Author: Alison
Me, just me. Mum to two lovely frustrating wonderful teenagers. Living in deepest darkest Oxfordshire. Ex Londoner and proud of it - though I don't miss the traffic. Chelsea fan, motorsports fan, avid reader. Love my food, wine and family!
The Blue Umbrella
It was nearly Christmas, and I was out buying the last few bits of plastic for my nieces. Walking along the high street, dodging frantic shoppers and sticky-faced children, I almost fell over the old ... Read More
The Old Couple
I’ve been watching them for years, the old couple up the road. Every day they walk past my house on their way to the newsagents to get their copy of the Daily Mail. As they totter up the street ... Read More
Another One Bites the Dust… 2023 Recap
It’s been over a year since I last updated this blog… which could mean life has been rough, but in fact it’s because the last year has been pretty blooming busy! So I thought it was time to do a... Read More
One Little Word
Christine had worked for Lindman and Co for over thirty years now. She’d joined as a secretary, working part time in the typing pool when her youngest child had started school, and was now PA to the... Read More
The Feeling Faded
As I opened the door, silence wrapped itself around me like a fleece blanket. The house was empty and I was alone. Married just three months, our roles as husband and wife were not the loving equals I... Read More
From Vila Mea to Gloucester via Harrow
Long time no blog post, yeah yeah I always say that. So since I wrote in June, I came back to the UK for my dad’s funeral, and then decluttered, packed up, said goodbye to friends and made the l... Read More
Mid-Year Review… and a Decision Made…
Gosh, is it really 6 months since I last wrote anything here? That’s terrible. Must mean I’ve been busy getting on with life, rather than thinking about it, I suppose! So where are we at? ... Read More
My Goals for 2022
Happy New Year! Okay, it’s January the 17th already … Paul Young’s birthday; it’s amazing that I learned that fact about him when I was a teenager and still remember it. I wish... Read More
The Vila Mea Presepio
I was going to include this in my round up post but decided it deserved a post to itself! Towards the end of November some members of a community group in my village started building a ‘presepio... Read More
Rounding Up 2021: November and December
November NaNoWriMo The main thing going on in November was that I took part in – and won – NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month – when you writing a 50,000 word novel during the 3... Read More
Rounding Up 2021: September and October
September September kicked off with a trip over the mountains to see my friend Andrea (the owner of the farm where I lived when I first moved to Portugal). It was an eventful trip as the car overheate... Read More
Rounding up 2021: July and August
I really must start doing better at this blogging lark …. after all the excitement of moving to Portugal and blogging about this new life a few times a month, it’s a pretty poor show to ha... Read More