A Ripping Time

Wow! That month went really fast. Probably because I spent half of it back home in good old Blighty. What an awesome time that was. The weather was remarkable, I think Nik must’ve had a word with mother nature to try her hardest over Easter as all the bluebells and cherry blossom just happened to spring into life as I hit the tarmac at Gatwick. My senses were definitely overloaded, it was extremely hard getting back on to that plane knowing that I wouldn’t be wandering through sun dappled woods carpeted with bluebells but dusty lanes scattered with varying sizes of blue and black poly bags broken up with the occasional mound of donkey doo! Monarch airlines did make it a little more of a pleasant experience as they gave us all a free glass of bubbly and two chocolates to celebrate the wedding of you know who.

The tribe tramping around High Cup Nick, The Pennines

Paddling across Windermere

Before embarking I did the dutiful wifey bit and went shopping for pressies. My idea for Nik and Tom was to get them some wild African trousers but as I was walking through the market some even wilder African shorts (see picture) caught my eye and my purse as they used only half the material required for trousers and as Nik is a keep fit nut so I thought they would be perfect for him to go training in. On arrival I presented the boys with their gifts and both smiled in an approving sort of way so as not to offend the old girl. Nik was so proud that he cycled to work in them the next day and led the staff circuit training session in the latest addition to his wardrobe. That was when disaster struck. At the height of his first star jump a loud rip could be heard and his back wheels fell out. I didn’t get any feedback on the comments made. I will just have to leave that to the imagination. In fact the shorts could be very symbolic of this wonderful continent I am working in. Parts of it are falling apart at the seams. I think I’ll give up on presents in the future.

Before the bottom fell out of his world.

Arriving back at my empty housey was a trifle depressing which was made even worse when I discovered I’d had a major break-in. Well that might be a slight exaggeration some opportunist ‘tea leaf’ had ripped the mosquito netting in my bathroom window and made off with two tubes of my finest toothpaste. I have narrowed the culprit down to having darkish skin with and extremely dazzling smile. So watch out thief, I’m on your case. Back to college today which made it all worthwhile. Lots of smiling students (no not the toothpaste thief), greeting me with something along the lines of ‘ Welcome back Madame June, we’ve missed you.’ Which always makes me titter inside because it sounds like I should be closely related to Ms Whiplash running a brothel as opposed to being Mrs Sensible trying to teach English.

June’s tip for the week – Always wear underpants when wearing African made garments.

A lovely hibiscus flower outside the house