Sunday, May 28, 2006
Wednesday 17 May 2006
We are now eating our own produce - lettuces, radishes and rhubarb - and N has a total of 26 rows of vegetables planted! The weather has been grey and muggy so not many meals or drinks in the garden lately, although we did have couple of breakfasts in the verandah, but only last night did it really rain heavily.
On Saturday afternoon N went up into the hayloft for the first time. This is over the top of the garage (presumably originally a stable) with a hole in the garage ceiling through which we have looked, but this time he entered by means of a ladder up to an outside door at first floor level. Once up there - apart from lots of hay - he found many off cuts of different bedroom carpets, various pieces of old iron, a cardboard box full of bits of china and other treasures, and most interesting of all, spare bathroom lino and a wooden screen. Finding bathroom lino was pertinent as we had just arrived at the stage of considering buying new lino for the downstairs shower room, now that all that new fittings are in and most of the painting is done; I am still very conscious of the fact that the yellow and black tiled floor clashes horribly with the pale blue and white wall tiles. This lino - as used in the two other bathrooms - is a vague little blue/grey mottled pattern, and will be just right. The screen was a wonderful find - three panels, latticed wood backed with something between fabric and paper in a dirty white colour, with a sort of Japanese look about it. I have never owned a screen before, but have always fancied one - I think I like the idea of undressing behind it and throwing my stockings over the top…… Anyway, it could come in useful in the grande pièce if guests were sleeping on the bed settee, or in the attic if two not very intimate guests were sleeping each end of the room. At the moment it is awaiting attention in the first outhouse. The box of treasures mostly contained good candidates for a jumble sale, but there was a nice blue-grey pottery jug, which I whisked away, washed and filled with some anonymous blue flowers from the garden. It was strange to think that I owned all these things and had bought them along with the house almost six months ago, but had only just discovered them, it having been far too cold and dark to investigate the hay loft until recently. There are more « attics » over the rest of the outbuildings, but I don’t know whether there will be anything worth discovering in them.
Monday was market day as usual; N bought the leek plants he had been waiting for, and I got some long trailing geraniums with small-petalled bright pink flowers for the troughs on the railing of the bedroom balcony. These - and the white busy lizzies in pots on the balcony itself - give me great pleasure when lying in bed or walking though the bedroom. On the way back from the market N stopped and had a word with the blacksmith - I think I may have omitted to say that we live a few hundred metres from a forge! - and asked whether he would be interested in taking away some of the old iron. He had already had dealings with him over a metal table leg which needed mending, and which is now attached to a huge heavy table (left by Madame V) in the studio, waiting until there is very strong team of people around to put it upright. The blacksmith is a little round man with a beard, who when he was permanently wearing a woolly hat in the winter reminded me of a garden gnome; he looks more human now summerly bareheaded, and came round the next day to look at our collection of old iron and said he would let N know when he was next ready to take a load away. He saw the garden lamps which Emanuel the electrician had not long ago disconnected, and said it was he who had made them!
In the event we went to Bernay on Monday afternoon, as the weather wasn’t very good for gardening, and the visit to the social security office was very brief. It was worth going just to be able to get a numbered ticket with my own Carte Vitale! We didn’t have to wait long, and in answer to my questions I was told that no, they didn’t need details of my complémentaire and no, I didn’t need to make any payments - if I hadn’t been asked, I didn’t need to pay anything. N was surprised, but I was quite happy, and could then concentrate on the other things we needed to do in Bernay. It was some time since we had been there, but we called in at Monsieur Bricolage as usual, where N bought lots of locks and asked about cement, and I bought - for the final time, I hope - a towel rail for the ground floor shower room and a toilet brush and a towel ring for the one upstairs, and a final black rubber door mat. I also found some transparent plastic for sticking on windows to give a frosted effect, which I bought for the window of the boiler room - when walking past in the garden it is not good to see pipes and taps and plastic buckets on the shelves.
