A year on from Mr P...

Received a lovely call from Mr P today. He informed me it is a year to the day that I bounced out of the Beast and into his arms. We do keep in regular contact and he is seemingly doing really well. It's funny how when we break up with someone we want them to be absolutely ok about it, and then when we realise they are it's like 'how dare he/she get over me!' Mr P is selling the Big House and moving on. I have many happy memories (and some hilarious/sad ones) of the Big House, and Mr P. He probably helped carve my future and I hope I did his too, in a good way. I know I'll never meet another Mr P...

Milo is struggling with the heat today. Not helped by the fact that we had lunch on the terrace and he sat right next to me in the sun waiting for my scraps. We kind of snook outside today as the PG's have gone sightseeing and we have spent most of the weekend hiding in the basement with the dogs. (The unseen staff). Today we are rebuilding hoovers. For some reason Ali has five and only one seems to work. So good old YouTube Google is being viewed. If it cools down later me and Ali may pop out in The Mouse to the beach with the dogs. I still absolutely love dotting about in the Mouse, it's so cute.

Yesterday when out walking Milo we had a coffee stop. I chose a familiar local beach front venue and sat back to relax and enjoy my extremely cheap brew. I obviously relaxed a little too much as Milo spotted something (not sure what) and made a run for it. I unfortunately had hold of his lead and actually went with him, chair attached to my sweaty backside. I had the good sense to release the lead  once I was flat on the floor, chair still attached to backside, and a very kind old man caught Milo and helped me up. I said very little, other than my basic 'obrigado' so as not to be known as 'that ditzy English woman on the beach...'



Memories...

Me and Ali on the beach...

The five hoovers... 

My cute Mouse... 

Left on the shelf with a wooden penis...

Can't believe I've been here in Portugal for over a month now. Sometimes it feels like a week other times like years. The big beach house is to welcome PG's on Saturday (paying guests). So this week has been a blur of final preparations upstairs for them. I've felt a bit useless all week as Ali seems to thrive in the organised chaos of the big beach house, I seem to be dumbstruck by it all and never quite know where to begin. The PG's  are apparently a large family of about ten and have rented all of upstairs for a week. The difficult bit will be informing Milo and Max they are neither the enemy nor new best friends. It may be a bit like that tv show 'upstairs downstairs' with me and Ali hiding in hallways and having sneaky dips in the pool when they go out. Anyway fingers crossed it all goes well, though I have a feeling they may be a tad demanding.

Through clearing all the clutter I have been presented with two items of interest. One a sex manual and the other a wooden penis shaped bottle opener. Apparently Caldas da Rainha has been making penis shaped items for over 150 years and is very famous for it. So I cracked open a bottle of beer and sat down to read the book. Unfortunately the book was for couples only so I've left it on the shelf, which is exactly how I'm feeling...

No descriptions needed...

Hot girls...

For some strange reason I seem to have quite a few followers on Twitter of scantily clad young girls. I have no idea why they seem to want to follow me, a middle aged, homeless, crazy woman, but they do! I even have trouble trying to figure out their profile pictures, you know the type when it's a certain part of the body in close up but on first appearance it could be a kitchen utensil or the like! Then when you properly view it it's like 'oh my word' haha. Last year it was wannabe young male Canadian pop stars. I think it's down to one followed by mistake and the others joined in. No doubt any hot blooded males reading this will now be logging onto my Twitter account (nicci66nicci enjoy!).

I went to the market again yesterday, this time without Milo. But I very nearly came back with a new puppy. It was in a tiny cage full of shredded newspaper and just whimpering in the heat. The sign said 'Labrador 100 euro' seemed a bit cheap to me for a Labrador. I resisted the puppy purchase and bought some slippers instead. Ali went to the Algarve again this week and came back with the most gorgeous pair of sparkly flip flops for me, much nicer than the pair Max ate. They are far too nice to wear down at the lagoon, which is extra muddy just now as it seems as though someone has pulled the plug out! The water is really low and sludgy but Milo doesn't seem to mind.

