Monday 10th December 2012 – And there I was …

… lying in bed going through in my mind the things that I should (and shouldn’t) have done during the day, and it was then that I remembered that I hadn’t written up the blog for today. Mind you, it was about 03:00 (I had a late night) and I wasn’t going to get up and do it at that time. Hence the reason that you’ve all had to wait for it.

It had been a comparatively busy day too for round here. An early start saw me bash on with the Christmas special and I made huge strides in putting down what I need to say. In the best traditions of the Open University, I just write stuff down as it occurs to me, and then go through and edit it later. Ohhh, the joys of “cut and paste”.

A break at lunchtime though because Terry came round to pick up his orders from the UK. Piles of stuff there was too. We agreed that, seeing as he knows all of the best contacts, he’ll order on my behalf the new winter tyres for Caliburn off the internet. Caliburn won’t know himself, what with all of these new tyres just now. He’s certainly having a good Christmas, even if no-one else is.

At the Anglo-French group, at first there was just me. Terry came in later and explained that he had had to fight a major blizzard round by St Gervais d’Auvergne, which explained why no-one from that neck of the woods appeared. Jex told me that Marianne was in hospital (she hadn’t been looking too well last time I saw her) and so that explained that. I’ll have to get on to her and see how she is.

0

Sunday 9th December 2012 – I am glad …

… that I bought the new wood stove last year.

Not only have I been nice and warm for most of the day, I had another lovely tea tonight. Pizza of course, but in the absence of any bread (what with the boulangère forgetting me yesterday) I had baked potatoes with garlic butter, all cooked in the little oven thingy.

Not only that, I boiled a couple of kettles on the top, and made a big pot of coffee, half of which I drank and the other half I put in a thermos flask. I’ll be intrigued to see what that will be like in the morning. I could be on to something here.

Strange as it may seem, I was up and about at 08:30 this morning, so an early breakfast and a film followed by a couple of hours work on the radio script. But coming downstairs at mid-morning I encountered the black feral cat that roams around here. Normally it totally ignores me but today it maiowed at me, came to me when I called it, let me stroke it and even let me pick it up. All that I can think of is that there’s no wild food around in this weather. Being a vegan, I’m not able to help it out and it turned its nose up at the soya milk. If this weather keeps up, I’ll have to splash out on a box of munchies. In the meantime, I’ll leave the door open to the verandah and the lean-to. There’s a mouse running around somewhere in there and a hungry cat is a useful ally.

I also found a footy match this afternoon – Terjat’s 2nd Xi against the 3rd XI of Quinssaines. Terjat had about 70% of the play but somehow managed to lose 4-1. Twice they were hit on the break, a third time a lucky deflection in the penalty area found an unmarked attacker, and the fourth time a tired defence was caught stationary. But it was an astonishing match all the same. We all froze to death and there was, tragically, no coffee.

So tomorrow I really must get cracking. I’m in danger of falling behind.

-1

I’ve done absolutely nothing today …

… and quite right too, after my marathon journey yesterday.

On Thursday eveningI didn’t mention the howling wind and driving rain that we were having at Newhaven. And it really was “driving” too. Out in the Channel it became even worse. All the vehicles were strapped down and the doors out to the decks were locked. Even in the lounge at the back, the spray was lashing past the windows as the ship crashed through the waves. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a storm like that out at sea.

This is where I had a few hours’ sleep. Somewhere in between Rouen and Evreux. This photo was taken at about 11:30 am and, believe me, it was nothing like this at 07:30 when I stopped. At that time of morning you couldn’t see a thing because there was about 6 inches of snow all over the place.

The wind and rain that we had had in the Channel had turned to snowstorms and blizzards by the time we docked, and forward progress was somewhat delayed by nervous drivers who really shouldn’t be out there in this kind of weather if they don’t like the conditions. I was glad that I had bought some decent tyres, especially when that moron came down this sliproad of the Highway near Rouen and drove straight into the traffic without stopping to give way – in that kind of weather.

