BRAZIL TRIP

 

It have been 15 years since last time I went to Brazil.... it was 30 years since I visit my mom's town and  saw extended relatives....okay... I was a little kid then!:)

 I first spent just one day in Salvador Bahia, then i flew in a small airplane to Vitoria da Conquista, Bahia. I spent 4 days there ( not enough time, that is for sure) and when i got back I was with my dad for 6 days.

He took me to eat on the street.... you can see me on first picture  and my dad is on the right side.

 

 Here is when I got  back.... this day we went to Itapoa.... and enjoyed the beach.

 

 I walked  with dad late afternoons  on the beach sidewalks... ahhh old times...  how wonderful to feel the ocean breeze...

 

 we went to "Praia do Forte"  you can click the link and read up about the centenaries turtles as they come every year and lay their eggs on the beach. I remember when the ITAMAR project started 20 years ago and how happy i was to see that they have grown and save all the beautiful and enormous sea turtles...

 

The skies in Brazil is  something I will never forget...

 

Farol da barra.... another beautiful spot to stop by...so much history!!

 

 i got tan.... can you tell??grin

                         This is now in my moms town.... this is the entrance of my aunts home. it is in town but still  holds the 'country" feeling that i love.

 the kitchen door was open and the chicens were there ....

 as mom took me to a drive, we stop in a more poor area... this little boy was taking his  horse  to do a job!:)

 my mom's farm... the tree is an old jaqueira I love LOVE the fruit!

 Mom has 13 dairy cows and 2 bulls. the cows are milked by hand twice a day. the milkman ties the cows legs.... how funny to me.... Hershey , my milking cow, opens her legs wide when i milk her....grin

 then he squads with a bucket between his legs and start to milk one at a time.

 my moms donkey.... can you tell how sweet he is?grin

 this is such a pretty picture

 the barn

 going to the barn

 moms cows... this picture is like a post card to me.... i soooo love cows!!!!

 mom and i

 the bull  ,big but calm

 moms country house

     we going down to the valley

I was so very blessed to have the opportunity to do this trip. God is a gracious God!

I missed my family so much  but i waited too long . 

 i hope you enjoyed the pictures . Now you can see my roots!:)

Making churn butter from fresh cows cream

  

 Me milking Hershey! *grin*

One of my most pleasure when comes to processing Hershey's milk ,is  to make fresh churn butter. 

The butter is so nutritious  naturally colored and tastes nothing like  store bought butter.

Here is a quick  way I  can show you how I make our butter.

The picture above shows the cream that I have already separated from the milk and it is very cold after couple days in the fridge

 

 Here you can see how thick the cream is.

One can make butter using a electric or manual churner.... but I will tell you this, I can taste the difference when I use my hand churn.... it is ...mmm... heavenly!

 Churning  takes time... nothing like things of now days...grin.... but it is wonderful to see the separation from the whey  and the butter been formed

 

It is done. you can see the butter already, can't you?grin

 Now I drain the whey and rinse the butter with cold water... then I add salt.

 Most of the time I press  the butter into  my butter molds. I collect these molds  as i adore the different designs... I have made some from pottery too.

But today I did not press as we were ready  to eat it!*grin*

 I hope you enjoyed it!

Beautiful skin ....naturally!

                                                  How  to slow the aging process in our  skin?

It has been  a while  that I want to write few posts about  natural health , food choices and skin care.

My entire life has been focused on eating  well , meaning, making choices that are as much as possible good for my body. I grow up in a farm land in Brazil and  pretty much all I ate came from the land. I  learned  a lot by watching my mom making good choices and later in my adult life, these were also my choices for most of the time.

when I turned 30 , I became very conscious about my skin  more than ever.... I think was the number 'thirty' that scared me a little bit,grin, but it was good for me because my habits began to change. That was 12 years ago.

I have always loved make up but  not too much that takes way the "natural " look, just enough to  bring up what I already have. One of the most important rule is  to NEVER sleep with the make up on.

When you are sleeping  , normally a long period of hours , it is important to have the right care and these are the steps that I have been doing for about 12 years now and I love how my skin looks and feels.

Morning and Night:

remove any make up . I use baby oil with cotton balls .( for the night purpose)

turn on the water in a warm setting.... start washing my face with the water only. This process allows your skin to open its porous.

I then wash my face with goats milk and emu oil soap . I sell them HERE , but you can buy online many other natural soaps that are good for your type skin.

Rinse the soap with cool water. This closes the porous.

Apply a good moisturizer cream . 

Face cream:

One does NOT have to spend a fortune on face cream. you can even make your own and keep in your fridge.  If you are not able to, choose naturally made  verses expensive brands. 

look for ingredients like ;

vitamin E--an antioxidant known as tocopherol,

Honey  , a natural cleanser and helps tight the skin,

Oils such as grape seed oil, emu oil are the top on my list

 and less than 1% of preservatives. 

