I’m pleased to report that the weather has stayed true to forecasts and it feels most spring like outside. It peaked at a high of 20 degrees yesterday, and like last week, this coming week is supposed to remain sunny and warm. As a result, we are turning our attention more and more to the garden. Everything’s pruned, houseplants have been moved outside and yesterday, Matt even mowed the lawn for the first time this year. We no longer need the fire on in the daytime either: it just goes on for a few hours in the evening, which is helping to stretch our wood reserves considerably. It’s such a simple thing, being sat here in a t-shirt with the front door open letting in the fresh air – but man does it feel good!
Lucien has, as ever, been instrumental in helping us prepare for spring. This year however he’s getting something in return. Largely at his grandson’s insistence, he and Mauricette recently upgraded their ancient mobile phone for a fancy new smartphone, most of the features of which they can’t actually use as they’ve no internet connection. Since getting the phone, he has called round 4 or 5 times, each time with a new question on how it works. And this being Lucien, he’s incapable of asking for help without also giving it, hence all our pruning been done already. He’s also arranged to come by next weekend to till our veggie plot and then we’ll be all set for the growing season.
Another big garden development occurred on Friday, thanks to the Smoo. All winter, our front garden has been gradually converted from grass lawn into a mine-field of molehills. Despite all our efforts to encourage some feline intervention, the cats are just not interested in catching moles which they find too slow-moving (and apparently bitter tasting) to bother with. Well, that all changed on Friday. We saw the Smoo busily torturing something outside and assumed it was a mouse as usual. Closer inspection revealed it to be a decidedly dead mole. I’m sure we’ve more than just one mole that has been ravaging the garden, but at least that’s now one less, and all without us having to set any traps. Here’s hoping the remainders take the hint and clear off too. But for now, all hail the Smoo, fearless mole-killer!
In other news this week, I’ve had 2 work projects on the go. The first was from an existing client: our curry service. We built their site in late 2011/early 2012, and it was one of the first officially done by Port 80. The owner emailed me last week to ask about giving it a refresh and it’s true, it was in need. 2 years might not sound that long, but in web terms it really is due to the pace of change of the technologies involved. I’ve also learned a lot of new skills in those few years, so was pleased to have the chance to review the original site. The new version went live at the weekend, and I am very pleased with it.
My other project has been less rewarding and less welcome. When we made the Port 80 website, it was at a time of bleak economic prospects for us. The site was put together as a last-ditch attempt to make a living, advertising IT helpdesk support services (Matt), translation services (me) and web design (both of us). Luckily the web design part’s taken off well, and we’d kind of forgotten that there was still a page on our site offering the other bits. Some 2 years after the last such request, I recently got a bite on the translation service. A kiwi is moving out to France in June and wanted to buy a car and a caravan – but doesn’t speak any French. So I have been answering classified ads for him and have – hopefully – sorted both for him now. It’s not easy work and it’s extremely poorly-paid, so I think the page in question on our site is going to be retired as soon as I’m sure the sales have gone through, but at least it’s helped occupy me.
For Matt, he’s now cleared pretty much all small projects off his slate in readiness for his big upcoming project for his friend Abbey in the States, which means temporarily putting his French property one on hold for a few weeks. There’s little else on the horizon for either of us after these, so we’ll have to get on the case and drum up some new business soon.
The only other event of note last week was Milhac’s curry night on Friday. As we have a few more weeks of Francoise yet (she’s moved back her flight due to ongoing visa issues), we invited her and Philippe, as well and Manu and Mathilde and their 2 smallest girls, who again were plugged into the Wii for the night. It ended up being a very copious meal, with enough leftovers for us to have a part 2 the following night. I think Manu & Mathilde enjoyed their first curry night, so they might end up taking Francoise & Philippe’s place at these soirées from now on. Right, I think that’s it from me as this is far too long an entry as usual. A bientôt.