Merry Christmas

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Hope you are all having a lovely festive season with loved ones....we are in Portugal still getting rounder by the spoonful :-) We had a glorious Christmas with loads of food, presents, port wine (which by the way is our port wine that we made for our wedding and is turning out to be a real vintage!)
I got loads of 'coffee table' books on Portugal as requested, a lovely dress and the biggest surprise from Amandio - he's crazy! (in a good sense :-) - a pretty big ruby ring! Gosh, I was pretty gobsmacked and touched... a beautiful single red ruby with three small diamonds on each side (bought in Thailand) but unfortunately it is too small... so I hope that we can exchange it for a bigger one when we get back.
We are slowly coming to terms with the fact that our month holiday is coming to an end. The saddest part is that we don't know when the next time will be. Usually there is always something planned (weddings, Christmas, summer hols). This time we don't know if the stork will prevent travel in the future, if Amandio can get holidays etc. We are spending New Years in Lisbon and I am looking forward to seeing Sandra and finally get to meet her new son Rafael. We are then off to Thailand on the 1st.
The next mark in my calendar is a visit from Isla who is making her way (slowly - one month tour in South East Asia and another three weeks with her mother touring India) back to Scotland from Sydney. Hopefully there will be a few more trips to resorts with Amandio's work on the horizon. I wouldn't mind some more sun and beach after a month in the cold (relative of course :-)
Happy New Year.

Updates: Portugal

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RINUS!

Gosh time is flying. I haven't really been writing much but I have been keeping a sort of video diary on Dailymotion.
Here I am in Portugal busy going through the Christmas motions with family. The weather is glorious; crystal blue skies with pure fresh air. I find it really chilly and am suffering from an incessant cold that I just can't shake off. On the plus side, the opportunity to wear winter clothes is delightful, mixing and matching Thai summerish clothes with forgotten treasures I had boxed away. My favourite has got to be a black knitted dress with my tan suede knee high boots....it feels so good to be able to wear layers and accessorise with scarves, hats, belts etc. LOL! This may sound a little crazy, but those of you who know what it is like to be limited to summer clothes (which of course I love too, especially dresses and skirts) for a few years, can probably empathise.
Besides looking forward to wearing new outfits every morning, my days are filled with walks with Amandio and Lord (plus any of our nephews if they are around), relaxing, reading, eating, cooking, chatting, roaming around the streets and shops in Tomar.
We went to Lisbon for two days. Once again, I am in awe of the city. I LOVE IT.... and miss the familiarity, the coziness .... this feeling lives strongly within me, never to be forgotten. Home :-) I dreamt of returning one day and buying a house in Campo do Ourique. Beautiful. After wandering around my old haunts and filming what delights my eyes, I spent hours putting together a film (to be uploaded onto DM tomorrow) which I think really captures the magic, the sloppy juxtaposition of old and new, the essence of Ulysses' seven headed serpeant.
My parents are coming next week which I am really looking forward to. Lovely long days are stretching ahead of me here. Happy and relaxing :-)