Brexit was meant to happen on 29 March and so far, it hasn’t. I won’t even try to explain what’s going on, not that anyone really knows. The latest is that Parliament are considering a form of soft Brexit, meaning they’d stay in the customs union. I’ll leave it for Will to explain next week when we should know a bit more.
We had already invited Anne & Andrew, Rigit and Francoise to dinner that night so it turned into a celebratory meal. It was actually a double celebration since Francoise learned that she’d officially become a PhD that day. The meal started with a curried-courgette soup from a Moosewood cookbook that I’d not tried before, which came out well. The main was a greek baked pasta dish, served with bread, followed by cheese. I made brownies and Francoise brought a fruit salad and bubbles, with which we toasted her success. Everyone left around 11 except Francoise who stayed for some cards.
Our only other event was my choir concert on Saturday night. This was in Bosmie L’Aguille, a suburb of Limoges. It was a benefit concert for Retina, a charity that supports eye-disease research. The event started with students of a local music school who played piano, violin and sang. There were a dozen numbers in all, and some of it was fairly painful to sit through. Next up was a local choir who sang while accompanied by their choirmaster on piano. We weren’t overly impressed with their performance, although it could be described as adequate. My choir went on last we nailed pretty much every song. It’s such a pleasure to sing and perform with people who take it seriously. All the choir members brought something to eat so we hung out for a bit before heading home around 11. Paul and Nathalie drove us which was a bonus. Will and I had a drink and watched a film until 3, which was actually 4 due to the clock change.
Also on the music front, I heard back from Laurent and we’re on for our gig in Milhac. It will be on 15 June while my mom is here, as is traditional. Christian has been away the last two Sundays and then we’ll miss two more in April so we’ve got our work cut out for us. Most of the songs are nearly ready, but others still need work so we’ll likely cut down the set list a bit.
Sunday was the last really nice day and we spent a lot of it outdoors. I mowed, tidied up the rose trellis and did some weeding. I also planted some herbs and Will planted some old sweet pea seeds. We moved the small bush from the front near the pine stump to the back. This was an engagement gift from Manu & Mathilde and it’s not done at all well where it used to be due to pine roots and bamboo. We’re hoping it recovers in its new home. We also got our special seeds started. We’re thinking of holding off on a greenhouse for the back. It’s going to need a fence around it anyway, so we’re going to install a taller fence this year and see if that does the trick. If not, then we’ll try a greenhouse next year.
The other garden related news is the terrance, which is now (nearly) finished. Jean the electrician came by and hooked up the lights and plug socket and it all appears to work. We also ordered a table and chairs for the terrace which should arrive in a week or so. If all goes well, we should have our new couch around the same time, but I’m not holding my breath.
Work has slowed down for both of us and we’re mainly waiting for clients to come back to us. Being the first day of the quarter, I sent out a number of invoices which is nice, despite the pain. I’m considering building a web application to manage my time-keeping and invoicing instead of with spreadsheets as I do now. It may save a bit of time and could also be useful as a demo for clients.
I’ve got a mini-holiday coming up next week. Paul is turning 50 this month and is having a party, to which Will and I are invited. Will didn’t fancy the long-haul flights and isn’t the biggest fan of Hong Kong, so I’m going on my own. I found a flight from Bordeaux via Paris for €550. I leave next Tues (9th) and return the following Monday. Paul has offered the use of their “mother-in-law” apartment as well. I’m not looking forward to the flights but turning 50 makes me realise that life is short and to do these things while I still can.