At the garden centre we bought a large ornate terra cotta pot so that my birthday hydrangea could go outside (but I miss it in the salon!) two basil plants - I have never seen such a large selection in my life! - and pots for them to go in. N got some melon plants, as he realised he had a couple of square feet of space having finally got rid of the roots of the banana tree (he hopes) and cloches to put over them. I was disappointed not to find a book on garden birds, especially as there was such a large book section, but decided it was now time to buy something I have looked at every time we have been there - a pair of green rubber clogs for wearing in the garden; a cross between clogs and wellingtons. I said hello to the black cat who was stretched out asleep on a pile of sacks of barbecue charcoal. At the supermarket N stocked up with cider and vin ordinaire to begin filling the wine cellar, already swept out in preparation.
Thursday 18 May 2006
In the last day or so before leaving La Neuve Lyre to come back here to Paris yesterday afternoon we finished off lots of odd jobs; N fitted locks and padlocks on various outbuildings, and I painted the inside of the ground floor shower room door, and the door of the corner cupboard in the dining room, which was badly in need of another coat, and stuck the « frosting » on the window of the boiler room. We also both finally got things done which we had been promising ourselves to do as soon as we moved in: N repaired a gap in the crazy paving along the side of the house under the kitchen window, and I cleaned the outside windows of the verandah, plus two tiny windows on the staircase, only reachable with a long-handled window sponge while standing on a ladder. Less than a day later they were covered in cobwebs again! We continued trying to get to know our new heating system, having had a first lesson from the technician, but it is not easy. N says he thinks it has to get to know us, as well as us getting to know it; I think that mid-May is not the best time of year for such an exercise, as we are still turning it off every morning after breakfast and on again at about 8.45 every evening. When Guillaume first put it in he said that it takes the outside temperature (we haven’t yet found out how) and looks at the desired indoor temperature we have set, and heats up accordingly. So the radiators might be hot or tepid; it will do what it needs. It is also apparently possible to switch it down low when we are away in the winter, and then phone it up and ask it to turn up the temperature ready for when we get back! Wonder if we can ask it to open the shutters and put a casserole in the oven?? Currently all this works from a thermostat like a TV remote control (various jokes were made about how many channels it could get), and we are waiting for Monsieur A or one of his team to come and fix it and its holder onto the wall. I rang him just before we left to let him know we would be away; he said that was a pity as next week there was a jour de fête (Thursday, Ascension Day) and they wouldn’t be working then or Friday and in any case he was moving house. When I said there was just a little work left for the electricians to do, he laughed and said whenever they nearly got to the end we added more. As far as N is concerned this is probably true, but even he is running out of things which need fixing. The final list includes neon lights in the atelier, tidying wires in the verandah and the removal of all the wires from the old garden lamps. We also received the Very Large Bill for the heating installation; what we expected from the estimate, but I don’t propose to pay it until we have the thermostat on the wall, and a few more instructions.
We arrived here at Saint-Denis yesterday afternoon and as always relaxed as there are no jobs to do, except for N catching up with his post and taking the car to the garage and himself to the doctor for repeat prescriptions. I had a phone call from the « chef » of the chorale to say that this evening’s rehearsal (for Saturday’s concert) will be in the museum, the concert venue. N and I discussed what we will cook for Sunday’s lunch party; at the moment it is possibly oeufs mimosa or some kind of fish to start, coq au vin (made by N) and mousse au chocolat (made by me) and strawberries. Subject to change, however. This morning I caught up with the local shops as usual; Carrefour and cosmetics and clothes shops, as there is limited scope for shopping in La Neuve-Lyre, this is always a ritual. I have loyalty cards from two cosmetics shops in Saint-Denis - Sephora and Yves Rocher - and there is usually some special offer waiting here in the post when I get back.
