Sunday, January 25, 2026

Yes, today is warm enough for water aerobics but will be cloudy, so probably not a lay out by the pool day!

Greetings all

More sun here. I think it was close to 60 yesterday though I still needed a hoodie outside. I actually got my laundry rat hole cleaned out and everything washed and all the socks sorted - well most. My laundry basket sits on top of a dog crate that is in the bedroom and stuff falls behind the dog crate and junk and it just had to be moved and cleared out. Mission accomplished. I was able to match up about 10 pairs of awol socks. Did not make it to the gym - that is today. We went out for Mexican food at a local mom and pop place. It was busy so that was good to see. ICE is not around here so the Hispanic population is out and about. This little place has all the colorful Mexican decor and feels like really being in Mexico. Someone had a birthday and the waiters sang and had costumes and fake torches. All very fun plus food was great. Love Mexican food plus we brought boxes home.

Chocolate grilled cheese sandwich Liz! Gotta admit that sounds yucky but sounds like they made it good. I have chocolate in my DNA. Enjoy the game today and safe travels home.

CC here is my variation on the protein pudding: get one of those little single serving cups of ready made sugar free jello pudding. Mix with an equal amount of greek yogurt. The end. Tastes like cheesecake and makes a single serving. Thanks for the reminder. And ditto on the super cubes. Good way to freeze things for a small household. Plus it will fit in a small freezer. I was going to make farro soup today but now have the leftover mexican. Tomorrow.

Peps I bet you see another drop in weight in a day or two. Just my personal ESP. Hug that little griz guy for us. I had a dream last night about my dear departed cairns and it is indeed nice to have a warm little dog.

Paula we hope your part of Florida stays warm. Enjoy Sarasota. Yep Mexican food rules.

Yeah I guess lots of people don't use deposit tickets any more and in fact don't use checks much anymore. But we still take in cash sales at the gallery plus gallery members pay monthly dues by check and i get a half dozen at a time.. Might have to change that. The studio has modernized and takes membership fees by card now as well as other payments. The result is faster payment and ease but also about 5k in bank card charges for the year.

Time to get moving. The dogs are basking on the deck and the slider is open. Glad I am not in the midwest right now.

Diane S.

Let us know how the farro soup is tomorrow. Might need a recipe if you like it!

Nice that you can go to a local Mexican restaurant there. We have a good one near us in Florida we go to frequently. I suspect ICE won't be around in Florida too much because most communities, like Mar a Lago, are largely supported by immigrant workers. We couldn't manage without them.

DH is watching the Patriots game, small world these days with so much ready media at our finger tips. Liz you asked about English here. This area of Brazil is not a huge international tourist area, but there is usually someone around who knows some English. I don't know if you would find menus in English, but in places like Rio, you certainly would. Today we were having a little trouble figuring out where the Uber pick up spot was and I asked a nice young man, in Portuguese, if he could help me. He smiled and said, We can speak in English so you both understand what I'm saying. If you were to go to Rio, which is incredibly beautiful, but difficult to traverse, a tour is the way to go. I will always put in a plug for Foz de Igucu, on the border of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. It's like 1/2 a dozen Niagra Falls all in the same place.

Today DH and I ventured out on our own to a flea market via Uber. I think one of the things travel offers is a chance to challenge yourself. Our cell phone signal kept going in and out, and we wondered what we would do if we didn't have a signal when we got to the park. We decided we could go into a restaurant that had wifi, call a cab, or wal****il we had a signal again. There's usually a way to make things work.

We sat in the park by the flea market listening to music and people watching, enjoying the breeze, pinching ourselves that we were really here and it is working out so well. We're only on day six and feel like we've had weeks worth of fun.

After the flea market, we met our friends (via Uber) at a restaurant. It's been in business for 50 years, and has a beautiful expansive patio with mature trees. And food to die for.

Opps, my brother just called to ask if we want to go for hot dogs at this special grill. Off we go! More later.

So glad you are enjoying it so much. A lot of people in Spain didn't speak English so we used Google Translate a lot. Sometimes I would type into it and show them and they would type their reply back. Even here in Puerto Rico there are some people who only speak Spanish so Google Translate has come in handy again. However most people are bilingual, some to the point that they have no accent when speaking English and I assume not in Spanish either. I read that in schools here English is a required language taught daily but the other subjects are taught in Spanish.