Monday 11th March 2019

I wake up at quarter past six in the morning. Outside it is getting light, and having the window open and heating off made the room pretty chilly.

I get up and turn the radiator on, have a shower and check the news on the interwebs, it's still grim.

So, I get dressed and go down to breakfast, having some fruit and toast and plenty of sweet strong coffee.

I sit with my new colleague, Michael, and he said I could follow him to the site.

Which I do.

Up from the mere that spits the village in half, up the hill to the start of the moor, then take the road to the east with the former power station's chimney in the distance, and my target.

It is a fine and sunny morning, a good way to start the weekend.

The old power station site looks abandoned, but beyond the turbine hall, my employer is painting blades, and that is why I am here.

I check in at the gate then wait for a car to collect us to take us to the stack of portacabins which will be my office for the week. I have a coffee, get the internet to work, then after catching up on mails, wait for the customer to arrive.

We are all arrived by nine, so I close the door to the meeting room, and address everybody.

Later we go out to look at the first blade, and because of health and safety, myself and the customer's quality manager have to stand outside.

Heck, it looks like spring, feels like spring. So we talk about Paris in the spring, walks along the east bank of the river, and of wine and cheese.

This is work.

There is no catering on site, so I skip lunch, but Olivier goes to the local shop, a mile walk back to his car and a 15 minute drive to the shop. When he comes back we were back out working.

At four, we were done for the day, and ahead of schedule, so we call it a day and walk back to the office to pack up. I drive back to the hotel, and on the slope into Beaulieu, I see a small her of New Forest ponies walking up the road with half a mile of traffic stuck behind them.

We're not in Kansas any more.

I get back to the hotel, grab a camera and go for a walk to snap some snaps before dusk.

I also get some lunch for the next day. Just a sandwich, but better than watching others eat.

Back to the hotel to listen to some music, before going to the restaurant next door for dinner. Burger and fries with a diet coke.

I deserved it, I decided. And that is it, back to my room to call Jools, write mails and have a shower before bed time.