Portuguese 'word of the year / palavra do ano' has been announced 👇as we welcome some lovely new and interesting members here 😊 Kate, who's rocking the leader board and joining us regularly on the morning show 🙏 (likes wine & IKEA) Anouk, my lovely neighbour in Sao Martinho and quiz whiz 🤔 Duncan, who very kindly gifted us the 'Community Guide to Planning a Home Solar Energy System in Central Portugal' 🌞 Anna, our writer and poet-in-residence (esp. for "people who don't like poetry"!), get her book from Amazon (or ask in person) 😎 And, Sérgio, who can help us with mortgages and home purchase finance here in Portugal. He's among us as another 'expert-in-resdence' 🏡 Please say "Olá!", todos... Attached also, a bit of fun and some linguistic support!

Find out more about @Anna Alcott in the clip attached and hoping she'll be our poet-in-resdence too 😊

Thanks @Bob Wenger for popping in. 3m:10s - First reading: Bifanas, Francesinhas and other affairs of the flesh 9m:25s - Second reading: The Portuguese Paradox

8 years today, since we drove across the border between Spain and Portugal in our campervan, and caught our first glimpse of our new home country. It was just after 7.30pm, and the sun was coming down but the smell of eucalyptus and pine was still heavy in the humid air. We left from Devon on the 15th September in our camper van, said goodbye to our lovely colleagues with whom we had worked and volunteered with for over 5 years, and got on the road. We took the Plymouth-Santander ferry to Spain and we stood on deck and watched the UK vanish from view. We came over as a family of 4 and 14 months later became a family of 5. Thanks Portugal for keeping us safe. What a wonderful place to raise a family. 💗 So much gratitude! 💗

Belated birthday wishes to @Cátia Lima, who celebrated her birthday recently. Sending thanks as well as best wishes, in view of her great efforts to educate us 'estrangeiros' beyond the general clichés and predictabilities of Portuguese life and culture, in her inimitable 'Beyond Lisbon' style. Feel free to buy Cátia a birthday 'bevvie' here See a great example of her helpful, informative and amusing work here