COLOURFULWORLD

Saturday 25 January 2014

GROW YOUR BLOG challenge 2014



For the second year, Vicky is hosting a "Grow your blog" party, Check out her blog at - 2 Bags full blog.
This is a campaign to get more people to read a wider variety of blogs, variety is the spice of life, as the saying goes...

For my new readers I will start by introducing myself:
Hi, my name is Sami, I have been living in Perth, Australia for the past 7 years.
I was born in the former Portuguese colony of Mozambique, then moved to South Africa when I was 14 years old. 
I met and married my husband in Johannesburg, and shortly after I accompanied him to Braunschweig in Germany, where he was going to work on a project. We stayed for 6 years and both our children were born in Germany.  
In the early 90's we moved back to South Africa for a short while, then another move to Portugal, where we lived for 12 years.
My husband was then offered a good job in Perth, and another move was on the cards!
I hope we are done with moving for many many years now, as I love living here!!

I work part-time as a Practice Manager in a Medical clinic with 4 Doctors and 5 other receptionists, and I love my job, although it can be quite intense and stressful at times!


Perth city, seen from Kings Park Botanic gardens

I started my blog in June 2011, as a way to record my travels, crafts, recipes...and also to meet with other likewise bloggers.

I have been gluten intolerant for about 3 years, and recently started to follow the "Paleo" way, to help my husband lose weight and get rid of his newly diagnosed diabetes. The diet worked and we both try to eat this way now, although I am more disciplined than he is. This explains the fact that I now follow a few "Paleo" blogs.

I am on a quest to be more aware of the environment, use less chemicals on my body and house, so I make my own washing liquid for the washing machine, and use vinegar, baking soda and lemon for cleaning around the house, as well as making my own lovely soap

Try these recipes, they are easy, don't take long and you will feel so proud of yourself .

I enjoy crafts although I must say I am a bit of a procrastinator and haven't done much in way of crafting or painting for a while. 

My other interests are stamp collecting, postcard collecting (I joined Postcrossing a few months ago) and I also enjoy Genealogy.

I love to watch lifestyle shows, renovating shows, etc., which drives my husband crazy!!  
60 Minute makeovers?? No wonder I get cranky when the bathroom renovation takes 3 months!! I'm proud to say that in the last 5 years we have renovated our whole house, with hardly any help from respective handymen - a lot learned on the job!!!




I have 5 cats, only 2 of them are friendly and love to keep me company, the others are bit wild and scared of visitors. But I still love them to bits.


Twiggy

Fluffy

Baby

Shelley & Mommy

At the moment I have 56 followers, some lovely virtual and not so virtual friends spread around the world, but it would be nice to increase my regular readers.

I have actually met a few of my followers and/or bloggers that I follow, such as the lovely Carole from Piglet in Portugal, who was one of my first followers outside my family and who helped boost my readership, and who I met on a visit to Portugal last year.

Then there is Monica who also lives in Perth and blogs in Portuguese about her Perth experiences, Grace, has a daily blog about Perth, and Iris, who by coincidence lives in one of our former towns - Braunschweig - and who I met recently on her visit to Perth.
Celeste, also from Portugal, is a self published author, who also writes in Portuguese, posting poetry, articles about herbs and their benefits to your health, and she is an enthusiastic writer with over 500 posts in about 2 years.

One thing I find, is that although I have many people that read my posts every day, very few people apart from the regular 5 or 6 commentators leave comments. I don't know if the procedure is difficult or if people just can't be bothered. 

I miss that people comment and I always try to leave a comment if I visit a new blog, there is always a post that is interesting, has nice photos, is funny....
So make an effort and leave some kindness.

So hop along to 2Bagsfull -  with over 500 bloggers having registered you will for sure find one or two to your liking.


And of course I hope you "follow me" too and enjoy reading my blog.


41 comments:

  1. Hello, you know I already follow you. I love your blog but I must confess I don't always leave a comment, probably because time is short and I am lazy. Have a great weekend!

