Last week we saw a bit of a heatwave. It didn't prepare us for the foul weather of this week.
Sunday
I started to paint the deck while the cats were asleep indoors. Unfortunately, I ran out of paint before I could give it a second coat, and the weather has been against me all week, so we are not quite finished :-( All the rain has been good for the island as it is looking green and lush. The weeds are also growing apace, so I will try to get out if the rain stops.
Monday
As a vegetarian, I always have lots of interesting fruit and vegetables on the go. I was shopping with Cairis and she found something she recognised from her time in China, but which I had never tried- Dragonfruit. We bought a couple on her recommendation, and also a baby coconut from Thailand. I didn't actually get to try the dragonfruit, as madam took them with her to work.
Tuesday
I have had two lovely classes for the last couple of weeks.
My laminator has been working overtime while I prepared game cards and dominoes etc for their use.
One day we were looking at determiners and distributives and I asked them to complete the story on the board.
Wednesday
Today was wet. It started wet, and was still raining when I left work. The road works at the bottom of the hill are still causing traffic chaos, although they say that it will be beautiful when all the prettification has been carried out. I got home to find that both little treasures were inside and got a couple of lovely poses from each of them.
Thursday
Today the wind blew M's bicycle tent away and ripped it to shreds.
He decided that the safest place for the bike was inside, so I am now the proud owner of a new ornament in my hallway.
I hope that he sorts it out soon as I am not terribly impressed with it there.
Friday
This week has felt more like April than May. We have had thundery downpours every day, interspersed with a little sunshine. Today was the same, but at least it was dry when I got home. I popped out to buy the rest of the deck paint, but decided to wait until the weekend, when the weather is supposed to be warm and sunny again.
I decided to tidy out my laundry room, and that escalated into me doing a huge spring clean. It was quite cathartic.After a shower, I was ready to go out to meet the others in the pub for a session.
Saturday
One word: gardening! I got out and weeded and decided what I wanted to fill the inevitable gaps. We sorted out the garden waste to take to the dump, and then popped in to the garden centre for plants. They had some flowering catmint, which I bought for the girls to roll around in. In the evening we went to Pizza Express for a quick bite to eat, and I went off to bed with a good book on my kindle, while the others watched something on TV about British comedy.
Next week there will be an update on Friday, as we are off on holiday on Saturday morning. The ferry leaves at 7.30 and we need to be there an hour before. We were planning to go to Switzerland, but couldn't get the flights we needed, and it was becoming very expensive for such a short break. We also need to pay to get our garden wall re-pointed before it falls down. We are going to South Brittany, which means we can drive there easily and stay much longer, for less than the price of the flights to Zurich!! Still, I'll try and get there later in the year.
I had to pop down to help Carl with his computer again. He is really starting to get a bit forgetful. I love the fact that he has an upside down house, as the views from his living room are stunning. here is a picture of Mont Orgeuil Castle, which dominates the skyline.
I spent some time preparing the exam students for their speaking exam which is on Thursday. I'm sure that they will all be fine. My colleagues are getting ready to do a Mock for them too. It is a bitter-sweet time of the year. By the time I get back from my holiday, they will have finished school and I won't get a chance to wish them well before their written papers- and then they will go home- after several months!
Last minute shopping to leave some food at home. Buy Euros, find passports etc. I always leave things to the last minute. You would almost think I don't like travelling. In fact I hate taking the ferry, as I don't like to be on the water. It's strange because my family have a boat and we always holiday near water- and live on an island :-) My in-laws were back for a few days to prepare their boat for travelling to France. We took them up to the pub for an espetada ( a Madeiran meal of meat or fish ( or both) on a long skewer).
Up early- and off to the ferry. We didn't have to hang around for long. I had my travel pills with me, but it looked like the crossing was going to be flat calm:-)
We always go shopping in the big Decathlon sports supermarket when down near Vannes. This time Cairis needed a new sailing jacket, as the neck of hers had perished. We decided to get it out of the way at the start of the week. We then visited Presque-isle de Conleau for lunch. It was a bit windy though- and the wind wasn't particularly warm!
Today we decided to drive to Lorient. Every morning, the first thing I see when I wake is a long canvas wall hanging of Pen Duick. She was owned and sailed by an amazing Frenchman called Eric Tabarley. He lost his life when he went overboard while taking her to Scotland for a reunion of boats to mark her 100 year anniversary. In Lorient there is a museum dedicated to him, and all the races he won on six different boats called Pen Duick. They were each designed for different sorts of races. We were there for many hours. Even I was fascinated by all the information. The museum was built in disused submarine pens which are also home to other museums and a dock for world racing boats. The models of the six boats were in a case by the exit.
Today was Vannes Market day. We wandered around for a bit, and used the time to find the Brasserie we were meeting some people in later. I had made contact with an old student of mine, who suggested meeting up for dinner. We had a nice evening with her family and her English teachers, who she had thought we might like to meet. We had a look at the ramparts, which are laid out below in a series of beautiful gardens. We also found a statue to St Emilion- I hadn't realised that he was from Vannes. The city is beautiful, particularly the old timbered buildings.
Time to head home. We drove up to St Malo, did some shopping, had lunch, had time to visit the Tour Solidor and finally drove onto the ferry. The trip back was again uneventful, and I read my book all the way across.
M is treasurer of the Jubilee Sailing Trust in Jersey. These are training ships for the disabled. Tenacious was visiting Gorey, and we had brought Carl a bottle of funnily-named whisky from France, so we decided to pop down to have a look. She had to anchor in deep water, so she was too far out to get a good picture but I did a nice one of the boats in the harbour.
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