Lunch

Our kitchen is so tiny that when cooking for more than two, it's easier to do it outside. It was a lovely day today, a balmy 20C and no wind. Just as well as we'd invited guiri, F, T, and a different F for lunch and the living room isn't big enough for entertaining that number of people. Owing to limited cooking facilities we kept it simple ... a revelation, since normally we spend hours cooking for guests and this was so quick and easy that we found ourselves at a loose end an hour before they were due to arrive. 

Ready-made tapas plus Seville favourite spinach and chickpeas made by me (don't knock it till you've tried it, it's delicious!). Salad, then escalivade done in batches on the plancha because no oven, cheese because we are French, and my second  attempt at tarta de aguacate, only slightly hampered by me losing all the notes I made the first time.

A lovely afternoon of chat, only retreating into the house for coffee at about 5 pm. Mystère on the other hand had a terrible day: the gardener (I use the term loosely) came in the morning and spent a couple of hours reducing his favourite hiding place/jungle to a wasteland by vigorous use of the strimmer. Hence Mystère disappeared for the whole morning and crept timidly back once the gardener was gone, only to find the terrace invaded by a bunch of strangers. He rushed past us periodically during the afternoon, not daring to stop. Now the woodburner is lit and he's crashed out on the sofa next to me.