Give us the sack!!!!

I have just realised that the last post on here was created months ago. I apologise profusely and promise to sack the boss!

We have been ticking along nicely here through the winter and hoping that the snow does not arrive. The fires have been burning well and the wood has lasted so far.

We have a new addition to the family this week. She is a labrador cross English setter called Bella. She was born on the 12th December and is really rather cute. Luna has accepted her into the fold and is playing very gently.

The photo above was taken today during the glorious sunshine. I managed to get all three children, the two cats and the two dogs in the photo and smiling. That is no mean feat.

What are the kids doing? Well, Josh is still doing well. He recently did a weeks work experience with an architect and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is his last year in college and the month of March will be spent visiting lycees to decide where he will be going for the next three years.

Kirsty is continuing to be a swot and is consistently doing well at school. She must take after her mother. On the down side she did become a teenager this year and the strops do continue.

Peter is Peter! He is doing well at school and continues to enthrall us with his random facts!

Andrew is still working hard both here and away. He is the rock of the family.

Me, I am just me!!!

See you soon guys.

Softball 2014

Well that's pretty much it for another year. All but the last guests have left and slowly but surely the devastation is being cleared. We must have set a new recycling record for the year having done 3 trailer loads. It seems we had numerous vodka drinkers as there were 6 large bottles that I recall just in one trailer.
Every year I say that improving on the previous year will be hard work but, once again, we have done it with some style. I wasn't initially kean on the idea of pirates and dressing up but, looking at the pictures of me in my costume, I know it was the right thing to do. Big thumbs up to Dave for making it happen by rallying the votes. Contemplating heroes and villains for next year as Dave will be able to come as a pirate again.
This years tournament kicked off earlier than any previous ones with the first proper influx on the Tuesday night when the Holland posse rolled up at dusk with music blaring and rocking the valley.(this could have been Wednesday night but I may have been drunk.) I'd had an inkling that a sight seeing tour might lose out in a battle against a few extra days here but I certainly hadn't expected such an early kick off. Party night 1 was under way.
Rob, Adam and Jenny also joined us Tuesday along with 3 kegs of ale, a new computer and Norman, the most exceptional suit of armour. What can one say? other than I was blown away. Seeing Norman on parade on Sunday night bought tears to my eyes and has made many happy memories for the people who were here. I hope that he enjoys his new home here and continues to bring pleasure to the masses. Cheers uncle Bob.
Wednesday (which may have been Thursday) saw the arrival of the second half of the Honey badger pirate tour with Dave & Kirsty aand Khim, Tim and Caitlyn joining the bash. Later that evening the party monsters arrived complete with beer having walked from the ferry port. Felix and Florian you should be very proud of your achievement and it means there are less excuses for any future visits you plan to make.
In the back ground of arriving guests, Jane was organising operation "Saving private Bailey". With his international roaming not working on his phone, Jakes mission to cycle from Calais to here had gone pear shaped and he was cut off from the whole planet. Fortunately he was bright enough to phone here and a rescue mission was sorted which resulted in Jules also getting a few extra days to party with the mob.
The pictures just keep getting posted, each and every one helping to remind me what an amazing event we have just pulled off. I must thank all the budding photographers for their efforts and I shall keep my fingers crossed that perhaps Flora will produce another video for us. Big thumbs up for Christian for being a great sport and letting me give him a mohawk and also for his great job at etching plastic cups.
Possibily the greatest wind up of the weekend was on Monday night when the Gendarmes turned up. Although it wasn't taken with my usual humourous spirit, looking back it was most excellent so big thumbs up to Adam and Rob for pulling it off.
Plenty more to write but don't want to bore too many peeps with my ramblings. Big thanks to everyone for chipping in and making the event what it was. Special big thanks and loads of love to Jane for letting me have a few friends over to play again.
Next year is closed doors to newbies unless sponsored by one of the existing mob.
Now it's time to sleep, night all.

Considering I don't have a job, you'd think I'd have all the time in the world to keep on top of my blog. Turns out that isn't the case as I turn my back for a few moments and another couple of months have slipped past. Apologies as always blog fans.

I'm sad to say that, after losing Sasha at the beginning of the year to a stroke, we have now also lost Zorro who had a huge tumour behind his eye that was un-operable. He has joined Sasha down the garden now and Luna is keeping guard. She's even barked a couple of times since we got her.

