What do we do all day?

We have two weeks "off" (laughingly so called) before our next group comes in on 13 September... people often say "what on earth do you do all day when you have no groups around?". Well, at this time of the year, less than at some others: by this time of the season we are very, very tired, feeling our aches, stiffness, injuries and - well - age. But unfortunately there is always something that needs doing; the next 6 loads of washing to put out, or take in, the new acacia shoots to dig up before we have another 12 fully grown trees, watering, cleaning, mending, sweeping - and that's before we begin on the new round of decorating in the autumn; we got through 6 or 7 rooms last winter (with the aid of friends) and may be we can do that many again this year...





But sometimes there's a job that's a real pleasure to finish because you're working with something beautiful to look at in the first place and which is a real team job. These chairs were picked up for a snip years ago at Emmaus by our predecessor here. They survived for a few years, began to rot, fell apart and finally we hid them in the back of the winebarn intending to throw them away. But our pal Simon who's been out twice (and was also responsible for refurbishing our washing cart) stripped these down, made them sound and cut new slats before he had to leave. Francis finished them - decorated, varnished, drilled new bolt holes - and they look beautiful. And so gratifying that something this nice in the shops costs serious money. Simon will never be forgotten.