New Year

"New Year is the time for grand celebrations, new year parties, resolutions and welcoming the New Year with new hopes, new wishes and new life with open arms and beautiful smiles. It is New Year’s celebration time! All countries using the Gregorian calendar observe January 1 as the New Year’s Day. The month of December is actually sets in the mood of parties; beginning with Christmas and Christmas Eve parties to New Year’s eve it is a time to say good-bye to the passing year and sailing in happily into the New Year."
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To all of you a happy New Year!

Thanks for being there...

My blue river...

Santa's Elves

Behind the name

CELIA
Gender: Feminine
Usage: English, Spanish, Italian
Pronounced: SEEL-yə (English), SEE-lee-ə (English), THE-lyah (Spanish), SE-lyah (Latin American Spanish), CHE-lyah (Italian) [key]
Feminine form of the Roman family name CAELIUS. It was used by Shakespeare in his play 'As You Like It' (1599), which introduced the name to the English-speaking world. It is sometimes used as a short form of CECILIA

MAGDALENE
Gender: Feminine
Usage: German, Danish, English, Biblical, Biblical Greek, Biblical Latin
Other Scripts: Μαγδαληνη (Ancient Greek)
Pronounced: mahk-dah-LE-nə (German), MAG-də-lən (English), MAG-də-leen (English) [key]
From a title which meant "of Magdala". Mary Magdalene, a character in the New Testament, was named thus because she was from Magdala - a village on the sea of Galilee whose name meant "tower" in Hebrew. She was cleaned of evil spirits by Jesus and then remained with him during his ministry, witnessing the crucifixion and the resurrection. She was a popular saint in the Middle Ages, and the name became common then. In England it is traditionally rendered Madeline, while Magdalene or Magdalen is the learned form.

Is it Christmas?

Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.(Mary Ellen Chase)
I agree!25th December, 2009. Albufeira

MERRY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Alemão - Frohe Weihnachten
Árabe - Mboni Chrismen
Bielo-russo - Winshuyu sa Svyatkami
Búlgaro - Vessela Koleda
Castelhano - Feliz Navidad
Checo - Vesele Vanoce
Chinês - Sheng Tan Kuai Loh
Chinês (Taiwan) - Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan
Cingalês (Sri-Lanka) - Subha nath thalak Vewa, Nathar Puthu Varuda
Coreano - Sung Tan Chuk Ha ou Sungtan Chukha
Dinamarquês - Glaedelig Jul
Eslovaco - Vesele Vianoce
Esloveno - Srecen Bozic
Filipino - Maligayang Pasko
Finlandês - Hauskaa Joulua
Francês - Joyeux Noël
Gaélico (Irlanda) - Nollaig Shona dhuit
Georgiano - Gilotsavt Krist'es Shobas
Grego - Eftihismena Christougenna
Groenlandês - Glædelig Jul, Juullimi Ukiortaassamilu Pilluarit
Húngaro - Boldog Karácsonyt
Hebreu (Israel) - Mo'adim Lesimkha
Hindu (Índia) - Shub Christu Jayanti
Islandês - Gleðileg Jól
Italiano - Buon Natale
Japonês - Merii Kurisumasu (é Merry Christmas, à japonesa)
Letão - Priecigus ziemassvetkus ou Laimigu Jauno gadu
Lituano - Laimingu Kaledu
Macedónio - Streken Bozhik
Moldavo - Craciun fericit si un An Nou fericit
Neerlandês - Zalig Kerstfeest ou Prettige Kerstdagen
Nepalês - Krist Yesu Ko Shuva Janma Utsav Ko Upalaxhma Hardik Valthukkal Shuva
Norueguês - Gledelig Jul
Polaco - Boze Narodzenie
Romeno - Sarbatori vesele
Russo - Hristos Razdajetsja ou Rozdjestvom Hristovim
Samoês - Manuia Le Kirisimasi
Servo-croata - Sretan Bozic
Sueco - God Jul
Tailandês - Ewadee Pe-e Mai
Turco - Yeni yiliniz kutlu olsun
Ucraniano - Veseloho Vam Rizdva
Ugandês - Webale Krismasi
Vietnamita - Chuc mung Giang Sinh