Sunday 21 May 2006
The rehearsal and singing on Thursday and Saturday respectively went very well, apart from the weather, which has been alternately bright and sunny and very windy and rainy. I wished I had with me my umbrella with the words and music of « Singing in the Rain », but it was at LNL. On Thursday evening much time was spent in finding a suitable position in which to sing outside; the museum is a former convent - there are several in Saint-Denis! - and it was decided the middle of the cloisters was best. This was for the unaccompanied part of the programme; the rest (with portable organ) was to be in a lecture room indoors. It was part of a free open day/evening for museums nationally, and also because the Saint-Denis museum was celebrating its 25th anniversary. On Saturday afternoon we had a little rehearsal at the Conservatoire, and then sang at the museum from 5 o’clock, even though it was very windy - but dry - outside; I think the outdoor part was better then the indoor! The programme itself was not decided until Thursday evening and on Friday N helped me with some of the pieces I didn’t know so well, at the piano. It was interesting to see different members’ interpretations of the red and black dress code - especially in view of the weather - ranging from full dress suit with red shirt, through red twin sets, scarves and blouses to sweatshirts and old woollies with black jeans. I was very pleased I had been able to take part, as the date of the June concert seems to have been changed from the 25th to the 18th when we shall be in the UK. I hope I shall make a few more rehearsals before then, though.
Otherwise I have had my eyebrows shaped, bought a couple more of the excellent square pillows I got before, been round the market and got two more satin cushion covers for the salon at LNL, plus root ginger and bay leaves (unobtainable in LNL); to Carrefour where I got blue pillow cases for « cushions » for the flowery settee in the verandah, and into Paris on Friday afternoon. First stop was FNAC, which I find very confusing and antipathique, but a visit was necessary to get a new cartridge for the printer at LNL (unobtainable at Bernay) and at last a book on garden birds to help us with identification. I was pleased to find I knew more names of French birds than I thought, and also to learn a nice new word: nidification (nesting habits). I also bought a little book I had flicked through before: « Chic et Jolie à Petits Prix » full of useful adresses for cut-price clothes stores, some of which I am delighted to say I have found already, but several more I shall visit as soon as I can. With this in mind, I found just such a shop in the Avenue de l’Opéra, where I bought a wonderfully chic reversible raincoat reduced from 129 euros to 50. The weather has been so unseasonable I have actually been able to wear it twice!
We enjoyed our lunch party today; enjoyed the preparation of it between us, and the good company and conversation, and to find that our guests - who both work in the film world - know N‘s friend Odile, who runs a children‘s film festival. However, we have far too much food left over; I can see it not all being eaten before we go back to LNL on Tuesday, and having to take a lot with us. Inevitably there are always a few food items which have to be taken in one direction or the other, but not usually this many! Then there are things I find here which are unobtainable in LNL; fresh spices in the market for example, and on this trip I have found Pecorino Romano cheese from an Italian stall.
Wednesday 24 May 2006
On Monday afternoon we had a trip to IKEA, for the first time for several months, with the aim of finally getting book cases, but have still not got them. This is because Normandy is too far away to have them delivered, but it seems we can order them over the internet (and haven’t had time yet) but were at least able to decide which colour wood was best and got a lot more literature about sizes, prices etc. It would all have been a lot easier if we hadn’t both forgotten to take our glasses with us, so only read much of the small print once we got home. (I had been telling our recent visitors how much exercise we get here in this house wandering about on three floors and two staircases looking for our glasses, and then found a wonderful quotation in the 1930’s book Issy gave me for my birthday: « Hunting for spectacles is the only sport left for old age. »)
We had been to IKEA so many times before Christmas that it was strange to see it full of summer garden furniture, and not a Santa in sight. We came away with lots of smaller things though, some of them even planned! N got presents to take back to the UK, wine glasses and a useful little TV table for his attic, which means we have been able to dispense with the cardboard-box-covered-with-a-blanket which he was using. I got a waste paper basket for the spare bedroom and a middle-sized saucepan - when I put the Italian pans and my own together had lots of large and small but no useful middle size. These two were planned, but I also came away with a mouse mat, some useful drawer dividers, a wooden bath rack and a shelf for the downstairs shower room. We had been looking for something to fit behind the loo for so long, that when I saw a black wrought iron shelf unit which was exactly the right size (and only 15 euros) I decided to get it, even though it really should have been white. There will be black and white pictures on the walls, so hopefully it will all look of a piece.
