Slow progress but progress never-the-less

This time last year the builder had just emerged with his digger and dug the first holes and last August we were having lunch on our block floor in an imaginary dining room. At the end of the week Ian and Mike had successfully put up the walls and ceiling of what will be our bedroom and had made a good start on the kitchen and living room (and put in the ceiling joists for the ceiling in the tower.) At times it feels like things are progressing painfully slowly with no end in sight, but when we look back we can see how far we have come. When people ask when it will be finished and when we will move in Ian says it will be finished when it is finished. I think that is quite a sensible way of looking at it.

An omission

One thing the check-in girl at P&O didn't ask us was whether we were carrying any incendiary devices or fireworks! I hadn't thought at the time, but I had made a cake for Mike as it was his 50th Birthday on the Saturday and we wanted to surprise him with a lunchtime treat. I had heard about these cake fountains or candles that are rather like an indoor firework and so hunted one out to go on the top. The cake was a sponge with white icing, which I dusted in gold and decorated in my own eccentric style as you can see below. Even Mike was impressed with the flame thrower effect of the cake fountain!

Joys of travelling

After a mad week in France working on the house we are now back and caught up in work before we get a chance to take a breath. It really does feel like I live in parallel existences at times; not sure whether I am in London, the South Coast or France when I wake up!

As usual, our journeys were eventful. We had an early start on Saturday and realised that we were a little tight for time as we approached Dover with minutes to spare before the final check-in time for our crossing. Still, the traffic Gods were on our side and we arrived at the check in with 3 minutes in hand.

"What do you have in the van?" asked the check in girl.

"Tools, plasterboard, plywood.." volunteered Ian

"Do you have any oil based paint? Any aerosols or pressurised containers?"

Ian thought a moment. "I do have a couple of sealed cans of expanding foam filler"

"Well, you can't take them on the boat..let me have a look at them (Ian gets them out of the van)..oh yes, look, they're marked as hazardous and you can't take them on.. I can't take them from you either as they are hazardous..you'll have to go over to.... " (with that my eyes glazed over and I knew we had missed the ferry!)

In the customer services department the man looked perplexed. "Well. I can't really take them off you either"

"What, you mean my sealed, fire-rated tubes of foam filler are so dangerous you can't take them?" said Ian.

"What about a can of hairspray? Can I take that?" I asked "not that I have any anyway".

"Hmmm, hairspray is a bit of a grey area.."

After some smiles and a few more negotiations the four cans of filler were disappeared and we got on the later ferry. I suspect the involvement of health and safety man for this and suspect that we were a little too honest for our own good!

The rest of the journey down was uneventful although very long and we finally arrived at 2.30a.m and went straight to bed!

Coming back we split the journey in two, planning to stop overnight when we dropped off Ian's friend Mike at his house in the Somme. We planned to leave at a civilised time but unfortunately Mike came down with an upset stomach over night and Ian followed on a few hours later, so the trip back was a rather agonizing dash between toilet stops. Sitting between the two of meant that inevitably I came down with the same thing the following morning and thus the journey up to Eurotunnel was more of the same, this time with me being the one suffering!

We did notice two good things. On the way over on P&O ferries (The Pride of Kent) the staff had definitely undergone a make over in terms of enthusiasm and friendliness (and also looked a lot smarter and cleaner than I remember)! Our crossing with Eurotunnel was also pretty effortless with no one asking about our 3 cubic metres of contents.

Going back again; the next stage

Touch wood, the French fishermen have called off their blockade of Calais after promises of more money so hopefully we will be on the move on Saturday! Blogging will be sparse as not only will we not have a network connection but my Eeee PC has died; or more specifically Internet explorer has imploded and now everything needs to be reinstalled! Ian has been too busy collecting trailers and going to France to sort it out. Mind you, after our last trip I was far too busy and tired to cope with any sort of blogging in the evening!

Ian did send me a photo of the house with windows, which I attach to show the progress. Unfortunately he also discovered that the roof leaks!

Got you!

Lovely lusty ladies is becoming my most popular page and where I get the majority of hits, according to my site meter! How sad and predictable the world is!

The ports are blockaded so it must be Easter

A frustrating few days ahead I fear as we are set to go over to France on Saturday and as we are taking the newly acquired trailer (Ian picked it up a few hours ago from a Tesco's car park on the M3 and manhandled it into his garden), fully laden with plasterboard, we could not take the tunnel on this occasion. So, we are booked onto a ferry from Dover only at the moment the French trawler men are blockading Calais, Boulogne and Dieppe in a dispute over fishing quotas and we are going nowhere! Usually these things don't last too long but as the trawler men can't fish anyway since there is nothing left in the ocean for them to catch they have nothing better to do than to park their boats at the harbour entrance. This would have been timed to coincide with everyone returning from their Easter vacation and thus ensure the maximum disruption and publicity. I must say the French really know how to protest. Demonstrations in Paris usually involve riots, fires and copious use of teargas that make the climate protests in London look like a day out (which mostly they are except for the usual small group of anarchists stirring up trouble and one or two rogue police officers who have not yet been assigned to desk duties).

The fisherman all get in their boats and go home over night, only to return the following morning and start the whole thing off again! Ian and I were wondering why the navy just don't go and sink them!

We are trying to think of a plan 'B'!

Mother's tales

Today was spent visiting my mother and she was in good form. She is properly settled into her apartment now and seems to enjoy having other people nearby to the extent that it has given her the confidence to get out and about when she can. She is certainly slow and unsteady on her feet and I can understand her reluctance to walk what for her seems a long distance when it is all up hill. This is made worse by the fact that the pavements and kerbs on her route are broken, uneven and there are no suitable places to cross the street. I was going to take some photos of her trying to get around and send it in to the local council only I ran out of memory on my camera. It will have to wait until my next visit. We had a nice meal in the local curry house. Perhaps a strange choice for an Easter Sunday but I haven't had curry for ages and my mother also enjoys it from time to time. We walked up and back and then sat to rest for a while in her flat.

My mother spent most of her life as a secretary to various men. She started in the civil service and then worked for an accountant, finishing off in a big charitable organisation. She was able to take shorthand, was a touch typist and was also involved in organising the day to day life of her boss. I suppose we would now call her a Personal Assistant. She worked before the days of Internet, emails and computers when the 'boss' never wrote or composed anything himself and at best would dictate a letter for her to edit and type and present for signing. She watched the story of the senior government official who had to quit because he sent some ill advised email with some amusement.

"I thought to myself.. in my day if you had a good secretary this wouldn't have happened. We all worked for these men who were always apt to do stupid things, because after all, they are men! Your job as a secretary was to watch out for them, and if they looked like they were about to do something stupid you tactfully asked them if they were really sure they wanted to send that letter or note and pointed out what might happen if they did"

Nowadays of course once you press the SEND button the damage has been done and can't be undone, you type your own letters, and if you have a secretary and if he or she is bright enough to work out that you are about to be a bit of an ar*e then they would immediately send a copy of the email to the local tabloid journalist and take the cash reward!

Easter apart

Ian has made a quick trip to France over Easter to take yet more plasterboard while I have stayed at home. His aim was to sleep in the house overnight (something he referred to as romantic but without heat, showers or a toilet not quite how I would have described it!). Apparently the weather has been a bit grim and after a few minutes of listening to the wind coming in around the roof and door he decided to abort the mission and sleep on the neighbours' floor! This morning he phoned to say that he thought he had lost his passport (although after a few minutes of thought and a bit more searching it reappeared)! It has felt strange for me to have a whole weekend in the house by myself and although I had a long list of jobs to do so far I have not been that productive!

