Home is where I park it

I do not have much internet time left before we leave these shores and head for southern Spain and a (hopefully) warm winter. I will check in online now and then but I am not sure if I will get a chance to update this blog much. As well as the things listed in my last post that I am looking forward to doing I am also looking forward to time offline! We will be heading to Calais via Dover sometime in the last week in October. Before that we have friends and family to see and say goodbye to. We will be heading down through France and I am looking forward to some tasty croissants and pan au chocolats for breakfast from the patisseries that we pass. We will get to Spain after probably 3 days driving and then make our way straight to the Gouveia area of Portugal. We have some of our things in storage there and we have friends who want tattooing. Also of course we get to cuddle all the lovely dogs at Cantinho da Lili rescue centre :) I will also be taking some donations from some of you l

Just a quick post to say I managed to raise 80 Euros for Cantinho da Lili dog rescue in Portugal by selling some things on Ebay and from a few friends making donations. Thank you :) xxx

Here in no particular order are my favourite 10 photos that I took at festivals this year :) Thanks for looking :) xxx

My recent diagnosis with hypothyroidism has I admit given me the go ahead to break my healthy eating and exercise programme. It is silly and wrong as obviously eating healthily and taking regular exercise helps everyone no matter whether they have other health problems or not. With hypothyroidism of course eating healthy and exercise helps the condition but as it also causes weight gain I reasoned with myself that now I am on medication I could eat some treats more often. Actually it wasn't quite that simple, as we are going away at the end of the month for the winter I know that I will not have many treats while away. I also know that I can do an hour of power walking along the beach most days. Still I know I have slacked and can already feel I've gained a few pounds :( Isn't stupid that we call things that are bad for us 'treats'. "I'm going to treat myself to a heart attack or obesity" doesn't sound quite as good as "I'm going to trea

As some of you may know since we came back from our travels last year I have been doing live-in care work. When I started this job I worked with a lady with cerebral palsy and now I work with a lady with MS. I have also worked with a couple of ladies with dementia.   Care work in all its forms is demanding both mentally and physically but I think more so with live-in as you never get to switch off at the end of the day. For the past year I have worked 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off except for a couple of times where I have had a little longer off, (4 weeks in August, 3 weeks at Xmas and 6 weeks with a broken arm!)   As I am self employed I can choose when I work. The agency I work through are brilliant and as long as I tell them when I can and cant work they can fit me in usually with my regular lady but if not with someone else.   Some care agencies ask their carers to do much longer stints which I think is fine for single people but can be hard on

My last item is on Ebay to raise money for Cantinho da Lili the dog rescue centre in Portugal that I help with. It is a lovely hand made trinket box and is painted with watercolours in an underwater ocean scene. It has some beautiful miniature shells collected from the beaches in and around Tarifa in southern Spain added to the scene.  Brilliant for storing small objects like rings, earrings or beads or use it just as an ornament. The box has been varnished to protect the paintwork and shells and to give it a glossy 'wet' look. The box is approximately 4cm high and 6cm across. Cantinho da Lili is a dog rescue centre in Gouveia, central Portugal. They are dedicated to the rescue and rehoming of abandoned and neglected dogs. At the rescue centre the dogs get the best of care whilst waiting for adoption with new responsible caring owners. Cantinho da Lili is totally supported by donations, volunteers and goodwill. All proceeds from the sale of this item goes directly

The last festival of the season, here are a few pictures. Write up and more pictures on my website HERE and even more pictures in my Facebook album HERE .   Who Killed the Bear?   Gaz Brookfield  3 Daft Monkeys   The Defekters   Spanner   Firepit Collective   Hobo Jones & the Junkyard Dogs   The Sporadics   Inner Terrestrials Thanks for looking :) xxx