I have to keep reminding myself that this is only the end of November because we seem to have been plunged into the middle of a very cold winter already. We normally tell anyone who asks us how much snow we get here in the winter that we have on average about 30 days of snow off & on. We are into day 11 of this latest episode so I think we may well break all records this year. It has been so cold too - the temperature has been down to -10 some nights – & the winter stock of wood for our stove is dwindling fast already. Not good news. As I type this the snow is still falling & the size of our icicles need to been seen to be believed! We have not had any real incidents with the electricity going off (it has been off & on a few times but nothing major) which is good as other parts of the Auvergne have suffered with this. The problem is that this snow arrived before the leaves had come off most of the trees & the sheer weight of it has brought trees & branches toppling onto the power lines all over the region. Fortunately we managed to get the winter tyres on the cars just before the snow started to fall – although that was not without trauma either. The garage decided that our tyres (which we thought were OK) were not legal so confiscated the lot! They have you over a barrel with this thing don’t they?? They know we need winter tyres here & they have the car minus tyres, up on the ramp & waiting! So we have ended up severely out of pocket but with 2 new winter tyres on both the cars. Not a happy experience really, but at least we have been able to get out & about when we have needed to thank goodness.
Despite the bad weather our daughter & her boyfriend managed to get here for their holiday last week. It was great to see them again & we got to spend lots of “quality” time with them as we were pretty well confined to barracks for several of the days! Our friends from Paris, Marc & Michelle also made it here for the weekend too despite the snowy conditions. Marc had to use snow chains for the first time in his life to get along our little road to the village! This visit was a total surprise for Hazel as she had no idea they were coming. We had told her we had B&B guests due but not who they were! They are Hazel’s exchange “parents” from many years ago (& who are now firm family friends) & she hasn’t seen them for ages. The look on her face was wonderful when they arrived! They all went off to play in the snow on the Saturday & unfortunately Hazel fell off the sledge twisting her ankle very badly, which put a bit of a damper on the visit (& also messed up a lot of my plans for the following week as she was really crocked with it) but we all had a good weekend together. We did manage to get out a few times (mainly to eat!) during the kids week with us but Hazel really couldn’t walk much so we were very restricted in what we could do. On the final day of their visit we went up to Clermont Ferrand. The boys went off to the Michelin Experience museum (which they really enjoyed) whilst I got a wheelchair for the wounded one & we had some quality window shopping time at last! Now that they have gone, the house feels very empty once again…I always hate it when the kids go home :(
Business has been almost non existent this month. We have had one set of B&B guests & that is all! Mind you, with all this snow around I’m not really sorry as it always catches people out here & they often arrive totally unprepared for driving on our country roads in the snow. However…no guests means no money & as several taxes have had to be paid this month, we are as per usual very short of cash again. Always happens just before Christmas :( This lack of cash has helped to make up our minds re the Gites de France decision though. That & after reading the comments on last month’s blog, we have decided not to proceed with their dossier. Funnily enough, as soon as we had reached this decision, both of us felt a huge weight had been lifted off us, so probably Gites de France is just not for us after all!
Before the bad weather set in we had managed to get out & about a bit & also try & catch up with some friends…we “owe” people lots of meals! We went up to the remembrance ceremony in the village as usual on the 11th November & then drove over to Lac Chambon for a lovely lunch in one of the lakeside brasseries followed by a nice walk around the lake which was looking beautiful in the autumnal sunshine. I also made it to the big Creatif Exhibition & Fair at the Zenith at Cournon which is always one of my favourite things to do in November. I went with my friend Judith (who, although not really a “crafty” person) really enjoyed the Fair) & we met up with another friend, Linda & her English visitors who were staying with her. We also all met Margriet R there, someone we all know from Facebook, for the first time, so it was a very good outing in many ways! I was able to get a lot of bits & pieces to make my Christmas cards as per usual too. I have been doing a lot of card making really…there are some advantages to being stuck inside by the weather! That & making a lot of mince pies have been filling in the time quite nicely! I had hoped to sell some of the cards (not to mention some paintings too) at a Christmas Market which was being arranged by another friend at her house, but that was eventually called off because of the snow. This was such a shame as a lot of people had made things, made soup & baked goodies to help Anne raise some money for charity. Flippin weather!
Geoff has also added to our financial woes this month by needing yet more dental treatment :( Another broken tooth…another flipping crown! There was an interesting item on the TV the other day saying that dentists in France are not really doing any other treatments other than crowns & implants these days…how true! Whatever happened to good old fashioned (but cheaper!)fillings?? We do get some of the costs reimbursed by the state & our mutuelle but have to pay up front first. He is due to finish his treatment just before Christmas but I am hoping for a few cancelled appointments (as happened the other day when the dentist got stuck in the snow) to take it into the New Year before we need to pay!
The worst incident of this month by far though has been the loss of my beloved hens. I stupidly failed to close one of the cabin doors properly the other day & when I went to feed them the next morning they were gone. There was absolutely no trace of them, nor were there any signs of bloodshed or feathers either, so I suspect they just wandered off rather than a fox got to them. However despite several hours of searching we couldn’t find them anywhere & as it has been so cold & there are so many foxes around here, we have now given up on finding them alive. To say I am devastated is an understatement. I really loved those chickens & miss them very much. We will replace them but I am still really sad.
So now, its onwards into December. We have our Christmas trip to the UK to organise. I just hope the weather (& the money situation!) improves before then or else it could be a very frugal & cold Christmas this year! Stay warm everyone :)