A (very) relaxing day

It was pouring with rain when I got up this morning and I had an early start as I was teaching in Brighton. I took the train and got soaked trying to get the parking meter at the station to accept my 20p coins; but by the time I got to Brighton it was dry and the sun was attempting to shine. After a pleasant morning I headed off further into town for my afternoon treat. I had booked half a days leave to use a voucher that my brother and sister-in-law had given me for my Birthday. This involved over three hours of body treatments, including a massage, facial, salt scrub and manicure in a spa in Brighton. It was the most pampering I have ever had in one session. I remember falling asleep and being vaguely aware that I was beginning to snore during the facial treatment! I now feel very floppy!

I walked back along the seafront. Brighton is much busier than Eastbourne, aptly named London-on-sea. I took this photo of the burnt out West Pier as it falls further and further into the sea and didn't notice the seagull at the time.

This view from the prom is how I felt at the end of my pampering!

In the meantime, Ian has gone over to France and I have a weekend to myself and a list of jobs and things to do that will take the best part of two weeks!

Building gates

The logistics of finishing off the house in France, commuting between our respective homes and moving tools and materials around the country can lead to some interesting dilemmas and challenges to our problem solving abilities (and not to mention long conversations that start "where did I leave my box of galvanised nails? In France, at your house or are they in the loft?"). Ian has been looking out for a trailer for the van and found one a few days ago that met all of his criteria. The only problem is, we have nowhere to keep it. So, a cunning plan was hatched that basically involves removing two panels of the fence at Ian's place and constructing a gate in its place. That way the trailer can be manoeuvred into what passes for his garden (a little patch of grass by the side of his flat). My task yesterday was to take a crow bar to the old fence and dismantle it..a job a quite enjoyed although Ian is cross that I did not carefully chop up all the bits of wood and put them in the bin! I should also add that my morning job involved assisting Ian to unload 36 sheets of plasterboard from the van to its temporary storage place in a neighbour's garage.

While we were outside another of Ian's neighbours, Patricia, came out. She is around my age and usually quite active but on this occasion looked like she could hardly move. Ian helped her to take out her lawn mower and she mentioned that she was having problems with her hands and feet. I asked her a little more and it seems that she most likely has rheumatoid arthritis and has been having problems since Christmas. She had started some treatment but so far was still in pain. When I told her that I had gone through something similar a few years ago she seemed genuinely relieved. "Oh, but you are able to do so much, you cycle everywhere". I told her what it had been like for a while, how at the time I wasn't sure if I would even be able to work, let alone cycle, how the first year or so is hard because it takes that long for them to work out how to treat you, medications take months to work, how it takes you a while to adapt and that for most people with the right treatment the future is okay.

I remembered having an email discussion with a fireman with MCTD when I was first ill. He told me that he had eventually made it back to work and achieved full fitness and it filled me with great hope so I hope I was able to give Patricia something positive to aim for. She seemed pleased and that afternoon she mowed her entire lawn (although it was obviously very painful for her). She said to me later "I just have to weather the storm for a while don't I?" I said "Yes, I think you do".

Now I have to make a trip to Screwfix for a box of galvanised nails!

Pantomime

The news today is full of Obama's visit to Britain. He is portrayed as the handsome prince whilst Sarkosy, the French president, is more like the evil wizard, casting gloomy spells over the glittering ball! I have one question. If all the nations of the world are having to borrow more money who are they borrowing it from? (As you can see I have never studied economics!).

Windows

The windows and exterior doors to the house in France were fitted today. They have been sitting in a warehouse for about 9 months so it is good that they are now in place and the house is sealed to the elements. We have not seen them but apparently they are looking good.

And about time too

When I first moved here over five years ago I was pleased to learn that they were planning to turn the South Downs into a national park since my house is about 50 meters from the edge. It came up when my solicitor did the local searches and we quickly agreed that these plans would not affect the value of my property negatively. In fact, the sooner it was declared the better. The final announcement was made today, after years of public enquiry. The local MP is not happy but as far as I can tell he is in a minority around here.

Help needed

I need some help! My sister has asked me to do a short reading at her wedding. It is a civil ceremony so whatever it is must be secular in nature. I don't know quite how this is decided. Is an Apache blessing secular? I guess it depends on your point of view! Having searched Google with terms like 'wedding readings'; poems for a wedding' etc to me it seems that the dividing line between spiritual and religious is quite wavy. Anyway, if any of you have any suggestions then do pass them on! I will then get them down to a short list and let my sister and her husband-to-be make the final choice.

She was quite exited today as she bought her dress; a Versace number. All I know is that she said it is so tight she won't be able to wear any knickers under it!

Insomnia

is something that I rarely suffer from these days. When I was unwell and taking 60mg of prednisolone a day it did rather play havoc with my sleep cycle and I found myself waking at 3.00 a. m. and doing the vacuuming or ironing, but since weaning myself off I mostly sleep quite well. However, tonight is an exception. The combination of a cold, the clocks going forward and hot flushes means that I am now wide awake at an hour that would normally see me comatose! Not wanting to disturb Ian any more with my tossing and turning I am now experiencing the benefits of blogging for insomniacs!

Local news

Apparently the recession is causing lots of local newspapers to go out of business. I must admit I don't buy national papers anymore but I do sometimes buy our local paper as the mixture of slightly shocking scandal and quaintness makes me smile. These are some of this weeks headlines.

Trees suffer bark damage: the police are appealing for witnesses.

Dog owner criticises council over overflowing dog mess bins.

Garden party takes over whole village.

Study shows that living in West Eastbourne offers the longest life expectancy of any town in Britain.

Gang of six

The cottage smallholder commented about the jackdaws building a nest in her chimney and their cousins here are also doing the same. What is it about chimneys that attracts them? They also seem to operate as a gang at nest building and feeding times. We have about 6 of them. Two stay up in the trees and look out for any danger, two complete the ground lookout and two collect the nesting material or food. One of their favourites is the moss that I line the hanging baskets with. In fact, they like it so much that they will come right up to the house to take a bit from the wall baskets. I have often opened the back door to see the watchman on the wall looking out and just caught sight of the other flying off with half my basket in his beak!

At least once a year one falls out of the nest and down the chimney and I hear it tapping around in the chimney breast. I have learnt from bitter experience that the best way to get it out is to open up the chimney breast, open the window and leave the room. After about 20 minutes they normally work it out for themselves!

Lovely lusty ladies

I have just been having a look at my site feeds to see how people get to my page and I am pleased to report that nothing has changed and that I get the most hits from people trying to search for something vaguely pornographic. These are the top three search terms:


fanny farm
bissou (French word for kiss)
llama cake (maybe from people interested in cooking!)

You are a sad bunch of w*nkers!

(Maybe the title of this post will hook a few more!)

National pastime

I have made references before to the fact that most of my contacts with French people have involved a discussion about the Tour de France and that virtually all of the builders and other 'artisans' that we have hired have had some connection with cycling. On our most recent trip we met with our builder's father-in-law, Jean Martinez. Jean has been drafted in from his retirement to assist with some project management tasks (something our builder is not so good at). He is a sprightly looking man of 70+; much fitter than his son-in-law. He commented immediately on my 2004 Tour de France cap and pointed out that his Skoda sun hat was also a Tour souvenir (Skoda being one of the official sponsors). He was a keen cyclist and a member of a club and the following day was off on a 100km ride somewhere so needed to take it easy that day. He lamented the fact that his son-in-law no longer cycled and when I told him that in my younger days I had cycled from Bordeaux to Barcelona in two weeks he said that members of his club would do the trip in three days!

On our visits to France it is common to see one or two fairly portly men, clad in ill fitting Lycra, out for a 'spin' on the country roads. This is also a common sight in England but you can tell the French cyclists as many seem to have bikes that don't quite fit them and look a little awkward.

