Launceston - Part Deux!

The food poisoning lasted for a few days - it was mainly just an uncomfortable, painful, bloated feeling, but I could have done without it! Luckily, Jo and James seem really pleased to have me back and Nathaniel doesn't seem to mind either - after all, who's he going to wind up otherwise? (Did you know, for instance, that in California they have snowflakes that are seven foot in diameter, and that when they fall it's like being engulfed in a large duvet?? Ha Ha! I didn't believe him of course - although he has caught me out a couple of times.)

Since I got back we have been decorating the bungalow that used to belong to James' mother, so that it can be let out as a holiday home. The decor was all rather old-fashioned wallpaper which we have been stripping off and there was talk of knocking down a chimney breast to make a shower room - they looked slightly alarmed when I displayed a rather over-enthusiastic wish to be given a sledgehammer - I like a good bit of constructive destruction! However, I controlled myself and confined my efforts to stripping the paper in the smallest bedroom and then redecorating it in a rather restful misty green emulsion. The outside temperature had plummeted and there were a few condensation issues - it took hours for the emulsion paint to dry instead of the 2 hours it said on the tin, but eventually it was done and we moved on to the dining room. Unfortunately, the walls of the dining room are not so good with lots of minor cracks and 'blown' plaster, so we are having to patch bits and then I am putting up lining paper prior to emulsioning.

We had to move up to the bungalow for a few days as the barn had been let for a long weekend but, apart from the fact that there was no internet connection, we quite enjoyed staying there and I managed to cook a roast chicken dinner on the oil-fired Rayburn and toad-in-the-hole. Luckily Nathaniel is a very anglicised American (both his parents are British) so he knows and likes quite a few traditional British meals.

We have been much luckier than most of the rest of the country, including north Cornwall, as we have only had a sprinkling of snow, although the temperatures have remained below freezing for many days and the wind has been icy - we've been quite glad to be indoors decorating, although we have helped move some of the sheep and tidy up a small yard area.

Jeni is now back in this country for Christmas but, alas, is going back to Bolivia in mid-January, so I am not sure yet what my immediate plans are: she has been invited to come here and WWOOF for a week and then we can return to Cheltenham together for Christmas, but she also needs to find a job, if she can, and visit friends and relatives. I am desperate to see her again but feel loathe to finish here early as I much prefer to be kept busy - when I'm not busy i.e. at weekends, I tend to fall into a semi-depressed state where I have too much time to think about 'stuff' - in fact, I'd rather not have any time off at all!