17° in Portreath 26° in Nadadouro
So we've been getting the Cornwall house ready for sale. Throwing away clothes and shoes like there is no tomorrow. Where does it all come from. I had (notice past tense - sob) over 60 pairs of shoes now i have a box of about 12! I'm looking forward to hitting the Portuguese shoe shops, i bet they're divine. I've also been trying to learn Portuguese online. This is such a hoot. I do have some O Level Spanish under my belt, but the pronunciation is softer with more 'sh's in there somehow. I'm determined to be fluent though, so maybe i'll produce a duel language blog in the future, that would be neat eh?
I thought i'd post some images of the old house here in Portreath, looking it's best before we leave it forever. Check out Buddha and his ball!

16° in Portreath 24° in Nadadouro 22° in Toronto
sorry forgot the weather update

Wow! We've just had the best and busiest week of our lives. Flew into Toronto 5 hours late and our feet haven't touched the ground. Took the lad to Niagra Falls, did the Maid of the Mist and still couldn't believe we survived to tell the tale. Went to the USA for all of 5 minutes. Our visas cost $6 each and now i feel like we're on America's most wanted list. Even when i pointed out we were British! Spent the rest of the day bowling, shopping and booing at the lack of quality in the karaoke bar, where's Mr Wild when you need him! Sorry everybody! Scuttled into Toronto only to find Shopsy's the Deli institution had disappeared! So up the CN Tower to check out the best sunset i've seen for a while. Sneaked into the revolving restaurant only to find my left foot rapidly disappearing from my side! wild eh! next time we go to Canada, we're going to dine in there for sure! In the local LCBO - which is Canadian for off licence - i found a 1.5 litre bottle of Frexinet! OMG i think i died and got to heaven, so bought 4! Did a baseball game and saw the Blue Jays against the Boston Red Sox, a real experience! Then the final highlight was off to Peterborough to see the 54-40 band play in the park. They're some old Canadian rock band who have been around for ever, everyone knew the words and it was great fun.

Check out this map, Nadadouro is on the right. Not too shabby for a place to live

18° in Portreath 25° in Nadadouro

Wow what a week we've endured. Monday we found ourselves in court defending our home and son from his absent and neglectful father. Well the good in us won through and we decided that instead of fighting and giving our solicitor loads of our hard earned cash we succumbed. So we cracked our first bottle of champagne and looked forward. Cornwall will now be a great memory but we're forging ahead and are Nadadouro bound! After a harrowing day on Monday, Tuesday turned our lives around. Our mortgage application in Portugal was accepted and we realised the Universe was smiling down on us. So you guessed it another bottle of fizz had to popped. So on Wednesday, we were still on a high, and apart from champagne being on special we thought what the heck, this is the week to celebrate. So now it's Saturday and this will be our first fizz free day! Good job, my kidneys are aching. We just can't believe we're going. I love my life, it's such a roller coaster.

Now on a sad note - RIP Michael Jackson - i've grooved to this guy since I can remember. His music was the basis of my partying. I loved his talent, his moves and squeals. Everyone can remember dancing to this guy's music at some point - what a legacy - in no particular order -

I Want You Back, ABC, Can You Feel It, Off the Wall, Blame It On The Boogie, Shake Your Body Down To The Ground - I know the list could go on and on, but I love them. So I ask all the music gods to welcome Michael Jackson to their care and I'm sure Heaven will be better place now he's home x

14° in Portreath, still 34° in Nadadouro!

I had to add more tiles to share - enjoy

15° in Portreath, 34° in Nadadouro!

How wonderful is that. My dream place is over twice as warm as the magic valley. All I want to do is feel the warmth in my soul. Life in the magic valley is losing its sparkle. Noise, cold and offensive smells pervade the air.

I've recently found a penchant for tiles. The Portuguese have the most amazing tiles I've seen outside of Morocco. They are everywhere, above doorways, on walls, over whole houses. Not just one pattern, but a myriad of designs, colours and alignments. The designs are wild. I can't wait to visit Alcobaca, the city of tiles, apparently they're everywhere.

The credit crunch is affecting many areas of the globe at the moment. We learned this week that certain banks aren't even giving money to people who earn in excess of £150k a year! How frustrating would that be. All that money and you still can't buy a house!