It’s really been a lot hotter than usual this year. The normal temperature range for Jan/Feb is around 31-33C in the daytime. This year it’s been 34-37C. Today was 36 and the sun was brutal. You just wanted to be in the water or under an umbrella. Luckily the water was blissful so I spent hours in there, neck deep, doing gentle stretch exercises. Lovely.

We are at max gang for this year now. Yesterday, Roz arrived, our 14th member. Roz and her lovely husband, David came to Patnem twice in the years before covid. They live nearby to Joseph and Janet. Very sadly, David passed away with cancer during the pandemic, so Roz has bravely come alone this year. It’s lovely to see her again.

The sunsets have been good over the past couple of nights and what with the hot weather some of us have stayed late on the beach for sunset swims and dinner. The sea feels so warm at that time, even warmer than the day.

The cashews are really growing on the trees around us and they will be ready to harvest in a few weeks. It is a fascinating thing to see. First the tree flowers and then later the nut appears. The fruit comes above the nut and is like a smallish yellow apple. It is not nice to eat but is used to make fenny, the local grappa style spirit. There is only one nut per fruit.

A mystery was cleared up this week when Sheena and Dave’s sons ordered the dessert “Hello to the Queen”. This dessert features on most menus here but we have never ordered it our selves or seen it before. People tend to giggle when you mention it. Anyway, out it came and what a delicious surprise. The base was a mix of banana and digestive crumb and then ice cream on top with chocolate sauce and a strawberry. No idea how it got it’s name.

Last night a group of us went to the Sai Family restaurant on the outskirts of Palolem. It’s not a posh place at all but the food is just superb. You see a lot of Indians eating there, always a good sign. The tandoori cooked dishes are outstanding but it’s all good. I love to watch the tandoori chef making the skewers of meat to go into the intensely heated clay oven. And shaping the dough to make the flaky breads in there like naans and parathas. They shape the dough and then fling it onto the sides of the tandoori where they cook in a couple of minutes. It’s quite a skill. David had a bowl of the Kashmiri pilau which was very colourful.

Tonight was movie night and Bob and I went to see “I Want to Dance With Somebody”, the Whitney Houston biopic. It was really good. Not on a par with Elvis or Rocketman but enjoyable. I had a lovely dinner of paneer and spinach filo pie. It was very good.