... and not a fat-bottomed girl in sight

The Opel dealer in Montluçon is open from 8am to 6pm during the week - except Monday, when it is 2pm to 6pm. We duly went up on Monday afternoon to see if the parts for Clare's car had arrived. They had not.

Not wanting to make repeated trips to Montluçon (practically an hour each way with the current road works, and it's all contributing to the 9000 Kms which is my annual limit if I want to keep the low mileage discount on my insurance), we asked if they could courier the parts when they arrive - about 16 € including tax - to which he agreed. Before, however, setting it up, he had the presence of mind to check that morning's receipts physically and, sure enough, they were there. We went away happy, with the needed parts.

I tried to fit them on Monday evening, only to find that I needed a 12mm allen key. The largest I have is 10mm. I got up early on Tuesday morning, drove up to Montluçon and went into Brico-Depot (owned by Kingfisher, as is B&Q) who always have a good range of tools.

The only way I could buy a 12mm allen key in Brico-Depot was as part of a 95 piece Magnusson chrome vanadium tool kit (don't be fooled by the name - it is made in Taiwan, not Sweden) costing 65 €.

I was on my own in a toyshop without adult supervision. I could either try a number of smaller shops and get what I needed for about 5 € or buy the fancy kit. Let me repeat, I was on my own in a toyshop without adult supervision. It was clearly time to rationalise.

Successfully convincing myself

1. that the labour costs, had I asked the garage to do the job, would undoubtedly be greater than the cost of the tools to do it myself (I don't know how many more times I can get away with that one),
   
2. that a good tool kit is an investment for the future, and
   
3. that you can never have too many good tools,

I went ahead and bought it. Here it is.

When I got home, Clare needed to go out for a few hours, during which time I felt I should be able to complete the repair. I gave her the keys to the Mazda and waved a cheery farewell. What I didn't know then, but did find out very shortly afterwards, is that she had driven off with both sets of keys to the Astra as well as the only set of keys to the Mazda. I was, in a word, stuffed!

On Clare's return we started to do the repair which was, as I had hoped, disarmingly straightforward. Refitting the exhaust manifold heat shield was more of a challenge but eventually, everything went together. I checked the oil level and fed in another litre of Shell's finest. On starting the engine there was a lot of smoke which we, hopefully not too optimistically, put down to earlier leakage and current spillage. Keep in mind that a lot less oil would be sold if it were easy to pour from the container into the engine without spilling any. Subsequent use and checking suggests all is now well.

On Wednesday afternoon I had an email from Christophe confirming that he had received the mother board and that he would start to rebuild my PC on Thursday. I don't know how ling that will take him, but my PC's return can't come soon enough for me. This laptop is OK, but it is still slower than my PC, even after running Uniblue RegistryBooster 2, Uniblue System Tweaker and CCleaner, and it has a nasty habit of randomly relocating the pointer - that makes typing fun, as you never know when or to where the cursor is going to randomly relocate!

Being in the countryside, close to farm buildings, we occasionally see a rat. There was one that was spending a lot of time trying to deprive the birds of their peanuts, so we have modified the feeder placement in an attempt to rat-proof it (no need to squirrel-proof, as I have seen none of those in the immediate area, but squirrels are only bushy-tailed rats anyway!).

The tray underneath the nut holder stops pieces falling to the ground, thereby giving the rat no food supply there and thus, hopefully, no interest in trying to climb the pole to get to its bounty. The downside is that depriving the rat of food also means there is none for the ground-feeding birds, such as the dunnocks and sparrows. On the other hand, if the rat can eat more food than a large number of small birds then he will restrict their food supply anyway.

I have also, on one occasion, seen a single rat (single in number - I know nothing of its social or marital arrangements) scuttling across the bottom of the ramp.

However, as I was walking in the garden one evening during the week, something scampered across between the pond and the orchard, and disappeared into a hole. It didn't look like a rat. Apart from anything else, rats don't scamper, they scuttle, as previously revealed. I don't know for sure, as my eyesight isn't quite as clear as I would like it to be, but its actions, shape and colour suggested to me that it might well have been a stoat - possibly even the same one we saw in ermine about 18 months ago. I shall keep an eye out for it.

We have also seen some strange droppings - blue/black and full of cherry stones (that's where they all went!) - that we have yet to identify. The droppings are about 1cm wide. They were found in two locations, the first in open ground, the other under one of the currently non-productive pear trees. I'd be grateful for any input.


For reasons I cannot begin to understand, the cheap rate UK telephone number seems to be working again. For how long is anyone's guess and I have no idea how reliable it is but, when it works, it allows you to call us here from a land line in the UK for a flat 2p per minute. To remind you, the number is 0844 617 7844.

