How long has this been going on?

This week I made a long overdue visit to Next's website. Was intending to pick out a couple of tops and maybe jeans that Mum could bring over for me next month. But, what's this on the page footer? What are these flags of various EU countries? Could it be? Yes it is. Oh joy! Next deliver to France!

It's very sad, I do realise, that something so frivolous should bring about such glee, but clothes retailers in France are shite. Choose from cheap H&M fashion, or unaffordable couture chic. There really doesn't seem to be a middle-of-the-road option. Now I can indulge my retail habit from exile. Yay. Of course, spending money on Next online means less to spend on Pink shirts and Carvela shoes in Edinburgh, but hey.

In other news:
The small car passed its MOT, as I was expecting but much to doubting Hubby's surprise. Apparently there's a little bit of play in one of the shock absorbers. I said to the guy, "well, they've never been changed, so...". He was so surprised he even said to the mechanic, "look at this! 186,600 km and never changed the shocks!" Yes, Mr Man, that's because I slow down over speed bumps.

We went to the DIY store to buy salt for the water softening whatsit. Expensive salt: we paid €113!! Because Hubby said I could have some plants for the garden. [Grin] Bought plum tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, some flowers, some wooden edging things for the bit next to the raspberry canes that I would like to turn into a vegetable patch... And some other stuff.

We've chosen our translation management server system and work, and the techy issues that were looking dodgy have been or are currently being resolved. Now the fun starts, with pre-project workflow analysis, settings definition, installation, deployment, training and change management!

Hubby is away playing shoot'em up PC games all weekend. I'm hoping the rain stays away so I can grub in the mud and take Doggy for W's. If it doesn't, I have plenty ironing to keep me busy.

I've got the sun in my face

And I'm enjoying the pleasant sunny evening before the rain comes tomorrow. Been away from the blog a while. Can't even remember the last time I posted. So what's been going on since whenever that was?

Well, we went to Scotland, something which is always good. On this occasion we were on a mission to procure a car. After seeing the crazy prices available when we were home at Christmas, we decided to take the plunge before the exchange rate had time to turn against us. We didn't end up with the one I've been lusting after, as they'd all gone (some lucky sod got there before us). But they were selling new ones for only 14.5k!! Alas, that was 4.5k over budget and a new car wasn't really the best option for us as the French government would try to fleece us for VAT upon importing it to France (thieving sh!ts). We even ended up with a diesel one even though I'd sworn against them! But it isn't silver. In fact it is red, so that will meet with Super nephew's exacting standards*.

As well as buying a car, we managed a visit to the Ancients, visits with the Weegies, M&M, Willie and Jane. I didn't (yes, did not) buy any books. In fact I didn't even set foot in Waterstone's. But I did buy a handbag (60% off!) and get my hair done. But I didn't spend any money in the John Lewis kitchenware department. Doggy was a bad 'un and wouldn't go for a walk with her Grandad, she wanted to come and look at cars with us!

What I learned on this trip home:
- used cars no longer come with a tax disc. The thievin' dealers cash them in, and you have to buy a new one!
- you need a UK insurance cover note to buy a tax disc
- temporary cover insurance is expensive but handy
- Super niece is a little imp
- Super nephew is obsessed with my Mum's car. Which happens to be red. *"Want to get in the red car"
- Super nephew and Super niece are ace
- 2-way radios help pass the time on the 550 mile journey down the A1-A14-M11-M25-M20-Channel-A16-A25
- 2-way radios also mean you can play at Top Gear
- having to drive all by yourself means you don't blub anywhere near as much after saying goodbye to parents, as you must concentrate
- French roads and motorways are shit. I knew this already, but driving back in the UK reminds me. They badly need cat's eyes
- French drivers are shit too. I never have to shout and get annoyed when we're at home. I have to shout and get annoyed all the time here
- the small car doesn't have a 65 litre endurance tank. So I can be away from the petrol station ages before Hubby
- our house is on Street View! As is my car, and my Mum's car
- my brother's house is also on Street View. My Dad's car is at their house
- my parents are omnipresent

And that's about all I have to say about that.

Tourist

Yesterday we had a grand day out in London. I managed to get up jolly early and off we sailed (with Cocotte, Doggy and Hubby) for the white cliffs of Dover, zoomed up the M25 and parked for free at Lakeside. Yes, it's not especially central I know, but I ain't paying 30 quid for parking. Plus we got dirt cheap day returns with unlimited zone 1-6 travel so it was a double bargain. Yay.

We went to Tower Bridge:

We saw the huge queues for tickets to the Tower of London:

Lucky we hadn't thought "hmm, let's visit the Tower of London", eh?

We spent rather a lot of time on the Tube:

We stopped off at some little-known monuments:

And I spent ... not very much money at all. I went in Selfridges (Pink shirt) and Next (linen trousers and a top). Who'd have thought. And I didn't even set foot in Waterstone's (always a good way to avoid book-buying, because if I go in, I buy). But I bought two books on the boat. I couldn't help it. I was sort of overcome.

Doggy was absolutely the most best-behaved (and, naturally, beautiful) ever seen on the Tube. She was even allowed to come shopping in Selfridges where all the assistants swooned over her (she has that effect on everyone). She really was such a good dog.

We didn't get home until half past midnight (having risen at 5.30am Sat morning) so we were all pretty knackered but we had a fab day out. I don't know why we don't do it more often. Oh yes I do: requires 1 tank of petrol; requires dog-sitter or trip to vet (to be charged to give her the same worming tablet we give her at home); high-risk of retail spending; requires getting up stupidly early. Still, it was indeed a grand day out!

