Saturday 7th March

Well, after the madness of London and a few crises at work in the last few days I have returned, though this time just for a few days.  Life just seems to get more and more complicated these days.  My wife, who has been rather successfully running the Cafe des Artes in Eymet for almost two weeks now, and I are returning for a week in England.  Not that it will be at all quiet.  I will be working Monday to Wednesday then down to Walton returning on Friday.  On Saturday we are celebrating my own birthday with family and friends.  This has become quite an event, where the family gets together for the first time since Christmas. We have Hospital and Vets and Dog Grooming and Solicitors to see, and we are going to The Range where I am certain we will be buying more embellishments for the Cafe.  Also picking up paint and lots of Nespresso coffee, we will be taking chairs and our London coffee machine back to France too.

Complicated!!! We are bound to forget something important.  My wife will be driving us both back to England tomorrow; as you know I don’t really enjoy the journey, being a somewhat reluctant and bored passenger.  She will make the return journey on her own the following Sunday, the day after my party and I will be flying here the Thursday following that.

I keep finding myself waking from sleep and reaching for the light on the wrong side of the bed, not even sure which country, let alone which house I am in, or if it is a work day or a slightly different French work day, as I am also a fully unpaid barrista…hahaha.  Not that I am complaining, I am really very lucky to have such an interesting life.  Though retirement is looming, and it now looks as if we will both be spending far more time out here.  I had, as you know, intended to spend more time writing and maybe even painting….we will see.