Ok. Some of you long-time Moonbeamers might be thinking this picture looks vaguely familiar. It should. It is that time again to do the inventory of our food and other items. Newbies to the blog might be wondering why. It's like this: The Captain and his crazy cronies will be taking to the sea soon and,,,there are few, if any, 7 eleven markets in the ocean so...it's good to have the items you want and to know exactly where they are located. Additionally, due to laziness, we tend to buy things and either use them first or store them in the most easily accessible places, thereby relegating older products to the back burner. And...truth to tell, we often neglect to annotate the inventory lists when we use different items so....periodically, particularly when we are awaiting an influx of new guests or in advance of an ocean leg, we take everything out of all of the cubbies and cabinets, sort them by type of food (baking ingredients, breakfast items, canned goods, etc), check the expiration dates, send the 'oldies but not-so-goodies' to the expired food cemetery in the sky, and put the older but still good items where they can be used first. We also bury, deep in the trenches, items which will never be used on the ocean crossing (like mint jelly and mint sauce...no lamb...no need.) It is amazing how some items seemed to have multiplied all on their own (like the 13 cans of chicken broth and the six bottles of balsamic vinegar) and others must have been stolen along the way. (How could we possibly have no oregano? Obviously, there is an oregano thief in our midst!)

Why do this on our anniversary? Why not? It's a good team exercise. Ken is the diligent recorder. I like to do the organizing. And...I do feel a lot better after it's done.

Once completed, we highlight the items we need more of...and make a renewed commitment to be more diligent in keeping track of the inventory on an ongoing basis.

In the evening, our nuevo amigo, Paco picked up Guillermo, Ken and me, and we met his wonderful wife, Monica and their lovely daughters, Carmen and Maria, at a 'locals' restaurant up in the mountains. Benalmádena has three parts: the port where we are, the Arroyo or center, and the mountains where Paco and his family live. Their area has a fabulous view over the city. Our friend, Anne, who has lived here for over 40 years, and her friend Juliet, visiting from London, also joined us. Before Juliet left London, Anne told her she would be joining us for our anniversary dinner. She asked what she could bring. Anne, ever on the ball, told her to bring chocolate chips (for my cookies) ...since Anne was with us earlier in the week when we discovered they are non-existent in Benalmádena. Juliet brought 3 packages from Sainsbury: dark, milk and white chocolate. Look out world....my next batch will have a mixture of all three! This could be the start of something new.

I would have posted the picture taken at the restaurant, but you know how unimpressive these long dining pictures are. Suffice it to say we had a very lovely dinner, and I think a good time was had by all.

And then, Paco and Monica presented us with a statue of the symbol of Benalmádema ...which will be a wonderful reminder of our stay here...and a memorable anniversary.