Week 20th – 26th February

Snow!

Well later on in the week that is. On Monday we finally got around to installing the loft ladders. The real problem with the ladders I was using before was that they were too big and clumsy and as they lived in the barn it was a pain to bring them into the house without knocking into things. Hooray, no more (I hope). Terence Senior and his wife Karen came around on Monday afternoon with the estimate for renovating the barn. Looks ok, next stop ---the bank.

Tuesday morning the wardrobe arrived. I have to say that the delivery company was first class and the wardrobe was packed extremely well. I would even recommend them. They dropped the wardrobe off on their way to Pisa in Italy. Shame they have to come back with the shelves and door keys! When we put the wardrobe together we found that one set of doors was locked and there were no keys. I had to take the back off the wardrobe to release the locks and that’s when we found that the shelves were missing. They will be back from Italy next Tuesday. We spent Tuesday afternoon with Daniel the plumber going to two plumbers merchants to get estimates for the pipes and radiators. The second one we went to was in St Lo and you drove into the warehouse through huge automatic double doors. I could not get the automatic doors to open, much to Sharon’s amusement.

The weather closed in for the rest of the week and it was cold with lots of snow. Stayed at home in front of the log fire.

On Sunday we went with Peter Gibson to the carnival at Granville. It was freezing cold but the French really turned out in large numbers for a, what I have to admit, was the kind of street party that you would never find in England, a real mardi-gras atmosphere.. There were lots of carnival floats – even one of Charles and Camilla. The carnival lasts for four days and ends next Tuesday when they bring out Madame Guillotine to execute the “king of the carnival” – nice touch. We will not be there as we are going fishing. Yep, fishing. Tell you all about it in the next thrilling installment of the Blom diaries…….

xxx

Week 13th – 19th February

A quiet week; mostly spent creating our new garden pond (bassin de jardin).

Collected the loft ladders from Norman & Leslie on Monday. Valentines Day on Tuesday – not celebrated as much over here so I had to make my own card up – I put it in an envelope and put it in the post box for Sharon to find. She thought I had not bothered so when she got the card she cried….ahhh. Wednesday we found and bought a set of car ramps via the internet (I can now drive the tractor up the ramps to get at the blades). On Thursday I took in the new letter box as it leaks in the rain and the post was getting wet. I need a cunning plan to seal it though. Peter came to dinner on Saturday (Jan is still in the USA).




As I said, a quiet week in France.

xxx

Week Monday 6th - 13th February 2006

Looking back it was a quiet week, but was it really?

Matt, Abby and Jake went home on Monday. We drove them to the airport at Dinard. They flew home and caught a plane the next morning to go to Rome! The morning before they left we visited a couple of Depot Ventes as they were looking for a Louis XV chair. Didn't find a chair but we found an old glass cheese cover and another deception glass for our collection.

Tuesday, if you remember, we had an appointment with Marie-Paul in the Mayors office to sort out our planning "difficulties". Marie-Paul was not there as she had to go to Paris to see her father-in-law who had been taken ill. Never mind, the Mayor's office is run by a nice lady named Annie and she helped us fill out a form to ask for a change to the permis. As the letter will be going from the mayors office to the DDE I am hopeful that all will be ok.

On Wednesday we visited a couple that we met at french classes, Norman and Leslie. They had some restoration work done by a local builder and we went to see the quality of the work. We went to the builders offices and booked an appointment - for March 27th! The same evening we had already booked an appointment with a local English builder - Terry Senior. He came to the house with his wife and checked out the plans. He lookes the best of the bunch so far - should have his devis (estimate) in about a week.

Quiet day on Thursday, spray painted our new cast iron letter box. French classes were cancelled so we stayed in with a bottle of wine instead.

Friday we had Daniel (Marie-Paul's husband) call around to give an estimate of how much the plumbing work will be for the gite. He doesn't speak much English so he brought his daughter-in-law and her husband with him to translate. The current thinking is to have Terry Senior as the building manager, Daniel to do the plumbing, John Crane for the electrics and me as labourer.