Yesterday was our 18th wedding anniversary so we had a few friends over for a 5 hour lunch feast. It was almost a complete vegetarian affair which left Josh a tad depressed but all the food was great and the Pollock turned out exceptional with it's huge white flakes of flesh.

The garden continues to grow faster than I can stay on top of. Presently mowing the lawn every 6 days in between the numerous downpours that have plagued the last 8 weeks. At the beginning of the month I was brave enough to take the plants out of the green house and, touch wood, we've been frost free so far.

I will confess that the roulotte has sort of ground to a halt. I'm at the stage of first fix electrics and plumbing before I can clad the internal walls and lay the floor. Generally the ideas flow in to my head and then I turn them into reality but at present everything is just a little cloudy.

Back to normality, almost

Back in February I pointed out that we'd been suffering here with flu like symptoms. Well, there went 6 weeks of my life and although still not 100%, my mojo has returned and I have regained the ability to work.

The roulotte has stood patiently waiting for me where it shall remain until such time as I have the next load of materials to progress it forwards again. Instead my energies have been focused on felling trees, chopping logs and the never ending task of lawn mowing. Even though this work can get the better of you, I only need to glance around to remember why it's all worth while. The blossom on the trees, the wisteria in full bloom on the front of the house, chirping birds and gorgeous stripes in the lawn.

We're about to head into a manic fortnight of travelling. Jane has already kicked it off by heading to the UK for our nieces wedding then we have guests for Easter weekend and next weekend we're heading to Switzerland for the first time. Following on from our return to France I then get to head off to the UK for a softball weekend.

Rolling on with the roulotte

Well in between the numerous downpours of hail, sleet, snow and the usual rain, I have made quite a substantial bit of progress on the roulotte. The gale force winds made it very difficult to keep it covered up so on Sunday I had a super hard push to get the roof watertight. Although not finished completely, there is now a watertight membrane fixed to the top which will allow the interior woodwork to properly dry out.

Been feeling very sorry for the greater family back in the UK who have been suffering with the recent floods. Numerous houses have been flooded and I don't envy the clean up task that awaits them in the coming months. Give me a shout if there's anything I can do to assist.

I have been occupying a lot of time recently helping friends on roofs,it seems a thankless task but it has given me the opportunity to accumulate lots of left over materials that are all being put to good use. I'm grateful for the rest bite now though as I'd forgotten how tiring it can be actually working properly.

The whole household are suffering, apart from Josh, with cold and flu like symptoms that just keep lingering on and on. Kirsty is suffering worst though as she has also picked up an ear infection to boot. Luna is growing incredibly fast. At 8 weeks she was 4kg, 12 weeks she was 9.1kg and I think she is over 10 now. We're down to just a few puddles in the house now which is great and I've just started training her on the lead.

Happy 70th Grandma Nett

I think the images speak for themselves. Yummy scrummy cake made by Auntie Heather!!!

Roulotte progress

Although I've been hampered by some incredibly wet weather. Progress on the roulotte has been good and with every addition it becomes easier and easier to visualize the finished article. Presently I have run out of wood so it may be a week or two before I get going again. There is a lot of plywood to go in the interior which for some reason, in France,is extortionately expensive.

A friend for Zorro

Yesterday we picked up a new addition to the family. Luna Larcombe, a Saint Bernard/German Shepherd cross puppy, was born on 7th November 2013. At the moment Zorro is still very wary of this little fur ball chasing him round and round the kitchen but I'm sure it won't be long before they're best of friends.

Not the best start to a year

Believe it or not, those who've ever been here will, we have been partying hard since Christmas day peaking at 32 on New Years eve and now dropping back to just the one guest. It's probably no surprise that a fair amount of alcohol has been consumed in this time along with a few peeps being a little unwell. Reality returns to the Chateau on Monday when the kids return to school and we are guest free.

Sadly, on 2nd January, we lost our trusty hound, guard dog, friend and member of the family. Sasha suffered a major stroke leaving her unable to move properly and giving us no choice but to have her put down. There is a vast empty space in the house which will be very difficult to fill. How do you explain to a dog that he's lost his mother? Zorro knows something isn't right but he's making the most of all the affection he's been receiving in the mean time.

If the weather stays on our side, progress on the roulotte will hopefully up tempo some what in the coming weeks. With the help of the new years team, we managed to get the chassis painted and also progressed some of the wood work for the roof structure.

No new years resolutions this year but I shall continue making every effort to bring people together whenever possible to enjoy life to the max. We're only here once so we may as well make the most of it.

