This photo needs no explanation and depicts me enjoying the sunshine. Okay, so I (mostly) sit in a slightly more ladylike fashion, but there‘s nothing like warm sunshine on a full tummy.

So you‘ ve had the travel log of the journey to Bologna, but now we need party info. We were fortunate enough to be surrounded by friends and acquaintances and lest we forget, the wonderful birthday boy, Roger, so it was perfect from the start.

Roger is a wonderful friend of ours and every 5 years he celebrates his birthday in a big way. This year was his 85th and he invited 70 of us to celebrate it with him in Bologna, Italy. Wow! I want to be just like Roger when I’m 85, just minus the moustache…

And I mean it literally. We had tea in a teapot! This magnificent, ginormous teapot can be found at Castelnau-Magnoac in the Gers, France. It was originally situated in Scotland, but as the old saying goes, “have teapot will travel”, it is now in France!

(Today’s recipe: Stinging Nettles)
I HATE THEM. Everybody says they only sting at certain times of the year and the sting is not that bad. Well, they haven’t met my vicious Nettles. Mine sting all year. Even the roots sting. I’m not kidding. EVEN THE ROOTS STING.

(Today’s recipe: Dandelions)

Now where does the word Dandelion come from, I ask you. This is like Red Mullet actually being a Goat Fish. I love discovering the origin of words and/or just enjoying the strangeness of words. Maybe lion comes from the fluffy white head it gets before it goes forth and reproduces itself a thousand times over in my garden.

(Today’s recipe: Wild Fennel)

I can't believe I haven't managed to post this since I wrote it in March, same time as the first one. Sorry!!! And thank you Peter and Ute for reminding to pull out my finger and get on with posting!!

Life does not exist without several hundred sunset shots. I basically take a couple every night, but I shall endeavour not to bore you with more than these three, but I ain’t promising notin’.

No, we haven’t moved to Australia, this is still Portugal. This section of the Algarve is home to many a Red Rock and I just can’t get enough of it! We’re near Quarteira and Falesia Beach, the home of many beautiful golf courses. I’m no golfer, but my mate Catherine says they’re good to play and she’s the local female champion in our small French village so she should know!

(Today’s recipe: Mão de Vaca com Grão, or Cows Hoof with Chickpeas)

I love languages and the fun one can have with them. When we asked our lovely waitress what the daily lunch special was, she said, “it’s Hand of Cow”. At first I thought I’d misheard, but no, we were having either Hand of Cow or something that was like cuttlefish, but not cuttlefish. We’ll have one of each, I bravely said.