Today I shall be Mainly...

[Sue]

I certainly do need more than sun, of which we have actually had plenty today in the end. A nice positive outcome would be a definite trip home on the 16 th. We have decided that if we get a permit and there is no ferry we will fo the 7 hour drive to the tunnel, sleep in the car on arrival in the UK then drive home

We have had a good day, fired up the pizza oven had lunch outside and now chilling out , lazy Sunday comes to mind. Its needed. A tiring emotionally charged week

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[Big Kev]

That looks good, Sue.

[Stanley]

You've taken the words out of my mouth Kev and I love the standard of the brickwork! Is that the hand of Bob Sue?
Yesterday was eaten up by cooking but I have a clear run at the shed this morning!
Mick went for a long walk and left Susan with a fully charged set of hair clippers yesterday. She has solved her hair problems due to lockdown ! Makes me itch to do mine but I'll give it a bit longer before I go woodworking!



I know another young man who had his first hair cut yesterday....... It was so long he was pulling it so Muthomi decided a trim was needed!

[Sue]

Yes, Bobs handy work. Version 2, version one fell down just as he finished it and the whole thing had to be redesigned. I think you will find the reference to tge event somewhere on the site.

It was a lovely chill out day, no physical hard labour. A day to do something different and just enjoy ourselves. It was a beautiful day. Lunch in the garden was nearly 3.00 pm by the time the oven was up to temperature. We think the wood must have been a bit damp. My beautiful bread rolls that rose fantastically, were however a complete failure. We should have cooked them earlier and in the mouth of the oven. After only two minutes they were charred lumps, more like something I could have had in my art kit

We sipped wine, enjoyed the day and rounded it off with Bob putting in so e more railway track and I sorted out my watercolour paints to try and find the best ones for my ZOOM workshop on Saturday.

Today will be back to pilates and depending on how heavy tge showers are back to my fire in the incinerator or cutting out my dress . I keep my fingers crossed for post bringing clothes and knickers!

Think positive, stay cheerful, keep busy , stay safe and have the best day that you can

[plaques]

Yesterday was full of 'good ideas' all of which involved me in digging holes and replanting shrubs. Today will be a bit of strimming and preparation for pressure washing for when the rains come. Always easier after the slime has been softened with a bit of damp weather. Trying to ignore the ' I've been thinking' comments about some of the smaller trees. Some day I may actually get to sit down and just look at the garden.

[Big Kev]

I know another young man who had his first hair cut yesterday....... It was so long he was pulling it so Muthomi decided a trim was needed!

Far too cute...

[Big Kev]

trying to give away books...

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[Sue]

I am drenched, a shower it said. Oh I can have that garden fire said I. Well I stuck it out for two hours made a lot of progress, found some lost pruning secateurs buried in the heap of wood, but enough is enough. Time for a brew and a dry out

[Sue]

I have knickers and half my clothing order. Yes!

[Stanley]

Thank God for that Sue, I can rest easy at night now.....




I think an early doors trip to the Cathedral of choice is indicated. I need milk and a few odds and sods. There is an added attraction in that I think my friend Helen is back at work after a spell off sick.



Then a bit more work on the replacement crank to rectify my mistake.

[Sue]

Morning all. Hope you are all safe and well . I am a little late writing this morning.My battery didn’t charge, so I put my iPad back on charge this morning and read my book instead with my cuppa In bed.

I was going to carry on with the garden fire this morning but it has started to pour again. I got drenched yesterday afternoon but at least the pile of wood is looking smaller. About a quarter of the pile is left. The soil underneath in the compost is beautiful and spreads like a dream . Unfortunately the long range weather forecast is now rain for most of the next three weeks. I may not get it finished before we leave.I have also got towels to wash so its an indoor drying job.

I shall cut out my dress instead. I am pleased to report my undies fit and so do my yoga leggings. Amazon reports that it looks like everything else has got lost in transit. They were coming from Germany. I can have my money back. I will wait a few more days but with the weather forecast It doesn’t really matter now if they come or not.

