I’ve been very negligent in the blog-writing department so for that, I apologise. After Kevin left, I got to work on my new work project. This was writing a document about the technical aspects of a new web site for a private Swiss bank. It’s now with the bank, along with the functional document for them to decide how to proceed. It may turn into a project management job, one day a week for about 3 months but that’s TBC. Will has finished all his web work and is just waiting for people to get back to him.
We celebrated our 9th anniversary last week (21st). It had to be pizza since we had been denied earlier in the month and didn’t have any with visitors either. We called our local for some takeaway but they were still closed for their “conge annuale” so instead we drove to Nontron and ate at pizzeria there. We also had a bottle of champers when we got back home. All in all, it was a fitting celebration for our existence here. We did very little at the weekend but Monday night, had dinner at Chez Rigit, our friends Richard and Brigit who moved back to the UK last year. They were down for a week taking advantage of the fact that they still own a property in France so they invited us over along with Sharon. They served veggie cannelloni, salad and garlic bread with an apple tart for dessert. We also brought along some of our special home grown that we just harvested. It was all very tasty.
Will’s family arrived on Tuesday afternoon after getting the night ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre. We did a bbq that evening and had a fairly early night since the travellers were a bit weary from lack of sleep on the crossing. Andrew had offered to render (stucco) the back of the house the last time he was here so came with some tools with which to do so. We all went to Nontron the next day and got some cement and sand as well as some supplies from the grocery store. He got to work that afternoon but ran out of sand so Will and Dave went back to Nontron for more. They had to make one more trip the next day too but that was enough for him to do the back wall and some pointing in two places on the front. All in all, it looks much better so we’re very grateful for the work.
Other than the building work, we just hung out and enjoyed the nice weather. Normally, Anne and Andrew spend a week or two in Greece in September but they came to see us instead so we were pleased to offer them Indian Summer while they were here. Temps were close to 30 (86F) during the day with blue skies and a nice breeze. It’s been like that all over Europe including the UK so they don’t get to gloat to their friends when they get home but at least they were on holiday and could enjoy it. In addition to pork in fig sauce one night and a second bbq on the last night, the family took us to dinner at Les Saveurs in Brantome where we had a great meal on the terrace. We tried to go to Hotel de France (our local) but they were closed for a private function so we’ll do it next time.
Our guests left us yesterday so we’ve been getting ready for our trip since then. I went swimming this morning which I enjoyed for having done it but I’m usually in no fit state to do so on a Sun am so not sure I’ll do it again. We leave tomorrow morning around 6am, drive to Sharon’s where we’ll leave the car and then she’ll take us to Angouleme train station where we get the train directly to the airport. We take off three hours later for Hong Kong where we arrive the next morning (Tues). We’re in HK till Thurs and then we fly to Cebu, Phillipines where we’re staying at the posh resort where the wedding will be held. The couple is my friend Paul who I know from uni and Karmen, his bride-to-be who is from HK. We’re there till Sunday, then back to HK and home on Tues when we do the reverse and arrive home sometime around midnight of the same day. If you think it’s strange that two unemployed people are embarking on a holiday to faraway places, it’s only due to the grace of Paul who insisted we come and made it possible for us to do so. We are grateful for the holiday, even if we live in a place where people come to spend theirs.
Ok – details to follow…