The TV having taken to shutting down every two minutes once warm, was up for replacement. Shame it lasted maybe three years, whereas the good old Toshiba had worked for close on 20 years in five different dwellings in three countries. We'll maybe take the back off it and hoover it out, but I suspect planned obsolescence. I started trying to buy a replacement yesterday on line, and eventually failed when the bank demanded to know my best childhood friend as a condition of authorising the debit card payment. Having never shared such information with said bank, the transaction wasn't going very far. So, off to Préfecture city this morning, where we found the set we wanted, but at the shop price, €30 up on the internet price. I'd taken along a print-out of the description so as to be able to find the set we wanted, and the friendly salesman needed little persuasion to give us the corresponding discount. He was of the head-shaving persuasion, so perhaps there's a kind of freemasonry at work! There's a lot to lament about modern-day France, notably in the catering sector, but there's a definite move here and there towards better customer service. Or is it just that sales people are nicer towards customers old enough to be their grandfathers?
I'd been fretting a little about the fact that soot falls down the chimney every time I open the damper on the fire (not that we've had to use it yet this time. Or not quite). So it was good that a chimney sweep knocked on the door this morning on spec just as we were finishing breakfast. Sweep, sweep, hoover, hoover, job done, cash handed over, affaire classée. Painless, eh?
I have taken to filtering phone calls because of the incessant cold-calling hereabouts. Fortunately, builder Pierre decided to leave a message, so I picked up the call. He has cleared the remaining rubble from the terrace, and will be back next week to tile the shower room window ledge, cut a bit of deck plating to cover the water meter and take a look at the roof terrace: our next major job. Although he had to do a lot more work than expected on the scabby wall, he would not take more than his estimate for the less complex job he'd expected, and thus gains a large measure of customer loyalty. Evidently, he and his colleague won over the neighbours to whose workshop he had to have access. Towards the end of the work, pains au chocolat were delivered daily at 10:00, and Coca-Cola at 16:00. The remaining work on the end wall shouldn't require as much of the neighbours, and ought to improve the appearance of the village.
Lots of poppies still in flower, and the broom is positively glorious. The mint is doing well in the little bed at the front of the house, and the dill we planted last time is also flourishing. I swept out the fire this morning to clear the way for the sweep, and have spread out the ash in the hope that it may nourish the herbs. No sign of the eschscholzias I sowed last time, but since they need sun, the situation is not good.
So, as ever, work in progress, but I feel more positive.
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