I'll be glad of a break!

Man am I ever glad May is over! While there were lots of fun events it just seemed like circumstances dictated that they all ended up happening in May, rather than spread out over a longer period, and it was exhausting - even if it was a fun month. On a positive note, Airbnb posted a review on us from the owner of the house we rented in Auvergne and she said we were "very respectful of the property and left it spotless" so I'm happy about that. I knew, of course, that visitors rated their experiences but I didn't know that the owners actually rated the renters too, but then I suppose it's a good way to let other owners know about potential future renters!

The G7 is meeting in Evian next week and the whole place is locked down, stretching out even as far as our little town. It's about 40 minutes from here to Evian but the exhibition halls in town are being used as barracks for the military so even though, logically, we shouldn't be so affected by the meeting, many of our roads have been rerouted to avoid passing near the barracks. People living in and around Evian are really complaining though, as businesses (restaurants etc.) are losing money, as are the pleasure boats on Lake Geneva as you can't get within a few miles of the place. They even have military up in the mountains on both sides of the lake to make sure that people with ill intent aren't camped out up there waiting for the meeting. People who cross from France into Geneva for work were told to expect delays of between four and six hours to cross the borders so those that can do so will obviously be working from home until the G7 is over (and probably loving not having the daily commute too)!

Totally unrelated to the G7 is the recent fire at the big toll road leading into Geneva. A man had stopped in order to pay and his car suddenly went up in flames (although luckily no-one was hurt), so I can't even begin to imagine what the traffic is like on that road until they can get the infrastructure up and running again. And, yet again, I will forever thank God I'm retired!!!!!

May is also the month where I get a visit from the chimney sweep, which is money for old rope in my case because I haven't used my wood burner even once in the last year so there's actually nothing to sweep. But if my certificate isn't up to date my house insurance isn't valid so while yep, it really is money for old rope, I just have to grit my teeth and pay it. And talking of creatures on a set schedule, I see that I'd written in my diary that "the pushy gypsy guy" should be showing up anytime around now. I think he's a traveller and comes knocking on doors round here telling the great and gullible what needs doing to their homes. To be fair, he does fairly decent work, but I really resent being pressured into emplyoing him for various jobs, particularly since it will inevitably cost me €1,000 and "I'd rather have that in cash, if you don't mind"! There is one particular job that I want doing on my roof so I'll be contacting a company my neighbour recommended to me, but in the meantime, I'm so glad I disconnected my front doorbell and I'll try my best to "be out" when he comes around, as "pushy" really should be his middle name!

Last week I had my appointment at the hospital to see if anything could be done about what looks like a black spot on my right eyeball that I noticed after pressure-spraying my back terrace. They told me to apply numbing eye drops to both eyes in advance and consequently I had to get a taxi there and back since my friend was away and I wasn't allowed to drive. Turns out the "black spot" in my field of vision isn't as a result of damage to my eye (and she did explain what it was but I can't remember what it's called) and it's not something to worry about unless I start seeing loads of black spots and/or flashes of colour, so I'm good to go and hopefully it will clear up on its own. The taxi clocked up €40 on the way to the hospital and he told me I could settle up with him after the return journey but when he went to charge me just €45 for the entire trip I reminded him that I hadn't paid the first leg yet. He just laughed and said "oh we'll call it a round trip for €45 then", so I guess I made up for the chimney sweep rip-off by finding a decent taxi firm - who I will definitely use again if needed!

I kept Charlie again on the Wednesday and then Jen asked if I could keep both kids on the Saturday evening for them to go out for dinner with my oldest and his girlfriend. Charlie had skinned his knees in a fall at school and Elynn had run into a wall and ended up with a huge scrape across her forehead and what looked like the beginnings of a black eye, but in the end they were no trouble at all. Elynn is really easy to put to bed and Charlie was too after we'd watched Ice Age until about 10.30 pm! I loved that movie and we now use Sid's catch phrase "I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die - first I'm gonna throw up, and then I'm gonna die" whenever we're a bit nervous about something. I got home around 1 am and to bed around 2, which was unfortunate as everyone was coming to my place for lunch the next day, the 31st being not only Mother's Day in France but also Jordan's 34th birthday. We were lucky in that it had forecast rain but we ended up with blue skies and hot weather, hot enough for me to get out the little paddling pool I'd bought and the water pistols for the kids (adults?) to enjoy!

Jen and Charlie ready to ambush!

So I've been really busy the entire month of May, and every day last week too. I actually have quite a few administrative things to sort out, but this weekend I think I'm just going to take it easy, read my current book (Lie Down With Wolves by Ken Follett) and try not to do much of anything for a while. One thing I will be sorting out though is the renewal of my British passport. I got photos taken at the booth when I went shopping on Tuesday and oh my goodness what a fright I look. I don't actually care too much to start messing around trying to get a good photo but I did get to wondering if other people do and if they try to use filters and/or AI to make themselves look better. I'm pretty sure none of that is allowed and also that the passport authorities can most likely spot it anyway, but lordy lordy, my photo is terrible. So is the photo on my French passport because after all you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, can you, but I seriously look like a drug mule in both! I suppose it just depends on whether I want to look like a British drug mule or a French drug mule when I decide which passport to hand over! Decisions, decisions!