Happy Spring Fertility Festival, aka Easter. It’s actually the day after but it’s a public holiday here so it still counts in my book.
Just like last year, Milhac celebrated the weekend with a fun fair and nightly events. Saturday night was a Mexican themed dinner and although we talked about going last year, we gave it a miss. It turns out that the event was oversubscribed when a group of 60 people booked. Last night there was a blues band followed by fireworks and we went to that with Nat and Jill. They first came to our place for some nibbles and aperitifs and then we headed down around 9:30. They were serving American food: hotdogs, cheeseburgers, chili as well as donuts and tequila sunrises.
Will and Jill each had a hotdog and neither was that impressed. I tried some of Will’s and I have to say, it was fairly authentic, i.e. not great. Nat had a cheeseburger and she thought it was ok except for the ketchup. The tequila sunrises were passable but we switched to beer after that. We caught a bit of the band and they were the same one from last year; they are good and although it was better attended this year, you could barely hear them and the audience was a bit sedate. The fireworks came on a bit before 11 and they were adequate but nothing exciting. It was about 5C with a cold wind so we headed home after that.
The previous night, we had Bryan and Carol over for dinner. I recently bought a mandolin slicer in order to make scalloped potatoes so I tried out the recipe on our guests who were appreciative. This was served with confit de canard and salad, followed by carrot cake cookies for dessert. They stayed until midnight and then Will an I stayed up watching tv before going to bed around 2:30. With the time change, it was a bit hard to get up on Sunday.
On Friday, we collected some gym equipment from out neighbour Jacqui who lives down the hill on the way to Milhac. It belonged to her husband who died a few years ago, so was just taking up space in her basement. It’s an all-in-one system, with a set of weights on the back, a bench and different cables and pulleys to exercise various body parts. We needed to dismantle it to get it in the car and we did so with relative ease. The hard part was putting it back together and despite the fact that we took no photos beforehand, we found some on line that helped. We did end up putting on and taking off the weights at least four times before we got it right and one set of bolts doesn’t quite fit but Will just finished using it so it seems to work.
On the social calendar last week, we had dinner with Rigit at our place the previous Saturday. They were in town for a few days holiday and to sort out their boiler which is in the process of being installed. They are both well and Brigit is much happier being back in the UK. Richard, on the other hand, can’t really stand it there but is accepting of his fate and just gets on with things. They are vegetarian, so I made garden vegetable enchiladas, although nothing actually came from the garden. We also had cheese followed by dessert that they supplied: fruit salad and biscuits. We managed to drink and smoke quite a bit so both Will and I were a bit hung over the next day and spent it watching old movies.
Prior to that we had a few French people to dinner at our place the previous Thursday. It was Sylvie who I know from the pool and she now comes to our weekly conversation group too. Along with her was Josienne, her husband Cami and their daughter Laetitia who was back in town for a few days to collect her car that was being repaired. We started with charcuterie (dried meats) and for the main, wild mushroom lasagne with sausage and roasted red peppers. I still had some coulmelle and cepes in the freezer from last year and they worked well. We had salad and garlic bread along side and for dessert, chocolate mousse which went down a treat. It was a nice evening and always good to speak nothing but French for a whole night. Laetitia lives in Belgium and invited Will and I to come spend some time so perhaps we’ll do that later in the year.
On the work front, we finished Vortex Storage and Will translated it into French too. They are already asking about search engine rankings and although the sites have only been relaunched recently, we were able to report some improvements already. They have asked me whether I can order them some new PCs and set up their network when they move into their new premises and I agreed. It’s not exactly the type of work I enjoy but it’s good to be their one stop shop for all things IT and I want to keep them happy. We’re going in for a meeting on Friday to discuss that and next steps.
Will also launched a template-based site for a local carpenter, a referral from Nat & Jill. He is a young Frenchman and is just starting off on his own. He is very pleased with the site so hopefully, he sends some more business our way. I found a listing for a developer job in Limoges so I wrote a cover letter for that. I used it as my homework for my weekly conversation group so it’s been translated with their help. Françoise and Sylvie also provided their own versions to make it more in the French style of letter and I will probably send it off tomorrow. The centre of Limoges is 1 hour 15 minute drive from here so the only way it will work is if they’ll let me work from home most of the time. I also suggested working freelance so perhaps they’ll be up for that.
We’ve not done much around the house or garden, mainly due to the weather. The bathroom sink wasn’t draining well so I had a go at fixing it yesterday. I managed to get the trap off and cleaned, then struggled to get it back on again. With Will’s help, we finally managed after an hour’s struggle but all is well now. Lucien came by during the week and tilled the veggie plot. He says we can start planting things like potatoes, onions and carrots so I might do so next weekend. It’s a very late Spring here although nowhere near as bad as the weather you’re having in England and MN.
It’s been in the low to mid teens here during the day, often with some sunshine. It tends to get cold at night, usually near freezing so we’ve been having fires every night. It’s tempting to have them during the day too but we’re trying to conserve the remaining wood we bought a few weeks ago. As long as April doesn’t drag on too long, we should manage.
The last thing to report is a trip to the eye doctor. I made the appointment in January but demand far outpaces supply here so I had to wait two months, which is normal. My vision has been getting noticeably worse this past year so it was no surprise that I needed a stronger prescription. Also, I now have trouble reading and seeing the computer screen so my new glasses will be with progressive lenses, meaning I can and should wear them all the time. On Friday, Will and I went to Thiviers to pick out some new glasses and although I had heard they are expensive here, I still had a bit of sticker shock when it came to discussing price. It is possible to order glasses on line and they are cheaper but then you need to have them adjusted somewhere. Also, the optician in the shop was very thorough so I’m hopeful the new glasses with be worth the price. To be continued…