This year stage 17 of the Tour is a long mountain stage finishing in Le Grand Bornand, where my brother has his chalet. Stage 18 is a time trial in nearby Annecy. It is a Tour de France follower's dream and we have been invited to go (although we are not sure whether we will be able to fit it in with all the house building projects!

We are infamous again

It seems that Eastbourne is in the news again; in fact, twice in one evening. The first story is rather sad and concerns the murder of man in his yacht off Thailand when he disturbed three men trying to steal a dingy. His wife was tied up and then forced to help them sail the boat back to shore. Original reports said the couple were from Eastbourne, although it turns out they were actually from Hastings, down the coast a bit.

The second story, which also made national news, was that three people died in our local hospital of Clostridium Difficile. I had the dubious pleasure of being a guest in said hospital four years ago. Several patients in my ward had clostridium as I overheard the nurses talking about it. I remember only too well the sounds and smells and tried to remember not to let anyone touch me without first checking that they had washed their hands! I was then transfered to a renal unit which had all the modern infection control procedures and equipment and was quite reassured until I overheard the ambulance man (who had just transferred a rather mad patient onto the unit and placed him in the bed opposite me) telling the staff that the patient had MRSA. At this point he was picking up papers, cups, and anything else to hand and throwing them around the ward. I decided I was well enough to leave!

Walking bus

A quick comment tonight as my mind is befuddled after a day of pointless meetings (I must invest in a hologram of myself for such occasions as I am never expected to actually say anything) and an hour and a half of French classes.

I got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning and driving to work came across the 'walking bus'. This is an admirable venture where groups of children congregate to all walk to school together in 'safety' with the company of some responsible adults. But.. why oh why do they have to make them all wear those high visibility jackets! Thirty children walking in line (and there can't be more than thirty or the group is not covered by their risk assessment) are easily spotted without the need for a fluorescent yellow uniform. My concern is that it turns the simple task of walking to school into a monumental lesson in health and safety nonsense equivalent to working on a three lane motorway, and ensures that children never learn how to assess the risk of walking along a road and crossing in traffic on the occasions when they don't have the walking bus with them! Whatever happened to walking to school with your mates like I did (and no, the world wasn't safer, and there weren't less paedophiles and although there were considerably less cars I'm not convinced that the driving was any safer!)

That's my moan for the day!

Village death

As we arrived at the land on Sunday Madame Delgrano appeared in her car, smartly dressed as usual and on her way to Mass. She seemed pleased to see us and stopped the car to get out and have a chat; mostly with Ian as he speaks better French and it is less effort for her to talk with him than for her to try and work out what I am trying to say! She had watched the various stages of the build with interest (in between bouts of illness) and said she thought the house was très jolie, which is fortunate, since she has a full view of it from her house! She told us she was off to Mass and said that the following day there was a funeral in the village for a local man who had died quite suddenly.

The road up from the village gets maybe 2-3 cars an hour along it and very few stop. On Monday at about 2.30 more and more cars started to appear. They parked down by the church, up the side of the road almost up to our house and then down the chemin rurale (track). By 3.00 there were hoards of people down by the little church seemingly standing around. The gathering was still there as we drove off at 5.00.

Later we found out that the man who died was in his 70s and had gone to bed and not woken up the next morning. He had 10 children and everyone had arrived an hour before the funeral so that they could meet and chat first. It made me think about the few burials that I have attended in my life (most of my close family have preferred cremation). They have been for elderly patients where no relatives could be found and the social worker had to organise the burial. I sometimes went to keep the social worker company and there would usually be me, her, perhaps a carer or nurse and the priest! What a contrast to the scene in the village!

Finding the walls and cleaning the floor

One of the jobs we did in the house was to mark out the position of all the rooms. Ian then decided that he wanted to take a picture of where the walls are going to be, so I had to stand there holding up a metal bar in the place of the wall while he took a photo!

As you can see I looked particularly fetching in my Dickies work trousers (with knee pads), my steel toe capped boots and my Tour de France cap (more on that later). Ian meantime decided to sweep the dust out of the kitchen floor. Lets hope this is not the only picture I ever have of him doing that!

Seeing the reality

The trip was worth it despite the long drive. The weather was warm and we met with all the people that we wanted to, marked out the rooms complete with cupboards, toilets and baths and I got to actually see the house. The walls are finished and the roof is on although the windows have yet to be put in place. One thing that is amazing is that you can see the house from all around and it is quite striking. This view is from our neighbour's garden. I love the slightly excentric looking tower and the proportions. After seeing it Ian could not sleep all night because he was so excited! We have a lot of work to do but it is progressing at last.

The joys of travel

I am just back after a long journey! We left the Dordogne at 6.00 a.m. UK time, drove in the van to Calais, took the tunnel to Dover, arrived back at Ian's at 7.30p.m (with fish and chips for supper) and then I drove back here! There will be more posts over the next few days regarding the visit but in the meantime I must catch up with my sleep!

The new van was great. It is a brand new medium wheelbase Ford Transit with many features such as air conditioning , IPOD player, cruise control, luxury seats etc that make a long journey bearable. Even I managed to drive it in France much to the horror of the HGV drivers (of various nationalities) on the road! I couldn't quite bring myself to adopt their habit of p*ssing by the side of the road when there is a perfectly decent toilet a few metres away so I guess I could never be a proper lorry driver!

We were worried that we would be held up by Eurotunnel as when we phoned to check the new requirement to have no more than 3 cubic metres in the van we were told emphatically that all vans are checked before being allowed on and the officers were expert at judging the size of the load. We arrived promptly for our crossing, hoping that we had not exceeded our dimensions. The port was quiet and we managed to swap to an earlier shuttle. No one even looked up as we drove the van through and the French customs officer did not even look at our passports. We had a similar experience coming back. On the shuttle our van was next to an even bigger one that was stacked from top to bottom with old furniture (I suspect bought from a French Vide Grenier (car boot sale) to be sold off at a profit in a trendy antique store). We asked the driver and several others who were pretty obviously taking commercial goods across if they had ever been stopped and had their van checked and they all stated that they had never been stopped.

I must say the service on Eurotunnel was back to normal; frequent crossings, no queues, very quiet and all together stress free.

Friday 13th Part 1

As well as being Friday 13th today is comic relief day. This morning my brother, who works for the Royal Bank of Scotland, sent me this email.

There are rumours that there will only be 2 banks left once the credit crunch is over, the blood bank and the sperm bank, both will still be run by bl**dy wankers though.!!

I have managed to 'get' at least 7 people with this joke so I guess I need to put £7 into the comic relief pot!

We are now off to France until Wednesday.

House naming

A few weeks ago I ordered a sign for the house in France and I was really pleased when it arrived today as we are going down there for five days at the end of the week and now we have a roof I think it would be nice to have a sign! The sign was hand made in oak by Rob from Woodcott signs, carved with black lettering. The 'lump' where the house is, is called la motte and that is name of the house next door. Herman lives in Moulin de la motte and so it seemed fitting that we should be called La ferme de la motte, which rather boringly means mount farm!

Conforming to stereotype

I have mentioned that I am trying to learn Tai Chi again and that I thought that age had given me a little more patience with myself. I have to say, however, that I am not sure that this rule is universal. Five of us started the class at the same time. One of them is possibly a little younger than me, one a little older and the other two past retirement. My perception is that those who are a little more mature in years are anxious to learn the whole form as quickly as possible.

As well as being targeted by over 50s dating on Facebook I also get emails for over 50s insurance. This turned out to save me over £100 when renewing my home insurance although I was a bit annoyed when the policy came through the letterbox with it's big red logo 'insurance services for the over 50s'. It was fun, however, to list my expensive mountain bike on the 'all risks' section of the policy!

Dreaming on a cold, wet night!

