First footing

My friends have worked me out. They know that if they offer me an option when trying to smoke me out of my hole, I will find a reason to stay hermetically sealed in. So on New Year's morning at about 10am, there was a knock on my kitchen door. Alina had come to get me. 'Put your shoes on. You're coming to breakfast!'

I had no excuses, and anyway breakfast sounded good... so we went back up the hill to find Alina's mum Maria making sarmale and dispensing alcohol, hot milk, coffee, anything that was required. In the room already were a family from Bucharest staying for the holiday. Adrian, Mihaela and their daughter Alexandra were in the New Year spirit - especially Adrian, for whom the adjective 'irrespressible' had been coined.

After breakfast the Niculescus asked for a guided tour of my house, which I gave them gladly, and they announced as they left that everyone would be down later. This had my cleaning, tidying and cooking like Nigella on speed; the Niculescus and the Cotingius rolled up just after dark and injected life, laughter and noise into my house as good omens for the year to come. They left some hours later, leaving me and the cat limp but happy; how could I be anything else with such neighbours and friends?