Tuesday 18th May

Woke just before nine and came down, had coffee and went on line and did a few bit, spoke to ant then had a bath and got dressed. I drove up to Lille in plenty of time, parking at the station was full so had to hunt for a space in the shopping center next door. Got to the train station but there was no train due in at ten past twelve so i got a little worried, spoke to the guy in the info desk and he told me it would be arriving at Lille Flanders so i sprinted over there, the train was delayed, i had a little look on one of their machines and realized there were two trains, one arriving at Lille Europe so i ran back over there just in case and hunted through the station. I realized mum was not there so ran back and finally found her, thank god.
We had a hug and left the station and took her case to the car then settled down in Paul the Boulangers tea room for a bit of lunch, quite a nice quiche and salad followed by a nice cake. We headed over to Lille Europe and sat with coffee whilst we waited for ant to arrive, which he did on time. We headed home, got back around five and showed mum around the estate, she seemed quite taken with it, we had a cup of tea, phoned Mandy and got ant bathed. When everyone was in and settled we cracked open a bottle of sparkles and sat and chatted, then had a nice dinner, beuf en daube with roasties, a bit of cheese and a bit of tart tartin for desert then sat and chatted over more wine till we were ready for bed then said our good nights, i had a very nice cuddle with mum.

Monday 17th May

Got up, came down, had coffee and watched the news, went online and spoke to mum, she informed me Mike had had an accident and broken his wrist and shoulder, poor Mandy. I tried to phone Mandy but got no reply so sent her a text. I got dressed and made a start on the house work, giving the whole place a good going over. I started tidying up the car, gave it a good clean and then drove to Hesdin and got a few bit and pieces and washed the car at L'Elephant Bleu.
I came home and sorted out a couple more bits before heading up to Tony and Jackie's to assist them with the Septic Tank checking guy, when he arrived he spoke quite good English so i was a little superfluous, they got a clean bill of health, good news as it is quite an expensive thing to replace. Jackie made a very nice cottage pie for dinner, i had taken up some cakes so we had one after. Whilst we were eating we listened to the news, only to hear the strike had been canceled due to a legal technicality, which did not impress and poor Jackie had to make plans to get to work tomorrow.
I headed home about seven thirty, chatted to ant on skype and mum then got sorted upstairs and went up with the dogs to watch tv, watched Glee, think i most definitely not interested in it now, then the Cleveland Show, I read for a couple of hours and finished my book, it finished in a very unsatisfactory manner and no one got any comeuppance, leaving you with a real sense of the lack of justice in the world.

Weekend 16th May

I woke on Saturday and came down, had coffee, watched the news, did the blog and had a little internet time, ant came down a little later. At ten thirty Marte arrived, we were still in pajamas, she was a little earlier than i had thought. I made her a coffee and we quickly got dressed, then we all went for a walk for a couple of hours and ant and Marte chatted away. When we got back Usha phoned to say they were popping round, so we sat and chatted to them for a while and then headed to St Pol to drop our id in to the estate agents. We bought a couple of sandwiches and three cream cakes in a shop in St Pol then drove home and sat out to eat them.
I had planned to invite Janine over for the third cream cake but she was not in so we ate ours and then started doing bits and pieces, then Janine returned and i invited her over. We sat and chatted to Janine for a good while then she headed home and we decided to cocoon ourselves upstairs, ant packed and i watched the tv. We had dinner, a nice sausage stew, and an evening in front of the tv, an early night.
We woke at five on sunday, ant got himself ready and i made coffee, at five thirty we headed off to Calais, had a bit of a panic when the petrol station at Fruges was closed but the one further on was open. We got to the tunnel in plenty of time and then had a clear and easy drive up to Heathrow. I dropped ant off about an hour before he needed to be there then headed back, made good time again and was at Ashford Tesco before it opened. I had a good mooch round Tesco and bought plenty of meat and a couple of bottles of New Zealand white for Tuesday night. I made it back to the tunnel in time for my train, then drove back on clear roads, stopped in on Jackie and Tony to drop off some milk and then got home and let the dogs out, no mess fortunately.
I had an easy going afternoon, watched a bit of tv, did a bit on line, spoke to mum for a good while, sounds like she had a good day, and spoke to gran. I had a nice long bath, coq au vin for dinner, which was very nice, and then had a Family Guy evening in bed, watching the two new episodes on bbc 3, then went to sleep around twelve. I am still finding the spare bed a little less than comfortable, i cant quite figure out why, think i am sleeping on the wrong side of the bed.

