The Little Things That Make Everyday Life So Special

Welcome back to another Tell Us About challenge! If you’re new here, Tell Us About is a monthly blogging collaboration where a group of us all write about the same prompt, each putting our own unique spin on it. It’s always fascinating to see how differently everyone interprets the theme. Last month’s prompt was Tell Us About Dancing, and this month we’re taking a peek behind the scenes with A Day in My Life. So, if you’ve ever wondered what my everyday life looks like for me here in the Algarve, from puppy antics and yoga to coffee, creativity and cosy evenings at home, pull up a chair and come and spend the day with me!

If you’d asked me to write this ten years ago, my everyday life would have looked very different. These days, though, I’ve settled into a routine that suits me perfectly. It may sound a little ordinary to some people, but I genuinely love the slower pace of life.

My day actually starts long before I want it to. I’ve never been the best sleeper, but over the last few years peri-menopause has definitely taken the blame for that. Just as I was coming to terms with waking up far too early, we decided to add a puppy.

Jack, our toy poodle who is five months old, sleeps downstairs in the utility room until he’s completely mastered toilet training (if anyone has any magical tips, I’d love to hear them!). Somewhere between 5.30 and 6.30am he starts enthusiastically banging on the door to let us know he’s awake and ready for the day. So, I tumble out of bed, head downstairs and let him outside to burn off a little energy before we both head back upstairs for one of my favourite parts of the day. We snuggle on the bed for twenty minutes or so, and honestly, I think he loves that quiet cuddle time with us just as much as I do.

By around 7am I’m properly up. The first job is always a splash of cold water on my face, followed by a large glass of water to wake myself up properly before breakfast chaos begins. Feeding our little family isn’t quite as straightforward as it sounds.

Along with Jack, we have Luna, our fourteen-year-old Portuguese Podengo, and our three cats—Myrtle, Shannon and Sadie—who we’ve had since rescuing them from the street when they were only about a week old. Breakfast requires military precision. Luna has to eat in another room because she’d happily help herself to the cats’ breakfast. Meanwhile, I have to stand guard over Jack because he would also quite happily help himself to the cats’ food. The trouble is I can’t let Luna and Jack eat together because Luna is rather protective of her own breakfast and would soon let him know who’s boss! And also, Myrtle loves to help herself to anybody else’s food so I must keep an eye on her too!

To make matters even more entertaining, Jack takes forever to eat. One tiny biscuit… then a wander over to inspect the cats… another tiny biscuit… another check to see whether Luna’s door has opened yet… It can be surprisingly stressful before seven-thirty in the morning! Once everyone has finally eaten, I can breathe again.

I head upstairs for fifteen or twenty minutes of gentle yoga. I actually qualified as a yoga teacher when I turned forty, although I never really ended up teaching. I still practise every weekday morning though because I honestly dread to think how stiff and achy I’d feel if I didn’t. If my back is particularly grumpy, I’ll spend three to five minutes hanging upside down in my yoga hammock afterwards, which sounds rather dramatic but feels absolutely wonderful on my spine.

Then it’s time to get dressed and make myself feel vaguely presentable. A little mascara, eyeliner and eye shadow work wonders for convincing me I’ve got my life together! After that, it’s usually walking time. Luna and Jack get between twenty and thirty minutes around the block, depending on the weather. Although we live in the Algarve countryside, we’re right on the edge of an urbanisation, so we occasionally bump into other dog walkers and people out enjoying the morning. At the moment it’s absolutely scorchio, so our walks are definitely on the shorter side.

Once we’re home comes one of my favourite moments of the day… coffee.

Our old coffee machine finally gave up over a year ago, and we’ve recently replaced it with a De’Longhi Rivelia machine that I absolutely adore. It makes the perfect cup of black coffee in no time at all, sweetened with just a little agave syrup. Breakfast is usually half an Alpro Meal to Go. I discovered that a whole one is far too filling, so half suits me perfectly. My favourite is the chocolate banana flavour.

I’ll usually enjoy breakfast while watching YouTube in my office. If it’s cool enough outside, though, I’ll take my coffee out by the pool instead and simply enjoy the breeze on my skin for a little while. The next few hours are generally spent ‘working’. You’ll usually find me in my office editing a YouTube video, writing a blog post, taking photographs, planning future projects or chatting away to ChatGPT while brainstorming ideas. Every day is a little different, which is one of the things I love most about what I do.

