17 February 2019

We’ve had some absolutely gorgeous days this week – who’d have thought it was mid-February! The temperature reached the lofty heights of 12 C (nearly 54 F) on Thursday and the skies were clear, bright and sunny. One could almost be convinced that Spring was imminent.

The lovely weather has brought out our early harbingers of Spring – these Snowdrops and other assorted woodland perennials we spotted on a walk around the Edgcote estate on Wednesday.

The builders have continued apace with our new kitchen extension – these guys don’t hang about! We have mounds of dirt and lots of holes scattered around. I wrote last time about the uncovering of the well – following a site visit with the structural engineer on Monday, it is now but a distant memory. A huge lorry brought a huge load of stone which was used to fill it up on Tuesday. Then they moved on to dealing with the chute which was used to roll beer barrels down into the cellar; that has now been capped with substantially-sized concrete beams. By the end of the week they were digging to trace the lines of the various drainage pipes and sorting those out. As this place has been extended many times in the past, the various pipes run here, there and everywhere, some of them disappearing down underneath others. I guess once they’ve sorted those out it will be on to actually digging the foundations. The builders certainly appreciate the good weather as much as we do!

We had a nice card in the week from Penny’s sister J in Toronto wishing us “good luck” with the whole project. Although we wouldn’t get the electric chair in this country, it’s nice to know how badly things could work out. Thanks J!

Brexit – the gift that keeps on giving. Just when you thought things could not get any more absurd, we have a day like last Thursday. Two weeks ago the Commons supported Mrs May’s policy, in principle, and directed her to go back to Brussels to renegotiate the agreement that Brussels has consistently said they would not renegotiate. On Thursday they voted again on the same policy and this time voted it down. John Crace asked the obvious question: Can you negotiate with people who are certifiable? He also employed one of my favourite catchphrases:

You couldn’t make it up. May could not even win a meaningless vote. Which, ironically, in itself had meaning. Humiliation. For her and the country. The EU must be pissing themselves. How can you negotiate with people who are certifiable?

I hope you all had a splendid Valentine’s Day – I did, even though I had forgotten all about it! Actually, I had remembered it earlier in the week but that’s not much use if you don’t do anything about it.

Love to you all,

Greg

 

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