Ladies who Lunch

...we are not, but once in a while it makes a very pleasant exception. Abandoning HH to some (rather tasty) leftovers, with strict instructions on how to heat them - which he forgot - I buzzed off to meet Julie and Cheryl. Julie and I have often intended to meet for lunch, but somehow it never happens. This time we put work aside and it was so worth it! We celebrated with special caipirinhas (sugar cane liquor with fruit - Julie's had three varieties of lemon, and Cheryl's and mine was passion fruit with pepper. Pink peppers on top and something decidedly hotter in the mix). Wonderful. I only have a caipirinha a very few times a year, but this one definitely gets the prize for the best yet.

For the past several years, Julie and Cheryl have taken scientific illustration trips to the Amazon with Dulce Nascimento, a graduate of the School of Fine Arts of Rio de Janeiro, who went on to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, as a scholar of the Margaret Mee Foundation (here). They are now taking a weekly class with her and came from that today. I was able to take a peek at their folders, and boy, was I impressed! They're off again in May and it would be great to join them (I'd also love to take the class). Who knows, perhaps I'll make it some day.