A delightful encounter, and the sun is shining!

Wednesday 11 March 2015

Misty with warm sun later 15 degrees

Spent morning uploading property from earlier in the week.  There are fifteen pages of information for each property, plus writing the advert in French and English.  I also have to trim and improve the photos, cutting out distracting elements and lightening and brightening to give the best impression possible of the house.  I then crop and reduce pixel size.  Each property takes a good hour/hour and a half to load.  The phone is silent for once and I glimpse an array of blue tits and great tits devouring the fat balls on the bird table.  They are currently getting through two a day and are so fat, it is surprising they can take off from the platform.

WF rings to say that he has finally got his new computer up and running and is applying for his CII (insurance institute) membership and will start doing basic exams.  He also says his contract is not going to be extended beyond the three months, and that they are now having very few calls since the television campaign ended.  Yesterday, he spent ten minutes on the phones and the remainder of the eight hours playing board games with an African lady. Games supplied by the employers who are funded by government grant.  This has been a very useful first experience of work for WF who is now getting his CV in order and out to the Employment Agencies whom we found to be the best conduit for finding work.

Late afternoon, when the sun is low in the sky, and the fields are glowing orange, I head north and wait for my clients in a small village.  All of the shutters are closed and the only activity is in the municipal offices.  Birds cheep, a light breeze plays with the dead leaves gathered in the crook of the road, a plane passes overhead.  My phone rings.  It is the seller of the house in my town and she says my would be buyers needn't bother ringing her directly anymore because she has found another buyer and will be signing in the agents office this afternoon.  I think 'Bollocks, that is xxxxx euros up the Swanee'.  I ring the relevant agent and he gives me the name of the buyers and when I tell him the story of my would be buyers, he says Oh la la!

At that point, the clients arrive so we get out of our cars and say hello and then back in and they follow me to the property.  The lady, who is easily in her late 60's, is a slight sprite of a woman, tiny in proportion with wild curling waist length hair, Sybil Trelawny glasses and delicate hands tortured by arthritic joints.  She is wearing an ankle length skirt, overlaid with a camouflage jacket and many bangles.  The ensemble is topped off with a trilby which has been enjoyed by many ravenous moths.  She jumps down from the battered green van and skips over to me.  'My husband is very quiet!' she exclaims, breathily, 'but that is alright because I do the talking'.  She paused very rarely for breath, giving me chance to point things out, during the next two and a half hours.  She was an absolute delight and absolutely adored the property if it were not for the road noise.  The road is quite some distance away, down a track which has terrified previous visitees.  She exclaims that there is not a lot of work to do in the house.  I am thinking I need more French clients like her because the majority of them can find fault in a perfect house, never mind one that needs replastering, rewiring, new kitchen, new bathroom, new windows, new septic tank and decoration throughout.  I don't know what her husband thought of the house because he didn't get a chance to speak.  They left finally, saying they would have to think about it but they weren't in a rush, and I felt rather shell shocked.

Back home and we enjoy the rabbit and chorizo casserole which had been simmering in the oven for the past three and a half hours.  Yum.  Accompanied by a crisp white rioja.  OH is fed up of working in the rental unit.  He says if he was writing a blog, he could copy and paste each day with the same activity.  This is most uncharacteristic.  I suggest he comes with me tomorrow and he agrees.

More perishing footie on the telly.

Getting on the road to happiness whilst side stepping a viper

Friday 20 February 2015

Drizzly with short sunny periods
8 degrees

Why did I tell OH I would go with him to the perishing rental units for the mornings during the weeks to come - well to get things finished more quickly.  Put dog in the shed as he had been very naughty during the night and made a terrible mess on the kitchen floor.  I had awoken extremely early, excited about a website project, and had had to battle with a recalcitrant plastic top on the bleach bottle for a good five minutes.  By 9 am I felt very tired but non the less, we got to town and I went for some bread and cake.  There was a guy lurking by the fountain, and he looked strangely familiar.  

