We're taking down the tent tomorrow

Brenda, Ingrid and D'Arcy are coming home today. I took the dogs for a long walk in the morning, then vacuumed the house, cooked potatoes and eggs for dinner, and started going through my clothes; I had to get ready for our upcoming 5-day stay in Sintra. It also occurred to me that since Gerbeaud had completely chewed through his seatbelt in the car, I would need to find a pet store in the area. Fortunately, it was not far, only a 12-minute drive. I went there, taking the trash to the central dump on the way. I quickly found the pet store in Santo António and bought two seat belts (just to be on the safe side). On the way home, I stopped at our bakery and had soup for lunch.

The weather was so beautiful that when I got home, I took the dogs for another walk. At home, I sautéed the onions, added the Portuguese sausage slices I bought at the market and plenty of sour cream, and assembled the potato casserole in a nice glass bowl. I topped it with grated cheese and diced bacon. It looked wonderful. I had just finished when I heard the dogs barking happily outside. It had to be Ingrid and her family! And so it was, they arrived just in time, everything was ready, I just had to preheat the oven and put the dinner in. They had had a wonderful time in Morocco and warmly recommended it to me. They said the people were extremely hospitable and the food was very, very delicious. It had rained a lot there in the winter, everything was lush and green, and they had a wonderful time. On the way there, they spent the night in Spain (Cadiz) and told me about young men and women surfing with kites on the beach. They said they were amazing, at least a hundred of them on the water and in the air with their colorful kites and surfboards. What an experience, what freedom it must be to do this, to live this!

The delicious layered potatoes, exuding divine aromas, were a huge success with the 2021 Cabernet Franc from Pipacs és Pillangó Pince. I was bursting with pride. On behalf of David too – this wine is the fruit of our joint labor and care.

Unfortunately, I can't boast about the results of the evening's next event: I lost again at Rummy Cub, and didn't even get a medal, finishing fourth out of four. They play by very different rules than what I know and am used to. Thank God, I really love the game itself, so I didn't get upset, I congratulated the winners from the bottom of my heart and went to bed.