Who's been a busy bee then?

Maybe it's because there's a hint of spring in the air but I finally got a burst of energy again this week and got so much done that had been bugging me for ages! Do you know what I mean by the "eternal invisible to-do list"? The things you need/want to get around to doing but just never seem to get there? Well I decided to start putting the list down on paper and trying to knock a couple of them out every day. I mean, seriously, most of them only take a few minutes anyway, right? So I've been quite a busy bee this week and it feels pretty good. (At this point I was going to post an audio of Arthur Askey singing Busy Bee but thought the better of it - although I'm definitely showing my age with that one)!

My mobile phone bill has been bugging me for quite some time because when I signed up for a new contract (and got my iPhone 11 for €9) about nine months ago, the contract I agreed to was for around €40/month, which was pretty much what I was paying before. But, every month that damn bill would come in and I would be out over €80!!!, and while I'm not obsessive about it I make sure any extra-EU calls (to the UK or the US) are always made via wifi so I couldn't understand why I was still clocking up an €80+ monthly phone bill! Eventually I pulled up my contract online and saw that I was being billed the €40 for my current contract and then another €40 for a different mobile line. So I promptly called them up, sat through God-knows how many "press 1 for ...., press 2 for ...., para español marque el número ...." and finally got through to a real person! I explained my problem to her and asked what that other mobile number was and she said it was the additional number that was linked to my previous 4G wifi contract (as opposed to my new ADSL line wifi)! Say what? I mailed that box back to them about nine months ago (which she acknowledged), but apparently since I hadn't actually asked for them to cancel the contract, I was still paying the extra €40/month, even though I didn't have the equipment! Lordy, lordy, while she was very helpful and cancelled the contract there and then, I do feel it's just another hoop you have to jump through so that they can keep billing you. Not that €40 is that much money, but it sure was bugging the hell out of me!

I also got a bit of varnishing done in my large bathroom as I was finding that my paint job on the made-to-measure unit chipped rather easily. So now I'm having to empty everything yet again and go over the paint job with varnish I luckily just happened to have in my basement. I'm not doing such a great job but I've come to realize that I really am a "good enough" kinda person, so I guess perfectionism really isn't going to be the death of me!

Then I got a load of veggie seeds planted and "housed" behind the sofa in my very sunny living room and man those things are going wild - they look like triffids at this point! I'm praying I haven't jumped the gun and planted them too early since we really shouldn't plant out here before mid-May because of the risk of frost, so if you don't hear from me ever again it will probably be because I have been murdered by a triffid making it's way upstairs and strangling me in my sleep!

In it's day (1962), that was a pretty good film!

Then it was time to get the pressure sprayer out, and while I enjoy the actual washing bit, I just hate setting the darn thing up and moving everything out the way, although I have to admit my back terrace looks so much better now - or at least until we get the next sand dump from the Sahara! I also finally got myself booked onto a vegan cookery course at the vegan restaurant up the road. While I doubt I would ever go vegan (vegetarian possibly), the food at this place is just wonderful so I'm thinking it can't hurt to learn how to make some of their dishes, even if they only turn out half as good as in the restaurant!

On the exercise front I went to the gym twice last week and added in two machines that I have always liked and cut out one machine which I think is too hard on my knees. And again, the place is virtually empty every time I go so I will definitely sign back up when my contract expires shortly. At yoga lately she has been teaching us the "Five Tibetans" postures. While I frankly don't understand much about the theory, they are movements designed to stimulate energy (just as the sap in plants/trees begins to rise again in the spring), and while they haven't been my favourite exercises, I can definitely feel a difference compared to the previous postures we have been working on! But isn't it great when you've go so much to learn that everything is a novel experience!

The "Five Tibetans" postures
(I don't look anything like this)!

I also finally got off my backside and took myself down to the lake at Passy for a walk earlier this week - which was just as well because it's piddling down here now and I think they've even forecast snow in the next couple of days!

The Mont Blanc!

Then on Tuesday night I dropped my car off at Ford for them to take off my winter tyres (ha, ha, there's snow forecast this weekend) and put new summer tyres on. I was bloody lazy though because I could have walked back home in about an hour, but as it was all uphill I chickened out and caught the bone-rattling minibus service back home, on the pretext of figuring out exactly which villages it stops at! When I got there Thiery (the Ford guy) was telling me how busy they are (I thought he looked tired) but they couldn't order any new cars for stock at the moment because most of their steering wheels come from Ukraine! I guess you don't realize how interdependent we all are until something like this happens! On a positive note, I at least managed the one hour walk back down there on Wednesday to pick my car up!

My ex arrived from the States on Sunday in time for Charlie's first birthday. He was due in to Geneva at 7.30 a.m. (I bet that pleased André, who definitely likes his sleep), but the flight was delayed and he only arrived at 10 a.m. Still, he got to meet Charlie later that day and he's just as dotty about him as I imagined he would be. Monday was Charlie's birthday (I know, where oh where has the year gone?), so we were all invited over to Jordan and Jen's for a fondue. I stopped in at Maison Janin to buy a couple of desserts and man is that place a gold mine. It was heaving with so many people buying bread, sandwiches, coffee and desserts, I can't even begin to imagine how much money they must rake in in a day!

Maison Janin!

Things were fine with my ex (who I haven't seen in three years), but to be honest I didn't think he looked too well - although that might just have been jetlag! Charlie is not yet walking - although I sense we're getting closer every day - but man oh man has he got a mouth on him. He's an incredibly happy little boy but the decibels in that room with his "singing" were quite something! Still, I'd rather him like that than quiet and subdued!

And finally, I went grocery shopping today and since I go to a lot of farmers' markets I generally shop with cash because I would say at least 50% of the stalls don't take card payments. I don't mind at all as I think it's important to keep cash circulating and not go totally digital, but I must have excelled myself today by walking out of there with just two cents left out of the cash in my wallet. Don't spend it all at once right?