'Heuy' he intoned, nasally.  Oh God, it was last year's buyer of my nightmares, who has still to sign on his property, and there he was, large as life, and twice as viperous.  He shook my hand limply and his wife whimpered 'everywhere is closed - where can we get coffee?'.  I sent them off to the Betting Shop at the far end of town.  That will be an eye opener for them.  The guy has a habit of looking over your shoulder when you are talking to him, and slithering his eyes sideways to focus on you for a moment, before sliding off in another direction.  He claimed to be the young estate agent of the year in his native country.  I wouldn't buy a dog from him.

Somewhat shaken, I report back to OH, who is only actually interested in the cake.  Spend morning scraping paint off badly painted windows and doors and then go and have a look at OH's tiling activity in the upstairs bathroom.   He has spread around the grout with liberal abandon, and then not wiped any of it off.  It looks like a two year old has done it.  He has also left a huge amount of mess in the bath, the bidet, the sink and the kitchen.  I am in a very bad mood by the time I finish.  Back home with stony silence for lunch.

Walk dog and think about Abundance - inspired and taken from The Abundance Project

Number One: Make Up Your Mind

Decide what you want out of life and then plan to take charge of your life. Not just the big things, but the seemingly unimportant things too. Really take the time to analyze your circumstances and decide what you want. There may be small things you do because you feel like you have to; you don’t. Decide what you do want and make those things happen. Everything you decide you want in your life may not happen right away, but if you’ve truly made up your mind, they will happen in time.

Number Two: Let the Loudest Voice be Your Own

There are so many people around us all the time that think they should speak up about our lives. Well-meaning friends and family tell us every day what they think we should do and how you should take charge of your life. Sure, they may have some good advice, but they are not you! They don’t know what your dreams are and they can’t possibly know exactly what you’re feeling. Although receiving advice can be helpful, there is no voice that should be louder than your own. Put everyone else’s voice on mute and listen to your inner gut. Do what you feel is right for you!

Number Three: Speak Positively in Your Own Mind

In order to take charge of your life, your inner voice must be positive. If you are running the show, you better be confident. Whenever fear creeps in or negative thoughts start to overrule, acknowledge that they are there and move on! As quickly as you can, get back to a place where you know you can succeed. Soon, you will train your mind to think positively and to be confident in your own capabilities. Use the power of your thoughts to propel you forward through your life.

Number Four: Get Up and Get Busy

Instead of letting life rule you, you’ve decided that now you’re in charge! What an amazing change, right? Right, but in order to be in charge of your own life you have to get up and get busy! Nothing you want to experience in life is going to just happen, you have to go out into the world and create your own experiences. If you’ve always wanted to fall in love, you have to start dating. In order to start dating you have to meet people and socialize. You will never socialize if you’re sitting at home, but you might if you get up and get yourself out with friends! Along the same lines, if you’ve always wanted to be fluent in French, you have to sign up for a class and study; you have to get busy!

Number Five: Re-think the “Why”

We’ve already discussed in number 1 that it is important to make up your mind about what you want to do. However, another important component of taking charge of your life is to analyze why you want what you want. Make sure you are doing things for you; it is your life after all. Make sure that you’re not doing what your parents want you to do or what your friends are all busy doing. What you should be doing every day is what you really want to do or taking the steps to get to what you really want. Life truly is too short to waste time pursuing things you’re not interested in. Strive for your goals and spend time doing things that make YOU happy.

Number Six: Stop Procrastinating

Ask yourself this, if you died tomorrow what would be your greatest regret? Is there anything in life you’ve always wanted to do but you just keep putting it off? Take charge of your life by putting an end to procrastination. Start doing those things that you’ve always wanted to do and start becoming the person you want to be today.

Number Seven: Take Responsibility of Your Life

Stop blaming your life circumstances on anyone or anything. You are in charge so start taking full responsibility of your life. When there’s no one to blame but you, you might just find that you start doing something to improve your circumstances. Once your thought process changes and you take responsibility for your own life, you will realize that what happens to you is entirely up to you!

