Blimey, I'm knackered!  Been working like a mad thing since we got back from our little break away.  All our gites will be full this week, four of them have been full since last week.  Not complaining really, coz it's all moey coming in, but it's been crazy trying to get everything ready on time and then do changeovers this weekend and so on.  Unfortunately, it all happens at once at this time of year - the garden needs attention, the grass needs cutting (2 acres of it) and the gites need preparing - the spring clean always takes ages as the insects move in over winter (squatters rights, they say).  Can't prepare them too early as the little critters move back in again before anyone else gets a chance.  On top of that, Isabella had her dance shows Friday and Saturday eve, which finished at 12.45am each night!  Then having to get up early the next day to start work again has almost finished me off....  However, Isabella really enjoyed doing the shows and naturally she was the best one there!!!  Here is a pic from her first dance - it's blurry because we were a bit far from the stage and I've had to crop it to cut all the other girls out...

They were clowns in case you can't tell!

So anyway, just one more gite to finish today, Adrian's gone off down there already.  I would be there, but I'm waiting for a call back - someone rang just as I was leaving on the school run about the gites.  I asked them to call beack in 20 mins, 'yes, no probs' they said.  Well, 45 mins later and I'm still waiting.  Think I'll give up soon.  Have a feeling I know what they'll say as it was a local number and it's usually the same thing - they're having a family get together and they want all the gites, which sleep up to 22 max, for their family and friends totalling approx 30 in number, for one night only.  Well, 'NO!'.  You may think I'm turning away business, but it's not B&B here, it's not like cleaning just a bedroom and a bathroom, it's a whole house each time, just for one night.  Plus it'll be a major piss-up and not on my land, thannk you very much, plus they always say 'oh we don't mind being over capacity, we'll kip on the floor, to which they get 'well, we do mind, so you won't kip on the floor, now piss off and go and annoy someone who does B&B or a hotel'.

As you can tell, I'm not in a very accommodating mood at the mo.  Well, on top of being a bit tired (did I mention two migraines in the last 3 days?  One I got at night so managed to sleep it off, the other I woke up with and fortunately, my tabs (at €55,00 for twelve) worked on this occasion), we've had a few idiots in already - the lot that left on Sat not only allowed their darling boys to trash the garden (breaking and stamping on plants a speciality), they broke five glasses in one week and one of them thoroughly wet the bed so that I had to wash everything, duvet included and thank God for mattress protectors.  Neglected to mention any of this to us though.  If people tell us we don't mind, the odd glass always gets broken (though 5 is a record) and accidents do happen, we'd just like to know about it in advance!!!!  Also, the minute they turned up the dad said to me 'so is the internet in the main house then?'.  Well, we have wi-fi now,but we haven't advertised it, although we have told people that we've got it if they've asked for it.  Well, I knew I hadn't told this guy about it, so I assumed that Adrian had, so I said 'no, it's wi-fi, come and get the code off us and you can access it the garden'.  Well, I went back to Adrian and he hadn't told the guy about it.  Checked all the e-mails and nothing, so basically, he just assumed that he could use our internet!  Cheeky bugger!  Within two hours of his arrival he was at the house asking for the code.  He'd only left home that morning, he was supposed to be on holiday!  Then yesterday morning I had to chuck some guests out of another gite, they were supposed to be gone by 10am as we had more people coming in, which I informed them of by e-mail previously, plus it's in our t&c's, plus I remended them when they arrived.  Left it until 10.30 then went in to chivvy them up - nothing had been done - they assumed that it would be alright if they stayed there until the afternoon!  'OMG - you're the second lot of cheeky buggers I've had this weekend! No it fucking isn't alright, I need you to leave now!'' 

Anyway, enough ranting, I've waited long enough for this woman to call back and she hasn't and I've got work to do.  Hopefully, I'll be in a better mood when I next write.