Almost Christmas

The new shower room is just about complete now. I even turned up a toilet roll holder which will be a novelty. Today I focused on the boot and shoe area which will hopefully see the stair case freed of debris in the future.

We are being battered by the same weather front that is presently pounding the UK. There has already been one power cut, for an hour and a half, and numerous tiles have come loose from the barn and the hay loft. The worst is due to hit us in the middle of the night with winds gusting at up to 146 km/h. I'm not looking forward to my morning walk about as I feel tomorrow may well be another day of roofing.

The head count for our New Years eve bash in now up to 30. I decided to take the easy option on the catering front by going for jacket spuds and chilli along with asking guests to bring nibbles, puddings etc.

Bathroom progress

Who could ever have imagined how much work would go into knocking a door way through to the big room. Having to drop the floor hasn't helped resulting in 16 wheel barrows of hard core and 5 dumper truck loads. After that I had to put in a couple of concrete pads to get a level to work the new floor up from. Kirsty happily helped with the concrete by putting both her feet in it as it was going off because she wasn't paying attention. We're on the up now though with the new floor complete, the steps down to the big room complete, stud work well under way and first fix electrics and plumbing complete too. Ideally the mission is to be back on line with water by next weekend but budget restraints may push final completion into next year.

I managed to get the grass cut for the final time this year. It was very wet and clogged up the mower on numerous occasions but it was well worth the effort to get it back to a manageable length again.

The kids have just over two weeks left at school before the holidays and then, in no time at all, christmas will be on top of us. I'm saving my excitement for after christmas though as we're heading towards a super New Years party with plenty of friends.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Although pleading poverty, as always, I've managed with the help of a few assistants to get a few more jobs done as winter closes in on us. Having had the approval of the management to knock the wall through into the banqueting hall, I thought I'd best jump on it before she changed her mind. With the most delicate of hammers and chisels I carefully took the 18 inches of stonework away from behind the bath room wall while leaving the tiling and block work intact.

We have also been busy, in between rain showers, felling more timber in an attempt to get through this year without having to buy in fire wood. Josh has been good using the cut wood to rebuild one of the straw walls of the round house. Depressingly the round house is not holding up to the Norman moistness and I feel there is an urgent requirement to finish turfing the roof at the earliest opportunity.

Tuesday will be Janes birthday and, having hit the big 40 last year, this year she will be on the down hill stretch so celebrating 39 I think. She's not a happy bunny as her training course at work coincides with her planned holiday which means she has to go to work instead of relaxing at home. Things are also not helped because I've volunteered my services for a long days work too putting me in the dog house as well.

Another year older

October has been so hectic, It appears that I failed to blog at all. I shall make up for it now with an update as to the ins and outs of the past few weeks. In an attempt to get motivated to working, I have volunteered my services to various people helping out with their projects. This has seen me roofing, dry lining, installing electrics and scaffolding to mention just a few of the jobs. To coincide with that we have had a pretty constant flow of visitors ending today with the departure of my chief motivator, Stevey, and Laura after a week here without their children.

During Steves visit, we managed to get a whole load of jobs ticked off the list. The key one being the building of a hard standing outside the workshop where we have parked the roulotte trailer in preparation to start the building works. Following on from that Steve got out his tyre fitting kit and changed the two perished tyres on the trailer, no mean feat I have to say and all credit where credit is due, he did a fantastic job. We also had Greg over for a day to help fell some trees in the valley and burn a huge pile of rotting branches and twigs. If the rain holds off for a day next week, we may try and do some more.

On the night before my birthday we were ravished by the same storm that hit the UK taking 23 tiles off the various buildings and leaving us very exposed if the weather was to turn wet. Because of this, I spent 5 hours of my birthday on the roof in the gales replacing broken tiles, crochets and battens. Hopefully this will be the last time this year that I need to get up there.

With a small amount of persuasion from Laura, Jane has now agreed that we can get rid of the only bath in the main house replacing it with a double shower. The washing machine is being moved over to the gite and the toilet will be moved to where the washing machine is. You may wonder why we want to change things about. The bigger picture is that we are going to put a door way through the wall right where the toilet is at present. This will mean we can access the banqueting suite without having to go outside which should, in the long term, allow us to incorporate the room into the main house and therefore get much more use out of it. Watch this space.

Tomorrow sees the arrival of MIL which in turn will see anything and everything spring cleaned and polished including the kids if they stand still too long.

