More Unreliable French Deliveries and a Stroll into Town - Thursday 7 June, 2018


Nice mix of a day, today.

Got up at a reasonable hour (7:30 ish). Within an hour I’d chiselled another half of a floorboard and painted one side of a shutter. This was using the Dulux paint we’d tried to colour match with the existing Sikkens’ shade (as required by the local mairie). The match wasn’t perfect but I reckon it will be close enough – and one coat seems to do the job , which is just as well at, if I remember correctly, £26 a litre!

Multi-taking was the order of the day again and by 3:30 pm I’d done a side of a second shutter, chiselled a total of 2.5 floorboards (compared with 1.5 on Tuesday), fitted two smoke alarms and put a battery in the one existing one (French law requires one on each floor), fitted sash-jammers to the remaining French door and put a bolt on the interior door to the smaller garage.

A stroll into town along the banks of the Vexere
Then I treated myself to a stroll into town, along the banks of the RiverVezere, to see if I could find a sheet for the new bed. Unfortunately the shop I thought might sell sheets was, despite displayed opening times to the contrary, closed. I did spoil myself and have a petit biere blonde at a café in the Vieille Ville and then walked back through the Old Town. As I made my way through the narrow streets I saw this:


It roughly translates to say:



This is a slate barometer. If the slate is wet, it is raining. If the slate is dry, the weather is good. If the slate is white, it is snowing. If the slate is horizontal, it is very windy.

Now do you remember me saying that the bed I ordered from Amazon was scheduled for delivery on Wednesday and yet was delivered 4 days early on Saturday, and that the RCD from Amazon was early too? I had started to suspect that Amazon France’s delivery dates were  barely a guideline. Well, now I’m convinced. I ordered a Washing Machine earlier in the week. It was scheduled to be delivered between Thursday and Saturday, this week. I then had an email to say that there had been a delay clearing the payment and so the delivery was rescheduled to occur between Friday and Monday. This morning (Thursday) I had an email confirming the delivery would be Monday. Guess what turned up at 3 pm today? You guessed it. So whilst it is nice to have things arrive early – it is fortunate that I was at home on both occasions. So, another job I did today was plumbing in the washer. Finally, I painted the reverse of one of the shutters. 

6 pm and I’m pretty much done for the day, and early finish and yet lots accomplished – still the tip of the iceberg though.

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