No, by 07:30 I was fed up with the conditions and being rather tired, I felt that I could concentrate better on the road and with the conditions if I had a little rest for a while. However, as you can see, the weather took care of itself.

From here it was a relatively straightforward drive back home, stopping at a supermarket in Orleans for some food-shopping, and in Montlucon for some diesel and some Seitan slices for my Christmas dinner (something else I forgot to buy in the UK) and I was back at Ice Station Zebra for 19:00. 2 weeks without heat and my attic was freezing, but a good fire soon sorted that out.

Today, I didn’t really do nothing. I wrote the additional notes for the next instalment of radio  programmes and made a start on the Christmas Special. Then I was sidetracked by the footy on the TV (all the local footy is cancelled due to the weather) and finished off the day with boiled rice, tinned veg and tinned chickpea curry, all cooked in my oven. It tasted a million times better than boiled in a saucepan and I’ll do this again. I’m really glad that I bought this little stove.

0

Here I am …

.. at Newhaven ferry terminal, waiting for my ship home. A lot has happened in these last few days, not the least of which being to find the truck drivers’ showers here at the terminal an hour or so ago.

So Tuesday morning I was at the bank sorting out a few things, although nothing will be sorted out because it is after all the RBS and all of their salesmen are away on a compulsory training course – I wonder why?

From there it was St Helens and my clothes, Warrington and a wheelbarrow, Stoke and some stuff for Bill, and then a wheel that I had ordered off the internet for just £11:50 plus vat dramatically turned up so off back to the tyrefitter’s from last week and another Hankook. That’s 3 new Hankooks and a newish Hankook-profile tyre, so at least we are okay for summer tyres, even if the blasted tyrefitters did break Caliburn’s spare wheel carrier.

I made it down to Hatfield after that to say “bye” to Kit and I met her new boyfriend. We ended up chatting till quite late, and then I hit the road towards Aldershot.

Next day I kicked my heels all around Guildford and Aldershot waiting for a phone call and when it finally came (at 21:00) I was told that the meeting that I was to have had been cancelled. I shan’t be doing that again – waste of two whole days there, especially as Stafford Rangers were at home on Tuesday night. Still, you live and learn. Better to find out these things right at the very beginning rather than later.

This morning, scraping the ice off the inside and outside of the windscreen for the third day in succession, I spent the morning wandering around the ancient town of Arundel and then ended up in Woking where I found a second-hand DVD shop having a sale, and so despite my promises to myself that I have more than enough films to last for a year, then here I am again.

And here I am again – in Newhaven, waiting for my ship. If all goes according to plan, a clean me will be back home this time tomorrow night. But of course we have snow to contend with. Apparently they’ve been having blizzards back in the Combrailles today.

I’m glad that I have plenty of wood. 

0

There’s been something of a disaster …

… at Sandbach Services. They’ve taken to locking the door of the lorry-drivers’ shower. Mind you, having said that, they haven’t locked the door of the disabled toilet, so if I can’t have a proper shower, I can have a really good scrub. at this time of night there won’t be anyone else needing it.

This morning, it was comparatively warm when I woke up. The rain that we had had through the night seemed to have done the trick. And after a coffee etc at the ASDA down the road from my little hidey-hole, I blitzed the store to buy everything that I needed that they could sell me.

From there I went down to my little storage locker and cleaned it out. There are still quite a few things to come but at least the weed-suppressing blanket had arrived – all 100m² or so of it. I hope that the rest of the stuff comes before tomorrow mid-afternoon as that’s my absolute deadline for moving on south.

Toolstation couldn’t come up with half of the stuff that I needed and so I’ll have to find another branch on my travels – see what they can come up with, and then down to the sign-writer’s. A couple of my phone numbers have changed just recently and Caliburn’s artwork needs to reflect them. Mind you, he’ll have to go back again as Brain of Britain here couldn’t remember his Canada phone number. Rhys – do you have it anywhere?

