FLYING SOLO

They say that “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”. I’m not too sure about that but what I do know is that it’s deadly silent here without hubby in the house. If you follow my Facebook or Instagram you will know that hubby had to make a trip to the U.K to return his work laptop and equipment as he got a new job. We haven’t visited the U.K since we relocated here 2.5 years ago. Covid put an end to all our return trips and Easyjet cancelled so many of my flights I just gave up in the end. I really wanted to join him on his trip but as it was fairly last minute and also half term school holidays the price of flights has tripled and someone has to stay here to look after the animals. 

Rocky Start

His trip got off to a rocky start when he received an email saying that his flight was delayed an hour but that he still needed to check in at the same time as previously recommended. I waved him a tearful goodbye and off he went. Porto airport is a 2 hour drive from our home so he had a long journey ahead of him. He arrived at the airport, parked, checked in his luggage and made his way through security, where he was swabbed for drugs (ha ha). It quickly became evident that the delay was going to be much longer than 1 hour. Apparently the plane was still grounded at Gatwick airport. This was just the beginning of his nightmare. A few hours later all the staff could confirm was that there are delays at Gatwick! They handed out measly food & drinks vouchers of €4.50. A coke is €3.95 so basically it was enough to buy 2 bottles of water, a coffee, coke or a beer. Luckily hubby ate at the airport Burger King earlier. He was really concerned that Easyjet might cancel the flight and the next flight wasn’t until 6:40am the next morning and he had to be at work. He sat by the Easyjet desk and kept a vigilant eye on the situation. Easyjet gave no clear answers for the hold up and hubby couldn’t understand what was going on as the average delay at Gatwick was only 40 minutes.

His flight was supposed to depart at 19:35 but it ended up leaving after Midnight so a 4.5 hour delay. He should have arrived at 21:55 but ended up arriving at Gatwick airport at 2:30am! Then there was an issue getting luggage off of the plane so this resulted in another hour delay. He arrived at Gatwick train station at 4am, caught the 4:40am train to London and arrived at his sister’s house at 6:45am. He missed his coach from London to Bristol which was booked for 7am and had to catch a train instead so he arrived at work late and exhausted from zero sleep. The issues at Gatwick airport did not end on this day. For days afterwards Easyjet cancelled over 200 flights! Thank god that his return journey back home is Luton to Porto and not bloody Gatwick. Hubby has already completed the online form to claim compensation as the delay was over 3 hours. Hopefully Easyjet will pay out this time as when we relocated here we had a delay of over 3 hours and they did not pay any compensation except for our beverages as they said it was due to adverse weather but every other plane landed without issue.

True Blue Boys

Hubby made it to Bristol and stayed a couple of nights at my dad’s house whilst he worked his last 2 days at the Bristol office. His new job is fully remote thankfully. Here are photos of 2 of my favourite men in the whole wide world. First hug in over 2.5 years! My nerdy hubby isn’t into footie at all. Hubby bought my dad a Porto football scarf at the airport and seeing as it’s blue my dad has teamed it up with his Chelsea shirt. I love the fact that he made hubby wear a Chelsea hat too, Hilarious. My true blue boys, I Love you both. The last photo is hubby’s Friday night dinner, battered sausage hidden under a mountain of chips with curry sauce. My dad told hubby that he was really happy that he visited as he rarely gets any visitors from any other family members or friends which is very sad. Cherish your family folk, you never know when you will see them again and life is way too short. Look how fantastic my dad looks at 80! I can’t wait to return in 2023 for my daughters graduation to see my dad. Living so far away is heartbreaking.

Family LOVE

Here is hubby with his family. Mum, sister, brother in law, niece and nephew. 2.5 years is a long time without family hugs. His mum is beautiful and I think she looks like Sandra Redknapp. Hubby’s rugby playing brother in law is HUGE or is hubby just SMALL? (ha ha).

Home Alone – Coping all by Myself!