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  2. Thanks Mara, don't worry I understand. Enjoy your weekend too.

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  3. Hi Sami, I'd love to follow you and hear and view life in Australia. I'm from the States, Arizona. I too enjoy eating Paleo ( well most of the time). Did the Whole 30 program in Dec. It was great, no sugar, no dairy and no desire for it. I felt great. Hope you'll stop by and visit me.

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    1. Thanks Sharon for becoming a new follower. I have heard about the Whole 30 program, but don't know much about it, might be something interesting to research. Will look in your blog and see if you have something about it there.

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  4. Love all your furry friends Sami, I really must get myself down to cat haven and rescue a pussy cat.

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    1. Thanks Grace, as I sit at the computer I have two of them by my side on the desk, they must have missed me, as I was away for 6 days...

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  5. I am, of course, already a follower of your blog and always enjoy reading your posts. It is so generous of Vicki to host the Grow Your Blog party again this year. Hope you are having a great weekend, Sami!

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    1. Thanks Lynn, we are celebrating Australia Day today, so soon I'll be off to watch the fireworks with my son and daughter in law.

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  6. Baby is too cute. i love that coloring - so pretty. hi there. i'm Beth from E. Lizard Breath Speaks - so nice to meet you through the Grow Your Blog get together/party. ( :

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    1. Thanks for visiting Beth. Baby is the prettiest for sure, although I have a soft spot for Fluffy, the only male, he is the most vocal and social of them all.

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  7. I too love home improvement shows(and my husband does not), do you get Rehab Addict?That is one of my faves. I also am a big fan of all things natural(husband is slowly coming on board with that one). I look forward to following!

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  8. HI Heather, thanks for becoming a follower. I don't know Rehab Addict, there are loads of reno programs on TV here, either British, American or Australian. Natural is the way to go, I have come to the realization that we pump our bodies full of chemicals, be it through creams, shampoos, pre-packaged foods, etc. No wonder cancer and other nasty things are on the increase!

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  9. Great post, Sami!
    For the sake of me not cooking... I love cooking shows!
    Oh, yes, pe-packaged salads were in the news just recently for being full of bacteria and all.

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    1. Hi Iris, I think Cooking shows are the new fashion on TV, here we have dozens of them every week, the most popular being "My Kitchen Rules" and "Masterchef".

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  10. I do so love a 'box cat'! Of our 3 cats, 2 are box cats and the other is terrified of boxes. He is a rescue cat and was found in the middle of the road...we think he must have been thrown out in a box.

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    1. My cats love boxes, the smaller the better! I think it's so funny when I see them squeezing into a box. Poor kitty, so glad you rescued him. It's so awful when people abandon animals.

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  11. Ola Sami,
    So agora e' que cheguei ao seu blog! Concordo que e' bom termos comentarios dos leitores. Eu tenho o mesmo problema... Tenho algumas pessoas que me deixam mensagens (esporadicas) no facebook, ou quando me encontram pessoalmente, a dizer que gostam de ler e de saber sobre as minhas aventuras, mas nao e' a mesma coisa.
    Talvez teremos mais comentarios com os nossos novos leitores.
    Espero que a GYB party tenha corrido bem!

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    1. Ola Sara, pelo menos ja ganhei 5 novas seguidoras. E a Sara teve bons resultados?

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  12. Sami, you sure have lived in a number of very different countries! We have that in common, although we haven't lived in the same places. It looks like you've found the place where you'd like to stay. But...you may get restless after a few years! Once you're used to the wandering life, it's hard to stay put...

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  13. Thanks for visiting Miss Footloose. Right now I do hope we don't move again, I'm loving my life! My husband would love to retire back in Portugal though in the sunny Algarve, so who knows when we are a bit older we will move again...

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  14. Sami, my blog comments have gone way down over the last year or so, too. I often wonder if it's because of people reading on cell phones, where it's harder to comment (maybe?) Anyway -- I always appreciate you and your comments and I wish I had done Grown Your Blog this year but I just didn't have the time...sigh!