Once I had sorted out Caliburn, a visit to the big new Tesco and then the big Morrison’s at Hanley finished off the shopping apart from a few bits and pieces that I can pick up on my travels. Caliburn now looks like a rolling bazaar.

While I was in Fenton having the signwriting attended to, I went off for a walk and noticed a take-away selling curries at £4:50 – with a special offer of rice only 49p extra, and a naan bread included for only 1p more. I haven’t had an Indian meal while I’ve been here, I’m surprised to say, so guess what I had for tea, sitting on the station car park at Alsager and reading the copy of “Last of the Mohicans” that I bought for 50p in a charity shop.

Tomorrow, it’s the bank at 09:30 and then off to St Helens to pick up my clothes that are now ready, and then to Warrington for Terry’s wheelbarrow. Stoke on Trent in the afternoon for the final emptying of my post box, and I’m having coffee with Kit in Hatfield at 20:30.

It’s all go, isn’t it?

0

Here’s a new …

… venue for an overnight stay. It’s close to Ferrybridge Power Station about 3 miles north of the M62. It’s on a diverted section of the A162 and ticks many of the important boxes that are required in an overnight sleeping spot –
1) separated from the main road
2) out of the way but not in the wilderness
3) beichstuhl close by (at the Services)
4) coffee ditto

In fact, apart from the cold Caliburn, Strawberry Moose and Yours truly had a very decent night’s stay there.

But today was something of a disappointment. I had three people pencilled in to see today and not one of them was available. Consequently I had a quiet restful day driving down to Sandbach.

I did drop off to somewhere in Stockport – Terry had won a set of wheels and tyres for his van and they needed picking up. I eventually found the place where I should have been (hasn’t Stockport changed since I was there in the mid-80s?) and picked up the aforementioned. And Terry won’t be disappointed with them.

So tomorrow I’m back on the rounds picking up the stuff that has been ordered while I was here. My little visit is drawing to a close.

-2

I’ve been quiet for a couple of days …

… and people have been missing me so it seems, which is very nice of them.

The truth is that I’ve been hiding out in Hebden Bridge with Kate at her new house. It’s a nice little house on a small estate on the top of the moors overlooking the town, with a view full-south. She can be pleased with that place.

And having unloaded Caliburn we walked down the steep hill into town, for there was some kind of candle-light parade around the place, as a homage and show of solidarity to those whose properties were badly damaged in the floods. That was quite exciting, as was the meal that we had – a couple of Thai vegan samosas with spicy chili sauce.

Yes, Hebden Bridge is a strange place – so much so that I felt quite out-of-place there as being far too normal for the average run-of the mill inhabitants of the town.

With having no plans until Saturday, Kate offered me another bed for the night in exchange for some work fetching a pile of topsoil and some other gardening stuff for her back garden. That seemed like a good arrangement and so that kept me there until Saturday morning. A pleasant Friday night though, doing some amazing domestic things such as cooking a proper dinner with steamed veg, watching a film on TV, that kind of thing.

But I’m disappointed that I never got to know Kate better when she lived in the Auvergne –
“Kate – do you have a small rucksack for me to take my camera down to town?”
“ohh – errrr yes – well, err, just let me see if I can find it”. Yes, a girl after my own heart.

Today I went to see Krys and we spent most of the time chatting, and eventually we went out for a meal. It’s actually the first time that I’ve ever spent more than 5 minutes in Krys’s company and we also had a pleasant time.

I’m not sure now what I’m doing tomorrow. There are three possibilities but no-one has got back to me yet. We’ll have to see what the day unfolds.

-4

Well, I boldly went …

… where the hand of man has never set foot – or, at least, where the hand of this man has never set foot.

