November 2nd and guess what I did today…… bought my first Christmas presents ! I know, I know, don’t groan, but I am determined not to be the person I was last year, frantically shopping at the last minute just praying that La Poste and the GPO would have pity and not let me down. They didn’t and did ! Living abroad from family and friends means that Christmas is expensive and it is not easy to find nice gifts that don’t cost three times as much as the gift itself in postage ! I’m also determined to support the high street and not take the easier Amazon /on line route. Hmm, watch this space !
Sad to say I have yet another loss to report – do hope you took my advice and bought shares in Kleenex – our dear old Mr. Beagle died on 29th October, I found him dead in his park when I took out clean bedding and food Monday evening. He was a lovely little old boy who I adopted from the Cahors SPA a few years ago. He was old then and the SPA didn’t hold out much hope of rehoming him so he came here. Within a week he had gone walkabout – I realised then how he had ended up at the SPA. I remember the day well, he got out the morning of the day we had to leave for a family occasion in England. I wanted to stay home but feared the wrath of the family if we ducked out. Anyway, when we were waiting to board the flight I got a message saying he had been found trotting along the road obviously on his way home. It wasn’t the last time he caused me anxious moments, his love of roaming was just too strong, but for the last year I think he realised that he wasn’t up to solitary walks anymore and was happy to hang out in the garden. Bless you Mr. Beagle, you were a goodie and I’m happy you spent your last years with us.
Happier news now. Our Book Sale ! It was great, our best ever (over 3,000 euros) and I thank all of you who contributed in so many ways, from donating books, to collecting books, to making beautiful book bags, to making fabulous cakes, to spreading the word and for coming and buying an amazing number of books, having lunch and eating all the cakes ! Our cake team are, in my opinion, the best ever, Walter is our supremo soup maker and Patna and I have the best job ever, sorting through all the books and picking out only the best for you to browse through. We still get surprises, “good condition and saleable” still seems to confuse some people, old torn used road maps still turn up but we don’t mind. “Bamboo Spanking” raised a few eyebrows but as we weren’t sure which category to include it in, we thought it best to leave it out !! I should mention also my partner Ernst without whom the sale would not be possible, he does all the heavy work. We all really love the day and what makes it very special is the number of people who told me how much they look forward to it and actually thanked us for oganising the event. If you have your 2019 diary already, make a note of the Spring sale which will be on the 13th April.
I mentioned Ernst earlier saying how helpful he is, well sometimes he is just a bit too helpful. If I am cooking (which I hate) he will hover and clear away vegetable peelings before I have finished, wash up bowls I haven’t finished with and, this morning took over the defrosting and cleaning of the fridge when I was in the middle of doing so. This drives me mad, whatever I am doing, if he can do it better he will just push me aside and take over. You will probably think “what is she complaining about ?!”, BUT there are 101 ‘blue’ jobs that need doing around our place, I wish he would get on with those and leave the ‘pink’ jobs to me. The shed needs painting, I think I’ll start that then he is sure to come and take over, then I could start to put in the light switch surrounds, then lay the patio, then ………………………..!
Wonder if I will have finished my Christmas shopping by the next News !
Sue x