Quite a boring week for all our readers, but a very active one for us.
The collapsible wardrobes once again threatened to fall on their faces so we
decided that the time had come to do something about it. ‘It’ meant designing,
measuring and buying suitable boards for building one, so most of Tuesday was
spent carefully measuring height and width and depth, to be sure that we got it
all right. In fact we measured a number of times to be absolutely sure, then it
was off to the hardware shop to select the right boards and get them cut to
size. It was only four pieces – two sides, a base and a top so it really wasn’t
a big deal. However, when we assembled the pieces, it turned into an enormous
box. Bigger than our double bed and just a tad bigger than we had planned! The light
switch was not intended to be inside the finished cupboard! By the time we discovered
that though, all the corners had been glued and screwed, and we had heaved and
hauled, and puffed and panted, and eventually got the thing off the floor and
up against the wall. It was extraordinarily heavy! And there was no way we were
going to take it down, dismantle it all and recut the boards. It was a lot easier
to move the light switch, which is what Neels did in no time at all. Luckily we
had not bought the rails when we bought the boards or we might have been in
double trouble, although we did measure the length even more carefully and this
time it was right. The rails were soon up; the edging stuck on to the board
edges and we could start using it. It may have taken us four days to build a
large box and attach it to the wall, but we are pleased with the result and it will
certainly not fall on its face any time soon.
All of this physical labour was achieved in daytime temperatures of 31
degrees, and the fan in the room with us was not making much difference. Still,
we soldiered on and got the job done. On one of the days it was supposed to
rain in the afternoon so I decided to try out my pull-up wash line and hang
everything indoors. In the end it didn’t rain but my washing was dry by the
following morning which is excellent. I
think that that day also signalled the end of the extreme humidity we have been
having which has been quite uncomfortable. Hopefully the hot weather will stay
dry now.
With the local schools having closed for the holidays and the summer
season well into its stride, the village has livened up a bit. There seem to be
a number of small boys who play football in the square every day no doubt
encouraged by the TV broadcasting every minute of the World Cup Football. There are various radio stations chirping from
the different houses and new voices call out to each other from time to time.
Christian has retired to his house and spends hours practicing his drumming
with enthusiasm – his own way of dealing with stress, he tells , driving right
up to the bottom of the front steps before giving a long and noisy blast on his
hooter. We are not used to this sort of thing and we seldom need anything, but
because he has made this special effort to come to the house, we feel almost
bound to buy something and we end up buying a baguette, which we don’t really
enjoy as his are a bit tough. How silly can one be?!
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