Friday 14th May

Came down and left ant in bed, didnt sleep too well, had coffee and went online, watched a bit of news, ant came down and we had coffee together. We headed out to St Pol, dropped a form in to the estate agents then went up to see Tony and Jackie with a box of cakes. We sat and chatted to them for a while then headed down to Hesdin and did a little shop before stopping in at Davids for coffee.
I mowed the lawn when we got home and ant did the edging, then i hosed down the garden furniture and the car, then ironed a load of bedding for the guest bedroom, looks quite nice. In the early afternoon we headed upstairs for a bedroom evening, watched some American Dad, had a bit of quiche for dinner, watched Glee, then more American Dad before going to sleep.

Thursday 13th May

Woke about nine and left ant in bed for a bit, had coffee, watched the news, had a bit of a headache, went online and did bits and pieces. Ant came down and had his coffee, i looked in to booking our hotel in Durham and decided on one, will have to get ant to ok with his mum the date so she will be free for dinner. After our morning routine we made a start on clearing out ants wardrobe and moving it to the spare room, and the unit in the ensuite, so that mum can be undisturbed by ants need of cloathing.
We had a spot of lunch and spent the afternoon trying to decide what to do with ourselves, it was a bank holiday, then decided we would have a relax day, we washed the dogs so they are nicely smelling now, then i made meatballs for dinner and left them stewing for a bit before heading upstairs to hunker down in bed. We watched all of Kath and Kim season three, ate dinner, Watched The Devil Wears Prada, ant phoned his mum and was on for ages whilst i watched some American Dad. We went to sleep around eleven, quite tired.

Wednesday 12th May

I was woken at seven by the birds on the roof, bloody annoying! Got up and came down had coffee and watched the news, nothing interesting. Went online for a bit and then got showered and dressed and gave the house a quick tidy. Ant phoned to let me know he had landed and was on his way home. I have some lunch, watched a little tv then went back on the computer.
At half four ant phoned to let me know he had made the Lille St Pol train so i had an hour before he arrived in St Pol, did a final shuffle about, made the bed up and set off to pick him up. I arrived just as he did and we headed home, he unloaded all his stuff and had a bath, i made steak and chips for dinner, did a nice mushroom sauce for the steak, we enjoyed it. We sat with a glass of wine and good music and chatted all evening, we managed not to fall out, which was good. We headed up to bed relatively early as ant was tired, and i was too.

Tuesday 11th May

I woke at half eight and suddenly realized the estate agent from St Pol was coming today at ten, i had a quick coffee then sorted out the house so it looked good. Spoke to Jackie and she reminded me they were going to Ikea and asked if i wanted to go, i said of course. Chloe the estate agent turned up a little early, we did the paper work and then she took some pictures, she is very friendly and had a coffee with her, i arranged for her to go to Tony and Jackie's place on Friday.
I got my online stuff done and had a bit of civilization whilst i waited to be picked up, Tony phoned to say they were running a little late but that was ok. They arrived about half eleven and we headed up to Henin Beaumont, had a mooch round the show bit then had some lunch in the cafe, the meatballs were very poor. We went down to the market bit and i made a couple of purchases including a nice bit of bright fabric to cover our boring tub chair. We headed home and got back around five thirty, they popped in for a tea before heading off to Lidl.
I finished off the game i had started earlier, then had a bit of dinner in front of the tv, got bored with the telly and went to have a look at Durham hotels, with little success, until Shameless, which i watched then headed up to bed and book.

Monday 10th May

We woke at four forty five and got ready with bleary eyes, had coffee and woke. I drove ant to St Pol and put him on the train. I came back and waited for the morning to be a reasonable time, watched the news went online and did a little civilization. I was supposed to be going for a walk with Marte in the afternoon put it was a windy, if sunny day so i presumed she would not show. I did manage to get through all the washing, four loads!! so that was good, i spent part of the day civilizing and part of the day reading, i still cant believe Rufus has not got his comeuppance and it seems the situation is about to get worse.
Jackie skyped late afternoon to inform me that strike dates had been announced, twenty days in all!! I was a little devastated by this at first, but then thought we will just have to find a way through it, can't wait till all this is behind us. Ironically the dates start when mum arrives and last until she is safely esconced in the uk, so ant will be home the whole time she is here. I watched tv in the evening, bit of Glee and the usual stuff, chatted to ant on skype just before going to sleep.

