The cold and grey have finally arrived in the northern Dordogne, although it’s still not too bad out there. We had a lovely November with temps in the high teens but the past week, that’s all changed. We’ve had a lot of cloud, some rain and temps in the single digits. We really need the rain after the drought this summer so I’m not going to complain too much. So far, we’re still going without central heat and relying exclusively on the fire which is effective for heating the big room where we spend most of our time. We’re still waiting for the boiler-man who is coming to replace a part and clean out the system and I’d like to wait till he’s done before firing it up. We’ve been waiting since the end of Sept. though, so there’s no telling when he will actually show.
On the wood front, we had Lucien around last week to help us with the stacks of wood that are piled up outside in the back garden. They had a big storm a number of years ago and as a result, had to cut back some big trees that line the road and the wood has been stacked out there ever since. The neighbours have been at us to bring it in the hanger since it will soon rot so Will and I have dragged in a few stacks. Most of it is really thick or long so Lucien came over with his chain saw and it’s now a more manageable size. He’ll come by in a few days with a trailer to help us get it in the hanger. Once again, he’s proving how lucky we are to have him as our neighbour.
The cats are taking some time to adjust to the change of season. They had grown very accustomed to the fine weather and Louis especially spent a lot of time outdoors, mostly at night. Now that it’s less clement, they only manage to get out for brief periods, and this is mostly just to use the loo. Both of them have revisited their litter tray for the first time since the spring although neither of them actually used it. They’re coming up to two years old and as a result, their coats are growing much thicker, the hair longer and darker on both of them. The Smoo appears to have a set of natty dreads so we’ve been calling him Rasta Smoo.
Nothing much happening for me on the work front although I did hear from my newest prospect in London. They are still keen and so I’m just waiting for them to decide what they want so I can give them a detailed quote. I spoke to their web developer and he said that my price is very competitive so I’m hoping to win the job based on that. I had been thinking that if nothing pans out here before year’s end, that I’d have to bite the bullet and head back to London for work. As I started to give that serious consideration, the thought of going there was filling me with dread and the more I thought about it, the more I realised how miserable I would be if I followed through. So instead I’ve decided to focus on mobile app development since that seems to be the hottest market these days. I just need a sample app or two to show that I’m capable so even if this London job doesn’t materialise, I’m going to spend the next few months doing app dev. I feel a lot better having a plan, even if it’s a bit mad.
Also on the work front, we had a pleasant surprise this past weekend. Sites for Homes got an email from someone looking to have pictures taken and a web site built to sell his home. The next day, we had our first web request from the contact form on the site which asks for all the property details. So within 24 hours, we had two separate requests for sites and neither of them came from people we know. Although the work won’t amount to more than a few hundred Euros, it’s very exciting that two people sought us out for sites. I have been reluctant to do much work on the site since it didn’t really seem worth it but I may have to invest a little time now that we’ve got some nibbles.
I’ve been to a new physiotherapist a couple of times. She specialises in back treatment and has a newfangled system that uses compressed air along the spine to loosen it up. Then she does deep tissue massage to really undo the knots that are the cause of most of the pain. I’ve only been twice and I can tell that it’s making a difference. I will go at least once more and then every three months after that if it continues to help. The only drawback is that she’s not on the French health system so I’m out of pocket for the treatment.
We’ve not done too much socially since my last post. We were invited over to Nat and Jill’s last week for a Sunday roast. Jill had been promising us one for a number of months so it was great to finally have it. She did a roast pork with applesauce, mashed potatoes, steamed veg and a mirabelle crumble with custard for dessert. The ladies were both on good form and it was nice to spend some one on one time with them. Richard has returned from three weeks in the UK so we had him and Lee over on Saturday night for dinner, followed by poker. As usual, we stayed up late and drank a lot. The boys left in the early afternoon after a fry-up, and Will and I spent the rest of the day on the sofa watching movies. I went to the French-English conversation group on Thursday and met an English couple who speak excellent French so it’s inspiring to know it can be done if you’re willing to work at it.
The last item to report is about Lola. On Friday, she suffered a minor injury to her passenger side rear door. The turn into our driveway is sharp and there are two gate posts on either side. In the summer when the trees opposite were in full bloom, I took the turn too narrowly and scraped the same door on one of the gates. Will did the same a few months ago, leaving a small dent in the door but on Friday, he managed the same trick but with more gusto and now the door will need to be reskinned or possibly replaced. Will is very upset about the whole thing but considering how many times I bashed up the car when I was a novice driver, I think it’s completely understandable. He has it in his head that he can’t park so I’m encouraging him to spend a bit of time in an empty parking lot getting used to the idea.