Today has been the first time in probably a week, that I have had the slightest inclination to write, read, edit, think about, or do just about anything with my poor blog. It is feeling very neglected!
For, the whole household has been struck down, in biblical proportions, by goodness knows what. Well, The Boy, we know, has Chicken Pox. That’s quite straight forward and almost minor. He seems to be coping very well with the whole experience and, although not looking very pleasant, he isn’t scratching, or oozing too badly!
However, myself and Diddy and sister Debs,have been smitten with a nasty and vicious virus from the Essex Marshes, brought back by Class 3 from their jolly field trip. So far, it has taken out three of us. I have been unable to move very far for the last five days and have really had no energy for anything. I have thrown a bit of toast at the children on occasions and just crawled back to my bed, to sweat it out! Not very pleasant at all! For five days, I have felt worse each day and gone to bed telling myself…’you’ll feel better in the morning’. But it’s just not happened! Diddy has had temperatures of 40 degrees, although, I’m glad to say that she is now almost completely recovered, apart from the hacking cough and head cold.
I am relieved to report that, today, I do feel a bit better. But I think it’s going to be a while before I’m back to speed. Plus, I now have the school holidays to contend with, so if the fever doesn’t get me, the insanity will! Plus, the doctors tell me that Diddy is likely to get Chicken Pox over the next ten days…we shall look forward to that!
It used to be that more traditional methods determined the value of your property. Such as, the location of good quality schools in the area, jobs, off-road parking, a lack of industrial units, the proximity of the train station etc.
Now, it seems, for many of us, it is having a Ryanair serviced airport in the region.
It is Morrocco now, that is rubbing its’ hands together in anticipation of the Brits arriving, looking for second/holiday home properties. Chi-ching!
Dave came round yesterday from the estate agents. He was very upbeat and positive, he believes that within a week of the house being on the market, we will have an offer. He is sure that by the end of April, contracts will have been exchanged, and that we should be moving by mid to late May.
Whooooosh…did you see that….pigs…..straight over my head!!
I may be doing the poor man an injustice, but I have heard all this before from estate agents, they seem to live in an alternate world to us mere mortals. He forgot to mention Easter, which, although only a weekend, in reality will put solicitors, surveyors and all other related professionals out of kilter for at least a fortnight! I know, I have sold a house over Easter before.
Hopefully, he is right, after all he is the expert.
I better get busy de-cluttering etc, in time for the photo shoot. Hello magazine it ain’t! But I may just get out my fluffy, kitten heel slippers!
I jet-blasted the front garden yesterday…and very interesting it was too! It really was ‘four seasons in one day’! We had rain, sunshine and rainbows, hail, snow, wind and it was bitterly cold, with a warm sun on my back! I didn’t mind though, I just kept blasting. I quite like jet-blasting, it is a really satisfying job, the difference is amazing….I’d forgotten they were honey coloured slabs and it’s quite therapeutic, (apart from the noise!) it’s a good way to get immersed in a job and forget all the pressure elsewhere!
The fence is nearly complete. The guys had missed out one plank and we were told one was on order. Plank arrives, is nailed into place and they come round for their money. But on closer inspection, the plank is the wrong colour and the wrong height! Maybe they thought we wouldn’t notice! Well, it stuck out like a sore thumb! So, still waiting for the fence to be finished…..
Plus, this morning, I went into the estate agents and am now awaiting the arrival of Dave, who is going to do a valuation. I have asked that no photos be taken yet, as it is still a mess here! I need to get myself a house doctor!
Happy Mothers Day to all you Mums out there…I hope you were treated and pampered all day!
I was awoken at 7:30 this morning, with giggling and smirking, a lovely cup of tea (my first Diddy made cup of tea!), 2 giant slabs of toast and a banana covered in butter. And very nice it was too! I was then left to have a lovely lie-in…perfect.