Weekend 9th May

On saturday we woke and had coffee then went down to Hesdin to do some shopping, met Chrissy in the supermarket. when we got back i made a start on the cooking and ant made a start in the garden, i finished my cooking and went out to help him, we reseeded the back lawn so hopefully it will look a little better in a couple of weeks. Ant had a nap in the afternoon and i got everything ready for the evening. Tony and Jackie arrived followed by Maggie and Mike, we had a very good evening, the food was good and the company good too. We went up to bed around two in the morning.
Woke on sunday with a bit of a hang over, had a long chat with mum and aunty m on skype, then phoned mandy and spoke to her for a good half hour too. Marte and Chrissy arrived at the gate and we arranged to have a soire at Chrissys house, said i would do a couple of dishes. ant had finished all the washing up by this point, bless him. I did a couple of bits to take, had a bath and then we went back to bed, he napped and i watched a couple of films. we got up about five and got ready then headed over to Chrissys, had a very nice time, didnt feel much like drinking and we set off home by nine. Spoke to gran for a bit then went up to bed and watched the family guy stuff before going to sleep, early morning for ant on monday.

Friday 7th May

We woke to another viewing day, came down and had coffee, no definitive news on the election and a major slump in the European markets, good job we don't have any shares or savings. We went down to Hesdin to buy flowers for the house then came home and started on the clean round, didn't take to long as i had just done it on Wednesday. After the house we started on the garden, Ant deweeded the front of the house and pulled up all the grass coming through the paths and i organised the garage, wood store and we both had a go at the outbuilding, which was disgusting.
At four we headed up to see Tony and be out of the way for the viewing, stopping to pick up cakes on the way, we sat and chatted over coffee for a bit then went out in to their huge garden with the dogs and played with them. Jackie returned just after five and we said hello then headed home after inviting them to dinner on Saturday. When we got home Maggie had put a note on the notice board to say the viewing had gone well, so that was hopeful. I phoned them and left a message inviting them to dinner to. We had baths and got into our pjs and relaxed, i hunted through recipe books to decide what to eat, ant wanted us to do the Coq au reisling he had seen Nigella do the other night, unfortunately i lent her book to someone so i went online to find it.
I made mince pie with chips and beans for dinner, i was chatting to gran on the phone as i was taking the pie out of the oven and dropped it on the floor, not all of it made it to the floor fortunately so we made do with what we could, good job we had cleaned and there was no dog hair in sight. After dinner, the floor pie was very good though had a tang of spring flowers about it, we relaxed infront of the tv, watched Glee then Irobot and then off to sleep, quite tired but hopeful of the multi millions!

Thursday 6th May

Up at the usual hour, watched the news and went online then had a bath and got dressed, stripped the bed and did some washing. Marion phoned to say we would be having a viewing on Friday so fingers crossed for that. Mark arrived just before eleven, David was not well enough to come, we had coffee and a chat for a bit then headed off to Henin Beaumont. I took Mark to Electro depot and we looked at washing Machines, theirs has gone the way of the Dodo, then we went to Ikea, i bought a couple of bits for the kitchen.
We set off for Lille and got there with about fifteen mins to spare so sat and waited for Ant to arrive, which he did on time and we headed home. Mark set off home when we got back and Ant was bathed and sent to bed for the remains of the afternoon whilst i entertained myself for a couple of hours. I made a Chicken Balti, a veg curry and a Thai green curry accompanied by mushroom rice, not bad, called Ant down and we ate. It was a little cold so after dinner we decided to head up to our bedroom and watch tv in bed with the dogs, which we did, we watched the film Keeping Mum with Maggie Smith, which i have seen before but Ant haddn't, he enjoyed it. We went to sleep around twelve, should know how the election has gone tomorrow.

