A Creative Spirit
My favourite hobby is gardening and I love "trying" to grow my own vegetables both in pots and in the ground. This year I have a new raised vegetable garden which I hope will yield great results. This is a record of my successes and failures usually just kept as notes on scraps of paper.... Continue Reading →
Baiao kindly shared this picture of their family Folar! This recipe also uses almonds. Shopping at the local farmers market a couple of years ago I could not help but notice a crowd of women gathering round a particular cake stall. Curiosity eventually getting the better of me I went over to investigate and squeezed... Continue Reading →
Are you taking part in the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge? This week's theme is "Old" We went to the market in the Alentejo last month to buy some vegetable seedlings and a couple of fruit trees. As we wandered round I studied the "old" farmer boys buying and selling chickens, vegetables and honey. It made me... Continue Reading →
I am not "poetic" as you will probably realise when you read my "ditty" below. I wrote it last year and dedicated it to our friends who are plagued by barking dogs. Their neighbor's dog is particularly tiresome because it barks continuously. In fact, it was such a nuisance last summer our friends were at... Continue Reading →
One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to research and cook one new recipe each week. I've never bought clams before and the only ones I could find, in our little town, were frozen. I also had the choice of two types - brown or white. Decisions, decisions! Deliberating over which to buy I finally... Continue Reading →
Are you taking part in the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge? This week's theme is "Light" We bought our first Euro-Lottery ticket last week - maybe we can get a boat if when we win! Dream on Piglet! If you won a million $£€ on the lottery this weekend what would be the first thing you would... Continue Reading →
I’ve always been intrigued by the brightly coloured cockerels (roosters) that are for sale in all the souvenir shops here in Portugal. Why are they so popular? Curiosity finally got the better of me so I decided to do a little research. The brightly coloured rooster is called the Galo de Barcelos and is one... Continue Reading →
One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to research and cook one new recipe each week. This recipe is courtesy of Paws2Claws from Northern Portugal, but originally came from her friend in Texas... P2C I have to report it was absolutely delicious and Mr Piglet definitely gave it the thumbs up! Thank you! Tuscan chicken... 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 →
Are you taking part in the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge? This week's theme is "Ocean" The Ocean is popular with surfers, in Portugal, as they pit their wits against the waves. I would love to try surfing... I put on a wetsuit once as I wanted to try bodyboarding; it felt like a second skin. When... Continue Reading →
A big thank you to the following bloggers who nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award. I am both honoured and humbled...Thank you! Faithsdreamblog Love Versus Goliath Mirth and Motivation Life's a Beach Jeanne's Blog I've been asked to share 7 random facts about myself...they are very random...! 1. I used to play and teach... Continue Reading →
This recipe was featured in my first monthly column at Expat Focus Piglet in Portugal: Missing Food From Back Home - Is It Just Me? There are many foods I miss from home including Paxo stuffing, Teabags, Cadbury Cream Eggs, Mincepies, English Christmas cake, English mustard, Horseradish, Piccalilli and Baked Beans to name a few.... 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 →
Are you taking part in the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge? This week's theme is "Spring" When I lived in the UK, the arrival of spring was heralded with wonderful displays of golden daffodils. In Portugal we have so many beautiful flowers throughout the year that when I think of spring; insects not flowers come to mind. Even... Continue Reading →
This recipe is not only simple to make, but absolutely delicious! The only problem I had was the "flambé". Mr Piglet poured a generous glug of brandy on the peaches, struck the match and I waited camera poised in eager anticipation to capture the "flambe" moment. The "moment" turned out to be a bit of... Continue Reading →
God loves a "tryer" and as Mr Piglet says I’m very trying! Every year I attempt to grow my own vegetables with varying degrees of success. I do not have a Horta (Allotment) but a patch of poor sandy earth in a small, windswept urban garden in the Algarve. High humidity and salt air, due... Continue Reading →
Since moving to Portugal I have been fascinated by white storks and their nesting habits. White storks are majestic birds about 1m tall. They build their nests on man-made structures such as chimneys, telephone poles, lamp posts, rooftops, towers etc. Nests, as you can see from my photographs, are HUGE and can be up to... Continue Reading →
The weather here in Portugal, over the last few weeks, has been bright and sunny with temperatures up to 20C. The warm weather is an early reminder that my "tractor tyre" midriff currently concealed, but still lurking under the layers of winter clothes, needs urgent attention. Oh no, I need to focus on the dreaded... Continue Reading →
When WordPress started the PostADay/PostAWeek Challenge in January and subsequently made a post about “blogging buddies” I left a comment and ClassyRose came to my rescue. Rose is great, always offering words of encouragement and support both through the good times and bad. ClassyRose also helps and encourages so many bloggers through her blog “Things... Continue Reading →
Do you experience problems with "Parking Scammers"? They are rife in Portugal and they REALLY annoy me!. It does not matter whether you park in a side road or in a free car park the "Parking Scammers" are lurking - just waiting to spring into action by directing you into a “free” parking space. “Free”... Continue Reading →
Piglet in Portugal 