Two years already!

It was two years ago yesterday that I arrived here permanently, Nick and Kieran having moved in a few days before me. It hardly seems possible; the time has flown by and we’re beginning to feel as though we belong.

Some things, though, we still haven’t got the hang of. We were invited to our neighbours’ son’s 18th birthday party on Saturday. The only food mentioned was a barbecue in the evening, so we had a bit of lunch before we went to the party in the early afternoon. There were crisps and nuts and melon balls and foie gras on toast for aperitifs; but very soon everyone sat down to eat. Melon and ham was followed by platters of salmon and king prawns, served with a mixed fish salad. Next were trays of cold roast beef, cold roast pork and salade piedmontaise, then the cheese board and finally the most enormous birthday cake I’ve ever seen, huge chunks of which were passed round. To say we were overstuffed would be something of an understatement!

Lunch finished at 7pm; there was a quick break from eating to watch the firework display, before the barbecue started. We’ll know next time!

Once we’d recovered from that, we could get on with some work; Nick’s installed the rest of the velux windows in the roof and I’ve sprayed the balcony joists with woodworm/termite treatment before lasuring them.

It’s also a busy time in the garden; we’ve got a fantastic crop of apples this year, which need peeling, coring, stewing and freezing; Nick’s dug and tied up the onions, which have done well, even if they are red when I thought I’d bought the yellow variety. The beans and tomatoes are starting to come through now, in spite of a very late start and once again, I’m going to be short of freezer space soon.