happy friday

Wow, the cooler weather continues. It is 23C in the office at the moment, which is I think is about 75F. I've pretty much given up thinking in nonmetric terms anymore, and I don't bother trying to convert back to the old English system most of the time. I contemplated putting on my bathrobe but opted for just a sweater instead. I'm sure this will make Big Jim laugh when he reads this, but I have really acclimatized to southern Spain's temperatures, and thus 75F means I'm a little chilly. There is rain called for today and tomorrow, and it did just start drizzling. The forecasters had predicted we would have a long summer this year, but as I said yesterday, the signs are all of an early autumn. I'm finishing up a work project today and have two new ones for next week and another book project starting mid-September, so the office here continues to be busy, busy. Big Jim has eased into his new work environment even more quickly than I thought. As he regains his confidence, I find myself relaxing more and more. Big Jim was born to be a project manager, you see. During the years he was out of work, he applied all his PM methodologies to stocking the pantry and garden maintenance; it's nice to see him able to put his skills to better use (that said, I am very pleased with the current state of our pantry:-). A relatively quiet weekend for me. Must clean house tomorrow as it's in a bit of a state. I also need to go the produce shop to restock before my Sunday cooking bonanza. L., the woman from Brooklyn, has invited me over for dinner tomorrow, which should be fun. She's a fascinating woman with many good tales. Her brother was/is a fairly well-known abstract expressionist painter, who counted among his colleagues de Kooning, Pollack, and Robert DeNiro Sr. L. is full of stories about tagging along with him to Greenwich Village openings and events back in the day. She also loves a good chin-wag about politics, so I suspect we'll have plenty to talk about. Have a great weekend, especially to the Americans out there, who celebrate Labor Day on Monday. hasta luego, mylifeinspain P.S. Been a long time since I posted a recipe....will do so this weekend. P.P.S. G., got your e-mail. So sorry to hear about Jake. Will write back soon.