I was doing yet more research yesterday about travel permits and eventually found just what we need. A section that says EU nationals can cross France to return to their country of origin provided they have evidence. Of course we will have passports and tickets. We will still need to fill in our permit to leave the house, we shall gave to be clever with the section we tick but will also add ‘returning to the UK’. We are now definitely decided if the ferry is cancelled we book the tunnel for the Monday. We shall drive the 7 hours to Calais then sleep in service areas in the car on the way home. Toilet stops may have to be ‘au nature ‘ and we shall carry all our own food and drinks ( water, fruit juice, flask of coffee) Once in the UK we will text our neighbours to say we re on the way. Did I tell you that Claire had an idea through a work contact. Anyway she has managed to get a promise of trying to help us deal with appropriate officialdom should our plans fail. We are confident, well 90 % confident they will work.

So today feeling a little happier and
Thinking positive, staying cheerful, keeping busy, staying safe and having the best day that I can.

[Stanley]

Glad you've found the get out of gaol free card Sue! Question is, why didn't the embassy know about it and inform you when first you asked?

[Cathy]

Sue, I have ‘everything crossed’ for you and Hubby . Best of Luck

[Sue]

Glad you've found the get out of gaol free card Sue! Question is, why didn't the embassy know about it and inform you when first you asked?

They haven’t replied to that question yet Stanley, only about how to get our medication, which we already knew anyway.

Thanks Cathy, yes finders crossed.

Its stopped raining its very windy and the sun is out for a few hours so trying to dry the towels outside and may try the garden fire.

[Sue]

Hmph! Reply from the Embassy was cut and paste from their web site with one personal paragraph. Nothing new there then.

‘While we appreciate you have contacted us directly to obtain a clear and prompt answer to your enquiry, you will need to contact the local French authorities for reassurance on how to fill in the document correctly, as they are the sole competent authorities who can help you.’


But no mention of who these french authorities are that we contact. Macron? Local Mayor ? Police ! . Another letter sent. The way things are going will just guess and do it ourselves

[PanBiker]

Just blag your way through Sue, looks like your only option. Just fill it in the best you can. What will they actually do if you rock up at the ferry or tunnel with your tickets etc? By the time you are there they would probably be glad to see the back of you rather than send you back across France for more incarceration.

[Stanley]

Roll on May 16th Sue!
I never got in the shed, domestic matters got in the way. I hope to do better today.

[Sue]

Just blag your way through Sue, looks like your only option. Just fill it in the best you can. What will they actually do if you rock up at the ferry or tunnel with your tickets etc? By the time you are there they would probably be glad to see the back of you rather than send you back across France for more incarceration.

Thats our philosophy but its getting there. How many times will be stopped to have our ambiguous paperwork checked, could end up missing the ferry! Will they turn us round, we think not but who knows. Something on the news yesterday said no more than 100 km travel then only for professional reasons or family emergency, but is that just internal travel.
We shall print off the statement I found, hopefully I can find it in french, and staple it to our travel permit.

Its a wet day today, and chilly. Its a sewing and cleaning day I think. Bob is off to the shops at some point. Yesterday brightened up in the afternoon so I managed another couple of hours on the garden fire. Having dragged the compost on to the grass around we now have a large damp soil area. We feel that a large piece of cardboard may fall on to it at the weekend and the rest of the pike of wood may in turn fall on to that. There is a very high chance indeed that a spark may fly out of the little incinerator and ignite the pile of wood on the cardboard . That gives us time for it to cool, get raked over and re seeded whilst its growing weather. Other grass seed is now doing well .

The next week is going to need some very creative thought on activities for me, it is going to rain every day. An opportunity to start the big clean before we go home.

On that positive note

Stay well all of you.

