We’re getting our first real taste of winter, mainly in terms of temperature which is 2C (36F) today and this is expected to be the highest reading we’ll see for the next week. It is forecast to go as low as -7C (20F) over the next week but thankfully, we’re not meant to be getting any snow. We’re tearing through our wood supplies and I expect we’ll have gone through the main stack within the next two weeks. Lucien stopped by yesterday with his chainsaw to cut some of the bigger pieces so we’re all set for the cold snap. I’m going to cave in and set the heating to come on in the mornings since it takes some time to warm the place up just using the fire.
It’s been nearly two weeks since our last entry, largely because there’s not been much activity on which to report. The biggest news is that Louis fell ill last weekend and is only just returning to normal now. Last Saturday, we noticed that he appeared to be sleeping a lot and wasn’t eating or going out. This continued the next day and although he seemed to show some signs of improvement, still wasn’t much changed on Monday. So we rang the vet on Tuesday and they agreed to see him that afternoon. After describing his symptoms, the vet took one look at him and decided to keep him there over night. He was dehydrated so they put him on a drip, inserted a catheter since he wasn’t able to pee and gave him some blood.
We came to see him on Wed and it was heartbreaking since he was in a cage and had to wear a plastic cone around his neck to stop him from trying to remove the catheter. He desperately wanted out of there and spent the whole time mewling at us. The vet said they would remove the catheter the next day and then make sure he could go on his own. So we went called Thursday am and they said they wanted to observe him for 24 hours so all going well, we could take him Friday. We went to visit that afternoon and he seemed a lot better without the catheter and cone. We brought him some of his favourite food since he’d lost a lot of weight. The next morning, he got the all clear so Will went to get him first thing. They think he had a urinary tract infection which caused the blockage so he’s on medication for the next week but is quickly returning to normal.
When he returned, we were surprised that instead of greeting Louis with open arms, Smoo had one sniff of him and went all aggressive, snarling and growling at him. Apparently, the smell of the vet, pee and other animals effectively disguised Louis from his brother so Smoo thought we had brought home a new cat! Will did some research and this is a common phenomenon and usually abates after a few days. So far, this seems to be the case as Smoo is slowly warming to his “new” companion.
Apart from that, we’ve had a few social events in the past week. Last Sunday, we went over to Sharon’s in the afternoon and she took us on a walk near Rochebeaucourt, about 20 min from her towards Villebois. It’s actually a small landing strip up on a plateau so there are some nice views of the surrounding area. Afterwards, we returned to her place where she cooked a lovely meal for us as well as Geoff, her neighbour from Mareuil that we’ve socialised with in the past, but not for a while. She made herb coated chicken thighs, roasted potatoes and her excellent cauliflower cheese. This was followed by a home made tiramisu that was superb. We had a number of heated discussions, par for the course between Sharon and I but Geoff joined in on a few too. Will was designated driver so mostly watched from the sidelines.
Will came down with one of his periodic toothaches on Monday so had that to deal with along with the trauma of Louis’ illness. Despite this, we went ahead with plans to have Lee and Richard over to dinner on Thursday. They were freshly back from the UK and were leaving for Portugal yesterday so this was our only chance to see them for a while. Richard made the main which was chicken breast cooked with mushroom, peppers and creme fraiche, then topped with bread crumbs and cheese and baked. I did the other courses which were vegetarian French Onion soup to start and Mauricette’s Galette du Roi for dessert. The boys had been at a typical French lunch earlier in the day so weren’t all that hungry. Will wasn’t feeling well so retired around 2am, Richard an hour later and Lee and I an hour after that.
The boys had to get ready for their trip the next day so we were all up by 8:30 and they left around 9. I spent the rest of the day cooking for our company that evening which was Mike and Jean, Sally and Peter and Sharon. Dinner that night was the soup from the previous day to start, then fish pie and peas for the main, followed by cheese and chocolate mousse for dessert. I hadn’t made the soup before and although I prefer the meat version, this was pretty good since I used homemade stock. We’d made the fish pie before so I have that recipe down but this was my first time making the dessert and I have to say, it was pretty damn good if I do say so myself. As usual, we had a lively discussion and Will had to stop Sharon and I from devolving into our usual spat only once. Everyone left around 12:30 and I think they all enjoyed themselves.
There’s very little to report on the work front. Will is looking at the Pole Emploi (government employment agency) but there’s really nothing here apart from manual labour or a few supermarket jobs. He’s applied for anything he’s remotely qualified for but not heard anything. We heard back from the fois gras shop in Nontron and they’re ready to go so we’re seeing them Tuesday. I decided to work on something for myself as opposed to trying to find freelance work so I’m doing the research on that. It will be an online game, best described as a cross between an IQ test and a trivia game. I’ll probably start with a Facebook app and then make an mobile version (iPhone, Android) after that. Even if it takes off, it will be a long time before it generates any revenue so I’ll probably need to find something else anyway. Only time will tell.