March 2006

I don’t know, when I first started writing these web logs it was every day, now it’s once per month! This is what happens when the sun comes out and you don’t spend much time on the computer.

What a month! Full of incident. The last thing I left you with was that we were to go fishing with Yves and Veronique. This was not fishing in the rod and reel sense, it was fishing for shell fish at low tide. The spring tide was huge this year so when it went out it revealed places that would normally still be under water. Anyway, off we went to Annoville with our buckets and special tools to dig up the clams. The day was bitterly cold and windy. We only found a few dozen shell fish between us (plus a zillion mussels). Veronique cooked them for supper.

Next day I was stricken with tummy ache. This lasted until I bought some Imodium plus at the airport on our way to Florida. Yes, Florida to stay with our friends Pete & Sue Bradley. Yipee.

Florida! What a journey. As we paid for the flight with Airmiles we had to fly out of Heathrow, so we packed off the dogs to John the kennel man and took the ferry to England. We had pre-booked a hotel in Heathrow so that we could leave the car there. When we arrived the man on the desk said that another Terry Blom had booked in earlier. Hmmm, identity theft come to mind. Anyway, we booked out at 6am the next morning and the man on the desk said that we had just missed the other Terry Blom (apparently a pilot for a Swedish airline). The flight to Miami was no problem other than it was very cold in London and very hot in Miami, so we had to dress accordingly. Also, as we were staying in England for a few days after the holiday we needed even more warm clothes. The car was packed with all sorts of different suitcases for different weathers.

Arrived in Miami, picked up the hire car and drove across Alligator Alley to Fort Myers. We had a fantastic holiday – thank you Pete & Sue.

Back in London ten days later we stayed with Sean & Nicole at their house in Braughing. Family meal at the local Indian restaurant (very good it was too). Surprise – Paul and Katie turned up as surprise guests. Next day we went to The Hop Poles to speak with the tenant about a new rental contract. He would like another six months and then a monthly contract after that. No problem. Guess we will be in France for a bit longer then. He also wanted some extra cupboard space so we cleared out the bedroom cupboard and filled the Merc estate up to the brim. Off we went to Matt & Abby’s to see our grandson Jake. Paul and Katie turned up there as well. It was good to spend some time with the family just chilling out. Sunday afternoon back to France on the noisiest ferry I have ever been on (full of school kids).

Back I France the weather was still cold, although we were told that it had been really cold while we were away (ho ho). Major happenings since – arranged a bank loan for the gite, met a man to build the conservatory (it will be the dining room for the gite), Sharon went on a days cooking course. Speaking of Sharon, I bought her a laptop as an early 50th birthday present She will not be 50 until May 13th but is happy as a sand boy playing with her new toy.

Spring is approaching, time to get the garden in order, complete the concrete base for the new garden shed and clear the top field. I will let you know how we got on in the next thrilling installment of the Blom diaries.