It’s Sunday, and it’s cocktails at Lagos Marina, not coffee!! Reviewing life over the last week, I managed to circle back and catch up with my own tail. I completed ‘dry January’ with flying colours and celebrated my month of sobriety with a strawberry gin with tonic. Trust me when I say it took a LOT of self-control to go a whole month without alcohol. Have you ever participated in a Dry January?
I almost completed my target weight loss for Jan with only a 0.5 kg shortfall. Considering I’d given up all cakes, cookies, pasta, and rice and only eaten the occasion slice of bread, I expected it to be more … especially when I was told alcohol is loaded with calories! Bah humbug!
Fellow bloggers, do you enjoy gardening? It’s my passion, and I spent most of the week between writing sessions to complete my third collab book, busying myself in the garden. I even persuaded Mr. Piglet to chauffeur me to a few garden centres along the N125 in the Algarve – poor Mr P. it’s like taking a dog to the vet – but he survived. We even found a new garden centre called Cacti Jardins that specialized in cacti and succulents.
I had intended to buy some Hibiscus and Dipladenia plants because they have amazing flowers and do not need as much attention as bedding plants. Ho hum … I was thwarted in my quest as the garden centres en route only had a couple of manky specimens, so I passed, but I did buy several succulents!
I am a self-confessed plant junkie … what about you?
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Piglet in Portugal 
Oh you are disciplined. I don’t think I could give up all of that..though I could certainly cut back, so my scale says. lol. I really want to get back to gardening. The deer enjoy it way too much though and I don’t want to feed them. I do love plants. One of the places I want to visit in Hawaii is a botanical garden.
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I’m relieved we don’t have deer to contend with. They must be a nightmare! I’d love to visit botanical gardens as I can even lose myself for hours looking at plants in garden centres.
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I have finally accepted that am a container gardener, not an gardener who likes to work on the yard. Funny thing is I do have a house with a yard but it’s a lot of work. Most of my backyard is turf for my kid to run around and play. The front yard still needs to some work. I’d love a flower garden to boost its curb appeal.
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Hi Julie, it takes a lot of work maintaining plants grown in pots and I sometimes think it takes more of a challenge. 🙂
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Lovely succulents! Poor Mr. Piglet, you bought him a drink after the plant spree? 🙂
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The succulents looks amazing!
I have never participated in a dry January, but I do not drink alcohol very often, only a few times a year. I often go a month without any alcohol. Coffee on the other hand takes a whole lot more self control. I sometimes go a month without coffee just to see if I can do it. I’d love to learn more about your garden. I’m a little bit envious of your climate. Have a wonderful week!
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I am trying to grow more succulents and cacti rather than high maintenace plants as there is a water shortage. IT’s going to be a tough summer.
Coffee works well for Dry Jan as well. 🙂
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Hi Pip, I had never heard of dry January either. Like Gary, I’m not much of a drinker, but I have cut back to zero recently because of medications I take, it’s strongly recommended. Congratulations on reaching your weight loss goal. You were pretty strict with yourself. I have lost a tiny bit, after I decided not to be so strict with myself. I don’t know the answer. I give up sweets and lose a bit. I start eating them again and lose a bit. Then I don’t. LOL. At some point, we just have to be happy with how much we can do with our bodies given our energy levels, and having a good time, fitting into our clothes, and being social. 🙂 It never hurts to have goals, though – end even better, to achieve success!
Thanks again for visiting my blog. It’s always fun to hear about Portugal. 🙂
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Hi Marsha, thanks for stopping by. I am also a yoyo dieter. Last october, after a losing about 9kg, I was less than I am now. then came holidays and Christmas … ho hum. So far the loss is slow but I am still losing. This time I tell myself I must keep going and maybe throw it intermittant fasting.
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Good luck with all of that. May we both reach our goals! 🙂
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I love plants but I am lousy at keeping them alive! I actually had my first alcoholic drink in years in January… and remembered why I stopped drinking in the first place. It tasted awful! LOL Congrats on making it the whole month though.
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I don’t like all alcoholic drinks and I am fussy when it comes to wine. Recently I stopped drinking tea because after a life time of drinking it finally accepted it tasted awful. the ceremony of making it was better than the taste 🙂
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The succulents you picked look beautiful. I like plants and enjoy going to gardens and parks. Thank you for your weekend coffee share.
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And thank you for hosting, Natalie 🙂 Plants are addictive!
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Hi Pip,
It’s been a while since I’ve heard from you and hoped you were still out there.
I’d never heard of Dry January but I’m not much of a drinker. I like both some beers and wines but stronger drinks rarely prove worth my time or tasting – well, except for Irish Cream which is awesome.
I did recently learn that most mixed drinks are mostly sugar-based ingredients which surprised me and since I’m type 2 diabetic, have to limit these, whether I like them or not.
Okay, then. Now I know.
Anyway, it was good to hear from you and hope all is well.
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Hi Gary, yes I’m still plodding along. I’ve been busy over the last year working on a Romance series with a collab partner. We have just finished book 3.
I also love Irish Creme coffee.
I hope to particpate in the coffee share moving forward.
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Wow – a romance collab series. Is it as cool as it sounds? I’m not a fan of the genre but understand that it’s both flexible and full of limits an author must abide by. Are you and your partner good friends or strictly business associates? On the surface, it sounds intriguing but I’ll bet there are times when it’s tougher work than if you were just doing it yourself.
Hopefully, you’re both better friends for having done this together.
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We met by chance on a writing forum last year. Started a collab novel and then became close friends. She is actually a full time author so it’s like pairing a tortoise with a hare. For some reason it works well and we have a lot of fun. She is also my developmental editor on the book I am working on now.
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Sounds like a great team happened.
Wishing you both the best of fortune when it comes time to print and release.
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I love finding good plants for my garden – and interesting vegetable seeds too!
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we can always find a space for one more plant! I am going to try microgreens next. Apparently you grow them in a special jar.
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😊
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