Back to Reality

That's Christmas done and dusted then.

Just New Year's Eve to go (meal at a posh restaurant with Us in France) then life returns to normal whatever that is.

For us late January will mean a trip back to the UK for a couple of months to earn some money to see us through another Summer in France unless someone over here is rash enough to give us some work. This means we really will have to get on with manuring the veg beds ready to get cracking with the garden the minute we get back and get the coppice cut for next year.

TS learnt a new skill yesterday he can now drive a tractor including picking up a bale of hay on the spike thing on the front. I'm sure the temp agencies in the UK will be duly impressed. I got to feed the pet sheep and make a cup of tea. I can't be trusted with farm machinery. These things are part of our friend Miranda's ongoing efforts to make country folk of us. Whenever we call up to see her we get dragged into some activity. Well actually we get organised and bossed into it. It's kind of an attraction of opposites we find her archetypal horsiness (think Princess Anne)amusing and she finds our Yorkshire accents and towny ways hilarious.

The Dinnerladies are going down the road to Us in France for the duration. No doubt they won't want to come back by the time they have been spoilt by Debra with pasta and cat food.

Sissy will get to use her passport which cost an arm and a leg if I can work out the logistics of getting her through the Tunnel not less than 24 hours and not more than 48 hours after a tick and tapeworm treatment duly certified by the vet and assuming her microchip is still working and all the other things that I'll decide to obsess about that could be wrong with her paperwork. In fact I am already working out what we will have to do if they decide not to let her through ie turn round and drive back here.

I'm not looking forward to the UK at all not even a little bit I'll just have to pretend it's not happening.

Be Careful Out There

It's the dreaded day when real life comes back to slap us about a bit.

TS is currently driving back to Leeds to flog the UK car in the UK where they prefer the steering wheel on the right hand side and do some work for money. He will be staying with my brother who rashly offered to put us up anytime and is happy to be paid in the dark chocolate with raspberry bits in.

A month to six weeks he'll be gone unless by some fluke of fate we win the lottery without buying a ticket.

So today we have both been outdoing each other with the warnings and the cautions and the general fussing.

Me

Drive carefully
Stop for rests
Don't stop for rests in Paris on your own in the middle of the night
It's not going to rain so you'll be OK but watch out for ice
Drive carefully
Have you got your ferry confirmation, passport, euros, pounds etc etc etc
Drive carefully
All the numbers you need are on the phone
Look I'm packing this in here
Look I'm writing this down for you

TS

Don't go up any ladders
Don't use the kindling except to start the fire
Bring enough wood in don't stumble about in the lean to after dark
Don't use the chain saw, drill or any other power tools
Don't walk in the woods after dark
Lock the door
Lock the shutters
Eat breakfast

So of course I shall be spending the next six weeks locked in the house eating breakfast and TS is bound to be driving towards the ferry at 50km per hour.

It's probably not worth your while popping back for a bit

Flavours of Eyrrie Indiana

They say travel broadens the mind and opens you up to new experiences. Today I am going to do something I've never done before. I'm going to a tupperware party. I can't wait.

I bet they've got all sorts of useful gadgets of the ilk that you see in Sunday Supplements. I absolutely love those little magazines. Mind you I love looking at the tools and bits and bobs in hardware shops too.

We got two of the little magazine things with the advertising bumph that arrives every Wednesday (handy for picking up French words). They sell everything from garden furniture, hunting equipment through to sex toys. The difference is the magazines arrive, you have a good browse (will it be the thing for opening cans or do I need a gadget for storing string?) then about a week later a lorry turns up in a village car park and you can go and buy all the stuff off it.

Cool

The Garden Wins Again

Another wonderful day in the garden yesterday although I was responsible enough to actually do some washing before playing out. The washing line was full of jeans and tops so Lawrence's undies had to go on the wire across the fireplace to be dried and gently smoked. No vermin in them there undies now!

I can't believe that my stuff is growing and I'm closely inspecting every pot every day for the smallest sign of progress. Now the basil is starting to come up and the garlic. I added oregano, coriander, popcorn, runner beans and french beans to my collection of seeds under the cloche. Unfortunately we lost the watering can down the well and the others in the barn are all too full of holes even if I felt like evicting the spiders so we will have to devise a cunning replacement today.

We have been to the supermarket this morning to get some odds and ends and I suppose I could of bought one there but it just wouldn't of been the same. Lawrence took this pic of Bellac on the way back it's our nearest town and I love this view of it up the hill.

We've found that we can buy a kilo of real coffee for the price of 100g of instant so top money saving tip there. Oh and it is drinkable coffee.

We saw the deer again this morning on the walk with the dogs you can just about see it in the distance in this photo or maybe not.

Anyway the bricks round the front of the house won't move themselves even though we've given them the last six months to do it. So I have an appointment with the wheelbarrow

Are We There Yet? YES

So finally we set off Tuesday night and now I'm bringing you the latest news courtesy of Cheryls PC.

Our 12 hour drive turned into 18 hours because we missed our check in but we don't care cos we're HERE.

We are on a blow up bed surrounded by all our junk and the dust from Lawrence and Martin's last DIY with the dogs for furry hot water bottles and the cat for a bed cap but we don't care cos we're HERE.

I'll tell you all about it later but now I'm sorry to say we're off shopping, a vacuum cleaner for the dust, some coat hangers and some washing line to make a wardrobe we could of brought them but we preferred the books.

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