Friday 28th April 2000

Sue, Rick, Jennie and Sadie

We took the 2pm sailing to Caen and had a wonderful meal in the restaurant. Brittany Ferries food is far superior to P & O. We were both on the Slimmers World eating plan but that went out of the window as soon as we saw the cheeses and sweets.

It was about 11pm when we got to the house. The loft door by the church was open and the floor in the lounge by the door was quite wet. A wet patch had come through the ceiling in the pink room and everywhere was feeling a bit damp. At this point Jen pointed out that she had forgotten how much she hated the place and wanted to go home. However, it didn’t take long to warm it up. I washed the kitchen units and walls and packed the food away while Rick built up an enormous fire which we kept in all night.

Saturday

Donald and Helen arrived in time for breakfast with some croissants. Helen and I cleared out all the kitchen cupboards. The big, black dog came to do his poo but Donald sent him running. We then left Helen at the house while we went to Alencon to buy the plumbing parts to connect up to the main drainage . Helen had some chaps try to sell her a double bed whilst we were in Alencon. We then had a really great lunch accompanied by gin and tonics and lots of Rick’s special wines. Jef the school teacher came to to have a chat as he was going back home after a three week break. We tried to have a go at Pétanque, Lois was mowing the lawn and Susan came over to speak to us. Martine and Daniel were going to Nantes for a couple of days. In the evening we went to the restaurant in Carrouges. Rick had Kangaroo and we struggled to finish a bottle of wine between the four of us. Helen recognised a lady from the Opticians in Chichester.

Sunday

Rick cooked bacon and egg for breakfast. Don and Rick spent most of the day plumbing. Helen rubbed down the garage doors. The girls painted some chairs and played Monopoly. I sorted out the lounge and planted some marigolds after weeding the front garden. I cooked a lovely roast beef supper.

Monday

We got up at 5 am to catch the early ferry as Jen was starting a cold and was worried that they would be tired for school the next day. The crossing was uneventful. While everyone was sleeping I finished my book “Never Look Back”. The weather was pleasant enough for us to sit outside for a while.