We went for another drive in the Mouse this morning but I got a little lost again. I ended up going through the village twice, on one occasion driving on the wrong side of the road. I actually couldn't figure out 'why is that man is driving straight at me?' I drove to the shops and parked up but didn't have the heart to leave Milo or the Mouse in that heat, so got back in and drove home...

Hot girl...

How much is that doggy...

Sparkly flip flops... 

Milo in the Lagoon...

Milo in the Mouse... 

My totally useless gaydar...

Milo and Me went exploring in the Mouse today. And yes we did get lost. I had a plan to travel to the opposite side of the lagoon. It seemed a pretty straight forward destination, follow the edge of the lagoon. Trouble was I lost sight of the lagoon at one point and totally lost my bearings. Ended up miles away from the lagoon in a tiny village with roads barely wide enough for the Mouse. I was rather impressed though that I found my way home. We stopped on route for a coffee and two rather handsome men sat at the table in front of me. I was that busy thinking of a way to get them to notice me that I didn't notice Milo had his head in my handbag and was munching through a pack of baby wipes. Anyway they soon left and I swear they were holding hands. My gaydar is rubbish.

We stopped on a beach for a splash about and Milo was devastated when I started munching on what looked like a hamburger but was infact stuffed with chocolate. I, obviously, was far from devastated. I love driving the Mouse, it's like a really fast dodgem car. I saw another one yesterday that was bright pink, I might ask hunky friend to respray Mouse!

I think I may love the housekeeper as much as Milo now. Not because she worries 'the little girl needs feeding' but I love the way she launders my clothes. She washes, dries and irons everything and presents it back to me like it just came off a shop shelf. I also love that when I was parking the Mouse today a car pulled up beside me and the lady said hello. I now know local people like I'm a 'local'...

My gay friends...

My chocolate hamburger...

My laundry... 

From Beast to Mouse...

Yeay Milo and Me have got ourselves a set of wheels. We've gone from the Beast to the Mouse. I am now driving a Smart car! Ali's rather hunky friend happened to have a spare car he wasn't using and said I can drive it for the foreseeable future. It is so cute and as soon as I started the engine Milo jumped on the back shelf like he was in the Beast. Although we only drove to the bottom of the drive and back. And even that took all morning as for some reason we couldn't release the handbrake. Ali and I tried everything even googling for answers. Eventually somehow Ali managed to release it. So hopefully Milo and Me can go off exploring this beautiful area in the 'Mouse'.  Luckily I packed my satnav.

I'm having problems with flip flops. The old pair I brought with me were quickly wearing out what with walking on the beach every day. So I bought myself a pretty little new pair at the market. Not sure I got the right size as on numerous occasions I've tripped on my 'flip'. Also Milo walks so closely behind me he constantly stands on my 'flop'. Then to top it all I woke up this morning to find Max had eaten my 'flop' on one flip flop! First shopping trip in the Mouse is to buy new flip flops.

Ali took me to a local restaurant the other night and got me rather tipsy on Caipirosca cocktails. They are a delicious mix of vodka and limes and brown sugar, I think. Anyway I slept well that night.
I think my last blog entry made some people think I'm not happy. Just to set the record straight I'm tickityboo! Even though I'm living what I consider a wonderful life I still have down days. I'm beginning to realise I am and always will be a bit of a misfit in this world (as opposed to that other world?!...)

The Mouse...

The flip flops...

Getting tipsy...

Football, Murderers and Burglars...

So I've been back to the beach in search of my sexy fisherman but alas he is not to be found. I did find a rather strange black rubbery sort of creature on the shore where I last saw him which reminded me of a fable I read about the Selkie folk. Selkies were part seal part human!

