The weather has turned back dry and bright for our last few days. The light really is amazing. Everything looks very bright and colourful and the greens and yellows of the foliage are striking after Sunday’s rain.

Habib has cut 2 of our bougainvilleas into ball shapes and they are looking particularly vivid at the moment.

Last night we went to a quiz at Bar Alvodar in Lapta. We met Linda, Mike, Jacqui and Pamela so were a team of 6. Had a meal down there too – pub grub. Bob and I both had steak and kidney pies which were a bit doughy but the chips were very nice. The quiz was actually incredibly hard and we were a bit downcast especially as there were about 10 other teams playing. Astoundingly, given all that, we actually won!!!! Worked out to be about £5 each of us but the glory was all, of course.

This morning John, who with Wilma manages the house for us, came up for a catch up and a chat. It’s been a good year with very few problems. We are lucky to have them. Afterwards we drove up to Green Hill British Cemetary to bid Eddie a farewell. It is such a peaceful, lovely place up there on a hill studded with pine trees.

This afternoon we went to the art class at Silver Rocks restaurant. We were learning to use colour washes with acrylic paint. It was really fun, different to using watercolour but also similar in some ways. Had a lovely time and it has whetted my appetite to paint more over the winter when we are travelling.

Tonight we had dinner with Linda and Mike at the Royal Moon which is a rustic little grillery in Alsancak. Very good food, very good value, nice people. We all went for the lamb chops which were excellent. They came with quite a nice array of cold meze, and a little dessert and coffee afterwards. All about £15 per person including 2 alcoholic drinks each. Good value and a lovely evening of great chat and great company.