Terrace well under way

In May we both got letters calling us up for health exams. This is part of a nation-wide program for people of all ages, involving a fairly thorough exam with follow-up doctor appointments. Our appointments were last Tuesday, and we went, completed forms in hand, carrying a breakfast snack, since we hadn't eaten for twelve hours. To start we took a number to line up for a little intake interview, then visited the central reception desk where you go between each stage. First up was urine and blood donations and back to the reception desk, where we were handed ... a coupon for breakfast. A regular French breakfast. Completely unexpected. Then back to reception where we were directed to waiting areas for EKG, then hearing tests, eye tests, and a dietician (who just recorded the information we'd completed on our forms, then printed out recommendations). Last we scheduled a doctor's visit for later this week to go over the results, which will also be sent to our family physician. It was all very well organized, except that there was no information telling you what would be happening, so we felt a bit like grade schoolers blindly following instructions.

Work on our terrace is largely finished. This involved leveling and compressing the soil, then adding gravel. We're waiting delivery of tiles to finish it off. It's fairly simple and cheap as terraces go, but should give us a nicer seating area. Adjacent to the terrace is a surface where we'll erect a garden shed (from a kit) to store wood and wood pellets. Here is the work before the gravel was added. The pile of wood under the blue tarp used to sit where the blue machine is; the machine is sitting where the shed will go.

Ed recently finished carrying our remaining fuel oil over to neighbors who have a fioul burner as backup heating.  Last week he took the ugly, old fioul tank, which stood near the front door, off to sell for scrap metal. We didn't make our fortunes there, just a bit of cash. The area in front of the gate was scraped and compacted with gray gravel that blends with what's been recently used to cover our neighbor's courtyard. With the fuel tank gone, we'll be able to plant some shrubs in front.

Hollande's party easily won a majority in parliament. Marine le Pen, leader of the right-wing fascist party, didn't get a seat. Ségolène Royal, the president of Poitou-Charentes, lost her bid for the seat from La Rochelle in a contest with a rogue socialist who was twitter-endorsed by Hollande's partner, contrary to the party line supporting Royal.

Our weather has turned really hot, in the mid 30sC today (that's low 90sF), and with high humidity which is unusual here. Nice weather for staying inside.