Friday

At 4am this morning there was a bit of a storm that woke Matt up and so he then had to push Meow off the bed, who was very happily and cutely wrapped up at his feet. At least it’s just a little fluffy kitty so easier to move than a rather larger dog, and she doesn’t take up much space.

While he went to close all the upstairs external shutters I stayed put to make sure the bed didn’t go anywhere when we weren’t looking, therefore the cat claimed me as her territory.

Today, for a surprise, exciting, and unexpected job, I’m back on insulation – yay! Variety is the spice of life and all. Oh wait, that’s not how that works is it?! Never mind, needs must and I’ll feel smug about it once winter comes.

Matt on the other hand is cracking on with the plaster boarding of the first floor, with a little of my assistance to move boards etc. Definitely making progress though.

It’s lunchtime however and so, in the words of the 7 dwarves – hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work we go. We’re off to the airport again. For the first time in a very long time we’re going together, and getting on the same plane back to London.

I still had some work to finish off and the plane was delayed, Matt was thrilled, but it was easier than going to Toulouse – the parking at Lourdes/Tarbes is free but it’s crazy, cars everywhere you can possibly see or think of. But our first trip from Tarbes, which in itself was exciting.

Oh yeah, dirty chicken, don’t mind if I do – even if it is the somewhat less dirty and less exciting plane version. Having arrived much earlier than we normally do, and despite the delay, we went to meet up with Lee and Vicky, at [Lee’s brother’s pub]. On reflection we probably should have gone home and had a rest, but then we’re not in London often on a Friday night.

[21 October 2022]

Saturday

Oh my does my head hurt, we definitely should have gone straight back home to Pete’s, Lee and Vicky are dangerous but I blame Danny (Lee’s brother) for this one.

It was time however to get up and go and meet mum. After a quick hair of the dog and some lunch it was time to go shopping to get Matt clothes and shoes for Lee and Vicky’s upcoming wedding. I’d forgotten why if you actually live in London you NEVER go shopping on a weekend, the place is full of people who have no idea what a destination looks like and just love getting in the way, meandering about, and generally making a nuisance of themselves. Thankfully mum was quite helpful and had very similar ideas to me of what we should get, as well as a few mad ideas for a bit of fun.

Back at the flat and Mum was keen to go out for the evening, having both her twins with her so we decided to go to the comedy and invite Lee and Vicky too. The one mum had looked at was fully booked but I found something only a short walk away, which was a relief since it was raining.

The compare was very good, 1st act was average, 2nd was awful and 3rd was very good. So all in all it was a good night and we all had fun.

[22 October 2022]

Sunday

A quick outing with mum in the morning and then she’s off home as she has things to do. Was a lovely visit though and good to see her and get out and about.

Matt has decided that he wants the suit that we saw yesterday so it’s back to Tottenham Court Road, but at least we have the main part of the outfit. After walking for ages in his shoes however he definitely needs some new ones so we wandered about with little joy.

By the time we got home it was nearly dark and we had to drop into Sainsos. What we didn’t anticipate however was a huge, Asian style downpour that soaks you through in seconds as we were ready to leave. It was only a very short distance home so we ran for it as we had no idea how long it would last. We arrived but were soaked to the bone in less than 10m. What we didn’t know was that they had left the coloured price tag on the suit so when we took it out the colour had run onto the suit..! Guess I’m taking that to the dry cleaners tomorrow then.

[23 October 2022]

Monday

Busy day whizzing around on my scooter to meetings, but since I was down at Tower Hill I figured I’d drop into one of the few TK Maxx that we hadn’t been into. So below are the various pictures that I sent back to Matt for shoes and shirts in the vain hope that I wouldn’t have to go shopping again. It fell on deaf ears as he was busy at work and needed him to be there really, blast! The shirts are a bit dull but I liked the green shoes in particular.

Matt has managed to make it over to his flat this afternoon though and it looks as thought the jasmine is really going wild, his tenants are going to need to keep on top of that. If only I could take it back to France with me, I’d love to have it there.

What to have for dinner this evening, there’s so much choice. But obviously it was Indian, since we had Chinese the last two nights. It was pretty good too. I love coming home to all the different cuisines and that you don’t have to cook them.

[24 October 2022]

Tuesday

Another busy day scooting about town but I also had to drop Matt’s suit into the dry cleaners. The chap on the desk wasn’t overly optimistic that he’d be able to get it all out but promised that he’d do his best and what more can you ask for? I’ve also been back and forth with Lee trying to sort out the trousers for him and Jeff (best man) for the wedding, using Matt’s as an example. When did I become the team’s personal shopper?!

