I am in a state of advanced bliss today. On Friday of last week, I woke up feeling a little bit off, and over the course of the day, this transformed into a fever. I basically ended up spending the entire weekend under a blanket on the sofa feeling quite messed up. It was doubly upsetting to know how nice it was outside and not be able to get out and enjoy it – every time I tried to sit outside it made my head swim so I kept indoors.
Today, however, I am enjoying immensely the only good thing about getting ill – the fact that when you feel normal again, it isn’t just “normal”, it’s fan-bloody-tastic. I am outside by the pool and am amazed by the transformation. Whilst I was quietly hallucinating on the sofa, Sharon and Matt were continuing to work on getting everything ready for the coming season, and it is now looking quite lovely. Matt jet-sprayed the patio tiles by the pool area and Sharon worked on getting the pool filled and applying all the various potions it needs to be usable. As you can see from the pictures, they have both done a bang-up job! As an added bonus, the sun is just starting to burn off the haze, so we will be back to pure blue skies shortly. Oh yes, and the arrival of a care package through the post this morning of some of London’s finest is further improving our Monday! Merci beaucoup, Cyril – most appreciated.
The icing on the cake however, is the hammock. Hammocks, as we all know, are among the greatest things in the known universe. In fact, they may well be THE greatest thing ever. They are the pinnacle of comfort, the ultimate in decadence, the height of desirability. Ever since the Native Americans stumbled across this elegant solution for sleeping in comfort and without fear of getting bitten by nasty bugs, the world has been a richer and more enjoyable place. Sharon bought this hammock some time back but had never gotten round to unpacking it, so getting it set up was one of Matt’s activities yesterday, which he has done admirably. And what a beauty she is, modelled in the pictures by Matt. This is shaping up to be the summer of a lifetime!