Saturday January 29

 

Today was another perfect day. Blue skies a few fluffy clouds floating by and 65 degrees. We headed out for our walk and went to the mall as we needed a few items for lunch tomorrow. On the way we pass a public garden we really like. We walked in to see if there were any flowers for the title picture. As you can see we did find one with new blooms. We arrived at the mall and surprisingly there were few people there. We made our purchases and bought so much we had a hard time getting everything in my backpack for the trip home. Walking through the store I noticed this dog food for young dogs.

Maybe a patent issue or they need to buy another letter from wheel of fortune. Yesterday at lunch we were served a different drink. It had carrots mango and lemon. It was very good.

We grabbed a couple of bottles and then loaded it all in my pack. I walked a little bit slower home. I cooked the hamburger needed for lunch tomorrow. We are trying stroganoff. I also made a cake to have one for dessert I left to go n a teaching appointment with the missionaries in a town down the coast a bit. As happens too often no one was home. A little later we all went to visit a part member family on the other side of the island. This is a rich part of the island. The house is as nice as ours. The furniture is nice, the rooms are big. But even though the couch is new it like every one we have encountered here is about 6 inches too low and difficult to get up from. Here at our apartment when I sit on our couch I find it easier to slide onto one knee on the floor and then stand up. We came home and actually for the distance we had to drive and the narrow country roads at night, it was a pleasant drive. Okay day. We love you all.

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Now to respond to a few questions. I learned that the reason the service on the car was so expensive was due to it being a hybrid and something to do with the batteries or something. The statue Whitney asked about, they like statues here in Portugal. It is just as likely to be the statue of someone who did something great as it is to be a statue of the government official who decided to recognize that someone did something great. Every historical site has a large plaque or even stone tablet with the name of the governor or mayor or leader who was in office when the site was officially opened. These leaders get more space than the person who actually did the deed. The potatoes here are good not as good as the ones from home, right now for some reason the tomatoes are not as good as usual. Since it has never frozen here I don’t know if they grow them in greenhouses but that is how they taste. Prices on food and gas are slowly climbing. Because of the seasonal unemployment more people are struggling, and we have noticed a slight increase in people asking for money on the streets.