When Luck Runs Out...........

You may remember from my last post, that we had a problem with the electricity, and the fuse box etc ? Well, a couple of days after this, I switched the oven on, and it went 'BANG' - all the house blacked out, all the electricity went off !! Luckily, it is/was a double oven, so although the main oven was no longer working, the smaller one was. So I was still able to cook, although maybe a more limited menu - no large joints etc - but nevertheless, we weren't 'ovenless' totally.

We will never know whether the problems were related, but maybe we had had a power surge, and this had caused the fuses to blow and burn. This in turn, may have led to the limiter, not limiting anymore, and the surge continuing into the appliances. Anyway, whatever the cause, and I am no electrician, we had to cope as best as we could.

The problem was that the housing had been built around the oven, so we needed another of similar size of course. The choice here was very limited, and we even thought that maybe it would be better to change to a gas appliance to avoid the same issue again. This was even more limiting though, as we are not on mains gas, so needed a double oven that would run on LPG (bottled gas). All would have to wait for another trip back to the UK !

To be honest, this was a minor issue compared to the next problem. We were driving to a friends house, when a tractor pulled out of a side track, and hit us head on. In fact, we were pushed back about 15 metres. I tried desperately to reverse quick enough, but was in fact stationary when we were hit. The farmer just didn't look, and didn't even see us, even though I was tooting the horn, until he was nearly in the windscreen !!! Glad it was a Volvo at that point !!

All the farmer kept saying was 'I didn't see you.....I didn't look your way.....I looked left and you were on the right.....' He was an elderly man, and I suppose was as shocked as we were. Luckily a neighbour of his arrived, and helped us all with the necessary forms, but we had to arrange for the car to be uplifted and taken away, as it certainly wasn't drivable.

This was a big problem - not only were we now without a car, but I was booked to work again in the UK. We did have the small van, so weren't completely stuck, but it wasn't as reliable or comfortable. The insurance company were relatively quick in deciding the car was a write-off, but a little slower in agreeing a price, and even slower in paying out. Despite the fact that the car was in such good condition, and had been registered in France, the fact that it was a right hand drive, reduced the price - according to the Insurance company ! I was even cross that it had a full tank of fuel that we lost too !!

A nicer event was that we decided to ask a local farmer - not the same one as crashed into the car - to cut the back field, and bale the straw. It created over 400 bales, which we had to manually stack, and then he brought his trailer to help us move them under shelter. All this was manual work too - loading them onto the trailer, balancing while it moved along, then unloading them and stacking them into the barn ! Luckily, some friends helped, but it was very sweaty, thirsty, draining work - and straw scratches !! We were all left with wheals on our arms and faces - and Marie - Christine fell off the trailer at one point, so must have had other bruises too !!!

As I am now back and forth to the UK on such a regular basis, the time I have in France means that we have to concentrate on various jobs that need two people to complete, and we have to focus our time accordingly. Arthur needs his annual injections, chickens need to go to the abattoir etc. It means that there is little time to relax. There are fun times too - we try to go the the beach when we can, to unwind.

I get regular updates from Craig as to the progress and health of the animals of course - from the size of eggs they are producing to the number of yolks they contain !

My next trip back loomed, and we decided that the easiest way for me to travel would be to fly - so I went from Brest to Southampton, and then by train to my next job. To be honest, the journey wasn't too bad, considering I am used to the convenience of a car, and it is one that I would consider again.

The Start of a New Routine

Well, after all the excitement of three sets of visitors, it was quite nice to be on our own, and back to relative normality ! All the regular daily jobs had been completed of course, but the others had been left, so time to start again.

The huge pile of stones produced by the demolition of the wall between the kitchen and the utility room were itching to be used, so Craig took the opportunity to construct a wall at the side of the steps going into the back garden. It meant that they didn't have to be moved too far, which was a bonus of course. He also built some flower boxes and created a decked walkway, which will help in the winter with the mud and rain. It looks great.

There are jobs in any house that creep in to the schedule - the washing machine runs at night, on the cheaper electricity tariff, and one morning we woke to a puddle of water. The machine is now encased in a cupboard, so the down side is that it needed to be moved out, and the cupboard dismantled. This done, and after several expletive filled minutes, Craig discovered that it wasn't the machine at all, but a leak from the washbasin in the downstairs toilet ! So, there had been no need for all the de-construction !!

During one of the car journeys over the last few weeks, a stone hit and chipped the windscreen, so I started the unenviable process of trying to get it replaced. The paperwork here is never ending, and it took several days for the Insurance company to provide details of a local company to complete the work. The first lot of details given were for a garage that had closed down ! Eventually, a second company contacted me - I am used to the UK process, whereby a company will call at your house or place of work and replace the screen, often the same day. Here, I had to wait for a call, then take the car to the garage, so that they could arrange to order the correct screen. To us, it was an ordinary car - a Volvo C30. To the garage workers, it was a wonder - at one point, there were five mechanics standing around the car admiring it !!!!   Anyway, five days later, they rang me and asked if I could take it back again, as they had missed a vital measurement ! Just over a week later, I was able to take the car for the replacement, and it took all day !!!! I must admit, that they did a good job, and it was a genuine Volvo part, but the process in all took nearly three weeks !

We had a very good encounter with the electricity board, EDF, I am pleased to say. We had asked early on, for the meter etc, to be moved from the kitchen into the utility room, for aesthetic purposes. Although EDF agreed to change the meter for a more modern one, free of charge (the old one, was dated 1950, and was made of Bakelite), they wanted to charge to actually move it, so we kept it where it was, and Craig built a cupboard round it. However, at this point, they changed the meter, and the main phase switches, but not the incoming fuses - where the electricity actually comes into the house - this was still the original. Anyway, one night, we noticed a flickering of the lights, and sporadic cuts in power that lasted just seconds. Craig investigated, and the smell coming from the original part was awful - burning etc. So, we rang EDF, and a young man arrived within an hour, on a Friday night, at nearly 9pm. He was great, and he was even an Arsenal supporter, to Craig's delight. He changed the part, and everything was good, although we did keep the old part - melted, and smelly, so that we could just see how lucky we were, and what might have been. I was impressed with the service to be honest, and pleasantly surprised - especially after other encounters with service providers.

At this time too, I was preparing for my return to the UK for my first 'stint' at working, and leaving Craig here to run the show, care for all the animals, and carry on with the work. My time away went well, and we will continue with this, in order to stay here, as long as we need to. Of course, it is not ideal, but needs must, as they say.

There are bonuses to my trips back to the UK - shopping, the occasional visits to family etc, and there is always the excitement to see what Craig has managed to complete while I am away. Sometimes, he doesn't tell me what he has done, so that it is a surprise, and other times he shows me via the computer as a job progresses. We try to speak daily, but of course, I am working so it is not always easy.

This trip, Craig managed to fit an outside sink - which will save time and mess when giving water to the animals - no more traipsing into the house with muddy wellies....

And the biggest change, was at the side of the house, where originally Craig was going to render, but changed his mind and decided to slate...

I have no worries about the cleanliness of the house while I am away, as Craig keeps things ticking over nicely, and he keeps the washing up to date (maybe not the ironing), so I don't have loads to do when I get back. However, after between two and four weeks away, it is always very nice to be home.