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Time flies

 When you have family staying the time passes in a flash but it is so enjoyable while it  lasts.  This year the heat has meant that most things have had  to be done early doors in order to avoid the afternoon heat.  I don't mind how hot it is but I struggle with scorching sun shining down on me; I am definitely a shade person.  Now my family have left I had time to meet up with friends in a café this morning.  The temperature was better, helped by a gentle breeze, and I could have stayed there all day chatting away in French to my friend on the right and in English to Ann  on my left.  The group is a moveable feast, different nationalities turn up and stay as long as they like and it makes  for a relaxing way of passing the time. 

Ann said she was concerned that she wasn't using her brain enough so I asked my French friend what she did all day.  Apparently she spends the morning preparing and cooking a three course lunch for her and her husband and in the afternoon she watches television and cleans the house.  We were speechless until Ann whispered 'Stepford Wife'.  Not quite but clearly we can't compete with her standards.  Ann is struggling to  get an old car renovated and I am trying, in vain, to find someone to replace my old gas boiler.  Suddenly our French friend said, 'you should learn car mechanics and you should learn plumbing.'  Ok, after we learn to emulate you and  discover how to cook a three course lunch-every day.

Added to that the air conditioning in my car is kaput and too expensive to replace.  I messaged my sons this sad news and with their usual concern for my well-being, messaged back, 'Open the windows.'  Where did I go wrong?

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