A very brief catch up!

As suggested by the title.... this is going to be brief!  I wanted you to know that all is well but that there is nothing much to tell you!

In the past week we've had dreary weather again including some snow early in the week.  It didn't settle but it has been bitterly cold.  Even with some sunshine it's been very cold and our wood burner is still on all day long.  I have been reassured that this winter has been a "freak weather" winter (they said that about the summer and I just hope that normality resumes this year!)

Highlight of the week?  We had our chimney swept - for those of you without 'real' fires and therefore blissfully unaware of such things, you need to do this on an annual basis, partly because it's usually necessary but also because if there were to be a fire in the chimney, you probably wouldn't be covered under your insurance policy!  The man who did the chimney also told us quite a lot about having our new wood burner and fireplace fitted and it sounds far more involved than I had imagined!  I have a sneaky suspicion this is going to turn out to be far more costly than we first thought!

After the MRI fiasco, I went back to see the orthopaedic surgeon and he has now sent me for "arthrography".  My appointment is on 26 March and I will be seeing the orthopaedic surgeon again on 3rd April.  In the meantime I continue to have physiotherapy on my shoulder - not to mention help with my French while I'm there!

Talking of French, I have started getting together with a few other ladies and a French teacher called Hélène on a weekly basis.  We are taking it turns to meet at each other's houses on a Thursday afternoon and we are studying hard.  I do feel like I'm making progress but it's far from easy!

Dog training continues on a Saturday afternoon.  This week I had charge of Finn who decided he didn't want to be trained.  He behaved like a recalcitrant teenager - looking bored, yawning and generally seemed to be saying "Yeah, whatever!  Tell it to the paw!"  On the other hand, Danny took charge of an incredibly good Liam who 'sat' and 'stayed' and pretty much did what he was told to do.  I have to admit I'm left wondering if it's actually me that's useless and not the dogs!!

That's it really.  Danny's son Paul is coming to visit for a few days with a friend and they arrive on Thursday afternoon.  That means I'll be sprucing up the guest rooms, making up their beds and putting together my menus!  I'll tell you all about their visit in due course.

Until then, à bientôt!