Number Eight: Prepare Yourself

Seneca, the Roman philosopher, said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Prepare yourself for whatever you aspire to. Maybe it’s something small like learning to paint or going on a morning run 3 times a week or maybe it’s something big like being a better Father or landing the perfect job. Whatever it may be, prepare yourself mentally and physically and you just might “get lucky”.

Number Nine: Do Not Complain

Last but not least, don’t complain; ever. Complaining does absolutely no good, period. Whenever you feel like complaining take action. Start to analyze your complaints and decide whether there is anything that can be done to fix them. There is almost always something to be done: do it and stop whining. You’re in control now.

Number Ten: Start Now

Take charge of your life by making a list of all the qualities that you want to be possess. Once you have your list, don’t waste any more time, start being that person! Do as many of those things as you can every day. If you’ve always thought that one day you would wake up early enough every day to watch the news and read the paper before work, then start doing it today. As Bob Dylan wisely said, “Act the way you’d like to be and soon you’ll be the way you’d like to act.”

http://www.theabundanceproject.com/

The lovely Graham Norton ...

Sunday 15 January 2015

Lots of rain - 4 degrees warming to 13

OH took dog out for constitutional and I baked lemon meringue pie and mince pies. Listened to Graham Norton.  He is the only 'celebrity' I would actually invite to a party.  He is on the Radio and does a particularly amusing agony aunt feature, accompanied by a lady presenter.  They have quite different opinions of the issues and then the public chips in.  I used to greatly enjoy reading his agony aunt column in the Saturday Telegraph.  He has a lot of compassion, our Graham, and much empathy.

"Remember that sleeping with friends is lazy and selfish: we don't cook our pets just because we're hungry and they're sitting right by the oven."  —Graham on troublesome relationships

 

"Dogs and DIY are where relationships end up, not where they start." —Graham on looking for love

 

"Stay on the moral high ground—it's much easier to swing a baseball bat from there."  —Graham on forgiving betrayal

 

I also love his sometimes waspish tone and how he is not afraid to reprimand.

From Wikipedia :  Upon joining Equity, he chose Norton as his stage name, which is his great-grandmother's maiden name. In 1992 his stand-up comedy drag act in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as a tea-towel clad Mother Teresa of Calcutta made the press when Scottish Television's religious affairs department mistakenly thought he represented the real Mother Teresa.

Someone at work has gone on a sudden sabbatical.  Have they jumped or were they pushed? Need to find out.

The good ship Leaving Normal is treading water this month, so far.   Oh yes, a tricky sale seems to have sorted itself out, without my having to get involved - the parties have come to an agreement between themselves.  However, another sale is kicking off again with the vendor being asked to pay for a survey, for which he has no legal obligation, and he has said if the buyer wants it, they can pay for it.  Alternatively, he has suggested I can pay half out of my 'generous fees'.  My generous fees are diminished by the introducer, VAT and social charges and resemble a Maasdam cheese, ravaged by very hungry rats suffering from a cheese deprivation regime, by the time they have finished taking their bites.  The buyer has also greatly benefited from the change in the dollar rate so they can put up or shut up, basically, is the notary's opinion.

Ripped up old, dead matter off the garden during the brief sunny period.  One of the long borders is now completely clear.  Many tiny tufts of Nigella poking through.

Oh fate, you are a stony hearted bitch!

Saturday 14 February 2015
Valentines Day
Absolutely persisted it down all day - 8 degrees

Informed OH that we would win 13000000 euros in the Friday 13th Lotto draw.  Looked at my numbers this morning.  If I had chosen my normal numbers, which I hadn't and instead had gone for a lucky dip (ha ha not), I would have won 13 euros.  Oh fate, what a sense of humour you have!!!

Went for a drive out to a big city a couple of hours away.  Spray on the motorway was dreadful, lots of road works and OH was squeezing past waving lorries and perilously near to the barriers.  Aquaplaned twice.  Arrived a nervous wreck.

Had a coffee and nibble and discovered a material shop.  Managed to get in before they closed.  The owners were dressed as goblins.  I didn't like to ask why.  Didn't find anything I liked but noted the name and address for next time. Noticed some people in furry onesies strolling past the large front window.   Curious...

