Not so chilly all the way oop north - just miserable rain so far today. I'm just back from an optometrist appointment - around 20 years ago I had surgery for a detached retina and had been experiencing a repeat of one of the symptoms. All clear, I'm glad to say - am just annoyed the optometrist wouldn't give me a copy of the colour photo he took of the interior of my eyeball. It looked for all the world like Mars...
Morning all. Cold and misty here this morning The government here is clearly quite worried about the variant Anglais and the South African strain as the measures in place now are not being relaxed. The border with the UK is closed except for lorries and people with a valid reason to travel and only then with a 72 hour negative test. Shops and bars that might have opened on the 20th will not until the middle of next month, and the football grounds will remain empty. The vaccine for my age group will start to be injected from the 18th of this month, with the 2nd booster 6 weeks later. Even after that I will still be very careful about just who I mix with. Have a good day whatever you have planned.
Morning all. Bright and sunny which is better, but now a stiff chilly breeze. Been waiting for a parcel to come from the in-laws for days, and looking at the tracking service it didn't seem to be moving. Today the message has changed. They are no longer saying where it is or when it might arrive. Reports now coming that La Poste is refusing to take parcels for the UK. From "nothing will change", to "considerable disruption" coming out of the mouth of the same government minister is quite unbelievable. I wonder if I will ever see my parcel?. Have a good day whatever you are up to.
I suspect a similar fate has fallen on my parcel from China - paid for over three months ago and no trace of it yet. I got fed up waiting & complaining to the company involved so reported it to Paypal - who advised me yesterday that I'm being refunded the total cost. It'll probably turn up any day now, giving me another problem - what to do with it...
Morning all. Crisp is a word sometimes used to describe a frosty morning. Well it is very crisp here with everywhere white with frost. The sun is shining however, so it looks quite magical. The birds have been lining up to take turns on the feeder just outside the window, and some of them are a bit like humans, pushing in ahead of those who believe in waiting to take their turn. Great Tits are the most pushy, but are quite often getting into a fight with their own, letting the quieter Blue Tits and Sparrows nip in while they are having a punch up. All good fun to watch from the warmth inside. Have a good day, and stay safe.
Morning all. Grey again with occasional showers, and not very warm yet. Mme has gone off to the French class now that it is possible to hold it again. The usual meeting room is too small, so they have decamped to the village hall where they can spread out. Masks have to be worn the whole time, so hearing what someone is saying is difficult. It is far from ideal, but to get together as a group does have benefits. I will carry out some small tasks around the house rather than go outside and get cold. Have a good day whatever you are doing.
Morning all...Another day in hospital for tests yesterday...... fingers crossed... Have a good one.....
Morning all. Overcast here today, but a lot warmer. Not quite time to get the shorts out however. Weekly shop will have to be done today, although it is not right to call it a weekly shop anymore, more like a ten day shop. I think that means instead of going into town four times in a month we have got it down to three. That is quite enough for both of us as we do not find shopping to be an entertainment that requires hours wandering around a mall somewhere. An open air street market selling local products can be more interesting when the weather is better, but little on offer at this time of year. Have good day whatever you must do.
Do you have the option of deliveries from the main supermarkets - or even smaller shops ? It might be a misapprehension, but I get the impression that France - well rural France - doesn't go in for enterprising innovations in the traditional behaviours, of which essential shopping is one.
Certainly our local LeClerc operates both an on-line order and collect system called Drive which is a universal name being used by all sorts of stores, but also a home delivery service if you register with them to receive the service. Many of the smaller shops do offer a collect option if you order on-line
Morning all. Grey and damp, but really very mild now. Went around the supermarket yesterday at a good speed buying up several of the multi-buy items that were on offer at a price that seemed very reasonable. Zapped all the bar codes as we went around, and although the total cost was higher than normal, we knew that over time it would be a saving. Handed the zapper over to lady on the till, who informed us that we were chosen to have our entire trolley load of goods checked to make sure that we hadn't missed off a few expensive items. Unpack the bags that had been loaded with heavy items at the bottom and light things on top, see them slide down the chute and finish up in a heap that all has to be repacked. It doesn't happen often, but when it does I simply take my time as tills measure such things as time it takes to process a customer. Hope my message gets through to a computer somewhere. Have a good day whatever the weather.
Your lucky day, eh... It's been a disaster day in the BB household so far today. Our regularly serviced, and already thrice repaired, combi boiler has decided it no longer wishes to dispense hot water - so having a shower means running the gamut of alternating cool and lukewarm water & washing up duty means boiling a kettle to add hot water to the lukewarm version coming out of the kitchen tap. Our local plumber/heating engineer will be here "sometime this week" to investigate installing a new boiler, hopefully in the not-too-distant future. To add to our misfortunes, our tumble dryer died this morning too, just a month out of warranty. My investigations on Google tell me that the expected lifespan of a tumble dryer is between 10 and 15 years - this is our third one since buying this house ten years ago, so Ive no idea what we are doing wrong with them. They say bad luck runs in threes, so I contemplated spending the rest of the day staying safe in bed - until the thought struck me that bed might collapse...
Rather more trivial , but... In November we ordered superfast fibre broadband from BT ( I know, I know ,but all installation work comes free - not guaranteed with others) - principally to improve the hive live stuff. Currently the sound is about 1 second behind the pictures. Anyway, we were promised completion on 30th december. Openreach surveyed our road soon after, muttered about extending the cable. In mid december , some disembodied voice from Kolkata informed us ,with out any ability to respond, that the new completion date was ... 10th march. As per usual , a complaint was opened. I have a thick folder of them. Was assured that 10th March was last possible date - just a precaution , sure to be dome in Jan. Lo , in week leading up to xmas, 3 Open reach vans turned up, did most of the extension (we were told 90 minutes, actually took 1 1/2 days , blocking our neighbours drive for a morning. All amicable, even though they voted for Brexit. Then , nothing. On monday, the woman supervising our complaint phoned - really helpful. Because of the new Covid restrictions, Openreach couldn't enter our house to complete the work even when they have finished outside. Of course, these new restrictions weren't in place on 30th December, when they SHOULD have done the work. It's not very problermatical ,just another example of over-promising , under delivering. Seems it's top down contagion.
Here repair work and services are usually decentish. Trades are honest and timely, even decent prices and no foreigner tax despite me not having a nopal on my forehead i.e. not looking Méxican.We had our front patio done, walls put up either side for security and a garage door put on. All for a decent price. Did take a bit longer than he said mind! Our boiler is dying but we think it can last the "winter" and we'll get a new one in September this year. Maybe. Apart from that, COVID seems like a harsh thing in the UK and most places. Here it is still just social distancing, gel and face masks and a lot of places are shut at 8pm and restaurants are at 30%. Cases are rising here though, but, the economy can´t suffer more,tis be a hard balance to strike. Hosptial beds are still free mind, some very small consolation in a time of crisis. Off to see the in-law rabble at the weekend so will, unfortunately, only see the result on my phone. Enjoy the weekend all.
