Perfect Bearnaise

It wasn't as bad as it could have been down in the basement - and the plumbers were here first thing this morning to make sure that it wasn't going to get any worse - but it was still a bit messy.

My six hours of sleep seemed like six minutes and then I was up again re-laying the table for breakfast. It took me a while to realise that the buzzing sound wasn't in my head but was coming from the ground floor where the plumbers were drilling into the wall to re-route the problem pipes.

The guests hung about for a while nattering and, then, when I thought they had finished I made the mistake of being terribly British and polite and asking if all was OK and did they need anything else. "More corrfee", came the reply, and so they hung about for another twenty minutes.

I'm not complaining, not in the slightest. American clients may be some of the most demanding but if they feel that you have gone out of your way to look after them they are also the most generous. This evening they insisted on giving me more cash than was strictly necessary to cover the inconvenience of me having to turn five into seven the previous night. Naturally, I protested that it was too much and they insisted that it wasn't. I've decided that one can be too British, so I only protested the once before pocketing the loot and saying thank you very much.

Then, when I finally ventured downstairs I found more water than the night before. It's obvious that there is still more water somewhere in the hidden depths of the basement walls and that it will find it's way out over the coming days - this could be a little and often clear up process - what a bore.

Fortunately, there is no serious damage in my cellars, but who knows what lies behind the other locked doors and what problems have been caused - not my problem though and nothing I can do about it.

Instead, I am very much looking forward to the arrival tomorrow of a guest who is going to spend a week with me learning how to cook. In his honour, this evening, I cooked myself a bavette with a bearnaise sauce, just to practice the sauce.

It was perfect - here's hoping the rest of the week goes to plan.