Tenerife
We had a very relaxing holiday at the beginning of May (it seems like an age ago now) in Tenerife with Brian and Margaret. It started off the opposite of relaxing! Sharon, as is her wont, checks the AngloInfo web site each day for news, gossip and pets for sale. There was an article that said that the staff on the Fastcat from Cherbourg (run by Brittany Ferries) were on strike. As we were travelling that day we phoned them but they could not say if the boat would be sailing as the strike vote was to take place late in the evening. We switched from the Fastcat to the slow ferry from Caen. Lucky we did as the Fastcat did not run and had we not known we would not have been in England to catch the flight to Tenerife. Perhaps P&O are not all bad, at least they would have contacted us and not left it for passengers to find out when it was too late to make other arrangements.
Anyway, the ferry was on time and we had a nice meal in the posh restaurant. We arrived at Brian & Margs just after midnight. Shower and bed ready for the trip in the morning to Bishops Stortford where Mike (another cousin) would be taking us to the airport. Morning comes, car is packed up with suitcases and golf clubs. On the news it says that the M11 is closed due to a lorry overturning. Traffic is being rerouted and all the rat runs are chockablock with cars. No time to get to Mikes so we phoned only to find out that he had gone to work! We eventually left the car in the long stay car park at Stansted. Phew.
The holiday was good fun, we played golf a couple of times, ate too much, drank too much and spent a lot of time recovering by laying in the sun by the swimming pool. We saw Neil Diamond and Elvis Presley (twice) but that is another story.
Sharons birthday 
Back from Tenerife just in time for the Cup Final. West Ham v Liverpool. May 13th was Cup Final day and also Sharon’s 50th birthday. My lot were all down in Cardiff for the football so they missed a superb birthday dinner in the Sheen Mill complete with piano player et al. I will not speak of the travesty of the cup final result or mention about Brian’s grandchildren turning up during the match to provide alternate viewing pleasure.
Jazz in Coutances
In the five years we have had the house in France we have never been there for the Jazz festival in Coutances. This year we went three times! Twice was with Yves and Véronique the other was a drunken affair with Martin, Helen, David and Sandra. We went to dinner early that night and arranged a taxi for 23:30. It was a really good night out so we decide to stay out late and eventually got the taxi at 2am. I took two days to recover from the excess of alcohol but Martin went out for a boozy lunch the next day! Must be the Navy training.
Turk 
We have a horse. Well nearly. A local farmer has need of a field to graze his horse and he knocked on the door one night to ask if he could borrow ours! After ten minutes of broken French he realized our lack of linguistic skills and switched to perfect English. Saves me cutting the grass and Sharon gets a pet horse without the responsibility. Works for me!
Building work 
Officially start June 5th but John the electrician and Napoleon the plumber have laid their pipes and cables ready for the concrete pour. Yipee.
Golf practice
I love watching the Golf channel on TV and am a sucker for the adverts for gismos that will improve my game out of all proportion so that I can beat Mike Laws off scratch. Well, I have bought a David Leadbetter “swing setter” and a Jack Nicholas “inside approach” golf aids.
I need a proper golf mat to use the inside approach but after practicing with the swing setter I ventured out onto the golf course (Centre Manche) and started to spray the balls everywhere. I have decide to go back to my old swing and use the swing setter just as a practice aid. Played the links course at Agon-Coutainville using this method and hit a couple of mammoth drives. At least I am not losing any balls now!
Garden shed 
Regular readers will be sad to know that the shed still has not turned up. The base is ready and waiting but Leroy Merlin are tardy. Expected delivery is June 7th. Oh, the latest ruse is that the delivery company are worried that their transporter will get stuck on the country roads. I will let you know if they do (ha ha) in the next thrilling installment of the Blom diaries…..
XXX.