Lunch is normally somewhere between midday and one o’clock. Michael comes home from work and almost always has a huge salad, while I’ll usually have something lighter like rice crackers topped with avocado or egg. Yes… I eventually reintroduced eggs into my diet after being vegan for a couple of years, and it’s worked really well for me.

If I fancy another coffee, it’s usually decaf. We recently found an excellent organic decaf coffee from Amazon that’s made without chemicals, and it tastes just as good as the real thing. Lunch is almost always accompanied by an episode of something on television. I’ve recently finished watching Anne with an E and I absolutely loved it. I’m currently in the mood for Star Trek so I might start re-watching old episodes again!

The afternoons can vary quite a bit. Usually it’s straight back to the computer. Other days I’ll spend time making one of my dolls, filming footage for a future YouTube video or taking photographs. If it’s particularly hot, I’ll happily spend the afternoon dipping in and out of the pool, reading a few chapters of a book, playing with the cats and dogs or, if the mood takes me, rearranging furniture for absolutely no reason whatsoever! Of course, reality occasionally interrupts all the fun, and I end up tackling the ironing instead. Someone has to.

By mid-afternoon I’ll also start thinking about dinner and often get a head start preparing it. One of our favourite recent purchases has been the Ninja Creami. It’s brilliant because we can make almost any vegan ice cream flavour we fancy. Our favourites so far are mint choc chip and pistachio, although the vanilla and strawberry were delicious too! We keep buying new ingredients so we can experiment with different combinations, and I can’t wait to try rum and raisin next.

You’re probably wondering why we’re so excited about an ice cream machine! Well, the vegan ice cream selection here in the Algarve leaves a lot to be desired, so being able to make our own has been a bit of a game changer.

When Michael gets home properly for the evening, we usually spend a little time catching up before showering and changing into what I like to call my “chill-out clothes”. Honestly, one of the best feelings of the day is taking my bra off and putting on the comfiest loungewear I own! It’s not that I’ve been wearing anything uncomfortable all day—I gave up underwired bras years ago! There’s just something about changing into my evening clothes that signals the day is done and it’s time to fully relax.

We’ll have a drink and nibble on olives, nuts and crisps while watching television or a film together. We recently watched Project Hail Mary and absolutely loved it. We’re also thoroughly enjoying this year’s The Great British Sewing Bee. We’re terribly naughty because we almost always eat our dinner in front of the television.

Around 8pm, three or four evenings a week, Michael heads off to play PlayStation with my brother who’s in the UK. While they’re busy saving the world (or whatever it is they’re doing), I’ll wash up before settling down with another programme, a book or sometimes just a little quiet time.

Eventually it’s bedtime. I’ll head upstairs with Jack and Luna, usually followed by at least one of the cats, who have an uncanny knack for appearing the moment I get comfortable. We’ll all pile onto the bed while I watch YouTube on my iPad or read a book, either of which usually sends me off to sleep before too long. Jack generally falls asleep almost immediately, until Michael comes upstairs later and tucks him into bed downstairs for the night. So sweet.

And that’s pretty much what my everyday life looks like for me. It may not sound especially exciting, but when I stop and think about it, it’s full of little moments that make me smile. Time with Michael, walks with the dogs, cuddles with the cats, creating things I love, swimming in the pool, good coffee, yoga and ending the day surrounded by the animals who somehow manage to take over every room in the house.

When you put it like that… perhaps my everyday life isn’t boring after all.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing what my everyday life is really like! If you’d like to see how everyone else interpreted this month’s prompt, I’d love for you to pop over and visit my fellow Tell Us About bloggers too.

• Leslie shares why Mondays have become her favourite day of the week since retiring. Take a look at what a typical Monday looks like for her—you might be surprised! https://onceuponatimehappilyeverafteragain.blogspot.com/
• Sally reflects on how the rhythms of her daily life have changed one year after leaving her job. https://www.withinaworldofmyown.com/
• Marsha takes us along on a museum day, and if you know Marsha, you’ll probably have a pretty good idea of what adventures await! http://www.marshainthemiddle.com
• Deb shares a very long day of travelling… possibly longer than 24 hours, but who’s counting? http://www.debs-world.com
• Gundel is talking all about Cat and her daily life. https://catswire.blogspot.com/
• Amy, from Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa, shares her still fairly new routine as a stay-at-home dog mum and retired high school Spanish teacher living in Louisville, Kentucky. https://coffeeandcocktailsatthecasa.com/

As always, don’t forget to leave everyone a comment if you stop by. That’s one of the nicest parts of taking part in these blogging challenges—we all love reading each other’s posts and getting to know one another a little better. And please add all your posts to the link up, below!