Saturday 6th April

And before you know it the holiday is almost over.  This is the eighth day and I feel I am just beginning to relax, to slough off the work life and enjoy just being here.  Today, vendredi – Friday pour vous, despite snow in England it was sunny again here in Eymet.  We went to Bergerac pour le shopping –  a big trading estate with row after row of stores; Conforama, Baji, Gaya, Maisons pour vous and our favourite But.  We were looking for a screen for the garden room – we had a toilet, shower and sink installed which are lovely  but their position offers no protection from anyone actually in the garden.  We found a really nice one which works perfectly. Its slatted upper half (louvre door style) allow anyone inside to see out without being seen at all,  we also got a small chest of drawers and a mirror and a couple of stools.

We spent the afternoon finishing off the paving slabs, loose laid on sand and shingle, but not at all bad for that, and the rest of the door painting.

Now, I am sitting inside Café de Paris, the weather has turned a bit chillier, drinking café au lait and waiting for the last of our guest sheets to be washed in the lavomat.  A good week, but of course no writing done at all, I never really expected to do any.  I also brought some paints and canvases and brushes out but again they will have to wait.

I am determined to get down here for a few weekends before the real summer hits and maybe then.  I am still on course to go down to three days a week some time this summer, so that will free up a bit more time.  I am getting to the age when time is more valuable to me than money.

Anyway, the next blog will be from cold England. Hopefully the world will still be at peace, though I am not at all certain that North Korea is not just sabre rattling – let us hope that they are for all our sakes.