The Woodsies

Q. What's the quickest way to get yourself organised after a house move?
A. Having guests coming to stay in two days time!

We jacked up the Woodsie's holiday months ago and it just so happened that they flew into France the day after we moved. They stayed on in Bordeaux for a night to give us a little breathing space then arrived down here, late on the Tuesday afternoon. It was absolutely bloody amazing to see them, and to welcome them into our new place. Being old hands at this malarky, we'd gotten quite a lot of stuff organised before they arrived so when they came through for the grand tour, their biggest question was, "Where are all your boxes?!"

They were barely in the door and we were all back out again, to our actual new local, Café du Passage! It was so great. Dinner, in the square with William playing with his cousins and us all talking utter nonsense. Living in town just makes things so much easier, especially with guests. 

One of the main reasons that we all went out for dinner that first night is that we didn't actually have anywhere to eat in our place as we didn't own a dining table or chairs. I'd been keeping my eye on a few things on Facebook Marketplace and bit the bullet and contacted a couple of sellers. Normally I hum and haw over these sorts of things but out of complete necessity I jumped in. We went to see the table first. It was in a house next to Auchan and the girl was very clear that the top of it wasn't in great condition but the overall style and the fact if was extendible made it absolutely perfect for us. Oh, and that she was looking for a paltry €40! A done deal. In the same afternoon, we also managed to pick up some retro school chairs which had been upcyled. A great fit with not only the new table, but the old St. Mary's / Orla Keily bench. Or simply Kristina Weston as Fish calls it. Our house was really starting to look like a home. 

The Woodsies picked a great time to be here as Iain was also off for their first week. It meant that we could do a lot of just hanging about, talking nonsense, eating good food and drinking a decent amount of gin and wine! I would say that our best evening has to be the game of Who's In The Hat that we played after dinner one evening, and after a decent amount of booze had been consumed. There were some absolute belters in the hat, and Woodsie was absolutely hilarious in his interpretation of the (apparently) famous names. ;-)

The weather has been scorching so last Saturday we went over to our old house to enjoy the pool and the garden in the glorious sunshine. It was also a great chance to show these guys around the place and give them an idea of our mad life here for the past six months. It was brilliant to be in the water but it also gave me a chance to take a load of photos of the place to show Melanie what she and Hughes needed to shift once the house sale goes through. I'll need to head back round next week and do the final clean. The weather was still roasting on Sunday so in the late afternoon we went along to Clemenceau to let the kids run wild in the fountains. You can see the utter joy in their wee faces. Wonderful. 

The Woodsies headed off down the coast for a few days for the second week of their trip and while they were away, we spent the time bedding into the house a bit more. Following Alan's advice on using a dishwasher tablet to clean the pipes on the jacuzzi, I gave it a crack and it came up brilliantly. There was nothing else to do than get it on. As you can imagine, this was hilarious for William. Especially with all the bubbles in it too! 

In spite of the hosting, eating and drinking, I'm proud to say that I've stuck, 100%, to my #28DaysOfSweatChallenge. Some mornings it's been hideous but I've just got on with it every day.  I've eve roped Heather in a good few times. Frustratingly, however, I've not lost any weight whatsoever since I started all this stuff. I'd have thought that I'd have shifted some timber, but nothing. It has led me to question my thyroxine medication so better get this checked out. I'm due for a new script anyway so it will be interesting to see if I'm right. 

William was invited to Liana's birthday party this week and the theme was knights and princesses. Never one to shy away from dress up, I made sure he was definitely in full costume...

While Heather and Alan were here we talked about Iain and my ideas for a gluten free food / travel blog type thing and I shared some stuff with them around the writing I'd been doing and the ideas I had. It was really good to get input from a different angle and it was even better to get feedback around the profile pic I'd been using to this point. It spurred me on to create something a bit more welcoming, and it's gone on both my insta and my blog. I need to get into more posting - I certainly have the content for it! (some recents..)

Schär pizza, topped with leftover pulled pork and brie. Finished with BBQ sauce. 

Spaghetti with chilli garlic prawns and rocket

Before we knew it, the Woodsies had returned from their Basque country adventure and were in town only for another couple of days before they were heading back off to the airport. Their time here really flew by and it was brilliant hanging out and just catching up on life. Hopefully it won't be too long until they come to visit again. 

LM :)