I can't keep on about the weather..

..but it really is the hot topic here. It has to be about 18 degrees - on January 6th. We had lunch on the balcony in our shirtsleeves. Seems most odd that I'm about to take the Christmas tree down. What happened to slipping on ice when the tree goes out of the front door? Ali never takes her sunglasses off, but this winter she's needed them.


I tried to take a photo of the sun on the balcony, but a dog called Kit (the piglete) got in the way. Now you know what a flea sees.


Just about every day, after lunch, our very bored Portuguese neighbour, Maria, comes to ask why we rarely go to visit her. The answer is always the same - we're busy - and she comes every day, so when would we go? But she is huge fun and has an excellent, if rude, sense of humour. I call her my French aunt. She took citizenship here donkey's years ago. As she's our main reason for daily French, we probably speak it with a Portuguese accent.


I told her I would put her photo on the internet. She said 'then your Mum will say "that's the little old woman from over the road"'. She's 80 and a real treat. Life here would be a lot less without her.