October 17th 2008
I was hit by the stark reality this morning that I am earning less money than ever before. On the upside, I am also cooking more than ever before. Every time someone starts working on the electricity supply downstairs, the internet Livebox is unplugged , meaning I can’t call anyone from the landline, which is an internet phone, and can’t email or research on the web. So, unable to work, I go down to the kitchen and prepare something to eat. Yesterday it was beef lasagne (even though I don’t eat beef) and today’s effort is melanzane parmigiana (or aubergine bake).
Went out with the running club again. They are really friendly and normal, not like the freaky people you usually meet at running clubs, and my local restaurant owner David also runs with them and he is quite easy on the eye so that makes it more fun! I’m even getting up at 7am on Saturdays to go with them, most unlike me.
Have arranged to go skiing with friends for three days between Xmas and New Year to Sestriere in Italy, it’s four hours drive from here and looks amazing. We are burning through the cash which is not good when we have so much to do still but figure that can be a little Xmas pressie for all of us. Kitted the girls out today with ski gear at Decathlon, 600 euros later I still haven't got their skis or boots yet. I can feel a beans on toast month coming on very soon.
The girls are doing trick or treat in Valbonne on Hallowe'en, each with their respective friends. Am pleased they still want to do stuff like that although when Livvy described what she is planning to wear (fishnets, heels, black skirt and devil horns) I nearly wet myself. She will be jailbait but all her friends are doing the same. What happened, I thought she was 13 not 17. She told me today that she and her four best friends at Fenelon are the only ones not to be invited to another girls' Hallowe'en party because this girl says they always get all the attention from the boys and it’s her party so she wants the boys to look at her and not them! How funny, her friends are all very attractive though and witty and funny, makes me fear for the boys really and the havoc that lies ahead!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
October 13th 2008
Spent the weekend surveying mess and wondering if I should clear up but there seemed no point as the kitchen wall is coming down this week which means more chaos and dust. You might get the impression that I'm feeling sorry for myself, you would be right.
Feel a bit guilty because Brian and Iain have been working all day long taking out the old kitchen and constructing it as a makeshift in the laundry room until the new one is fitted. Men love making something out of old bits and pieces and they are really enjoying themselves but I can't shar their enthusiasm for what now looks like a botched together series of battered white units, ancient cooker and hob all in a tiny space where you can't swing a cat. Made the mistake of saying this and referring to it as a 'bodge job' which didn't go down too well.
I remember Iain leaping into action to save the hideous old kitchen units at our cottage in Hertfordshire so he could turn them into a workshop at the back of our garage. He was in his element while I was fuming that despite spending a small second mortgage on a new kitchen, I still had to look at the naff stuff we'd just replaced. In the spirit of recycling and being green, I shouldn't moan I know. At least we have ordered a new kitchen, despite the fact that we are rapidly running out of cash. It's high gloss, red and very modern, and is arriving the week before Christmas. With our usual immaculate timing, it is being fitted in three days and the granite is arriving on the day we leave to go to the UK for a pre-Xmas family visit. The kitchen guy said of course it will all be finished that Friday, or else at the very latest the following Monday, three days before Christmas! And in the presence of a house sitter rather than us. I have a feeling this is another episode that will not go to plan.
On the plus side, I have joined a running club in my village. It is full of very fit French runners which serves two purposes - I am running faster and further than I usually do and pracising my French between puffs. It should be good training for the Londn Marathon next year, if I don't collapse on a hillside anytime soon.
Spent the weekend surveying mess and wondering if I should clear up but there seemed no point as the kitchen wall is coming down this week which means more chaos and dust. You might get the impression that I'm feeling sorry for myself, you would be right.
Feel a bit guilty because Brian and Iain have been working all day long taking out the old kitchen and constructing it as a makeshift in the laundry room until the new one is fitted. Men love making something out of old bits and pieces and they are really enjoying themselves but I can't shar their enthusiasm for what now looks like a botched together series of battered white units, ancient cooker and hob all in a tiny space where you can't swing a cat. Made the mistake of saying this and referring to it as a 'bodge job' which didn't go down too well.
I remember Iain leaping into action to save the hideous old kitchen units at our cottage in Hertfordshire so he could turn them into a workshop at the back of our garage. He was in his element while I was fuming that despite spending a small second mortgage on a new kitchen, I still had to look at the naff stuff we'd just replaced. In the spirit of recycling and being green, I shouldn't moan I know. At least we have ordered a new kitchen, despite the fact that we are rapidly running out of cash. It's high gloss, red and very modern, and is arriving the week before Christmas. With our usual immaculate timing, it is being fitted in three days and the granite is arriving on the day we leave to go to the UK for a pre-Xmas family visit. The kitchen guy said of course it will all be finished that Friday, or else at the very latest the following Monday, three days before Christmas! And in the presence of a house sitter rather than us. I have a feeling this is another episode that will not go to plan.
On the plus side, I have joined a running club in my village. It is full of very fit French runners which serves two purposes - I am running faster and further than I usually do and pracising my French between puffs. It should be good training for the Londn Marathon next year, if I don't collapse on a hillside anytime soon.
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