One week on

What an awful week, weather wise that is. From stunning, hot days and stuffy evenings and nights we have gone back to winter! It has rained and rained, temperature dropped, and the weeds have grown and the grass is almost knee high again. Our farmer neighbour has said that it will be dry and sunny again in a couple of days. Merci! My knees, elbows and ankles have been 'popping' all the while it has been damp. Will be glad when it is dry again, so much better for me.

Tax forms are all filled and sent to Hotel des Finances. Not too difficult for us at all. I know that there are some who have all sorts of income from different sources and need the advice of accountants etc... I think that we are the only people we know that have a straight forward tax return. It was the same in the UK.

Am getting on with more decorating, slowly the house is taking on a new look. Got to make it acceptable to me let alone a prospective buyer!! When we first came here we concentrated on the getting the B&B half of the house up to scratch and left our own accommodation to be done 'as and when'. Well, 'as and when' is here so that is what I am working on now. I don't mind decorating at all, in fact I find it very therapeutic taking a paint roller to a wall or door. My man has given me 'carte blanche' when it comes to decorating (he even signed a document and was happy to do so!) so colours etc. are all up to me. Slowly but surely, between cleaning, doing bathrooms, changing beds, doing the laundry, ironing, baking, cooking lunch/dinner, sorting tax return, balancing bank statement etc. I am finding time to decorate as well as calling the children and grandchildren, getting in touch with other family members in the UK and friends out here in La Belle France. I do find a little time to check out bookings for the B&B and do my bit for ITA France (Admin) and more genealogy..

I have recently received a copy of David Hockney's book 'Secret Knowledge', what a wonderful book it is. I have always liked Hockney's works and he has been on English television recently and I have made a concerted effort to see the programmes. I find him a refreshing and open person and would dearly love to meet him, whether I will or not is another matter (I find him inspiring). His book is about his research into how the masters were able to create such accurate, almost photographic, pictures. It was with lenses. Caravaggio and others created some absolute masterpieces without preparatory drawings! Me, I sketch away and try to create something that will be appreciated, but they just put it on canvas - incredible. David Hockney wondered how and why they managed to do this and his book is his journey into discovering the how and why. I find the ingenuity used absolutely amazing. For me it is a book to re-read and when I visit museums or galleries I will look closer, just to see.

Yesterday we had some good friends come for lunch, we have not seen them for many, many months. What absolute pleasure it was to see them. I have a couple of favourite recipes that I know will go down well for lunch so they came to the fore. Baked eggs with creamy leeks followed by Moroccan lamb (the last of the mutton) and raspberry brulee for dessert. Food was thoroughly enjoyed, much wine was drunk and a lot of conversation and laughs took place. It was a delightful day! We brought our friends up to date with our news and they brought us up to date with theirs... Very interesting it was too!!

I have been invited to join some other groups - the total now is seven............ I have declined on all.. Am I being a bit of a ?

Maybe I should start a group 'Ex-pats- who don't want to belong to Ex-pat groups' group' - Nuff said!!!