Monday was my friend’s birthday. Her husband was out of town, and I felt her 14 year old son could not be relied upon to take her out for dinner, or even to do dishes. He is a great child, a good friend of Elliot’s, but I had a hunch on this one. “Mom cooks every night,” I could see him thinking. “It’s what she does. Obviously it is something she would do tonight, since it is evening, when she cooks.”

So I had her over for dinner. I also let Ilsa loose on the cake. Ilsa loves to make cakes. Ilsa would make us cake daily if we let her, and we would be even fatter than we are. She made a cake and I made various other things, all in about 2 hours, and all was chaos in the kitchen and we had to cool the cake in the fridge before we could frost it but it  worked out.  I invited some other women over, and banished everyone else to their rooms and we hung out and laughed and talked and a lovely time was had by all.

We’ve been having fun with candles and lanterns lately, taking advantage of the fact that we live in a place where lovely handmade things can be easily purchased. The hardest part is choosing.

fun with candles

Fun with candles, including an alabaster candle-holder from Egypt. Ok, that one was a present from someone, not bought locally.

lantern in cornerThis lantern was my birthday present from Donn. We live upstairs in the top half of a house, and we put it in the corner and liked it so much we bought another one for the other corner. We still need a third. If you come to our house after dark, we will light these candles for you to see as you enter.

bday lantern two

It was a fun weekend. A friend from Fes visited; we hung out, drank Starbucks (her hostess gift), went out to the Potteries and found gorgeous bowls and vases and plates on sale at prices ranging from $1 to $4.

I love the Potteries.

pots and pink wall

Soon you will get tired of me posting pictures from there. But luckily for you, my camera died so I only got two pics this trip.

stairs

We’ve also gone to the beach. These pics were actually taken two or three weeks ago, before the visit I wrote about. These were taken at a different beach one Sunday afternoon when Donn and I left the kids home doing school work.

snaky patterns

I think Rabat has some of the most interesting and beautiful beaches.

why is it crooked

Donn: Why is it crooked? Me: It’s artistic. Donn: You did that on PURPOSE?

mussels

I love love love all the tide pools teeming with life. It’s a rule of English: tide pools must teem. Don’t fight it.

rocks at sunset

Rocks at sunset. These pics do not do it justice. I am going to have to break my rule and start posting my husband’s work, and then people will steal them, which will make me cross, and then I’ll stop again. It’ll be fun! Stay tuned.