I’m currently sitting in the Hotel Loire in Saumur which is on an island in the middle of the Loire. I’m overlooking the river which is gliding glassily past my window, whilst on the opposite bank, the chateau is beautifully illuminated and is surrounded by many attractive old buildings.
Sometimes this job has its compensations (assuming you ignore the fact that I’m dog-tired, feel like throttling one of my clients, have sore feet and shoulders and am missing Hels like mad, of course).
Month: February 2004
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Reporting live from Saumur
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Over the sea, let’s go men!
Tonight: a speaking gig in West Wittering. Followed by a cross-Channel ferry to Caen and three days at the Salon du Vegetal.
Actually, I’m not hugely excited by the prospect, and would much rather stay at home. Although it does provide an escape from decorating for now, so I should be grateful.
Anyway, expect fewer updates than normal for the next few days. -
Ooo blimey
Hels has had a good cash offer on her flat. Yipes! I really do need to speed up the decorating now!
She plans to hold out for a little more money – it’s slightly below the asking price, and we both reckon that, given that an offer has come so quickly, that she can ask for a little more and play hard to get. As it were.
So, since I’m travelling to France tomorrow evening (immediately after doing a local speaking gig) and will not be home until 7am on Saturday, I’ve scheduled in the weekend for a decorating extravaganza. Hopefully, that will then put me in a position to put the flat on to the market sooner rather than later – the target date is March 15th, but I reckon we can get there sooner than that, particularly if Dad gives me a hand.
So, like I said – anyone want to buy a flat? -
Moving moments
Ooo blimey – Hels has had one person look at her flat already who is "very very interested" and has another person coming to view it tonight. And it’s only been on the market since the end of last week.
Which means that yours truly is going to have to get his butt into gear with getting his own abode ready for sale and onto the market. Yipes. -
Cringeworthy
Today is the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of the Bash Street Kids in the Beano. Somewhere lurking about in this office are a couple of Bash Street annuals, and I’m tempted to take the afternoon off to sit and read them (if only there was time to do that!).
There were Beanos around the house from before I was born (my brother was a reader) right up until I was in my early 20s, and the Bash Street Kids were amongst my favourites (along with the utterly fantastic Calamity James, with the trademark "rivets" style of drawing that including incredible levels of detail in the background). I think the strength of the Bash Street stories is that all the characters – the nine kids, Cuthbert Cringeworthy, Teacher, Head, Olive, Janitor and Winston the Cat – all had strong personalities that were easy to recognise and could be brought to the fore for any particular storyline. It is testament to the quality of the writing and drawing that they are still popular 50 years after their inception. I’m laughing just thinking about the story lines (do you remember the one where the kids entered the tall ships race in the ship owned by Head’s friend, Captain Horatio Cornplaster? Or the one where Teacher reenacted the Battle of Trafalgar on the boating pond?).
Rest assured that any child of mine will be brought up on the Beano. -
FIP = FAB?
Following a tip-off from Charlie, I’ve been listening to FIP FM. It’s French, you know. And mostly quite good.
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Happy birthday
Plants For Europe Limited is one year old today. Buns have been consumed in celebration.