Skip to main content

Typical

I spend 6 months on my own and finally decide to book a ferry to the UK to see my family and what does Johnson do?  Imposes quarantine to take affect 3 days before I leave.  So now I am going to be imprisoned in my son's house for 2 weeks and won't be able to even go out for walk.  Me without exercise is the greatest punishment so I will have to invent some.  Will my aversion to housework have to be overcome?  Shall I run round and round the lavender bush until I am dizzy or just simply climb up and down the walls.  Whatsmore the spare bedroom, which is soon to be my cell, has a 2ft 6in bed, which is uncomfortable and has a mattress that my daughter in law slept on as a child.  It is her childhood bed.  I spent 2 years sleeping on my son's 2 seater settee, which actually is preferable.  When I suggest that maybe my children should be looking after me in my old age they have developed a pretty impressive Gallic shrug and a smile that tells me they are not taking me seriously.

My hair is so long now that I could let it down the castle walls and let a handsome prince climb up and take me away from it all  but reality tells me that I will have to let it grow for another 2 weeks before I get it cut.  I know, I could get it cut in France before I leave but whenever I have been to a French hairdresser they have ignored my instructions and followed the general opinion that when women reach a certain age they should have haircuts like boys. 

The plaster never answered my calls or emails, nor did the estate agent so I can't give him the keys, which is probably a good job as I  still have a hole in the ceiling.  And why did I book a ferry that departs from Caen at 8.30am which means I have to  leave the house at 2.30am and drive all the way in the dark?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Playing by ear

My father could play the piano.  Not an unusual skill but he was deaf.  He lost his  hearing fighting in the army in India in the 30s so he was an adult when he lost it and therefore remembered tunes, even though he couldn't hear him.  However he didn't have the skill to learn anything new so  either you liked the old music or you didn't.  He used to say that he played by ear and then would roar with laughter.  He would have struggled in many ways with modern living but most of all during the pandemic, he would have lost his ability to communicate as he always lip read.  There must be thousands of people like him today who still rely on reading lips to understand,  in fact all of us do it to some extent, so please be patient if someone is struggling to communicate while you are wearing a mask. I went to the supermarket today and at the check out, the cashier asked me to move the trolley into a particular position.  As I manoeuvred it ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mondays

 Last Monday my son and daughter in law were due to catch the 8.15am ferry from Portsmouth to Caen.  It was 6.45am when I stepped out of the shower and heard my phone  going.  I snatched it up.  It was a video  call.  'Mum, we have big problems here,'  and before I could speak he thrust the phone into the hands of a Brittany ferries' staff member and said, 'Talk  to my mum.'  Barely conscious of my wet, tangled hair and trying to cover myself up with a  towel which thought gravity was fun, I asked what the problem was.  Apparently they had the wrong vaccination certificates and were being refused passage.  I asked what I could do and she said they could go and get a test and take a later ferry.  'Where is the nearest test centre in Portsmouth?'  I asked.  'There isn't one,' she replied, 'there  is one in Southampton, or Havant.'  What!  No test centre in Portsmouth?  They both have learni...
1 comment
Read more

Oops!

 The air conditioning has broken in my car so it was some relief when the temperature dropped  back to the 30 degree mark.  This gave my neighbours fresh enthusiasm to clear up overgrown vegetation.  At my request my American neighbour climbed down to a flat bit of ground where a tree had grown about 6 feet in as many weeks, to lop it.  My job was to clear all the debris when it fell and drag it to a parking space in the courtyard.  The system was working well with another neighbour and her granddaughter joining in to help me clear the debris.  Meanwhile. up above us the American was in full swing, not stopping at 'lopping' the tree but cutting it right back to its roots.  Soon great big branches were hurtling down and that is when it happened.  One branch, instead of coming straight down to the ground decided to take a detour onto his garage roof, creating a big hole right above where his precious car, a Tesla, was being kept safe and sound....
1 comment
Read more