We came back here yesterday (Tuesday) after having broccoli soup for lunch, made from much of the leftovers from Sunday - broccoli, potatoes and cream - and having frozen the rest. The garden was drier than expected, and the poor hydrangea extremely dry, but very pretty with pink flowers, instead of white. Almost the first thing that happened was a phone call from M Urset the house agent to apologise for not having responded before to my letter; but saying that he and his wife would be delighted to come to lunch next Saturday. He also promised to chase up my notaire re the deeds of the house. I was pleased, not only because they were coming, but also because it put an end to a mystery, and my wondering if I should contact him again.
Saturday 27 May 2006
The heating - which had been temperamental the day we left - refused to work at all, and as the house had been empty for six days, and the weather unseasonably cool, we and especially N were frozen. It seems hard to remember now that at one time we were having meals in the garden regularly. Anyway I rang Monsieur A on Wednesday morning and left him a message, and not long after Guillaume arrived and had a good look at everything and told us the expert would be along at lunch time. This was the chap who had been before a couple of times to talk us through it, whom we later found out was called Olivier.
Before this happened however, there was a ring at the front door and a man in blue overalls representing EDF (Electricité de France) asking if Madame V was still in residence. This cleared up another mystery - for the five and a half months since we’ve been here we have had no contacts or documents at all concerning electricity; unlike the water which I had to ring up and get switched on, the electricity has always worked from day one but I have never been asked for a bill! Despite Madame V saying she would mention it to EDF. (Occasionally I wondered if she was still paying for our electricity all this time, but it seemed unlikely ….) So here they were, having finally caught up with me! I gave him my details so he could put the contract in my name and said I supposed they would now send me a large bill; he just smiled and said he didn’t know about that.
Olivier came and looked at the heater, and said it was a problem with the electricity (quite an electric day!) and we wondered if Emanuel would be along, but Guillaume came back and got it all going again; explained lots of things to N, and fixed the thermostat/remote control onto the wall. It has been fine ever since, sometimes too hot, so I have sent Monsieur A his very large cheque.
Guillaume was anxious to go home and start his long weekend -Thursday to Sunday, as Thursday was a jour de fête and they were all making it a four-day holiday - so no chance of seeing Emanuel before Monday, in spite of N murmuring from time to time: « O come, o come Emanuel… » Thursday was also the day of the La Neuve-Lyre Village Brocante Sale, and I was very glad in the end that we had decided not to have a stall of our own, as the weather was absolutely freezing cold and windy, and those who had stalls sat huddled in coats and jumpers - sometimes with their own heaters - and looked very miserable. The stalls were spread all throughout the village, and I stopped and had a word with my hairdresser at her stall; she said they had always been lucky with the weather in previous years. There was a mixture of people selling their own junk - much as we might have done! - and bona fide antique dealers, and all I bought was a nice little grape basket with a handle (since used for gathering flowers from the garden) and two glass storage jars with red plastic lids. The day before N had found three more boxes of « treasure » in the loft over the woodshed; nothing very special; a selection of small glasses which scrubbed up well, some rather damp books, toys and plates, including one I have put on display with a picture of red striped beach huts. There were many similar things on offer at the village sale.
The other great event since we have been back is that N has finally received his money for the sale of the Italian apartment! Minus quite a few hundred euros in fees, and after many e-mails to and from various conseillers and a strongly worded letter to the « médiatre ». It is quite strange not to see him consult the computer every morning and say, « It still hasn’t come yet. »
Otherwise I have finished the last two cushions for the sofa and armchairs; we have found it impossible to order the bookshelves we want from IKEA by internet, and are considering something more local as I am getting tired of seeing all the books on the floor, and we are eating home-grown radishes and lettuce at almost every meal, and sometimes rhubarb too. We put up the new black wrought-iron shelf up in the ground floor shower room, plus the towel rail and picture, and the towel ring in the upstairs shower room. All that remains to be done in the ground floor room is the lino! N bought a magnificent-sounding steam cleaning machine from Tele Shopping, hoping to clean the glue off the hall floor (and other projects) but it only worked for about half an hour and had to be sent back to the manufacturers, necessitating a drive to the post office.
