It’s a relatively mild and sunny Monday in Mazeroux today as we come out of the cold snap that hit us last week. We’ve a minus 3 tonight but then we’re all done with frosts for the foreseeable. In fact, they’re even talking about 15 degrees by the end of the week – but that could well change.
The worst of the cold snap was last Thursday when it snowed more heavily than its done for the last five years. While that may sound impressive, it was only a few centimetres and the rain the following day soon melted it.
Quick work summary: it seems like Matt has successfully avoided becoming embroiled in the ill-conceived directory website project that he had a meeting about last week. Since receiving his quote, they replied to say they needed to “rethink a few things”, and then fell conspicuously quiet. So it seems like the quote had the intended effect.
Meanwhile, the estate agent project he also mentioned in his last entry has just been given the go-ahead. This is going to be a very large and complex website that will require both of us working on it more or less full-time. They wanted it live next month but even if we weren’t going on holiday on the 15th, it wouldn’t be possible. Instead we’re hoping we’ll have a finished home page to put live before we go, leaving us free to finish the rest on our return. The project has nightmare stamped all over it as the client is wealthy, therefore likely to be very demanding. Still, there’s a large chunk of cash in it for us too, so we’ll just have to suck it up.
Work aside, it was a mostly quiet week. There was some bad news from the States: Chuck was visiting family in California and had a fall. He thought at first he’d injured his back, but it has since transpired he has broken some ribs. This is very painful and unfortunately there’s little that can be done for it. He’s currently staying at a nursing home while he recuperates. We wish him a speedy recovery.
Another bit of bad news has been the recent return of my old wisdom teeth problems. It started playing up again about 2 weeks ago and still hasn’t cleared up. I was starting to hope the physio had made a difference but I think it’s just a question of physics: there’s not enough room in my mouth for that many teeth. I’ve booked an appointment with the last specialist I saw and will see what he says, but it seems like it might be best they come out. Its in mid-May so I’ve a bit of a wait yet.
In much better news, Dave emailed us a scan of the baby: now 20 weeks old and developing normally, which is fantastic news. The baby’s apparently quite a wriggler, so Amy’s probably not getting as much rest as she’d like, but at least she’s reached the halfway point now.
Onto the weekend, which started with a visit from the fosse septique people on Friday morning. They came with a big tube and sucked out all the delightful contents of both our fosse and the “bac-a-graisse” (grease filter), so we’re all sorted for a good 8-10 years, and have the certificate to prove it. They confirmed what the nice lady told us: that our fosse may be old, but it is in excellent working order. Even better, it only cost us 130€ to have it emptied, which the state will take from us at some point this year, so it was very affordable.
We had no plans that night, but the following evening, we were due to have Emnanuel & Oliver and Manu & Mathilde over for a meal. We’d not seen the former couple since last summer, so were looking forward to catching up. Unfortunately, they had a minor car-related mishap that morning due to the icy roads, and dented the bodywork. Deciding it was too risky, they cancelled at the last minute. The roads around theirs are even narrower and twistier than round here, so it wasn’t a great surprise, but unfortunate all the same.
Matt being Matt, there was easily enough food for a dozen people, so we called around for substitutes and luckily Gael & Corinne were free. The meal started with a cheesy artichoke dip and the main was Matt’s spicy fried chicken, a delicious meal that he’s only allowed to make very infrequently as it seems to use every pot, pan and utensil in the house. Dessert was a chocolate cherry cake, using preserved cherries from our garden. The meal was a hit and Gael & Corinne said that anytime E&O cancel, they’re more than happy to step in at the last moment again.
Sunday is normally band practise day, but it was also Marie’s birthday, so Christian instead rang to invite us over to theirs to partake of a birthday cake that their daughter had brought. It was a surprise for Marie who wasn’t expecting anyone, and she was pleased to see us. We showed up a little after two, bearing champagne, and tucked into the cake which was spectacular, having apparently been made by the best patissier in Limoges.
While we were there, we each took a career advice test that they have devised between them and are in the process of perfecting. You look at a series of 10 random images, and without giving yourself time to think, choose the one you like the most, then your second favourite. Each image represents a personality trait, so the idea is to work out a person’s personality, and then suggest potential careers that require those traits. There was a surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) big overlap between our two sets of responses, but we diverged when it came to logical/analytical thinking, where Matt scored highly and I did not at all, and creativity, where I scored higher. So, it seems their test works quite well!
Next we had a mini practice/concert which Marie gave us feedback on. By this point it was getting close to aperitif time, so we had a drink or two and kept chatting. By 7.30 we started getting hungry and as we had a fridge full of leftovers (not to mention a second bottle of champagne) we invited them back to ours to eat. We proceeded to have a lovely evening chatting, listening to music and hoovering up the leftover chicken, and yet more cake. It was very pleasant spending the day with them.
And that’s about all I have to say. Dad arrived this afternoon for another week of working on the house. He showed up slightly later than usual, because he first stopped at the house to have a look over it all. Apparently the plumber/electrician has made some good progress in the interim so that’s encouraging. Right, c’est tout. Until text time, au revoir.