France 2013 Chapter 4

 

 

If last week was somewhat dull, we certainly got a wake-up call this week. On Monday we looked at the garden and suddenly realised that a lot of trees had come into blossom, the daffodils in the bed in the front garden were standing up proudly and there were white daisies popping through the grass all over the place. As I thought the day would stay clear, which it didn’t, I had delayed taking any pictures of the lovely sunny day and the pretty blossoms, so had to wait until Tuesday, when the sun once again obliged. It all looked very beautiful and definitely Spring-like. What a shock then, to wake up on Wednesday to a completely white and silent world! I ran from window to window taking dozens of photographs before diving back into bed. (Pieter finally woke at ten o’clock complaining that someone had covered the skylight in his room with cotton-wool which made it dark). By now the Land Rover was mobile again so we piled into it and turned the heater up to ‘Very Hot’ and went for a drive through the snowy countryside. I’m sure that the locals who have seen all this a hundred times find snow a nuisance, and a mess when it starts to melt, but for us it was a beautiful novelty. It wasn’t a heavy fall, not more than about ten centimetres, but it was enough to completely change our surroundings. And so quiet!

There was no work done on the Landy that day and we spent it lazing around and playing Scrabble. That’s my kind of day! Next day though, it was back to work and bits and pieces were taken off or out of the car and brought indoors to be worked on. We are still waiting for the last two deliveries of parts but to date, this is what has been achieved – without the benefit of a workshop or even a shelter, and with very few special tools.

Checker plate applied to bonnet, mud guards and various other areas of the exterior.

Mud flaps fitted

Side steps fitted

Window mechanism converted to electric operation

Central locking system installed

Radio and navigation system installed

Stereo loudspeakers fitted

Reversing camera installed

Front seats disassembled, restored and reassembled

In all, a magnificent job and I have to admit that I am really proud of my men.

All we needed now was somewhere to go, so we initially thought of a day trip down to the Pyrenees. Before leaving I decided to check on the weather conditions there – a good idea which made us change our plans. The maximum expected temperature for the day was  -3 ° with a wind chill factor of -14°! Not at all the sort of weather for sight-seeing, so instead we made a huge circular drive in a more northerly direction which was better but still a rather grey day. Sadly the sunny Spring conditions of earlier in the week had given way to a cloudy overcast and the forecast says that we should expect the same all week.

At this rate my embroidery should grow by leaps and bounds!