On Friday we went to see a part of the 19th stage of the Tour de France. Our destination was La Maison-rouge, 1500 meters after Lapeyrouse and 32.5Km from the day's finish at Montluçon. The caravane was due to pass through at about 3pm and the riders just under an hour and a half later.

Where we had stationed ourselves is a mining area, and a number of miners were grouped, at the side of the road, in their work clothes complete with helmets and lamps. It was most interesting to note how many in the caravane (about which more later) commented on them, and also to note the high regard in which they appear to be held.

In the same area, perched atop a small pile of bales of hay, were four young women bearing sashes proclaiming them to be Miss Montaigut 2007, Miss Youx 2007, Miss St Eloy-les-Mines 2007 and Miss Routiers 2007.

The caravane is a spectacle not to be missed. It is an almost continuous carnival procession of much decorated vehicles, from the back of many of which publicity trinkets are thrown to the crowd. Our haul for the afternoon consisted of two keyrings, two reflective armbands, a bottle of water and a small bag.

One of the later vehicles in the caravane was misting the bystanders with water - not a bad thing as, although there was not much sun, the temperature was edging towards the high twenties.

I have a lot of photographs of the caravane (which took well over half an hour to pass), but these two should be enough to give a flavour.

Once the caravane had passed, things went pretty quiet for a while, so we broke out the picnic basket and waited. The first indication that the riders were on their way was the arrival of a gendarme with a yellow flag, who stood about fifty meters from us. Shortly after his arrival a veritable fleet of police and gendarmerie motorcycles and cars passed and we noticed a helicopter in the sky to our east - the direction from which the cyclists would approach. Looking closer, we made out four helicopters at different altitudes, one of which was quite low. The number of helicopters would reach double figures before the whole thing had passed us.

The helicopters were fitted with TV cameras and provided the television coverage for the major European broadcasters. As the lead helicopter came closer, a loud cheer went up from the crowd and the first riders appeared.

Pictured here Jérémy Roy leading with Sylvain Chavanel just visible in the red kit behind him. Chavanel won the final sprint and the stage on arrival at Montluçon.

A little over four minutes after this first pair had passed, more helicopters appeared, signalling the arrival of the peloton, the pack that represents the bulk of the cyclists. This wikipedia link discusses the dynamic of the peloton and, in my view, makes fascinating reading.

The leaders of the peloton appeared in a tidy line-astern formation, the front wheel of each cycle appearing almost to be glued to the back wheel of its predecessor in the fashion of an ad-hoc convoy of HGVs on a motorway (to say nothing of the same convoy on a fuel price protest).

Following these leaders, the rest of the peloton, about 140 riders, passed over a relatively short period. The peloton was quite tightly formed with no noticeable gaps (I didn't notice any, anyway) and the teams were obviously clustered, as is suggested in the wikipedia article.

A few minutes later still came a final group of two or three riders who were, for whatever reason, off the pace of the peloton, these being followed by a fleet of support cars carrying spare bikes and various supplies.

Once all that lot had passed we made our way back to the car and eventually broke through the traffic and drove home.

Hobie is now down to a half tablet per day and will shortly be off them altogether. So far he seems to be holding up quite well, although there are signs that he is beginning to experience some difficulty and discomfort. We are half expecting to see some deterioration but are hoping not to. At least, if he does have another crisis, we shall be able to get him to the vet without having to chase around to scrounge transport, now that the Astra is back on the road.

Have a good week.

À la prochaine

Two barbecues in one week - it must be summer!

Firstly, the weather has been absolutely delightful all week - even the low-flying jets couldn't keep the sun away and, according to the weather forecast, it is in for at least a fortnight! We have had to resort to watering the veggie patches to keep things happy.

Some time ago I said that we had scattered some wild flower seeds in the rough area, where we also planted a couple of willow whips (one of which is doing fantastically well, the other I can't find at present - I think it is hiding amongst the nettles). Against all the odds, a number did germinate and, during the week, I spotted the first bloom.

I have no idea what it is called - perhaps I should look it up somewhere. All I know for sure is that it is supposed to be native to France.

Another thing that has been in evidence this week is a Grey Heron. It isn't the first time we have seen one in the approximate area, but never this close before. I think it is hanging around Jean-Marc's pond.


