Water of Life

Have just finished the washing up and tidying after another client dinner and was wondering why I feel so tired - it wasn't a particularly lengthy affair and nor was an excessive amount of alcohol consumed - and then I realised that it was the fifth night in a row of client entertaining. It has been a busy week - a really quiet weekend with no stress or demands would be perfect.

Instead of which I have to leave tomorrow for a family get-together and am feeling mildly stressed already about the prospect.

On the surface it should be an enjoyable weekend of celebration (my father's 80th birthday) and catching up ( I haven't seen Amy and Isabel, my daughters, for 8 months and 13 months respectively) and friends (we are holding the event at Anna and Aib's lovely chateau in the Dordogne).

But somehow, my family's occasional gatherings always seem very strained and very hard work. My mother has already told me what to wear on Saturday evening, as if I was 9 years old, not 49. I have very little in common with my two brothers and even less with their respective wives. Debrah is already dreading everything and might go over the edge at some point during the weekend and I think that my youngest daughter has an issue with me but won't admit it and everyone knows and pretends that it's not the case.

My family is very good at pretending things haven't happened.

Which probably means a weekend of politeness and banal chat with everyone avoiding what they really think or want to say - I guess I am as bad as they are because I am one of them too.

Meanwhile I had another mad encounter with M Sire and his scary mother, who own the wreck of a space on the ground floor where I had stored a load of rubble from our renovation. He ranted at me about a water pipe that runs through his space - the water pipe that feeds my apartments, and was demanding that I move it and then in the same breath was asking me to buy the space from him - for €20,000 !! I'd have to think seriously about paying €2,000 because it certainly isn't usable as a residential space.

He worries me though, and the fact that my water feed runs through that space concerns me too. It was there when I bought the apartments and that space looked like an unused and uninhabitable room and for two years the door was unlocked and nobody had ventured into it - suddenly he is throwing accusations about and my poor French puts me on the back foot. I need to take control of the situation to protect my own interests and that is what I intend to do.