A Creative Spirit
If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that while it's been 'one of THOSE weeks' where despite the constant rain, doom, gloom, and political shenanigans where you thought 'things' couldn't get any worse until DT insulted Nato troops and for once Kier Starmer grew a pair and stood up to the orange peril, I... Continue Reading →
If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that at times I think life is like the weather. One minute we have cornflower-blue skies and sunshine, then clouds, rain, and strong winds the next. The day starts sunny, so feeling upbeat, you think I'll have a BBQ. One solitary cloud floats across the sun and... Continue Reading →
Always desperate to improve my gut health and lose weight, I am often sucked in by so-called experts on YouTube. You must have seen these guys pulling faces and probably making spurious claims. But they're the experts, RIGHT? Until this week, I have taken their advice at face value. Who am I to dispute that... Continue Reading →
If we were having coffee, I'd tell you it's been a week of taking stock of my physical and mental health. Are they linked? Yes, I believe so. I've decided this year not to set strict goals or resolutions that will probably set me up to fail, but rather learn to live in the moment... Continue Reading →
When I read this MEME on the FB page 'Positive Energy,' I thought, " Okay, it needs a tweak, but what a brilliant idea!" I've been feeling rather low for some time, so before the black dog depression spiralled any further, I found an old container and wrote my first couple of positive energy notes.... Continue Reading →
At the end of the year, or should I say the beginning of the new one, I only made one resolution: Learn to live and enjoy the moment. Today, the sun was shining, and the birds were singing. I inhaled the moment and decided that, rather than exercising in front of my computer with 'Get... Continue Reading →
If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that this week has had its highs and lows. One of our friends unexpectedly passed away on the 27th. This was the guy whose passion for cacti and succulents inspired me, and with whom, over the years, we exchanged many cuttings and unusual plants, and enjoyed many... Continue Reading →
If we were having coffee, I'd ask if you had a good Christmas or holiday. I'd tell you the morning after we returned from the UK, we hit the ground running on a mammoth food shopping expedition. Successful? Yes, sort of, except despite visiting four, yes...FOUR supermarkets, there was not a Brussels sprout in sight.... Continue Reading →
If we were having coffee, I would confide that while I usually like to class myself as a creative spirit, this year, when it came to erecting and decorating the Christmas tree and putting up decorations, I had zero patience, probably because I was nursing a toothache. And Gringe, Mr Piglet, refused to help. If... Continue Reading →
For this week's #foodiefriday, I decided to focus on Bacalau (salted cod) because in Portugal, Christmas is not Christmas without it. I don't know why, because it is as stiff as a board, smells disgusting, and looks about as appetising as the prospect of munching on cardboard. In fact, it’s so stiff that it has... Continue Reading →
If we were having coffee or maybe a cocktail or three, I'd tell you that this week I've felt in limbo. Going through the motions of my daily activities. There in body but not in mind. Treading water as I wait for the impending, dreaded endoscopy and colonoscopy on Wednesday. It's only a routine check... Continue Reading →
If we were having coffee, I'd share my excitement at a major breakthrough with my physio... Yep, after weeks of practising different exercises, I can finally manoeuvre myself into a kneeling position. Okay, it is not the most graceful descent, but it's a start. The useless, incompetent surgeon who performed my total knee replacement told... Continue Reading →
If we were having coffee, I'd tell you last week was a strange week. As I write this on Sunday, we should be in the UK, but our youngest grandchild contracting chickenpox put paid to that, and we had to cancel our plans....pooh! Ho hum, so rather than sit around feeling glum, we made other... Continue Reading →
Last Sunday was Remembrance Sunday and as I watched people laying poppy wreaths at the cenotaph, we are reminded: On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month....we shall remember them. https://www.youtube.com/live/jqckTaACroA?si=xDDcVUKZNpsCQ-1U&t=2164 and the haunting sound of a lone bugle brought to mind a poem I wrote many years ago, and with... Continue Reading →
If we were having coffee, I'd tell you my physio sessions are going well ... well, sort of. The painful tendinitis in my right hip had almost disappeared until I started driving our manual transmission car. A couple of journeys in, pressing the clutch aggravated the tendinitis, so it felt like two steps forward and... Continue Reading →
Seriously, I think I have a better chance of flying to the moon than having any meaningful conversation in Portuguese. If I manage to find the right words to ask a question, I rarely understand the reply. When people talk to me, my brain empties and my mind goes blank, leaving me staring at them... Continue Reading →
It doesn't seem possible that a week ago today we were visiting our family who live in France. Although it rained EVERY day for most of the day, it was great to spend time with the family, especially since I knew it would probably be about six months before we saw them again. At the... Continue Reading →
If we were having coffee, I'd tell you it has been a busy week or so. The highlight: we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary on the 18th October followed by a trip to see our family in France more on that next week. Mr. Piglet secretly planned a boat trip from Olhao to the Ria... Continue Reading →
While on a boat trip to one of the islands on the Ria Formosa the boat's skipper proudly introduced us to these slimey critters. Sea cucumbers or “Sea rats” as they are aptly nicknamed by some fishers and divers because of how they move and feed—slowly crawling over the seabed, cleaning up waste and debris... Continue Reading →
For this week's Food on Friday topic, I want to experiment using alternatives to refined sugar so I can bake diabetic friendly cakes and cookies. I have a vague idea in theory, but am clueless in practice. I needed to find a sugar replacement. In one cookbook of diabetic recipes, Agave syrup was recommended, but... Continue Reading →
Piglet in Portugal 