A BUSY WEEK.

The gorgeous weather of my first week back was bound not to last, but it was great while it lasted!  I got loads and loads of washing done and dry on the line outdoors, including bedding, curtains and dog beds.  

I find there’s something therapeutically old fashioned about drying washing on the line in the fresh air.  The whole process gives me huge satisfaction - unless of course there’s an unexpected shower!  Having to fetch it all back indoors in a hurry is fundamentally disheartening but then I just put it all on the airer in the dining room where it’s out of the way and the warmth from the log burner at the other end of the room finishes it off.

This is all completely baffling to a friend who doesn’t possess a washing line and dries everything in a tumble dryer.  When I explained that I've always dried washing outdoors whenever possible and that now it feels more important as it saves me money, saves on electricity and in turn goes some way towards saving the planet she thought it was pointless.  "Someone else will have to do that for me" she said.  There’s no wonder that the planet is gradually burning to a crisp.

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" and we took time off from chores and DIY quite a lot last week.  On Saturday we went to a wonderful concert in a nearby village hall.  It was a performance of swing jazz by an amateur orchestra of local musicians and it was fabulous.  There’s a lot going on in rural France if you know where to look!

On Sunday it was a glorious 20°C so went to the first brocante of the year and later in the afternoon dusted off the old Harleys and went for a run.  I hadn’t ridden mine at all last year but it seems you never do forget…..

The bathroom project stalled a bit and not much progress was made.  Not for lack of effort though, but because of niggling problems.  The drawer unit under the sink was a flat pack item that simply wouldn’t go together properly.  Yet another visit to several DIY shops were required to source bits that would help to align the components correctly.  More visits were required to get different plumbing bits to solve small leaks on the sink and toilet and then several more to find somewhere that had tiles that we liked in stock.

This week though, the work is steaming ahead and Nick is getting on with tiling, woodwork, painting and finishing off.  And of course, today it’s going to rain all day!