We are now eating our own produce - lettuces, radishes and rhubarb - and N has a total of 26 rows of vegetables planted! The weather has been grey and muggy so not many meals or drinks in the garden lately, although we did have couple of breakfasts in the verandah, but only last night did it really rain heavily.
On Saturday afternoon N went up into the hayloft for the first time. This is over the top of the garage (presumably originally a stable) with a hole in the garage ceiling through which we have looked, but this time he entered by means of a ladder up to an outside door at first floor level. Once up there - apart from lots of hay - he found many off cuts of different bedroom carpets, various pieces of old iron, a cardboard box full of bits of china and other treasures, and most interesting of all, spare bathroom lino and a wooden screen. Finding bathroom lino was pertinent as we had just arrived at the stage of considering buying new lino for the downstairs shower room, now that all that new fittings are in and most of the painting is done; I am still very conscious of the fact that the yellow and black tiled floor clashes horribly with the pale blue and white wall tiles. This lino - as used in the two other bathrooms - is a vague little blue/grey mottled pattern, and will be just right. The screen was a wonderful find - three panels, latticed wood backed with something between fabric and paper in a dirty white colour, with a sort of Japanese look about it. I have never owned a screen before, but have always fancied one - I think I like the idea of undressing behind it and throwing my stockings over the top…… Anyway, it could come in useful in the grande pièce if guests were sleeping on the bed settee, or in the attic if two not very intimate guests were sleeping each end of the room. At the moment it is awaiting attention in the first outhouse. The box of treasures mostly contained good candidates for a jumble sale, but there was a nice blue-grey pottery jug, which I whisked away, washed and filled with some anonymous blue flowers from the garden. It was strange to think that I owned all these things and had bought them along with the house almost six months ago, but had only just discovered them, it having been far too cold and dark to investigate the hay loft until recently. There are more « attics » over the rest of the outbuildings, but I don’t know whether there will be anything worth discovering in them.
Monday was market day as usual; N bought the leek plants he had been waiting for, and I got some long trailing geraniums with small-petalled bright pink flowers for the troughs on the railing of the bedroom balcony. These - and the white busy lizzies in pots on the balcony itself - give me great pleasure when lying in bed or walking though the bedroom. On the way back from the market N stopped and had a word with the blacksmith - I think I may have omitted to say that we live a few hundred metres from a forge! - and asked whether he would be interested in taking away some of the old iron. He had already had dealings with him over a metal table leg which needed mending, and which is now attached to a huge heavy table (left by Madame V) in the studio, waiting until there is very strong team of people around to put it upright. The blacksmith is a little round man with a beard, who when he was permanently wearing a woolly hat in the winter reminded me of a garden gnome; he looks more human now summerly bareheaded, and came round the next day to look at our collection of old iron and said he would let N know when he was next ready to take a load away. He saw the garden lamps which Emanuel the electrician had not long ago disconnected, and said it was he who had made them!
In the event we went to Bernay on Monday afternoon, as the weather wasn’t very good for gardening, and the visit to the social security office was very brief. It was worth going just to be able to get a numbered ticket with my own Carte Vitale! We didn’t have to wait long, and in answer to my questions I was told that no, they didn’t need details of my complémentaire and no, I didn’t need to make any payments - if I hadn’t been asked, I didn’t need to pay anything. N was surprised, but I was quite happy, and could then concentrate on the other things we needed to do in Bernay. It was some time since we had been there, but we called in at Monsieur Bricolage as usual, where N bought lots of locks and asked about cement, and I bought - for the final time, I hope - a towel rail for the ground floor shower room and a toilet brush and a towel ring for the one upstairs, and a final black rubber door mat. I also found some transparent plastic for sticking on windows to give a frosted effect, which I bought for the window of the boiler room - when walking past in the garden it is not good to see pipes and taps and plastic buckets on the shelves.