Wandered round the shops and it started raining in earnest so we went into another bar and were served by Snow White's evil stepmother who was shouting orders at a team of hot looking elves.  Small girls dressed as Snow White and Cinderella in princess mode ran around, shod in perfect small red tap shoes.  A group of 70's hippies came in and a transvestite in a bright pink wig.  We were starting to feel seriously drab and under dressed. I decided it would be a good idea if in future I dressed as a 70's chick.  Clothing was so much more vibrant back then.  Must go to charity store and find something jolly to revamp, à la Sewing Bee.

Apparently it was just a Carnival and anyone could dress up how they felt inclined.  Very amusing group of cackling nuns in the main square.  In a side street, discovered a group of Spanish 'Russians' dancing to Abba.  Only in Spain....

Walked along the lake front and the waves and spray were huge.  People were battling with their windsurfing boards which were being tossed around like flotsam.  

Back home and felt duly refreshed.  Took dog for quick walk and I could see my breath.  OH made cod cheeks in butter, pimientos with sea salt, skate wings and we followed up with cheese and biscuits.

So tired, managed to sleep through both the rugby and football and at 10.30 OH woke me up and insisted I went to bed, where I slept surprisingly well.

Playing on the heartstrings of desperate people

Thursday 12 February 2015

4 degrees rising to 15!

Rose early to listen to the replay of E Herv Eker's 'Masterclass' on MindValley.  If possible, it was even lighter on content than that of Christie Sheldon and lasted two and a half hours. The joy of the replay is being able to bypass the obligatory sob story (76 minutes) and then, what a surprise, he makes a breakthrough by embracing the idea that he can be spiritual and really, really, really (he loves repetition) rich.  He also gives us the nugget that your route to success must match who you are.  Much, much later, he does a visualisation of being at a fork in the road and going in the right hand direction and all is bad etc etc and how does that make you feel and then back to the fork in the road and take the left hand road and all is wonderful.  And to take the right fork, you have to buy his Spiritual Laws of Money products and they are nearly 300 dollars.   Apparently 147 people signed up for this crap on the first day.  Oh, sad and desperate people.   If Eker is indeed a multi, multi (counted to ten on his fingers) millionnaire and desperately wants to help people, why the fuck is he charging them?   The first step to being a millionnaire is to have your scruples cut out and burn them.   Decided to write a help book myself.

Dropped off utility vehicle for MOT then back home to drop off OH and go to meet today's clients.

Hung around in a car park, waiting for the clients, and they were waiting in a different car park.  Finally met up and took them to the house and they were impressed by the interior, which is indeed lovely.  They were not so keen by the barricades erected by the frankly strange neighbour and also there were quite a few trees.  They are selling because there are a lot of trees and the guy is fed up of picking up the leaves.  We are there for well over an hour.  They are going to draw up a list of favourite properties to revisit next week and will then make a decision.  I suggest two other properties and send them the details.

Back home and find OH just about to take the dog out and did I want to trail around in the mud with him.  No I didnt.  Not pleased to find that, yet again, no dishes washed and crap all over the floor.  Cleaned up, in bad mood.  Filed papers that were trailing around everywhere.  Looking at my meter readings for the rental units, I really hope I have read them incorrectly because the difference between last years consumption and this one is absolutely vast and over 1000 euros.

Made chili and did the VAT return online after having turned out all my bags and pockets to find the maximum of chargeable receipts.

Down at the gym, my subscription card had disappeared and no one was available to help so I took the card of a person with a similar sounding name and dived into the blissfully warm and frothing waters.  The lifeguard did notice and I said it was a mistake and he said OK and went back to throwing the bikes in the small pool for the aquabike session.  They landed with some force and large waves splashed over the people who were still doing lengths.  Sod health and safety.  You have just got to love it.

Did 30 lengths and the sun shone on the water and steam rose off the wavelets.  Heaven. Watched GBSB.  Very difficult waistcoat as first task then some brilliant relooking projects and then a 3d construction exercise.  Puffing, pouting black haired lady bunged off.  Men are very strong contenders this year.

