Out and about

So, we’ve had a bit of a crazy heatwave thing going on over here. By heatwave I mean “a very English person not being able to cope with the sun” kind of heatwave. However, it is most definitely too hot for Spring and doesn’t bode well for the summer (how on Earth am I going to survive?!) The positive side of it is that I’ve barely spent any time indoors this week, if I could help it. Regardless of how much I was sweating (it was profusely, if you are at all interested), I have absolutely loved spending more time outside. It has been a mental health godsend, as I was worried I was going struggle for these last two months. Breathing in the fresh, Spring air has been so helpful in making the days pass by quicker. 

As per usual, Krisztina and I went for a ‘run’ on Tuesday morning. I was thankful to go before the sun peaked, because then I really would die (even more than I already do...) We stayed and enjoyed a bit of the sun before heading back for showers and lunch. After I deposited Marilie back at school, Kriszti and I headed out for a little mooch about. I snacked on some cheeky stroopwaffles in the sun while I waited for her, no shame. 

On Wednesday, Marilie insisted in doing some ‘experiments’. The first was a concoction including bicarbonate of soda, soap, food colouring and vinegar. You can imagine how delightful that smelled after erupting! Afterwards, she chose to pour some milk into a container, drop in various colours of food colouring and dabbed it with a cotton bud coated in soap. That one was actually quite cool and smelled much less offensive!

My host Mum asked me if I could do French plaits on Friday. She needs to have some for her dance performance and was enquiringly as to whether I’m able. I get the impression she actually wants Dutch braids, which are far above my area of expertise. However, I took the time to attempt some French ones on Marilie and they turned out alright, barely even wonky. Go me!

Later that day, a handful of us met up at Paddy’s Pub in Ferney. There were 5 of us in total; Isa, her boyfriend, Brenda, Krisztina and me. Brenda and I took the opportunity to share the remainder of our gifts, I only had hers and Isa’s left. They say great minds think alike, well we must be exactly that then because we had the same present idea! The grey one with the tree is from me and the beautiful, colourful one is from Brenda. 

Five of us went to Geneva on Saturday. We just walked around all day, indulging Jason’s requests for a million photos and just chatting constantly. There’s not much more to say about it, as that pretty much sums it up.

On Sunday, Brenda, Krisztina and I went to Nyon for a bit of a picnic. Brenda supplied the wine and we took some food. It was such a lovely, chilled afternoon and, thankfully, it wasn’t blisteringly hot for a change. 

The only downside was having to leave for my tutoring session! 
I got some more flowers picked for me by David and we had a bit of a big hunt. 

We even spotted a little lizard, who we aptly named “Mr Lizard” (inventive, I know!) The time flew by and before I knew it, I was eating fries with Krisztina, Jason and Brenda on a bench outside. We betrayed our usual van for another, who was much more generous with his portion size. I get the feeling we’ll be going there in future, unless I have a burning need for mozzarella sticks...

And that brings us to here and now. Just another Monday...
As per usual, I had my French lesson this morning which, yet again, only had four people in it. I wonder if the dwindling numbers will make them realise that it’s not actually that great. Probably not!

I spent the afternoon wandering around the lake alone, which is sometimes how I like it. Although a little blustery, it was nice strolling around at my own pace with nowhere to be. I got to soak it up a bit more than usual, until I was nearly blown over by a strong gust of wind (that definitely woke me up!) 

My only hope now is that the flower Marilie picked me on the way to ballet doesn’t die before we get it in some water...

Until next time, my friends!

The last leg

The first week back after Easter, done. Just a couple of months left, hoorah! 
I say hoorah, but the closer I get to going home, the more I realise that I don't have anything in my life sorted and it's all one big mess. Alright, so it's not all that bad, but it does scare the hell out of me that I'm going back without a job, without a degree, without anything really. And then there's my friends...
No matter how much I despise this place, Divonne will always hold a special place in my heart. It is the first place I came to on my own, the first place I travelled to by plane, the first time I had made friends from different countries and of different ages. I can't even describe how much I'll miss these people when I leave. I see at least one of those strange humans every day, sometimes more than once and it will surely leave a giant hole once I leave.

