We were however slightly anxious. Most days since we have lived here we have had the windows open as it’s been good weather, and now the house has been shut up for 4 weeks… would there be a smell? We hadn’t discussed it, but we both wondered. Well, we think there was. Not strong, but there was a hint of tobacco as Ian opened the door. Our sense of smell has been dodgy since we had Covid way back at the beginning of the pandemic, so we don’t really trust ourselves on this, but we both got a whiff of cigarettes. It isn’t strong, but it is there. We checked with our neighbours who had been looking after the house for us, and they too thought there might be something. So instead of the usual post holiday sorting out we set to work. There really was only one place there can be any tar left we can get to, and that was in the window trim. Yep inside the window trim. Ian got the big screwdriver and wallpaper stripper blade, I got the rubber gloves, cleaning liquid and UPVC cleaner and we set to work. Every single bit of trim on the doors and windows came off ( it was disgusting, full of tar, yellow and stinky!) 2 days later (with plenty of rest in between as we aren’t used to all this work) it was done. We haven’t smelt anything since, so here’s hoping!
The good news is the weather was good for a couple of days before heavy rain set in, so we could have that first coffee of the morning in the garden, get the washing done, and tackle the meadow that is our lawn!
It doesn’t look too bad in the photos, but it took 4 goes with the strimmer to get it to a length we could get the lawnmower on it at its highest setting, and another 2 cuts after that to get it under control. The neighbours did warn us it was fertile and things would grow here! Olive clearly loves the climate here too, she's never looked so good.
Having sorted it all out and given Agy a jolly good clean inside and out, we decided we should be tourists for a few days exploring the island. First stop the Donkey Sanctuary.
We both love Donkeys, so we’ve wanted to visit for ages, but work, refurbishment and lockdown meant we hadn’t made it, but it was well worth the wait. Over 100 donkeys, rescued from across Europe, call this home, and they clearly love it. They were honking and braying, looking for head scratches and generally loving life. It's free to visit, so of course we needed to spend some money and the cafe seemed a sensible place to start. Lordy it was a huge portion and delicious! We will be back, and if you come to visit, I suspect you will meet the donkeys too.
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