Master Modeller

I think I could write another book entitled “The Joys Of Castorama, On A Saturday” after yesterday’s debacle. Why that nice lady decorator chooses a weekend to go to the busiest and worst laid out do-it-yourself store in the world is completely beyond me. What is wrong with the other days of the week, when most of the great unwashed are safely at work or looking for it? It seems that we needed some boards to repair the floor of my kennel aka my office. I did not need them, she needed them, which is fine by me, but then suddenly I become involved simply because she needed someone to carry them, and so my weekend got off to a very poor start. You could say that I was board stiff, but I would not as that would be a very poor joke.

Last night to a celebration of nearly a very significant birthday for Master Mariner Mundell, starting off from his Valbonne apartment and then ending up at The Kashmir Indian restaurant in the village. This gives me an opportunity to use a photo from last weekend after Sunday’s luncheon, when the Master decided to liberate from my freezer the snowman he fostered after the Rugby World Cup Final and make some running repairs to his err…form. What I like about this picture is the expression of the god-like Zillah, his wife, as he “works” the raw material.

I hope the head does not come off in his hands....

REGS golf today at the wonderful St Donat will be the scene of another feeding frenzy of people battling to buy autographed copies of my book “Summer In The Cote d’Azur” otherwise available from the English Book Centre or by mail order. I have advance orders for 3 copies but it will not stop there, in fact I have a target of an additional  4 copies to be sold on the day meaning that I shall soon be closing in on a century, half way towards break even just 2 weeks after the launch!

Rather disappointingly I have been told that Mick Pedley will not be wearing his German Shooting Trousers which will come as a bit of a relief to our token German member Klaus. I would have so loved to get a picture of him (Mick) wearing them, ideally accompanied by a shotgun. Amongst the regulars I am expecting to see at this Taylor Made sponsored event was Dave “Tripe” Goddard and sheep loving Steve Weston whom I will try to “fleece” on a wager.

Again, you might think that playing golf with some x pats would be a leisure pursuit, but you would be wrong. I have a number of Currencies Direct existing clients playing and one new Australian, rather inevitably called Bruce,  (don’t forget the form Bruce!) amongst the REGS and it will be my duty to ensure that they are all still delighted with the service offered by Currencies Direct in respect of their foreign exchange transfers.

Kenya, and in particular my visit to Medina Palms for whom I am an agent and which is newly featured in Country Life this week is rapidly approaching. This time next week I shall be there and, internet access permitting, I shall bring a you a daily run down on the lives of the idle rich of Kenya rather than the Cote d’Azur for a couple of weeks.  It seems churlish not to take in a safari experience whilst there, and the shortest trip we could find was a half day, in part due to that nice lady decorators opposition to spending a night in the jungle.

Chris France