First of all, Happy Birthday Dad! We had our last concert of the summer season on Saturday night. This was at our friend Benoit’s place down the road in a neighbouring hamlet. We played there two years ago for his 50th bday and his daughter Eva’s 18th. This was a similar affair, with a big meal held outdoors in a field. We played with Celine, one of our two new singers. There was meant to be another group who would have supplied the equipment, but they cancelled, leaving us to fend for ourselves. Luckily, Guillaume had equipment with him that we were able to use. He also helped us get everything set up so even though we arrived around 5pm, we weren’t ready to play until 9.
The concert itself went ok, but it certainly wasn’t our best effort. It was difficult to hear ourselves, and we were standing on an incline in a field. The crowd, however, was very supportive and cheered us on. It was nearly dark by the time we finished, but we managed to get everything put away in time for dinner. There were around 70 people of all ages. They set up tables under a large tent and at the front, had a long trough filled with charcoal. They had prepared a boatload of skewers: beef, liver, turkey and shrimp, and you cooked your own meat over the coals. The cheese course was mini wheels of camembert, wrapped in foil in their packaging, and placed in the coals for 30 minutes. They emerged all gooey and delicious, mopped up with bread. Dessert was champagne and cake, made by the local boulanger, which was decorated like a park with mini trees, and it had sparklers as well as candles.
We spent much of the evening with Guillaume and his partner, Emily. He is Jenni’s ex, and we although we’ve met, we’ve not spent much time with either of them. They have a 21-month old son, who came for the earlier part of the evening, and was then left with her parents. This was their second night out since he was born, and they wanted to take full advantage of their freedom. We spent a few hours drinking beer and chatting with them, mainly about Musique en Herbe. They used to play there, but got fed up, so left with a group of others and formed their own band. They’re not playing anymore, but hope to start again someday. We had a good old gripe session and we all left for similar reasons.
Sometime after midnight, Will went out to relieve himself and fell in a laverie, a basin used to wash clothes, about 1.5 metres deep. He was soaked up to his armpits. The high temp that day was 20, and it was probably closer to 10 degrees by that time, so he was cold and fairly miserable. He was tempted to leave at that point, but in the end, he toughed it out and we stayed. The kids put on some music for us old-timers, and we had a good dance in the field around 4am, and that helped Will to dry off. The evening ended with Benoit’s famous “patator”, which is a gas-propelled potato launcher. It’s a long tube, and you put cooked potato into one end, and gas from an aerosol can in the other. It’s got an electric sparker attached, and when pushed, it launches the potato out of the canon end. He built this many years ago, and it’s now tradition to end the night with it. Afterwards, we coffee and brioche before heading home around 6:30.
We took it easy on Sunday, and on Monday, prepared for and collected our visitors. Anne and Andrew were meant to come the week before, but their flight was cancelled due to air traffic control strikes. This was their first joint visit since last spring, and as usual, a long list of chores awaited them. By waiting a week, they ended up with much better weather, with temps in the mid-20’s all week. That evening, we took advantage by having a bbq, with our standard fare of chicken, sausages and salmon, with potato salad and cold broccoli, with brownies and ice cream for dessert.
The next morning, we headed out to the brico for supplies, first stopping in Nontron where there were out of some crucial parts, as usual. So we headed to Perigueux, which took an hour including getting across town. This is a much better store, and I should have trusted my instincts and gone straight there. They had everything we needed, and after a quick stop at the shops, we headed home and had lunch. That afternoon, Andrew finished a good chunk of the chores list, including: fixing the leaky outdoor tap, so we can once again use a hose to water the garden; started repairs on the bathroom shelves; replaced the mirror / light fixture in the bathroom; and repaired the front door. Rather than replace the hinges, he just placed some extra washers onto the existing ones, which raises up the door so it no longer scrapes on the floor. We ate outside that night, starting off with espresso-tinis, then moved onto rice, beans and cheese pie, with salad and bread, plus a cheese course and macaroons for dessert. We played cards for a bit before retiring.
The last of Andrew’s chores was fixing the floating shelves they installed in the toilet on their last visit. The wall between it and the shower is very thin, and doesn’t hold the brackets well, so the shelves lean. The day before, he and Will went to the hardware shop in St Pardoux to see if they sold electric drills. I have an old battery powered one that no longer charges. Anyway, the guy didn’t have any, but offered them the use of his for a few days. He mentioned that he’d recently replaced the electric cord, but it turns out, he hadn’t. When Andrew tried it, it worked intermittently so he managed to repair the cord and it worked. He and Will were both impressed that this perfect stranger would let them walk off with his drill, but figured perhaps the repairs were all part of the plan. They also got plaster from the shop, and used it to patch up the wall so the shelves are now level once again. I’m always happy to share my lawn mowing duties, so Anne did the back garden before lunch, while Will and I planted our special plants.
We went for a walk in the afternoon, although it was quite warm out. The idea was to build up an appetite for dinner out that evening. We thought about the Hostelerie St Jaques, but there wasn’t enough on the menu for Anne or Will, so happily went back to the Charbonnel in Brantome. It was a lovely night, and we had a table on the terrace. Will and I each had different dishes to the last time: cannette for him, and cevice followed by scallops for me. Andrew has lobster followed by steak, and Anne had cod. Andrew and I had cheese, and we all had dessert. It’s a real treat to go out to eat, and especially there, so thanks folks for the fine meal. We retired early after a few hands of cards that night. Their flight wasn’t until late afternoon, so we lazed around for the most of the day on Thursday, enjoying the sunshine. Andrew removed the front gates, and with some help from Lucien’s tools, the metal gate-stop in the drive. This meant getting waylaid for an apero when we returned the tools, and it was nice to have a catch-up with them.
It was a very enjoyable visit, and we’ve already got some chores lined up for their visit in the autumn. They are both fed up with the situation in the UK, and are toying with the idea of moving out here. The idea would be to find a barn that needs a good deal of repair, and go back and forth over a few years to fix it up. This is contingent on selling Andrew’s parents house in Spain, which may take some time, and what happens with Brexit. We’re pleased that they are considering a change, and it would be great to have them nearby.
Things are still very quiet on the work front, although we both have a few projects slowly moving forward. I created a huge headache for myself while upgrading our web server. I’ve needed to do it for awhile, and with an unexpectedly free day last week, decided to do it. I was in a bit of a rush, and accidentally started the upgrade on the live server instead of the test one I had just set up for that purpose. In the end, the server was down for 20 mins, which isn’t that bad, but it ruined my perfect record of no downtime in the past year. It also meant at least one person lost some changes that they’d made at the same time, but nothing critical. I was successful on my second attempt on Monday morning. So the server is now happy, and I feel less like an idiot. Right, I’m off to enjoy the sunshine.