On a slightly less depressing note, I had a day off when I first got here. The Finnish grandparents were still here and took care of Marilie, who was still on her Easter holidays, so I got to have a lie in while they got the other two ready for school. It's weird how you can utterly adore someone who you can't communicate with. Neither of them speak very good English or French, so we have to converse in broken languages and body language. It's interesting to say the least. We had raclette as their last supper, we pleased everyone because there's not too much to prepare. I got eased in gently, thank god!

The next day, their grandparents left... *cries* 

Marilie and I spent most of the week on a bike or in the park. She is much easier to entertain than the older two and she actually likes doing stuff. The only problem was that it was ridiculously hot (well English person who has spent two weeks with grey weather hot). I spent the week sweating my brains out or burning. 

Trust me, it wasn't 'half naked on the sofa' hot!

On Tuesday, Melanie and I recreated the 'Happy Llama' song. All I'm going to say is, you're welcome... 

By Wednesday, I was already tired! The cleaning lady came and made some inappropriate comment about wanting to see me in a bikini and I got locked out of the house while reading a book outside. It's safe to say I got burnt...super burnt. And then Marilie's friend came to play and I couldn't get in because the mum hadn't come back yet and the dad just ignored the bell. I definitely looked like a complete idiot. 

Fast-forward to Friday and I discovered that the fries guy was back and better than ever. Nikki, Jena and I had a drink in Charly's then tucked into his mozzarella sticks. We even got some free fries as a thank you for being such good customers. The most shameful thing is that I also got food from there on Saturday and Sunday... Whoops!

SO GOOD!

Krisztina and I went to the Tulip Festival in Morges on Saturday. It was pretty hot and I got extra burnt - yay! I have to say, it was fantastic. I was a little worried that the flowers would be shrivelled up in the heat but, for the most part they looked excellent. After walking around, we ate by the lake and witnessed a child nearly drown (that was ridiculous, bloody careless mothers!) 

I am the yellow tulip haha

Sunday was spectacularly chilled. I took my time getting breakfast and then lounged around at the lake for most of the day. Eventually, I gathered some energy and walked around the lake before heading to David's house. I had popped in some chocolates earlier in the day, so that they didn't horrifically melt in my car, but he was still excited to see me. He picked me some flowers and showed me which things he saw at Legoland, but the good vibes ended there. He was a little bit impossible. Whether it was the long break, his Easter holidays or the sunshine, I don't know, but he had so much energy that we couldn't really get anything done. I think we were all exhausted afterwards!

My bouquet

Apparently I was meant to have the whole packet,
but at least he saved me one!

Kriztina and I scoffed some fries down at the lake. Dinner with a view. I was so glad that it finally cooled down enough for me to breathe. 

I got ambushed when I returned. Melanie insisted I spend some time with her before she goes to Verona on Thursday. This included waving at granny and sitting and doing nothing. It swiftly became boring and I retreated to the safety of downstairs. 

On Monday, all three kids were finally at school. However, it also means that my French class resumes. I only did one class, as I've been trying to cancel my other one. Three straight hours of French is just too much!

I managed to squeeze in a walk around the lake with Krisztina, before having an absolute ordeal in the shop. The service here is absolutely diabolical, I have to say.

Later on, Marilie and I walked to ballet. For anyone who has ever said I have no fashion sense, you have clearly never met Marilie. Get a load of this train wreck!

I managed to sneak in some peanut and caramel chocolate while nobody was looking. I'm perfecting my stealth mode!

Anyway, now I'm child free in the days, I can go running again (ew!) Mum posted my sports stuff that I had left in England - fail! Don't even know why I took it back... But free time and good weather makes for a slightly more manageable couple of months. The countdown begins! 

Back online

Hello again...remember me? I know it's been an awfully long time, but I can only hope you'll forgive me for mooching about at home for two and a bit weeks. I thought I'd grant myself a little break so didn't bother taking me laptop home for such a short time. It was a good job I didn't really because I had some baggage weight issues on my return...

So the week I left was somewhat dead, which was only to be expected. Mar was at school, Mel was at granny's and I only had Kev to look after.
I had to create a last minute hairdo for Marilie's photos. I am no hairdresser, I apologise for my poor effort.

After I sent her off to school, Kevin and I played Monopoly. However, after a good hour and a half he lost patience and decided to do something else. 