I was really anxious about fending for myself and we haven’t been apart in over a decade. You might be wondering why it’s such a big deal for me to be left alone all by myself for a week, just 7 short days. I suffer from chronic pain and have a hidden disability which is not visible so although I look fit and well my health is not 100% and there are certain tasks around the house that I just can’t do by myself. Hubby does so much for me on a daily basis including nurse duties of dispensing my morning medication and all the cooking. He is the chef of Casa Valhal. I know he does a lot for me and I am forever eternally grateful. I am very thankful that he prepared 6 meals for the freezer in advance and also bought me a pizza for my 7th dinner. This meant I only had to prepare breakfast and lunch. He also hid 6 mini bags of sweets around the house for when things got tough, I ate them all by Sunday (ha ha). If you suffer from chronic pain you will know that we are our own worse enemy. We push ourselves and rarely say how we are really feeling. We like to think we have a degree of control over our life but in reality our pain rules us. We can’t plan anything because then we may have to cancel, let others down and then we feel guilty. We carry the burden of shame, anger, self-doubt, self loathing, indecision and fear on our shoulders. We often feel scared at what the future holds for us and our day to day life is a roller coaster of emotions and we don’t have the option of not taking the ride or getting off. We just have to ride the ups and downs. Acceptance is a bitter hard pill to swallow and all we are left with is hope and prayer.

I really enjoy my own company and never strive for social interaction as I’m quite an introvert and rarely leave the house. Society today makes us feel bad if we are a loner. That it is something weird to have very few friends and enjoy being on our own. I don’t want to go out and socialise with people so why should I be pressured into something I feel uncomfortable with. I will never be a social butterfly as I suffer from social anxiety. I spent many years as a single parent raising my 2 kids so I am used to being on my own and fending for myself or so I thought! Being in an incredibly fun and healthy relationship with hubby for over a decade and a combination of my health declining and me having to admit that I can’t do the things I want to do and having to rely on him more and more each day for basic stuff sucks big time. I didn’t realise just how much I would miss his presence.

I found it really tough and lonely at first and couldn’t sleep at all. My IBS flared up and I was shitting through the eye of a needle for 2 days. My OCD heightened and the fear crept in. I found myself checking doors, windows, light switches and the oven (even when I hadn’t even used the oven). The most difficult thing I encountered was all the physical tasks and caring for our chickens. My pain is at its worst in the mornings so setting an alarm for 8am everyday to release and feed them was torture. I am virtually blind without my contact lenses in so that didn’t help the situation. I also had a nightmare luring them back into the run after my daily free ranging chicken and coffee therapy. The water dispenser broke and saturated me head to toe with water (ha ha). Luckily they put themselves to bed but at 21:30 I set an alarm to go and close the coop door. I literally had to venture out with a torch so I didn’t stand on the frogs and toads. I was worried about finding a snake in the garden as we have quite a few and I know they are harmless but I still scream when I see a snake (ha ha). I have also realised that I can’t get an ice cube out of the ice tray as my hands don’t work. I was concerned that the gas might run out. We have 2 cylinders and there is no way I can lift them. I wasn’t as worried about the hot water one as hubby changed that recently. My anxiety and panic was thinking that the cooker hob gas would run out and I wouldn’t be able to make my coffee as I only have a stove top coffee maker. I cannot live without coffee. I also missed my daily orange fresh from the tree as he only picked me 3 and the remainder are right at the top of the tree and even with our homemade orange picker I’m just too damn short to reach them and I was not risking climbing a ladder with my poor balance. On a positive note, the best part of waking at 8am is I got to view early morning nature in all its glory. Just look at the vivid yellow squash flowers. I rarely see them all open as they only open for a short period at a time. I hope they got pollinated by the bees.

