6 weeks of winter. Some might say it is normal, for me it was brutal. The January was so horrible. Below 0 temperatures all the time, for weeks even during the day it was below -8-10 C. Survived it with constant seat heating in my car, lots of mulled wine and tea and clothes that you only wear when you are in the Alps. I mean proper ski clothes. Mind you, only my son was skiing, me just taking him for skiing lessons next to our home.
Haven’t written anything, nothing about Porto (promise I will, deserves it ), haven’t even continued with my love story on Wattpad.
So what else has happened apart from the freezing temperatures?
To name just a few….
– Snow melting, turning into water found its way into our apartment. I honestly thought that when I bought this ground floor apartment that nothing can happen to it when it comes to damages caused by water. Wrong. So wrong. So now, our ceiling and walls of the bathroom and corridor is drying out, the dark water stains are turning into yellowish marks. Ugly.
– Because of the extreme cold a water pipe cracked and more water leakage in the house being rented out .
– The Lake Velence total froze over, never seen it before. You could actually walk across it. Spend a fantastic weekend there. Found out that I can still skate, one of my best moments of this year so far. Feeling young again.
Last time I did it, was 17 and we were only skating from one end to the other, stopping and chatting every now and then and smoking cigarettes. I thought I was so cool! 
This time my son thought so too ( I mean the skating part ), encouraging me to go on my own, letting go of my hand, cheering me on as I was gliding on the ice. Got videos to prove it!
– Just minutes after this son doubled over in pain, me calling the emergency. He seems to be having these episodes more often now. Doc thought it might be his kidney or his bowels. Luckily we didn’t have to go to the local hospital.
Full check up for him, still waiting for some results. So far nothing that blood tests and ultrasounds can show.
After few more tests that medical society don’t fully approve yet, discovered that his stomach and intestines are totally damaged, and he is allergic to gluten.
I’ve been having the same symptoms like him since I was a little girl. Same for me, no gluten, no dairy, just to name a few.
So for the past 2 weeks I’ve been trying to rearrange our diet, figuring out what to eat, how to eat…not easy, hardly managed to get out of the kitchen. But I believe you can get used to it. Luckily so many wonderful products that are available here, and if you are willing, you can cook amazing meals and prepare utterly delicious desserts as well.
He’s been really good about it, saying no to cakes and pizzas on birthday parties ( though he cheated a bit once encouraged by his friend’s Mum). He is a kid after all.
More tests to come in March, and I am hoping , that if we stick to this for some time, he will eventually get better .
– We’ve visited our dog to be. 11 more days to go till we can pick him up. A gorgeous labrador puppy. The breeder is a lovely lady who is truly in love with her dogs. 4 puppies were born, 2 girls and 2 boys. Ours is lighter in colour and calmer in temperament. Or so we think. We shall see. We are all set to have him. Even removed the carpets in our apartment, just to avoid collateral damage at the beginning.
– 2 shows in the theatre, great actors, fantastic performances. Wonder why we’ve stopped going few years back.
– Emotionally on a roller coaster, but that is only to be expected. Moving is becoming a reality.
Overall, not that bad. 6 weeks without Madeira.
So where am I writing this? On a plane, heading to…..yess, you’ve guessed right.
Madeira.
Good bye winter, hello sunshine!