Concerning truffles – “During the season, from November until March, they can be tracked down by nose, providing you have sensitive enough equipment. The supreme truffle detector is the pig, who is born with a fondness for the taste, and whose sense of smell in this case is superior to the dog’s. But there is a snag: the pig is not content to wag his tail and point when he has discovered a truffle. He wants to eat it. In fact, he is desperate to eat it. And as Ramon said, you cannot reason with a pig on the brink of gastronomic ecstasy.”
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
Hubby: We are going mushroom picking this Autumn.
Me: We don’t have any spare weekends.
Hubby: We are going!
Me: But…
Hubby: Show me our calendar.
Me: The only open weekend left is the end of September and I need to pack for South Africa.
Hubby: That weekend is perfect!
There are no half measures in my husband.
Whether he is selling dredgers, learning a new language, studying trees or building a house in South Africa, he is 120% involved!
He has an ‘all-guns-blazing’ approach to life.
I’m an ‘everything-in-moderation’ kind of girl.
He’s ‘let’s-analyse-this-to-death’.
I’m ‘rose-tinted-glasses-and-idealistic-dreamer’.
So, with my ‘laid-back’ and his ‘let’s-fit-everything-in’ approach to weekends away there’s never a dull moment.
Perhaps that’s why we work?
Sintra, Lisbon, bank holiday weekend August 2018
We climbed and explored the pine-covered hills of Serra de Sintra, visited ancient monasteries, a palace and gothic house and were blown to bits at the Cabo da Roca lighthouse. We ate delicious Queijadas de Sintra (sort of cheesecake biscuit things), sipped latte’s in Monseratte gardens and dined on some pricy, but tasty seafood at Tulhas restaurant:
Riga, Latvia, last weekend September 2018
In Riga we planned to go mushroom picking, but the weather and the-friends-who-know-mushrooms let us down at the last minute. So, instead our itinerary included, quality time with other friends, visiting a nuclear bunker, a pit stop for some delicious munchies at the market and collecting conkers at a palace.
SMALL PRINT:
P.s. We are not complete opposites, Hubby and me. We share the same values, same faith, same love for words, both intense and silly all at once, both eager for adventure and fun – we just tick a little differently.
P.p.s. Paid an astonishing 50 Euro cents for the most disgusting loo-with-a-queue at Cabo da Roca lighthouse.
P.p.p.s. The Serra de Sintra is a UNESCO Heritage site – well worth a visit.
P.p.p.p.s. We climbed and walked in Sintra for 6 hours on our first day. Our legs were so tired that coming down the hill it was more comfortable to run (more like an uncomfortable trot). When we got to the bottom, Hubby discovered that for every bouncy step he took down the hill, his phone sent a message out to another phone contact – literally hundreds of people received a random photo of a tree fern that afternoon. I laughed so hard my stomach ached!
P.p.p.p.p.s. Riga market has the juiciest, sweetest, yellow tomatoes on the planet!
P.p.p.p.p.p.s. Some bloke called ‘Frankly’ followed us all around Sintra. #creepy
Nyamazela 
Hi Nyama
Well I had a good laugh too! I actually laughed out loud when I read of Roland’s phone antics and smiled at the little tomatoes (I always think of you guys and your outdoor area when I see little tomatoes that is yellow or orange). It certainly sounds like two lovely weekends away even though you did not get to pick mushrooms.
How was your trip to SA? How is the house coming along? How is your mum’s foot?
Love Diane ________________________________
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Hi Diane,
My trip to SA was HECTIC! A little stressful finding that I’ve vastly underestimated the cost of everything in SA – fridges, sofas, teaspoons, braai stuff, curtains, AV equipment -EVERYTHING is so much more expensive than I anticipated. But it was good to get a lot on my To Do list done and spend some quality time with my mom.
Sending you love
Nyama
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Sounds like great fun mushroom picking.Love the phone hic cup as I think we have all done that sometime.Love Portugal especially Villamoura and Lisbon and Oporto.X
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