He’s only gone and done it

A record 35 stage wins on the Tour de France.  I was one if those who wanted him to stop when he equalled Eddy Merckx’ record because I didn’t want him to keep putting himself in such danger or me under such stress every time there was a sprint finish.  I was a wreck yesterday, luckily Cav and his Astana team were in full control.  A fairy tale ending for a man who has overcome such adversity, he is inspirational and will always be my favourite rider.

It’s another sprint stage today, please just stay safe Cav.

Back to ourselves

 We are recovered from Italy and fully entrenched in Yorkshire life.

I have planted up my 2 new balcony troughs with a selection of mostly white herbaceous plants from the lovely local nursery that I can walk to and from, £1 each and they make me happy. 

Last year I bought white lavender and shasta daisies for the tall pots at the same price, this year they are sizeable.  My only issue with small plants is whether they will spread and flower before we leave again but really there is plenty for us to enjoy now.

We are both back into walking, we’ve had friends round for dinner, MrFF has started his latest project adding more storage and a dressing table to the spare bedroom.  Any work in a small top floor apartment, building or gardening, brings extra challenges and disruption but my goodness we’ve had plenty of experience over the years especially with building work.  Someone asked me the other day why we don't have a handyman to do this sort of thing, we do,  it’s MrFF who I know will make an excellent job, be as clean and tidy as possible and do as he’s told.

We are watching the Tour de France live, so far it’s been amazing apart from me fretting about Cav, soon to be Sir Cav, as he attempts to beat the record for most stage wins on the Tour ever.

Giovanni is in touch regularly, he seems to relish having Vincenzo for company.  Sunday he said Vincenzo was completely exhausted having spent the morning eating, there was a photo of the dear little cat spark out.  It seems that as well as the cat biscuits and treats I provided he is getting lasagna, chicken and lamb, and I imagine lots of attention when Giovanni’s family visit at weekends. 

The weather has turned a little cooler than I’d like and the rain is a bit unpredictable, I got quite wet but never cold on my walk yesterday, but we feel settled and content back in Yorkshire, for a few of months at least.