After the last post we've had couple more snowstorms, lots of rain and also some freak warm weather. But now it is getting steadily warmer every day (as it should!) and the sun is becoming more of a permanent feature on the sky. Hopefully we've had the last of the frosts as well. I sure hope so because I've started sowing seeds in the garden already and I wouldn't want to lose them. Remembering the May 5th last year (the day we moved in and it was snowing!) gets me a bit nervous but hey, we gardeners are a hopeful lot.
And then came the coronavirus. Well well, that has thrown the spanner in the works, hasn't it? The world has ground to a halt and it all is very strange and a bit scary too. The confinement hasn't really affected our day-to-day life. We are incredibly lucky to live in a place now, where we can go outside in the garden and the forest whenever we want, and do the things we would normally do. We only venture out into the 'civilization' to do the shopping when absolutely necessary, with the government-approved document (printed or copied by hand) to explain the necessity of one's outing, bien sure. Here in France, sans le document, you get fined 135 euros, which should encourage people to think carefully about their movements.
But even more so, reagarding this highly infectious and dangerous virus, it is astounding that so many people (all over the world) are still out and about, carrying on as they please, like nothing has changed. Just watching the evening news one time shows that everything has changed. And much has been revealed. Now we all know who the really important people are, who keep our societies running, cared and safe.
On a more positive note, before the spring really got going, we had couple more snowy days which I love. Mon Cheri sat inside, next to the fire, with the cat and complained that he'd never been so cold in his life. Little did he know he would soon come to realize the real meaning of cold...
But anyway, before I'll get to that, here's a few lovely, snowy pictures.
I managed to make another bonhomme de neige which lasted exactly for one day.
A few weeks before the c-virus really kicked in, we had a small episode of 'excitement' with the car. We went to the petrol station and Mon Cheri put the fuel in. Great, I thought, since normally I have to do it. Except that out of the habit he put in the same stuff he puts in his scooter. And we have a diesel car. Oops, big big mistake. He didn't realise this until we were nearly home and the car started behaving strangely. Apparently petrol in a diesel car can totally f**k up your car's engine and why it didn't do that to our car is anybody's guess. Safely at home, he called immediately his dad (engine maestro and currently holidaying in Morocco) to get instructions how to deal with this tricky situation.
And then to work; we borrowed some large containers from the neighbour and siphoned out as much of the petrol from the tank as possible. After that Mon Cheri jumped on his scooter with another container and drove back to the nearest town to buy some DIESEL. With a 25 litre petrol can he had to do three trips, since we had managed to practically empty the tank. And now with almost a full tank of diesel again, the car should be ok. But we were not out of the woods yet. There was still the filter to remove and to clean of all trace of petrol. Once we opened the bonnet and managed to locate the filter, we (i.e. Mon Cheri) couldn't open it. Despite several instructive youtube-videos, phoning a friend (papa), brute force and all, no joy. Next day he tried again and managed to remove the whole thing but accidentally broke one of those pipe-thingys sticking out to the side. Grrrr.... So off he was again on his scooter, to buy another filter with its casing.
Finally, with some difficulty, the filter was back in its place, tank full of diesel and miracle of miracles, the car was saved. Phew! I don't even want to think what our life here would have been like without a car.
And soon after that saga was over, it was time for Mon Cheri to go to Montpellier for his six-month check-up at the hospital. He decided to go a bit earlier to see his friends and enjoy the warmer and sunnier weather. I would join him later on for couple of days. He wanted to have a bit of an adventure, so he set off on his dear scooter. Yep. 200 kilometres. On scooter. Now you know who is the real 'coucou' in this family.
All went relatively well if we don't count him getting lost a couple of times and other such trivia. But...couple days after that, the whole country was confined to their houses due to the c-virus, all hospital appointments cancelled and Mon Cheri practically stuck in his dad's house. Alone and with nothing to do, he decided to come back home (and for medical reasons as well, since we didn't know how long this confinement was going to last), driving by night, when there would be almost no other traffic, what with the confinement and all. And right at the beginning, following the small roads, he got lost again (yeah, it is really confusing down south, all those little roads), many times. Once he finally found the right roads, he lost his food bag somewhere along the route. Having also lost lot of time and being exhausted, he tried to sleep a little. He did have a sleeping bag to crawl into and some warm clothes but even with all that, he got to know finally the true meaning of cold. It was a middle of March anyway.
Next morning he continued his tiring journey and after several hours of driving he took a little nap by the side of the road, only to be awaken by the police. They just wanted to make sure he was ok and bien sure, to check his attestation, the document to state his reason for being on the road. Luckily Mon Cheri had prepared this document earlier and satisfied that he had an approved reason, the police waved him goodbye. Few more hours on the empty roads and finally he made it home, totally exhausted but happy. Well, I'm ready for some boring, quiet life now, thanks very much!
Aaaaanyway, here's a photo of our lovely new lean-to for logs that Mon Cheri built (after several days of rest). All recycled material.
And I finally managed to finish this puzzle, that I already started once couple of years ago but stopped because it was just too tricky. I have re-done all my 8 puzzles and had to go and buy few more.
Now that the weather has warmed up, I can finally get stuck into gardening. Making the road-side wall a bit prettier by moving some succulents here.
I sowed the first seeds about a week ago and the first tomatoes are already coming up! Wow, I need to get Mon Cheri to finish up the extention of the greenhouse soon, if these guys keep growing like this. And there's always something to do in the garden, it's a never-ending work site.
I also bought some extra toilet paper for extracurricular activities! Stay safe and stay at home everybody!
