Now for the serious fosse business

This week started with a visit from the fosse septique inspector. (Last week we had it emptied.) All the fosses in France are being inspected to insure that they meet a certain standard. And, of course, older ones, which might be a bit home-made, are also not likely to pass. And ours didn't. The pre-treatment part is OK, but we have no idea where the treatment area is or how it's constructed. And the mandatory regardes (a place to peer into the works) are not present. We must try try to contact the previous owner to see if he can provide more information. In any case, it's likely that we'll have some expense in bringing it up to standard.

Wednesday we went to a charity resale shop in Angoulême and found ourselves a new dining table. Its top needs a light refinishing, but we are nevertheless quite pleased with it. It replaces the narrow gateleg table we've had and disliked since the late '70s.

Folks who have visited in the last years may remember the tall, narrow towel cabinet that stood in the bathroom. (This was among a truckload of furniture we bought from a colleague who was returning to Canada; this stuff was about all the furniture we had here until we moved and then our own stuff arrived.) It stood in the bathroom, first next to the bidet, and, when the bidet was removed to make room for the freezer, in the small room with the toilet, making that space a bit claustrophobic. Recently Ed replaced the cabinet over the washing machine and modified the (vertical) towel cabinet to hang horizontally and fill the space over the freezer.

Looks quite good we think. Ed did a nice job of recycling.

Saturday evening we went to the café/bar in Montemboeuf to hear a local band (mostly expats) perform. The café is starting to offer free concerts occasionally and we hope they keep it up. It was a nice atmosphere, with expats and locals in attendance. And with dancing drunks and lots of conviviality.

The weather continues hot and dry. Rain is forecast daily for the next week or so, but we get just a few drops and that's it. Grass is dying, ground is hard. Farmers are really having a hard time.