Countdown to parent's arrival

Richard and I are now on countdown before we go back to the UK for a couple of weeks. We are going for various reasons, 1 - Richard has some dental work that needs to be completed, 2 - It is our daughter's birthday on the 14th and 3 - Our best friend's son's wedding on the 21st. After that we are back here and bringing my mum and dad with us and I am SO looking forward to it. At the moment we are trying to clear up and make it look presentable for them for when they arrive, because when you live in a "building site" for a long time, you don't tend to notice the plaster dust and bits and pieces until you know your mother is coming to visit!!!! All hell is let loose around here at the moment, and anything that stands still for just a while gets a dust, look out Richard. Having said that, it looks exactly the same again the next day and to be honest, my mum isn't going to say anything anyway. I just want it to look the best it can and I hope and pray she doesn't worry about the holes in the stairs and the plaster coming off the wall. Ooops, perhaps I should tell her about that?? No, she'll be fine. Dad has wanted to come out here for such a long time because he loves helping Richard and pottering about. He is 90 in August so we don't expect any heavy work from him, but he just likes to feel part of it and they work so well together. It gives dad a purpose. Mum called me the other day and asked if she needed to bring anything, like the porridge oats that dad has every morning. Bless her, I think even she is looking forward to it now and we didn't think we would EVER get my mum out here. Oohh I'm so excited.

I said I would take a photo of my basket so here goes, promise not to laugh. I know it has a "sticky out" handle, but I quite like that crooked bit and it gives it a bit of quirkiness and character. Now that it has dried out I need to give it a coat of linseed oil tomorrow and that should bring the colour out a bit more. As you can see, it holds our eggs without falling over!! I am going to pull some bullrushes from our pond tomorrow and hang them out to dry, then I can have another go at a basket with my mum when she is here, she will love that.

All we seem to be doing at the moment is mowing the lawn because the weather is warm and wet, and the weeds!!!!!...... What it will be like when we get back I haven't a clue. I could do with my friend Debra popping over to look after it for us! I know, a bit too far.. :-)

I have planted up some pots and tubs today and we are taking them round to a friend's house in the next village and they are going to water them for me, then when I give them a call to let them know we are on our way, they will bring them round and arrange them in the drive to greet mum and dad. How cool is that?

Well, I suppose I had better get on with some more clearing up and putting away and to be honest, I need to listen to the Archers, lots of catching up to do. Thank you to everyone who came by and commented on my last post, it is so good to have you all back again, I was worried I had lost everyone forever. Night night, talk again soon.

To Hell and Back

Gosh, how long has it been since I last posted?? As you can see by the title of the post, it hasn't been a particularly good time, lots of things going on and I couldn't get my head around the blogging. I had a horrid health scare which involved doctors, mammograms, ultra-sounds with those horrid words "Oh I don't like the look of that, do we have your permission to do a biopsy now while you're here". All this was back in the UK and we were coming back to France with my youngest daughter for her 2 week holiday on the Sunday and the biopsy was on the Wednesday. It was going to take a week to get the results!!! Do we go on holiday or not?? I decided yes, what the hell I was desperate for Clare to see our house, she has only had a flying visit of one night and that was soon after we bought it, so she hasn't seen any of the renovations yet.

Anyway, I had a call from the hospital on Monday evening and ALL IS WELL!!! I have to go back to be re-scanned in 6 weeks, but they say it is a cyst that had burst and they want to make sure all the "rubbish" has been absorbed. Now we can enjoy having our daughter to stay at our house. As it happened though, her husband wasn't too good and wanted to go home, so they only stayed for one week. I was very upset, but understood the reasoning behind him wanting to go home and at least I had Clare here for a short while.


When we turned up at the house in France I was amazed at how much Richard and our friends had done while I had been in the UK. It looks fantastic and they have made huge progress on the room. Still a lot to do, but we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. Also, while I was in the UK, my mum and dad have said they are coming back with us next time, so it will be so good to have them here for a while. Hopefully they will stay for the whole of July, I can't wait, we have so much we want to do with them and introduce them to our friends. I think also, it is going to be their 67th wedding anniversary while they are here, so we will have to have a party for them. That certainly is something to celebrate isn't it?



Before and after pictures!












Last Friday I went on a course for basket making. Not your usual kind of wicker basket, but all stuff you gather in the hedgerows and your garden. We spent the first hour of the class just walking around in woods looking for lovely shaped pieces of wood for handles etc and the actual weaving was done with bull rushes that had been dried over winter. You then soak them and use them. I ended up with a basket, I haven't taken a photo of it yet, but perhaps I will if you promise not to laugh!! After all, it is a first attempt. It was a really good fun day, a bring and share lunch with wine and the weaving after that seemed a piece of cake! Since this has been the first time I have posted for ages, I just hope I have some old friends popping back to see if I'm still around. I have to say a HUGE apology as well because I was given an award before all my troubles began and I haven't done anything about that, so I am really sorry, please forgive me, I was very honoured to receive it. I am now going to catch up on all my blogging friends and wish you all well. After reading one of my friends blogs, Big Blue Barn, my "Hell and Back" is NOTHING, so now is the time to forget and move on. Take care everyone and talk again soon.

Family Life

The children are in bed, the parents are out and I am here on my own, so wish me luck!! While all are safely tucked up I thought I would take the opportunity to post a few words, that is, as long as I can keep my eyes open. We have had a couple of bad nights with the children, poor Bubbs had croup and he really suffers trying to breathe, so that was one night up, because it had also woken the girls and they were screaming just for the hell of it. That was my first night back here, the second night, poor Bubbs had bad dreams so was up again. He is usually so good at sleeping as well, I'm beginning to think it is me. I would hate to think I am upsetting the system by being here.

Today, the weather improved in the afternoon and the children played outside in the sunshine for a little while. So good to be able to let them free in the fresh air, and hopefully it will help them sleep tonight. I spoke to Richard again this evening and he is busy starting to clear up ready to come back to the UK. I can't wait to have him back again, but also, I can't wait to see what he has been doing. It sounds as though he has got on very well, the bathroom was going in today and the electrics are in. I am amazed how quickly he has done it all with the help of a very good friend and his wife. When I was chatting to him earlier, they were sitting outside, having a drink after they had finished their dinner which Richard had BBQ'd. I was very pleased to hear that our swallows are still on their nests, so all the upheaval hasn't upset them. I would have been devastated if they had gone. It's quite amusing because when he is talking to me from outside, you can hear the frogs singing in the background.

Well I am going to go now and catch up with all the blogs I have been missing for the last few days. Take care everyone and I will talk to you again soon.