We had Mar back for lunch, but we swiftly deposited her at school and went for a bike ride around the lake. Beforehand, we armed ourselves with white chocolate ice creams (Carrefour's version of Magnum) and tucked into two each. As per usual, Kevin didn't let the side down and absolutely woofled them both up. I, however, am much weaker spirited (and stomached) so tapped out at one and three quarters.

While munching on our "what your mother doesn't know won't hurt her" snack we, or rather Kevin, made friends with a swan. Sadly, he didn't have a name, but Kev happily ran around the water trying to get the best picture he could. Simple things eh?

I saw a little dot waving his arms at us from a few hundred metres away. That dot turned out to be one of Kevin's friends from school, the one that threw snow in my shoe just before Christmas (he is clearly not in my good books). He invited Kev to go and play golf with him, which meant I could have a sit down and relax before we had to collect the youngest from school. We had quite a giggle and I think he really needed a bit of company from someone his own age because he was pleased as punch on the way home!

On Wednesday, I finished packing my bags and headed over to stay at David's house (after being delayed by my host mum (cheers for that!)) They were as welcoming as ever and quickly dished up some dinner for me. The twins were super excited that I was there and wouldn't leave me alone, which was super cute because I desperately miss looking after little ones. David's parents ushered the babies up to bed and left him and I doing a little crafty activity alone. We followed not long after, but proceeded to be woken up quite a few times by one of the twins who seems to have regressed in his sleep pattern (much to my horror!) Nevertheless, I will be eternally grateful for their open arms and generosity, you don't find much of it around here.

David's dad kindly ferried me to the airport, where I was greeted by a delayed flight. Not ideal when you're supposed to have an interview at 3! I grabbed myself some food and munched on it until my flight was eventually called and I could get on the plane. Picture this; there I am finally on the plane, settling into my seat and choosing a few songs to chill out to. Just imagine my horror of being delayed further by a sick woman, who potentially shouldn't have even been on the plane, and needed to be attended to by paramedics. Safe to say I had to reschedule my interview, quelle surprise! 

We even hit traffic on the motorway, just to rub salt in the wound. 

Fast forward to Easter weekend, when Megan had a boy-free house so we decided to 'live it large' or whatever the kids say nowadays. We ordered in a Chinese (yes - I did a little dance to show my delight!) and got cracking with the cocktails. Katie was obviously tasked with making us all look presentable, which is much harder when one member of the team is really bad at making nice drinks, but great at making 'drinks to get people drunk'. Intoxicated or not, she managed to do a pretty nifty job on us all (miracles do happen, especially when Katie is involved). 

The midst of Katie's intoxication

We headed to the usual pub of choice - Spoons, and met up with Gina. I can't lie, we had an absolutely cracking night that ended up with some rather strange shenanigans at Megan's house. I'd replay that night in a heartbeat, over and over and over again.

P.S I am sorry to anyone, namely Katie, who suffered at the hand of my poor cocktail making. I really apologise for how ill you felt the next day, but please do not ever repeat your complaints about a cocktail not tasting of alcohol, because I will most likely poison you again...

The remainder of my time at home was spent with family and friends, or doing adult things, like replacing my broken retainer. Whether it was my spontaneous fridge freezer delivery with Tash, my fab 'coffee' morning with Millie, or my surprise encounter with my favourite teacher in my favourite pub, I enjoyed the time I managed to spend with you all. 
I can't help feeling a little disappointed, though. I almost feel as though I didn't make the most of my time at home and regret not doing more things. Never mind, I'm back in three months!

Now the rest will be a bit of a food diary. Good luck!

Cheese on toast 

Stir fry 

My beloved bacon (oh how I've missed you!)...

In a bacon and egg roll

Chinese with the girls

Mum's Easter roast

Mum's apple and blackberry pie

Turkey roast at Staverton

Apple and cinnamon crumble with custard, at Staverton

Mum's yummy stew

Bob's battered sausage and chips (before the lashings of ketchup)

Lamb espetada at The Kings Head, Napton

Millionaire's shortcake at The Kings Head, Napton

All that's left to say is, I'm back and I've had a change-up of my hair. I am now spending my days resembling the cast of Stranger Things and I'm not at all mad about it. Here's to wavy summer locks...hopefully!