June 2016 - Week 4

My birthday cake - yes, it does look suspiciously like a Christmas cake!

Monday 20th to Sunday 26th June 2016

Monday we worked, we went supermarket shopping and I bought a card for Linda bond’s 60th birthday. Golly. I met her when she was 17 or 18 and when I speak to her or see her I still see the ghost of her teenaged years. We are like ripe fruit; softer and sweeter perhaps but still full of the essence that made us who we are. For dinner Sam ate the rest of our left over chicken and sweet potatoes; I had fish fingers. Now that’s what I call aging gracefully!

Tuesday we mostly worked. For dinner I made an Indian dish of chicken and green peppers with onions, garlic, ginger, cumin, cayenne, cashews and yogurt. It was very good. We had it with chips!

Wednesday we had brunch at Mambo’s – bruschetta and cappuccino as usual. We are still surprised to see Armier Bay busy with sunbeds, umbrellas, tourists and boats. We are spoilt to have the place virtually to ourselves most months of the year. For dinner we had pilau rice with cashew nuts and raisins. Also Sam baked carrot cupcakes which were delicious.

Thursday Sam’s art class was cancelled so she had her friend Pauline come around for a morning’s painting at our place instead. I went to Sliema for three hours. I parked at The Point, did some shopping, had a cappuccino then did a long hike along the promenades and into town along winding back streets. When I got back home I found Sam hadn’t even started to paint because she had been so busy talking! Pauline managed a canvas though.

For dinner we met Chris and Tina at Acqua Marina and had a great evening. The restaurant was full inside and out. The food was excellent – starters, sorbets and mains – including salads, pastas and grilled fish dishes. We had half a bottle of rubbish white wine, an excellent bottle of red wine, a good glass of red wine, a beer and two bottles of water. And the bill? £20 a head. Fantastic!

For pudding we all came back to our flat and ate Sam’s delicious Christmas cake and carrot cup-cakes.

Friday we woke up to the crazy news that the UK had voted to leave the EU. Some decisions are so stupid that they defy sensible comment. Sterling was down the toilet and the stock markets were in turmoil. Gosh; we’d never have forecast that. David Cameron may just go down as the man who pulled the rug from under Britain’s remaining influence in the world. How many more times will we have to suffer politicians sacrificing the interests of the nation on the altar of personal ambition? Anyway, we were soon distracted by the prosaic – supermarket shopping and pizzas for dinner!

Saturday for something different we went to Dingli. There is a café there where we thought we would pop in for cappuccinos. The café turned out to be a farm shop and restaurant the serves seasonal dishes based on the farm’s produce. We had cakes and cappuccinos that were very good and we will aim to go back there for lunch very soon. On the way out we noticed a plaque announcing that the restaurant had been part-funded by the European Union – no wonder the Brexiteers get so worked up! We drove on to Busket Gardens for a short walk – it’s too hot for long walks! The Malta Rabbit Club was setting up stalls ready for a big display to be held there on Sunday. Other than that, the gardens were quiet. The gardens are given over mostly to trees and orange groves so there was some shade to be had.

For dinner I made a cauldron of Chilli Con Carne.

Sunday we chilled and Sam baked vanilla cup-cakes with a chocolate filling. They were brill but she has announced that after my birthday-come-Christmas cake and carrot cup-cakes and now vanilla and chocolate cup-cakes all in the space of two weeks, she is not going to bake again until Christmas! We watched France beat Ireland in the EURO 2016 football and ate left over chilli con carne with baked sweet potatoes for dinner.