One all!

Wordless for couple of weeks. Week 1: snivelling cold, sore throat, shitty weather - so didn't feel inspired to blog. Week 2: beautiful sunny days, photography, rehearsals, great films, occasional moments of socialising, strange dreams involving multi-coloured sheep -  that's Mike not me, but one has to listen! No time to blog. Until now. Feeling around 95% of my usual self and voice is more or less back, except rehearsing for too long tires it out and I start to sound like Lou Reed. Visually of course there is no confusion. Gig is coming up at the end of March. Fingers crossed it goes as well as the last one. I'm singing my first complete song in French, which is making me twitch slightly, particularly as the artist known for the song, Zaz, is headlining just up the road from us at this year's Avoine Blues Festival.

Am enjoying getting back out to do some photography. I'm putting the finishing touches to my landscape photography diploma, which needs to be handed in at the end of April. Best time for pics has been late afternoon about 4.30pm. The sun has been low and a warm orange, and with all the impromptu reservoirs appearing from so much rain, there have been wonderful 'reflection shots' to take.

News on the domestic front is that Mike and I have achieved an equilibrium. This relates to glasses frames and has taken several decades to achieve. Some time ago when we were still in London, driving back to our house one evening in winter, I dropped Mike back home before going on somewhere. He got out of the car, shut the door, and I started to drive off - gently. Mike tapped the window and waved his arms around. I reversed back and wound down the window to hear what he was saying. He was trying to tell me that as he got out of the car, his glasses got knocked off. Unfortunately when I reversed to hear what he wanted to tell me, I ran over the glasses. Instant demolition!

Roll forward to yesterday. We're out and about. I saw a good site for some photos. We stopped and parked. I got out and wandered down to the river where some traditional boats were moored under some trees. Quite muddy and I was wearing the wrong type of shoes. Walked back towards the path, only to tread on a muddy patch and promptly fell flat on my face, while holding my precious camera up in the air, so as not to get it damaged. Didn't matter if I tore or broke anything else. My glasses went flying. Matching the colour of the pathway perfectly neither of us could see where the glasses had landed. Mike then moves. Crunch. I have to give it to him - stylishly done. No damage to the lenses, but the frames looked like triffids on speed.  So we're finally even. One set of wrecked lenses each. This morning we went to the optician 'Krys' in Chinon. Explained what happened. They laughed. Twenty minutes later, I came out wearing my first pair of French frames with the lenses just slotted in. Brilliant service. Mike is slightly poorer, having gallantly offered to pay for the replacement!!