A day of bits and pieces

Wednesday 11 February 2015

2 degrees rising to 12
sun at last feeling like it has some warmth

Retook mandate on a property which I had had some time ago.  Perched on a ridge and with a fabulous garden and a swimming pool which is in great condition, it is inhabited by a lady from Andalusia and her Portuguese husband.  We speak of Ronda and she tells me how much building has gone on there, that the last time she went with her sister, it was an hour before they managed to find the house in which she had lived the first 15 years of her life. She spent many years in France, as did I, and she said she found the French very 'closed' - meaning not open to relationships with others and also with the meaning of not entertaining new ideas.  I asked her why the Spanish are so different - why do they all live in apartments, even in the middle of the country where there are acres of land - why they all promenade in the evening - why no one goes to bed before the early hours of the morning? She didn't know but said that everyone knew everyone in a town and that could only be a good thing. We laughed and agreed that the Spanish were not at all, in any way, like the French.

Their house is not so lovely from the inside and has the most villainous artex, in a selection of patterns for the visitor to detest, over all of the interior walls.  Not sure I could live with it. It transpires that my clients for tomorrow have indeed seen the house and the artex was a big no-no.

Back home for quick lunch then had to take the utility vehicle for new tyres before the MOT tomorrow.  A long wait, horrible coffee from the machine, and an interesting article on how people in French kitchens are abused, treated like dogs, made to drink water that they have over salted, kicked up the bums and punched. Shame on you Joel Robuchon!

Finally liberated and went to take back a Livebox to the phone shop, then tried to get a certificate out of the social security office for an English couple who have gone back to England and are still officially in the system because they have not asked for this certificate. You have to write a letter - text the man, who we were great friends with and give him the words to write.   Have good coffee and doughnut in a local store and watch the locals drinking wine and beer and small children warming up on hot chocolate and cakes.  Back to our town and pick up some keys for the visit tomorrow.   Look at the car and realise the poor MOT man will not be able to see a thing so have to take it to the car wash and blast off the mud and crud.

Back home and OH is making a throw it all in the pot casserole.  Rabbit and red wine that was too horrible to drink with some chili.  Not his most successful dish.

Brambling in the pale winter sun

Sunday 8 February 2015

White and cold and -2

Had thought we were going to an art gallery today but OH said we needed to combine trip with a visit to a DIY store, so will have to be later in the week.  Sun was out so we walked the land and discovered that the brambles were strangling the mixed hedging planted over a couple of autumns ago.

OH watched rugby and I tackled the brambles which were tip rooted as well as very deeply main rooted.  Got off two huge barrow loads.  Discovered beautiful briar rose growing in the thicket so left that to flower over the hedge this summer.  Brambles up to five metres long and intertwined in the hedge.  Took some time and OH came out and assisted and I then left him to play his favourite winter game of 'pick up sticks' and he made a huge bonfire. Dog enjoys playing pick up sticks too but is rubbish at putting them on the fire.

Put the chicken and potatoes on to roast and went back to looking at family history.  Made more progress with my Aunt Alice, whose christian name was relatively unusual in the late 19th century.  Having found a site which gives free access to the censuses, I found an Alice Roberts living with a Chetwood family in 1911 and she was their grand daughter aged 6 and born in Llanfyllin in Montgomeryshire.  She had become a Chetwood by the time she married my Uncle Alfred in 1931.   I am now wondering if both my grandmother, Ada, married a Chetwood but was actually born a Roberts, and had Alice before she married. That could be another reason why Alice was born in such a remote corner of Wales.

Snow, family history and a mystery..!

Friday 6 February 2015

Snow -2

The lightest, featheriest snow was breathlessly falling on the courtyard and buildings when we awoke and the dog was thrilled and went out and tossed it up into the air with his nose and bit chunks of it.  Lung contractingly cold.

Came back in and put on many layers.  I don't know how I ever survived where we lived in the UK, where it could easily snow a metre in a day, and fill up the narrow lanes around our house.  I went out and looked at the light frosting and thought, how hard can it be to get up the hill and into town.  Ignoring OH's mutterings that I would struggle, I headed out and pointed the car at the hill and applied the gas.

