curious mandrake roots, painted centaurs and a genuine witch's broomstick, in a book that shows J.K. Rowling's magical inventions alongside their cultural and historical forebears with exclusive manuscripts, sketches and illustrations from the Harry Potter archive.
Naturally I went to my local bookstore when I heard this book was out which, unfortunately for me and the portuguese people, it took one week from its publication date to hit the portuguese shelves. Let's be real, though: we've waited way longer than that for other books so we can sort of consider ourselves lucky because one week is not that much. I had both this book and its companion in my hands (Harry Potter: A Journey Through A History of Magic) and here's a piece of advice: buy the first if you're interested. From the quick look I took at it, the companion is merely a shorter version and I felt like it was directioned towards a younger crowd.
Harry Potter: A History of Magic is a book filled with historic artefacts somehow related to many subjects J. K. Rowling talks about in her books and we can see where she drew her inspiration from so if you're looking for an actual Harry Potter History of Magic this is not for you. To be honest, what I enjoyed the most weren't the exhibition parts but the books' excerpts where they show J. K. Rowling's doodling and her thoughts and early drafts planning the series where you can see how it has evolved. I also loved the illustrations done by Jim Kay included in the newest illustrated editions of the first three books. After reading the book I can say I will definitely not miss being in the London exhibition because I feel like the book has it all, except, perhaps, the souvenirs.
So if you're both a history and Harry Potter fan you can get Harry Potter: A History of Magic through Book Depository with free shipping and Amazon. Let me know what you though of it afterwards!
Harry Potter: A History of Magic is the companion to that unique collaboration, filled with weird, wonderful and inspiring artefacts from the British Library archives and unseen treasures from J. K. Rowling's personal collection. This book invites you to delve deeper into the curriculum at Hogwarts School of Witchraft and Wizardry - from Astronomy and Potion classes to Charms and Divination.
A host of experts (Steve Backshall, the Reverend Richard Coles, Owen Davies, Julia Eccleshare, Roger Highfield, Steve Kloves, Lucy Mangan, Anna Pavord and Tim Peake), who offer a personal perspective on their magical theme, are on hand to guide you through each magical subject with a commissioned essay, leading you into a treasure trove of artefacts from the British Library and other collections around the world. Readers will be able to pore over ancient spell books, marvel at celestial globes and unfurl amazing illuminated scrolls that reveal the secret of the Elixir of Life, vials of dragon's blood, serpent wands, curious mandrake roots, painted centaurs and a genuine witch's broomstick, in a book that shows J.K. Rowling's magical inventions alongside their cultural and historical forebears with exclusive manuscripts, sketches and illustrations from the Harry Potter archive.
Naturally I went to my local bookstore when I heard this book was out which, unfortunately for me and the portuguese people, it took one week from its publication date to hit the portuguese shelves. Let's be real, though: we've waited way longer than that for other books so we can sort of consider ourselves lucky because one week is not that much. I had both this book and its companion in my hands (Harry Potter: A Journey Through A History of Magic) and here's a piece of advice: buy the first if you're interested. From the quick look I took at it, the companion is merely a shorter version and I felt like it was directioned towards a younger crowd.
Harry Potter: A History of Magic is a book filled with historic artefacts somehow related to many subjects J. K. Rowling talks about in her books and we can see where she drew her inspiration from so if you're looking for an actual Harry Potter History of Magic this is not for you. To be honest, what I enjoyed the most weren't the exhibition parts but the books' excerpts where they show J. K. Rowling's doodling and her thoughts and early drafts planning the series where you can see how it has evolved. I also loved the illustrations done by Jim Kay included in the newest illustrated editions of the first three books. After reading the book I can say I will definitely not miss being in the London exhibition because I feel like the book has it all, except, perhaps, the souvenirs.
So if you're both a history and Harry Potter fan you can get Harry Potter: A History of Magic through Book Depository with free shipping and Amazon. Let me know what you though of it afterwards!
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