Another busy day

Thursday 28th April

I retired (sort of) about a year ago.  Well, I still do one little job back in England, looking after the Accounts for a Restaurant in the City.  I respond to e-mails every day and do a weekly report and check Sales and the Bank Statement all by e-mail.  I go in for a day every month to actually see the staff and to check and record all invoices.  It works quite well, and I tend to use this monthly trip to see one or other of my kids, or mum and dad.

I went down to four days a week about 4 years ago, and then to three and stopped altogether (except for above) a year ago.  So, you would think that retirement meant a life of leisure, reading books, watching telly etc:  Well, my day yesterday was not really untypical, and was as usual very busy.  Up at seven, feeding dogs, shave and shower, walk dogs.  Open up Cafe and put out tables and chairs.  Return home and a bit of decorating (yesterday was removing some more of wallpaper in kitchen), today was reassembling a second-hand chest we had bought and I had painted with grey chalk paint; screwing back all the handles and hinges and screwing the top to the wall.  Back to the Cafe to help close up at lunch.  Back to the old house, which we are trying to sell, and dismantling two double beds (didn’t quite manage it as I had brought wrong tools).  Back to new house and out to Tridome (a Bricomarche) to collect the two work tops for our new kitchen we had bought yesterday.  We had to hire a van from them as they were too long for our Ford Galaxy and even now they were sticking out of the end of the van and tied in with string.  Back to our new house and unloaded them before going to old house to collect the beds and mattresses.  Returned the van to Tridome and collected our car.

It was five by the time we got back and time to cook our evening meal, before some friends came round for drinks.  Then I discovered that French Air-traffic Controllers are on strike again tomorrow, so my flight has been cancelled and at 11.15 at night I am busy trying to reschedule my flight and work commitments.  It makes me wonder how I ever found time to go to work…