Saturday I phoned Morley Green (remember him?) to inquire when the wardrobe will be delivered. He said that the delivery was scheduled for Monday week. Hmmm. Went over to Peters house to rewire a dimmer switch that had stopped working. Payment was a dozen oysters which Sharon and I ate for lunch in the February sunshine. After lunch we decided that it was dry enough to give the new mower a run out. Catastrophe! As soon as I engaged the cutting blades I was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. The blades had seized up completely. WD40 came to the rescue but it was a real pain getting to the blades. Must look out for a set of car ramps so I can drive the mower up on them for maintenance. Peter came over for dinner (Jan is still in England). Beef and ale casserole - good olde English food. After Peter had left and we were putting the dogs to bed Sharon noticed a strange sight in the night sky. The full moon was circled by what appeared to be a ring of clouds. Chris Henegham says that the phenomenon is called a "penumbra" but I am not so sure. Fantastic sight though - the photo does not really do it justice.

Sunday morning was spend digging up the stump of the laurel tree. Exhausted, I spent the rest of the day in front of the telly. Cote de beuf for dinner - yum.

That's all for this week.

Week 30th January - 5th February 2006

Monday: Sharon was looking out of the kitchen window at a red squirrel and decided that the laurel bush had grown too big and was restricting her view of the garden. You know what I am going to say next...yes.. the bush has to go. Out comes the chain saw and pick axe and two hours later it is as you can see in the photo. Don't know whether to dig up the stump or add a bird bath and feeder. Guess I will do nothing until inspiration kicks in.
Went to Pete and Jan's for dinner tonight, chinese food. Yum. It's one of the very few things I miss about England, my local Chinese take away.

Tuesday: Things on the planning front are looking up. Dear old Marie-Paul has put the fix in with the Mayor. We have a meeting next Tuesday in the Mayor's office and with a bit of luck I can submit a request to change the permis. Excellent.
Drove up to Cherbourg to pick up our new letter box. It's cast iron and a bit rusty but will look a treat once painted. Photo next week.
Finally booked the flights to Florida! Pete & Sue Bradley have invited us over for a holiday. Booked the fly-drive to Miami with Airmiles. Amazing what 8000 airmiles can buy.

Wednesday: Lazy day, cold, phoned Alexander the builder. It's about time I got off my backside and actually got phase two of this building project off the ground. So, going to tender. The "Enterprise Alexander" is a building firm in St Denis Le Gast. They did some restoration work on Peter Gibson's neighbours house and come highly recommended. Booked a rendevous for Thursday at 11am.

Thursday: Shock horror. A Frenchman has actually turned up on time for an appointment. I am talking about Mr Alexander. However, to let the French side down the oil delivery turned up at the same time - the oil was supposed to be delivered on Monday. I can't tell you how nice it is to have a full talk of oil. I was running very low and had to turn the boiler off for an hour to let the new oil "settle in".
Went shopping for birthday presents in the afternoon. It's Matt's birthday on Sunday and I bought him a boat, hohoho.
French class in the evening. Most important thing of the night was that one of the other English couples live in Marigny and recommended their builder! We will go round to their house next Wednesday to have a look at the work.

Friday: Picked up Matt, Abby and Jake from the airport. News from home is that Paul has gone on a motivational course at the Excel centre this weekend (instead of helping Katie move in to her new flat). At 10pm this evening he is scheduled for fire-walking!

Saturday: Nice brisk winters day so we went for a promenade along the promenade at Agon-Coutainville seafront. After lunch we visited Chris and Janey so that Jake could see the chickens (these are the funniest chickens in the world - they are white and have pompoms instead of combs) and ride the horse. Jake loved that. Cooked steaks on the open fire for dinner. They turned out to be tough as old boots (tasted nice though).

Sunday: Matt's birthday. For their present we took them out for a slap up lunch. I like the restaurant very much and it was packed out. Very elegant, more like Paris that Normandy.
The kids have to go home tomorrow. For Abby's birthday Matt is taking her to Rome on Tuesday. They just about get home in time to leave again. Jet setters.