Le Couvent Diary

 I had to make a quick trip to Suffolk last week. I'd planned three days for a family visit and was due back on Monday. On Sunday night the snow fell thick and fast knocking plans of a 7am flight from Stansted firmly on the head. I booked a further flight for the same evening hoping it would clear. It didn't, Stansted remained steadfastly closed. The next available flight was on Wednesday, so I booked it there and then paying £59 for my ticket.

London and the east remained snow-locked for yet another day and I spent a couple of lovely days with my Mum & John. Tens of thousands were stuck at various airports, leading me to wonder how much RyanAir would charge for my flight were I to book it 24 hours after I had secured my seat. I checked online. The price had leapt to a staggering £229 - RyanAir at it's most cynical.

I'm not a fan of RyanAir. My latest reason, as if there weren't plenty already, for hating them is their decision to play a particularly annoying version of Chopsticks repeatedly on the plane whilst people are scrabbling for seats and elbowing their way to find  the last gap in an overhead locker. After twenty minutes of that I was practising my best deep breathing to avoid a 'scene'.

We've spent the last two days getting ready for our volunteers who start arriving this afternoon. All the tools are sorted, sharpened, oiled and mended ready for two weeks of work on Le Couvent and in the vineyards at Chateau Malaudos. We have a list to last a month, there's far too much to cover in a fortnight, but, as one volunteer wrote on her application form 'I'm fit and bloody fast' so we have to be prepared for that.

The meals are planned, prodigious quantities of food and wine have been bought (we will be at least 16 for dinner each evening). Debbi's busy making gallons of soup for lunchtimes in the vines and we have nearly as many local volunteers as those coming to stay.

Now all we need is for the snow and RyanAir to allow our lovely volunteers to leave  England.

Keep an eye on this and the Chateau Malaudos blog if you'd like to know how the work is going.