Bank Holiday fun

Today is a bank holiday here again and, Her indoors, is not indoors as she has had to go to work, in a bank. I'll let you work out the logic in that one. While she's out and about though, I have taken on the role of child minder for the day. My suggestion of a 20 mile hike rapidly went out the window though being replaced with a bit of mask painting and DS playing. So far so good though as we've had no fights yet apart from a slight set to over finishing breakfast which was quickly resolved when I donned the evil glare.

Just like last year, someone appears to have made off with spring again and we are trapped with eternal April Showers. That combined with a couple of late frosts has put pay to a whole pile of veg, again. I am now sling free though and feeling a lot better even after the second hospital visit when my hand swelled up, the veins in my arm were bulging and I was in excruciating pain.

We went out for afternoon tea yesterday and I was instructed to bring my accordion. It seems that during a drunken evening out a couple of months ago I agreed to play at the "fete de music" at the end of June. Tea revolved around me playing a few tunes with Gill accompanying on guitar. From here it became apparent that I wasn't just going to get away with playing the squeeze box. Now I also have to dress up as a clown and sing a French song translated into English. The good news is that Jane has to sing too however I feel she may find some urgent business on the other side of the channel that just happens to clash with the said date.

Our annual house party is set for next weekend. This year running in the condensed form of a Sunday night paella with a bunch of locals and expats. I think the head count is looking like 70 but can't be sure yet.
Trying to remain jovial, but I have successfully broken both ride on mowers, again, one flat tyre on old faithful and a different belt, I hope, on the new one although I haven't been brave enough to take it apart and check yet. Watch this space for a depressive update once I've been brave enough to strip it down.

Stir Crazy

Six days in with my arm in a sling, sounds like the start to a great poem but in reality my enthusiasm for creativity is at an all time low. I'm like a bird with a broken wing desperate to return to the skies and appreciate the greatness of my reality but instead I am left flapping around in circles on the ground getting nowhere and spiralling down towards the abyss.

Always one to find a positive in every negative, the x-rays show no signs of broken bones which is apparently a good thing. There are however many negatives as a knock on effect of my situation. Having to hand the lawn mowing over to Josh and placing him in charge of my prize vehicle was a great buzz for him but also a huge beating for my pride. Not to knock his mowing abilities mind you, but it did remind me of my father mowing squircles in the back garden the day before one of our many house parties. Alas, also, the beast of a barbecue on wheels is no further forward than when I last touched it nearly 3 weeks ago and the staircase I am fabricating for some friends is still a pile of metal waiting to be cut up.

Our annual house party is less than a fortnight away, and as far as I can tell, it will be the smallest too date. I wouldn't say that we have intentionally undersold it, but we certainly have bigged it up in the usual manner and the weekend is looking like it will be compressed into a Sunday afternoon paella party with a bunch of locals and expats.

Josh will be entering the world of teenager-dom in a fortnight and, at the moment, Daddies suggestion of a moto-x bike appears to have been thrown out of the window. Apparently there are plenty of far less dangerous presents that we could get him. I'm now thinking he must be about old enough for his first rifle but I'm not sure that will go down to well either. My cunning plan to buy him a tractor, that I could borrow, has also gone out of the window as it seems the only ones you can pick up cheap are found in Toys'r'us. Ho Hum, I'm sure we'll come up with something.

On my ever growing list of jobs, it'll be no surprise that we have a few slates missing off the roof again. It'll be a few weeks before I can venture up there to put them back though. The trampoline we bought for Peters birthday needs finishing, once the rest of the springs arrive, then I'm going to build some concrete boots on the legs to stop it taking off like so many of our friends ones have. The bedroom ceiling in the gite requires some redecorating as we had a bit of water get in over the winter, probably as a result of me still not fixing the chimney. The roundhouse roof desperately needs the turf finishing but that will be a case of waiting for some willing volunteers. One less job though is the removal of a whole pile of scrap metal that was taken away this morning. Who'd have believed we could fill a flat bed transit with some old fencing and rusty metal.

Anyhow, time is money and all that so I'm off to put my feet up, probably have a little doze and continue feeling sorry for myself until such time as I'm fit to work again.