As I sit here there is a gale blowing outside and the the rain is lashing at the windows. The little weather icon on the side of the page does not do it justice I'm afraid as despite the heating it feels cold. On these type of evenings there is nothing nicer than sitting on the sofa with Norma and Mandi.

Meantime our discussions on what to buy to take to France are becoming a little surreal. We need a staircase to go up to the office in the tower and quotes from France have been around 6000 Euros (which seems to be the starting place for most things in France). Someone is selling a second hand complete oak staircase that was removed from a house after a month of use for £800. Ian is convinced it will fit and apart from the considerable saving it is a little better from an environmental point of view. However, the problem is that the staircase is complete and in a yard in Essex, we don't have a trailer or anywhere to store it and as yet are not sure how we could get it down to the Dordogne. Still, where there is a will there is a way so if you see a blue ford transit towing a staircase on your travels you will know it is us!

It's all Chinese to me!

I mentioned the four toilets in the previous post. They are wall hung toilets and were purchased as a job lot from an e-bay seller for £80 each, which seemed quite reasonable (see picture).

The exact make and origin of the toilets are unclear but they look quite nice. However, Ian will need to go on a plumbing course to learn how to install them as the instructions are vague to say the least!

1. Install the toilet according to the height.
2. Make the position of the hole according to the dimension of the hole at the back side of the toilet.
3. Install the pipe of drainage and the pipe of water-in for the water tank.
4. Drill holes according to the position made before.
5. Install the pull-burst screws.
6. Install the toilet, fix the plastic stuff, and make it be level with the level ruler.
7. Install the screw nut to make the pull-burst screw firmly.
8. Cover the screw cover.
9. Install the toilet cover.

I suppose this is the inevitable consequence of programmes such as Google translate and Babel fish!

Spring is coming....

....And our thoughts turn to gardening and construction.

There are definite signs of spring everywhere. Yesterday was spent paying some attention to the much neglected garden. The plants that had been killed by frost were removed and others cut back and the lawn mowed for the first time. The crocuses that I planted a few years ago are in bloom and the daffodils will be open by next week. I also fished out a pile of decaying leaves and paper from the bottom of the pond, disturbing newt in the process!

Meantime evenings have been spent discussing the pros and cons of various types of plasterboard. The next stage of the house is the construction of the internal walls and ceilings. The quotes we have had from professionals are rather expensive and the plasterboard itself is twice as expensive in France, so the plan is to fill up the van and drive it down (at least it was until Eurotunnel decided to change the rules about how much we could put in the van). Our task in March is to mark out the walls and in April we are going down to build them with Ian's friend. Last weekend Ian visited his cousin (a plasterboard expert) to discuss the various construction techniques, how to get the walls strong enough to hang toilets off them and how to soundproof them, so now I am keeping my fingers crossed that a) he can remember the instructions and b) I don't have to spend my week lifting 6 foot sheets of board!

I should also add that in my loft we currently have two wall hung wash basins, four toilet frames and a two single beds. In the car are four toilets awaiting transfer to the loft! As Ian has just pointed out we have two toilets each. He also pointed out that by doing the walls ourselves we can save the cost of two llamas!

Something will kill you in the end

I heard on the radio this morning that a study has found that in older women even one glass of wine a night may lead to an increased chance of getting breast cancer. Colleagues were worrying about this over coffee (which is probably likely to do even more damage than wine). I take little notice of these things! I figure that when you get older something has to kill you eventually. Maybe by drinking alcohol it is more likely to be cancer but then drinking a glass of red wine may mean I'm less likely to die of a heart attack. I'll take my chance with the wine!

Reminds me of the time when BSE was discovered in cows and sales of British beef fell. It was selling for next to nothing at the time and I remember an interview with a pensioner who was happily buying a large piece of best steak. "What do I care about getting BSE in 15 years" he said. "I won't be here then and I haven't been able to afford decent steak for years!

First signs of spring

I have been reading about the signs of spring on others' blogs and there are signs here as well. The daffodils are pushing through the soil and the snowdrops are out at Ian's place. It gets light before I need to get up and it if I leave work on time it is still light. And finally.. the children are playing on the street after school.

Ups and downs of life

My brain has been very busy lately which has made it very difficult for me to find the energy to write. (Or maybe I am just getting too old to cope with more than one thing at a time!) The weekend was spent talking toilets (again) and plasterboard. We are going over to France for three days in March to plan the next stage of the building project. Eurotunnel have just scuppered our plans of taking a van full of stuff over by imposing a limit of 3 cubic metres load in all vans for 'safety reasons'. We have been trying to work out how much 3 cubic metres is when it is not packed in a box with much hilarity and some frustration at the lack of clarity from Eurotunnel! Anyway, the plan is taking shape (it is funny how in the end it always does!).

I am enjoying my new car more than I should really. However, the tyres were worn unevenly and I didn't like the way it handled bumps. Ian is a bit of a health and safety man when it comes to tyres and recommended that I purchased two new decent ones. I like to talk about places where I got good service as opposed to constantly moaning about bad service and so we headed over to a place called Dartford Tyres. There are two places of that name but the one we went to has no website and is just a shop front in a small parade opposite a trading estate. The front of the shop was busy, the service was quick and efficient, the staff were funny and hard working and the prices were considerably cheaper than anyone else. You can find them at this address.

99, Burnham Rd,Dartford,KentDA1 5AZ

Costa geriatrica no more

According to The News of the World, living here is grim

with appalling parallels to Channel 4 comedy drama show Shameless.The only difference is the total absence of anything remotely funny

Although I have had my experiences over the last few years this is not my perception of the vast majority of people who live around here. It is interesting to see how first one family and then a whole community can become demonised, egged on by the press and a desire to make some fast money at whatever cost. The media and Internet attention on what is essentially a fairly unremarkable story is far more than it deserves. For what it is worth, this is my opinion.

There is no way that I think it is okay for two people that young to become parents but these things have been happening since time immemorial and life has continued.

I doubt there would have been so much fuss if the lad concerned did not look so young.

When it comes to anti-social behaviour having a baby is better than stabbing other young people or setting fire to buildings! (At least it is about life and creation and not death and destruction).

There will always be people that will try to exploit others (including their own children) for their own personal gain.

My experiences of the local social services and police services is that they are quite good and try and work with the local community.

The local community is quite proactive. When the council tried to close the local library people rallied together and established their own community library which is still going strong.

That said there really isn't a great deal for young teenagers to do. In the USA teenagers go to the mall and here they have sex. (Not all, I hasten to add).

Will people still think of this town as Costa Geriatrica? I doubt it!

Now, if , on hearing of this story, the tabloids had looked at the community library, the community centre (opposite the house where they have been camped out) and after interviewing people thought, well, this is quite a nice community but it seems they do have a few problems with bored and lost teenagers...and then maybe, rather than paying out thousands for another exaggerated story, decided to invest the money in a community project, or into something that might prevent these things happening in future..now that would have been a story!

We are (in)famous

I guess it was only a matter of time before we became national news here on the South Coast. The reason for our infamy concerns the case of a 13 year old boy who has become a father. This story was plastered all over a national tabloid paper and provoked the predictable outcries from all around, who jump on the bandwagon to get their voices heard. Well, as it happens the said happy family live only a stones throw from here. As I was leaving work on Friday I noticed an outside broadcast vehicle heading off and I wondered what had been going on. Meantime Ian was watching the news before leaving home and phoned.

"Lovely, put the tele on. I'm sure I'm looking at the street round the corner from you"

Sure enough I switched on see some local faces that I definitely recognised talking about how sad it was and what they would do if their children did something like that.

The following day a few people were gathered near the house concerned but other than that all carried on as normal. I talked with the neighbours.

