Relaxing after what must have been one of the most entertaining football matches I have watched in a few years. Yes it was Switzerland against Turkey in a downpour. I thought they were all going to come out wearing flippers instead of studs at half time. Notably Switzerland lost and so became the first team to be eliminated from the Euro 2008.
Onto the rest of events then, it must be almost 3 weeks since I last posted and such a lot has gone on. The Greek arrived two weeks ago and came to mine for a meal where I introduced him to the delights of Pimms No 1 and Sangria. He left wobbling after a few hours and extended an invitation to go to Athens to stay with him for as long as I like. It is an invitation I may well take up some time next year. I spent a total of 3 hours on the phone to Oz speaking to the Tiler and his wife. I recieved a good texts from the Printer in letting me know he was safe and sound and had just truned 47. (Where does the time go, he was 27 when I first met him) A few small barbecues have taken place in between the momentary lapses of rain and my brother arrived to stay with me 10 days ago. Friends arrived to see him and I have done my utmost to make sure each day he was here, that we did something different.
I say different but this actually means getting completely trollied in different places and with different people. So the first night we stayed in and had friends around, the second we travelled throughout his old haunts to show him the changes and had friends around for a meal. The third day we went on a pub crawl and were rescued and brought home by Beancounter. The fourth day we had more friends around for another meal and Friday we went shopping. Friday night we went to the Beasts house for an amazing barbecue and the almost obligatory end of evening bonfire. By Saturday my flesh if not spirits were beginning to flag and we did not do anything much except watch the start of Euro 2008. Sunday we went to the Kite festival (click for pics)and for a good long walk on the prom for some fresh air. More football on Sunday night and more beers through till last night. Sadly he had to go home this morning but I look forward to seeing him again in the not too distant future.
One thing I will not miss is his attempt to water my garden. After spending ages pruning, cutting, planting and mowing I was starting to feel proud of the way it looked. One day Bro decided to water the plants for me and used the wrong watering can. I have two one for weed killer and one for water. Bro decided to use the wrong can and most of my bedding plants have wilted and turned a deathly shade of brown. Ah well at least the pond is teeming with life this year. Regular readers will know it suffered a deadly chemical attack around about this time last year but this year it is full of tadpoles all ready to turn into nature’s deadliest pest control, slug and fly eating frogs.
The gutters are almost finished after a Herculean attempt by TB and I can now cross yet another job from the many that have to be completed before Château Ghastanbury can be sold. I have also finalised the decision within the last couple of days that the event know as Ghastanbury will not be going ahead this year. I have spent weeks and months agonising over it but have eventually decided that last year would be the last ever. Time is marching on and if all goes to plan I should be leaving the UK within nine months. Ted Magnum is assisting me to find a suitable bike for the adventure and I still have hopes of burning rubber with the wind in my face. A bit like Lucy Jordan really.