wed 5th May

Up at the usual hour, had coffee and watched the news then went online, spoke to mum and did the blog then got off. I dressed and made a start on the housework, took about two hours, then went and changed, then mowed the lawns, so the place looked pretty good. I sat and read in the afternoon waiting for the estate agent to arrive, poor Rufus Dawes, i am almost despairing for him. The first estate agent arrived, nearly on time, looked around the place and gave me a quote, ten grand above what it is now priced at, i said i would let her know. sat and read for a little longer and the second estate agent arrived, much younger and a lot more friendly, she looked around and asked a lot of question, agreed to a cup of tea and we sat and chatted for a bit, commented on the poulet forrestier stewing in the slow cooker! I also said i would let her know, will discuss it with ant tomorrow when he gets back, though i have to say i am favoring the second as their website is better and they are part of a large group, and their take is less.
I sat and read for a little longer before eating dinner, watched George and Mildred, which was ok, Globe Trecker did Australia, including a visit to Port Arthur, so that was topical, I then started to watch Angels and Deamons, unfortunately the disc stopped about half an hour in, one of my most hated occurences, and it wasnt even a copy! I hunted for something else that would fill the void but the tv was terrible so decided to have a quick game of civilization, which saw me through to the witching hour. I went up to bed and read for another hour, i am still waiting for Rufus' justice but it is not existent as yet.

Tuesday 04th May

Woke a little later this morning, came down and had breakfast and watched the news, went online, found the St Pol estate agent and gave her a call, she was out so would phone me back. I did some other bits then got ready to go out. I went down to Hesdin, said hello to Maggie and Marion, Maggie said she had had an enquiry about the house so we may get another viewing, which would be good. I bought my euromillions ticket for friday, fingers crossed, and did a little shopping.
I stopped in at David's on the way home and chatted to them for a good while, eventually getting home about three thirty. I did a little cleaning then started putting some more music on the iplayer. The St Pol estate agent called and arranged to visit the house tomorrow at five thirty, so will get cleaned around tomorrow. Tony came round about sixish and brought a cake, very nice, we sat and chatted for a bit over a coffee, he left after seven and i made my dinner, Pork chops a la Nigella, not bad, though the sauce was a little thin.
I watched a little tv but got bored and went back to putting cds on the computer, looking at real estate as i did, this passed most of the evening, i read in bed for an hour or so then went to sleep

Monday 3rd May

I woke ridiculously early at seven thirty and came down to the empty house, had breakfast and watched the news before going online to check emails, i had one from vistaprint so looked at doing some invite postcards but they were going to cost 20 euros to get them in time so i didn't bother. I decided to do the invites anyway so mocked one up and fiddled about with it for about an hour, phoned Janine to check the wording, which she corrected! I printed one off and headed over to Janine's, she was quite impressed, it is double sided you know, we sat and chatted over a tea and a huge piece of chocolate cake with french style custard, very nice.
When i got back i printed off another fifteen sheets, folded and cut them and had thirty all together so headed out round the village popping them in letter boxes, it was a very windy cold day so it was not a pleasant task but that is it done now so there is no backing out! I returned to the house and had a bit of lunch, tried to watch 10000BC but really could not get in to it. I decided to have a quick game of Civilization, which last till nine thirty in the evening, it just eats up time and you don't realize the day has gone.
I had a healthy options tagliatelle with Cajun chicken for dinner, which was quite nice, and finished off the veg curry in the fridge, which was just as good as last week. I was watching an episode of Nigella Express whilst i ate and what she cooked looked really good, so i might try her pork chop Normandy with gnocchi for dinner tomorrow evening, if i can find some gnocchi. Watched Glee, and quite enjoyed it, they did one of my favorite songs, You Are Beautiful, which gave me goosebumps, then Ladies of Letters, not sure if this has transferred to Aus yet, but it stars two of our favorite comediens, Anne Reid and Maureen Lipman, and Lipmans character is now living in Melbourne, what a coincidence.
I headed up to bed with the girls and watched King of the Hill and The Cleveland Show, then read a chapter, the life story of the main character is so racked with being badly treated that it is starting to make me feel a little hopeless, you can't help hoping his tormentors are given their comeuppance. I gave the girls a last cuddle for the day and went to sleep.

