No weddings and a funeral

So when I got up this morning the spare bed was still made, and I because I woke up a few times in the night and no one was in it I don't think Michael ever went to sleep. At least not in the house. When I got out of bed and wandered into the kitchen Paddy was out for a walk with Una, Sebastien was up, and Michael was gone. Coffee. Bread. The usual.

Paddy got home and said that he hadn't seen Michael this morning either. He forgot to take my contact info that I wrote down for him, so I'm going to have to email him. Hopefully we can stay in touch as he was a pretty groovy guy and it's always good to have more contacts in California!

Daylight savings time seems to have reached Europe finally, as Paddy pointed out. My phone and computer auto-set themselves it seems, so now we're six hours ahead of the States again. Mass had also been delayed until 4:30 this afternoon in light of Secandino's mother passing away yesterday. We figured it would be a special mass dedicated to her memory.

I got dressed and went outside to help Sebastien clear the globs of dried cement that the oafs had left after finishing their work on the house. They were fairly easy to move not being stuck to the earth or anything, and most we were just able to pick up in one piece. By time we finished it was time for lunch, so I reheated the leftover pasta from last night and then using some green pepper, onion, garlic, and a carton of tomato sauce I made a new sauce for it. It was quite good, especially with the green pepper. After we ate I cleaned up, Paddy went to take a nap, and Sebastien started working on a couple walking sticks he's making. I read for a bit and then decided to take a shower.

Cleaned up and smelling good I put on my “fancy” clothes to go to mass. Khakis and a button down. Basically what I wear all the time when I'm at home, but here it's certainly dressing up. I figured since it was going to be a special mass I'd pull out the brown corduroy blazer just to look a little spiffier.

Paddy got up not long after and took Una out for another walk, and while waiting to leave I practiced my Spanish some using the Rosetta Stone program Danielle gave me a copy of. It's kind of boring, though really thorough, and a good way to learn. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. They've also been ringing the church bells today in that weird way like yesterday.

We all left for the mass at about 4:25 or so, and when we rounded the small corner from the house noticed all kinds of people gathered around the church. Mind you there are only twenty people in Moratinos. So as we got closer we saw a hearse, and flowers, and sure enough there was a full blown funeral. We weren't really sure if that was going to be the case or not, but it was certainly an experience to witness a funeral here. They're one of those important cultural things we do as humans. It was very nice. I caught myself wondering as they carried the small casket into the church how much it weighed, and then thinking to myself how horrible it must be to carry your mother (or like relative) in a wooden box.

We stayed through the service, but didn't follow the procession out to the cemetery as we thought that might be a little inappropriate not being relatives or close friends. We headed home and I got the chicken ready for our dinner. This one was a bit bigger than the one we had last Sunday. I oiled it up and seasoned it, then stuffed it with apples, onions, and a huge bunch of rosemary. Tied it up and tossed it in the oven. I tinkered with the time and temperatures just because last week the bird could have cooked for about 10 minutes more, plus this one was bigger. It turned out perfectly, just pink at the bone, and very juicy. It smelled really good too. I imagine most anything roasted with that much rosemary crammed inside of it would, ha ha.

I nuked a few potatoes, defrosted some peas, and Sebastien made some homemade apple sauce. It was quite a nice meal and the onions, apples, and peas all complimented each other very well. After we were through I carved the remaining meat off the chicken, broke down the carcass, and tossed the remains into a pot of water to boil for soup. We'll get three meals out of this chicken. Dinner tonight, leftover meat tomorrow, and then soup whenever after that. Gotta love a 3-meal bird that only weighs 6lbs.

After we cleared the table I sat in the salon for a while practicing some more with the Rosetta Stone. For fun I did a few typing exercises at a high level in the French course. It was having me type things like, “Il ne fait pas froid. Les arbres sont en fleur.” (“It isn't cold. The trees are blooming.”) Really strange things, but it was fun. Except for the program adapting my US keyboard into a French one without much notice to me. So every time I went to type an “a” I ended up with a “q.” Grumble cakes.

It's bed time now though. I'm still listening to The Silence of the Lambs. Bonne nuit!