At the garden centre we bought a large ornate terra cotta pot so that my birthday hydrangea could go outside (but I miss it in the salon!) two basil plants - I have never seen such a large selection in my life! - and pots for them to go in. N got some melon plants, as he realised he had a couple of square feet of space having finally got rid of the roots of the banana tree (he hopes) and cloches to put over them. I was disappointed not to find a book on garden birds, especially as there was such a large book section, but decided it was now time to buy something I have looked at every time we have been there - a pair of green rubber clogs for wearing in the garden; a cross between clogs and wellingtons. I said hello to the black cat who was stretched out asleep on a pile of sacks of barbecue charcoal. At the supermarket N stocked up with cider and vin ordinaire to begin filling the wine cellar, already swept out in preparation.
Thursday 18 May 2006
In the last day or so before leaving La Neuve Lyre to come back here to Paris yesterday afternoon we finished off lots of odd jobs; N fitted locks and padlocks on various outbuildings, and I painted the inside of the ground floor shower room door, and the door of the corner cupboard in the dining room, which was badly in need of another coat, and stuck the « frosting » on the window of the boiler room. We also both finally got things done which we had been promising ourselves to do as soon as we moved in: N repaired a gap in the crazy paving along the side of the house under the kitchen window, and I cleaned the outside windows of the verandah, plus two tiny windows on the staircase, only reachable with a long-handled window sponge while standing on a ladder. Less than a day later they were covered in cobwebs again! We continued trying to get to know our new heating system, having had a first lesson from the technician, but it is not easy. N says he thinks it has to get to know us, as well as us getting to know it; I think that mid-May is not the best time of year for such an exercise, as we are still turning it off every morning after breakfast and on again at about 8.45 every evening. When Guillaume first put it in he said that it takes the outside temperature (we haven’t yet found out how) and looks at the desired indoor temperature we have set, and heats up accordingly. So the radiators might be hot or tepid; it will do what it needs. It is also apparently possible to switch it down low when we are away in the winter, and then phone it up and ask it to turn up the temperature ready for when we get back! Wonder if we can ask it to open the shutters and put a casserole in the oven?? Currently all this works from a thermostat like a TV remote control (various jokes were made about how many channels it could get), and we are waiting for Monsieur A or one of his team to come and fix it and its holder onto the wall. I rang him just before we left to let him know we would be away; he said that was a pity as next week there was a jour de fête (Thursday, Ascension Day) and they wouldn’t be working then or Friday and in any case he was moving house. When I said there was just a little work left for the electricians to do, he laughed and said whenever they nearly got to the end we added more. As far as N is concerned this is probably true, but even he is running out of things which need fixing. The final list includes neon lights in the atelier, tidying wires in the verandah and the removal of all the wires from the old garden lamps. We also received the Very Large Bill for the heating installation; what we expected from the estimate, but I don’t propose to pay it until we have the thermostat on the wall, and a few more instructions.
We arrived here at Saint-Denis yesterday afternoon and as always relaxed as there are no jobs to do, except for N catching up with his post and taking the car to the garage and himself to the doctor for repeat prescriptions. I had a phone call from the « chef » of the chorale to say that this evening’s rehearsal (for Saturday’s concert) will be in the museum, the concert venue. N and I discussed what we will cook for Sunday’s lunch party; at the moment it is possibly oeufs mimosa or some kind of fish to start, coq au vin (made by N) and mousse au chocolat (made by me) and strawberries. Subject to change, however. This morning I caught up with the local shops as usual; Carrefour and cosmetics and clothes shops, as there is limited scope for shopping in La Neuve-Lyre, this is always a ritual. I have loyalty cards from two cosmetics shops in Saint-Denis - Sephora and Yves Rocher - and there is usually some special offer waiting here in the post when I get back.
