Vale das Estrelas Before Scott and I moved to Portugal and during this first year, I’ve participated in various webinars to learn more about what's required to live here successfully. Taxes, drivers’ licenses, etc. Last month, an email came from one of the organizations that does some of the webinars. It was an invitation to (buy tickets to) a fundraising gala. The funds were to support art-based programmes for children  across Portugal. It looked kind of fun and like a good

7 December 2025 Today is, of course, Pearl Harbor Day. 84 years ago. The population of people who can remember it, ever dwindling. One year ago today, our little family of four arrived in Faro, Portugal, to live. I can’t speak about the 84 years, but the ONE year, F L E W  by. Christmas decorations in Faro We were almost completely clueless about what it was going to be like. I think my expectations were somewhat curtailed by the effort of getting here. That effort mentally d

As a young child, I remember enjoying riding on boards, all kinds, but especially any little vehicle with its wheels having varying arrangements, soaking up the physics of it.  The board game Mouse Trap was cool until about the third time I played and saw that it just did the same thing every time.  But Mouse Trap was an important primer on potential energy and entropy.  What I really didn’t like was being thrown against the door of the car as it went around a corner, and don

Little sons of bitches need to get out of my house! Little mother fucker keeps getting peanut butter or cheese off without triggering the guillotine. This is completey unaccepable. We will be adding poison into this scenario. Then we'll take out his girlfriend. Does anybody else experience critters being in your home that aren’t supposed to be there? I don’t mean the bug variety, but actual critters. Anybody? I bought my first house in 1989. A cute little 1950’s brick ranch.

Although not litter mates, our two dogs are both thirteen years old. When she was less than two years old, Bitsy tore both of her ACLs...

Me in the hospital I realize I should start with the cost and paying for this. I mentioned earlier that MGEN (our health insurance...

If it ever does end, I’ll reveal the outcome The last 2 weeks have been nutty. The original back surgery was on August 7th. It went well...

Lower spine image I have a life-long** strategy for making decisions. That is to ask myself what decision sets me up for the best chance...

Say what?? PART 1 – USA Sometime after COVID is, I think, when I first started noticing that I was having nagging pain in my lower back....

There she is The 43 rd Faro Concentratao Motorcycle Rally just concluded. I was surprised at the size and scope of the event. I also...

Have you ever thought about where they get salt? Probably you have a little bit. Here in southern Portugal you can pretty easily see salt...

Eddie and Shadow back in the day. On the bed, their rightful place. I wrote this initially for a different purpose than our blog....

I’d feel better if we were facing space aliens. Will this be the last REAL celebration of “Independence Day”? I mean, July 4, 1776...

When we last visited our slightly less than intrepid couple (us), they had been to a festival that turned out to not be as expected with...

I've been having lower back pain for over a year. With my ever worsening ability to gauge how much time has passed, it could even be 2...

Faro to Carvoeiro Our Stuff:  We still don’t have our stuff! Waaaaa! I haven’t asked what’s going on because what good would it do?...

Greetings friends! Did you know that today is International Distinguished Gentleman's Ride Day? No? Where have YOU been? With me...

My buddy (Pampered Chef) Paula and her husband, Roy, visited us Friday and Saturday. I hadn’t had an opportunity to meet Roy before. The...

Olá pessoas! (Hello people). Tomorrow is one of modern Portugal’s biggest holidays. 25 de Abril. It was on this day in 1974 that...

Scott became aware of a fun-sounding festival in a town a little over an hour to the north east of us. It’s called the Smuggler’s...