But before that, let’s talk about the events of today. After spending the night at another one of my regular haunts, at the back of the roundabout across the road from Poplar Motors near Lymm, I headed off to St Helens to place my annual clothes order. One of the big advantages of wearing corporate clothing is that I never have issues about what to wear – it’s already programmed and planned out. My little order, which comes to about £150, is all that I spend on clothing each year, and I wouldn’t have spent half of that had I not left my spare clothes in Canada last May, with the intention of picking them up this Autumn.

As you can see though, my clothing issues are a simple way of living, but then again I’m a simple person.

From there, it was back down the road to the M62 and Burtonwood, and the local IKEA. No trip to the North-West of England is complete without a trip to the IKEA, as there are all kinds of delights, especially in the casualty department, and this year came up trumps.

A fitted 60cm cupboard unit, the type with three rows of holes down each side for shelf supports, 2 metres high with a hardboard back and three shelves, ex-display, cost me all of £10. This will fit nicely in the cupboard that I will be building in the living room to house the tins of food and so on. I hate white though, as you know, but behind closed doors it isn’t all that important, is it?

But I was astonished by how expensive storage boxes have become. A couple of years ago I was buying any number that you like at £1:25 a head. Nothing like that now, though. Even 2 reasonably-sized cardboard boxes will set you back a whopping, unbelievable £5:25. I’ll be raiding the backs of supermarkets on this trip, I reckon.

  You probably noticed in the photo above that “all items (in the casualty department) reduced by 30% or more”. And you probably noticed on the left-hand side of the pic the light-oak-stained worktop and sink unit.

Some friends and I are running a competition on Facebook to find the world’s most pointless discount, and this definitely has to be it. Who would want to save a quid on an article like this? And what happened to the “reduced by 30% or more”? Methinks that IKEA Burtonwood speak with forked tongue. It’s the kind of thing that can land them in trouble with Trading Standards, right enough.

They have finally also started to sell LED lights, but no 12-volt ones as yet. Still, it’s encouraging at the moment.

No such issues at B&Q down the road. Packs of 3×12-volt LED lights with MR16 fittings for £9:95. That’s exciting news. I bought a couple of packets to see what they look like around the house. I also bought quite a few other things of use, including a green 2-metre tall pop-up Christmas tree, complete with lights and decorations, for £25. I must be off my head.

So tonight where I boldly went etc. etc. Last time I saw Chester play was in 1972/73 I think, back in the old death-trap Sealand Road stadium. 40 years on, a new stadium, two bankruptcies, a plummet down to the basement of the Evo-Stick League and a huge pile of controversy later, they are slowly crawling back up the pyramid and have made it so far to the Conference North, level 6 of the pyramid.

Tonight, in the only game in the area, Chester were entertaining Corby, 12 places lower down the table, at the new Deva Stadium, where I have never been. The matchy finished 2-1 to Chester, but I’m not sure how as Chester were totally dire. How a team as bad as that can be leading the table is a total mystery to me.

As for the catering, the coffee from the pie hut was appalling. A mug of hot water passed over the top of the coffee jar. Never mind standing areas at these football matches, the Taylor report should have looked at catering at football grounds. If the coffee anywhere else is anything like I had tonight, it will kill more people than a standing zone ever will.

Anyway, enough of that. Kate now has the keys for her new house and she can take delivery of her furniture and so on tomorrow afternoon. Caliburn will then be emptied, after a fashion, unless Terry wants me to pick up this four-poster lift.

-4

They say that things equal themselves up …

… and that is certainly true. After the expenses of yesterday, I stepped out of Caliburn on the car park of Morrison’s supermarket in Winsford and found 7p on the floor. “Spend! Spend! Spend!” I hear you say, but it is certainly true that every little helps to ease the ailing budget.

But that’s not all.

After all of my exertions around Nantwich, I nipped up the road to Hurleston and Car Transplants, one of the biggest car breakers in the area. It’s run by someone who was in my year at school and, bless him, he never was very bright and maths wasn’t his strongest subject. I asked him if he had a wheel for a Transit, and said that I wasn’t bothered about the tyre. A good tyre would be fine but it really was the wheel that I was after.

