Hopefully a nice quiet harmonious day on the farm today. Do the Lodge roof this morning and plant everything (Suzanne has summoned us all) in the afternoon. Jean Christophe has rotivated/ploughed the garden 3 times (doesn't sound very perma-culturey) and it's ready for spuds et al. And I can admire Daniel's compost bins.
The smoke alarm went off 3 times yesterday, for no apparent reason. The gas was on so it may just have been the hot air from the flame. Reset it and it shut up, so it works, and too sensitive is better than not. Makes a very loud noise for such a tiny thing. Looked at monox detectors yesterday in Leclerc (should have checked in Leroy) and Narbonne, both very expensive - nearly 50€. Narbonne's checked for all gases without specifying which on the package. Don't think it's really an issue at the moment, since all the windows are open all day.
There may be another 'discussion' this morning about the Costaloada bill - 220 € for mostly paint and other bits for the downstairs bathroom. Andrew asked me to check with him if the bill was more than 70, whichI forgot to do (he wasn't picking up anyway, didn't have it with him, I could have fibbed but I only rang him to ask him about the aircon unit I found for 90 €, which didn't specify how much air conning it could actually do). Anyway Jean Christophe said we couldn't remove the pipes because there might be water in them (I wasn't going to answer, but this is a fairly basic plumbing problem) and anyway the whole place is going to be gutted in a year, which makes spending 110 € on paint seem a bit of a waste. Rebecca will no doubt be cross, and Andrew will (try to) be bossy. I'd prefer not to raise the issue.
The bell's just rung. Try and get to the loo before meditation.
The radio says they are grèving again, or talking about it with the Ministress of Transport anyway. It's funny how we used to be the 'sick man of Europe' - but it was a very long time ago, nearly 40 years, and nobody really remembers apart from a few old Thatcherites and the Spectator trolls. Did we call 1979 'the winter of discontent'? A very mild Shakespearean reference for it if we did.
I can move the shower light (never used) which works and has a switch, to the kitchen. Be fun to try and make my own. Search for 12-volt light fittings on the web (and kettles and fridges).
J-C and my 'cave'. He was whipper snapping all over the place yesterday and strimmed round my caravan, so he was chortling about finding my 'cave' - I've stashed all my NA beer under the caravan - it's colder there than in the fridge (or it was). I was very insistent it was sans alcool - don't mind what J-C thinks but I don't want Andrew thinking I have a secret booze stash.
Supermarkets = Facebook. Or Facebook works on the same principle as supermarkets. Keep luring the punters in, confuse and distract us when we are inside, the bigger the better - Super-U and Leclerc and Auchan would like to be infinite (in Poitiers they almost are).
They work the same way (lose you and keep you there for as long as poss, moving things around and mixing them up). They are very consciousness lowering. Dealing with the gaz man at Leclerc (separate, outside the shop) was much nicer - ditto the nice woman at Royelec, even the grumpy stupid sod at Narbonne - human beings, care about their job, know what they're doing. The staff inside the shops are often just fed up and stupid and very hard to find. I would much prefer online shopping for the commodity crap (e.g loo paper and vacuum bags) and market shopping for fresh food, and (not so little) specialists like Royelec, or the paint shop I found on the Croutelle ZI, or the Bricos in Vivonne, or the Motoculture. All human, small scale.
I didn't mind the CoOp, in Fram, but then it was full of my friends, and I knew where everything was. I definitely feel worse after every visit to the Supers here. The language, which I love anywhere else, just increases the feeling of alienation.
buying bio/organic at 2 / 3 times price with donations from people who may not be able to afford bio, or may give up bio to support us. discuss.
Bonnevaux tap water cleans my water jerry can (always went mouldy on Church Farm)
Lavazza mattino much milder than rossa. funny that I even notice. Perfectly nice, just not as roasted / bitter.
spent all morning med thinking about what i wanted to 'share' at 9, which is a bit silly. mostly a lecture about shopping. and morning silence. and turning up for med on time. I was late this morning. ha.
time for porridge. I've worked out quantities and method now - works a treat.
I bought a big pack of blue tack at Felicity's, can't remember why, and it seemed a bit silly (what am I going to do with this?), but I'm using it all the time (just stuck up my shopping list above the sink). Doesn't work on my kitchen light unfortunately! not for long anyway.
5 mins Debussy. 10 mins rabbit (France Musique).
I shared about supermarkets and facebook. Rebecca got it. Linked In says Retailpocalypse is coming soon. I'm either a prophet or magician or God. Or just awake. And also about expensive bio vs cheap ordinary (respect for our impoverished supporters) - actually Rebecca was very good. Local and no plastic more important. Some things bio are really good e.g. carrots. Use the local market. Grow our own! She said she'd slept better, and is a different person. Which is nice.
Rebecca having a cheerful moan about Andrew not doing the cleaning / cooking and she's right. He may be stressed, but he doesn't do a lot and expects his Edspace etc He's in domestic bliss while all we slaves live in shit. Exaggeration, but a kernel there. He gets a loo roll holder, and we have an unpainted bathroom filled with rusty pipes.