I asked if it was really true that this 13 year old was the father. True he seemed more than happy to own up but monogamy is not something that is rife among sexually active teenagers. Well, it turns out that there are several other in the mix and a paternity test is following to determine the true state of affairs (so to speak). (The most worrying thing about this story is the bit that says that the family spokesman is Max Clifford.)

Did the family get paid by the tabloid paper for the story? The general opinion seemed to be yes and various amounts were suggested. (Given the involvement of the above publicist I would have thought it unlikely it was done for free).

It was also rumoured that for one of those involved it was not the first time that they had sought publicity, appearing on a well known TV show to discuss their sexual appetite. I hasten to add that I don't know exactly who this is or whether it is true!

Finally there was some indignation that many of the people interviewed who were concerned actually did not lead blameless lives themselves!

In the end, as I often do round here, I felt for all three children at the centre of this.

Valentine's cake

This weekend valentines day fell on a Saturday. Ian cooked dinner and I made a valentines day cake. The base was chocolate (soaked in cherries and cassis-next time I would use a stronger alcohol). The top was a white chocolate ganache. It was my first attempt and worked reasonably well except that next time I would use a slightly better chocolate. I had originally planned to decorate the top with white malteser chocolates but unfortunately they all got eaten before I made the cake!

So you'll think of me all day

Yesterday was spent on public transport. Bus to station-train to Brighton-train back -bus to other part of town- walk back- train to East Croydon- (got on wrong train)- got off at Selhurst-train to London Bridge-train to Sidcup. All this was because I was picking up my new car from Ian's house and driving it back! I finally got in at 10.45 in the evening!

During the morning I kept smelling a rather nasty urine smell. First I thought it was from the Station (drunken men peeing on the platform), then the toilets on the train but when I could still smell it sitting in the classroom I realised that it might be something on me! Had I stepped in something nasty? I started smelling all my items of clothing, shoes, bag etc; and then I found it. My hat had a distinct smell of cats pee! The mystery was solved..when left to his own devices Mandi the cat usually feels the need to assert his authority by making everything smell of him. Although neutered he still manages to smell pretty bad! He must have got my hat the day before and decided to make sure I remembered him all day!

What do you do at this point? I had already worn the hat all morning so any nasty smells were already all over my hair. Do I take the smelly hat off and have a cold head or do I continue to wear it and keep a warm head but accept that people will just think I am the mad woman who smells of cat?

Social networking sites for the elderly

I am on Facebook but its a strange place when you are older. Most people my age are on it to keep in touch with their kids while they go off around the world! My 'friends' are mostly parents. When I do have a 'friend' under 30 I can't understand them anyway as they seem to speak a different language. Take a look at this from my nephew. Consider that he spent most of his formative years in private education and is not a member of any ethnic minority group.

easy bro hows shit in england.... im havin the best time of my life bruv...... call me got some heavy shit to tell you, your not going to believe it mate.... i cant belive it honestly!!!!! hope your good.... i have one heavy tan as well.... x

The perils of work

I have said before that my brother works for the Royal Bank of Scotland and recent days have not been easy for him. For the last few days his office has been picketed by protesters. Last week they pelted staff with snowballs as they turned up to work and today he was booed. He has been quite lighthearted about it but as his older sister I can't help but feel cross that he has to put up with this during what is a stressful time for him as well. He was after all just doing his job in the way he was paid to do it. If he still has a job in the future and people want him to do it in a different way then he will but I don't think he deserves that sort of abuse every day.

In the meantime amidst fears of redundancy he is making sure that all his health problems are being treated through his private health insurance before he looses it. He has an appointment to have is varicose veins removed very soon!

Silver loveliness

I am really exited as I bought a new car today! Well, not totally new but a two year old Ford Fiasco, Silver edition with loads of little extras..the most important one being that the first three letters of the number plate are LOV! I knew as soon as I saw it sitting there in it's Silver loveliness that I would end up buying it and some good luck with regard to the price (the dealers had marked it up incorrectly and agreed to honour the marked up price), I decided to buy it on the spot. Looking at other similar cars I think I got a good deal. Will post a picture when it is actually in my possession.

Tai Chi and me

I have just started to learn Tai Chi. One thing that I realised is that I have developed much more patience with myself than I used to have. I first tried to learn Tai Chi when I lived in Canada and then again when I lived in London. However I never managed to stick it out to learn the form properly as I got too frustrated with the slow pace. Learning Tai Chi is like learning to rub your head and pat your belly at the same time. After 4 weeks I know 4 moves in a total of 24 so maybe after 6 months I will get to the end!

And then it was gone

The snow has gone from here although Ian tells me that the side roads in London are still quite bad. I remember the snow 19 years ago as I was living in London then (was it really that long ago)! Everything shut down for a day and then we finally got back to work. I spent a day sledding over Alexandra Palace. The side roads remained covered in ice for about 10 days but I don't remember it causing quite such a commotion as now. (Perhaps I just didn't listen to it).

Making a drama out of a crisis

Reading about record heatwaves in Tales from Down Under is a little surreal as we sit here in what the News tells us is the worst weather since 1991. I can't help but think that this is a mis-perception on the part of the media as looking out of my window it doesn't look that bad. I got up and turned up to work today to teach on my module only to find out that the University was closed due to bad weather, although the roads were actually better than they have been on many other occasions.

Ian left at the same time to take the perilous drive up to London, amidst tales of jack-knifed lorries, serious traffic jams, road closures etc, only to find that, with the exception of a few roads around his home, all was clear and he had a pleasant journey.

The trend of reporting incidents, weather, the economy and day to day events in the most over-exaggerated tone, thus making an everyday event seem like a crisis is probably in part responsible for the feeling of doom and gloom pervading everywhere.

On the way out of work I saw the cafeteria manager; a Scot. "If we stayed at home everyday it snowed in Scotland then I would never have had any schooling". We laughed. I worked in Canada for a couple of years and you wouldn't dare to be late for work due to the snow, let alone not turn up!

The downfall of the car industry

I have decided to buy a new car. I was hoping that my ancient Ford Fiasco would last until we went to France but recent driving has convinced me that its days are numbered, my savings are doing nothing in the bank and with a crisis in the car industry I should be able to get a good deal on a car. Well, that is what I thought, so after checking my bank balance, we made a trip to the local Ford dealers prepared to spend if there was a good deal to be had. We wandered around the lot for a while with no sign of a salesman and as it was cold we entered the sales room. A couple of salesmen were engaged with clients and in a room out the back several others sat chatting. We looked around the few cars in the room and eventually the receptionist asked us if we wanted help. We asked if we could see a salesman and she scurried off to find one. However, the room of men were unmoving and dismissed her instantly. She returned and said that there was no one available and could we come back later. At this my loathing of salesmen in general overpowered me and I said we couldn't and couldn't resist pointing out to her that if they had been more willing to help that they might have sold a car that afternoon. I would have been less annoyed if the receptionist had not insisted on addressing all her comments to Ian and not me who was the person paying for and driving the car!

Time for the car sales industry to join the 21st century or go out of business!

We are looking on the Internet and have seen a good price on a new Ford KaKa!

The tower gets its hat!

Ian has just phoned in a panic as the builder had just sent him some pictures and the roof of the tower wasn't as he had imagined. (He also had a bad day at work and is getting a cold so was feeling fed up). I had a look at the pictures and I think the roof looks okay even if it isn't how he had hoped. He was reassured. It's hard to have a house built when you are 700 miles from the builder!

All in a weeks work

This week I have been rather busy on visits to students and preparing for an even busier week next week, and at the same time, trying to fit in some routine hospital appointments. Wednesday was my day for my six monthly check up at the hospital. These are usually pretty quick affairs as fortunately I have continued to remain well. On Wednesday the clinic was busy and my consultant was wandering around. He bounced over...