Sunday 21 May 2006
The rehearsal and singing on Thursday and Saturday respectively went very well, apart from the weather, which has been alternately bright and sunny and very windy and rainy. I wished I had with me my umbrella with the words and music of « Singing in the Rain », but it was at LNL. On Thursday evening much time was spent in finding a suitable position in which to sing outside; the museum is a former convent - there are several in Saint-Denis! - and it was decided the middle of the cloisters was best. This was for the unaccompanied part of the programme; the rest (with portable organ) was to be in a lecture room indoors. It was part of a free open day/evening for museums nationally, and also because the Saint-Denis museum was celebrating its 25th anniversary. On Saturday afternoon we had a little rehearsal at the Conservatoire, and then sang at the museum from 5 o’clock, even though it was very windy - but dry - outside; I think the outdoor part was better then the indoor! The programme itself was not decided until Thursday evening and on Friday N helped me with some of the pieces I didn’t know so well, at the piano. It was interesting to see different members’ interpretations of the red and black dress code - especially in view of the weather - ranging from full dress suit with red shirt, through red twin sets, scarves and blouses to sweatshirts and old woollies with black jeans. I was very pleased I had been able to take part, as the date of the June concert seems to have been changed from the 25th to the 18th when we shall be in the UK. I hope I shall make a few more rehearsals before then, though.
Otherwise I have had my eyebrows shaped, bought a couple more of the excellent square pillows I got before, been round the market and got two more satin cushion covers for the salon at LNL, plus root ginger and bay leaves (unobtainable in LNL); to Carrefour where I got blue pillow cases for « cushions » for the flowery settee in the verandah, and into Paris on Friday afternoon. First stop was FNAC, which I find very confusing and antipathique, but a visit was necessary to get a new cartridge for the printer at LNL (unobtainable at Bernay) and at last a book on garden birds to help us with identification. I was pleased to find I knew more names of French birds than I thought, and also to learn a nice new word: nidification (nesting habits). I also bought a little book I had flicked through before: « Chic et Jolie à Petits Prix » full of useful adresses for cut-price clothes stores, some of which I am delighted to say I have found already, but several more I shall visit as soon as I can. With this in mind, I found just such a shop in the Avenue de l’Opéra, where I bought a wonderfully chic reversible raincoat reduced from 129 euros to 50. The weather has been so unseasonable I have actually been able to wear it twice!
We enjoyed our lunch party today; enjoyed the preparation of it between us, and the good company and conversation, and to find that our guests - who both work in the film world - know N‘s friend Odile, who runs a children‘s film festival. However, we have far too much food left over; I can see it not all being eaten before we go back to LNL on Tuesday, and having to take a lot with us. Inevitably there are always a few food items which have to be taken in one direction or the other, but not usually this many! Then there are things I find here which are unobtainable in LNL; fresh spices in the market for example, and on this trip I have found Pecorino Romano cheese from an Italian stall.
Wednesday 24 May 2006
On Monday afternoon we had a trip to IKEA, for the first time for several months, with the aim of finally getting book cases, but have still not got them. This is because Normandy is too far away to have them delivered, but it seems we can order them over the internet (and haven’t had time yet) but were at least able to decide which colour wood was best and got a lot more literature about sizes, prices etc. It would all have been a lot easier if we hadn’t both forgotten to take our glasses with us, so only read much of the small print once we got home. (I had been telling our recent visitors how much exercise we get here in this house wandering about on three floors and two staircases looking for our glasses, and then found a wonderful quotation in the 1930’s book Issy gave me for my birthday: « Hunting for spectacles is the only sport left for old age. »)
We had been to IKEA so many times before Christmas that it was strange to see it full of summer garden furniture, and not a Santa in sight. We came away with lots of smaller things though, some of them even planned! N got presents to take back to the UK, wine glasses and a useful little TV table for his attic, which means we have been able to dispense with the cardboard-box-covered-with-a-blanket which he was using. I got a waste paper basket for the spare bedroom and a middle-sized saucepan - when I put the Italian pans and my own together had lots of large and small but no useful middle size. These two were planned, but I also came away with a mouse mat, some useful drawer dividers, a wooden bath rack and a shelf for the downstairs shower room. We had been looking for something to fit behind the loo for so long, that when I saw a black wrought iron shelf unit which was exactly the right size (and only 15 euros) I decided to get it, even though it really should have been white. There will be black and white pictures on the walls, so hopefully it will all look of a piece.
