Jayne Hilditch
@jayne
Working the dream. Living in the Alps purealps.com - fractional FD at wearearrival.com and basis.co.uk - NED at dxw.com - growing veg - cycling - skiing - language learning 🇫🇷
Another day, another flight flight delay, another airport breakfast. Le sigh.
A satisfying way to use up the last of the honey…. that’s a cappuccino in a honey jar 😁
my fave bit of this crazy trip… a 6km hike where we were joined for the duration by a deer and a dog, and they ran down the mountainside with us when we got on the bikes…
Well Georgia, you have been fab. Am now tucked in a fancy-pants hotel (former Soviet sanatorium) in Kazbegi, close to the Russian border, smiling at all amazing things we’ve experienced in the last few days. A little R&R, then home.
Cycling in the Armenian steppe is like cycling in a Windows XP background. And I’m here for it
Woop. Tbilisi, I am in you. 🇬🇪. Wandered out of our hotel in Sololaki, and into the most wonderful courtyard garden restaurant. Wonderful food, wine, and charm. Looking forward to our Caucasus adventures on a 🚲
if you’re of a certain vintage, with an interest in world affairs in the 80s, I’m sure this will spark some memories.
So, if you were booking airline seats and saw this on the screen, would you then expect to be charged 2x 115CHF on checkout? And would you expect a customer service agent to simply repeat “all seat reservations are chargeable”? Really Swiss, you can be better than this.
Anyways. Now I’m getting custom-made cowboy hats from Kentucky in my feed. These are going to be harder to resist, because I’m a sucker for a fancy hat, and the dude making ‘em is kinda fun. Let’s see how this pans out. If you ever see me sporting this fetching number, you’ll know.
doh. *uninterrupted* time. I could blamed the cats paws, but the error was mine!
The furball is looking forward to having more interrupted time with his staff!
Next year we’re only renting the chalet (self-catered) for a few weeks in the ski season. Once we’ve sold 4 weeks, we’re closing the diary.Easter is early next year for anyone attached to school timetables! Hit me up if that’s your thing. www.purealps.com
Here in the Grand Massif we’re having the best end of season conditions in years. It’s great to go out on a high! As the season winds down, so do we… Active semi-retirement beckons - I’ve finally made peace with the R word. More time for fun, bike adventures and gardening.Time is finite resource!
Back on the couch-to-5km wagon. I’ve done it before so I know it’s possible… but right now feels like climbing Everest. Still, good for my ticker and my head, so on we go. This is a repeat of week 2 day 3… getting in some extra steps before next week with the slow-ladies-running-crew ! #C25K
Airport reading, heading home. My mother has pulled off another Lazarus manoeuvre, so feeling much more chipper for the moment, but knowing it’s only a temporary state of affairs.
Show someone who absolutely rocks a hat (that isn’t Indiana Jones)…. The hat of joy!
Changeover done. This time I get be p*ssed off that guests have burned the wall by leaving *paper* atop the wood-burner (and didn’t let us know). But also relieved that the chalet didn’t burn down. See also fag butts in the garden and broken pingpong bats. The joys of a vacation rental business 🤯
two days 🎿⛷️ on the trot has beaten me… but sofa time with a book, a cat, and a spot of 1958 Miles Davis is more than acceptable for a Thursday afternoon.
Pretty much perfect conditions in the Grand Massif this morning. And now I have new ear worm… for the rest of the day I shall be humming “back in the high life again, all the doors that closed one time, will open up again”. Time to dig out some more old Steve Winwood tracks
It’s still school holidays here, so swerving the crowds up the mountain and enjoying a quiet walk along the disused railway line and over the river. It really is magical.
Eleven changeovers done, five to go… unless we get a mid March booking (weird it’s been so hard to shift - given the recent dumps, March is shaping up to be a cracker). Am knackered, but in a good way. Happy guests, happy Jayne.
It’s February. It’s glorious. But it’s way too warm. Just a decade ago when we first came here, there would have been a least a foot more snow. Whilst I still love the winter, it now brings such sorrow as the changing climate is writ large.
Hurrah for London friends going skiing! And wonderful warm restaurants when it’s -12 outside…