Today I started out later in the day. I didn’t wake up until 9:30 in the morning. I aoften get up so much earlier at home, but I am so comfortable sleeping here. The bed is great, with the blankets piled on it’s like a little cave. I got up and made my tea and then chatted on the phone(messenger!) to friends in Taiwan. They will be coming here mid-March for 16 days! They are artists who live in Tennessee.
After a shower, I sat outside, took some photographs around the house, of the huge fig tree which fascinates me. I found the shadows with the hammock patterns really interesting. You don’t have to go far to look at absolute gems for creative ideas. And LuÃs,my landlord, came by to work on a table for the cook for the other unit, that he was refinishing. Later on when he was finished, I asked him for a ride into town, Around 3 o’clock, he dropped me off at a restaurant that I was looking forward to eating at. Unfortunately I was late and the owner wanted me to come back at 6pm for my meal! That was too late for me so I walked on to see what else was available. At the place that I had the coffee yesterday, I stopped and inquired. It’s called Estrela Del Mar. The owner of the restaurant looks like Mr. Bean. (See the picture below) I had fresh fish, grilled soul with potatoes and vegetables. It was excellent and what a nice place to eat. The glass of wine at home restaurants are about 4 ounces for 9 or 10 dollars. Here it was maybe 9 or 10 ounces and was only about one euro.
After my meal I wandered slowly home, taking little side paths to go toward the cliffs, just getting a feel for the land around here. It’s so beautiful and there’s so much to see. I arrived home just after five, brought in wood for the fire shut all the windows of the house again. LuÃs instructed me to do that, as soon as the sun is up, open the windows of the house and let the warm air in, even the front door and then close all as the sun gets lower. Can you imagine at home walking out to town and leaving your front door open? Especially not today when I was told it was -26 degrees in the Uxbridge area!
I still haven’t mastered the art of fire making. I thought I was doing better. But I had selected a couple of pieces that were still wet wood . Maybe tomorrow I will get it right. Of course, LuÃs came by to put his varnished table inside the other unit and then asked me about my fire. You guessed it! I didn’t have to work anymore on the fire. He once again joined me for a beer and another long talk. He offered that I could rent the house for the year and he wouldn’t worry about it. I don’t know whether he was joking or not. I did tell him that I would like to book next year and bring some artists to paint around the landscape, much the same way as the field trips organized to Ireland a few years back. I think many would enjoy being here.
Off to bed now. It’s only going to be 17C. tomorrow!
