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Saturday 4th April
The sun has got his hat on. Hip-hip-hip-hooray!
The sun has got his hat on and he’s coming out today.
The first of many beautiful days to come.
Wednesday 8th April
Well, I wasn’t totally accurate in my weather forecast. In fact, since my last update, it has rained for forty days and forty nights and I’m expecting the creation of a new world by Sunday. Anyway, I did notice before the floods that the frogs are croaking! Definitely a sign that summer is on the way. Deep and throaty, the rivets hit the P-O airwaves and sitting out on an evening with a glass of wine is a whole new experience sound wise. The evening walk with her Royal Hairiness involves lots of stops, as she is no frog lover, and is constantly on frog watch.
And let me tell you about the swallows. It’s not the first time that I have been really mean in my life, if I am absolutely honest, but this is probably my meanest feat yet! Yes, we have hung strips of foil over our porch (no we don’t have the car – just the front entrance) to stop them moving back in for the summer. I know it’s wicked but there is only so much poo that a gal can take!
And still it rains!
Friday 10th April
Esta stillo pizzlingdowno! Ah. You didn’t know I spoke Spanish then? Yes, that is fluent Spanish for ’it’s still wazzing down’ Say it to any Spaniard and you will immediately get a look of sympathy, due naturally, to the stinky weather. And boy is it stinky.
I’m not really complaining because I know that once the good weather starts, it will be absolutely fantastic, but I do feel so sorry for people who come over for their holidays and are faced with this. It’s just not what you expect over here and when you only have a limited time off work, it’s natural to want to make the most of it, which is difficult to do in the pouring rain.
Just come back from lunch with a friend in Thuir which was rather nice, and have now come home and am contemplating going back out shopping, as I’ve just realised that it is Easter weekend, or making myself a cuppa and sitting down to watch Eggheads! Hmmmm. It’s a hard one. Trek to Leclerc or Intermarché in the pouring rain, get soaked and come home wretched and miserable, or make myself a cup of Yorkshire Tea with some dunky ginger biscuits and stay in the comfort of my dry and lovely home. Daddy or chips? I’ll put the kettle on!
Wednesday 22nd April
I know that I’m not keeping up with ’My Life in the P-O’ as regularly as I should be at the moment, but the poor weather has presented few photo opportunities and limited globe trotting venues, and I don’t want to bore you rigid with a monologue about me, without at least giving you something to look at to ease the pain!! Today is very windy, with gloomy looking clouds standing sentry over the Albères. I was hoping to bike over to Argelès, my favourite ride as it’s flat most of the way, virtually all off road, and just totally glorious, but it looks like that is well and truly off for the time being. Looking back to past Aprils, I find the following
April 2006
6th
“The weather is going through adolescence at the moment - moody and unpredictable. This morning it was damp, cloudy and miserable - this afternoon sunny and so hot we needed to put sun cream on our arms - this evening cloudy and depressing. "Mi-avril" all the locals keep telling us "L’été commence vers le 15 avril" "il va faire beau à partir de la fin avril, notez mes mots" (doesn’t really exist - just thought I’d do a literal translation of ’mark my words’ for no other reason than that I’m a bit silly!”
24th
“The sun has got his hat on. Hip hip hip hurray! Summer has finally bullied away the rainclouds and squeezed out the Tramontane, replacing them with blue skies and brilliant sunshine. Beautiful!”
April 2007
[( 2nd
“Forget about April showers. How about April flippin’ storms?”
8th
“Youpi! Summer’s here! The frogs they are a-croakin’ and the lizzards are a-basking!”
13th
"I’m expecting Noah to walk in any moment leading a two by two crocodile of wild boar, to proclaim my house an arc! It has now rained steadily for forty days and forty nights, or certainly at least three.”
15th
"..... and yes, mon Dieu! Il continue à pleuvoir comme vache qui pisse! It actually stopped for an hour yesterday afternoon, and Olivier and I snook out for a bit of a canter with the Bize, but as soon as we got far enough away from home not to be able to run back in case of down pour, it downpoured !”
28th
“The cafés are starting to fill up, traffic is building up in Perpignan and Le Boulou and other known spots, blacks and browns and dark blues are being discarded for yellows and reds and pink and white polka dot - melons and artichokes and fresh tropical fruits have replaced the comfort food of winter and there is that smell. Just close your eyes and try and feel it - a mixture of pine and eucalyptus wafting on a slight breeze......bliss!”
April 2008
4th
“Shhhhhhhhh. Put down whatever you are doing and listen. Can you hear it? The wind has dropped, the sky is a flawless wedgewood, birds are chattering cheerfully and new leaves and wild flowers are whispering gently that spring is in the air.”
20th
“I’ve just returned from a chilly week amongst the hailstones of Leeds to a week of wind and rain over here. While I was away, Olivier told me every day, several times day, that the weather here was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL (nah nah nah) and it remained so until I arrived at Perpignan, at which point the heavens opened to greet me! However, gorgeous husband, grungy, whiffy, belchy adolescent son and stinky dogface were all waiting there to meet me, so let it rain! I’ve got what is most important and the rain can’t wash that away!”
Basically then, it has been better, it has been worse…. Best just to stop complaining and get on with it!!
Now let me fill you in on the bird situation. We have now done everything apart from take a gun to them – and still they keep coming!!
The swallows clearly thought that the strips of silver paper in our entrance were a welcome banner and glided merrily through (with a peck peck here and a peck peck there of course, meaning that we have bits of silver paper all over the garden) with gay abandon, scattering blobs of mud and poo around like confetti at a wedding! So we put up a bar with newspaper around it so they couldn’t get into the corners to make their nest – but they used it as a perch! So we nailed up a sheet! They quickly located its weak spot at the top where the masking tape
Traffic robots in Spain
wouldn’t stick, and turned it into their new front door! Right now, Olivier is outside nailing up another sheet with fewer entrances and exits (and a prettier colour), surrounded by a wooden frame to stop the wind from carrying it off!
Lucien went to stay with Mamie and Papie north of Paris last week - peace and quiet reigned! However, the journey to Girona airport was somewhat on the hairy side, as we decided to go via Le Perthus and join the motorway in La Jonquera. Bad move! First of all, there was a massive jam into Le Perthus and instead of the usual five minutes to cross the border into Spain, it took us nearly an hour. Then ’Sod’s law’ took over well and truly! The motorway was blocked off and we had to continue to the next exit - well south of Figueras - and that was only the beginning. Around parallel with Figueras the next traffic jam started - and continued until the motorway exit.
Traffic robots in Spain
At regular intervals along the road, we passed traffic robots – really weird but quite cute actually. They would probably look good in a pair of tight Levis! By the time we arrived at the airport, there remained 10 minutes to take off! Bless on line signing in. Nobody cared. He walked straight through security, joined the queue of people already boarding – and off he flew into the distance! He’s back though now! Isn’t 16 a great age eh??
Her Royal Hairiness has just headed off to the hairdresser with her Dad for a short back and sides in anticipation of summer to come, the clouds have cleared away and the sun is warming up the air, (despite a gusty Tramontane which just doesn’t want to pack its bags and vacate the region) and I’m sitting here working on my next P-O Life. Contented is the word I think!
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