Success! We have a working wood stove again. The problem was partially the chimney and partially the wood stove. I now know how to dismantle this particular chimney pipe for cleaning purposes, and how to semi-dismantle the woodburner in order to scrape caked soot from its inner workings.
Note to self: Buy some chimney sweeping brushes.
As for the hospital doctor’s meeting, the MATTERS TO DISCUSS was not a meeting with the doctor at all. It was a meeting between LSS, myself (as a not-yet-French-speaking-observer), the aged FIL, the doctor, and THREE administrative staff of the hospital. They were basically highly upset about the letter which LSS had written to the director, and took great pains to point out that it was, basically, all the fault of LSS.
“You didn’t tell me whether he needed any sort of special care or not,” LSS stated.
“You should have asked,” was the reply.
“He wasn’t offered the option of a wheelchair,” LSS said.
“You should have asked.” was the reply.
“I wasn’t told whether he should have a special diet or not,” LSS said.
“You should have asked,” was the reply.
“How do I know what questions I should have asked?” said LSS.
“You should have asked,” they said.
At this point the aged FIL interjected that he knew nothing about any letter, did not at any time discuss the writing of the letter, and even after he had discussed the writing of the letter, didn’t actually agree that it should be sent at all. (See post from 04/04/2012)
“Gee, thanks for the support, Dad,” muttered LSS under her breath. At least I presume that’s what she said. It was, after all, in French. And rather short. And I don’t actually think you can translate that word as “support”.
So THAT was a complete waste of time. But still, the fact that the hospital staff at Vierzon decided to bring that many staff to a meeting in order to intimidate LSS, was, to my mind, an admission of guilt.
Oh – and if someone at the Vierzon hospital happens to read this – Please. Next time you want to intimidate someone, take the trouble to find out a bit more about that person first. LSS is not a simple village person who has stayed in the same village for all her life. She’s lived in another country for 20 years, and is not likely to be intimidated when faced with superior numbers of opponents; in fact this has the opposite effect as it presents more of a challenge. So there.
We’re still researching the best place to buy DIY stuff for the house. So far, we have a short list: Castorama, Leroy Merlin, and a place called Weldom in Aubigny. We visited a place called “Point P” but were not that impressed – it seems to cater more for the trade than the public.
We’re also looking for somewhere we can order a replacement wood stove. I want one with a back boiler so it can supply some of the domestic hot water. We found a website of a place in Neung-sur-Beuvron and paid them a visit. Eek! Talk about high prices. Not our cup of tea at all.