A Creative Spirit
I enjoy going to the country markets and one of my favourites is the market at São Teotónio near Odemeira, in the Alentajo. I refer to the term "country" because I'm not so keen on the markets held in the tourist towns of the Algarve. These are usually full of the rip-off-tat such as fake... Continue Reading →
Holidays and House Guests I was recently asked by a friend living in the UK: "Do expats still take holidays and if so where?" What a strange question and one I’d never considered! So what's the deal with expats and holidays? Do you return to your homeland to visit family and friends, explore your new... Continue Reading →
On Tuesday, after a THREE month wait for a new part for my "broken" oven it turned out they had ordered wrong part! (see my Pigging Oven! post) In desperation and with the hope of identifying the correct part the oven technician decided to take my oven to their workshop with the promise of a... Continue Reading →
Do you remember this picture? It was my interpretation of the theme "Broken" for the “Wordpress Weekly Photo Challenge on the 6th August. It was my “Broken” oven and guess what folks? My oven is still broken! Initially, I was very impressed when the appliance engineer actually arrived on the agreed day and more or less at... Continue Reading →
After traveling over, 5400km across Portugal, Spain, England and France plus two ferry crossings and five weeks away the “Grandparents Tour of Europe” (as our friends aptly named it) is over and we are now home! Exhausted we must now return to the treadmill of normality, whatever “normal” is here in this la la land... Continue Reading →
Margaret at Cachando Chile challenged her followers to write a post about "Stuff that just bugs me…" This challenge was not too difficult as I've definitely become more "grumpy" as I've grown older! Not that all older people are "grumpy", I hasten to add!...Hmmm I think I am digging a deeper hole here so I... Continue Reading →
A note for your diaries! The annual Silves Medieval Fair (Algarve) is held in the narrow cobbled streets which lead up to the ancient castle. The streets and squares are transformed into a medieval market place as stall holders and even several of the visitors dress in medieval and arabic costumes. There is a tent... Continue Reading →
We recently went to France and during our absence our electricity tripped off and we were left without power for over a week. When friends informed us we may have a problem with our electricity we were not too concerned as we were "insured". OK, items such as food in our freezer were covered on... Continue Reading →
This week I felt extremely sad as yet another close friend, who opted for early retirement, announced she is “selling up” and returning home to good old blighty (UK). Not only is Portugal not the “promised land” she had imagined, but now the honeymoon period is over, at fifty two years old she is totally... Continue Reading →
How do you feel about answering census questions; do you feel it is a useful exercise, a waste of money or a further intrusion into our privacy? Last Sunday the woman from our local Camara (council) delivered our form and a slip of paper with our pin number for the 2011 Portugal Census on the... Continue Reading →
When we opened our first bank account in Portugal the only thing I remember was our lawyer marching us up the road to a bank. The rest of the proceedings were a complete blur because said “proceedings” were conducted in Portuguese. Various pieces of paper were passed back and forth across the desk, our signatures... Continue Reading →
What makes a "Perfect Sunday" when every day is the same? When you retire early - days, weeks and months are only punctuated by special events and highlights as one day merges with the next. Early retirement in the sun may seem idyllic but in reality you no longer have the anticipation of the Monday... Continue Reading →
I am rarely lost for words but on this occasion I was almost speechless. To set the scene we had been walking around Lyon (France) taking numerous photographs in sub-zero temperatures and I was desperate for a hot cup of coffee and the loo (toilet). Frozen to the bone we decided to stop at a... Continue Reading →
One of my passions is gardening and the Gazanias reward me with an ongoing display of unusual daisy-like flowers twelve months of the year. These photos were taken today after weeks of showers, gales and heavy rain. I was amazed any had actually survived such an onslaught, so with a break in the weather I... Continue Reading →
Every year we make New Year’s Resolutions, but why? How many of these “resolutions” do we actually achieve? I am pleased to say that last year one of my resolutions was to start a blog about life in Portugal. It was quite a challenge for a “technomuppet” such as me, especially as six months before... Continue Reading →
Feriado Público As I often forget some of the public and regional holidays in Portugal I thought it would be a great idea to kick off the New Year with this list as a reminder. I have also added this post as a "page" for future reference. Please let me know if there are any... Continue Reading →
Have you ever tried Geocaching? I had never tried it until recently and now I'm hooked!! Geocaching can best be described as a high tech worldwide treasure hunt game using a GPS enabled device. The Geocache is the treasure. Not treasure in the true sense of the word but a container (cache) which holds the... Continue Reading →
The run up to Christmas this year feels rather flat and for the first time I feel homesick. Perhaps not "homesick" in the true sense of the word, but everything just feels alien. I think it’s down to the fact that it does not feel Christmassy. Our nearest town has decided not to display any... Continue Reading →
Recently we went to a restaurant where the service was so abysmal and we were treated in such an off-hand way that I asked for the "Livro de Reclamações" (this is the complaints book). Despite being invisible for 90 minutes it was amazing that the manager of the establishment, like a Gene from the lamp,... Continue Reading →
Piglet in Portugal 