3 Sunny Days

oday is the third of 3 sunny days. I was very silly on two of them as I sat in the sun reading my book and yesterday got very tired so took to my bed. We were going to Erfoud today to see Ammar's sister Rkia and family but I felt odd. I was persuaded to get up after a back massage and a tepid shower and then I felt better.

We went for lunch at Hyatt and Lahcen's place. First of all peanuts and biscuits and tea; then the meal; a mixed salad and a chicken tagine. There was a plate of green olives too. Lahcen showed us his kidney stones - which had to be removed by operation in Rabat.

Rkia, Zaid's wife, has begun my shawl. She is joining the two pieces with a small embroidery stitch. It will be wonderful when all the women of the family have stitched something on it.

Fatima and Mohamed are here from Aghbalou, a village in the Atlas mountains. He is a teacher there and now there are school holidays. We looked at a video he made of him and Fatima  throwing snowballs and another where they were making a snowman with orange peel for the facial features.

Today some bees came out of the first hive and now there is a new colony in a new hive. A way to calm the bees is to spray water on them and then they can't fly. They fly when they dry.

Little Hanan was making squealing noises at her house. She is a happy little girl and is getting strong legs by standing a lot. I think she will get some teeth soon as she is shoving a fist in her mouth and dribbling a lot. We have yet to see baby Hassan but he is progressing well and going onto his tummy now. He is the same age as Hanan.

The other night the little kitten followed us home. She spent the night in a cut down cardboard box which was made comfy by putting a pair of old leggings and a piece of blanket inside. We fed her some sardines and gave her water and she spent the night there. We decided that looking after her would not be a good thing as we move round quite a lot and so we took her back to the cafe. We still see her every day there and she or Tricky jump onto my lap and settle down happily. And of course we still feed them.

The trip to Erfoud is quite long. It takes half an hour to get to Rissani by taxi or little bus. I prefer the bus as the taxi has to take 6 passengers and it's a bit of a squash. Then we walk to the taxi place in Rissani to get a taxi to Erfoud. Another half hour or so. We get off and walk to Rkia's house. I am hoping to have henna on my hands tomorrow. Rkia's daughter Khadija has a friend who does it. I am looking forward to seeing the family, especially Asma and Mohamed, the two youngest.