Flamenco Red

Thank you for all the stars for yesterday's shot!  You are all very kind.

This is Bella the Hibiscus showing off her skirt again ... for the upteenth time because various blooms have already come and gone these past two weeks.

Some bookkeeping, a lot of housekeeping, some gaming.  No work today as it's the Feast of the Ascension, and because it always falls on a Thursday, the Friday after that is a free day, too, although Friday is a free day for me anyway.  In short, a 4-day weekend.

At about 16.10, colleague MS came by, as planned.  She admired AW's work in the garden, then came to kitchen where we yakkety-yakked further.  It is so good to talk of non-work-related things.  At 17.30 the three of us left to have dinner in town, her treat, among others, for the help we gave a couple of months ago when she had to have her bedroom painted.  MS has a long list of food allergies and the restaurant where I had made reservations didn't think they could accommodate this time because the city centre and all restaurants were crowded due to the annual Breda Jazz Festival, so off we went to my favourite restaurant, the one where I had oysters some weeks ago.  Compared to where we'd just come from, it was restful and quiet, and the chef had the time and space to cook her steak as she needed it to be -- no sauce, no spices (a bit of pepper and/or garlic will send her to the emergency room), no food with gluten or milk.  MS told us that her social life has changed drastically since the allergies emerged years ago, and I can imagine that.  After dinner, we went back home where she spent another 1.5 hours.  We enjoyed it all so much!  She left, rather reluctantly, at 23.20.

The messages exchanged between Jay and myself have taken a darker turn, much to my regret.  AW is completely behind me (so is MS).  He has been there before.  I think it will be a sad decision on my part, but there is no longer any way to get around it.