He produced a wheel with no tyre, fair enough, and said that he wanted £30 for it which was not all that unreasonable. However we wandered off down the yard to see what else there was and he unearthed a wheel with a tyre. Quite frankly, the tyre is rubbish even though there was about 5mm of tread on it and it will only be going on Caliburn in the direst of emergencies. Nevertheless after much humming and hawing he said “I’ll have to charge you £25 for that – I mean, there’s plenty of tread left on it”.

Trying desperately to keep a straight face, I paid up and legged it out of the yard with the wheel and tyre before he woke up. I just about made it to Caliburn before I exploded with laughter. Blimey – it was a near thing.

I’m not sure how much you know about my upbringing as a small child but if you are ever wondering about my nomadic lifestyle and somewhat marginal existence, I have to say that it’s all in the blood. That’s how I was brought up as a child.

We never had a permanent home until I was about 18 months or something like that and we moved to Osborne Grove in Shavington. Prior to that we drifted about as squatters in the various abandoned air force camps that were dotted about all over the border between Cheshire, Shropshire and Wales. One of the camps that we lived on and which, surprisingly, I have a couple of memories, is the old Calveley Airfield between Nantwich and Tarporley in Cheshire.

I’ve often driven past the end of the road where it’s situated and today, an appointment having let me down and being just a couple of miles away, I decided to go for a wander.

It’s said to be the most complete of the World War II airfields, having been abandoned in 1946 and then used as a huge haulage depot ever since. However, its existence is very much under threat as the buildings slowly decay away into nothing without any care and attention.

I drove through about an acre of mud, climbed a couple of fences, and waded ankle deep in heaven alone knows what, and eventually I reached the site.

Even the conning tower is still there in the centre of the airfield, looking very much the worse for wear like everything else here. In fact, it’s really depressing to see the kind of condition into which it has been allowed to decay. I spent an hour or two wandering around photographing everything I could find and which I could reach (the conning tower was definitely out of bounds) because I have a feeling that this whole site is having its swansong. I hate to think what another couple of years of abandonment will do to the site.

And that still isn’t all. On the modern industrial estate here is a solar energy supplier that I stumbled across by accident. I went over for a chat and was entertained for a good hour or so by the General Manager. Every now and again they have enquiries for 12-volt DC systems on remote sites and usually turn them away as they don’t have the expertise. Hence our lengthy discussion.

Late afternoon brought a chance encounter of another kind. A friend of mine from a while back and in another existence was travelling down the motorway from the north just as I was crossing the motorway from west to east. This called for a pause at the Fox and Hounds at Sproston for a coffee and a chat about old, old times. I tell you what – it isn’t half a small world. 

-3

Ouch – that was expensive!

Yes, McGuinness’s didn’t have any 15″ Transit wheels at all but there was some kind of better luck at the Ford breaker’s at Fenton. He pulled a superb set of 15″ wheels out of the back of his shed, with some really nice tyres – 205s, not 195s like mine, but a set of four would have done the job just fine. However, closer inspection revealed them to be 6-stud, not 5-stud, and so they were no use at all.

He did however point me in the direction of a tyre place that was the cheapest in the whole of the Potteries for van tyres, and all they had in stock of my size was a pair of Hankooks. Needs must when the devil drives, and that was when we found out that the wheel was in fact slightly buckled. Ahhh well.

But apart from that, I accomplished all of my tasks in Stoke today, and had one or two pleasant surprises, and that’s not counting the half-dozen DVDs I found in the local charity shops.

