Author: Alison
Me, just me. Mum to two lovely frustrating wonderful teenagers. Living in deepest darkest Oxfordshire. Ex Londoner and proud of it - though I don't miss the traffic. Chelsea fan, motorsports fan, avid reader. Love my food, wine and family!
How a morning routine sorted my head out
In my last post I talked about how I’d finally decided I needed a routine to give my days some structure and help me feel like I am actually achieving something in life. And do you know what ... Read More
Monday morning, fresh start, new beginning
Warning – this is a long-winded, self-indulgent post about me me me, rather than about life in Portugal. You have my blessing to ignore it! I’ve blathered on here many times about how, despite lov... Read More
Taking things day by day
And so the lockdown continues … Nearly a month since I last wrote a blog post and nothing has changed, really. Here in Portugal we are into the third 15-day period of lockdown and it’s... Read More
A new home in a locked down world
Gosh, how things can change in the space of a fortnight. Last time I wrote on my blog, I was preparing to move to my new home in Carregal do Sal. And indeed, that move has happened, and my new house i... Read More
Watching the sun set at Coelhosa
A month has gone by without me writing a post … could be I’ve been too busy, or maybe I’ve had nothing to write about! Or possibly a bit of both … Last month I said I was feeli... Read More
Sticks, Stones and Social Butterflies
A new month, and a new resolution to make the most of my life here in Portugal. Which meant this week has been very busy on the social side – in fact, I think it’s the first time since I’ve been... Read More
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