Spring is in the Air

13.2.19-17.2.19
Photos have been added to February's album
https://photos.app.goo.gl/5JXZsBkTRgjrZm6e6
Recent days have been dominated by eating out. No complaints there, then.
Wednesday it was at Danish friends Lone and Jesper's. We talked politics, don't we always?, British and Scadi crime dramas and of all things "Dating Naked". This kind of reality tv left us all shaking our heads with mouths wide open. We also talked about Michel's travels to Thailand which resulted in an invitation for all of us to his house on Saturday for a Thai meal.
Thursday, I sat at JJ's table with a different set of people, i.e.,  the Mairie connection. Pata Negre dry cured ham cut there and then off the bone was the centre piece. Conversation, champagne and wine flowed meaning that it was nearly 1am when I toddled off to bed.
For a change, Friday brought a lunch rather than dinner out. This time it was at a restaurant with the pétanque group. No, I didn't play but instead prepared the apéritif for those who did.
Saturday came the market and the meal at Michel's. I went an hour in advance to help him prepare and was rewarded with two macarons from Amiens. You might be interested to know that they have been made by Brigitte Macron's (French President's wife) family for 145 years. https://www.196flavors.com/france-macarons-damiens-amiens-macarons/
Managed an earlier night last night thanks to Michel's 10pm curfew so that he could be up at the crack of dawn to go snowshoeing. Coffee in the morning and this afternoon reluctantly worked on the Comrie Pipe Band visit budget for tomorrow evening's meeting. It was a lovely sunny day outside which I should have been making the most of but there ..... Thus are the cosequences of of procrastination!
Weather:
Sunny days and blue skies. Temperatures ranged between 16 -18°

Life's Rich Canvas

Last night's rain was gone this morning but even so the day didn't look too promising. Still, we of the association are a hardy lot; we congregated at 9h15 to head off over the border for a light-hearted pétanque contest. Luck was with us and the sun came out. There were even several storks that flew over head on their way north, adding to the enjoyment. The team that I was in, won it's first match but lost the second. It was all very easy going as we played while a JCB came ever closer flattening out the huge car parking area of the restaurant that was our pitch. It's the same place where I ate with the Spanish group a couple of weeks ago. While not being a brilliant player, thankfully, I didn't disgrace myself and went to lunch with head held high! http://www.restauranteljouvell.cat/eng/home.html
Did a quick shop in La Jonquera on the way through and had a short time at home before going to a vernissage of Arabic calligraphy. http://www.callimaj.com/hassanmajdi.html There were nowhere near as many people there as for James's. Sadly, I had to leave during the speeches so as not to be late for my dinner appointment with James and Beverley who had prepared a "churrascaria" (bbq meat) accompanied by grilled veg and four different sauces. Alan, Roger and Debra were there too so it was an all anglophone affair. Kindly James offered us  the choice of a print each and lucky old me got to choose one of his paintings from the exhibition as well for the help I gave him. Photo will appear later. Just going to have to do some serious rearranging if I'm to show them off.