I wouldn’t go as far as saying I suffered separation anxiety with him being away. It was more a case of missing him doing all the practical day to day tasks and the banter because we always have a laugh and giggle. I suffered bouts of loneliness but it was more frustration when I couldn’t physically do a simple task. Other struggles of being single I found: How does one administer sunscreen to their own back? I got sunburnt twice on my back because I couldn’t reach it. Also how does one take a decent photo of themselves if there is no one else around to ask? The only option is a selfie stick and close ups are brutal at my age (ha ha). In the end I had to put things into perspective. It’s just 1 week, he didn’t die and he hasn’t been enlisted to the army for 18 months to fight for our Country. He has a new job, a promotion to management level and it’s a wonderful opportunity that he totally deserves. He works so very hard every day so that I don’t have to work at all and I can focus on my health. He never feels angry or bitter for being the sole bread winner. He literally is my angel.

My Top Tips for anyone with chronic pain and having to fly solo:

1. Pre-prepare food in advance and freeze
2. Maintain normal daily routines
3. Try and get outside each day and embark on some form of physical exercise e.g. Walk
4. Stay connected with your loved one e.g. Facetime
5. Keep occupied e.g. Hobby – gardening, reading etc.
6. Don’t feel pressure to take on too much, the bare minimum is fine and try not to feel guilty
7. Spend time with friends (if your a people person) or Pet Therapy (If you prefer animals to people, like me)
8. Accept that you will have Good and Bad days
9. Be proud of your achievements no matter how small
10. YOU ARE STRONG, YOU ARE FIERCE, YOU GOT THIS! This was my morning mantra

Beautiful Mellow Yellow Morning Flowers

Hidden Treasures

Who doesn’t like marshmallows and peach rings. 5 of each because that is my favorite number.

Chicken Therapy

They might cause chaos but I LOVE these birds, they are so funny.

Hanging out with Marvelous Milo

How can you not LOVE this angry ball of fluff.

What to do with Myself

I decided not to put myself under any pressure of taking on any DIY task on my own. If I could manage to get up, shower, do my daily exercises/physio and head out on my walks/jogs X4 per week then I would immerse myself with something I enjoy like spending time with my animals and pottering around in the garden for the remainder of the time. For me it’s vital to stick to a routine to stay grounded otherwise the anxiety creeps in. I always take on too much and then have a flare up and am incapacitated for days so to chill and relax a little is good for my body and soul. By Friday I was a bit at a loose end so I asked my Facebook friends if anyone fancied a hike on Saturday. I am Billy No Mates as no one took me up on my offer. Probably because I live too far away from everyone in the countryside or maybe it was because the weather was predicted to be a high 33. Anyway I got no takers. I am like marmite, you will either love me or hate me (ha ha). I ended up spending a lot of time with my chickens and Milo the bunny ball of fluff as well as gardening. I also got a long walk in (11.5 km) around my local area. Just look how pretty my neighbourhood is!

Silence is Golden

I don’t like the house being so quiet. It’s strange as when hubby is here he is busy working in the home office long hours Monday-Friday so it’s not like I see a lot of him. I think it’s the silence that makes the house feel eerie. When he is working he is in multiple daily conference calls and meetings so I hear his voice along with his colleagues. I don’t like it being so quiet so I open the balcony doors so I can hear the birds chirping and the bees buzzing. Silence is not golden unless you have a hyperactive toddler.

The “Tits Up” Art Project

I wanted to surprise hubby with something awesome. I am not sure why but I decided upon an art project. It was not one of my greatest decisions as I’m crap at art and not very creative. We have 2 large round stones on a pillar in the garden and my plan was to transform them into ladybirds or bees but the crazy in me thought let’s make a pair of ladies breasts because it would be more fun and why not! I have virtually zero crafting stuff but I tried my best then ran out of white paint. You could say this project went “Tits-Up” (ha ha).