Garden Party Invite

Spent a bit of time knocking this together, if you can't read it, click the image!

Sun 2nd May

We woke about eight thirty and came down for breakfast, watched the news and eased ourselves in to the day. Ant got ready for the off and we set off to St. Pol for the train to Lille, it left on time and i waved him off. I headed up to Tony and Jackie's, taking a different road for a change, when i neared their village i was struck by the number of wind turbines in view, there must be at least fifty, like a huge forest. I handed over the chair cushion we had bought for them at ikea and we sat and chatted over a cuppa for a bit. Tony and i headed over to Pip and Roland's place where Tony handed over a couple of language tapes, we chatted to them for a bit and i invited them to the garden party.
Tony and i then went to Azincourt, of the famous battle, for their broccant, it was very disappointing with just a few stalls which had been well and truly battered by the rain, so we didn't stay for too long. On the way back we stopped at a festival at the donkey sanctuary near Tony's, it was quite interesting with a lot of stalls selling organic produce, solar panels and domestic windmills, all sorts of eco stuff, much better than the broccant. I dropped Tony off and headed home, i think the girls were a bit disappointed i came back alone.
I had a little lunch and watched a bit of tv, then turned it off and spent a while on the computer and a little while reading before the evening kicked in. I spoke to gran on the phone, who had had a good day out with Judith and had utilized a mobility scooter for the first time and was quite taken with the idea of getting one, so we chatted about that for a bit. i had a nice gammon steak and salad for dinner and then settled down infront of the tv.
I headed up to bed and watched tv in bed for a while, eventually going to sleep around one in the morning, i let the girls sleep on the bed as it did seem a little empty.

Sat 1st May

May is here at last! and we decided to get out and do something with the day, Ant started the day by preparing a nice breakfast for me and we sat at the table and ate, very nice. I phoned Marion and Rosemary, i have decided the date of our garden party will be May 25th so i am giving people the heads up, unfortunatly ant is working both weekends during mum's visit so it has to be a week night but it will be very enjoyable all the same.
We got dressed and headed out to St Valerie, a very pretty port town on the Somme estuary, it was quite busy and we had a bit of a wander around, and an ice cream. We then headed to St Riquer, now a small town in the middle of nowhere but previously the site of a very important abbey. The result it a very attractive town with a huge Gothic splendor with some of the finest tracery around. Unfortunately there was a wedding on in the church so we could not go in but we had a wonder around the musuem next to it.
We headed home after this, arriving back about four, spent a bit of time messing around on the internet before starting on the dinner. We had planned to have pan fried lambs liver with a nice gravy of mushroom, bacon and onions, accompanied by new potatoes and mushy peas (ants insistance). Unfortunately i decided to do the peas in the microwave, which took about twice as long as i had thought and i still had to finish them in a pan, the liver was in too small bits to pan fry so i had to stew then in the gravy, the result being the liver was not how i had hoped and i was disapointed with the meal.
After dinner we sat and chatted listening to music and enjoying a glass or two of rosé, a very cheap Zinfandel from Lidl that is actually not bad at all, and finished the evening with a glass of decent whisky, we had a bit of a dance to All Around My Hat by Steeleye Span, blasting out of the new speakers and worrying the dogs. We headed up to bed quite merry after a very enjoyable day.

Friday 30th April

Had the usual morning with the addition of a very swolen eye for me which looked as if i had recieved a right hook from ant, then headed out to see Fruges to buy a new fork for the garden, then stopped in at Tony and Jackie's for a chat and a coffee, dropped off some of our excess leeks. We headed over to Henin Beaumont after this for something to eat in Ikea and a mooch round. We bought a fair few bits, including new curtains for the living/dining room and some decent speakers for the computer so we can use it as a music system.
We headed home and put all the new bits in place, hung the new curtains and sorted out the speakers, which do have a great sound. We sat and listened to music, i put some new cds on our i player, need to put a whole load more on. Ant made dinner and we sat and ate at the table before heading to the sofa for a bit of tv. We watched Glee, again for me, and something about the Mumbi railways, which was good, before heading up to bed to read for an hour or so. The book, for the Term of His Naturla Life, is incredibly interesting, and very close to the actual situation, you almost feel the despair of the leading character and the cuelty of those around him.