It felt gross...................

Weather continues cold and showery with the odd sunny spell.  This morning it was so cold that my arthritis made my hands zing, not in a good way.

I continued with my cardboard hunt and headed off to the supermarkets and the wine shop before going to pick some up from a chap who had offered it via the Internet [honest!].  Anyway, he lived quite a way away but I thought it would be a good opportunity to have a drive around and it was quite pleasant.  However when I got to his house, which was in the middle of absolutely nowhere, 8 kms from the nearest village, it looked very rundown and overrun with cats.  I wandered around, knocking on some of the windows and eventually found him.  He was old, very grubby,in  filthy clothes, unshaven with weepy eyes and there was something terribly unsavory about him.  I was really spooked and with every passing minute, the feeling got worse.  I was very aware that no one on earth knew where I was, my nearest relative was 8 hours away and I probably wouldn't be missed for a long while if I disappeared.  He wanted me to drive my car around the back but I said that I didn't want to and just kept loading up the cardboard.  My unease grew - I just don't know why - after all I'm a bit long in the tooth to be kept as a sex slave!!

I took my cellphone from the car and started talking into it as if I were talking to Darren, saying  'Yes, I'll be back as soon as I can.  You know where I am, I'm about 8 kms from xxxx on the road to xx, picking up cardboard.'  Then I put down the phone and had a bit of a rant about builders.  Despite repeated requests to come into the house for coffee, I refused, saying that I had to get back by 12 or Darren was going to walk off the job, rolling my eyes at the general stroppiness of English workmen.  I revved up and rushed off.   It felt gross!!

Poor Darren was slogging away at the house, totally unaware of course.  But we did laugh about it later.  I said  'Maybe I overreacted, maybe I'm a bit mad.' and he replied 'Well, yes but that doesn't make you a bad person.' which was not my preferred response.  Perhaps he's been taking lessons from Chris.

Anyway, back in the real world.. Seal does not do it for me after Adele, although I bloody love some of the tracks.   So in the car, I'm listening to Adele again.

I bought some wine for emergencies, like thirst, celebrating the weekend, etc etc and then I went out for lunch as I thought I deserved a treat.  I went to the same restaurant as last week as the food is always good and this time the waiter treated me like a long-lost buddy and then asked if I were on my own.  Resisting the temptation to do a John Cleese and look around in amazement as if my coterie of hangers-on has just disappeared into thin air, I agreed with him that I was, indeed, on my own.  The food was delicious and I relaxed after my overwrought morning.

The afternoon was less exciting and more productive.  We received a very official looking letter from the Prefet, which always turns the stomach to water, but in fact it was just to say that we don't need permission to demolish the 4 rooms that we have just demolished.  Lucky break!  I smashed some more tiles in the potager, spread the cardboard and paper over the tiles in 3 of the 6 beds.  It was backbreaking work but I guess it's good exercise.  Darren has been digging away and started the hole for the micro station, next to the caravan.  It's not quite as bad as he thought it might be but we're still going to have to get in a majorly enormous bit of kit to deal with the over-engineered paths behind the house!

Darren, the demanding demolition man!!  Taken from the caravan

I visited both sets of neighbours to ask if they minded us having the machines working on Sunday. Mme B was fine about it and also donated some old newspapers for the potager and showed me the tent which has been blowing around her land since last Sunday and has now settled in a valley.  Didier was also fine about it but he was a bit worried because Chris had given him the impression that we were going to plant a hedge on the boundary.  I explained that we are planting lavateria which grow to about 1 metre and he was a lot happier.  I also explained that Chris knows buggerall about gardening.  We had a little chat and I found myself again doing all those funny little French shrugs and signals [easier than trying to speak the language!!].  Actually, things must be improving.  I no longer wonder whether they will understand me, I wonder how they will react to what I say.

I phoned the plumber and left a message asking him to put in a new tap on the front of the house as the present one leaks like buggery and he phoned back later and said he would be around ce soir
to have a look and would do the job on Monday.   However recent experiences with this plumber left me less than convinced that he would turn up.  In the event, experience triumphed over optimism!!

Around 6pm  the weather degenerated, which is good for the garden, especially for the cardboard, which needs to mulch down.  [I must say this organic business changes your view about a lot of things].  It's not so good for me as it got colder and I couldn't hear Radio 4's finest so I opened some wine...  Not so good either for the Poney Club who are rehearsing for their spectacle which takes place tomorrow night.  I wouldn't mind going but it doesn't start til 9pm so think earplugs are a more likely option.

The weather improved a bit and faced with a choice of evening activities, it was either to have some wine or develop my mental health issues so I decided to make life easier for my immediate family [long-term] and go for the alcohol option.

Weather forecast for tomorrow - grim!