On Monday we drove to Montluçon to see if we could get the part we need to put Clare's Astra back on the road. The dealership was open and, after a relatively brief foray into the world of the motor trader, we successfully ordered the housing and cap assemblies for the oil filter, and a filter. At a little over 70 € it was a bit more than I was expecting to pay, but the only alternative was a visit to a car breaker (if there is one in the area) - not something I would relish at the moment. The very nice man in the dealer's parts department said that he would telephone when the parts arrived, which should be Thursday afternoon or Friday.

No telephone call as at Sunday. We shall go and see him tomorrow.

Monday was the eighteenth birthday of Alexandra, Rik and Lieve's eldest. There was to have been a barbecue party in Rik's garden but, as a high probability of rain and even a thunderstorm was forecast, they decided to hold it in Jan's barn. That was good for us as Jan's house is only about five minutes' walk from here.

It was an excellent party with a mix of people from France, UK, Germany, Belgium and Holland. All of Rik's family are musical, and live music was provided by Rik on cello, Rik's sons Mikhael and Rafael on drums and tin whistle respectively, and three of Rik's friends on guitar - Joris (Belgian) on bass, John (a Scot) on lead and a Frenchman whose name I can't recall on rhythm. We left at a little after midnight and walked home in quite bright moonlight.

On Tuesday I had word from Christophe that he could not get hold of the motherboard for at least three weeks and would I like to choose an alternative. I really liked the one I had chosen and found that it was in stock with another supplier. With Christophe's blessing I ordered it from this other place for delivery to him. According to the web site it was despatched on Wednesday. I am hoping he will not have trouble getting hold of the power supply, as I couldn't find one I liked where I looked.

Hobie has been doing well all week, on two steroid tablets each day. We took him to the vet on Friday, and they now want to wean him off the steroids, as they apparently can do quite a bit of damage if taken for too long. He is now on one tablet per day for five days then half a tablet per day for another five days. We are watching him closely and are expecting him to deteriorate as he comes off the tablets. We have been pre-warned that there will be little they can do if he has another crisis. I am thinking when, rather than if.

The glorious weather has continued and, yesterday evening, this was the view from the terrace.


What else could we do?


Have a good week.

À la prochaine

What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?

It occurred to me the other day that our philosophy at the moment was admirably summed up by William Henry Davies (1871-1940) in his well-known poem Leisure.

What is this life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?
No time to stand beneath the boughs and stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass, where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight, streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance, and watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare.

Addendum by me
... and even if the weather's storming, the cows will help with Global Warming!

Meanwhile, we have had what can only be described as an interesting week.

First, Clare’s car became quite technical with enough smoke coming out of the bonnet to raise global temperatures by at least a couple of degrees and making some very expensive noises. We thought that the alternator was shot but, after Jan had a look at it, we discovered that the oil filter housing was damaged and leaking, and it was the oil leaking onto the exhaust outlet that was causing the smoke. Jan managed to get the oil filter casing off (how he did when Norauto couldn't is beyond me) and we are now trying to source a replacement, which should be quite straightforward to fit. Jan has said that he will do it if I have any difficulty. I don't think I shall be asking Norauto to do anything else for me! We went up to Montluçon on Saturday to visit the Opel dealer, but their parts department was closed for the weekend. Monday is Bastille Day, so it will be Tuesday before we can try again. That reminds me - big celebrations and firework display in the village tonight (Sunday). Should be fun.

Then my PC went technical – motherboard fried as a result of drawing too much power through the PSU and overheating the entire system – I have agreed with the repairer replacement specs which will actually give me a stronger machine, with more upgrade potential. The parts should arrive in a week or so, and then it’s just a couple of days to assemble and test. I managed to find a hardware guru who has a shop in Montluçon, but lives only five minutes from us. He is a real find - committed and very capable, reasonably priced and, as Harry Enfield's Tim, Nice but Dim would have it, a "bloody nice bloke". I was interested that he described the motherboard as grilled, whereas we would use the word fried. Superior gastronomics, I suppose.

To cap it all, Hobie stopped eating at the beginning of the week and became very lethargic to the point that we had to carry him outside to do his business. We took him to the vet who said it was very advanced arthritis in the area of his hips. It is so bad, given also his blindness and now deafness, that when we took him to the vet on Tuesday, he wouldn’t go beyond saying we could try to ease his pain but with no guarantee. He gave him a cortisone injection and told us to bring him back on Wednesday. Happily the injection worked wonders, and Hobie was very soon mobile and eating again. He is now in the middle of a ten days’ supply of steroid tablets and we have to take him back next Friday for reassessment. Depending on how it goes, we will hopefully be able to cut back to steroid tablets every other day instead of every day. If the tablets don’t give him enough relief then we shall have no option other than to finally release him from his pain. Either way, the vet doesn’t expect Hobie to be helped by the tablets for more than a few months. I am concerned about his quality of life, or lack of. I honestly can't remember when I last saw him wag his tail!

