State of house, continued

It's Friday, I think.

June 19. Tomorrow or the next day is the longest day of the year. It's 10:10 p.m., and it's not yet dark, at least not completely. The sunset across the river (which mean, across the Dordogne River valley) is lovely and red.

A miracle occurred today. Last year we got the "cave" aka cellar, mostly finished, putting in a bedroom and a half bath. This involved a certain amount of disruption, and the guy doing the work is, shall we say, not in the same league as George DeJarnette, the contractor we use in Kentucky. The cooker/range upstairs in the kitchen runs on electricity and propane tanks (very common everywhere in the world except the USA), and the propane tanks were in the cave/cellar. We moved them up to the kitchen, and after hooking them up, never could get the cooker to work last year. This wasn't a huge disadvantage since (a) it's very difficult to eat badly in France, whether you are eating out all the time, cooking all the time, or buying food already prepared all the time, and (b) it was very few days after we did this that we returned to the USA, and it was no longer an issue. The biggest problem here is that I get ancy if I have to go many days without cooking, which is a personal problem, not a serious one for anyone but me.

So we returned to France four days ago, and the cooker still didn't work, notwithstanding the fact that the two propane tanks are both full. There's been a problem with the water (leaks in the newly renovated parts of the 'cave'), and a plumber came to turn the water back on the day we were to return. Rumor is that he's going to return to fix the problem. I don't care what the problem is; I don't care what caused it; I just WANT IT FIXED. SO THERE.

Another issue (hey, these are minor, compared with the issues we faced last year!) was the large, heavy, lovely mirror on the wall in the living room/lounge that had sort of fallen down. Fortunately it didn't break, nor did it do much damage to the table beneath it, where it fell. Today, Friday, Ken, our English friend who lives here and knows everyone, if very nice, has a wonderful wife--we adore them both--came over and not only brought the right kind of wire to re-hang the mirroe (I had at great expense bought a serious amount of the wrong stuff), but hung it with Phil's help AND fixed my cooker (by himself--let's hear it for engineers!).

So I went out and bought coquilles St. Jacques (scallops with egg sacs attached...), pommes de terre (new potatoes), and of course more cheese and wine, and cooked dinner for a change.

More later, maybe even tonight...

Lillie