The end of summer

Well the weather has properly turned on us now and we have a week or so of wind and rain heading our way. I've been helping a few friends out with various projects which has made the past few weeks race by and I'm now getting focused towards doing some serious clearing and logging in the valley. There are a number of reasons for this, the key one being a lack of firewood for this year followed closely by the fact that we own land which to this day we have still not walked on.

Jane is about to start work on the next stage of advancement in her job. I've seen the size of the text book and borne witness to the anxiety already creeping up on her but, as always, I have total faith in her ability and am sure she will give it her all. I shall be the ever supporting house husband and keep my head down whenever necessary.

Kirsty has discovered that now she's at college fashion is everything. I foresee great expense coming our way as she continuously nags for new clothes, shoes,bags etc.... all so that she can be with the in crowd. Even Josh has been taking a slight interest in his appearance even wearing the occasional shirt in an attempt to attract the ladies.

Although I am suitably project mad, the usual shortage of funds or "sans argent" as I tell my French friends, has put pretty much everything on hold. The ideas continue to rumble around in my head though and as and when finances are available I will be all too keen to get on and spend them.

And relax

Chatting with Jane the other night we both commented on the fact that we were feeling a tad tired and, on reflection, the cause for this probably had something to do with the fact that we have been on the go since pretty much the beginning of July right the way through to last weekend when we had the village for lunch. We'd been to Denmark and as soon as we got back I headed to the UK with the kids for a brief visit then came back to sort the softball. The softball was brilliant, then we built the bridge and Jane headed over to the UK with the kids for a short break. From there we have just snowballed into visiting guests and various dinners but finally we are ready to just relax.

The weather has been so dry here that the grass has barely grown since the beginning of August and we are now having to feed the horse and donkey hay to supplement their lack of food. Fortunately the rain is falling as I'm writing this and, however disliked it may be, I'd be quite happy for a week or so to really drench things through. We also had a very weird day last Tuesday when we had the first frost of the year followed by 30 degrees in the afternoon. Depressingly my fuchsias were not appreciative of this gross fluctuation and have committed suicide.

The next few months will be all about the cars as, having got the Renault through it's biannual checks, the Silver Peugeot needs a fair amount of work including an exhaust before it's test in a few weeks time and then after that Janes car has to go through the same too. Coupled with our tax bill, I may have to refrain from drinking for a while so the finances can recover from the shock.

There's not a vast amount in the pipe line other then my usual mad cap projects. We have a few visitors during October and possibly a sizeable Christmas bash to psych our selves up for but, until then, we shall mainly be chilling.

Sunday lunch, and some.....

Back to being guest free after a weekend of excitement with my sister, brother in law and their friend Kelly. I'm not sure the range rover has seen such abuse in a while but all concerned were left with beaming smiles and nobody died which is always a bonus.

This years mad cap events are almost coming to a close with Sundays lunch being the final push. The first year we were here they hosted an annual village barbecue where everyone in the village was invited to come and dine together, meet new friends and catch up on the events of the previous year. The key organiser, and life and soul of the party, unfortunately past on after an untimely accident and, since then, the event has not been hosted. Jane and I decided that we would, with the assistance of the village committee, reinstate this event and Sunday is our inaugural effort. The head count is nearly at 90, including kids, and we are cooking a whole pig, 100 sausages, jacket spuds and more. Although we are very well accustomed to feeding this many people, this will be a first for entertaining the neighbourhood and I hope we can deliver a memorable event that will reignite this annual get together. Watch this space for a write up.

On the projects front, the bridge is complete and just needs to weather in over the next few years so that it looks like it's been there forever. The giant barbecue will be progressed when the sun is shining and, when the weather is not so great, I am starting on the designs for my Roulotte. This is a French version of the Shepherds hut and should provide a little more accommodation for us for when the masses arrive.

Basic physics at its best.

Recipe
A splash of water
A pile of rubble
Some great friends
Plenty of beer and a distant dream.
Yesterday was make or break time for my dry stone bridge project and I'm glad to say that, as the wooden former was removed, it turned into make time as approximately 8 tonnes of rock seemingly defied gravity using ancient laws of physics and the amazing structural characteristics of arch building.

Softball write up 2013

It's amazing just how fast time flies by when you're having fun and there is no doubt we have been having an awful lot of fun over the last few weeks. The build up to this annual event was not free from the usual stresses mind you as to whether the hay would be cut in time, whether there would be enough players to make it work and whether all the people who said they'd be here would actually turn up. Fortunately however all who said they were coming turned up and a last minute flurry saw the edition of some new friends who I really hope will join us again next year.

