La Bloggerie

Another beautiful, warm and sunny day.  Can this really herald the arrival of summer, because we haven’t had spring yet?

The temperature in the shade must have been up around 16, but in the sun it has been about twice that.

We know from experience, however, that a warm spell early in February can often be replaced by a sharp reminder.  But we are only a few days from the end of the month and there is no let-up forecast. 

We’ve had the snow, the storms and the flood, perhaps 2009 will also bring a hot summer.

We can get pretty much all we need here in the shops in Chalais, and for the rest we can go to Angoulême or Bordeaux.  But just occasionally we buy things from the UK over the internet.

This week we have had two very different experiences.  First, with Topshop, who failed miserably to complete our order, despite three separate attempts.  The first order was cancelled without our knowledge.  A telephone call was made and the order placed again.  This second order was also cancelled. On the third attempt the order was placed over the phone and was confirmed as having gone through.  Sure enough, the next day the order was cancelled by Topshop. 

This lead to another phone call where no one could tell me why any one of the orders had failed. I was promised that I would be contacted the following day with a full explanation, but it comes as no surprise that I am still waiting 3 days later.

My second online shopping spree was with a company on ebay.  I bought a drill from a company in Essex around lunchtime on Tuesday.  It arrived here first thing on Friday morning.

 So take a bow Marshall and Parsons of Leigh on Sea.  If they can do it why can’t Topshop?  Let’s hope this recession will see the demise of companies that can’t be bothered.  And may Topshop be one of the first to go under.

A few photos of the changes being made to the side of the main house.  The wall should help to divert any future flooding away from the house.  The new gates are what we have been wanting to add ever since we came here.

The flooding may only have lasted 36 hours or so, but it has taken us the best part of a week to clear up.

Fortunately there was no real damage done and the garden looks as though nothing happened, unless you notice the piles of logs that are there no more.  More disappointing was the loss of two very comfortable recliner garden chairs that by now will be down near Bordeaux.

The mud that was washed out of the river and dumped at the front of the house is a particularly slimey clay and is sitting in sharp contrast with the beautifully washed gravel that marks the route the water took.

To try to prevent a repeat we have decided to build a low wall alongside the stream at the point where it first burst its banks. The aim is to divert any future flooding away from the front of the house.  It’s not a perfect solution, but it will at least give us longer to place sandbags at strategic points.

As for the weather, we have gone from one extreme to the other, and have now had 3 days of beautiful warm sunshine with temperatures up to 16 degrees.  And with news reports of the UK grinding to a halt under inches of snow, we have had rather smug grins on our faces as we sit outside in t-shirts drinking our coffee.