SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED

What a couple of weeks it’s been. The heatwave has continued, the sun has shone, the conservatory has become unbearable to work in and now that Kimberley’s portrait has been finished it’s time to suggest a move back to the lounge. What started as a brilliant idea has revealed all it’s faults. In the winter the the conservatory was too dark and now it is not just too bright, but too hot and as I return to Sally my brain is frazzled and I can’t think straight, never mind paint straight. It’s time to down tools, well paintbrushes at least, and organise turning the conservatory back into a dining room and creating a place to paint in the coolness of the lounge.

Our whole move is dependent on the arrival of a special large plastic mat to protect the cream carpet that covers the whole of lounge floor. After much chasing and anticipation the mat arrived just before the weekend and the transformation has been made. It’s cooler and the room works better as a result of all the changes. And to boot I still get a view of the garden which is blossoming.

But timing is everything and did our prime minister, Boris Johnson, know that this long heatwave would come to an end just as he decides to let us all out of lockdown? Keeping an eye on the long range forecast it was becoming blatantly apparent that following the announcement on Thursday 28th May that we could step out on Monday 1st June he was depriving us the pleasure of enjoying the last sunny and hot weekend for some time to come. Oh so cruel. No wonder the beaches and parks were packed last Saturday and Sunday. And on that last hot Sunday, Kimberley is finally united with her portrait, signed, varnished, framed and wrapped for the one hour car journey. Alas I don’t get to meet her, passing the painting to a friend of hers instead, but a text just before Killing Eve is about to start assures me that she now has it, and is thrilled.

Now I have all the time in the world to finish Sally, except do I? If the Home Office can drop this ridiculous notion of quarantining us all from the 8th June, our holiday for the 16th June then La Belle France beckons. Apart from this absurd quarantine, three months too late in my opinion, there is nothing stopping us from  going. The ferries are sailing and our hotel will open tomorrow, the borders on the 15th.