The first guests to arrive this year came over a week early all the way from the big old US of A. It once again proves that it's not what you know but who you know as, even with 3 separate flights, the cost was only $80 dollars a head. Compliments of Kevin, they even managed a spot of business class on their return journey.
One week early and "mon petit assistant" arrived to help get everything sorted and cover my back throughout the weekend fixing broken things, entertaining the kids, looking after the piggy, sorting the volley ball net and so on and so on. Cheers Stevey for once again doing shed loads of the work and getting very little credit.

As you're all aware this weekend only works because everyone chips in and helps with everything. Time to mention some names me thinks. This years washer uppers were lead in the morning by Lee who successfully scavenged all the glasses from the night before and proceeded to get them all washed and dried prior to most people seeing the light of day. I didn't spend a lot of time in the Kitchen but on most occasions Nikki was washing up, or cooking pasta for Ross, and I'm quietly confident Lucy will have got her hands wet too as well as getting the rest of her body wet, compliments of Adam, on Sunday afternoon.

We were once again blessed with a whole bunch of budding photographers. Is there a collective noun for photographers? answers on a post card please. Louise, Jake, Florian, RangeRover Dave and Sharon, thank you soooo much for capturing so many of the weekends highlights and making them available for us to comment and enjoy for years to come. There were some very brave souls who were willing to risk some impressive looking cameras in their attempts to capture the waterfight and I took great pleasure in relieving Louise of her camera so she could participate with the rest of us.

Who would have predicted that I'd have a whole bunch of peeps to thank for musical entertainment. Maybe next year we'll get the drums down into the roundhouse too. On the guitar front I must thank Adam, he's the little feller that blends into the background a lot, Jake, Florian,Martin, Bryanny, Andy, Holly, Maddi and Oceane. It doesn't take a lot to get me welling up but listening to the little girlies singing was a proud moment for me and I'm sure Helen and Laura were extremely proud parents too. Depressingly there is no video footage of Andy and I serenading little Laura about our overwhelming love for her although we did actually prefer ice cream. The 3 man accordion stint was captured though and, even in our slightly intoxicated state, I reckon we did well.

Next shout goes out to the chefs for whom there are far too many to give everyone a mention but you know who you are. Thursday night chilli was smashing thank you Kevin, Keith, great job with the curry and well done to the samosa/onion bhaji manufacturing team made up of Roo-S-L, Kirsty, Laura (on her little pedestal) and anyone else who chipped in. The piggy cookers/carvers did a great job as I abandoned the beast this year so that I could actually do a little coaching instead. Dave, Tate and Roo-S-L also did a mean barbecue for Sunday lunch and my sandwich was the dogs ####### cheers guys. Wifey for Burgers Monday night, Me for pizza Tuesday and Tate for "Wednesdays left over wonder". I must also thank Ally and Emma for keeping me in Tea during the mornings.

Time for some softball chat now as that was the pretence of the whole weekend. "I know, why don't we get a game in tonight" was the comment that must have saved me a fortune in hot water for showers on Friday night. As we made our way to the field there were a few clouds in the distance but nothing to be concerned about. As the first pitch was delivered so the first drop of light rain fell. No cans of man up were needed here though as both teams took it on the chin when the heavens opened and we were all deluged. Refreshing is a term I'd like to use although I'm pretty sure we were all soaked right through to our team thongs. Fortunately the sun returned giving us half a chance to dry out a bit before dinner.
Even though we had a large number of new players, Saturday mornings round robin went like a breeze with very evenly matched teams and some great play. I would analyse the scores and tell you how we all did but I seem to have lost the score books. The afternoons games of TV against the rest of the world bought back loads of memories of years and years of playing in those red shirts. I am saddened that all the effort of so many people to create the largest club in Great Britain has now gone by the wayside but I am also happy that Thames Valley can live on forever here in France. Although we lost both games, I truly believe that the handicap was set right and if we'd found our rhythm we would have been suitable competition.
Saturday evenings batting practice/coaching session reignited my passion for bringing new people into the sport and helping existing players to up there game. Thank you to Joe, Keith and Dave for catching and pitching hundreds of balls and being patient with me as I tinkered and tweaked each individual. Remember peeps, upright, wind up like a coiled spring and wait for the ball to come to you.
Sunday morning saw the Disciples take on the Hells angels which I think was probably the best game of the weekend. It saw the sparkling new talent take to the field and demonstrate what they'd learnt the night before. The young stars, Toby, Christian, Dominic and Josh lead the way for the boys whilst Ally, Bryanny and Darcy did their bit for the girls. It was unfortunate that Darcy took a ball to the face but well done girl for growing a pair and getting on with it. Sharon managed to get herself on base which left her beaming from ear to ear however the play of the day has to go to Georgie. We all saw Tate field the ball but none of us could work out why he wasn't trying to throw Georgies runner out on one. Turns out he hadn't even seen Laura who, when questioned about it later said "I'm Fine".
For years I have been umpiring softball games at all levels and have had almost a level of desperation to eject someone from a game. Depressingly the first time I eject someone from a game it has to be my son because he's suffering from a bit of PMT. From negatives to positives though, I must mention a few of the great plays. Kevin catching Corinnes line drive to 3rd was exceptional. Darrens consistent big hitting and probable home run competition winner for the weekend if I ever find the score books. Nicks amazing natural newbie talent. Julias great plays throughout the weekend earning her the MVP title.

