Author: Alison
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
Holiday in the UK
It’s been ages since I wrote a blog post, and I guess that’s because I’ve simply been getting on with enjoying my new life here in the tiny village of Coelhosa, near Gois. I’m feeling very set... Read More
10 Days of Solitude
I’ve been in Coelhosa nearly a fortnight now, and in Portugal nearly six months – how the time has flown! Considering I came here to “scratch an itch” and was almost certain I wouldn’t like ... Read More