PS - we didn't go on Eurostar because Cocotte is quite claustrophobic and that much time in a tunnel, under the sea would just have been too much. Plus they don't allow dogs. And we hadn't arranged for a dog-sitter.

Say "cheese"

Have a new toy...

New clothes

I do love getting new clothes. I've a new dress and a cardi for Anne & Garry's wedding and for Jean-Paul's 60th birthday party.

Ta-dah:

I should of course be saving my pennies so I can go on a spend back in Edinburgh (am fancying a new shirt from Pink), but hey. Had to have this dress. Hubby says it looks really good.

Spring sunshine

We're enjoying some extremely mild spring sunshine here in the north of France, and across lots of northern Europe I think. Temps in the mid 20°C last couple of days!! Very pleasant :)

Hubby's mum came up to fuss over him from Tuesday to Friday. Was relatively stress-free and actually a good help for me. She even managed to annihilate my ironing pile. But then, I think she quite likes ironing...

Yesterday we had a group outing to Ikea. Stéph took Hubby's wheelchair and I took Hubby. And Hélène came too. We ended up having to rather rush round to get back home in time for Hubby's anti-coagulant injection. But we managed to buy a footrest to go with the easy chair. Upon our return our helpful friends helped me dismantle the old sofa and put it outside. Then I brought the easy chair down from upstairs and it turns out it's in rather a sorry state (well it was only cheap). There'll no doubt be another trip to Ikea soon enough for me to get a replacement easy chair (one where you can take the cover off to wash it!) and an armchair. We couldn't find a small sofa we liked so we're going for the 2 chairs option.

Hélène and Stéph stayed for dinner but we all had a fairly early night. I think Hubby was pretty done in after the shopping.

This morning more glorious sunshine. I moved the sofa from outside the house to the end of the road for collection tomorrow (it's the day when the waste management people come and collect big bulky things you can't put in the wheelie bin). I huffed and puffed (it must weigh about 130kg, maybe more) and managed to pull it on top of my toes:


Of course, my repressed blonde side had made me think that sandals were suitable footwear for furniture removal tasks...

After more huffing and puffing I got the blasted thing all of 30m to the end of the street. Hurrah. The house now looks absolutely huge due to empty space. But we'll be cluttering it up soon enough I should think.

Took a few pics of the lovely sunny garden. Mum and Dad take a photo of the garden every two weeks, to have a record over the year. I think it's a pretty good idea so I'm going to try and do the same.

I've caved in to various nagging and brought Hubby's blasted computer downstairs. That weighs a fair bit too. I suppose my little muscles are getting a work out. So he's happy now.

Lovely shoes

Have got shoes! Found them on eBay. They are pale lilac suede slingbacks and the colour is perfect. Was a bit of a gamble to buy them on eBay but they are such pretty shoes it wouldn't have been a total loss if they didn't go. But they do! Hurrah. I love new shoes. :)

Boosted Ikea's profits

Hélène and I spent the best part of three hours in Ikea on Saturday. I swear that shop is like some sort of tardis/time machine/black hole. You go in there and time is suspended. Well, inside the shop it is. And outside the shop it whizzes by very fast.

Hélène got stuff for her bathroom, a ceiling light for the hall, and a chair.

I got new covers for the sofa cushions, a new bathmat, an ivy to go in the bathroom, a watering can for my house plants, and a plant and a plant pot for Hélène. The new sofa cushions look pretty good. Isn't that clever how you can do a simple thing like changing the cushion covers and you've got a practically brand new sofa. So the white ones have gone in the wash which is the best place for them!

On a completely different subject, I finally called the vet and made an appointment to see the chap on Friday. Cléo has displasia which needs an operation, and the vet has already explained it to me but I'd like to go over it all again before. Depending on his schedule she could get booked in as early as next week. Poor Doggy. Of course I'm being soft and it's for the best because an operation now will save her a lot of potential arthritic pain later on. But still. Poor Doggy.

I have to order photos from the photographer. Maybe I should have done that this evening. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow.

Outlook at work is "quiet" for this week, which will be nice. Maybe get in a couple of early finishes!

Spending other people's money

Got a new outfit yesterday for this party thing in November.
Here it is:

The top is creamy coloured not white but the sun was a bit bright.

And here's a big fat spider (that's what I'm looking at in the photo above):

There are about eleven spiders like this in the garden at the moment. It's the season I suppose. It's also the season for blackberries but there are not very many of them right now. We had a bumper crop but they all were ripe when we were away! :(

Warm again here today. I think we should take the dog to the park then get on writing our wedding thank you cards because we really must do that.

On the work front, I have finally moved to my new office! It's quite different but I'm sure we'll get used to it soon enough. Not that Céline and I really have time to dwell on our new surroundings - far too much work going on!

And that's about all I have to say about that.

S'me I'm back

Was just pondering this one, I really need to get into some new music. I mean, the trinity of Bob, Brooce and Bowie is all very well and all. But maybe I need some new stuff on my playlist. My iPod must be bored surely. I use that Pandora site and it's pretty good. Maybe I should set down a challenge to myself. I need to get at least one more artist onto my playlist by Christmas. Then I could maybe ask Santa for a CD and not a book.

A CD AND a book sounds better.

Talking of books, I went in Waterstone's last week. They had a 3 for 2. I was only going to buy one book. But as I was queuing I felt that it was too bad to waste the 3 for 2 opportunity. So I went and got two more to go with my one. I'll tell you what they're like.