I am writing this today with a very heavy heart as our lovely old dog Chester died on Saturday. He was so much part of our lives here that everything seems very strange at the moment. He was very old, perhaps 17/18 – which in human equivalent years is well over 100 – and had had a very happy life since we got him from a refuge as a way of getting our son to make new friends when we moved house in England. Ironically he started to be ill on the day Matthew and Christine left to return to the UK last week. It was almost as if he had hung on to allow Matthew one last walk with him. Anyway after being poorly for a week or so, we eventually had to take him to the vet on Saturday when we thought he was beginning to suffer. He is now buried in a favourite bit of the garden in which he spent many happy hours…… and we are bereft. It has been many years since we had no pets in our house and I suspect we will not last long before we get another one but at the moment the house and garden seem very empty.
Fortunately, Hazel, (our daughter) has been here for a visit this weekend and so we kept busy taking her out and about a bit. We went up to Super Besse again to let her try skiing. She had had one lesson on a dry ski slope recently and she and Geoff had a private lesson, after which they spent an enjoyable hour or so “zooming” – (well maybe not exactly zooming) – down the nursery slopes. They enjoyed it – I got very wet and cold as the weather was not as kind to them as it had been to Matthew and Christine when we did the same thing with them two weeks earlier! Matthew got quite sunburned the day he tried out the slopes. As both of them really enjoyed the skiing experience, I suspect that they will be back for more. Good news for me! Matthew and Christine also enjoyed their stay with us and it has been a great month for me, seeing all the kids.
Actually Geoff has seen quite a lot of the kids recently as he had a visit to the UK at the end of February. He combined a work trip with his annual Preston North End “shareholders” pilgrimage to watch a match at Deepdale with his old schoolmates. Matthew was there too so all the boys had a good day out – and Preston won too...bonus!
Business wise, we have been quite quiet this month unfortunately. We have had a few more bookings for the summer though which is good news, and had B&B guests last weekend. They were a very sweet couple from Marseille who buy and sell stuff on e-bay. They were here to visit some friends and to purchase a few bits and pieces locally. They were a lovely couple and were perfect guests; leaving the house soon after breakfast and returning (quietly) about 11pm.They even bought me a present from one of their brocant sales which was extremely nice of them.
Geoff has also been busy with his English teaching and has also done a bit of translation work for a local restaurant who wanted their menu translating into English. We struggled with salade de gesiers (chicken gizzard salad) which, although we tried very hard, we couldn’t find any translation to make this attractive to an English palate! He also struggled a bit with some of the French types of steak which don’t have an equivalent in English. But on the whole it was an interesting thing to do. Geoff is trying now to get a number from the French state which allows him to be an "Agree" trainer. This would mean that he could do English lessons for companies, who can then claim the money back from the state. However, like most bureaucratic activities in France, this has been proving somewhat of a nightmare for him. In order for him to get this number he has to send several bits of documentation to the prefecture in Clermont Ferrand and more importantly has to have a signed contract for a course of English lessons from a business. As you can imagine, it was very difficult to get this contract signed, as the business wanted him to have the number so that they can be assured that they will be able to reclaim the money. But, no contract means no number….and so it goes on! He has now been able to persuade a small company in Issoire to sign a contract (having put in several “get out” clauses) and now we are just waiting for his application for the French equivalent of a criminal records check to go through! Sometimes here it feels like you are walking through treacle trying to get these things done.
We haven’t done a lot socially this month really, but we did have one good night here with a couple of friends from the village. The kids bought me a DVD of Mama Mia for Christmas and we thought it would be fun to have a “sing-a-long” Mama Mia evening. It was great fun and even though Evyline and Michel were totally lost during the main bits of the film, they did valiantly try and join in with the singing! I think they thought we were totally mad, mind you!
The other major event this month has been the felling of our tree! We intended to get someone from Issoire to come and chop it down, but when we mentioned this to Bernard, our neighbour, he poured scorn on that idea saying he could have it down in no time! And so he did! He arrived with his truck which he parked in the field behind he tree, attached a cable to take the tension, and chain saw to the fore had the tree down in next to no time! He then helped Geoff to strip the branches and divide the trunk into “burnable” sized pieces and was off! Geoff has cut the trunk and branches into logs which are now drying in our car park and will be ready for burning probably in a year or twos time! A good mornings work all round!
It is now officially spring here in France and the garden is full of violets and primroses and the birds are singing away like mad. I am looking forward now to a bit of sunshine so I can enjoy them to the full. It will be very strange without the dog poddling along beside me but life must go on I suppose.