I attempted to make nipples out of wall filler (not modelled on mine personally) but my daughter said they look like inner ear headphones and my son thought they resembled a pair of eyes. So in the end I asked Teanna to buy me a pair of tittie tassels and sneak them into hubby’s bag when they meet up. I had concerns that if airport security searched his bag they were going to find lots of women’s clothing, including knickers (my gifts), curly wurly’s and a pair of tittie tassels and they would think that he is a chocoholic crossdresser (ha ha). I’m beginning to wish I just surprised him by hiding 70 tiny yellow rubber ducks in his luggage for him to find. This is what one lady did with her hubby which in my eyes is just too damn cute. Anyway I now have a dodgy but very round perky pair of titties in my garden (ha ha). Unfortunately I’m a member of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee. I may need to paint over them if I ever sell my house. You are never too old to have fun guys. I sent hubby the photos and he LOVED them. I asked him if he liked the garden titties or mine better and he said mine. Right answer although the garden tits are actually nicer than mine which resemble a couple of deflated airbags (ha ha). 

The Tittie Art Project Update

 In Jan 2023 I had to undertake “Garden art tittie project” Take 2. The birds have taken quite a shine to my gorgeous lady nipples, I honestly can’t blame them (ha ha). I had to create a new pair of Nipples and I painted them radiant red this time around as I think the pink and red combo compliments the pretty Japanese camellias. It’s probably not the best choice in colours as birds love red as they think it’s berries and food. I’m sure my new nipples will be pecked to pieces in no time. Oh well, all breasts deteriorate over time, I’m living proof of this (ha ha). What do you think of my new nipples?

Jan 2023: Colour Coordinated Garden Tittie Art Project Selfies

What a glorious and perfect afternoon for some hilarious updated colour coordinated garden tittie art selfies. I really love my new red nipples. I just wish mine were as round and perky. A girl can dream. The sunlight was blinding and I couldn’t see what the F I was taking photos of. The builders next door and bloke in house behind me both think I’m crazy as I’m posing in the garden in a bikini top teamed with sweat pants, ski socks and slippers. At least I’m giving them free entertainment and a right laugh to lift the Monday blues. I probably should have put some make up on for such up close and personal selfies, I couldn’t be assed but at least my hair is clean and my grey roots are refreshed. You are never too old to have fun guys. As you can see, I don’t take myself too seriously. Embrace life and find joy in the small simple stuff. I’m off to play with my chickens.

When Your Outfit Matches Your Tits

The Pity Party – Al Fresco Dining for 1 & Chicken Drama

I am lucky that my hubby prepared 6 meals and froze them for me so I didn’t have to cook my own dinner. He bought me a pizza for my 7th dinner and seeing as it was a scorching hot day and beautiful evening I thought I would eat al fresco and enjoy our garden. My mistake was treating myself to a rum and coke from our retro bar. I ended up singing a rendition of Celine Dion’s “All by myself” from Bridget Jones diary (ha ha). Actually I wasn’t truly alone as Tiago the Toad came out to play. Then one led to two (drinks not frogs), you know how it goes. I usually only drink alcohol on special occasions and now I know why. My 21:30 alarm went off, my reminder to put the chickens to bed. I usually go with a little torch to light my way but seeing as I had the outside lights on I thought it would be light enough to see what I was doing. I was wrong! They put themselves to bed when it gets dark so I just had to count my chickens and close the door but I couldn’t see them as it was pitch black. I vaguely could see the glow of white Carol only. I locked them in then went back to my rum but stumbled down a hole and fell over. After another drink I decided that I had better go back with a torch and count them which I did because I couldn’t rest or sleep without knowing they are all safe. Get chickens they said, It will be fun they said (ha ha). 

What is better than a meal outside watching a sunset? A meal with a sunset and RUM (ha ha).

Healthy & Unhealthy Lunches

Most lunches I have consumed have been soup from the freezer but I did take the opportunity to cook some healthy egg based lunches such as omelettes and frittata. They were delicious teamed with fresh organic lettuce from the garden. I did eat unhealthy cold leftover pizza on Sunday for lunch. The best part was I’m frugal so I recycled the pizza tray as a plate so no dishes (ha ha). I haven’t been using the dishwasher as it’s a waste for just 1 person. I find these pizza trays are a perfect plate to feed our chickens scrambled eggs. I am the Queen of recycling and hate waste.

