So, first day that I’ve put the computer on, because we’ve just moved into our ‘real’ rooms - we were staying in guest bedrooms before because not everything was ready down here. I say down - all the staff bedrooms are here in the basement. My bedroom window is at ground level. We have really nice windows, proper sized ones. So, the ground level is at a little above waist height if I stand up. No internet yet - it’s kind of working, but they’re having trouble with the wi-fi & passwords - so I’ll put this up when we get signal. Hopefully it’ll be later tonight because quite a few people are keen to get online, and a lot of the work that needs doing needs internet.

I guess I’d best talk about today then, huh? Breakfast was at 8 this morning, then it was on to work. First thing was for some of us to finish cleaning out ‘the boys corridor’ downstairs, and the rooms off it, so that we would be able to move all the staff downstairs this afternoon. That took a while, but we got there eventually. I can’t remember exactly what was next, because we’ve done all sorts of bits & pieces today just sorting things out so that it’s live-in-able now. Just before lunch I went up to the guest rooms to put skirts & mattress protectors on all the beds that were free - John (the owner) has some friends staying at the moment to help get things up and they are in guest rooms. It took absolutely ages, having to drag every mattress off the bed, then put it back on. To think that I’m going to be changing sheets etc on all the beds at once some days... not good. This afternoon has been more of the same - we eventually got everything done enough to move ourselves in, and when there are pauses where we don’t have jobs, then we’ve been unpacking & making our beds.

Another helper is being picked up from the airport this evening, so we don’t get dinner until 9 tonight! I was going to go out with people this evening, because it’s a Friday, so there should be more people in the bar to find to talk to, but if dinner’s that late, then I think I’ll just go to bed afterwards. Wait and see. Going to go have a wander around the town now, maybe find something to munch on if dinner’s not for another three hours. Two scones, while nice, do not tide you over for four hours.

*continued later*

All unpacked now, everything’s good. Dinner was really good, there was a choice of salmon or red mullet, so I tried the mullet because I haven’t had it before. It was nice, but next time I’ll go for salmon. I worked on my wine drinking again - had white, and I liked it, managed a whole glass. And we had pudding for the first time. Sorry, desert. Crepes, but they put marmalade on for some reason, so although the crepe itself was nice, it was a bit weird.

After dinner, we chatted for a while inside, then I went out with a bunch of the guys and Anna to the bar up the road - Bar Bush. Hardly anyone there, and they left just after we arrived, despite it being a Friday night, so we had the place to ourselves. Continuing with the day of firsts & trying things, I had a sip of Anna’s beer - it was disgusting. I’m thinking about having a half glass of cider next time, if they do cider, but I’m not sure what I’ll do if I can’t drink more than a few sips. It’s the kind of thing I need to build up slowly like the wine, so maybe I’ll stick to stealing sips of it - usually it’s Stewart I steal cider from, I don’t know what I’ll do now, no handy boyfriend to share a drink with. You can’t really drink out of other people’s glasses when you’ve only known them for a few days.

The bar was fun, despite it being just us. Some of the guys played table football, and it was funny to watch, and I sat for a bit with Anna, Dan & Nick just chatting. Then we decided to head down to the Zebra bar, to see what it was like, as the barmen had said it was licensed till 5am - we thought it would be interesting to check it out. Just as we were leaving, though, they called us back to give us shots. I’ve not encountered this practice before, but then I haven’t been in many bars so don’t really have anything to compare it to. They were giving us toffee vodka. I said no thanks, of course, but some coaxing and a call of “We’re seasonnaires now!” made me decide, why not? I only had a tiny sip though, nearly spat it out. I thought it tasted disgusting, but as we got outside I could taste the toffee, and it was really good! I think next time I’ll try for at least half. Or maybe do it properly. Not sure you can count it as shots if you don’t down it in one go. An interesting experience. Sam saw me put a half full glass back though, so he was saying, “Oh, I think we have to have words, Ailsa, (tutting noises).” Heh. It’s fun, the way everyone really gets on well with each other. It’s nice. And it’s like the guys all take care of us, always throwing conversation towards us if it looks like we’re being quiet, and just checking we’re ok. Like I said, it’s nice.

So, eventually made it to the Zebra bar, which was absolutely heaving. It was like a sauna in there. It was there opening night, so they were doing free beer, which the guys liked, but I left them to it. It was a brilliant evening though, I hope everyone can get on this way for the rest of the season.