To go up an icy hill, you need momentum but our hill is bendy.  Fortunately no one was coming in the opposite direction, and apart from the car losing traction, twice, I shot out at the top of the hill with the car in the same shape as when it had left the house.  Told the car it was a very good car.  Drove carefully to friend's house where I showed her how to overcome her computer problems and enjoyed her central heating.

In the UK we lived at the top of a long hill which regularly received lots of rain and snow. The rain would freeze and turn to ice and then the snow would lie on top and compact. Driving the kids to school was a real test of nerve.  We slid forwards and backwards.  We slid sideways, with the kids shouting 'dont slide in the ditch, mummy!' in panicked tones. Sometimes it didn't snow first thing, and I would take the kids to school and then mid morning it would come down in metres and I would have to ring the snow plough to come out and grit.   On snowy mornings, after having defrosted the car door with boiling water and set the engine to turn over, we would edge onto the road and look down the hill.  Our neighbour, D, used to head out without worry but he was a maniac and had a very old car full of chickens or whippets, or both.  

I would pack the kids in the car with cushions and bags and slide down the exit from the courtyard onto the road.  Second gear.  Engine roaring like a tractor.  The Suzuki would slide even in 4 x 4 mode.  I would try and keep some of the grass which grew on the side of the road, under the wheels in case of a complete failure of traction.  The problem was that the grass was on the side of the ditch.  I think we all must have held our breath, which would be busy steaming up the windscreen, until we arrived at the bottom.  OH bought me a Landrover, eventually, which was wonderful in the snow but a complete pig to drive for the rest of the year.  It was always in the garage.  I don't know how people ever manage to get them to Africa.  I had trouble getting mine to Mablethorpe.

Back home to tackle ironing mountain.  Out later to see hotel restaurant in nearby town.  Not inspiring.  Home and watched recording of the Woman in Black with Kieran Hinds and Daniel Radcliffe.  Absolutely terrifying.

Started looking into family histories by registering on website which gives access to births, deaths and marriages register.  Found OH's family which obligingly had unusual names and had always been in the same town.  Mine were a nightmare.  Eventually found my grandmother and discovered that her maiden name was not what my mother had told me. Also had trouble finding any of my mothers family under her maiden name.  Only the eldest sister.   A mystery.  Lay awake in the dark, raking my memories to see what came up..  

How to end up in Casualty...

Thursday 5 February 2015

0 cold and cloudy
Snow still lingering

Inform OH that our neighbour has a new puppy dog.  He emerges from the duvet to ask if it is the same sort of bastard dog as before.  Well, yes it is but this time it is little and we have chance to make friends with it.  The old dog, which our dog is very happy to have outlived, only understood the local dialect and hated everyone.  He regularly bit the post van tyres with the result that the post box was some distance up and across the road from the actual house.  One Christmas Eve, I went to pay for my wood, and the dog shot out and bit me through my wax jacket and jeans, with the result that we spent Christmas Eve in the Accident and Emergency Unit of a nearby hospital.   It is not the best place for a night out. A nurse, whilst stitching up my leg, said that it never failed to amaze her, how many ways people find to injure themselves.  

Extract from Reddit.com

[–]mistawac 114 points 3 years ago 

So I worked at a movie theatre in high school. It was a pretty laid back place at the time due to this theatre being down the street from another doing better business. So I was 16 and working a Wednesday night with one other kid, we'll call him Felcher. We'd each been there around a year so he trusted us to watch the place when he had to take off for an emergency with his six month old. Bad idea.

