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We have had visitors of various ages, the youngest being little F who, at three months who spent a lovely four weeks growing and giggling at us, learning to put his feet in the sea, his fingers down his throat, showing us what a fabulous sailor he is and keeping his parents up.  The eldest (not my bonkers cousin) was 90 and decided that jumping off the cliff at night would be more exciting, a moment was spent persuading him not to encourage Thing 2, he would have done it.

We are back on our own now and trying not to feel like we are still on holiday.  I have taken to walking Sunny to the beach every day, sometimes accompanied by my lovely neighbour T.  Today was such a day.  We made our way cheerfully on this warm October afternoon imagining that we would walk the five miles (ish) to our local town.  As we reached the turning for our first beach we noticed that the goats were loose in the ‘road’, this means that the goat dogs would also be loose.  Our two dogs, being very vociferous would make their presence known and cause distress to the goat dogs who might decide we are a threat, thus we decided to go to the first beach instead.

Well it was deserted, we two and the dogs alone on a beautiful beach.  The sea was beckoning, perfect temperature and beautiful sunshine.  I can never resist the water so, after much paddling and messing about, persuaded by my lovely T, I decided to swim in my knickers.  They were very sensible bright red knickers – clearly underwear not swimwear – but I didn’t care, we were alone.

Stumbling across the rocks, not being very elegant at the best of times, 100 metres from my clothes and 20 metres from water deep enough to swim I heard an enormous guffaw from the beach, I turned, topless, knee deep, to see a group of about 35 hikers walking towards me wearing full hiking gear,  and my dear T collapsing with laughter.  I pretended that I always swim in my pants, hobbled into the deeper water and headed for the opposite side of the bay as fast as possible.  I stayed there until they rounded the headland and had barely got my clothes back on before the next group of people arrived.

I so hope they were tourists.

We have had a fantastic first few weeks here, my totally bonkers cousin and her eternally patient husband came and stayed down the road which made it seem so much more like home, we spent the entire week laughing, the weather, food and alcohol were all in perfect order and R made a new best friend, we miss them like crazy and can’t wait for them to come back!

We were warned of a cyclone, we battened down the hatches and waited. Nothing happened until two nights ago, by which time we had lost interest in being careful and I had left the washing out and the cushions on the sun beds.  We were woken at 3am by the loudest thunder I have ever heard so I ran outside and brought the washing in.  What followed was  biblical rain, luckily without any real damage to the island.

We did discover, however, that our house leaks quite effectively, apparently the roof isn’t on properly.  We have moved our bed to the middle of the room and have a bucket behind it in the manner of Chinese torture.  The walls were wet and the floor was covered with decorative little puddles, a particularly big puddle by the front door had formed a little river.  Luckily our lovely angel  who is staying for a little rest and relaxation, was spared the indoor downpour  but was very helpful with the mopping up.  The courgettes and beans were not very happy about the hail.

I am currently waiting for the arrival of my grandson (and his parents) I tracked their flight which went round and round the airport for 15 minutes before it landed, I felt totally unconcerned………….

We have promised them a sunny and carefree month on this lovely island.  The rain started again five minutes ago.

 

We landed in Corfu on the 10th August, as I watched the sun rise from the top bunk of our cabin on the ferry I realised I had been woken by a dog barking next door.  As dogs are not allowed in the cabins I knew we had to be quick and get Sunny back on deck before he decided to wake up and join the morning chorus.

All went smoothly upon arrival as we’d filled in all the appropriate paperwork and didn’t need to quarantine, we left the port and made our way to our new home on the hill.

We have been here three weeks on Monday so we decided to unpack the last of our belongings, we have spent last two days donating and dumping things that seemed essential when we were packing.

My garden is growing ferociously, beans are half way up the sticks, courgettes and gherkins are twice as big as they would be in three weeks at home but the most exciting are the pineapple melons.  (While I was spending my mornings rocking a pram with my foot I surfed the net searching for seeds that would be happy here. Therefore, approximately 100 packets of seeds came on the journey with us, including pineapple melons and other such exotics.)

The house is nearly sorted now, we don’t have any dining chairs but I am reliably informed that they will be with us in mid September, hopefully they’ll be here before Christmas.  R is finishing some table tops for the garden that have been made at the local timber yard, again I’m hopeful for December.

There is a lake opposite the house and apparently there are coypu and otters in there, we’ve got a little table and chairs so you can sit and watch through the binoculars.  It’s nearly the end of the cicada season so its quieter during the day now, I have to confess that I’m a little disappointed because when you open the door to get out of the car it sounds like a massive crowd cheering their heads off and I feel the need to bow!  I’m sitting on my bed in my newly tidied bedroom with the doors open and the frogs singing to tell me it’s the end of the day.

