Did you know that a group of hedgehogs is called a prickle of hedgehogs? How clever is that! It’s also called an array of hedgehogs, but that is not as fun or clever as a prickle of pricklys (second part naturally being a Crystalism).

What do you think? Is this worth getting up early for or what?

I was, and strangely enough, still am, the shortest in my family. My charming and delightful brothers and sisters told me if I put pigeon poo in m shoes, I would grow taller... Never trust your siblings is all I can say.

We had more fun than intended this year when we ended up sunk to our hubcaps in sand when we stopped at our regular spot 3km out of town and wanted to cycle in to town. Thank goodness for Caterpillars…

Can you see what I see in the photo? A wooden leg! What? Yes! One of the birds has a wooden leg! Okay, so maybe it's not a wooden leg, but it has a stump and makes a footprint and a hole. It still ran faster than me so I couldn’t get you a solitary photo, but the group is beautiful too.

Not a spelling error, but a nod to the incredibly hard work these men put in. After several hours of dragging a heavy metal cage through hard sand raking up mussels in the freezing cold water, you certainly don’t need to visit the gym anymore.

If you thought anything bad when you read the title, then shame on you. Clearly I meant their golf balls! These men can be spotted on the beach, come rain or shine, smacking or looking for their balls. There we go again, sigh.

This former fishing town, now tourist mecca, has become our first stop in Portugal. We discovered it last year through Anja nd Micha ( www.reisenundspeisen.com ) and we luv it. We avoided it originally ‘cos we don’t like tourists. Yes, sigh, I am aware that we too are tourists, but that is clearly different, duh.

The great thing about travelling is meeting people and we have met some deevine people on our travels. The bad thing about travelling is having to say Goodbye and moving on to different horizons. HOWEVER, we know where you live and we will hunt you down!

My German husband had never even heard of such “a ridiculous” thing before I stood sobbing waiting for my card and present. I, of course, had a secret card for him and a Valentine's Day Introduction Course planned with the help of an elderly neighbour...