Still receiving birthday calls today. Mayte and Andries, our friends living in Aguascalientes, Mexico, phoned and sang Happy Birthday with their twins, little tykes about five years old.

They have reminded me that I said we’d be saving money to go down and visit them. Perhaps it is time to get serious about that if we want a trip like that to really happen. And we do. In the short time we (temporary transplants, all) lived in Kelowna, we didn’t spend as much time together as we’d have liked but we did enjoy each others’ company the few times we visited back and forth. They are warm and caring people and we had lots of laughs with them.

Assuming we’ll get to their home, I mean to study Spanish so poor Mayte doesn’t have a headache by the time we leave, from speaking English constantly. Her English is excellent and she is accustomed to speaking it because her husband is too STUBBORN (hear me, boy?) to speak Spanish, though he understands it perfectly well.

There is no better opportunity to become fluent in a language than to speak with, and listen to it spoken by, a native speaker, so I must take advantage of this. I said that last year in Kelowna and never did it though, so I’ve no room to tease Andries about it.

Mayte is a good teacher, correcting my pronunciation and clarifying things for me. But I’d like to arrive on her doorstep able to speak and comprehend, instead of making her work.

I wonder how much Emil would enjoy a trip like that. Everett would, but I’m not sure Emil would notice his surroundings much. He is like a young child in that way ... happy wherever he is. He’d like to see Mayte and Andries again though.

You can see many of Andries’s paintings by clicking here.

I am still kicking myself because I didn't buy a Veerman when he did a show in Kelowna and was selling some small ones I could actually afford. Talk about missed opportunities!