Green Fingers or Black Thumb

I potted up hubby’s chilli plants whilst he was away. I think I have killed them as it was so hot (34). I am hoping I can nurture them back to life. Apparently beginner gardeners kill about half of their plants so I’m not doing too badly as I’m new to gardening and have had a roaring success and 2 years of Helen’s happy harvests. There’s an old saying among seasoned gardeners that goes “You never really know a plant until you’ve killed it at least three times.” (ha ha).

Radiant Recovery 

The next day hubby’s chilli plants looked a lot better and far less wilted so I decided to re-pot up a couple more and dig out the old Lavender to free up a pot. This kept me busy seeing as it was Sunday and the day after the consumption of Rum, it made the day go quickly. Getting out of bed at 14:00 also made the day go quicker (ha ha). I am so happy that the chillies made a radiant recovery, I on the other hand did not bounce back from my hangover so quickly. I am definitely not feeling radiant today. The word is Fragile with a capital (F). I’m not drinking now until Christmas (ha ha).

Twinkly Twirlers

I spoke too soon. The blackbird is back with a vengeance and is digging up the chillies and tomatoes so I made some reflective deterrent aids as I can’t find the reflective tape anywhere. I tried to inflate the bullseye ball but I nearly passed out and everything went black so I’m leaving this task for hubby. My crafting skills are awful but I managed to recycle an old foil Easter egg wrapper. I’m not sure it will have a positive result but I tried and made what I call “Twinkly Twirlers”. My front garden now looks like we are avid footie fans, blue for Porto or my dads favourite team: Chelsea.

Shopping Via Face Time

Teanna (My daughter) pre booked a train from Nottingham to London to meet up with hubby. Unfortunately there were more transport delays as Nottingham Forest were playing at Wembley which resulted in gigantic queues of footie fans at the train station and she missed her train. She eventually got on a train and had to stand the whole journey. The train was jam packed and a bloke rushed past Teanna to use the toilet and accidentally caught her clothing and she got dragged a few metres with him to the toilet (ha ha). Apparently he was in the loo for ages and there was a group of men chanting footie songs and decided to embarrass him by making up a chant about how long he was taking in the toilet and how he must be taking a huge dump (poo). I am not sure he saw the funny side (ha ha).

When she arrived in London hubby took her for lunch and they had 5 Guys. The burgers, not 5 human men as that would be WRONG! (ha ha). Then they hit the shops and Face timed me so I could choose my M & S Knickers. I wanted a 7 pack but they only had a 5 pack. I loudly said “What does M & S want me to do, Go Commando on the weekends?”. I didn’t realise they had sourced a member of staff to assist them and I am sure she overheard my loud Bristolian voice. He ended up buying me a pack of 4 and a pack of 5 so I have a pair per day to last the week and 2 spare incase I shit myself (ha ha). Seeing as Teanna made the effort to travel all that way to meet up with hubby he bought her some of her favourite treats from her favourite shop in Paris. They had a pop up stand at the station! Macaron anyone? I have one word “WOW!”. I think I got short changed just asking for Curly Wurly’s (ha ha).

Laduree in Paris

Laduree is the original creator of Macarons. It is safe to say that this shop is the most renowned sweet shop in Paris and possibly in the world. The Macarons range from classic flavours such as chocolate, vanilla, and salted caramel to rose, orange blossom and even liquorice.

Home is where the Heart is & Gifts Galore

My soulmate Hubby is safely back home now by my side where he belongs. I am so glad his return flight was from Luton airport and not Gatwick as over 200 flights were cancelled from Gatwick! He left with a virtually empty suitcase but after all the gift buying and clearing his desk at the Bristol office his suitcase was over the maximum baggage weight limit by a few kilos! This was our fault as the suitcase is old and has a very heavy frame even when empty so we only purchased the 15 kilo bag and not the 23 kilo. It didn’t cross my mind about luggage weight as he gave a lot of office stuff to the charity shop including his coat that’s been sat in the back of his office chair for 2.5 years. We did not think that through properly, oh well. He got lucky as because he added on a bike at the last minute which was under the maximum weight for that specific item category Easyjet combined the weights so it was just one extra fee for the bike of £80.

