Not a terribly exciting week for anyone outside the Ferreira household, but a fairly productive
one for the ones in the French household. For the men in my world it was a week
of tearing a car to bits and putting it back together again without having any
pieces left over. In fact there were quite a few pieces left over as old parts
were replaced with new; manually operated windows were converted to electric; a
central locking system was installed and a very hi-tec radio cum navigation
system was slotted into a space in the dashboard. At one stage I poked my head
into the front of the car to see what was going on and had only one word for
what I saw – Aaargh!! Had that been my car in the local garage for repairs, I think
I would just fainted on the spot, but the men were not a bit fazed. The two of
them sat side by side in the front seats muttering things like ‘ Blue goes to
blue, Brown goes to black, yellow and green goes to green’ as they matched up a
hundred different wires. As the days passed, more and more things were
installed or attached and the pile of empty cartons for recycling grew larger
and larger. Finally the day came when the dashboard had to be refitted and the
new maze of wires had to be squeezed in behind, which took a few tries, but in
the end, it all went in and the testing could start. I can’t honestly say there
was great jubilation, but there was definitely an air of quiet pride about both
of the mechanics as, one by one, all the new systems worked. There were a
couple of minor glitches like, perhaps, when the ignition was switched on and
the hooter blew or when the central locking wouldn’t unlock again but these
were very small problems and were quickly sorted.
Meanwhile I sat at the study window looking out at all this activity,
rather like the Lady of Shalott or some other mediaeval lady, doing my embroidery.
When the chilly wind was blowing, it was very pleasant sitting in the sun and
sewing, but on the warmer days I could open the windows wide and chat to the
workmen outside. The end result was that I have now completed two of the four
stitch charts which make up the complete cross-stitch picture. At this rate, I
might even finish the whole thing before the end of the holiday…… but I hope
not.
Driving back home again this afternoon after an extremely leisurely
lunch, we had a wonderfully clear view of the Pyrenees in their blanket of
snow. This makes for good sight-seeing but according to local legend, if one
can see the mountains, then it is going to rain within the next four days. We
actually saw the mountains on Thursday and it poured with rain that night so
perhaps there is some truth in the story. We still have to test it again!
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