Thursday, July 11, 2013

My stuff and other nonsense

Most of you reading this will already know that I've left the job in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and I'm back in my home in Brittany, France. I made the move at the end of November but haven't kept up the blog since then. I'll try to make up for that with a few short posts outlining my interim adventures but today I'd like to skip the intervening months and write about this morning.

First, though, here's a photo for those of you who are more visually inclined. It's me with river Goyen behind me. Here in Plouhinec we have a lovely 19th century chateau that has been converted into apartments. That's it behind me.


A few days ago I got a call from the moving company, saying I could expect my stuff to arrive on Friday. I've spent the last few days madly cleaning up some space in the cottage so that I'd have some place to put it. Yesterday I got the back area on the ground floor broom clean and did the same for the attic bedroom. I was planning to go over the bedroom space with a damp towel today, to get the fine plaster dust that kicks up when I sweep. That was my plan for today. But fate had something else in store.

I was lying in bed at 8:30, groggy eyed and thick headed, trying to decide whether to get up or roll over and go back to sleep when the doorbell startled me up. I clambered out of bed, into the next room to open the window and look down in the driveway and what do you suppose I saw? The top of a moving van and the top of the head of a prematurely balding muscular fellow.

He looked up at me and I realized the decision had already been made, by forces greater than me. I was getting up.

My stuff had arrived! One day early.

Anyhow, I changed from my pyjamas and we got to work hauling 3 palettes of stuff. By 10:15am it was all done.

Everything seems to have arrived safely and undamaged, though I haven't opened every box. I pulled out a very small stack of books and my paintings, so that I could enjoy a little reunion with my stuff.

In think I'm going to take the rest of today off and relax. Maybe I'll paint.

love to all my family and friends

And a big THANK YOU to Tristan and Tina for doing all that hard work at the Concord end to get my stuff moved.