“I can’t help you with this,” Myrjam says apologetically, holding her arm up to show. “I am stuck with this, I have to undergo surgery.”   “Don’t feel guilty,” I answer, “you can’t push a wheelbarrow with two people.”    That is actually a shame that that is not possible, because I have been far too enthusiastic about loading boxes of tiles.

“It may well be that it all goes back to the tile workshop again!”   I say reassuringly to Wil, who watches with big eyes when she sees me coming. “It’s just a try, see.”

Wil and Myrjam are here for two days now. After spending their first day with the in-laws of Wil’s son, who lives in Coimbra, they want to make a mosaic in the sunshine.

Wil comes here for the umpteenth time, and is not a typical snowbird

She gave a painting course here at the beginning of last year, and is developing more and more like an CMM. That means: a Collegue Mosaic Maker. There’s a very small select group who regularly come to help with a mosaic – often for a week, often in the winter.

Myrjam also wants to try it. No problem. For a teacher, this new technique will not be difficult to master, even if you have been retired for years.

There are other people who come by regularly, no snowbirds, all though often in the winter, but not for mosaics!

Henk is one of them. He suddenly stood – surprise! – in front of me: “Hello, hello! Is there someone here? ”- and there he was in front of the counter. “Do you have anything to do? I thought I stayed here for a week … ”

Haha! Everyone who knows me would fall over in amazement if I said no. There is always something to do here, and certainly for a Handy Harry like Henk.

Henk is a typical snowbird… well … typical …

After a week, Marriet joined him. They travel together, each in their own, in my eyes very impressive, mobile home. Marriet had to go back to the Netherlands for an emergency, but is now back on track. Both Henk and Marriet live in their motor home. Everythin’s sold, the rest removed, and now they travel through Europe in their cabin-with-wheels. They got to know each other in the Netherlands, on the camperplace where they’re regularly for a longer period of time.

They get along very well. You can see that:

This photo is meant as a greeting for another couple of motor home owners, who they’ll meet again in the south of Portugal in a while. If you can take such a picture together, then you can get along well, or what? What surprised me is that you still have two of those fantastic wigs in your camper.

I can’t copy that, with my village full of stuff and things. Respect.

They have done beautiful things, these snowbirds. And it was also a very pleasant conversation, every night at dinner!