On the bright side, Tania is in the early stages of changing from a renter of property to an owner of property. She is negotiating a mortgage for the purchase of a nice apartment on the outskirts of Paris. My little girl's all growed up!

And the weather has been reasonably good to us for most of the week, too.

Have a good week.

À la prochaine

So the Astra went in for a service and all that stuff. They did a reasonable job except for a few things

1. After replacing the rear brake shoes, they tightened the wheel nuts so much that nothing I have will budge them. I just hope I never get a puncture on the road. If I do, I shall have to call for assistance to change the wheel. How humiliating is that?
2. They agreed that the exhaust needed changing, but suggested I go to the Opel dealer for it
3. They didn't change the oil filter, but suggested I go to the Opel dealer for it
4. They agreed that there was no gas pressure in the AC system, but suggested I go to the Opel dealer for it

We had to go for the contrôle technique pretty well no better prepared, except that the brake discs would not now be an issue. Astoundingly, on Wednesday afternoon, the Astra got through its test with only a couple of advisories. So that's that for a couple of years - apart from the jobs that we probably ought to get done fairly soon. They may not be bad enough to fail the test, but we want to be fairly safe on the road. Friday evening the darned thing started pouring smoke from under the bonnet! It doesn't look or smell like oil, and it looks to me as though it is emanating from the alternator. Not a happy car. The trouble is, I don't think I want to drive it for 35Kms to get it to Norauto. I think they should look at it - if it isn't something that was caused or aggravated by their service, it is certainly something they should have spotted!

My PC is no better - I'm not sure where the problem is now. Tuesday afternoon I got it to start but it then failed to recognise its disks and wouldn't let me into the BIOS to check it. I have checked the disks and they are both fine. I may need to go for a professional repair - once I have tried a few more things.

Friday morning the PC repair man came. Before he came I thought I would bring the PC, monitor, keyboard and mouse down to the dining table to make it easier for him. Having got them all down, I connected them up and pressed the start switch. It started perfectly. SH!T. That meant I would have to explain to him that I had called him in for nothing. We unplugged everything, took it back upstairs and plugged it together again. I pressed the start switch and...

Nothing.

For some reason I was pleased.

We tried various different power supply configurations, but still nothing.

The repair man arrived. I explained the symptoms, and that it had worked perfectly downstairs. We tried various tests, looked at various things and ended up, after two hours, taking it downstairs where I connected them up and pressed the start switch.

Nothing.

He has now bundled it up and taken it to his workshop from where he will email me with a repair estimate early next week with a view to returning it to me in working order by Wednesday. He did say that whatever he has to do it will be cheaper than replacing the computer!

In an email on Friday evening he gave his preliminary opinion that the power supply is too low rated for what I am doing (I seem to be pulling more than 350W through a 250W unit). He also said the mother board is grilled - if nothing else, it sounds healthier than saying it is fried!

The popularity of this blog is rising. Since making mention of the apparent scam by Mepco China a few weeks ago [link] the site has been visited more than eighty times by people searching for mepco china. I guess they had all been approached by that august organisation. Perhaps I should write to them and thank them for boosting my hits so much!

The weather was superb at the beginning of the week, although a jet fighter passed over quite low on Tuesday afternoon. Experience seems to show that after they pass over we get a thunderstorm. Do you suppose they are seeding the clouds?

We had the mother of all electric storms on Tuesday night. It went on for at least four hours with almost continuous high-level lightning with very little thunder - rather like the atmospheric disturbances science fiction film makers like to depict, when enormous flying saucers are about to appear (like when the big mothership appears above the crater in Close Encounters of the Third Kind). Additionally, looking through my not-very-large bedroom window from my bed at around 2am, I was seeing clear streaks of horizontal fork lightning about three times per minute!

Another fighter passed over very low just before lunch on Wednesday.

Mild thunderstorm Wednesday night.

No fighter Thursday.

No thunderstorm Thursday night.

Friday evening I went into the workshop to see how the young swallows are doing, only to see the five of them lined up along the top of the band saw. Immediately they saw me, four of them made for the door and one went to the closed window - I helped it to find the door, then went out to see the two parents shepherding them together whilst they made their maiden flight.

I also get my workshop back. Fabulous.


Here they are after they had fledged and come back to the nest for a breather.

I know that Clare's blog is the one that talks about the garden, but I couldn't resist an image of our first bit of fruit harvesting.


Have a good week.

À la prochaine