I knew I’d been lacking in my blog but just realised that it’s been 2 months since my last post.

So what’s happened, beyond the credit crunch?

- we visited James and Rachel at their new place in the south of France (very nice)

- the kids finally went back to school and I’ve been able to get some work done!

- Esmé’s now walking (and at nursery)

- Quen turned 40 (and we went windsurfing which was excellent)

- we found out that Esmé also had jardia, the parasite which made Jo ill, we’re still trying to get rid of it

I feel like I’ve fitted a lot more into the last two months than that but that (work aside) is it in a nutshell… I’ll try and post more regularly from now on..

I’ve put my phone through the wash, so have lost all my phone numbers pretty much

I haven’t replaced it yet either so won’t get any calls or texts till I get back to Spain and buy a new one.

It’d be good if you can let me know your number just in case (obviously this is only relevant to those who know me!!) – post a comment to this, I won’t publish it on the site.

Thanks..

You can hire a canoe from one spot on the river, paddle it down stream and they’ll come and pick you and the canoe up later in the day. It’s a nice thing to do – great fun floating in the river and not worrying about having to get back upstream. I did it once with Quen and the older kids, then again with Quen, Claire, Paul and all but the youngest children. The picture of Paul shows CastelNau in the background – it’s great to see the scenery from a different angle.

Paul and Helen have joined us – which makes the full PDQ complement (from those who know us from way back in our Chamonix days that’s PaulDoug&Quen ski videos). Things have changed somewhat – here a pic of the next generation of PDQ girls, they’re in the wrong order, right to left: Zara (Q), Esmé (D) and Ava (P).

Virtually all French petrol stations now are ‘automatic’ in the sense that there is no cashier, just a machine to plug your card into prior to filling up. This makes sense, it’s quick and easy – but they all use the same system and none of them accept my Spanish Mastercard. I’m assuming it’s because it’s a Mastercard and not because it’s Spanish. The motorway tolls are the same. If you’re in France and relying on your Mastercard you will find yourself in trouble – when we recently had the same problem, but found someone present, they even wouldn’t accept cash!

well, cold might be a slight exaggeration, but long trousers and a long sleeved top would be appreciated. It gets really cold at night if you’re in shorts and sandals. Jo (who is looking after our cat in Vilanova) meanwhile says it is REALLY hot back home – to be honest I prefer the weather here at this time of year, I just wish we could remember that it is cooler and be more prepared!

Aside from that we’re having a really nice time. We’re managing to get the kids out enough to tire them out, eating nice food, drinking nice wine and generally enjoying ourselves. I’ve updated the kids blogs with some piccies.

Esmé is on the verge of walking now – she’s had a couple of occasions where she’s stood unsupported for a fair few seconds. Here’s a nice pic taken at the barn in the last few days.

Mal took some photos of the kids so I downloaded them (and a load more) from his camera. These were a couple of nice ones of the barn.

We do this every time we come here: we’re so damn hot in Vilanova we can’t imagine it being cool or raining. It’s raining today but we have no long trousers, no shoes (just sandals), no rain jackets and only a couple of thin long-sleeved tops. We didn’t even bring the rain cover for the pushchair. It’s not a problem, but it’d be good to be better prepared next time.

We made the journey up to the Barn with a lot less stress than expected and managed to spend a day with Andrea, Mal, Izzie and Frankie before they headed off for camping near Bordeaux. The kids all get on really well together when they get chance.

You forget how jaw-droppingly beautiful it is here. We’d also forgotten how much cooler it is so were completely unprepared clothes-wise after the stifling heat of Vilanova. It’s a welcome change. Quen, Clare and the kids come later today.