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    1. Hi Laurie, hadn't thought of that possibility, it must be the reason there are less comments. Thanks for visiting.

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  15. Olá!
    Prazer em conhecer-te!
    Quem me dera um dia poder visitar a Austrália...
    Beijos

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  16. Ola Bruna, obrigada pela visita. Quem sabe um dia concretizas esse sonho de visitar a Australia. Eu adoro viver aqui!!

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  17. Sami, Your introduction made me smile on many levels--While I have pinned many diy house cleaners, I've hardly actually made any of them. I do use vinegar a lot though and have found it to be so versatile. I used to watch the DIY home shows, but they would make me crazy--i found myself constantly looking at my house as if it lacked something then I'd be annoyed if my nut/bolt lamp didn't turn out like the professional's or it I couldn't make over my room in 30 minutes etc. Now that we are in Germany, I don't get TV and I don't miss it. It's been good for me to get some perspective bc I really can be house obsessed. Looking forward to future posts.

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  18. Hi: Thank you for your visit. I look forward to getting to know you better. Have a wonderful week. Blessings, Martha

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  19. Hi Brooke - it the comment posted. I agree with what you say about House renos - they make every house look perfect without much effort, with probably dozens of people behind the scenes for sure!
    I also sometimes look around my house and wish I too could have such a perfect place, but then, I also like my things the way I have them.
    You should try making the washing liquid - takes 30 minutes tops, very easy!

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  20. Thanks for your visit Martha.

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  21. Apesar apesar de já nos termos encontrado pessoalmente e de eu já seguir o blog à algum tempo, só depois de ler este post é que vi como temos coisas em comum, desde os postais, passando pela colecção de selos e até aos shows de renovações! Adorei as alterações da Sami em casa e no mobiliário, e estou pronta a experimentar as receitas para os sabonetes:)

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  22. Paula - pena nao nos termos voltado a encontrar, mas por vezes andamos numa correria e no meu caso divido a vida entre Perth e Adelaide o que torna a vida social mais dificil. Engracado termos tanta coisa em comum. Beijinhos e boa sorte para a nova aventura.

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  23. Hey Sami, your four legged friends are adorable. I don't know what I would do without my cats. It is always nice to find another cat lover. It has been lovely meeting you.

    Hugs
    Caroline

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  24. Thanks for visiting Caroline. I have always loved cats, lovely to meet another cat lover too.

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  25. Greetings from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. Wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing.

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  26. Thanks for visiting and commenting Judy. I have been looking at photos of your area, and it looks nice. You live in an island too!

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  27. Hello Sami! Pleased to meet you. Perth is very beautiful - I can see why you want to live there for a long time to come. And I am a cat person too. I have two cats named Spooky and Sweet Pea.

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  28. Hi Stacy, thanks for the visit and for following me.
    I love the names of your cats, mine don't have very original names...

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  29. Hi Sami! Loved visiting your blog. Wonderful photos. I don't have cats but I do have a Chinchilla named Bella. Most of my sisters have 5 or more cats. One takes in feral cats from the neighborhood, tames, neuters, and finds them good homes. I mainly do art quilts. I love gardening and am gluten intolerant. I too wish people would comment more. Following

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  30. So nice to meet you. My visit to your blog was very enjoyable. I was nice to meet your and your "family" - thanks for sharing.....

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  31. Olá Sami! Obrigada por visitar o meu blogue. Que bom conhecer mais uma portuguesa na festa GYB. Parece-me que as três semanas que passarm não foram suficientes para visitar todos os blogues. Eu fico a ler e a ver fotografias e acabo por avançar pouco na lista. Vou ser sua seguidora e acompanhar as suas aventuras no país "down under". Aproveite o dia.
    Ana

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  32. Ola Ana, obrigada pela visita e por se tornar seguidora do meu blog. Espero que continue a gostr das minhas aventuras na Australia.

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