The aged FIL is now in the recuperation centre in Lamotte, a town nearby, so at least it will be easier to visit him there. Personally I think he’ll be home fairly soon, because he will refuse to do any of the exercises they give him (“I just want to be in my bed!!!”) but LSS thinks the staff will be made of sterner stuff. We’ll see who’s right.
LSS telephoned them yesterday to check that he’d arrived all right. She tried to give them some background information: a) that he wasn’t eating and b) he was a difficult character – therefore don’t take “No” for an answer. Unfortunately the staff member was not very receptive to this. She simply replied “Well, you’re his daughter”, and implied that they did not accept advice from family members. I guess they’ll just have to find out the hard way (see my prediction in the first paragraph).
The crazy thing is that the aged FIL is quite capable of discharging himself and telling them to take him back home NOW. LSS did try to point out that if this happened, they were to call her first so that she could arrange matters (otherwise they could arrive to discover the house locked, and LSS giving English lessons miles away in Bourges). I don’t think they listened.
Interestingly, the aged FIL has received the first bill in the series for medical care. Transport from Orleans hospital to Paris hospital in an ambulance: €369.90. (This is completely covered by his health insurance).
The server is now fully functional, with a backup schedule running. It’s really given me a headache – but at the same time has been quite fun. The weather has played along, by being grey and miserable, so I’ve been quite happy to be indoors. Unfortunately it looks as though the barn floor won’t be finished this year; unless we have the mildest of mild winters.
We’ve booked our ticket for the UK trip in December. We had intended to ask T&M to feed the cat and look after the hens for the week we’ll be away. But unfortunately M is now looking for her own accommodation, and T is apparently hardly ever home, as he seems to be spending most of his time with the new girlfriend. So we had to use Plan B : we’ve asked Mrs D, one of the aged FIL’s carers, to take care of the animals instead. She drives past here almost daily anyway, en route to another of her aged clients. As for the rabbits – at time of writing we only have two youngsters left; and by the time we leave there’ll only be Mrs. Bunny. She will have a week’s holiday, as we’re taking her to neighbour J. And whilst she’s there she’ll be put with one of the males, so the whole circus can start again next year.
Unfortunately the latest batch of four rabbit pelts have not turned out very well. They were hung in the workshop to dry, just as the weather turned grey, damp, and miserable. Instead of drying they started moulding instead. I gave them a bath in some borax solution to kill the mould, but they have refused to soften like the first lot; instead the leather is like cardboard and the hair has started to slip in places.