We’ve been enjoying the same weather since the start of July with an average temp around 30 and high teens at night. It’s been sunny nearly every day although we had the threat of storm but no rain one day. Today it’s 34C(93F), the highest temp of the year. We’ve taken advantage by eating bbq nearly every night, with the exception of curry night last week. I finally broke down yesterday and got stuff to make salads so that’s on tap for the next few nights.
We both had a busy week, work-wise. Will worked on and got client sign-off for the jewellery web site. I’ve started building it and we’re meeting with them on Tues to show them and discuss next steps. Will also heard back from the law firm and it turns out, they want a full redesign so he finished one and sent it off on Friday. It’s very modern and bold, which was the brief so we’ll see what they think. I worked on some stuff for Media Trust since they did a redesign of their site and needed some small bits doing. I also heard from Anna and they will have a small bit of work for me in the future. Lastly, Will is translating the new terms and conditions for the Vortex web sites. It’s 14 pages of bullet points and will take him days to do, not fun but it’s all cash.
It’s nice to have some money coming in since we just booked our trip to Greece. Will’s parents just returned so arranged for accommodation and booked us all flights from London in September. I booked the train tickets after that. We’ll be away from Sept 4 – 13, with the just the first and last nights in the UK. We’re very much looking forward to going, our first time in 5 years.
We did a bit of socialising during the week. On Tuesday, Nat and Jill came over for a bbq. They had the satellite man over just before coming here, but unfortunately, he only partially fixed the problem and won’t be coming back. He confirmed that the cable was the problem, which was my diagnosis so I feel smart, even if I didn’t actually fix the problem. He’s an Englishman with a monopoly in the area and although he claimed to fix the problem, it returned just after he left. So Jill wasn’t in a great mood when they arrived but cheered up after a margarita and some wine. I served pork loin steaks and duck breast skewers with green pepper. I overcooked both meats but planned ahead and served both with the orange pepper sauce my mom discovered when she was here. I also made potato salad and a tomato, basil, mozzarella salad. The ladies stayed until midnight or so.
On Thursday, we were invited around to Françoise and Phillipes for a bbq. We thought it was just us plus Bryan and Carol but there were about 15 others, including 7 girls from two different families. They hosts are letting out the flat adjacent to their house to a friend and young woman, both of whom work at the chateau with Françoise. Also there were Nadine and Jean Claude, Manuel and Mathilde whose place we went to a few months ago, plus another couple and their kids.
They had set up a marquee outside and were serving wine and beer from a small beer fridge that Phillipe was given as a going away present from parents at his school. We started with three types of melon, discovering that the French call a different variety “watermelon”, what we call honeydew in the States. They borrowed a big gas grill and first cooked a bunch of veggies, mostly of the ratatouille variety. The meat was chicken skewers, beef sausages and also, beef heart skewers. When Françoise said they were “coeur de boeuf”, I started explaining to Bryan and Carol that it was just the name for the cut of meat. Turns out it really is heart, and as the French kept saying, “it’s just a muscle, and very lean too”. I had a few and enjoyed it, a first for me.
For dessert, Françoise made a couple different pies and another guest made a plum tart. I used the raspberries that Mauricette brought over the other day to make my brown butter tart and it received a lot of praise. Most of the others left around midnight but Will and I stayed up drinking beer with Françoise out in the garden until around 2:30. She was on a mission and kept suggesting another one. Thankfully, Phillipe had passed out around 1 since he was on volunteer fireman duty so we had good time chatting.
Will and I were both a bit tired the next day but both of us had loads of work. I didn’t make it to the pool until yesterday afternoon, having meant to go on Thursday. We both did a bit of work yesterday and I even did some this morning although we’ve been taking it easy since after lunch. I’ve even been reading a bit of fiction lately for the first time in ages.
The garden is doing well with all the heat although we’re probably not watering as much as we should. The corn that emerged is getting big, as are our special plants, although not the ones we put in the ground. The tomatoes will be ready soon, and possibly the onions and carrots. The cats have also been enjoying the weather, although more so at night, meaning they sleep most of the day. The hunting is very good at present, and Louis brought us a rabbit for the first time the other early morning. I was asleep but apparently, he dragged it in, ate its head and then dragged it into our bedroom. Will threw it out and the cats followed and by the time we got up, only the bottom half was left. Smoo polished most of that off when he got up later in the day and this morning, only a few tufts remain.
And on that lovely note, I’m off to read in the shade.