Once a week  at least do a mask.  One of my favorite mask is  the egg white. That is all that takes - eggs whites.

 If  you can  buy a farm raise eggs - great  but, if is not available  one from the store is fine.

crack the egg and separate the yoke . If you have oily skin , save the yoke and use the same way  "after" the egg whites.

start by betting the whites just a little bit.
using your fingers , apply to your CLEAN face.
' do NOT' apply on your eye area.
leave it  for about 10 minutes .
You will experience something you never did before,lol, your face start to tight  as the whites dries.
Wash your face like  I said in the beginning of this post.

Apply the face cream or go to the honey process for best results.Or if you have oily skin do the same thing using the yoke only now then do the honey and finish with the cream.

Honey mask:

All you need is honey, preferable , local honey if you are able to buy otherwise, store bought is fine.

Lightly  , warm the honey  in the microwave.
Apply the honey using your fingers .Don't forget to avoid the eye area.
leave it  10 to 15 minutes.
Rinse as I described above.

 You will feel like a princess  or a queen!!!*grin*
I love how the skin feels clean and tight. the benefits are not only the one that you feel immediately but the ones that shows over the years if you maintain good habits like this with your skin.

No matter what age you are , of course I am talking about  people over 21 , ( under that age there is no need  for masks but the washing process is a good habit to have at early age)  you can start taking care of your skin.

ps. One egg white will be enough for 5 people or more . I normally do on my husband's face , mine , and some of my  girls...
This is  so silly  but I hate waste ....even an egg...LOL.... I have asked some of the teens boys  to try but the  refuses even seen their dad doing , grin.

Enjoy and  feel free to ask me questions, if any ,:)

smiles!!!

  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 
                                                                                                                                    Jeremiah 29:11

Trip to Frankfurt and Paris

Palace Versailles

This is my second year going to Germany but for my husband was his 18 visit. He is in the music business and travels often.
when our children were very young ( we had 6 under 8 once,lol ) I refuse to leave them and go along. As much as I wanted to go, I would say ' Please baby wait till the children are older and I will go with you everywhere". I did traveled a lot, more than mostly people have... through Europe , Central and South America but turn down many trips because how I felt about leaving the children. Whenever we traveled I would always had the youngest with us because he or she would still be breastfeeding . grin
The children have grown but our youngest still 10 years old and six of our seven children still lives at home. grin. If I could - they would all stay around.... forever!!!lol.
well... I did traveled a bit last year but nothing could compare to this trip to me. I have been dreaming to go to Paris for a long time ..... I finally did and I LOVED IT!
My pictures are not great.... some silly .... I look terrible grin, but what I really was looking for was to spend the time with Mark in a special place. This was also our *big*anniversary,grin!
I want to share some pictures but this is not in order that should be , hopefully you will have an idea of how marvelous Paris.grin


Monalisa -Louvre museum , famous painting behind me
Eiffel tower

Cathedral Notre Dame


I am in the stairways of the queens chamber in Versailles
I love German coffee..... i was having one at the train station
Going to Paris.....wow!!

It is a wonderful farm life!!!:)

It is a wonderful life....

I must say a "blessed life"!!!*grin*

Indeed, God has always blessed me with way more that I ever expected. I get lost in my thoughts to think that I am the 'daughter of the king'...wow... what a magnificent thing to meditate upon... what a privilege!!*grin*

I was up early, I mean REALLY early this morning. my sister ordered a large quantity of Goats milk soap about 2 weeks ago and because I was busy with a miniature show, I kept leaving for afterward until last night I got a call from her :(!

The soaps were ready at the soap room , but I need to re-mill and add scents. A job that take few hours. The children will later on cut , wrap and add labels .. all requires a bit of time.

I also planned to make a nice breakfast, after all today is Saturday. This is a day that we don't have school and the children after their chorus are able to spend their free time doing what ever they want.*grin*

i can not tell you in words what spring means to me. i am often thanking my Heavenly father for all His blessing upon me and my family , however the animals are a big part of my life too.
I specially remember to thank for each one of them this time of the year . New life is coming almost daily.

Three days ago , our chiauau gave birth to 3 healthy puppies. Momma and puppies are doing great. Hershey gave birth to a calf that we named Penelope, just couple weeks ago . kittens were born... and TODAY as the sunrise, I spotted a baby lamb... a brand new baby lamb , born last night..ohhh.... what can i say? *smiles*

Sheep are very fussy about their babies so I walked to the pasture but kept a good distance . In few days perhaps i can get some better pictures.

One time, years ago, i went to pet a baby lamb and the momma did not want him back. i cried tears of regrets and after almost all day she decided to take him back. I learned my lesson.

I know it has been a long time since I did a post . Sorry about that!
I hope you enjoy our farm pictures!
lovingly~

Merry Christmas from our Family Dolls! =)

Merry Christmas from the Cabrera Family!! =)

Silent Night