The rest of June

The month started with a our nice trip to Saumur and then settled into a normal sort of summer routine. There have been the usual sort of choir rehearsals, one choir performance, assorted doctor checkups, a game of boules, plus outings to see local bands, eat at a marché des producteurs, and attend a fête in our commune. Kaye's camera has been on strike since the balloon trip, so we don't have much in the way of pictures to share for these activities.

We had our fosse emptied and arranged that the truck went to neighbors about a kilometer away to empty their fosse also. While our fosse was being pumped out, a close-by neighbor came out and asked them to do her fosse also. We didn't notice they gave us a big discount for all this, but it was cheaper than last time.

There is a large English-speaking population in the Charente, and a push everywhere to make life easier for them. Our local grocery store, Leclerc, has added English to the signs describing what's on each aisle. The intention is good, but the execution is a bit weak. Here we have a sign telling you where to find "pate" and "crips"; that should be "pasta" and "crisps". (Crisps is British English for chips; chips are French fries. Confused?)

In the last few days we're getting started on a major heat wave (canicule). Temperatures will be pushing 100F in the next days. Not looking forward to it.

Our electricity went off in the middle of the washing and dishwasher cycles last night. (Remember we have cheaper electricity at night.) One way we noticed was that our bedroom fan stopped working and it got a bit warm in there. Ed discovered in the course of the morning that our washing machine seems to have a short. Since we've had the machine over ten years and it was used when we got it, we figured it's time for a new one. No more clean clothes for a week or two, then the new machine will be doing overtime.