Thursday

One day back in London and I have a meeting in the morning down at the Science Gallery but not much of a voice so decided to cancel my later meetings.

It seems that American Express has a deal on at the moment and you can get £150 cash back on a certain expenses which includes a number of restaurants, none close enough to us in France or Spain but there are some in London. It was too good an offer to pass up so time for a very fancy date night.

[10 November 2023]

Friday

Time to head back to France. It’s been lovely to see Peter and sleep in our ‘other’ bed, that we are so fortunate to have at his place, but there’s nothing like going home. 9am call before we go though and seems that my colleague is also losing their voice so clearly this is what is going around at the moment.

Call done and time to head up to the airport. It’s nice to be on an early flight for once so at least we should get back at a reasonable hour. Lounge closed/full again and so Matt went to grab a drink for the flight while I got a quick beer in. We then went to gate and had to wait a bit – FYI for your future flights, there’s a better bar at the gates to Toulouse/Lourdes (42-48) than in the main area but we had no idea how long we’d need to wait and it was still relatively early. Cress is also sending me puppy pics to entice me home.

Lourdes airport’s passport control was awful. It took far too long and was terribly organised. But the drive back was good and we were home.

I couldn’t call for Meow as my voice was really terrible still, apparently however so is hers. Meow seems to have the same virus I do. She was however very glad that we were home and she could stay inside, which she definitely needs. Beans on baguette and a cup of tea for dinner – thanks to Cressida! After cuddles it was time for bed as clearly we all need it.

[11 November 2022]

Saturday

Meow and I need to rest. Matt is up and making himself busy – he’s my hero! He’s been out in the garden mowing the lawns to pick up and shred the leaves.

Once I got up I was off for a tour around the house to see where things were and at what needed to be done before heading off to the garden.

A quick walkaround with Matt and then he was back to the mower. I went to go and start on clearing the worst of the vegetable garden. Bay 2, Sweetcorn and Sunflowers, first.

Outside jobs done and it was time for a trip down to Luchon. Unfortunately our friends are away but we got a few things we needed at the Bricos. Back at the house and we got a few things done: Bay 3, tomatoes and chilies. It takes longer than it looks to take off all the old ropes and wires but it needs to be done. I’ve also got our chilies gathered. Matt is done and he’s also come over with the strimmer – good to know where Bed 1 actually is as it’s been fallow this year and very overgrown. Looking better now. Not sure what to do with the Cosmos though which has suddenly decided to flower in November…

Time to relax for a bit and then get ready to go out – which meant finding all the old things we put away in the summer for the cat. Since she’s sick she’s going to have to stay inside so we need to find the litter tray and get her settled; she’s never stayed inside for any length of time without us being there.

With so much going on at home I’d forgotten about the puppy till we drove into the driveway at JC’s! Yay, puppy!

Lovely dinner and only a small amount of bed moving and putting back together so can’t complain, not a bad deal in my book. We had to get back though to the cat.

[12 November 2022]

Sunday

Meow and I stayed late in bed again, we are sick. Matt however has been doing loads. Somehow he’s managed to clean the fireplace on his own. I’ve no idea how he did it as it’s not easy to get out on your own and it’s clearly a messy job. By the time he got upstairs he was covered – reminded me of Dick Van Dyke – I however was changing the sheets so he was warned to stay well clear. Washing on and it’s time to go downstairs. The kitchen was a mess, as you’d expect. We’re keen to go to the Cierp Gaud Christmas Market but before we do that the kitchen floor must be cleaned.

Job done and off to the market. It wasn’t amazing but I’ve seen worse. We picked up a few local artisanal bits and pieces for the mums and then back home. I needed to go back but Matt dropped by the vets to get the emergency number. Thankfully the vet was in and speaks English. She’s free so we should bring Meow down asap. This is going to be fun!

Matt did well to get her in the carrier but she hated it more than you can imagine. We now know that she has a fever but no obvious signs of any lung issues, we have now got her an antibiotic and anti-inflammatory shot. Hopefully it is all good, but we need to keep an eye on her and that means she can’t leave the house today, which she doesn’t like.

Meow is doing better though, she’s still sick but doing better. All we can do is potter about the house and stay nearby. Time for F1 and more rest before bed.

[13 November 2022]

Monday

Back to work and lots to do. Matt managed to sneak off for an hour to get a bit of work done on the wiring upstairs as there’s a lot to do before he swans off again and before we have our Christmas/new year’s visitors. Seems he’s also managed to put the filler in so once I cut back the excess he should be able to put up the last piece of plasterboard in the pink SdB.

We let the cat out briefly while it was warm out as she seemed quite distressed about being locked in. Of course however she disappeared for a bit until Matt found her sleeping in the top of the hedge. It seems as though we’re going to have to keep her indoors.

The sky this evening however was mad, I’ve never seen colours like it – no filters, this was just as it was.

After work Matt looked after the cat while I made a rather lovely (if I say so myself) chicken pasta bake. No pre-made sauce so had to make it from scratch too so the fact that I didn’t ruin it was pretty impressive. Matt must have liked it too as he went back for seconds.

After dinner time to relax, try to look after the cat and then update the blog.

[14 November 2022]

Tuesday

Another busy day of work. The cat is becoming increasingly distressed by being locked inside and not allowed out. She seems to be a little better again today and her cough has become a bit lighter and she seems to have started to sneeze a bit more instead, which I think is better, it seems to be less upsetting. She’s still not eating as much as usual though and still hardly has any voice; it’s very odd with her being here but almost no meowing, especially at feeding time. I too am hoping that one day very soon I’ll wake up being able to speak properly again too.

Matt again has managed to find a few minutes to do a little more on the wiring but it’s very slow when you can only steal half an hour each day so not really moving forward.

I’m on dinner again and this evening we’re having Swedish style meatballs using my homemade passata sauce. Meanwhile Matt has been putting together the new tool box that arrived today.

Time for some TV before Matt heads to bed and the cat makes it difficult for me to write the blog but I shall keep going regardless.

[15 November 2022]