"Hello, how are you? I haven't got anyone with me at the moment so I thought I'd come over and say hello. Would you mind seeing the registrar today? It would be good for her to see you I think?"

"I'm fine, and no, I don't mind"

"Are you still mountain biking?"

"Well, I haven't been so much lately but I did go skiing again"

"Oh really? Where did you go?"

(there then followed a brief conversation about ski resorts in France and the loads of snow this year).

I am happy to see the registrar. As Ian said "how many people with MCTD is she likely to see in her career?"

Well, I may well be the only one for a while, and if, in a few years time when she is sitting in her surgery someone comes in with a strange mixture of peculiar symptoms that she can't quite figure out maybe she will remember me.

Of course the downside of seeing the registrar is that because she is learning she is much more thorough and concerned that she doesn't miss anything. "Shall we do another lung function test?" I managed to convince her that as I sit next to the woman who carries out the lung function tests in my exercise class and my lungs don't feel any different to anyone else's in the class then there wasn't much need. She then looked through my old notes, started to panic at the list of things that were wrong and ordered a whole host of blood tests!

The queue in the phlebotomy unit was long.. I waited half an hour for them to take blood and then popped back to the clinic to check that the urine test was okay (I knew it would be as I test it myself once a month) and then I left just before they were about to put a ticket on my car for outstaying my welcome in the car park!

House and roof still there

On Friday night a big storm swept through South West France. We didn't hear that much about it at first but gradually realised it was pretty significant, causing much damage and flooding. As our roof tiles have only just gone on we fully expected to hear that they had blown away! Well, apparently we were lucky and according to the neighbours the builders were back today finishing off the roof to the Tower.

Apparently the commune was without electricity for 4 days, prompting Ian to look into purchasing a small generator for emergencies.

The coast road to Brighton

A very quick entry tonight as the blogging has been a little slow over the last few days. It's not that nothing has happened as there is always something to write about but just that I have not been able to get my brain clear enough to put it down in words as Ian and I are in the middle of long discussions about plasterboard walls, underfloor heating, cheap toilets on eBay, the best way to lay out the bedroom (negotiations required!) and the bathroom furniture (more negotiations)! But.. I am now back at work...

Today I drove to Brighton along the coast road and the irony of Peacehaven struck me; as it is certainly not a haven nor particularly peaceful! On the main road there was a burnt out carpet shop; probably the result of an 'insurance job'. I would imagine the recession will see many more of these types of 'accidents'. Going along the coast you get to Telscombe Cliffs; marginally better and at least there are some nice sea views! A little further on Saltdean still looks like something out of the 1930s, complete with the lido and the White Cliffs cafe and then things move more and more upmarket until you get to Rottingdean, complete with the organic greengrocer and private members club! After that I headed inland and into Brighton itself!

You've got to laugh

A friend sent me this joke which I found particularly amusing in light of health and safety man's antics!
If we applied todays standards to the greatest sea battle in history...

The scene...The Battle of Trafalgar 21st October 1805...

Nelson: "Order the signal, Hardy."
Hardy: "Aye, aye sir."
Nelson: "Hold on, that's not what I dictated to Flags. What's the meaning of this?"
Hardy: "Sorry sir?"
Nelson (reading aloud): "' England expects every person to do his or her duty, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious persuasion or disability.' - What gobbledegook is this?"
Hardy: "Admiralty policy, I'm afraid, sir. We're an equal opportunities employer now. We had the devil's own job getting ' England ' past the censors, lest it be considered racist."
Nelson: "Gadzooks, Hardy. Hand me my pipe and tobacco."
Hardy: "Sorry, sir. All naval vessels have now been designated smoke-free working environments."
Nelson: "In that case, break open the rum ration. Let us splice the mainbrace to steel the men before battle."
Hardy: "The rum ration has been abolished, Admiral. It's part of the Government's policy on binge drinking."
Nelson: "Good heavens, Hardy. I suppose we'd better get on with it .......... full speed ahead."
Hardy: "I think you'll find that there's a 4 knot speed limit in this stretch of water."
Nelson: "Damn it man! We are on the eve of the greatest sea battle in history. We must advance with all dispatch. Report from the crow's nest please."
Hardy: "That won't be possible, sir."
Nelson: "What?"
Hardy: "Health and Safety have closed the crow's nest, sir. No harness; and they said that rope ladders don't meet regulations. They won't let anyone up there until a proper scaffolding can be erected."
Nelson: "Then get me the ship's carpenter without delay, Hardy."
Hardy: "He's busy knocking up a wheelchair access to the foredeck Admiral."
Nelson: "Wheelchair access? I've never heard anything so absurd."
Hardy: "Health and safety again, sir. We have to provide a barrier-free environment for the differently abled."
Nelson: "Differently abled? I've only one arm and one eye and I refuse even to hear mention of the word. I didn't rise to the rank of admiral by playing the disability card."
Hardy: "Actually, sir, you did. The Royal Navy is under represented in the areas of visual impairment and limb deficiency."
Nelson: "Whatever next? Give me full sail. The salt spray beckons."
Hardy: "A couple of problems there too, sir. Health and safety won't let the crew up the rigging without hard hats. And they don't want anyone breathing in too much salt - haven't you seen the adverts?"
Nelson: "I've never heard such infamy. Break out the cannon and tell the men to stand by to engage the enemy."
Hardy: "The men are a bit worried about shooting at anyone, Admiral."
Nelson: "What? This is mutiny!"
Hardy: "It's not that, sir. It's just that they're afraid of being charged with murder if they actually kill anyone. There's a couple of legal-aid lawyers on board, watching everyone like hawks."
Nelson: "Then how are we to sink the Frenchies and the Spanish?"
Hardy: "Actually, sir, we're not."
Nelson: "We're not?"
Hardy: "No, sir. The French and the Spanish are our European partners now. According to the Common Fisheries Policy, we shouldn't even be in this stretch of water. We could get hit with a claim for compensation."
Nelson: "But you must hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil."
Hardy: "I wouldn't let the ship's diversity co-ordinator hear you saying that sir. You'll be up on disciplinary report."
Nelson: "You must consider every man an enemy, who speaks ill of your King."
Hardy: "Not any more, sir. We must be inclusive in this multicultural age. Now put on your Kevlar vest; it's the rules. It could save your life"
Nelson: "Don't tell me - health and safety. Whatever happened to rum, sodomy and the lash?"
Hardy: As I explained, sir, rum is off the menu! And there's a ban on corporal punishment."
Nelson: "What about sodomy?"
Hardy: "I believe that is now legal, sir."
Nelson: "In that case............................... kiss me, Hardy. (The old ones are the old ones!)

The work of remaking America.(New year, new president)

I left work a little early today to watch the inauguration of President Obama. I am not a fan of American politics and I am sure in the future the swearing in of the first African American president and all the fuss it engendered will seem quite quaint and racist in itself, in the same way that now no one comments on the fact that their bus driver is woman even though 10 years ago that would have been remarkable. Anyway, I can remember stories of segregation, discrimination and violence in the Southern States as I was growing up, I can remember the shooting of Martin Luther King and I can remember listening to Aretha Franklin so the ceremony today had some poignancy even for me.

It certainly moved millions of Americans to stand for hours in temperatures well below freezing to witness it. Mind you, at least they could wear coats, hats and jackets! The presidential party, in their smart suits and thin looking coats must have been freezing! I hope they were wearing decent thermal underwear! Obama's daughter was taking photos of her dad taking his oath which maybe one day will appear on her own blog or in her memoirs, or just serve as a personal memento of the day. Obama's speech was as we all expected as he is a good orator. It was timely and well written (apparently the writer is only 27 years old, which pleases me to think that there is such talent in the young). My hope is that he does go on to be a different and new kind of president not because he is black but because he does the right things. In the end I hope that we all find the fact that he is black unremarkable.

