Cardboard and Olive Stones

Home ... after a few hours battling with huge pieces of cardboard out in the rain.

Imagine a paper supply shop that sells big sheets of cardboard but has nothing to wrap them in if it rains ...

Imagine ... sigh. Clearly I'm the only customer who has ever asked for scissors, tape and some of their biggest plastic carrier bags.

Clearly I am the only customer who has ever set up a craft show at the counter, cutting and taping those bags together to protect my precious cardboard from the rain.

And obviously I was going to forget the Dutch for 'Please may I have some scissors, a large roll of tape and some of those bags' ... because I like to make things THAT complicated.

I hadn't imagined things could become more challenging.
AVA was after the olive stone incident ...

I had taken Lisen and Yakup to a superb Turkish supply store here in the city and they had introduced me to the important things ... the best and most reliable food labels and which olives to buy.

Today the shop assistant remembered me and we exchanged news in a mix of Dutch, Turkish and English ... sometimes failing to understand, more often understanding as he insisted I try all of the olives to find which I liked best.

Suddenly I had 3 olives stones in my mouth and the 4th one was being offered.
No thank you wasn't an option.

Stones accounted for, I discretely slipped them into my bag, belatedly remembering the letters I had offered to deliver for Gert.

Anyway, every thing is home and I have dealt with my tragically low sugar level - now for the beanstalk, all the while praying for a dry day tomorrow. I'll be carrying a lot of cardboard with me, it's one of those situations that could get ugly fast.