I think I've almost mentioned everyone now but I'm going to throw in a rapid fire paragraph to cover a few more. Sally, sorry about your ankle maybe dodgeball is not for you. Paul, hiding in the lounge was never going to save you from the waterfight. Mafia Jo, it really doesn't matter whose Lemmoncello was better but if your family ask, it was theirs. Charlotte, I do believe you managed 329 words this year so we are making progress, shall we aim for 500 next year? Trish, cigars really do not suit ladies but I did enjoy watching your sucking technique. Gordy, did you drink all my beer again? Michelle, it must be really embarrassing to be sent to bed by your daughter and Holly, for the record, I did not suck your mums toe but that's just for the record. Mark, where were you all weekend? Sarah I like the fact that you were totally supportive of Nick as we plied him with Calvados but I'm not exactly sure when you said that he'd be all right, that he was. Jules, great job on the shirts althoug we should have sorted a whole load of honey badger lingo to with them. Sue, Keith said I could get you wet as long as I didn't get your hair wet. Jean can I suggest getting a lock for your bottle next year. Tammy you're a shithead and I have nothing else to say on the subject.

Time to put my feet up for a year now but look forward to seeing you all again next year. Biggest thanks go out to my darling wife for allowing us to all be kids again and enjoy life to the max as it's only for the living.

Softball 2013

This morning the last guests departed after our annual softball party. Once again the whole event was an amazing success and I will post a full summary on here in a few days but, in the mean time,here.s a picture that should give you an idea how busy things have been.

Clocked up some miles

Since last touching base here, we've been a fair few miles and past through a few countries too. My New Years resolution was to take the kids to at least one different country every year for a holiday as, since moving to France, we had slightly neglected the requirement to escape from time to time. If ever there had been a great time for escapism and time to reflect, this was it.

Unfortunately our original plans fell at the first hurdle because my abilities outside of organising a piss up in a brewery are slim to none. Instead of Switzerland, which we hope to visit in 2014 now, we headed to Denmark to see the Danish side of my family. They say that you can only really appreciate someone else when you have lived life in their shoes. Having finally driven to Denmark, I have the greatest respect for my family who have made the numerous trips down here to see us in France. Sixteen hours of driving, including a loss of direction and sense of humour failure 7 hours in when the motorway junction was closed that we needed to get on and there was no diversion and the Sat Nav just kept sending us back to the same junction. We arrived in time for a great party with lots of people who knew me but I didn't remember them from 30 years ago when I was a pageboy at my Aunties wedding. This didn't really matter though as everyone spoke very good English and we talked about all sorts. Not that I remember much having been awake for nearly 40 hours and consumed copious amounts of alcohol since arriving.

Although some days I can be a control freak, on this break I was happy to take a back seat, Linda had everything sorted keeping us suitably entertained for the duration of the holiday. Fishing, beach dinners, picnics, theme parks, visiting family and generally having a brilliant time. I can't thank Linda and Jan enough for making us feel so relaxed and stress free during our stay. If only we didn't have to go home. It's probably no surprise that it 16 hours home too. Also it was the first time I'd been in Antwerp sober which my softball friends will appreciate having been there so many times with me. Anyhow we had a safe trip back and can't wait for the next holiday.