January has been a pretty quiet month for us this year, giving us both a bit of time to catch our breath and relax a bit. We certainly needed it and it has done us both good to take things a little bit easier for a while. We started the year off quietly by just about managing to stay awake until midnight on New Years Eve and welcoming in the New Year with a glass of home-made ginger wine (we know how to live here!) before giving up on the TV and heading off to bed! On New Years Day, we headed off to Lowther Castle with Hazel, Phil the little one and Xena to have lunch there and a bit of a walk which was a good way to start the year we thought. One of the lovely things about being back in the UK is the opportunities it gives us for family time. We headed out for a post-Christmas lunch later that week too with our U3A French speaking group which was lovely too. We went to Laings at Harker…our usual place for these gatherings and enjoyed a nice relaxed meal with all our group plus a few extras as “other halves” and former members were also invited. It was a lovely time to catch up with everyone’s news…and for once we all spoke English for this session!
Our month seems to have been punctuated by meals out and very little else really. Very unusual for us, but as I have said above after that hectic pre-Christmas period both of us felt the need just to completely chill out for a while. We have continued to eat out most Wednesdays and the first week, as our car was in the garage for a service and MOT, we managed to walk up to The Gatehouse Café, near the cemetery entrance for lunch at long last. We had been meaning to go here for ages as lots of people have told us how good it is and I have to say we were not disappointed. We have also eaten at The Bridge Inn in Pooley Bridge (where we had the place to ourselves – that does not happen in summer!), and another of our favourite places, Crofton Hall where as usual we enjoyed a great meal. We also met up with Linda and Mike one Wednesday in Bassenthwaite which was good as we are struggling to do so very much together due to family commitments and trips away on both sides. That day was “fun” as the roads were very icy and Linda and Mike struggled to get out of the village where they live. I also had a bit of a disaster that day as I slipped on a patch of black ice just outside the pub and twisted my ankle. It is still in the process of healing…these things take so much longer now that we are older don’t they? I was glad to get home that day and get the ankle strapped up and a couple of painkillers into me! Things are improving now though and hopefully by the time we set off for France next week I’ll be back to walking properly instead of hobbling!
Our activities in Church have also calmed down lately thank goodness although we did do another Café Church session last Sunday which went well as usual…but as usual was also hard work! I opted out of a lot of the bacon butty preparations this time as my ankle was still sore, but even so we were glad to get home again afterwards. These sessions are definitely working and most of the church members are getting behind us. The next one will be when we are away next month so it remains to be seen if others can sort out all the buying of food and setting out the tables etc. I’m sure they will!!
I have had visits to both the eye clinic for injections (youpi!) and to the dentist for yet another review regarding my treatment after my fall last year. We don’t seem to be making any progress there and it is always a case of wait and see…something which pleases me in one way as I hate dental treatment of any kind but is also frustrating as I feel they are not really coming up with any plans. My teeth are not giving me any trouble or pain but they still don’t feel right at all. It just seems that it costs me each time for very little activity on their part. Hey ho…I seem to be caught in a never-ending situation here
The weather here in the UK has been pretty dire this month. We have had some snow…even here in Carlisle which is very unusual. It was nice to see snow again…I really miss the snowfalls we used to get in the Auvergne…but the aftermath here was not clever at all with very icy roads and pavements for several days. Gritting here is concentrated on the main thoroughfares and does not happen at all on the smaller roads or pavements. Geoff had to be extremely careful where he walked Xena each morning to stay upright. The snow was followed by two very bad storms with very fierce winds and lots of rain. A lot of damage was done across the whole country and to be honest I think we got off fairly lightly here in Carlisle. The rivers did burst their banks but there was no serious flooding and there were lots of trees uprooted and tiles blown off rooves but all in all it would seem that no one was seriously injured. These storms do seem to becoming more violent and frequent though. We have consoled ourselves frequently this month by looking at blue skies and sunshine on the Cote d’Azur …and marking off the days until we get back there!
We finished off our travels for this month by a weekend trip down to Manchester to look after our grandchildren for the night, whilst their parents escaped for a night of luxury and fun in a swanky hotel in Manchester itself. Matthew had “won” the bid for this in a charity auction at an event he had attended last year. They thoroughly enjoyed it! We also enjoyed the chance to do things with Ethan and Hadley…once we persuaded them to leave their blasted screens alone for a bit! Geoff took them off for a walk…which he enjoyed…not so sure about the kids! He also took his pickleball kit down plus a couple of borrowed bats so that Ethan could have a try as he is being introduced to pickleball at Cubs this week for a sports badge, we think. He was quite good at hitting the ball which was great for both him and his Papi! We also got to see Hadley’s new Brownie uniform which we had bought (we have bought all their uniforms for them) … blimey what a price they are now…£52 for this one! Hadley is making her promise this week and so was very pleased to have all the right kit. We headed back home on the Sunday when Matthew and Susie returned from their break.
And so, we come to the end of January…never my favourite month really. It is all speed ahead now until we set off for France on Saturday. We are flying from Manchester this time as the direct flights to Nice from Edinburgh do not start until the end of March. I am already a bit stressed about this as I hate Manchester Airport with a passion. We are travelling by train on Saturday – we hope as, of course, there is a rail strike on that day – and staying overnight in one of the airport hotels as our flight is an early one on Sunday. We are really looking forward to this trip…a chance for me to see all the mimosa in flower at long last. We are also looking forward to seeing our friend Bernadette (one of Geoff’s old students) who is picking us up at the airport. A real treat that, as we usually get the bus along to St Aygulf. Anyway, that episode is all to be recounted in the next blog at the end of February, as always.
Until then*
A bientot mes amis**
