Family ties

Nine full working days, including the weekend, to go before the guests arrive. Debrah, as a result of her sensible sleeping the previous day, was awake bright and early and raring to get on with things. I, on the other hand, was a bit sluggish but still managed to drag my arse out of bed well before our fellow workers. So it was that Debrah and I were sat merrily chatting and planning around the kitchen table when both Ed and 'the genius' emerged from thier respective pits.

Today was to be Ed's last day of this stint of work. He is going to return for two weeks in August so look out for more news later. He has been invaluable for the last couple of weeks and BD-1 would be a distant dream without his input. Mind you, heart and willingness in the right place as it is, he was the messiest worker I have ever come across and he has the most, let us say, unusual aroma. I really can't tell you what Debrah said about his bathroom and toilet when she ventured in to clean it! I am not being unkind - just saying it how it is.

Ed's last job was to help me lay the seagrass floor in the spare room - one of those annoying jobs that has been hanging around for weeks since the spare room was 'finished' - except it wasn't finished because the floor hadn't been laid because of the national seagrass shortage and the shower curtain not put up because the shower curtain material was in London until yesterday and so on.

So thank you Ed, for all your hard work over the last two and a half weeks, and hello Christian, Debrah's son and therefore my stepson. Christian arrived on the afternoon flight from London. He is currently studying hard for his art A level and had us bring his paints out here in the car for him to use whilst he is here for a couple of weeks. He may not get much chance to use his own paints because their is plenty of painting of the ceiling and wall variety to do first, which he is fully aware of and happy to help with - bless him.

I get on with Christian better now than I have done for years - it is not easy being a stepson or a stepfather. Sadly, our relationship, whether it is going well or not always brings me into conflict with Debrah. So it was that this evening a jaunty little trip to the Place Carnot for a post dinner stroll and 'digestif' ended with me and Debrah not talking. Whatever the subject, the result always seems to be the same - Christian and I enjoy a little jousting, discussion, debate (argument some might say) but then forget about it as quickly as it started - Debrah always thinks I am picking on Christian for no reason and I always think Debrah defends Christian whether he is right or wrong. I guess it will ever be - 'C'est la vie' as they say in this part of the world.