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.

friday 22nd January

I am now in Morocco in Merzouga. The flight was good and the chief host steward was very funny. She told us it would be a challenge if we tried to go to the loo during the air turbulence. Also it would be like surfing if we tried to walk in the aisle.

Met a lovely lady on my way out of the plane. Her name is Kitty and she loves Morocco. She has visited about 90 times in the past 30 years. She was going to Imlil to stay with some Berber friends.

Got to the riad by phoning and asking for directions. A young woman came and showed us the route. A fab riad with a cosy room. Went to get some money at Credit Maroc and it swallowed my card. tried to use my credit card but it was rejected. I hope I remembered the number correctly. The card was returned the next morning.

Had an evening meal at the Argana cafe which is in the square. Not the best meal but a good view of the portable restaurants in the square.

Breakfast was good, they even had harcha - a cake of semolina. I had 2.The coffee was really good.

We took the bus to Ourzazate and while we were waiting we met and  chatted to a young couple from Montreal. They were with their two sons Manu and Luka. So brave to travel with them in a different country. I bet they were glad of their double buggie.

Felt sick for the first part of the journey but after eating some tagine felt restored. We stayed at Dar Chamaa and met Mohammed whose family own the hotel in partnership with some Spanish. Mohammed was one of the students at the house in Meknes where Ammars nephew was staying. Mohammed was an English student at the university. It was great to see him again.

We got tickets on the CTM bus for Er Rachidia and walked about the main street. It was in my mind to buy an embroidered scarf that I had seen on another visit. We found the shop and a scarf was fixed to the ceiling. I wanted it and the man was trying to find a page in a book to show us one like it. I asked the price and he said 800 dirhams. A good job I was sitting down. Got him down to 250 but A was eager to go. I have decided that I will make one of my own embroidered scarves. I will get the cloth, needles and thread in Rissani on Sunday or maybe tomorrow.

A taxi took us to Rissani and an other took us to Merzouga. We were lucky to get it. But if we missed it we could have stayed with Ammars nephew Ali.

The big thing at Zaids, thats Ammars brother, is bees. Last year he started with one and then got another. Now he has about 7 boxes and two hives in old clay water pots. Today there was another swarm. Youssef, another nephew of Ammar is also following the bee craze. He was making his own box today.

We went to the cafe before coming to the net but didnt see Tricky, my adopted cat. Mohamed the Carpet Man was there and Funny Lahcen. Ammar has gone to see his German pal Michael at the auberge Le Petit Prince while I do the blog.

Im going to check my email now.