Today is the last day of the year. Not feeling a lot better but so it goes. Completely fascinated by The Peripheral by William Gibson that I'm reading. It's just immense. I'm going home early because today is supposed to be our party day - Celine and I, but I'm not going to get away until at least 2. More later.

I still have this cold thing cough chesty fucked up that sometimes seems better and sometimes seems worse today it just seems to be bad. I would like to just go home and crash but that ain't happening anytime soon as I have several things that need doing. I've taken some lemsip day and night and that's done NOTHING! Still, tomorrow, I can go home early and rest up for the next day is a bank holiday.

It's the 30th today and I've back at work since yesterday. We returned on Sunday, through Heathrow and Paris and managed to be home by 6.30 pm. The week in France flew by and work is just as disagreeable as always. To compound things I have a cough and the gyms are mostly closed until the beginning of the new year so all my plans for fitness and training are on hold. I have some other things to do today like last minute shopping for gifts for our Christmas meal.

Christmas day in France. I awoke with a mild hangover and showered. My day is pretty much planned out for me on these occasions with my first task of the day to go and buy the bread for the family meal. Je viens chercher la commande de M. Cluzel, M. Cluzel de La Serre. That, surprisingly went without a hitch. I phoned my dad, who was in church and had to leave to answer his phone and then I texted Joshie and spoke with his granny Mary. Seems like the journey for Bridget wasn't as smooth as it should have been and one could feel the tensions coming from the Simpkins household even before anyone had got up. Lunch is a massive affair, with aparatif being almost enough for a meal in its own right. This is followed by salad, frois gras for them meat eaters and then fish and fowl and cauliflower cheese for me. Then there was three deserts coffee. I'm fucked from eating half as much as anyone else and drinking even less. But it's all good. I'm now tired, really tired and I think I have a cough. More later.

I suppose I should begin by saying that I've had too much to drink but I haven't, at least I don't think I have. A couple of glasses of wine and a Ricard doesn't really qualify. We spent the evening with Max, Severine and Louis and ate and drank and Celine spoke because my french isn't good enough and they are both shattered from looking after a small child. My memory serves me well and I recollect that emptiness behind the bright smiles and hollow laughs. It's Christmas, nearly. I did invite them to come and stay in London and it looks like they will sans enfant. What else has happened today? Not much. Shopping in Rodez, a phone call from my sister and lots of driving around in a car that has seen better days. Actually I'm shattered myself and need to hit the hay.

This afternoon we're going to Rodez for shopping, visit to a museum and supper with severine and max. I really like Rodez sitting on top of a volcano as it does and looking like a larger, more prestigious version of that village close to stroud. I wonder if the kids have met up with Lynda yet? I wouldn't fancy that for the world. It's so quite here, you can hear you mind screaming at you, even if it is in the background. I had these strange dreams last night dreams of almost alien content. I suppose it's something to do with the concept of aliens visiting earth and completely dismissing the indigenous life as being irrelevant, as we are.

The hardest thing about this blog is finding time to do it. I've got loads of things to say, always but they get lost in the time it takes to put them down in writing. Must try harder. Words that could appear on my tombstone. So, today, it's beautiful. Bright and clear, clear as a bell. I went running this morning and it was hard which is a measure of how long it's been since I did any running. New Year, new year's resolution. We shall see. We went to Requista this morning for an entirely pointless trip to a seamstress who was unable to help and we argued on the way back. Joe Cocker died yesterday as did 6 people in Glasgow. Finished Roadside Picnic, thank you Jake for reminding me that the classics are still the best, and I've begun the new William Gibson.

Today, the 22nd December 2014. La Serre, France, bright, beautiful morning with frost on the ground and an overwhelming silence that you simply don't get in SW9 - ever, anywhere. We arrived yesterday after flights from Heathrow and Paris that seemed to take an age and then a car journey from Toulouse with Mimmi all the way to her house and then fantastic food. The kids Juliette and Simon appear to grow in front of your eyes and it all feels very comfortable. Work seems a million miles away but I await the phone calls and the emails. Today we are going to Requista - heart of the sheep countryside. Celine has an appointment with an osteopath and I have to go shopping for the ingredients for biscotti. Tomorrow we go and see Max and Severine. More later, I'm being disturbed by Celine.

Feeling tired and slightly anxious today. Don't know why. I'm going to be doing gym stuff this afternoon and try to combine this with a kind of mindfulness. At the end I'm going to sit and see if I still feel this way. There's absolutely no reason why I shouldn't feel exactly the same. We shall see.

Back with the world of the blogger only now its on a chromebook and not only am I not unemployed but I've been in work for the best part of the past three years. So what's my plan now? God knows. I've only just decided to do this again and hopefully it will be more successful.