One thing that I did wake up to today was just how carefully timed Israel's attack on Palestine was. It was begun over Christmas in the midst of a handover of power and declared over the day before Obama's inauguration. I can't begin to understand the Middle East Situation but whatever your views and beliefs, as people are allowed in now to view the aftermath it seems to be becoming clear that there were some dreadful atrocities. Whether all of these turn out to have been deliberate or so called 'mistakes of war' we will probably never know.

New year, new room

This weekend we tackled my bedroom! It was one of many jobs that need doing in my house and I just got fed up with staring at the faded wallpaper and grubby ceiling. On Saturday we removed all the items from the room and prepared the walls (only to discover the inevitable blown plaster, peeling paper etc). That night we slept downstairs on the sofa bed, much to the surprise and pleasure of the cats who insisted on joining us but couldn't really work out why we were asleep for so long. Sunday we painted and by the evening were able to move the furniture back. We still need new blinds, new radiator, new carpet and various other finishing off things but it does at least feel like it is on the way. Below is a picture of the half finished wall and Ian as he was at the end of the weekend after emulsioning and cutting in!

Pictures at last!

As you can see, the pictures have arrived and the house is finally taking its finished shape. The 'tower' in the middle is based on the pigeonniers that are typical in the area and were where the pidgeons were kept (for fertilizer for the vines). We will use it for something more mundane, as an office.

The final picture is of our builder, hard at work! He is really quite slim and is wearing lots of clothes because it was below freezing. It was so cold that their gas fired nail gun had stopped working!

Nearly a house but not a home (yet)

I am feeling a little left out tonight. Ian reported back on the progress of the house but as I wasn't there this time I am struggling to picture it in my head. Apparently the walls are finished and the roof is going on as we speak so it is probably looking more like a house than before. Ian took some photos but hasn't had time to email them to me and I haven't seen him since he got back. Ian met someone about building the interior staircase and a heating engineer. There are a lot of complicated decisions to make. The ground source heating is definitely the better option from an environmental perspective but by the time we have 'paid back' the cost of the installation in savings to the electric bill we will probably be ready to sell up and the technology will be dated. Most people opt for electric heaters or oil fired heating at this point (we have no room for a log burner and no source of cheap logs) but somehow I will be really disappointed if we have to make that compromise.

Some things have not turned out quite as we thought, either because of the design, the builders or they are just not as we imagined. This is just part of it I think. Some things are better, some not so good and as with all houses it is a compromise. It is beginning to develop an existence of its own from the pile of blocks we first saw.

I firmly believe that all buildings have an energy of their own. I can usually feel it when I walk in and know instantly whether I want to live in a house. Maybe the energy comes from its past and its inhabitants but what happens when something is brand new? I think that maybe the energy of those that constructed it is important which is why I am glad we chose our builder.

That is why I am disappointed that I didn't get to go in person this time as even though I can see the pictures it is not the same as being there in person and feeling the house as it develops.

Sunday

Ian left at 11.00 to go over to France for a brief visit, to meet with the builder and most importantly, as far as the builder is concerned, to give him a cheque! He set off for the airport and got his flight. Later that afternoon he sent me a message to say that he was in Limoges (and not Bergerac, where he should have been) as it had been too foggy to land the plane. Much irritation followed, including a long and cold coach ride for 2 hours and a missing car hire man, who had gone out with his mates, switched off his phone and forgotten that he needed to meet Ian with the car keys! However, eventually he turned up, Ian got the car and arrived at our neighbours (where he is sleeping on the sofa).

Bergerac apparently doesn't have a radar and so the pilots have to land the old fashioned way; by looking where they are going. His pilot had attempted to land, saw the fog and chickened out the at the last minute, when they were about 100 foot from the ground, reverting into a sharp climb. According to a more regular passenger, the Ryan Air pilots are all trainees at the moment! This theory gets more weight when you consider that the Flybe plane managed to land at Bergerac 10 minutes after the Ryan Air flight aborted!

Meantime I drove over to my mothers for a New Year visit, complete with a dinner to cook for her in her flat. We sat and chatted and she told me more about her cycling trip through France just after the war. I will write more on this later. We listened to Andrea Bocelli and when one of the tracks came on she said
"Oh, I remember my mother singing this every morning as she made the breakfast. She used to sing it really loudly and all the neighbours heard! She had a powerful operatic voice and would make my father accompany her on the piano"
I had forgotten this about her; that she had actually longed to have her voice properly trained and pursue a career in opera. She used to speak with some bitterness that she had never had the opportunities that she saw later generations get.

Roland rat and foxy loxy

The cold weather brings the wildlife (that normally finds plenty to eat up on the Downs) closer to civilization where the 'supermarkets' are better stocked! My compost heap has provided a nice warm home and source of food for a family of rats. I first noticed them just before Christmas but couldn't do anything about it until this week. The tunnels under the shed and the smell of rat urine were indicative, according to the rat man, of infestation, so it has been baited and I await the discovery of dead rat over the next few days. The rat man gave me a health and safety leaflet about the poison he had put down and we had a joke about health and safety in general.

I don't like the idea of poisoning rats but then I can't run the risk of them spreading to my house or the neighbours houses so reluctantly the rat man was called.

Yesterday morning I saw two foxes washing themselves on my lawn. I managed to get a picture of one. I hope they don't get affected by the poison or the dead rats. Rat man thought it was unlikely but did say that wherever you get rats you also get foxes.

Norma thinks again

Norma must have heard me talk about euthanasia the other day and decided that it was not her time just yet! She perked up and even ran around the living room for a while. She is begging for food again and eating well!

Back to life, back to reality

Only back at work for three days and already I am p*ssed off!. There are a couple of entries on the Health and Safety man blog for those interested. If you would like to access the blog let me know.

Customer relations

True to their word Eurotunnel replied to Ian's complaint that he made whilst we were waiting for our delayed departure. Here is an abbreviated version of the reply.

Thank you for contacting us following your recent journey with Eurotunnel.
We regret that you were unable to board your reserved shuttle as planned on 21 December and we would like to provide you with some explanation : (In summary we are still repairing the tunnel after the fire and sometimes things run over a bit or the cars take up more room on the shuttle that we thought they would and so we run out of space).

As a gesture of goodwill, we would like to offer you a £30 supplement for travel at "high peak" time on a next Frequent Traveller ticket. This offer is valid for six months with effect from the date of this message.

Thank you for your patience and your understanding.

It would have much cheaper for them to have given us free coffee and we would have been happy with that!

Keeping out the cold

As we were driving out to my French class tonight the temperature gauge in the car read minus 6, which is pretty unusual for a coastal area like this. We also had layer of snow on Monday. My teasmade arrived just in time and it was lovely to wake to a warm cup of tea without having to get up. This is what it looks like!

Tea in bed

My new Christmas present from me to me arrived today and I am very exited! It is a teasmade so now I can wake up to hot tea in bed even when Ian is in London!

Ian had to phone up his mother today to ask her how to cook the vegetables in the steamer (I was out). I guess we are of some use to each other!

Back to work

Back to work tomorrow and the holiday is over. In many ways I like the sense of returning to reality after the New Year as it always seems a rather strange and unsettling time, but returning to work means less time and energy to think about the house in France and other things that I would rather be doing.

On my first night away I went to bed feeling a little queasy (probably as a result of something we ate on the way down). In my sleep I dreamt of being sick but in my dream the sick was 'sh*t from work'. I remember it quite clearly and woke up thinking I must not let work get to me!