He arrived bearing gifts: New summer frocks, M & S Knickers (I’m not modelling these for you), Sandals, Sunglasses, Weight Lifting Gloves, Bisto Gravy, Paxo Stuffing, Curly Wurly’s, Roses, Quality Street, a Lush Massage Bar and how cute are these personalised egg box labels! I wanted an egg stamp but I was unsure of the ink and if it was water based. I recycle my egg shells for gardening and compost so it has to be 100% organic, I don’t want any nasty toxic chemicals from the ink entering my food. I did want marmite but I was worried it might explode over my new frocks. I also wanted hot cross buns but the expiry date was very short. My lovely dad gifted me a belated Yorkie Easter egg and lots of Yorkie bars. I LOVE all my gifts, I’m a lucky girl. Teanna didn’t buy my titties tassels in London. The thought of ordering them online and the Uni receptionist in her halls of residence (who is a bloke) signing for the parcel freaked her out as she is staying at the same accomodation for her final year 2022-2023. She said she would physically visit a store in London and apparently she walked past the adult store but chickened out and didn’t venture inside. I think it was too much of an ask. After reconsidering her 2 choices she changed her mind and felt the online purchasing seemed a better option with less embarrassment (ha ha). I won’t make her do that as I’m sure I can order some online from Portugal as titties tassels can’t just be a British thing, erotica is worldwide, isn’t it? (ha ha). So many gifts galore, I have the best hubby, I’m truly blessed.

Mini Fashion Parade in the Garden

To be safe I ordered 6 new cheap dresses, 3 in a Size 12 and 3 in a Size 10 from Debenhams online with the hope that one might fit. To be honest the size 12 dresses are a bit too big but with all the chocolate he bought back I think I will keep them as inside of me will always be a fatty bum bum trying to escape (ha ha). I had a lot of fun participating in my mini garden fashion parade. The bloke strimming the land opposite enjoyed my catwalk. It started to rain then got windy so I lost the plot by the end (ha ha). I’m not too sure about the pink gingham dress as I think I look like a cross between a U.K girls checked summer school uniform dress and a tablecloth (ha ha). Overall I think I did O.K seeing as they were all online purchases and I had no idea of how they would fit, what the material would look like and if they would even suit my shape or style. This girl did good! I know it’s plain and I’m trying to embrace colour but I LOVE the zebra dress the best. I adore all animal print.

Mrs Tablecloth

I think I look like a tablecloth but this dress was reduced from €55 to £10 so it’s a cheap dress or a reasonably priced tablecloth (ha ha). I’m not sure I am brave enough to wear it out but I think it would make a nice summer garden party/BBQ dress.

On Yer Bike

Hubby returned at 1am with a new bike! Long story short a pro tri athlete donated their old bike to him for his upcoming Serra da Estrela Granfondo race. Now if you are a keen cyclist you will know that decent road cycles can cost thousands of pounds and sometimes more than a new car. It just so happened that the person lives a 20 minute drive from Luton airport, what are the odds of that happening! They sent their house keeper to meet hubby at the airport with the bike. Housekeeper, how the other half live (ha ha). Hubby didn’t have his bike case but the kind person bubble wrapped and boxed the bike so now hubby has an amazing new bike. The only rule is that hubby can’t ever sell the bike he must re gift it and not make a profit. Also hubby is to take photos of the bike and race to share. The person could have gifted it to a charity but they said they wanted it to go to someone who is passionate about cycling and will use it with love. How truly amazing! He got a whole new incredibly expensive bike for just £80 check in fee which would have been much less if checked in advance but it was all very last minute. It’s was in pieces but hubby quickly built it. I didn’t assist as the only thing I can build is build a bear and possibly a Billy bookcase from Ikea if I’ve consumed 3 coffees (ha ha). So we now have 2 cycles. The crazy me is thinking can I adapt the saddle of his old bike to accommodate me not having a coccyx. I would love to ride down a mountain with hubby by my side with the wind in my face. Now that’s an accident waiting to happen (ha ha).

