On my hands and knees

I am back in France after a long weekend in London - new guests arriving tomorrow and a busy weekend coming up followed by a visit from my Mum and Dad next week - somehow a family visit creates more stress than the paying guests, but more of that when we get to it.

Apart from taking the opportunity to go back to London and see Debrah for a few days, there was another purpose for my trip. We have now owned our London apartment for over three years and it was beginning to look a bit tatty round the edges to say the least - so a makeover has been planned by Debrah and this weekend was the start of the project.

As soon as I got back there on Thursday afternoon I started ripping up the old carpet and underlay from the living room and hallway and spent all day Friday and Saturday putting down a new wood (walnut) floor. Debrah freshened up the paint scheme too and a couple of new units with drawers will help to give it all a much tidier look and feel.

I was really pleased with how the flooring went - it's the first time I have laid a floor like that and I know that Debrah had doubts about my ability to do the job, but I am so much more prepared these days for DIY than I ever was before I renovated our French apartments. I'd seen it done, I knew how to do it, I prepped well and made sure that I had the right tools and even though I know it's not perfect (nobody else will notice) I'm really happy with it, and more importantly, so is Debrah.

My knees, legs and back are less happy about the whole weekend but they will survive. In a strange way I really enjoyed the change from ironing/cleaning/cooking and having a project to complete. My body might have ached but my brain was totally engaged - there is a odd sense of satisfaction in tired muscles and joints knowing that it was worth all the effort.

My DIY efforts didn't end with my return to Carcassonne - This afternoon I had to set up the internal scaffold to deal with a curtain track that was coming away from the wall in the Mezzanine suite - the result of many clients pulling on the curtains and a lime plaster finish on old walls.

This evening I christened my shiny new balls, or 'boules' to be more precise. I finally got around to buying myself a set a few weeks ago, but the weather has been so miserable here that there hasn't been an opportunity to use them until this evening when, for once, it was better than the forecast but still a bit chilly because of a cold breeze.

It was a successful evening. Pierre and myself won a doubles match with some great team play and then I won the singles too, with a bit of good fortune and help from others here and there, it must be acknowledged.

Don't laugh, but I find the whole 'boules' experience quite exhilarating and tiring - must be all that concentration and fresh air.