We’re recently back from a neighbour’s meeting at Daniel and Odielle’s where we decided what to call our road. As part of a modernisation project, France has decreed that all roads must be named. The mairie sent around a form asking us what we’d like our road to be called. Of course, no one wanted Myriam and Gilles to have a say, so the rest of us met to make a communal decision. An early suggestion was Rue des Sources because there are many wells along the road. Our road is the highest point in either hamlet, and possibly, the entire commune. Both Lucien and I had the idea of making reference to that. Secretly, I wanted “high” in the title in a juvenile sort of way, so the elevation was really just as an excuse. The final decision rests with the maire and town council, but unless someone chose the same name, they should accept our choice.
After the meeting, I mowed the front lawn which was already in dire need. I’ll try to do the back in the coming days, but it’s meant to rain a fair bit so not sure I’ll be able to. The weather has been largely overcast and stormy since I returned, but it hasn’t actually rained all that much. My allergies have been really bad the past few weeks due to all the pollen, which gives me another reason to hope for rain.
Last week we received both sets of new furniture. A lady came and took our old sofa that she plans to restore. She left gave us a plant and some chocolates in return. Our new sofa was delivered on Thurs morning. It’s exactly as we ordered and is very comfy to sit on. With our new bookshelf and the transplanted desk, the room finally feels finished. The next day, we received our garden furniture: an extendable table and eight chairs. The chairs seem comfy and the table, sturdy enough for a few years of use.
I went to Nontron on Thurs and picked up a trial pair of contacts. These are both toric and progressive so they’re a bit odd. They work differently than glasses in that certain parts of the lens are for different distances, which means they’re not as crisp as distance-only contacts. I’ve been using them for a few days and they are taking some time to get used to. I’m also not used to wearing them all the time, and have problems with dry eyes. They will order another pair from a different manufacturer once I report back in a week or so.
We took it easy on Friday night and went out for dinner on Saturday. Anne and Andrew treated us to a meal at La Paillote, the place next to the lake in St Saud. We started with their famous mohitos, Andrew and I had entrees, then everyone had mains and dessert. Eva was working in the kitchen with Benoit, her boyfriend who is the chef although they were so busy, we only got to say hello at the end. We all went back to A&A’s place for a cleanser and game of cards. They’ve continued to make good progress on their place and it’s great to see it transforming into a home. Will and I headed home and stayed up playing Wii for a change.
Sunday was Easter and once again, we did our shift at the buvette. This year, the asso bought reusable plastic cups with the logo / name on it. Sophie was left to decide the colour scheme and went with a bold choice: pink lettering on gold cups. They are hideous. The first time someone buys a drink, we charge them an extra euro; if they return the cup, they get it back. It’s a simple concept and in use more and more these days but that didn’t stop people from bitching about it.
Apart from that, it was a largely pleasant evening and most of the drunks left around dinnertime. Benoit was in charge of the food, which was grilled mussels for apero, with ham sandwiches and chips for the main, and Fred’s apple tart for dessert. Virginie made the chips and neither of them wanted to be there having had a big one the night before. Jackie’s sons were both there so Laurent and I chatted a bit about our upcoming gig. There was a fireworks display around 10:30, which was larger than normal this year so that the guy could advertise his wares. It was more elaborate than previous years, but due to the weather, not a lot of people showed up. Also, the fun fair was drastically reduced in size this year since they demanded more money from the mairie, so that didn’t help with numbers either. Despite the lowish turnout, we still stayed until nearly 2 drinking with the youngsters. We came home and crashed around 3 after a bit of telly.
Work is very quiet for the both of us, although I’ve had a few bits and pieces. I’m going to use the downtime to write a timekeeping / invoicing app that I hope will make both tasks easier. We’ve had an excellent year up to now, so it’s fine that it’s quiet, as long as it doesn’t last too long.