Think positive, stay cheerful , keep busy and have as good a day as you can

[Stanley]

Morning Sue, I like your positive attitude towards accidental fire! I doubt if anyone is going to pounce on you...
I have had over an hour and a half in the shed and made progress, shaping the crank freehand. That means it's not perfectly symmetrical but it's accurate and functional! I'll post that in shed matters.
One thing that happened is worth reporting. I decided that now I have 4 high output LED lamps in the shed it would be a good idea to clean the two tubes in the one light that we left in because it is in just the right place over the surface plates where I do so much close work. I got them out and into the kitchen and started giving the first one a good clean, it was filthy! It was also 5ft long and I managed to catch the other one that was laid on the adjoining surface. The first I knew was the sound of it ringing like a bell as it hit the floor. They are those very slim tubes and I expected it to break but it didn't, it bounced! As father used to say there is a providence that looks after drunken men and idiots! Mugs for Luck!

[plaques]

Cold and damp outside, all set for a bit of pressure washing. A stone paved path about 30 mt long. It gets so slippery that you daren't walk on it. Shouldn't take long he says with tongue in cheek.

[Stanley]

Algae on stone paths can be deadly P. I find a weak solution of black disinfectant holds it at bay.



Nice morning in the shed yesterday. I am aiming to get in there again this morning. Apart from that it's the same lockdown routine, get plenty of exercise in but avoid everybody as much as possible! I'd better get used to it, this is going to be the rule for a long time yet.

[Sue]

Morning all, hope you are all still keeping well and busy.

Well Amazon has told me that the rest of my order, ie T shirts and cotton trousers, are officially lost and I have my money back ! I don’t need them anyway the weather is cool and wet and I am back into jeans and T shirts.

Yesterday I filled the day making a summer maxi dress, with the fabric and pattern I managed to source from the UK. I had to make a size smaller than I would normally. Both Bob and I have lost 3 kilos in weight. I hate to think about the fit of the dreaded yellow top when we get home. In the afternoon, at the suggestion from the embassy ( the only way they have helped) I went to a local pharmacists to try and get the medication that is running low. It was my first trip beyond the garden gate in about 7 weeks. What a lovely helpful man. He didn’t speak a word of English and struggled to say words like ROCHDALE, SHAWCLOUGH, RHODES ( my GP) and my own surname. There was no problem with SUSANNE ( my Sunday name ) i had a copy of my prescription with me, I always carry it when we go away. Anyway it had LANCS on tge address. Where is Lancs, I was asked. I explained ot was Lancashire but my address was really Greater Manchester. Ah ‘United,’ was the reply.

Anyway, he only had one of the tablets. After a great deal of research, online, by telephone and in the french drugs book he announced the french didn’t do the other. I agreed to contact my GP to get a name for a suitable alternative and was told he could email the prescription to the pharmacist direct. I wish I had known that at the beginning of March.

Today I shall dash into the orchard between showers and tidy up the garden incinerator. Then todays task is to start the big clean before we go home. I shall clean the laundry room which is also our storeroom for bulk bought stuff and garden furniture. Bob is busy lining the walls of the grain store, now my art room, and finishing off the railway.

Think positive, stay cheerful, keep busy and have the best day that you can.

[Stanley]

Morning Sue, At least you are making progress on the tablets! I hope it works and the GP can send the prescription by email. I am still looking forwards to your diary!
I have been in the shed for almost two hours and got good things done with no cock-ups. I'll post in Shed Matters when we have had our walk. (The sun is shining at the moment but it's breezy and cool.)

[plaques]

Bitterly cold day yesterday. Pressure washing was a pain. A cold wind directly in my face not to mention the muck thrown up from the back spray.
Having got through the 'good ideas', 'I've been thinking' we are now onto 'while you're at it'. Anything is better than weeding.
A word of warning if anybody is thinking of planting some Houttuynia cordata, or chameleon plant, an attractive multi coloured broad leaf with a while spike of a flower. FORGET IT. They are terribly invasive and impossible to kill once they become established. Chameleon

[Sue]

What a day, during my one hour pilates session which I started with the lights on because it was so dark, it has hailed, sleeted, rained, got brighter ( turned off lights) , windy, rain, sun, sleet and now thunder and lightening. Now thats the weather we expect in Brittany in April