This was around the time that Cheaper by the Dozen 2 came out and we had one of those seven foot tall promo displays for it. It was Steve Martin with the whole family surrounding him. We also had those little usher brooms you know, the brooms that would be perfect for a midget. We liked to toss those like javelin through the displays after we were done with them. We'd spent about 45 minutes with this and I was getting bored. So I started to actually work and did my rounds (checked bathrooms and theatres, cleaned up a bit, started powering down game machines). When I walked back into the lobby I saw Steve standing there, staring me down. So I sprinted towards him, leapt off of a nearby bench, and ninja kicked him RIGHT in the face. The cardboard was a bit more rigid than I thought. I went through, but that's it. My foot was stuck for a moment and I kind of dangled there for a millisecond until my foot came loose and I fell, elbow dropping the tile flooring we had. I stood up and shook myself off and realized that my elbow was instantly the size of a large grapefruit. It was also the worst bruise I'd seen in my life.

I couldn't move it. Not from pain because, surprisingly, it barely hurt, but from sheer inability - this sorta freaked me out. So I decided, "Fuck it, I got work to do." and went back to work. After about 10 minutes it started to hurt like hell. I forgot to mention, it was stuck in and L shape. So I go back to Fletcher and ask him to try to straighten it out. I grab a piece of Steve's face to bite down on when he pulls and he does it. It swings out then snaps right back into place. At this point I start freaking out. We only had a half hour left and we both had keys to the place so I asked him to close up while I head home and figure this out.

The drive home sucked ass. I drove manual at the time and this was my right arm, so no shifting was possible with that arm. I drove completely with my left hand, quick shifting and switching gears fast enough to leave my hand off the wheel as short as possible. I get home, fashion up some lie that I slipped in the parking lot and head to the hospital. Ended up tearing EVERY single ligament in my elbow. All of 'em. Hence the inability to move it. Got to wear a big ass, Terminator looking arm brace for 8 months and undergo physical therapy. It still hurts whenever it gets cold and I can't completely flatten that arm. Dumbest. Thing. Ever.

tl;dr - Dropped kicked Steve Martin. Tore every elbow ligament. Theatre paid for it because I "fell in the parking lot"

Went down to market.  Bone chillingly cold.  A notary rang and we discussed two cases, both of which are becoming problematic.  The lady I was waiting for arrived with the keys and paperwork and I had a quick look around the stalls.  Market only half the summer size. The river has dropped significantly and is full of thrashed up bits of tree and plant matter. Went to coffee shop and chatted to people and bought OH a croissant with almonds to cheer him up.  Received email cancelling 4.30 visit today which was some relief as it would have been an hour and a half drive and the people haven't even put their house on the market.  They do however, live somewhere where property sells very quickly.  I would dearly love to know where this place is.  I would go and be an estate agent there.  Immediately.

Back home and found OH out of bed and he had lit both fires so house was oozing delightful heat.  Did catch up of emails and clients and watched Bargain Hunt.  I do love Charles Hanson, but paying 130 pounds for one plate is the bonkers end of bonkers.  

Pool closed today so took dog for a walk up the hill.  The pale sun brought no warmth. Thought of the height of the summer when you have to hide in the house with the shutters closed.  Long for dry and temperate climate where you don't freeze or boil.  

Tackled ironing mountain and OH made supper and rang up people from eBay.  He had been promised a refund by a seller who firstly said she couldn't give a refund through PayPal and then, when I had told her how to do it, had then said she had spent all the money in her PayPal account and so would have to wait until she had made some more sales before she could refund us.  It is not a large amount but OH is big on principle.  He then attempted to send some cash to someone and the card reader refused to work.  He spent 20 minutes on the chat function and then rang up a very unhelpful woman who kept on telling him that the cards were interchangeable but you needed one for each account.  He decided to send a cheque.  This kept him amused for ever such a long time with the result that we only just had time to eat and wash up before it was time for the Great British Sewing Bee.

Alas, Cat Woman!

Wednesday 4 February 2015

0 degrees dry and clear
Feels very cold

OH ailing in bed so was obliged to take the dog for a walk first thing in the morning.  The lane was quiet apart from a vendor and her madly excitable dog.  She was peering at me from a distance (I had on many layers and a bonnet firmly pulled down on my brows) and it was only when we were extricating the dogs from one another that she realised who I was. She said that the market was 'mortel' and she really hoped that I would bring someone who wants to buy her house, and soon.  Me too.  Walk seemed longer on my own.  Kept looking at my phone to see if WF was calling, as promised, but he didn't.

