a vignette starring Jaime

If you've been keeping up you are (more than) aware of the tile shortage problems. One day last week I was in the kitchen talking to Everado (the tile man) about the ceramic tiles that were to go behind the faucets in the kitchen as a back-splash. While we were chatting Jaime was fiddling idly with some tiles lying loose on the new worktop. The idea was that the back-splash was to be all yellow, to match the counter-top sink surround. The problem, señora, is that we are getting short of yellow tiles and since you want the walls around the stove all yellow, that might be a problem, even though you bought another box. Or something like that. So I said well ok and you figure it out. I said that a lot.

I returned to the house in the afternoon and went up to the kitchen. Jaime was standing in front of the sink, and he's a sizable chap and hard to see around. As I was talking to Everado, Jaime gradually moved away from the sink to reveal his solution and handiwork, keeping his eye on me the entire time. When I saw it I gave him a big smile of delight, and he smiled back, also delighted but I think also relieved that I liked what he had done.

This is a photo of the back wall of the kitchen with the plaque of San Pasquale Bailón in the center. He's the saint of kitchens and cooks. In the lower left on the wall you can see one of my "food" tiles, a green pepper. I also have a garlic stem and a carrot. On the new table there is a watermelon slice, a tomato and a strawberry.

Everything is ready for moving back except the windows. Tomorrow I will make yet another appeal to Raul to get that done. I'm not very polished at arguing in Spanish. I just do what the Mexicans do: roll my eyes and mutter "Ay, carrumba!"