You might think that a set of three pyrex casserole dishes with lids, to use in my little oven, would be a major purchase, especially at £7:50, but that pales into insignificance when compared to the slow cooker that I found in one of these cheapo shops. Regular readers of this rubbish will recall that back in 2010 I bought a cheap 1.5 litre slow cooker in a Walmart in Newfoundland – one with a porcelain insert and running at 120 watts. That lives in my lock-up in Montreal and I use it on my travels in the car and in motels. All of the slow cookers that I’ve seen in the UK are big things, 3.5 litres and 200 watts and the like but there, at £9:99, was my little slow cooker, exactly the same as the one back in Canada.

The aim, as you know, is for me to get away from using gas as a means of cooking. In winter, that’s not so difficult as the oven attached to my fire will do most things, but in summer it’s not so easy. The little vegetable steamer did a good job, but it won’t do everything. The slow cooker, if I can teach it to fry onions, will do the rest I hope.

Another thing was that one of the shops was selling onion and shallot sets – £2:00 a bag and buy one, get one for free (or BOG OFF in the vernacular) so I bought a few bags of those.

Tomorrow it’s to the bank, and then I’m heading off on my travels, calling at Car Transplants on the offchance that they might have a wheel or two.

-4

I’m currently at Sandbach Services …

… which seems to be something of my spiritual home when I’m in the UK.

This isn’t it, of course. This is Newhaven Harbour, where I arrived late on Friday night and home of the famous interchange –
Yours Truly: “is that passport OK then?”
Immigration Official: “yes, it’s fine”
Yours Truly: “good – I’ll print out some more of them then when I return home”
 – and everything else that followed as sure as night follows day because Government Officials have totally  lost any sense of humour they might once have had, which is another sad sign of the times.

A stop at Coulsdon Services, brand-new on the M25, to have a wash and brush-up (yes, I’m funny like that) and then through the fog and mist to Hemel Hempstead and a handy lay-by on the A414.

Saturday morning saw me bright-eyed and bushy-tailed round at Trixi’s. I haven’t seen her since 1972 and doesn’t Facebook have a lot to answer for? Back in those days she had gorgeous long hair right down to her waist but of course that was 40 years ago. Anyway, we caught up with old times, sang a few songs together and went for lunch at a neighbouring cafe. Ahhh – nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.

In the evening I went to Hatfield to see how Katherine, Liz’s daughter, was doing. I promised Liz that I would keep an eye on Kit and make sure that she was okay. Of course, it’s not easy to do that with living in a different country but I do what I can. We ended up going for a meal and she filled me in on all of her latest doings.

Strawberry Moose was of course pleased to see his big sister, and they had a very long chat about their time in Canada together because, of course, he stayed on in 2010 after I came home.

From here I drove up the M1 in the driving wind and rain to another little hidey-hole I know off the A43 near Northampton – somewhere that has featured regularly on these pages. And not a wink of sleep did I have as the howling gale and torrential rain crashing down on the roof of Caliburn kept me awake all night.

I spent much of the day catching up on things that I needed to order on the internet. Yes, Roadchef Services really do come up trumps in this respect, and then up here to dig myself in while things sort themselves out. But it wasn’t that easy. I hit something on the M6 and blew a tyre out. And when you have two fair tyres, one borderline, and one that needs replacing, you can bet your life that it was one of the good ones that went.

So tomorrow, add to my list of tasks the one about going to McGuiness’s to see if they have a wheel and tyre, and if not, who might have some.

-4

A great deal has happened …

… since I last updated this load of rubbish that you are reading. In fact, right now I’m in a windswept and wet Dieppe Harbour waiting for a ferry, having slept overnight on a supermarket carpark somewhere between Chartres and Rouen.

My ferry’s not until quite late but I wanted to arrive earlier so that I could have a good wander around the town, but no-one is going anywhere in this depressing and miserable weather. At least it isn’t snowing.

So on Wednesday I tidied up the place ready for Cécile and she came round in the afternoon to help me dig over the potato beds. We managed three of the raised beds in between the showers, and then knocked off at dusk for food – a dollop of my legendary red pepper and lentil curry, with rice and fried mushrooms.