Back home and OH managed some poached egg and toast.  He looked really rough and stayed in bed for most of the day.

Went downstairs and battled to light the fire.  Remembered that I had done some writing about my family history, so instead of ringing people up and ironing, spent an hour going through the files on the PC and finally found it.  Result!  You, happy or unhappy reader, can read bits which I will insert on days when not a lot is happening.  You may be wondering why you are not reading some today, as manifestly I am rambling on.  Well, it is gone 8 am and I have two days journal to write and a 9.30 appointment.  Currently in bed with a cup of tea and the radiator on.

Went swimming later on.  Despite the chilly day, not many people in the pool.  A couple of pregnant ladies and some young guys.  A very elegant lady came in, accompanied by a young blonde girl and a little, skipping, red-headed sprite that made my heart ping with remembered love.

The changing room has been updated and has hairdryers which have options other than off or on.  Was drying my hair when a girl came in for the gym class.  In her 20's with taut muscles, a text tattoo wrapping around her firm waist and a diamante in her belly button.  She smoothed back her hair into a neat pony tail and carefully adjusted what there was of her Lycra two piece and looked at herself from all angles in the tall mirror.  Content, she bounced off through the door.

I looked at myself in the long mirror.  Once again, I had forgotten to bring my hair brush and the effect overall was of the mad cat woman from the Simpsons.   Must do better...

Thank you Ms Noddi

Monday 2 February 2015

Crisp and frosty

Worked on computer for most of day.  At around 4 pm had cabin fever so went and rejoined the local leisure centre and dived into the warm waters with some fervour.  Hardly anyone in the pool.  Did 20 lengths and thought of Ms Noddi who taught me to swim many moons ago. One of the best things I have ever learned to do.  I am completely cross eyed without my lenses so it took me a while to realise that the new lifeguard was in fact a former colleague with whom I had had a virulent falling out several years ago.  When I went to collect my key, he did not seem to recognise me. I am 15 kilos lighter and have different colour hair.  Do I just look ancient?  True that I never ever wore a swimsuit to the office.  A lady swam up to me and obviously recognised me and started to chat.  The waters took away the heat of my embarassement because I had absolutely no idea who she was.  

Pulverised my various wobbly bits in the water jets and had a steam.  Bliss.

Supermarket sweep and airhead alert

Monday 19 January 2015

Nippy and wet


Down the rental unit to do final clean before guests arrive.  Substantial amounts of dust everywhere and two brand new shelves.  Discover one of the window blinds is off its runners and a small window won't shut.  Icy wind rattles through.  We restrain it with some wire and pull down the blind to hide it.   I didn't imagine coming out here would involve so much cleaning.  In the UK it wasn't OH who had a secret woman - it was me and she was my cleaner.  The joy of going into a pristine room that I havent had to do myself is something well worth paying for.

Back home and wrestle with paperwork and phone calls.  Busy for January!  Back down town again to meet the guests.  Five o'clock.  Five thirty.  They ring our home and say they have just arrived at the supermarket at the other end of town and are just doing a little shopping.

I get to the supermarket and do a quick sweep to see if I can spot them.  They are in matching Bargain Hunt red parkas and are dithering over which water to buy.  The man keeps on putting large sizes of things into the basket and the woman keeps taking them out. Every time I get them to the check out, they remember something else.  An hour goes by. I finally get them through the door, down to the rental unit and up the stairs.  They coo in a very Welsh way when they see the flat and I give them quick instruction on how to use the hot plate and put down the fold out bed.  The woman looks confused - is this the only toilet?The flat is 26m2 and has separate kitchen, living room, bedroom, shower room and loo. Resist urge to reply I have hidden extra toilet behind the door.

OH rings me at 7.30 to find out if I am still alive.   I inform him that I have aged more than the passage of two and a half hours and that I will need wine at the ready when I arrive back home.

Watch Notorious.  Glorious costumes.  Cary Grant is as wooden as ever.  Ingrid Bergman so classy.