Today is day 3 in Portugal. It has been cooler and wetter than we expected; much more rain this winter than last year. But, the sun is shining and 14C feels pretty good compared to what we left at home.🥶 The hibiscus and bird of paradise and roses are all blooming, and the air smells fabulous. Going for a walk without winter coat, hat, mitts and boots is pure joy.

Laurie

@tigerlily Enjoy, Laurie! We've had sunny weather here these past several days! Still -10C, but I'll take the sun in any case!

@tigerlily Portugal sounds just lovely! The hibiscus, bird of paradise and roses smelling so fabulous in the air!! Enjoy!!!

@chelly my husband is busy keeping scissors out of my sight - I have a history of taking cuttings from plants and bringing them home to root them. I have assured him that won’t happen this time, but he doesn’t believe me. Can’t say I blame him for that. It’s still chilly and wet here; we’re waiting for the rain to stop before we head out for a walk. But, at 16C, it’s a 30 degree difference between here and home right now. I’ll take it.

Laurie

Surprise, surprise (not really), more SNOW! 😀 

@tigerlily If you can, I'd stay in Portugal until at least mid-March. 😆  

Yep, more snow and high winds with artic temps. I keep telling myself one more day closer to spring. 

@veganostomy Yes Eric, that is the plan. I’m sorry that you’re being deluged with snow, but the forecast for the next couple of weeks looks promising. Looks like temperatures hovering around zero, which will feel downright balmy after the polar vortex. We are still getting storm after storm in Portugal; flooding has been a problem in some areas to the north of us, and also in Spain. We check the weather app frequently and plan our walks in between torrential downpours. The wind is incredible, but at least it moves storms quickly. It also creates whitecaps and waves crashing onto the rocks that is nothing short of spectacular.🌊 Lots of surfers off the sand beach. I’m not one of them.😉

Laurie

@tigerlily We are looking to have temps in the normal range for this time of the year in the next week or so, which is a nice bit of relief.

Still, the sun has been out more than not, so that's nice!

Tomorrow supposed to be 45° F but cloudy. Ill take the clouds for the warmer temps. Finally a break from this polar vortex. 

@tigerlily never knew you were in Portugal,  its our go to place but it's really getting hammered with rain and wind at the moment , 

We have friends in the Caldas da Rainha area and love it , esp Obidos and São Martinho do Porto are just wonderful to recharge the batteries, 

We are seriously considering moving there full time  ,

Anyway weather here in Ireland has been rainy but the next week looks a bit better ,

10C and dry 

@tony-h Bom dia! I can understand why you might move to Portugal - it’s beautiful. We are in the Algarve region in the south, the same place we stayed last year. Our first week here was non stop rain and gale force winds; lovely to watch the water, but from indoors! The weather has been improving, and next week looks sunny(although the sun is out right now but it’s pouring rain!🤣). Still, back home is freezing cold and snowy, so we’re not complaining. We enjoy how multicultural it is here. I love hearing several languages spoken every day, although there are lots of fellow Canadians (and Brits) as well. This is becoming our go-to place too.🌺

Laurie

Cold here at the moment , 4C with a northern wide which is making it feel colder ,

Laurie the thing about Portugal is that you are more or less guaranteed good weather , was in Faro last September and it was just glorious,  just gets a bit too hot , but that heat seems to help instantly with the aches and pains , the only reason I would hesitate to move there full time is that here in Ireland everything ostomy wise is really well covered fully ie.I get 120 closed pouches every month plus everything else I need , I don't think the Portuguese health system.would be as generous. 

@tony-h 😳 120 pouches every month? Is that a typo? If not, that’s an incredibly generous coverage. Are you covered by the UK NHS or does Ireland have its own? 

Finally getting the sun we came here for; today was still windy, but sunny and 15C. The forecast for the next 2 weeks shows little or no rain. Tony, you are still part of the EU, right? That makes the decision to move here less complicated. Except for ostomy coverage, you’re right about that. In Canada, each province decides ostomy coverage. In Ontario, where Eric and I are, it’s just under $1,000 per year. Not great coverage. I also have private health insurance from work, which pays 80% ostomy costs, but only on what exceeds the provincial allowance. 

Laurie

No typo Laurie , and the NHS has nothing to do with the Republic of Ireland , 

Won't get into the politics but Ireland is a totally independent country with our own (generous)health service ,

The UK left the EU but Ireland are still firmly in the EU , 

In the public system here ,you only pay a max of €16 a month on prescriptions ,

Hopefully the rain will ease off here soon ,it's been fairly constant since Christmas, 

Enjoy the nice weather you will definitely get in the Algarve .

@tony-h Sorry - I knew Ireland was an independent country, so that was a dumb question on my part. Your health coverage is very generous indeed. Lots of countries, including mine could learn from it.

Apart from the lovely weather here, which has finally taken a turn for the better, the local fruit here is so fresh! I have eaten my body weight in both tangerines and olives. Today, I picked a handful of loquats off the tree outside our apartment. I had to google what to do with them. They are very sweet, very much like apricots. I feel like a kid in a candy store.

Laurie 

No problem Laurie , the UK and Ireland are very close physically and there's a complicated relationship between the two of us , but we depend on each other a lot , and in general get on really well ,

You are so lucky to be able to get to Portugal ,its a wonderful country and even in the algarve ,the cost of living is really cheap , hope you have discovered Lidl supermarkets who are even cheaper than the local ones ,enjoy the sunshine , we might be going over in May but it depends on a few things .

Beautiful sunny warmer day. I was even able to walk to the store. Did a bit of cleaning and opened windows to get fresh air in the aoartment. It felt so good to be able to take a walk. I needed that.

@chelly I am very glad to hear this! I think you are probably just across Lake Erie from me, so our weather patterns are similar. My son says that things are warming up back home, warm enough that he and some friends got out to play disc golf on the weekend. That means that a lot of the snow must have melted as well. I’m sure you’ll be happy when the snow is gone. Going for a walk when the sidewalks are slippery is perilous. And although the snow looks pretty when it’s early in the season, by the end, it’s brown and grey, and it no longer looks like a postcard. Time for spring to arrive!

Laurie

Wet windy and cold 5C but feels a lot colder with the wind .

C

Posted by: @tony-h

↑

I get 120 closed pouches every month

Would you get the same if they were drainable pouches? 120 would be a year supply for me! LOL

The weather these past two days have been amazing! I peaked at +7C and sunny all day.

Tomorrow? 20cm of snow! 😱 😱 😱