Dibbed about then went down to the Lodge and pulled the rest of the rotten ceiling boards and removed 4 or 5 rotten tie beams - check technical name. No problem except a nasty scratch on my hand from a large rusty nail. Washed wound and sprayed antiseptic on it. What with the Weils, Lyme and tetanus, plus poisoning from the undrinkable tap water I'll be lucky to see out the summer. Meditated at the Lodge and finished off and came back for a late lunch. Contemplated a dip in the lake to wash all the crap off. Nice soup and pumpernickel. Andrew being phone foolish again. I rang the Bonnevaux Phone to ask someone to keep some lunch for me, he answered and said he could not do anything because he was in an important meeting (upstairs from the kitchen!) with the French Committee on Skype. SO leave the phone with someone who can actually do something! Make a proposal as Fire Safety Officer that thee phone is always on, on site, and with someone who can take messages, answer questions and do stuff (and who checks the voicemail and text messages while they're at it. Decide who at morning meeting - someone who is going to be around all day.
I'm late for the big garden - Suzanne wanted us all assembled at 2.30. Rebecca is doing my sheets. Andrew has run off to town (why? he knew Suzanne wanted all hands to work in the garden. And he went in to town this morning as well - he did get me some Golden Virginia).
J-C says all the rabbits have been wiped out for 10-15 years by mixy. Hares are OK and protected. Strange the rabbits haven't recovered like they did in England.
If I decide (and am allowed) to stay, I shall move my woodburner and PV kit down to the Lodge and live there, or in the little cellule in the garden (think it must have been a logshed, or perhaps a shepherd's bothy. Just big enough for a bed with a small window and a south facing door). Andrew says he's running a mental hospital and just has to keep looking for beds for all of us, so that's a problem solved.
J-C had a good idea for the ceiling and roof beams - use the fallen cedars, or the planks and stuff that will be coming out of the big barn when they start on that. He said we'll have to move all the rotten wood - not allowed to set fires in the open.
The fridge is now so cold it's frozen my Kronenbourg solid and blown off the top. Still tastes crap. Mmmmm choc ices . . . and I've found a good use for my crap panniers - carrying tools and rubbish around on the bike.
Planted potatoes in our amazing vegetable garden created by Suzanne which is frighteningly huge - all of us out digging and hoeing away together, then I came in to prepare delicious dinner for seven - a very tasty dahl, fried potatoes and mushrooms and a nice salad. Nothing left. Then Daniel's lovely French rice pudding for afters.
and so to bed, on clean sheets and pillow cases (Rebecca did a whites wash).
The smoke alarm went off 3 times yesterday, for no apparent reason. The gas was on so it may just have been the hot air from the flame. Reset it and it shut up, so it works, and too sensitive is better than not. Makes a very loud noise for such a tiny thing. Looked at monox detectors yesterday in Leclerc (should have checked in Leroy) and Narbonne, both very expensive - nearly 50€. Narbonne's checked for all gases without specifying which on the package. Don't think it's really an issue at the moment, since all the windows are open all day.
There may be another 'discussion' this morning about the Costaloada bill - 220 € for mostly paint and other bits for the downstairs bathroom. Andrew asked me to check with him if the bill was more than 70, whichI forgot to do (he wasn't picking up anyway, didn't have it with him, I could have fibbed but I only rang him to ask him about the aircon unit I found for 90 €, which didn't specify how much air conning it could actually do). Anyway Jean Christophe said we couldn't remove the pipes because there might be water in them (I wasn't going to answer, but this is a fairly basic plumbing problem) and anyway the whole place is going to be gutted in a year, which makes spending 110 € on paint seem a bit of a waste. Rebecca will no doubt be cross, and Andrew will (try to) be bossy. I'd prefer not to raise the issue.
The bell's just rung. Try and get to the loo before meditation.
The radio says they are grèving again, or talking about it with the Ministress of Transport anyway. It's funny how we used to be the 'sick man of Europe' - but it was a very long time ago, nearly 40 years, and nobody really remembers apart from a few old Thatcherites and the Spectator trolls. Did we call 1979 'the winter of discontent'? A very mild Shakespearean reference for it if we did.
I can move the shower light (never used) which works and has a switch, to the kitchen. Be fun to try and make my own. Search for 12-volt light fittings on the web (and kettles and fridges).
J-C and my 'cave'. He was whipper snapping all over the place yesterday and strimmed round my caravan, so he was chortling about finding my 'cave' - I've stashed all my NA beer under the caravan - it's colder there than in the fridge (or it was). I was very insistent it was sans alcool - don't mind what J-C thinks but I don't want Andrew thinking I have a secret booze stash.
Supermarkets = Facebook. Or Facebook works on the same principle as supermarkets. Keep luring the punters in, confuse and distract us when we are inside, the bigger the better - Super-U and Leclerc and Auchan would like to be infinite (in Poitiers they almost are).
