Bottle Bank Blues

I have tried to write this posting several times, featuring of course, the visit by my sons Timothy and Stephen, and my brother Robert but I’ve had to do so many trips to the ‘bottle bank’ (recycling) that I’ve had no time to really think about a suitable subject. Writing about what they did during their 6 days would involve the words – drink, smoke, eat, sleep and that’s not very exciting is it?

But here’s a brief list of the activities I remember during the last 6 days.

Friday – on only his second trip unaccompanied on his scooter, Guy decides that the main road needs to be cleaned of gravel by sweeping it with his bare arms and legs as he comes off on a bend not too far from the house. Unfortunately, as he successfully clears the road of gravel he leaves acres of human skin and quite a bit of blood in its place!

Saturday – Guy and J off to hospital while us boys get ready to drive up into the mountains for lunch. We’ve got 5 serious (motor) bikers with us and when we get there we find another group of Harley bikers entering the restaurant. Despite my best efforts at trying to start a bar-room-brawl between the two groups (and then stand well back and watch) they all get on rather well which was quite disappointing. The consolation was that the food, in particular, the roasted quail, was quite delicious. We gathered back at our place after lunch.

Sunday - after finding Timothy sleeping on the terrace thinking the door to his bedroom was locked (not true) we had a quiet start to the day after a late night and then we remember. J, after repeated goading on my part, decided she’d had enough and threw a glass of wine over me. Unfortunately, it went over the guest sitting next to me – I was completely unscathed – ha ha ! Robert then proceeded to show J how it was done by throwing a glass of iced water over me, I retaliated with Rosé wine and the sophisticated dinner we were having went rapidly downhill.

Monday – went into Nice to try and get parts for Guy’s scooter (unsuccessful) and then had a stroll round the Old Town. There were crowds of people wandering around in the 30 degree heat but we managed to get seats at an outdoor bar where we were completely aghast to pay £25 ($40) for four drinks including two Cokes. We were however delighted to find the Socca restaurant where the four of us had lunch for a total of £9 ($14). What a contrast eh? Monday evening was a catch up, watching old family videos and emptying my drinks cabinet. Beds were reached between the hours of 2am and 5am.

Tuesday – off to the village for lunch and then head for the airport. I wont see Timothy before he goes off to Qatar to help the Americans and Brits fight the Taliban. (Qatar is a staging point for aircraft going into Afghanistan) so we have a big hug and then they disappear into the terminal. Tuesday afternoon and evening are strangely quiet and smoke and alcohol free!