I kept thinking I should start a blog. The ideas flow thick and fast as I get through my first evening glass of wine, but by the time I get to the second glass I can no longer be bothered. However, today’s the day I finally start. I’ll need to do some retrospective entries to explain how we got to this current state of affairs, but that will be for another day!
Today’s wildlife diary: 1 roe deer. And the three pheasant. Again. And the two cuckoos are still calling.
Today was yet another frustrating day regarding doing any DIY. LSS (Long-Suffering Spouse) phoned Weldom again to check the status of our quote. Unfortunately the only member of staff that deals with quotes had gone home, having worked this morning. Well, France does have a 35-hour week of course. So we have nothing to report on the getting-the-house-liveable front. We’ll have to phone again tomorrow.
Still, the good news is that the cat seems to have lost the two ticks she picked up last week. We noticed them on Saturday, and having been unfortunately a bit slack in the anti-tick and anti-flea regime for the past month, we had to take drastic action and put some of that spot-on stuff on the back of her neck. This time she didn’t go into a scratching frenzy like she did the first time we used it, so maybe she’s getting used to having Fipronil coursing through her system. It also stands to reason that today was the day they decided to die and drop off, because this morning we bought a tick-remover tweezer thingy from the chemist. Oh well, we’ll be ready for the next lot.
Even buying a new chainsaw guide bar was a problem today. The local chainsaw-and-general-agricultural-equipment shop didn’t have the right size in stock and would have to order it. Back home, I managed to find one online from a shop in Alsace, at 2/3 the price I was quoted locally. Even with added postage.
Today’s post consisted of a letter from HSBC telling me my pin for the new card which they had now received, and saying I could now collect my card in the local branch. French official correspondence is amazing; it has not evolved since the 17th century! The letter concluded: “We pray you agree, Madam, Sir, with the expression of our most distinguished sentiments.” I think even Charles Dickens would have said “Huh?”
(For the purists out there, here’s the actual wording:
Nous vous prions d’agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l’expression de nos sentiments distingués.”)
Oh yes, I also ordered some ecological fly-traps online. From Ebay this time. Well, that’s another thing you can’t buy locally. I’ve noticed that now the weather has started to warm up, there are more and more of the little buggers around. The thing is, there aren’t too many of the flies at the moment, but they breed like, er, flies.
We just finished our dinner of turkey leg stew, reheated on the kitchen range. It’s a cantankerous old thing, a Rosiere by name. (The range, not the turkey leg stew). According to the chimney sweep, “they go on for ever!” Oh no they don’t, mate, because the aged FIL’s (Father-In-Law) gave up the ghost just before winter, and it was a more modern one than this old thing. He had electric heaters going in every room all winter, and we’re all waiting with anticip…..ation for the electricity bill. We’re taking bets on it being bigger than the Greek national deficit.
This afternoon, as it had finally stopped raining, we tried lighting the pile of brambles in the garden. We’d been eyeing this with distaste for several days, waiting to get our revenge. Unfortunately we discovered that the pile was still too wet to burn, even with the application of some petrol. So we’ll need to wait a bit longer.
Oh – and one other thing; after dinner, LSS asked “Would you like an apple?”
“Yes please”, I replied.
It was a good job she looked twice before handing it to me, as it happened to be a turnip.