They work the same way (lose you and keep you there for as long as poss, moving things around and mixing them up). They are very consciousness lowering. Dealing with the gaz man at Leclerc (separate, outside the shop) was much nicer - ditto the nice woman at Royelec, even the grumpy stupid sod at Narbonne - human beings, care about their job, know what they're doing. The staff inside the shops are often just fed up and stupid and very hard to find. I would much prefer online shopping for the commodity crap (e.g loo paper and vacuum bags) and market shopping for fresh food, and (not so little) specialists like Royelec, or the paint shop I found on the Croutelle ZI, or the Bricos in Vivonne, or the Motoculture. All human, small scale.
I didn't mind the CoOp, in Fram, but then it was full of my friends, and I knew where everything was. I definitely feel worse after every visit to the Supers here. The language, which I love anywhere else, just increases the feeling of alienation.
buying bio/organic at 2 / 3 times price with donations from people who may not be able to afford bio, or may give up bio to support us. discuss.
Bonnevaux tap water cleans my water jerry can (always went mouldy on Church Farm)
Lavazza mattino much milder than rossa. funny that I even notice. Perfectly nice, just not as roasted / bitter.
spent all morning med thinking about what i wanted to 'share' at 9, which is a bit silly. mostly a lecture about shopping. and morning silence. and turning up for med on time. I was late this morning. ha.
time for porridge. I've worked out quantities and method now - works a treat.
I bought a big pack of blue tack at Felicity's, can't remember why, and it seemed a bit silly (what am I going to do with this?), but I'm using it all the time (just stuck up my shopping list above the sink). Doesn't work on my kitchen light unfortunately! not for long anyway.
5 mins Debussy. 10 mins rabbit (France Musique).
I shared about supermarkets and facebook. Rebecca got it. Linked In says Retailpocalypse is coming soon. I'm either a prophet or magician or God. Or just awake. And also about expensive bio vs cheap ordinary (respect for our impoverished supporters) - actually Rebecca was very good. Local and no plastic more important. Some things bio are really good e.g. carrots. Use the local market. Grow our own! She said she'd slept better, and is a different person. Which is nice.
Rebecca having a cheerful moan about Andrew not doing the cleaning / cooking and she's right. He may be stressed, but he doesn't do a lot and expects his Edspace etc He's in domestic bliss while all we slaves live in shit. Exaggeration, but a kernel there. He gets a loo roll holder, and we have an unpainted bathroom filled with rusty pipes.
Dibbed about then went down to the Lodge and pulled the rest of the rotten ceiling boards and removed 4 or 5 rotten tie beams - check technical name. No problem except a nasty scratch on my hand from a large rusty nail. Washed wound and sprayed antiseptic on it. What with the Weils, Lyme and tetanus, plus poisoning from the undrinkable tap water I'll be lucky to see out the summer. Meditated at the Lodge and finished off and came back for a late lunch. Contemplated a dip in the lake to wash all the crap off. Nice soup and pumpernickel. Andrew being phone foolish again. I rang the Bonnevaux Phone to ask someone to keep some lunch for me, he answered and said he could not do anything because he was in an important meeting (upstairs from the kitchen!) with the French Committee on Skype. SO leave the phone with someone who can actually do something! Make a proposal as Fire Safety Officer that thee phone is always on, on site, and with someone who can take messages, answer questions and do stuff (and who checks the voicemail and text messages while they're at it. Decide who at morning meeting - someone who is going to be around all day.
I'm late for the big garden - Suzanne wanted us all assembled at 2.30. Rebecca is doing my sheets. Andrew has run off to town (why? he knew Suzanne wanted all hands to work in the garden. And he went in to town this morning as well - he did get me some Golden Virginia).
J-C says all the rabbits have been wiped out for 10-15 years by mixy. Hares are OK and protected. Strange the rabbits haven't recovered like they did in England.
If I decide (and am allowed) to stay, I shall move my woodburner and PV kit down to the Lodge and live there, or in the little cellule in the garden (think it must have been a logshed, or perhaps a shepherd's bothy. Just big enough for a bed with a small window and a south facing door). Andrew says he's running a mental hospital and just has to keep looking for beds for all of us, so that's a problem solved.
J-C had a good idea for the ceiling and roof beams - use the fallen cedars, or the planks and stuff that will be coming out of the big barn when they start on that. He said we'll have to move all the rotten wood - not allowed to set fires in the open.
The fridge is now so cold it's frozen my Kronenbourg solid and blown off the top. Still tastes crap. Mmmmm choc ices . . . and I've found a good use for my crap panniers - carrying tools and rubbish around on the bike.
Planted potatoes in our amazing vegetable garden created by Suzanne which is frighteningly huge - all of us out digging and hoeing away together, then I came in to prepare delicious dinner for seven - a very tasty dahl, fried potatoes and mushrooms and a nice salad. Nothing left. Then Daniel's lovely French rice pudding for afters.
and so to bed, on clean sheets and pillow cases (Rebecca did a whites wash).
Comments
Post a Comment
Say anything you like. I do.