I’m slowly teaching Sunny to swim, he got his 25 metre badge yesterday.

 

Today is Friday 7th of August and we are perched on the shores of Lake Garda (actually parked in a camper van car park but my first sentence needed the drama).

We have abandoned our beautiful grandson to the tender care of his totally capable parents, I didn’t realise how hard that would be, packed Vanley with all the essentials, a band saw, a selection of impact drills, two enormous blinds and 4 cubic cm of space for Sunny to sit, hopped on the channel tunnel and here we are.

We arrived in Peschiera del Garda at 3.30 today, I think we have come here because we drove 500 miles for R to buy shoes here last trip.  (He pointed out the shop as we passed). We left the UK at 2.30am yesterday intent on spending our first night in Colmar, when we arrived the campsite was full, I wouldn’t spend the extra 15 euro to pre book so I am totally responsible.  We decided to continue driving and look for an Aire to stay in but got a bit carried away until R had been driving for 18 hours, by which time we were in Switzerland and halfway up a mountain.  I have an app (several actually) that shows us where we can park up and we found the most breathtaking spot to spend the night.  We were in a valley at the base of sheep mountain, the sun was setting and the mountain was pink it was so beautiful we almost forgot to be tired.  The guy in charge was the only Swiss national to laugh – at us as we unloaded the saw…..

Several gins later we hardly noticed the bells ringing every hour and the chickens at sunrise.

The drive today from Switzerland to Italy was spectacular, winding roads and precipices, cow bells and chalets.   Switzerland is slightly more beautiful aesthetically than Italy but there is a little something missing, it is organised and calm, the roads are perfect, the people are helpful and polite but they don’t smile, there is no passion.  Italy on the other hand has tons of passion and everyone smiles.   You do need nerves of steel to drive on Italian roads, luckily I’m not the driver!

 

Here we are, four months since my last missive and absolutely nothing to report from our camp, until 23rd June 2020!

This was the day we were gifted with our first grandchild.  The most beautiful boy with coal black hair and the darkest of deep dark eyes whose name is begins with an F.   Our perfect Chilean had the most difficult delivery but has borne the entire episode with dignity and grace as usual.  I am totally in love with the gorgeous little man.  Thing 2 is the proudest Dad there ever was and can hardly wait to teach him how to use an axe (F has a knitted axe to learn with).

R was still in Greece when our little F arrived, a protracted journey of three planes and a five hour stopover in Germany.  He managed to get here just before they stopped the two week quarantine for new arrivals and even though he tested negative for COVID he is still confined to quarters.  He’s having a tough time cuddling the  baby and smiling like he did all the hard work himself.

My birth mother managed to move house on the 29th June, she is now firmly ensconced in a ‘project’ that should keep her busy for the coming year!  She’s always up for a challenge so I’m sure it will be gorgeous.  R and I will spend the remaining time at the home of the newest addition and hope to escape back to our place in the turquoise sea at the beginning of August.

It hasn’t been easy, this isolation thing, some of my darlings have had the most terrible time and we haven’t been able to share our troubles or hug to make it better.   Some relationships have strengthened and some have broken completely, change has happened to everyone.

Here’s to starting again …….

 

We all like a bit of time to ourselves now and then but this is getting ridiculous.

I shaved my legs for the first time in 28 years, something I vowed never to do but maintaining a 2 metre distance, especially at my height means waxing would be problematic and I look like a yeti.  I had an English teacher once who never shaved her legs and the hairs were so long and tangled under her tights, totally put me off English so I failed deliberately as a protest.

My birth mother and I have been enjoying each other’s company so much that she is sending me out for a walk with the dogs earlier and earlier every day.  Today I walked for 6km in a circle thinking I was on my way home.  I have a foolproof sense of direction.

I have never been so bored in my life and not being in a position to do anything is so frustrating I think I will have to cut the grass with my old scissors and maybe Sunny would suit a mohawk.

Everyone else seems to be surviving and R is looking increasingly like a beetroot without my constant nagging about sun screen.  He can only go out with prior permission granted by phone and then only for an hour.   Luckily our belongings arrived in Corfu, magic delivery company managed to cross the borders without touching anybody or anything.  As soon as the house is finished R can sleep on a mattress on the floor with no bedding but at least he’ll have every kitchen utensil you can imagine, a cooker, washing machine, barbecue and all my clothes.

We were supposed to be leaving for Europe this week, instead Vanley is forlorn and lonely in the drive.  He’s sparklingly blue because all the neighbours cleaned their cars and Vanley was grey, we succumbed to peer pressure and got out the hose.

Here’s to another week of doing nothing……

The last two days in Cornwall were glorious, birth mother and I together with the two dogs, self isolated on the beach in the sunshine marvelling at the beauty of our island and paddling in the Atlantic, Poppy the cockerpoo turned out to be a very good swimmer, Sunny looked on disdainfully.