We have had a busy Sunday; so far we have been to Asda to finish off the shopping for Diddys school trip, (cost of trip £95, cost of essentials and bits, at least £195!), B&Q for 2 storage boxes, jet blasted patio, made soup, to the park for football and cycling, made cakes and flapjacks…..and it’s still only 5:30!
We are hoping to get the house on the market next weekend…it seems to be dragging now and quite honestly, I can’t think why it has taken so long! We wanted to get it on the market by the end of January but it didn’t happen.
So, the new carpet arrives on Thursday, the fence is done in the front garden, patios jet blasted. I need to de-clutter, de-personalise, have a good clean and tidy in time for the agent and his digital camera!
And then all we do is sit back and wait! Apparantly, for every house on the market in the UK, there are 8 separate customers searching to buy it. Yeah, well, we’ll see!
This article caught my eye somewhere during my internet wanderings, I think it was the Knights Templar thing that first attracted me. And on closer inspection, I find it’s only up the road in Ste Foy La Grande.
Take a look at the agent’s spec…looks very nice too! Does anyone want to go halves on 1 300 000 euros? I am, of course, sadly, only joking!
I’ve been a bit quiet over the last few days and so here is a little treat for your ears. I have been wondering how I could splice this into my blog, as it doesn’t seem to fit any categories. So I shall invent a new one….the ‘Just because I like it’ category. (Won’t let me do it for some reason!)
I hope you do too!
Hands up if you think he collapses into a big heap at the end?
Why should this story warm the cockles of my heart? I really don’t know, but I think it’s a great idea. Wouldn’t we love it to be true!?
The Bourbon King of France, with an Indian passport…wow! Balthazar Napolean de Bourbon….I bet he got a ribbing at school! Apparantly, he was told from an early age of his regal, French heritage and has named all of his children with French names. Although he is of modest means, his ancestors in Bhopal were quite wealthy and influential. Balthazar is being brought to France by Prince Michael of Greece, who has published the book exposing all this, Le Rajah de Bourbon. He is to have DNA tests to see if any real proof can be found.
I find it quite ironic that India was the jewel in Britains crown and all that time was possibly harbouring the French royal family.
I also like the way that ‘things French’ has a world-wide reaching influence. I often get French connections from the most obscure and unexpected places, Bhopal being a good example.
It reminds me of the rumour in our family, that we are connected somewhere along the line to King Canute. I think our only connection is insanity!
When I first read about Ryanair charging extra for ‘larger’ passengers, I was quite unfazed by it…after all it is the sort of thing they would do!
But the more I chewed it over, the more I thought it was the sort of thing that my favourite news website, Newsbiscuit, would run. And lo and behold, it turns out it is a Newsbiscuit article and well worth reading too…it had me laughing anyway! I even laugh at the photo of the smiling Ryanair girl! Classic stuff!
The French health authorities, it would appear, are becoming concerned with the potential rise in childhood obesity levels and are introducing a warning system on food advertising.
The message is to be: ‘Less fat, less sugar, less salt’.
So the idea that French people never get fat because they appreciate and savour their food is maybe a myth, or at least, a thing of the past.
I know in my experience of visiting France for the past 25 years, that the shops are now full of ready-made meals and the usual stuff that we buy here in Britain. I can remember when we couldn’t buy mince, we had to pick the steak and get the butcher to ‘hache’ it for us!
And in one year, France (Lot et Garonne anyway) cottoned on to roundabouts and McDonalds. We went home in the September and the next visit, Easter the following year, there were roundabouts and associated McDonalds all over the place. I’m talking maybe 4 or 5 years ago.
And don’t get me started on Ikea!
Forget getting sentimental/maudlin about the loss of the local High Street and it’s individuality and uniqueness, we’re talking whole country’s here, disappearing into commercial sameness and uniformity. A national landscape, not shaped by geography but by commercialism.
This seems a long way from warnings on food advertisements, but I’m sure there is a connection somewhere!
It may be that the said Health authorities have taken a look at the state of the neighbouring British childrens’ health and decided to act before it has gone too far.
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