Christmas in Scotland

On Christmas Eve: "The children are in a frenzy of excitement waiting for their presents. Practice at this point varies; I used to have big presents put under the Christmas tree to find in the morning as well as a stocking for smaller presents at the end of the bed for Santa to come and fill in the night ready for me to find in the morning. Some families used pillow cases instead of stockings, and some don't see the point of stockings at all and just go for the big presents. We eat ordinary food on Christmas Eve.
On Christmas day: Usually families will get together to open their presents and have a big Christmas lunch. Everyone looks hopefully out of the window to see if it will snow, and I remember it did once. Presents are unwrapped carefully so that the wrapping paper can be used again. Often dads and grandpas get socks. Lunch is usually turkey with all the trimmings and one or two glasses of wine or champagne. Pudding is usually a Christmas cake - some people who don't like fruit cake may have a Yule log, which is a chocolate cake from Sweden. Most people have Christmas crackers and eat their dinner wearing a paper crown. Following this the whole family get together in front of the TV and fall asleep in front of either:
1. "The Wizard of Oz" or

2. "The Sound of Music" or

3. "The Queen's Speech" (always at 3pm).
At tea time, our family liked to have a light supper of bread and butter and smoked salmon, and more crackers if there are any left.
Thus ends Christmas and we all wait for a few days until Hogmanay. (Ed. note: Hogmanay is New Year's)

No, I don't...

Special Hug

English Newspapers Online

English Newspapers Online
Image source-here

Small details of my Christmas decorations

In my house, there's a child shouting: "Mom, mom, let's go to decorate our Christmas tree!" And We answer : "Wait, wait. Just a minute." It's a stressing day till the moment we put our decorations on the tree! But they're happy and exciting moments. Thanks God, for these days of love.

Oh Christmas Tree

"He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree." Roy L. Smith
I prefer having Christmas in my heart, but my family wants me to decorate the tree. I do it the way I feel like.
I must confess that I like my Christmas tree and that's what really matters!

It's Christmas time....

Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.”
Oren Arnold

Bob Dylan's song

Bob Dylan's song has been adopted by Copenhagen climate summit! Some say yes. Some say no. As usual!

Bob Dylan played and sang this song in 1962, when the world feared the nuclear war.

Happy Birthday Dear Balbina!

image source:gettyimage.com

Lisbon at night!

Lisbon is beautiful with Christmas lights. Go and see!

Mafra in the morning

It was a great day!

History of Portugal

The history of Portugal, a European and an Atlantic nation, dates back to the Early Middle Ages. In the 15th and 16th centuries, it ascended to the status of a world power during Europe's "Age of Discovery" as it built up a vast empire including possessions in South America, Africa, Asia and Australasia. In the next two centuries, Portugal gradually lost much of its wealth and status as the Dutch, English and French took an increasing share of the spice and slave trades (the economic basis of its empire), by surrounding or conquering the widely scattered Portuguese trading posts and territories, leaving it with ever fewer resources to defend its overseas interests.
Signs of military decline began with two disastrous battles: the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in Morocco in 1578 and Spain's abortive attempt to conquer England in 1588 (Portugal contributed ships to the Spanish invasion fleet). The country was further weakened by the destruction of much of its capital city in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars and the loss of its largest colony, Brazil, in 1822. From the middle of the 19th century to the late 1950s, nearly two million Portuguese left Europe to live in Brazil and the United States.In 1910, there was a revolution that deposed the monarchy; however, the subsequent republic was unable to solve the country's problems. Amid corruption, repression of the Church, and the near bankruptcy of the state, a military coup in 1926 installed a dictatorship that remained until another coup in 1974. The new government instituted sweeping democratic reforms and granted independence to all of Portugal's African colonies in 1975.
Portugal is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). It entered the European Community (now the European Union) in 1986.