Six months on....

As my last post was about "le gastro" and as it is now, ahem, six months on, you could be forgiven for imagining that the entire famille Higginson had succumbed to this season's version of the Black Death. Happily this was not the case and I have merely been aiming for the much coveted award of "World's Worst Blogger"; as no such award has been forthcoming, I have given myself a kick up the bum and started blogging again.
I do have an excuse in the shape of the network which becomes busier by the day and takes up a huge amount of time. The children also seem to become ever more demanding as they get older. Long gone are the (blissful) days of dispatching them to bed by 8 and collapsing with a glass of wine. These days it's all about taxi services, their social lives and going to bed earlier than them. And I'm sure it's only going to get worse. In fact, last night I found myself drinking cocoa. Not hot chocolate but cocoa. We've also recently bought a windbreak so I'm definitely en route for middle age. Slippers have long been a part of my life and we're not talking cool, designer slippers here either. Just the warmest and cheapest that the local supermarket can provide. Anyone living in an un-renovated house in rural France will relate to the slipper wearing. Any aversions to looking like an old granny fly are swiftly put aside when there is a howling gale blowing around your ankles. I'll let you know when I get a pipe.