Here’s the weekly update from Mazeroux. First off, the long and tedious saga of my hand continues. We did indeed see the specialist in Périgueux on Monday as arranged, but as yet, my lump and I have yet to be separated. He examined me and agreed it needed removing asap, but confirmed again it’s nothing to worry about; it just won’t go away on its own. The issue this time is that due to its size and location, it isn’t possible to operate with just a local anaesthetic in my hand: they’ll need to numb my entire arm. This means a consultation with the anaestheologist is needed before the surgery, and he wasn’t free this week.
I was promised I’d receive a call in the week to confirm when my appointment would be, and on Wednesday I got the call. Irritatingly though, I first have to see the anaestheologist (appt 01 Feb), and then go back again on the 6th for the actual surgery. I sincerely hope this is the last time the goal posts are moved as this being one-handed stuff is getting very old now. Not to mention that every time I see someone, I am parted from another €40 for the pleasure. Still, the op itself will only cost €80, which is pretty impressive.
The lump’s not grown any for a while now, thank goodness, but it has become increasingly painful, so yesterday I saw our doctor to see if I could get something to take while I wait for the op. Without hesitation, he gave me a prescription for 2 weeks’ supply of Codeine, all for the sum of €8. Gotta love that! And I can confirm that they work very well, and are most pleasant too…
The icing on the cake for my lousy January is that on Thursday night, I was a little stuffed up and by Friday evening, this had bloomed into a lovely, snotty cold. I pride myself on normally being immune to colds. Even in London, riding crowded buses and working in germ-ridden, air-conditioned offices, I always escaped them, so I am particularly bitter to have caught one now. It’s to be expected though I suppose, and in fairness, it’s fairly mild and should be gone in a day or two.
Anyway, onto lighter things! We had a lovely evening at Jenny’s on Monday after our trip to Périgueux. She’d invited us over for apéritifs, but we ended up staying for dinner too. Also there was a dear friend of her’s who also runs an equestrian centre, but his is near Bergerac, a bit further south. We ate and drank our fill, and then Jenny showed off her site to her friend, who was suitably impressed with it. This is now very, very nearly complete, as is the one I have been doing for the Chateau de Charras, so that’s two nice pay cheques coming my way imminently. Also on the work front, Matt has been putting together a proposal for a site that his friend Abby sent his way. The client is on a bit of a budget, which given her requirements, is making bidding for it complicated, but if it comes off, it will mean a decent chunk of work for the both of us, so fingers crossed that happens.
The only other thing we got up to was on Tuesday to see to an IT helpdesk related issue for a woman in a nearby town who has used us before. I drove us there as Matt was still sans-permis (it has now since arrived, thankfully!) and we soon had her internet up and running. Otherwise, there’s been little going on. The weather improved quite a bit – all snow melted, temps well above freezing, and even some patches of sun too, so that has been very welcome. The cats have even found a few mice to expend their murderous tendencies on, which is good for everyone (except the mice of course). We had a dusting of snow last night, but this is already melting and the long-term forecast is promising double-digit temperatures for the foreseeable, so we may even switch off the central heat for a while.
We were due to see Nat and Jill this evening for an overdue catch up, but they’ve had to postpone. Nat’s dad has taken another turn for the worse so she is heading back up North to be with him while Jill prepares their gite for some tenants they just managed to find who want to stay for 3 months. It’s great they’ve managed to get some gite income at this time of year: it’s not an easy thing to do. It’s a shame we wont get to see them, but given that I am all snotty, maybe it’s for the best.
Right, not much else to report, I think. We have an imminent visitor, the first of 2013: our friend Gavin from London. He booked ages ago to stay with us from 6th – 11th Feb. This is slightly complicated as the 6th is the day of my surgery so I will be spending most of the day in Périgueux, and poor Matt will have to drop me off there, then turn around and charge up to Limoges to pick him up, but it’ll work out ok I am sure. Right, I am off to blow my nose for the nth time. A plus tard.