Matt was heading out with his work colleagues after work and Peter’s invited me to meet him for bowling. I had a last minute call just before and since I couldn’t find the bar I was stood in the middle of the street having a conference call on my laptop – nice! Only after did I realise that the bar was just around the corner behind me, so for once Peter was there before I was. It was great fun but more skittles than bowling. I’d suggested that Lee might join us too but unfortunately the bar has no reception so he went home – I mean seriously, what kind of hipster bar has no mobile reception?!

I was winning at the start but as we had a couple more drinks it seems that Peter improved and I got worse, c’est la vie. Peter won in the end but it was good fun and he was very sporting throughout. It must of course have been all the tips I gave him at the start 😉

[25 October 2022]

Wednesday

Busy at meetings all day and still enjoying my scooter. Back home at the flat and it’s pie for dinner. Matt makes a great pie but again it’s nice when they’re beautifully prepared for you and it only takes half an hour in the oven to make dinner.

[26 October 2022]

Thursday

Big day today and the main reason that I’d planned a long time ago to come back to London. Peter and Katie are taking me to the Royal Albert Hall to see ‘Letters Live’. I have no idea what to expect, just because Pete likes it doesn’t always mean it’s amazing, but it is always memorable – to a point, depending on how drunk we are 😉 We met at the Hoop and Toy (traditional meeting place for the RAH visits) before heading over the road for a quick bite at the Italian – I had carbonara – thank you Peter and Katie, it was very nice. Then up for the main event.

It was actually really good, if somewhat odd. We were also given these cards that we could write to anyone and they would send them to anywhere in the world. I naturally thought of the person I know that’s the furthest away to send it to, Mumma Camp! After the half time drinks I also remembered that Joelle’s birthday was coming up and since Pete wasn’t going to send his I took it. After all, Benedict Cumberbatch was the host of the evening and had promised to lick and seal them all himself, what more could she want from a birthday card?

We didn’t stay up late but it was nice for Matt and Katie to finally meet.

[27 October 2022]

Friday

Busy working but Friday night is date night so Matt and I are off for a romantic dinner. It’s all been a bit chaotic since we got here and doing lots of things with other people (called Pete) so nice to spend some time together again.

If only that was true. Unfortunately it’s nearly the wedding and we had to go to the super huge shopping centre to finally get his shirt. Eventually we relented and went with a nice pair of shirts from Hawes and Curtis. We therefore ended up at the somewhat less romantic Mexican place, but then who doesn’t like tacos and mojitos. We’ll do date night when we get back and before we leave.

No idea what those crazy kids were up to this evening but I for one needed a rest, it’s going to get crazy over the wedding and I’m already thinking about the calm of home and the mountains.

[28 October 2022]

Saturday

Time to get packed and the flat cleaned up before we leave for the wedding of the year. I have no idea what is awaiting us but my biggest decision right now is what shoes to take? At least we know what shoes Matt is going to wear after all that shopping.

Finally we’re packed and it’s a quiet night so time to try that new Korean BBQ place over the road.

Oh I’m full but that was good, we’re definitely going to rotate between here and the chinese in future.

[29 October 2022]

Sunday

With the flat clean and tidy we are on our way. There’s issues with the line from Clapham but Lee and Vicky are getting a taxi to East Croydon so we should be picking them up on our way through. As the race started however it gradually became apparent that they may not make this train, you’ve never seen two people on a train wish so hard that it stopped for a few extra minutes. Unfortunately however they arrived on the platform just as the train left just long enough to wave goodbye to each other. Thankfully with other train delays they were on another train only a few minutes behind, they’d never win though as it’s track!

With Gatwick’s South Terminal now reopened we were pretty quick through security with only Matt sent to the naughty queue, not for any good reason as far as we could tell. Next stop the lounge. Vicky and I went in on my card like a breeze but there appeared to be an issue with their scanner on the other side so Matt and Lee were somewhat slower. But we made it and what with Vicky’s dress with us it was clear we were off to a wedding, so the free sparkling Rosé flowed and we smiled, chatted with the bar staff and had a great start.

On the plane Lee and Vicky were up front with me and Matt much further back. We could tell when they were getting drinks though, it was like a sixth sense. Getting off the plane we had a while to wait for bags and I continued to carry things for the lovely bride and groom, as was my duty. Vivian and Jeff are already on the island so they’ve been dispatched to get some supplies while we work out where our villa is and who gets which room. Once Jeff and Vivian were back we were all ready to go, the wedding dress was hung up to reduce creases, my dress was out of Vicky’s bag and the suits were all on hangers. I can relax for now.

Time to go out for dinner. Unfortunately Lee and Vicky’s favourite place was just about to close so I booked us in for tomorrow evening, we therefore settled for the place next door for the first night and to celebrate ‘Vicky’s birthday dinner’. [It wasn’t actually her birthday but she clearly forgot why we were all there and knew she was there to celebrate something about her so that seemed as good a punt as possible, much to our amusement and jokes.] It was good evening and great to be back together, just Rhucy missing.

[30 October 2022]