Winter has returned, not that it was really ever here. It’s gone from wet and warm to cold and windy with a threat of snow later on. We’ve had a few nights below freezing, and are expecting more this week. It was feeling rather spring-like just last week, with the hydrangea starting to bloom and wild flowers popping up in the fields.
Work continues to be busy for us both. Last week was all about the directory site for me: I spent Mon and Tues preparing; visited them on Wed; and did the estimate on Thurs. The meeting was near Duras, a 2 hour drive from here. I found a decent route and made good time both directions, and happily, the weather cooperated and the rain held off until I got back. The meeting was with the three women who are setting up a new business, a free magazine and site with info about the area. It’s targeted at the Brits who live and holiday down there.
The meeting was at one of their houses, and when I met the hosts, I noticed an American accent. Turns out, they lived in Minnesota for most of their lives, which we both found bizarre. She grew up in London and moved to Bemidji, a small town near the Canadian border when she was 16, so quickly lost her Brit accent. We worked for a few hours before breaking for lunch, which consisted of bread, cheese and pate. We talked for another few hours afterwards and then I left around 4.
The woman that runs the show, Lesley is the one I’ve been talking to since last autumn. I did a very rough estimate for her, with a wide price range, so she was expecting the cost to be in the middle. During the meeting, they kept asking where I thought we’d end up and I said it expect it to be the high end. So I spent the next day doing the estimate, documenting everything we talked about and sure enough, the estimate was at the upper-end of the range. I haven’t heard anything since then, and I get the feeling they’re looking elsewhere. This would be fine since I didn’t get the greatest feeling from her during the meeting. She reminds me of crazy Sharon in many ways, which sends alarm bells ringing. Apart from the cost, she expected that the site would be ready on 1st March. I laughed out loud when she said this, and explained that a site of this size would take months, not weeks.
The very next day, I got an email from the estate agents I mentioned a few weeks ago. It’s a long story, but in brief, they want me to build one of their two sites. It won’t be quite as much as the directory site, but not far off. In addition, they would be a much better client, so I’m hopeful something will come of this. Will finished up a number of translation projects, and made contact with a few clients who had gone dormant. One agreed to pay for the work done to date and the other already has. He’s been working on the brewery site, and I’ve been helping a little with that.
That’s enough talk of work – on to the food. We took it easy on Friday, but made up for it with two events on Saturday. The first was lunch at Sophie and Dom’s, along with two of their wards and their neighbours. The day before was crepe day, something to do with the start of the easter season, so that’s what we had. We started with savoury, cheese, meets and mushrooms in a curry sauce. Then it was sweet, with toppings that included jam, chocolate spread and home made Nutella. We washed it all down with various wines and even some eau de vie afterwards. We ate way too much, and ended staying until nearly 3pm.
We returned home to prepare for our next event when Benoit, Virginie and Fred, the baker came for dinner. I made carrot soup to start, then chicken shepherd’s pie with broccoli for the main, followed by cheese and patisserie from Fred. He also brought two loaves of bread, a bag of croissants and a bottle of wine, making him most welcome here any time. B & V brought the apero of Zubrovka, tonic and limes. We had a few of those, and then a leisurely meal that lasted until midnight. Fred needed to be at work at 4 the next morning, hence the relatively early night for the rest of us. Will and I stayed up and watched a film.
On Sunday, we took it easy, then had rehearsal with Christian in the afternoon. It went mostly well, and we’re starting on a few new songs. Benoit came by after that for an apero and to drop off some home made sushi. At dinner, he mentioned that he would be making some the next day, and I said how much I love it and miss it. So he took pity on me and came by with a large plate containing tuna roll, and sashimi of tuna and trout. Will had leftover pie, and we’ll be having that again tonight.
We had a visit from the water / sewer people today. They’re doing all of Milhac, so we knew they would be coming around, just not when. She had a look at everything and more or less said that it’s all in good shape, but that it needs emptying. We’ve heard various things about whether it’s obligatory to have them emptied, with most people thinking that they must do so every four years. In fact, there isn’t a set number of years, but it’s advisable to do it every so often. We dug out some papers from the previous owner saying it had been done in 2006, but that we hadn’t done it since then. So they’re coming out on Friday to do so, and then we should be in good shape for another 8 – 10 years.