We had assumed that we would wait for the Blonde Bombshell to get home from Australia, a complicated and tiring journey which changed by the hour,  wait a few days to make sure all was well and then meander our way home.   That all changed following the news that we were to stay indoors.

We made the decision to go home as soon as we knew they were on the M4, abandoning BB’s mother for at least four hours.   I had planned to go shopping and cook them dinner so they had everything they needed but we really didn’t know whether the roads would be closed as in Italy and France.

We are home now, not my own home but that doesn’t matter.  We have food and loo paper which makes us very lucky, I even managed to bring home frozen pasties from our favourite shop!

The sky is looking fantastic without the aeroplane trails, we are under a flight path so it’s really noticeable, people living near airports must be feeling very peaceful.  I haven’t heard a train today and the roads are really quiet.

I’m missing R, he’s going to be in Corfu for the foreseeable future, only allowed to leave the house with written permission from the government, even if it’s just for a walk.  These are indeed extraordinary times.

I really love how creative people are being at the moment to make sure they can stay in touch.  We are having a virtual pub quiz tonight with our family which means we can’t choose our team, Sunny’s in mine and he’s not very bright.

I think I’ll clean Vanley today as the sun is out, there is at least a kilo of sand on the floor.  I’m more than slightly concerned about my need for a leg wax.

 

Here I am, in beautiful Cornwall, gazing out of the window at the stunning, albeit grey and dismal countryside.  I am supposed to be here until the 26th March with my and the Blonde Bombshell’s mothers while R is in Corfu organising stuff.

R isn’t coming back to Blighty any time soon, the European boarders are being closed at midday today for 30 days.  We are used to spending time apart but not this long.  I have no idea when we will be able to see each other without using some form of technology.   The Perfect Wife has been sent home from work until after the baby is born and Child One has imposed herself on my brother.   Lucky has been working from home because he has a sniffle, his default setting is quarantine so no change there. Thing two was designed for crisis management so he will be absolutely fine.

I have sent my clothes and hair stuff to Corfu, together with all our belongings which will now sit in Bulgaria for the foreseeable future which means that even when the house is ready for R to move into he will only have a bed frame and a sofa.  I’m not very good at being bored but there’s a garden to plant and two mothers to keep amused.

The worst thing about this whole scenario is that I forgot to bring my scissors. There are worst places to be than here.

Since Christmas we have managed to move out of our rental house, camp out at Mother’s, spend a week skiing, pack all of our belongings in boxes marked with the wrong address in Corfu and have them collected by some lovely Bulgarians for a lengthly stay somewhere in the Balkans, organise and attend a wedding, put said Mother’s house on the market and sell it, (actually my sister did that bit) and drive down to Cornwall .

With regard to the skiing;  my forte seemed to be falling over but the food was excellent and I count standing up with planks on my feet as a success, despite having  to be rescued off the mountain by a lovely man and coming home on crutches.  It was only a flesh wound and I didn’t really need the wheelchair to get on the plane.

We had hardly any time to arrange  the wedding of Thing Two and his Perfect Chilean fiancee and they had not a penny between them but it was wonderful. Everyone paid for their own dinner instead of bringing a gift, meaning that their friends and family gave them a wedding as a present, it was the perfect start to the year.  The bride was very beautiful and the groom got very drunk, as did everyone else.

I sit here in Cornwall, ostensibly to look after the Blonde bombshell’s mother who is perfectly capable and a good laugh.  In reality I have kidnapped my birth mother and am forcing her to relax a bit after what has been for her a very difficult decade.  It’s been a little trying, we’re down to our last two scones and we had to buy more clotted cream on the way back from the beach.  The weather is crap but there’s an Aga and a wood burner so I think we’ll make it.

R has gone to Corfu, he is supposed to be ‘sorting things out’ but I bet he’s drinking gin and sunbathing.

Christmas was a quiet affair in our house, our two main players, appointed queens of the festivities, were out of the country and out of action respectively, as a consequence we all stayed in our own homes instead of having the customary huge celebration.  This has been a difficult  year and under the circumstances it was lovely as could be.

Now we have to spring into action.  We are renovating a little house, it should have been ready in October for Thing 2 and his perfect girlfriend to move into but Thing 2 is a carpenter and everything has to be hand made of wood with an ancient tool that belonged to some biblical character which has delayed things somewhat.

We have 22 days to finish said house, (my job is to paint the woodwork)  repair the garden in our rental (used as a car park for a year) empty and take down a forensic tent that we’ve had outside as storage, pack the house into two piles, one to be stored and one to be shipped, arrange the shipping, ready Vanley and move out.

I sorted out my knicker drawer today and packed some cookery books, I think I’ll be fine.