Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ships in the Night
After the obligatory nationwide shutdown in August, the builders returned to work at the end
of the month. Whether they were mightily refreshed by whatever they had done for their
va-
cances
or just felt sufficiently guilty to finally get the job done they were on site for nearly
four full days. The 'classroom' for our courses was now almost finished, as was my upstairs of-
fice and meanwhile we were doing the background work on advertising, potential tutors, local
hotels and so on. The whole project was beginning to feel more real and our excitement was
growing accordingly.
We were still keen on doing writing holidays, but Natalie was also keen that we keep our op-
tions open, and also check out the opposition. She had booked herself onto a residential course
in the Dordogne to do 'advanced sewing' or something which, while being a good idea, also
presented a logistical headache. I was more than happy to cancel some gigs to accommodate
her course (I never really need much of an excuse to stay at home when the sun is shining)
but there was a limit to how much I could realistically forego. The plan was this: on my return
from a weekend away Natalie would immediately leave for the Dordogne and on her return,
five days later, we would just have time for a quick cup of tea and I would be off again. It
wasn't an ideal situation - we would see each other for about an hour in total over three weeks.
That said, I was looking forward to a week or so at home alone with the three boys - a state-
ment which, in itself, shows how foolhardy I seemed to have become and also just what a nasty
piece of work optimism is; I've rarely relied on it in the past, I certainly won't do so again.
I am not a novice, either at childcare, domestic management or animal sitting; I do the ma-
jority of the cooking, a fair proportion of the cleaning and most of the ironing, therefore I con-
sidered myself to be a domestic goddess and didn't envisage any problems. I am an idiot.
Let's start with the animals. When I left for my weekend away at work the dogs were content,
the cats came and went with ease, the horses tolerated me and the hens were laying. Everything
worked. So either Natalie had told them deliberately to play up in her absence or they really do
not cope well with her absence at all. Pierrot, while apparently almost back to normal, seemed
to have stopped rubbing himself off on furniture and had instead started licking everything,
and I mean everything. It was disgusting, not only for the constant 'lapping' sound but also
because he insisted on watching you while he was doing it! (You try eating a meal at the table
while the canine equivalent of the Marquis de Sade not only licks a sofa cushion but leers at
