Portuguese Blues
I was planning on writing a long post about Christmas back in the UK, and then another one on my first couple of weeks back in Portugal – but I’ve suddenly realised we are nearly at the end of Jan... Read More
Before Christmas
Gosh, it’s been six weeks since I last wrote in this blog! Lots to catch up on then …. This is the first of three blogs to bring you up to speed on my bizarre/crazy/dull (delete as applicable) lif... Read More
10 things I’ve learned from Pickle
The rain has stopped, the sun has come out and I’ve been able to take a couple of lovely long walks up on the mountain paths with Pickle this week. And while I was walking today I realised just ... Read More
Enjoy the Silence
In my last post I talked about how I’d truly become part of the community for the two weeks that my neighbours were here harvesting olives. I was a bit concerned that I would be lonely once they... Read More
Saints, Olives and Community Spirit
Thank you to those people who have sent me lovely messages since my last, rather sad, post – it really means a lot to me! I’ve even had a few real letters in the post box, which really made my day... Read More
From the heart
I’ve written lots on this blog about things I’ve been doing, people I meet, places I’ve visited, funny animal stories and so on. I’ve been trying to write about my mental health and well-being... Read More
Vignettes of life in Portugal
A funny thing happened yesterday. I’d had a very lazy morning, reading in bed, and had barely bothered to get dressed – grubby jeans, an even grubbier cardigan, Crocs and unbrushed hair. I was out... Read More
A week in Portugal with my mum
A couple of weeks or so ago my lovely mum came over to visit me here in Portugal and we had a really good time together. Mind you, we almost missed each other … Mum’s flight landed shortly bef... Read More
Just call me … The Cliffhanger!
As I don’t have a TV here, I spend my evenings (and occasional lunch breaks) either reading, watching stuff I’ve downloaded on Netflix or listening to podcasts. One of my favourite podcast... Read More
End of holiday – and back to Slimming World!
*** Apologies if the cake photo is upside down – sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t and I can’t work out how to fix it! One of the downsides of moving to Portugal is that I’ve gai... Read More
Farm Girl for a Weekend
My last post talked about how peaceful and quiet life is here at Coelhosa. Over the weekend I spent three days back at Casalinho e Escabelado, my friends’ farm, looking after the animals while they ... Read More
A Simple Life
I struggled to know what to write about in this blog post because my life has become so simple and peaceful – and probably very boring to anyone observing from the outside! It’s lovely, don’... Read More
Hosting My Daughter at Coelhosa
After two weeks staying with family in the UK I headed back to Portugal with my daughter Katie in tow. Katie is a primary school teacher and tends to find the long summer holidays drag a bit as her bo... Read More