Pottering

We have had a very quiet few days not venturing out much and recovering from our energetic week away! Ian discovered facebook and I was very annoyed to see that after a couple of hours he had found 46 friends, whereas it has taken me 9 months to find 35! Another thing that annoys me about facebook is that when I log in I get advertisements for over 50s dating!

Norma drags herself into 2009

Back up in London again after a quiet few days in Eastbourne. I felt quite bad to leave the cats as Norma, the old girl is looking more and more frail and has taken to howling rather loudly in the early hours of the morning, when she wakes up and doesn't seem to know where she is. She still eats although not with quite the same enthusiasm as before and when we are in she seems to want constant reassurance. It occurred to me today that it is not going to be too long before I have to think about her future. I have never had to make that decision about a pet before and it is not one I am looking forward to.

Delays to Shanghai

My sister's planned move to Shanghai is on hold for 6 months. I am not totally sure of the full reasons why but in the end they couldn't agree a package that would allow them to live as they wanted and I would guess that other things, such as his children and getting everything organised in time also contributed. The wedding however is still going ahead. So, in the end we have all got a little more time to plan and this time have some space to celebrate in our heads.

New Years resolutions

Ian and I had a quiet New Years Eve, watching the TV. We just about managed to stay awake until midnight, reluctantly on Ian's part and today we are relaxing. This is quite a contrast to my mother in her apartment block. The ladies decided to organise a party and everyone contributed some food and drink. My mother brought down some CDs that she had acquired for Christmas and they ate, drank, did a quiz and then sang and danced to Abba! How the older generation live!

I have decided to try and do some posts next year on my mother's life, as she remembers it. She had some interesting experiences, having been evacuated during the war as a child, cycling around France post war and raising a family in the 1960s. She has told me lots of stories but I can't remember all the details. I think it would be nice somewhere to have a record of her exploits.

I have no real New Years resolutions or expectations for the year. Ian is paying a fleeting visit to the land in two weeks to meet with the builder as it seems that the walls are now finished and we are awaiting the roof imminently!

So, to all readers, may 2009 bring you lots of happiness.

New year -new layout

I have been experimenting with a new layout as I think a year of looking at the same colour scheme is more than enough! I will be playing around over the next week or two until I find something that I like.

Shopping

Ian and I managed one visit to the sales which as usual were a great disappointment. We sat in traffic for 20 minutes and then Ian wandered round Maplins, Comet and PC world while I looked in Next, Marks and Spenser and Debenhams. There were no bargains and nothing worth buying that we needed but we did notice that the new stock in the stores seemed much more expensive; probably a result of the abysmal value of the pound which is now virtually the same as the Euro.

I bought a pair of shoes, Ian bought a tee-shirt and that was about it!

Journeys

Yesterday morning at 7.00 we were in the Alps, looking up at the clear sky as the sun slowly came up, trying desperately to de-ice the inside of the car windows and pack our things.

The mountain air is challenging. It bites into your lungs, sears your skin, turns your hair and nails dry and brittle but if you can survive it you feel the benefits to your system over time, so despite the fact that I have ached, fallen over, bruised myself and generally felt exhausted I feel calmer, less stressed and now, after a week, much fitter. Interestingly my normal joint pains have almost disappeared.

We drove down the mountain in the dawn and by 11.30 we were passed Dijon and heading up towards Calais and England. We got back to London at 9.30 pm UK time and I felt a strange sense of unreality. How could we be in the Alps in the morning and then back in the city a few hours later? I felt quite unsettled! I have had this experience before when travelling and was telling a colleague who said it is when your spiritual self and your physical self have not quite caught up with each other.

Meanwhile, our physical selves were subjected to a dreadful lunch in a French motorway service station. As we were not in a hurry we decided to join the French in their exodus off the motorway in search of lunch. If I was ever under the illusion that the French were fussy about food and that all French food was better than English food it was well and truly put to rest yesterday. The queues were long, the food cold and oily and I ended up taking it back. The second attempt was not much better! We vowed never to do this again no matter how hungry we were!

To replenish our spiritual selves on the journey Ian tried to find an open D.I.Y. shop. However, as it was a Sunday they were all closed, so we stopped off in Reims and visited the Cathedral!

Getting in the last run

For the last couple of days away the weather turned a little colder and we were back to wearing layers of thermals, although the sun still shone brightly all the time. As usual, by the final day I was feeling less sore, fitter and finally could remember the point of skiing and how to do it (except this is what always happens and then when I return a couple of years later I have to start from the beginning again!). I wanted to get the most out of the final day but as I am not at my best in the morning and I also offered to walk the dog before going, I didn't get on to my skis until just before lunch time. The days are short this time of year and by 4.30 the sun sets fast and the temperature drops quickly. I took these pictures while I was waiting for Ian to finish (as he went off to do some more difficult things..)

I rather liked this tree as it got covered in a layer of ice over night which refused to melt all day, even though it was exposed to the sun.

This is the view looking up one of the main slopes at the end of the day, with everyone rushing to do their final run of the day!

The final picture is the view down the valley into the setting sun, from where I was drinking my hot chocolate!

The end of the turkeys

The turkeys were cooked and eaten yesterday and they tasted pretty good. No sign of food poisoning yet! Christmas day was spent opening presents and then we went for a leisurely ski (although for me even a gentle ski leaves me feeling knackered!). In the evening we had a few flakes (flocons) of snow to accompany our Christmas dinner. The only down side is that my coccyx is still bruised after falling off the chair lift the other day making sitting down a bit uncomfortable.

Christmas Eve

Today is Christmas Eve and here in the Alps there is brilliant sunshine and blue skies again. As predicted I was as stiff as a board today and even getting out of bed hurt, so I didn't do too much. Ian and the others went off to do some high tech skiing and I settled for a couple of runs on my own just to get moving. The best bit was that I managed two conversations on the chairlift in French. The first was with a man from Paris who has a small studio here and visits regularly; the second was with a ski instructor who told me that he was in London two years ago when Le Grand Depart came to London. He was Paul Sherwin's (ITV4 commentator) driver from the London to Canterbury stage so as we were marshaling on Westminster Bridge he would have driven by! I sometimes think that everyone that I talk to in France has something to do with the Tour. The other topic of conversation that all the French people seem to enjoy talking about with the English is the value off the pound against the euro. As my instructor yesterday said 'welcome to the real world!' I think that there is a feeling that we have had it quite easy for many years!

We all met for a late lunch and I returned back to chalet after while the others went off more skiing.

This is the view from the balcony this evening....

Another day on the slope

Another lovely sunny day; almost like spring skiing. Coming off a chairlift this morning I locked my skis around Ian's and fell on my bottom, so now sitting down is rather uncomfortable and I think that tomorrow I will be rather sore! (After that with any luck my stiffness will subside to be replaced with a more supple and lithe body!). My lesson was good and I managed to go down a red run for the first time, only falling when I was standing still! My instructor could not explain why that had happened after I had come down a steep slope! (In the summer he is a keen cyclist and he cycled up the Col de la Columbiere in 31 minutes. Ian took 50 minutes and I took 2 hours!)

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, which is more of a celebration in France than the 25th. We hope to watch the 'decente en flambeau' tomorrow evening, when all the ski instructors ski down from the top of the mountain with lighted torches.

My nephew is doing an ice sculpture outside for his art project and we are awaiting dinner!

Sun and snow (and falling over at 50)

The first day of skiing passed without too many serious consequences! The snow is good and sun and mild temperatures are forecast so yesterday was great for treating my full spectrum light deprivation! I only looked like a complete beginner for half a day yesterday although have still forgotten how to turn properly and so ended up on my bottom several times; the most spectacular involving my skis ending up over my head and a 10 metre tumble down hill. I discovered that getting up once down is a real challenge!

The sun is shining, my legs ache, I have a lesson booked at 2.30 and the slopes beckon so I will be brief!