August Madness

Well, it has been a while since I last reported on life in the 'supposedly' sunny Languedoc. I am not sure why it has taken me almost a month to let you all know what has been going on - maybe the weather has been getting me down. I know that it has probably been better here than in many places, after all we didn't have floods or an earthquake or a hurricane, but I was promised 300 days of sunshine a year and it is now two thirds of the way through 2007 and by my estimation we've had about 110 days so far this year which leaves me feeling considerably short-changed in the weather department. Three days of sun then five days of rain etc etc - what is going on?

The weather hasn't been the only excitement since I last put finger to keyboard - manufacturing of the first trial units is underway for my London work, 'the genius' is back earlier than expected from the US and is already making giant inroads into the studio renovation, which is just as well because we have confirmed bookings for studio and apartment for New Year (Oh my God! - paying guests - help!) and we have celebrated our wedding anniversary, my birthday and Debrah's birthday in the last two weeks and had a house full of guests over the August bank holiday weekend which coincided with the Spanish festival here in Carcassonne. It is definitely all go and very full on which is just how I want it to continue - so fingers crossed and rub the lucky rabbits paw against the lucky horseshoe and hope for the best - what were the lottery numbers last week?

So, taking each of those excitements in turn - I am completely thrilled that finally we are manufacturing the first trial units for my London work and feel especially happy for my very good friends Giovanna and Vincent, who have put so much of their lives and effort and money into this brilliant project. We just need to get through this trial stage and then I know we will sell quadrillions of these things to everyone round the world - I am not exaggerating, it is what I believe.

'The genius' had to return from the US earlier than both he and I expected, for various reasons, which I think may be beneficial to us both in the end. It means, for me, that he is back here and working flat out on the studio renovation and, I hope, a few final tidying up bits on the work he has done before. The current plan is that he will have finished all by the end of October, which gives me a few weeks to sort out any last minute issues, for Debrah to furnish and prettify and for us to generally get our act together about potentially paying guests turning up and expecting hospitality of some sort!

August is an absolutely ridiculous month from a 'special dates' point of view. It starts with my daughter's birthday on the 3rd and ends with my mother's birthday on the 30th and in between is our wedding anniversary, my birthday, Debrah's birthday and the birthdays of a least four close friends, all of whom usually get forgotten in the general melee. Timing is all and this year it just so happened that I was able to surprise Debrah on our anniversary and take her out for a fabulous impromptu seafood lunch which was divine. Unfortunately, my birthday was spent cleaning and shopping ahead of the arrival of a weekend full of guests, which couldn't be helped and is something I better get used to - but we still managed to find time for a lovely dinner together at a new-ish restaurant in Carcassonne that is rapidly becoming a favourite.

Debrah, the wonderful lucky lady that she is, got 35 degree sunshine, a picnic by the river at Lagrasse, a house full of guests who danced and drank, and sang in several languages. How marvellous - but I enjoyed their company and humour and bonhomie as much as Debrah so treated it as my own whilst revelling in her pleasure.

On the day before her birthday we had intended to take in the highlight of the Spanish festival - Chico and the Gypsies - formerly/related to the Gypsy Kings of early 90's fame - but somehow got waylaid at the Makhila bar ' bodega' and drank copious amounts of so-called rose wine out of plastic cups poured from a plastic milk bottle - a very very large number of which accumulated, embarrasingly, under our plastic table. Des fell off his plastic chair; I walked Debrah home but returned to the crime scene; Aib had to walk/carry Anna home; 'the genius' went walkabout; Gary bought us all calvados to go on top of the anti-freeze and then had two pills dropped in his drink and absolutely everyone had a hangover the next day !!

A fantastically good time was had by all involved, I believe, which is how I intend life here in Carcassonne, in the Languedoc, in the South of France, to continue.