We came back here yesterday (Tuesday) after having broccoli soup for lunch, made from much of the leftovers from Sunday - broccoli, potatoes and cream - and having frozen the rest. The garden was drier than expected, and the poor hydrangea extremely dry, but very pretty with pink flowers, instead of white. Almost the first thing that happened was a phone call from M Urset the house agent to apologise for not having responded before to my letter; but saying that he and his wife would be delighted to come to lunch next Saturday. He also promised to chase up my notaire re the deeds of the house. I was pleased, not only because they were coming, but also because it put an end to a mystery, and my wondering if I should contact him again.
Saturday 27 May 2006
The heating - which had been temperamental the day we left - refused to work at all, and as the house had been empty for six days, and the weather unseasonably cool, we and especially N were frozen. It seems hard to remember now that at one time we were having meals in the garden regularly. Anyway I rang Monsieur A on Wednesday morning and left him a message, and not long after Guillaume arrived and had a good look at everything and told us the expert would be along at lunch time. This was the chap who had been before a couple of times to talk us through it, whom we later found out was called Olivier.
Before this happened however, there was a ring at the front door and a man in blue overalls representing EDF (Electricité de France) asking if Madame V was still in residence. This cleared up another mystery - for the five and a half months since we’ve been here we have had no contacts or documents at all concerning electricity; unlike the water which I had to ring up and get switched on, the electricity has always worked from day one but I have never been asked for a bill! Despite Madame V saying she would mention it to EDF. (Occasionally I wondered if she was still paying for our electricity all this time, but it seemed unlikely ….) So here they were, having finally caught up with me! I gave him my details so he could put the contract in my name and said I supposed they would now send me a large bill; he just smiled and said he didn’t know about that.
Olivier came and looked at the heater, and said it was a problem with the electricity (quite an electric day!) and we wondered if Emanuel would be along, but Guillaume came back and got it all going again; explained lots of things to N, and fixed the thermostat/remote control onto the wall. It has been fine ever since, sometimes too hot, so I have sent Monsieur A his very large cheque.
Guillaume was anxious to go home and start his long weekend -Thursday to Sunday, as Thursday was a jour de fête and they were all making it a four-day holiday - so no chance of seeing Emanuel before Monday, in spite of N murmuring from time to time: « O come, o come Emanuel… » Thursday was also the day of the La Neuve-Lyre Village Brocante Sale, and I was very glad in the end that we had decided not to have a stall of our own, as the weather was absolutely freezing cold and windy, and those who had stalls sat huddled in coats and jumpers - sometimes with their own heaters - and looked very miserable. The stalls were spread all throughout the village, and I stopped and had a word with my hairdresser at her stall; she said they had always been lucky with the weather in previous years. There was a mixture of people selling their own junk - much as we might have done! - and bona fide antique dealers, and all I bought was a nice little grape basket with a handle (since used for gathering flowers from the garden) and two glass storage jars with red plastic lids. The day before N had found three more boxes of « treasure » in the loft over the woodshed; nothing very special; a selection of small glasses which scrubbed up well, some rather damp books, toys and plates, including one I have put on display with a picture of red striped beach huts. There were many similar things on offer at the village sale.
The other great event since we have been back is that N has finally received his money for the sale of the Italian apartment! Minus quite a few hundred euros in fees, and after many e-mails to and from various conseillers and a strongly worded letter to the « médiatre ». It is quite strange not to see him consult the computer every morning and say, « It still hasn’t come yet. »
Otherwise I have finished the last two cushions for the sofa and armchairs; we have found it impossible to order the bookshelves we want from IKEA by internet, and are considering something more local as I am getting tired of seeing all the books on the floor, and we are eating home-grown radishes and lettuce at almost every meal, and sometimes rhubarb too. We put up the new black wrought-iron shelf up in the ground floor shower room, plus the towel rail and picture, and the towel ring in the upstairs shower room. All that remains to be done in the ground floor room is the lino! N bought a magnificent-sounding steam cleaning machine from Tele Shopping, hoping to clean the glue off the hall floor (and other projects) but it only worked for about half an hour and had to be sent back to the manufacturers, necessitating a drive to the post office.
# posted by Chez Katherine @ 9:25 AM 
