A Creative Spirit
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... Continue Reading →
https://bloganuary.wordpress.com/2024/01/30/what-do-you-complain-about-the-most Sigh... I like to think I'm reasonably tolerant, but there are some things that just get under my skin, like itching powder. #1 Owners who allow their dogs to poop on beaches. Please, I beg, scoop their poop. Standing in a dog's poo in your bare feet is not cool. #2 Diners on the... Continue Reading →
Dry January: A Month Without Alcohol! This year I only made two New Year's resolutions: Abstain from alcohol for the month of January. Lose 15kg in weight by June 2024 On the Wagon Dry January was tough. Very tough because we enjoy a glass of wine or three with our meal, enjoy a gin and... Continue Reading →
Because I have such a wide range of hobbies and interests, I am the type of person who needs a 30-hour day! I'm meant to be retired, but I manage to fill EVERY minute. The phrase, 'I'm bored,' does not form part of my vocabulary. I've only listed my top five, so I will also... Continue Reading →
Several years ago, I bought a kumquat tree to grow in a pot. Poor thing struggled, and its leaves were always yellow. I was advised this was due to either too much water or not enough. An iron deficiency or whatever, so I bought various expensive commercial feeds, and they did not make that much... Continue Reading →
Checkouts not manned by staff have apparently neither revolutionised our shopping experience nor cut operating costs as expected. In my opinion, this is proof you can't always replace humans with technology-- and why should we? My number one concern when shops implemented self-service checkouts was that of the human cost. The army of part-time workers, such... Continue Reading →
Yep, packing the physical contents of your life into cardboard boxes is a fantastic way to declutter your life significantly when you are downsizing for retirement. All trivial trinkets and junk you've collected over the years when you only have limited space in the removal lorry and a tiny house does help to focus the mind.... Continue Reading →
It took me all of three seconds to answer this question - clue - the name of my website. I absolutely adore pigs, especially piglets! I realise the most popular choice will probably be dogs or cats ... but piglets, hye, you've got to admit they are cute. Brown piglets with black spots Prize porker... Continue Reading →
In what ways do you communicate online? Do you remember life before the internet when we relied on snail mail and landlines, and our only visual link to the outside world was TV, newspapers and magazines? When phones were phones. You dialled a number and made a call? Roll on 30 years, and now we... Continue Reading →
Looking back, August 2021 was one of the most harrowing road trips we undertook was driving to visit our family in France and then onto the UK just after the COVID restrictions were lifted. We didn't want to fly from Portugal, so driving in our own car bubble and staying in Approved and SAFE Clean... Continue Reading →
It's been a strange couple of weeks. I could say why, but it's probably better if I don't. *laughing*. But the experience taught me that more enjoyable doors can open as one door closes. Yep, sometimes we can't see the wood for the trees. I have experienced many smiles over the last week, which have... Continue Reading →
A Wanton Waste of Water Words: 296 Prompt: Sacrifice Throughout the summer months, Madge worried about the worsening drought situation in the Algarve. She fretted. Dams were little more than puddles ... as was the river in her local town. Newspapers and online groups continually warned that without significant rainfall there would be a severe... Continue Reading →
It's been hard to smile this week as I've had a raging toothache and ended up in A E for an emergency dentist appointment. Long story ... I'm now on strong antibiotics to try and calm the infection. SMILE= I think the infection is almost gone. I hope to announce a BIG smile next week... Continue Reading →
Do you ever wish you could turn back the clock? Two years ago my life changed and not for the better. The total knee replacement I pinned my hopes on that would allow me some modicum of normalcy aka would allow me to rejoin Pilates and Yoga, Zumba, walks on the beach and go body... Continue Reading →
A BIG smile this week because after moaning for the last couple of years that I can't fully access my raised vegetable garden and listening to Mr. Piglet's moans because he has to climb up onto the bed to weed, plant and pick crops in the centre strip he finally agreed to redesign and create... Continue Reading →
Naked Bather Statue at Passeio de Riberinho, Portimaõ Wordless Wednesday. Wordless, the statue left me speechless!
This week we took the opportunity to take an unplanned relaxing lunch along the waterfront at Alvor, enjoy the view and people-watch (great fodder for my next novel). The lunch and idyllic location a welcome bonus sandwiched between a hospital appointment and our stressful weekly shopping foray. In these times of the soaring cost of... Continue Reading →
Trying to motivate myself to garden today in nearly 38C when there is also a strong Southerly desert wind is like ... is like trying to climb Mount Everest in Flip-flops. Not that I'm ever likely to attempt to climb Everest or indeed anywhere else for that matter, but there you go. The air quality... Continue Reading →
How time flies! My baby granddaughter has just celebrated her tenth birthday which is a landmark birthday in France. Fortunately, her English is VERY good which means we can talk on the phone. Not so her younger brother. He is now seven and speaks very little English. My ongoing health issues over the last three years and then COVID has meant we have not been able to travel as we once did so we’ve not had the same social and language interaction …
The last two weeks in France have literally ‘flown’ by! Looking back it seems like only yesterday we were eagerly driving to Lisbon Airport to catch a plane to Lyon. Our daughter, husband and Baby Piglet had just moved to their new home in the French countryside and we’d volunteered our services to help them settle in.
Mr. Piglet’s DIY (Do-It-Yourself) skills were well utilized and a long list of jobs had already been drafted on our arrival. I was head cook and bottle washer plus baby entertainer and nappy changer.
Their new home is approximately 250 years old – a rustic farm-house with a wealth of character features which gives the place a real ‘homely’ feel. The garden, approximately 1.4 hectares, is great but will be a full-time job in itself to maintain! There are several nut and apple trees along with vines and fruit bushes which already offered…
View original post 601 more words
This week I decided to participate in Natalie's Weekend Coffee share. A first. So What’s been going on in my life? It's been a strange week. A couple of weeks ago I injured my right hand. Namely my mouse finger, or as it was once referred to, the index finger. After several days the pain... Continue Reading →
Piglet in Portugal 