Neighbour Gifts

We don’t have a permanent neighbour who lives next door but a lovely Portuguese lady owns the house and returns frequently to tend to her garden. We often do food swaps and exchange fruit, veg and eggs so I thought it would be nice to buy her a little gift from the U.K. Hubby bought a tin of M & S Jubilee shortbread biscuits for her. I’m not a royal fan and I don’t care much for the royal family. There will be no celebrations here or Casa Valhal street party with bunting but I did ask hubby to buy our neighbour something edible and British. I’m lucky he didn’t bring her back a pork pie (ha ha). I’ve never seen so many tins of overpriced shortbread! The only good thing about the jubilee is hubby gets an extra day off work. I want to get in a couple of day trips but the weather forecast is predicting some rain so we will just have to wait and see if the weather improves. It actually makes me angry at reading how much money is being spent on the platinum jubilee celebrations when people are having to visit food banks to feed their families and others have to chose between eating and heating, mini rant over! I just have to keep an eye out for my neighbour now as it’s just too damn tempting to keep biscuits in the house.

Overview

I think I did an O.K job at flying solo. Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t want to fend for myself on a regular basis but it’s good to know that I SURVIVED and can do it again if hubby needs to visit the London office in the near future. My mishaps were few and far between. I experienced one fall in the garden (alcohol was involved), I broke one torch, one door and the chicken water dispenser, I blew up a bowl full of egg shells in the microwave (they exploded and went off like a bomb) – don’t ask! I burnt a finger and scratched my Garmin watch by losing my balance and falling into a wall (I was sober this time), I managed to get hot pink nail polish on our white duvet and I chipped a filling in my tooth so now have moderate toothache. I am very proud that I have learnt to use the blender, follow hubby’s instructions written on a flash card and perfected a yummy protein fruit smoothie and hot chocolate drink without breaking the blender.

I wanted to bake hubby a “Welcome Home” Pão do Lo cake but I only had 157g of sugar so I made some coconut kisses instead. I made 13 but someone ate 7 so there is only 6 left for him (ha ha). Hubby arrived home on 30th May very late and it just so happened to be a New Moon (in Gemini). New moons bring fresh starts, opportunities and new beginnings for us to explore. They also make you speak your mind. Well I always speak my mind anyway and blurt stuff out so that’s nothing new for me (ha ha). I would like to officially speak my mind and say that I missed hubby like crazy. Hubby also spoke his mind and said although it was awesome to hug his family and spend quality time with them and meet colleagues at the London office he hated the travel delays and the chaos of London, especially the crowds on public transport. He was so pleased to return home to our rural countryside Casa and little slice of heaven.

Hubby has received some negative comments/messages from his ex-wife and about him returning to the U.K and not visiting his children. This visit was solely for work and he was only in the U.K for 6 days and 4 days he had to work long hours. He researched flights and public transport but unfortunately it wasn’t possible to travel to see his children on this occasion as they literally live at opposite ends of the country and unless he morphed into Dr Who with a time machine it was never going to happen. Hubby would never have visited the U.K with our current Covid situation if it weren’t for his employment. It wasn’t a holiday or a jolly and he only got to meet up with some family members as they live in London, Essex and Bristol. It’s a huge shame that some people can’t understand this concept and are trying to make him feel guilty. I am very lucky that I have a lovely relationship with my ex husband. As judge Judy says, we are supposed to LOVE our children more than we hate our ex’s and not manipulate any situation to make our children feel that the one parent doesn’t care when it’s simply not true. He is so happy to be back home and living in Portugal away from all this unnecesary drama. Don’t misjudge situations folk, stay HAPPY and most of all BE KIND.

Is it Massage time and Curly Wurly O’Clock yet?