Graham, my son in law, needed a break, he hadn’t had a holiday since last year, so he flew over from Harrogate to see Kieran and I. The plan was to spend Kieran’s days off with him and the kids and the rest with me, which worked well.
Graham’s first job was to sharpen all my knives; he can’t abide knives that aren’t razor sharp and knows that it’s something I never do. So he arrived with a full sharpening kit – they’re great to use now.
He’d agreed to take some photos and short videos of the band, which can be made into slideshows to go with recordings on YouTube, once we’ve recorded a few songs, so Jean Michel took leave so that we could practice on the Monday, when Kieran would be at work . Graham enjoys driving, whereas I prefer to be driven, so I’m always happy to hand over the car keys when he visits; I don’t think he enjoyed this drive very much though, as the sky never really got light and the rain hammered down all day. The drive there was bad enough, in what passed for daylight, but the journey home, in the dark, was horrendous, especially on the tiny roads near Jean Marc’s, where if you meet an oncoming car (or, heaven forbid, a lorry or tractor), both vehicles have to pull onto the grass verge. With no road markings, it’s impossible, in the dark, to know how wide the verge is or how soon it will drop precipitously into a deep ditch. But we got home safely, Graham downloaded the photos and videos and sent them out; all the band were delighted, though Adrian moaned that Graham made him look like a grumpy old git – I refrained from the obvious response.
The weather for the rest of the week was glorious; we had a trip to see the Bassins des Lumières in Bordeaux ; the expos were “from Vermeer to Van Gogh” and Mondrian – both superb.
When the kids weren’t at school on the Wednesday we all went to the Pyrenees for a walk. It was cold and clear in the morning; the children found sticks and thoroughly enjoyed smashing the ice on all the puddles on the way up the hill. At the top there was a river where we skimmed stones and Emily went for a paddle – in her shoes. Luckily Kieran had anticipated this, so had spare shoes and socks for her. She and Arthur rolled up their trousers and spent a happy half hour paddling – the water was bitterly cold, but they didn’t seem to notice
Evenings were spent playing Upwords or with Kieran and the kids at his local pizzeria and soon it was time for Graham to go home. I think he and Kieran both enjoyed the break and it did them both good.