One Month

First month, complete!

Today, is our first month anniversary back here in the Uk and we can just about strike through one box, of our 'half life' 'Betwixt Uk and France' 'chuff chart'. Our newest adventure is well underway and It already seems like a lifetime since we packed up the little red lorry, fleeing that crazy renting cycle in France. Sometimes we just have to unstick ourselves!

I've no regrets, as frankly, I couldn't stand trying to rent again whilst we clocked up the required 3 years in business, in France. Oh yes, of course that's another milestone to celebrate! Year one in business, tick!

Moving back albeit temporarily, does absolutely feel like a step backwards but not for long really, as 2022 is absolutely the year we get THE FRENCH WRECK done! Once that is done and dusted we can finally move forward, although with Covid still upsetting the proverbial apple cart, who knows what will happen in the end? All bets, it seems, are off!

The downstairs of the house here is pretty 'done' and when I say 'done', I mean it's good enough, liveable, it will absolutely do! It has to as there will be no decorating or repairs until the new year. It's funny, I hardly notice the weird budgie wallpaper these days!

I have a couple of projects I need to get done in January and operation 'get him to use the designated office space' is the top of my list! I need him out of the lounge! The back office is quite dire, I agree, but it won't be when I've finished and maybe then he will stop using every surface as his office! For now he's commandeered part of the main lounge by the log burner and theres no moving him!

The upstairs is a completely different matter! Firstly, we have zero storage and a mattress issue! Our new mattress still hasn't turned up and whilst we discovered the company concerned had the wrong postcode initially, we can't appear to get them to deliver to the right one anytime soon! Why aren't big companies required to have a customer service phone number? Not a clue! So, thinking ahead I bought a cheaper mattress for next day delivery, that was 3 days ago and is also a no show so far! Deliveries here are a bit unpredictable and our delivery chaps love confusing the matter by delivering our parcels to any one of our three neighbours! We've received several delivery notices today whilst we are in the house and can we find the parcels? Can we heck!

Life in the Uk seems odd, mostly. I just think we had finally started to settle into life in France, France was home even if the houses we lived in weren't all that and now it feels like we are on protracted visit here. I guess it will feel like this for a couple of years, with all the back and forth that has to happen. I'm not going to dissect it too much, instead I'm going to try to roll with it and just see! Planning ahead hasn't got me very far to date and so I figure, what will be, will be?

This morning we had our Covid boosters and I was given the added gift of the flu vaccine to add insult to injury, gotta say, I feel spacey this afternoon and a little out of it. Let the whinging begin! We love moaning in our house, we see it as sport and so there's already a chorus of complaints about pains in necks, arms and shoulders and my visiting son seems to have grown a third boob, bless him. He wins! Theres no doubt our immune systems are a bit angry at the constant onslaught of vaccines, eh!

I'm still super tired and heading to bed for an early night tonight, might even try for a lie in, but I still have quite a lot of Christmas shopping to do.....then there's the wrapping which I tend to delegate, because I simply have no time or patience to fight with paper, sellotape and scissors these days!

Tomorrow, I'm going to menu plan so I don't over or under shop and to ensure I don't feel overwhelmed during the festive period. Last year due to Covid, it was just him and I and a very simple affair, I think I prefer it like that to be brutally honest! Maybe next year?

I'm already making lists of things to do in January, jumping the gun as I always do, but it does help me stay semi calm these days. At the end of January we will head back to France for a little while and I guess before we know it, 2022 will be nearly over!

Don't blink!

Like most folks, we just keep swimming, inching forward and plodding on. Of course, I don't want to wish my life away, but I do want to finally tick some of those boxes that have been hanging around for way too long but for now, it's goodnight from me!

D x