Where on Earth does the time go?

OK, so it's been a while!  Apart from adding the charity-knitting update last week, I've not posted  for some time.  It's been so very busy at Chez Yarns for the last few weeks - not all of it of the laborious renovating variety, for a change. Last week, after some doubts about whether they would make it due to the Great Icelandic Ash Crisis, my youngest son, his lovely wife and gorgeous eight-month old daughter came to stay for a whole week.  The seven days stretched ahead of us at the beginning then simply whizzed by at a rate of knots and, suddenly, they were on their way back home.

We couldn't believe how lucky we were with the weather. The week before their visit was cool and dull and, since they left on Saturday, it's been even cooler and duller, but the week they were here was bright, warm and sunny and we were able to go out every day and make the most of it.

Here we are at the old defence wall with a view of the town as a backdrop. Centre stage is my truly beautiful granddaughter with the magical smile that carried us through the week! We visited lots of different places and had a wonderful time enjoying each other's company. The week passed by too quickly but it was lovely having them here.

The renovations took a back seat for the week apart from insulating the vaulted ceiling in the dining room part of the kitchen - something that my son helped his Dad with, because it was too high for me! It was great taking time out from all the work - we hadn't realised just how intense the last few weeks had been, and we needed the break.  Subsequently, it's taking a long time to get up and running again!  Yesterday, the Husband filled in the holes that were left behind when the timbers holding up the original ceiling  were removed, then he had to run electrical cables through the timbers in the kitchen - they will eventually be hidden when the ceiling is plasterboarded.  We have to choose the lighting next - at the moment, with the ceiling back to the bare bones and the existing lighting still in place, it looks gloomy, so the choice of lighting will be really important.   We  have this little window that we uncovered when we vaulted the ceiling - the glass has been painted (on the outside) in this  fetching shade of green and, rather than take the paint off, we will replace it with new.  It will let in even more light and I'm thinking of a way of dressing it up.   I think today the Husband is going to get both the ceilings prepared for plasterboarding - I can't wait but I'm dreading the usual disruption - why can't he do it quietly, cleanly and quickly?!

The weather, having been brilliant last week, has been really cold, something I wasn't expecting for the first week of May in south west France!  I thought we'd be well on the way to summer by now but we'll just have to be patient, I suppose - it's nothing compared to what's been going on in the rest of the world, so I really can't complain, can I?

Have a great day, everyone, and thanks for reading.