I had been planning a new lid for the thermal store for several months. The old one was constructed from some melamine-faced chipboard which I had painted with rubberised paint. It’s lasted a while, but the high humidity meant that the chipboard (unsurprisingly) had started to swell. I had been unable to find a piece of acrylic or polycarbonate big enough to make a replacement lid. I could have bought a sheet online, but was reluctant to spend the €200-plus asking price.
Whilst at the aged FIL, I visited the “fuel store” to refill a 5-litre plastic can with engine oil, and in the dark recesses of the building made a discovery. The aged FIL was involved in Public Works at one stage of his working life (doing construction work for the village, for example) and had kept all the road-signs he used to use. One of these was a “Restricted Parking” circular sign which was just the right size for the thermal store lid! I lined it with some insulating membrane (left over from sound-proofing my old Land Rover), and held that in place with four bolts through a large disc cut out of a piece of acrylic sheet with my router. (Unfortunately that piece of acrylic was too small to be used as a lid on its own).
The afternoon’s post contained my medical lab test results, which were negative. (This was, of course, positive.)
In the evening our next-door neighbour came over to ask for assistance. Some English holidaymakers had arrived to stay at his Gite, and despite taking English lessons from LSS, he did not feel confident enough to talk to them. So LSS went over to translate, and as a result we have been invited around for an aperitif on Tuesday evening. Next week looks like being a busy one; we have friends coming around for an apéritif on Monday evening, Tuesday we’re out at the neighbours, Friday we have LSS’s cousin coming for lunch, Saturday a friend is coming to stay for a week, and the hunting crowd are kicking off the opening of this year’s hunting season by coming here on Sunday! So much for a quiet life in the country…