So, France has a new President. Thank goodness we don’t have the TV connected. But the euro has decreased in value against the sterling, which is good news for us!
In today’s post we received our second quote for connecting us to the village water supply. The first quote was just under 10,000 euros. This quote? A few cents under 20,000 euros! It looks like we’ll be getting a borehole instead.
Oh yes, and the fly traps arrived in the postbox too. These are basically small plastic buckets in which you put some tasty (for flies that is) liquid bait, and then hang up outside. Apparently it takes 48 hours before they start to take effect.
Well, LSS had cooked some very old pasta which we were going to feed to the fish, and had left it outside to cool. About thirty seconds later, some twenty-odd flies had immediately drowned themselves in the hot liquid in the saucepan, so I’m starting to think we should have used the pasta as bait in the fly-traps instead.
Today the sun appeared for the first time in ages! So we were able to have our long-overdue barbecue this evening. However, even though the meat had been marinating for two days in readiness, it was still unbelievably tough! Tasty though. But did I mention it was tough? We won’t be buying that particular cut of beef ribs again. Well yes, all right, it was at a very reduced price. Now we know why.
Still, the toughness was alleviated by having three bottles of Martin’s Wallop between us. (This is the brand of our home- brewed beer, which weighs in at a respectable 6.3% ABV). This is a record, as we normally only drink two bottles between us. It must be the air here. Well, that’s my excuse.
LSS took advantage of the sunshine by driving the rotavator through the garden again this afternoon; it should just about be ready to receive the first seedlings/seeds. I think radishes and lettuces will be the first plant life to experience our pH-tested, rabbit-poo enriched soil.
With the trials and tribulations we’ve experienced with the aged FIL recently, LSS was starting to wonder whether we’d done the right thing, thinking she would have been better off staying with the small company for which she was working (she was the Sales Office Manager). Well, she received an email from one of the remaining staff there, saying the company would soon be closing its Reading office completely, making the staff there redundant, and moving oop North to Lincolnshire. So at least that took care of any remaining doubts she had!
Wildlife diary: On the way back from visiting the aged FIL, we saw a coypu. It leaped out of the water-filled ditch and ran for cover, then changed its mind, stopped, and stared at the car. Other than that, I’ve noticed that the rabbits have now started excavations under one of the outbuildings. I can picture the cute little fellows wearing little blue waistcoats, and tiny miner’s helmets complete with lamps, Peter Rabbit style.
Anyone got a ferret we could borrow?