As I mentioned yesterday, one thing that has really helped keep me entertained during this period, are the comments and conversations my babbling has generated. 😍
Please keep them coming!
For example, the comments about having two sets of curtains for the breakfast room really had me laughing. I would remind you all that ‘front of house’ and ‘back of house’ are two very different things!! 😉
All of our efforts go into making sure that front of house is as clean/tidy and well decorated as possible. But one of the downsides of doing this job is that by the time you’ve finished making the front of house look good, you have little energy or time left over for your own quarters. Consequently, we do indeed have summer and winter curtains for the breakfast room… but we have been living here for almost 4 years with zero curtains in our own kitchen 🙄 😂
Standards were increased a bit when we got around to redecorating our kitchen last November, but I only got as far as cutting up some pieces of material, pinning them together to form a semblance of a curtain (purely for the purposes of making a final decision on the back wall colour) and there they stayed.. pinned loosely together and only on one window. So there ya go, I am officially only half a posh bird!! 😂 😂
Today started with having to do some nasty admin jobs which are all thoroughly depressing. Assessing finances, trying to plan ahead for worst case scenario, or at the very least, surviving the current lack of income and processing yet more cancellations. Although I did have a really heartwarming conversation first thing this morning with a lovely lady who was due to come early April with her whole family, to celebrate her Mother’s 90th. They’ve had to cancel, obviously, but asked if they could postpone the trip until May/June, assuming all is well by then. Considering their disappointment at the cancelled celebrations, she was utterly wonderful to chat to and we had a lot of laughs during the call. I’ll look forward to their rescheduled visit, they sound like super lovely people.
I also chatted with a couple of our friends out here who are all in exactly the same boat. We have an amazing ex pat community out here, we share advice, experiences and help one another out all the time… and particularly at the moment. I literally don’t know where we’d be without them and the support and friendship they have given over the years and most especially, now. You lot rock! 🙏 😇 😁
The weather was bitterly cold but clear and dry. Having dealt with some mood lowering stuff in the morning and, of course, not being able to be out in the garden with the boys, we opted to go out and walk the dogs in the forest above us. Again, we are lucky, to be living in a small mountain village. There is just has one road in to the village and beyond it are walking/cycling/hiking trails and mountains, nothing else. It’s always quiet up there and even in normal times, it’s rare for us to see other humans on our walks. We did the ‘usual’ route, adding in a bit of back and forth on one of the forest tracks for good measure. Lordy, it was cold, but getting good lungfuls of fresh, clean air and being out and about felt good for the soul. Having finally recovered from their exhaustion from ‘being helpers’ this week, the boys also loved their little trip out. Normal ‘collapse in a heap’ in front of the fire resumed on our return… for all 4 of us… ! 😆 😴
Stay safe everyone xx