I'm feeling a tad redundant of late. A feeling of lost identity. I'm a mum, a sister, and a daughter and yet feel I'm not fulfilling those relationships. Probably to do with the distance between us and having limited contact. I kind of feel a little lost as to my direction. I think, in life we carve ourselves a spot, be it parent, partner or maybe career. I just seem to be a bit of a misfit! I think this is the reason I'm reluctant to sell the Beast. I got it all tidied up with a 12 month mot and advertised it, but I can't bring myself to let go. It's my home, my safe place and basically all I possess. So I'm holding onto it for a little longer.

Last night was interesting. I got myself all ready to watch Portugal play Wales, obviously supporting my 'home' team. Gran was in bed asleep and I was alone with the 'boys' (Milo and Max). All was good, I had beer chocolate and crisps. Then suddenly I heard an almighty crash bang and the sound of broken glass. It seemed to come from the middle floor as I was in the basement. What freaked me more was that both dogs seemed to move closer to me and looked scared. I didn't have the nerve to find out what it was and just sat there wondering how many murderers/burglars there were and hoping they would just leave before discovering me and Gran in the basement.
My murderer/burglar turned out to be a light fitting which had fallen from the ceiling right above my bed. Still spooky though...

My sexy fisherman/Selkie...

A sad poem I found...

Ready for football/murderers/burglars...

Wearing rubber...

Mmmm, think I spied me a fit fisherman this morning. Well I think he was a fisherman. He was wearing some kind of rubber outfit and waded into the water pulling some kind of bucket. He was smoking a cigarette in the water and managed to make it look sexy. I pretended to take some photos of Milo but you'll have to trust me that up close he looked rather dishy. I may try to walk Milo at the same time tomorrow and get a better look. Then I will plan my next move (possibly involving rubber mwhaha!)

Milo did a 'me' on the beach this morning. He was charging for his ball and forgot about the ropes mooring the boats. He practically bungee jumped right back, quite funny to see. Just hope my fisherman didn't witness my dumb dog. I've managed to buy a ball thrower for Milo. We always used one previously but I couldn't fit it in my suitcase. And my throwing technique is pretty weak, hence Milo has put on a bit of belly weight, added by the fact that the housekeeper is constantly feeding him. So hopefully his muscle definition will return.

Yesterday I painted some garden furniture. Quite therapeutic but a bit blinding painting white on white in the blaring sunshine. This morning I painted some more but this time with green paint, so much easier. Just need to keep nosy Milo out the way or he's going to look like the Irish flag...

My fit fisherman...

Milo watching me paint...

The finished job... 

Must I settle for less...

I woke up yesterday after having spent my first night alone. Just me and Gran and of course Milo and Max. I'm pleased to say we all survived the night. Although I had one small panic when the baby monitor beeped during the night having run out of battery, which I need to monitor Gran. I did think I might have to sleep on the floor next to her bed but eventually got it working again. Another first for me was driving into town on my own. I had satnav but accidentally hit 'take long route' so it did take me a while to get there. I also found myself circling the roundabouts more than necessary as I was a little confused as to my exit, should have placed a malteser on the dashboard.

Ali and I went to the local market in Nazare with Milo. Not such a good idea as it was heaving with people and they all seemed to be eating something. Milo scrambled under most stalls grabbing castoff crusts, he even stuck his head under a babies pram trying to steal it's food. Then he found a stall holders lunch on a shelf and swallowed it whole before I could stop him. Ali and I made a run into the crowd before we got chased. Needless to say I didn't buy anything at the market and won't be taking Milo again. Although I was stopped on many occasions by people asking if they could stroke the beautiful dog, who is now described as 'an English gentleman dog'.  We then went shopping and nearly bought lions masks and fake bum knickers but settled for a new mop and bucket.

I'm trying to make more effort to look half decent when I walk Milo on the beach as there are lots of fishermen down there. Now I know a fisherman is not a prince, like a farmer wasn't a prince but I'm starting to think I might have to settle for less...

Shopping...

Me making an effort for the fishermen...