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!
Things I’ve learned during my first two months in rural Portugal
I don’t need a lot of space – or a lot of stuff. If I had cooking facilities I could very happily live in the caravan. I’m truly wondering what all that “stuff” is I̵... Read More
Little Miss Clumsy
I’ve always been a bit accident prone – or perhaps clumsy. I’ve got a very poor sense of balance (possibly because of being deaf in one ear) and my son tells me I have absolutely no ... Read More
Meet the animals, part 1: feathered friends
Being a Londoner through and through, I never had much to do with animals as a kid, not least farm animals. In fact, to me farmers were characters out of Topsy and Tim books, so you can imagine my sur... Read More
What’s for dinner?
I promised a blog post about food, so here it is! Though I doubt it will be the last time I talk about food here. Now - I am a planner, when it comes to cooking. I go through my recipe books, choose... Read More
“Carnaval” and animal tales
Hands up how many of you back home were eating pancakes last Tuesday? It was Shrove Tuesday in the UK, but here in Portugal they celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of Lent with Carnaval –... Read More
Settling into a New Routine
Can you believe I’ve been here nearly a month already? I can’t! It feels like time moves more slowly here – I can be down in the fields collecting bedding for what seems like ages but check ... Read More
My Portugal Adventure: Roughing It!
When I announced that I’d decided to up sticks and move to Portugal for a few months, I was inundated with messages from people wishing me luck. However, the one that made me smile the most said, �... Read More
My Portugal Adventure: One Week In
Can you believe I’ve been in Portugal for a whole week already? The time has flown. At the moment I think I’m mostly in holiday mode though I have been making a big effort to throw myself into lif... Read More
From Portsmouth to Portugal
So on Sunday 3rd Feb 2019 I set off from my mum’s in Wantage and drove down to Portsmouth to board Cap Finistere, the 22.30 Britanny Ferry to Santander, as the first part of my trip to Portugal... Read More
Why Portugal? Why now?
I’ve been meaning to write this blog post for a couple of weeks but January disappeared in a flash – and the last week especially has been crazily busy. Having spent several weeks gradually declut... Read More
Meet the Queen of Decluttering!
Following my session with Lesley Beattie, Your Organisational Angel in December I’ve carried on decluttering the house and garage. I’d really been worried about the amount of stuff I have... Read More
Let the decluttering begin!
I admit it – I’m a hoarder. Especially of books, and old photos, and tacky ornaments, and bits of paper. Anything that reminds me of a lovely day out or holiday gets put in a box and never... Read More
Review: The Pottery Place, Witney (and #1 and #5 from my list!)
Mum, being the thoughtful person she is, perused my 101 things in 1001 days list for an idea for a birthday present, spotted “#1: Paint a plate (or mug or bowl)” and gave me a voucher to s... Read More