Un poco de trabajo #unpocodediversion

Work! Work! I was there for work! Promise :)

Barcelona again, the Seafood Expo again, and STILL better than the Brussels version which took 20 years to run its course.

And like last year, Oma stepped in to provide some babysitting while El Puma 'tele-worked' from Barcelona and racketed up my 20,000+ steps in a day seafood show experience.

I did get a day sightseeing with El Puma at the front end and a day showing Oma the sights at the backend.

La Sagrada Familia - always amazing to see but this year tickets were fully booked 3 days in advance and we missed the chance to see it from the inside.

 

Unlike last year, El Puma and I tried to get in to see the Gaudi park, but, same problem. Tickets were booked out days in advance. Barcelona in general was hoaching but I didn't enjoy it as much as last year when it was quieter and more charming.

We didn't get in but we could see a few things by peering over the gates.

Fine, fine, just providing I did work. If that's what you call it.

 

Easter hols #Constant

Our Easter holidays fell waaaay after Easter this year, which thankfully gave us an opportunity to enjoy some better weather in Constant, the Dordogne, another Holiday Property Bond location (cf every single holiday at the Trossachs).

This part of Perigord is full of beautiful chateaux, lazy wide rivers, good food and wine, stunning views, and a canoe of 50. What's not to love. 

Visiting the houses carved into the cliffs:

 
In Sarlat, home of good...bonbons, as it turns out:

The Dordogne river itself was a bit overfull from all those March rains we had, so we canoed on this tributary instead, which was gorgeous, and easily navigable.

 

Constant, home of HPB in the Dordogne. Constantly awesome (see what I did there?!)

 

11 years #steel

Apparently you mark your 11th wedding anniversary with steel. 

After 11 years I'm pretty sure my nerves of steel qualify.

But just to make sure, we went and had lunch beside lots of steel at a funky restaurant not far from where we live, with our 3 little heart steel-ers. 

The day itself was also Easter Sunday, and we had a lovely long weekend at home enjoying the quiet street, painting the loos (more on that another time), and planting out some seeds. 

About a week ago we had huge storms with very high gusts of wind, and the greenhouse (which you can see in the background below) had been up on the terrace initially, where I could water the seedlings easily. After one big gust everything ended up on the floor, completely mixed up. So who knows what I will harvest later this summer. 

 

Otherwise, we spent lots of time making chocolate nests, colouring eggs, hiding eggs, and eating all of it. The warm weather also resulted in the first Spritz of the year, AND the first BBQ. I can smell summer!!