The sun can out at last. No skiing. That just seemed like a good idea at the time when it was dumping. But climbing’s on, though - even if the rock’s still a bit wet. Servoz was the choice, and there were a few of us. Mountaingirl, Ms Lightfoot, a much improving Martin. Even the boy Kayson.
But the best guy was the old geezer with the back brace bouldering around us. He must have been 70 years old I think
This is what I woke up to in Chamonix this morning. Snowing. Not just snowing either, but dumping. It’s June in a couple of days for goodness sake and I’ve still got a sun-burnt back from climbing last week. Apparently this is going to carry on for a couple of days and clear on Wednesday. I think I might even get the skis out and go touring.
I always thought that this global warming/climate change thing was a bit over-hyped. Just a bit of tree hugging bullshit like saving the whales. But no. It seems I was wrong. We are obviously in the middle of an apocalypse of weather and we’re all going to die.
It’s easy to over-focus on your own problems sometimes, but life has a way of carrying on regardless.
Births
My friend Bryony who lives in the Jura here in France had her third baby last night. Lydie, a baby girl is a new sister for her boys Elliot and Evan. A little girl to complete the set is something Bry dearly wanted, and words can’t express how happy I am for her and the whole family.
Marriages
My sister Caroline’s boyfriend Christoph proposed to her yesterday. They’ve been together for many years, a sometimes difficult long-distance relationship between Germany and the UK. Caroline is quitting her London job this summer and moving over to Sarbrucken to be with her fiancee.
Deaths
And unfortunately the good news above is balanced by the death of my best friend’s Dad. A brilliant doctor and father, he died after of cancer after being ill for a year. My friend Ryan and I are travelling to Suffolk for the funeral this week.
So it’s Saturday afternoon and I’m just doofing around in the office. The weather’s closed in a bit and it’s cool and cloudy, so there’s no pressure to be out doing something active. I’m quite enjoying listening to Radio 4 and cleaning up the office. The garden’s growing at a frightening triffid-like rate so I’ve had to attack it with thestrimmer again & it’s looking good. We had our first BBQ last week and I’m looking forward to some more of those.
I’d have quite liked to have nipped down to the bricolage in Sallanches today to buy some paint & DIY stuff - there’s some work I’ve been planning to do to the place for a while. Trouble is I’m a bit skint at the moment. It’s been a pretty stressful week trying to sort that out, and by the end of next week things should be back on an even keel. In the meantime though, I can only buy food - so other projects will have to wait.
It’s not very nice being skint, but in a way it’s good for a person from time to time. Sometimes you can get a bit used to spending and loose track of the value of things. To have a week or so where you’re scraping the money together to put a few litres of petrol into your car and buy some pasta is good for the soul now & again. Bit bloody boring though.