Wednesday, April 30, 2014

New friends

It's always a good day when you make new friends, and I had that joy today. The story goes back a bit--I signed up for an online course on the history of the Scottish clans. Very excited about it, but the material was so detailed and dense I didn't have time to do more than read each lecture once. As for the exercises where we post bits from out novels in progress set in Scotland--I was really out of it. I don't have one, except floating in the back of my mind. So I wrote the instructor to say I was enjoying the lessons and explain why I wasn't more responsive. An exchange of emails followed, and I found out she lives in far north Fort Worth. So I suggested if she ever came to town we meet for lunch. Turns out she had a doctor appointment very near me for today, so I invited her and her husband for lunch, said I make killer tuna salad. She wrote back saying he wondered if I could make killer chicken salad--so I did. Chicken salad with a touch of curry topped with grated cheese and crushed potato chips that you run under the broiler just long enough to brown (recipe elsewhere--don't do this unless it's a refrigerator-to-oven dish). Sides were asparagus, fruit salad, and rolls. I liked it and they seemed enthusiastic.
We talked about Scotland, of course, though Cindy Vallar is also an expert on pirates and is making herself one on dragons. Her research is incredibly detailed and thorough. They brought scrapbooks of photos and souvenirs of their three trips to Scotland but I was able to hold my own in most of the conversation from my one trip. I could not think of one castle ruins that so intrigued me--the Scots blew it up rather than let their enemies captures it. Finally found tonight it was Urquhart on the banks of Loch Ness. Anyway, it was all fun, I enjoyed the talk and found them delightful people.
Topped off my day with dinner with two good friends at a restaurant new to me--Bird, downtown. They were both a bit alarmed that I ordered bone marrow--one horrified, one clinically inquisitive. I enjoyed it, along with some deviled eggs. A nice day and night.
Other big news looming in my family but it's all still in flux and will have to wait.

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