The days whizz along. My visitor, Gary Eden, has not only been good company but remarkably hard working and it turns out a man of many ideas. It has to be said that my initial concerns that he might be under the false impression that he was here on holiday and entitled to some relaxation appear to be unfounded. Fiona take note – there’s been no lounging around in hammocks or any of that nonsense. We have piled through the work schedule and Le Poteau is shining under new coats of paint, the landscaping has been done and the upgrade to the gites is all but finished. The bottle bank is also a lot fuller.
It’s been good to have some company. Apart from getting loads done, our nightly, highly competitive, boules matches have been just a bit lively. Gary is an obsessive twitcher and he’s been enthralled by the amazing variety of birds and other wildlife that visit Le Poteau. The latest star is a short-toed tree creeper. I hope you are suitably impressed. He could be making all this up of course and I would be none the wiser!
I’m really looking forward to my trip back to the UK next week. It will be great to catch up with family and friends. It is also a good chance to test out the route from Santander to Portsmouth. It certainly cuts down on the driving. Fiona is coming back with me for the Easter Holiday. Her successor was appointed last Friday and she is really pleased with the appointment – so that is a relief. She celebrated with “gusto” (I presume that this is some new drink she’s found) with some of our close friends on one of our regular gatherings in whichever big house is available in Yorkshire or Cumbria. This weekend there was much excitement when they managed to identify a robin – just wait till they encounter our short toed tree creeper.
Things will get lively on our return as we are expecting some very special guests. Fiona’s sisters Marion and Alison are coming to check out Le Poteau and are bringing our best guest yet (sorry Gary, Alistair and Andrea) – the fabulous Anna who, as a wonderful but fairly opinionated eight year old, will be giving us top advice. Anna is Fiona’s god-daughter (great niece) and is a real sparkle. I expect Fiona to prove that she is just as good a DIY partner as Gary so we are relying on Marion, Ali and Anna to be our test-drive holiday makers. Maybe a guest blog will be in order!