Later, we went to Gerzat to pick up a settee and armchair that she had bought off Leboncoin.fr . That’s one of the problems with only having a small car like a Nissan Micra – you can’t move anything with it. We ended up chatting for ages afterwards and it was something ridiculous like 02:30 when I arrived home.

Thursday was cleaning, fetching Kate’s stuff, loading the van, socialising for our games evening with Cécile, Nan and Zoë, and afterwards I hit the road.

And here I am.

I’ve no idea where i’ll be next.

-4

Tuesday 20th November 2012 – I’VE MADE A START …

shower room floor les guis virlet puy de dome france… on fitting the new floor in where the bathroom, or to be more precise, the shower room is going to be, and there’s one very unhappy bunny here.

The tongue-and-grooving is from Brico Depot and it’s a major mistake to buy anything from there.

5 packs of flooring I’ve bought, all of the same brand, all bought at the same time, and the packets are all of different thicknesses.

Not only that, the tongues of one packet don’t correspond to the grooves of the others either so when you firmly nail one lot down, the subsequent packet won’t slide properly underneath and you have to lever it up a little.

All in all, it’s looking quite a mess – nothing like the neat and tidy little job I was hoping for.

I haven’t finished it yet either because I ran out of light so that’s not going to be done until I come back from the UK, and I’m dismayed about that too.

This morning though, I made a start on the Radio Anglais Christmas Special that we do for Radio Arverne.

This is an hour-long programme, mostly speech but with some music as well and it doesn’t half take some writing. Today though, I’ve been researching and gathering material.

I’m not going to tell you the subject matter though – you can wait until it’s on the air.

Tomorrow, though, I’m going to be extremely busy.

In the afternoon Cécile is coming round to work in the garden in exchange for the work that I did for her last Friday.

Of course, I don’t want to frighten her away and so I need to do some tidying up, and that will take me all of the morning, and then some, I suppose.

Steam-cleaning the verandah is priority number one, and then emptying the composting toilet – that’s always a good plan too.

need to empty the verandah as much as possible, because for this winter I want to bring inside the pots of herbs and they are too heavy for me to lift on my own.

I suppose that I’d better go and have an early night then – I need to be fighting fit for tomorrow.

-6

Monday 19th November 2012 – WE WERE RADIOING …

… today

But I almost wasn’t.

Coming into Marcillat-en-Combraille I encountered a large red lorry, and the closer I approached it, the farther it drifted out across the road into my path.

I ended up with two wheels on the pavement and a big bulge in one of my tyres. And just before I come to the UK too. I could have done without that.

Just for a change, things went according to plan at Radio Tartasse and we weren’t there long. I put some diesel into Caliburn and then went down to Liz’s for lunch – hot-pot, apple crumble and custard.

That was followed by some of Cecile’s chocolate cake and Liz’s carrot cake, all the leftovers from yesterday evening, and very nice they were too.

Radio Arverne was surprisingly well-organised too and we didn’t stay long there.

I’ve been planning a new format for the presentation of the programmes and that seemed to work quite well – a vast improvement on piles of scattered papers all over the place.

Bernard the engineer finally managed to track down some of the programmes that were lost following his technical hitches in March and September but the rest are, unfortunately, irretrievably lost which is something of a shame.

Back to Liz’s for more coffee and carrot cake (I really am so lucky) and that was that

Tomorrow it’s back to work and I’ll be doing the flooring in the shower room I hope, unless I have any more interruptions.

That should keep me out of mischief for a while. 

-4

Sunday 18th November 2012 – I WAS GOING …

… to go to watch a football match this afternoon.

No match for FC Pionsat St Hilaire this weekend so I had had a search around on the internet.

And I came up with quite a choice too – St Avit to see Le Quartier’s 2nd XI (which apparently is many of FC Pionsat St Hilaire’s 3rd XI from last year, so they say), Neuf Eglise to watch a cup match, or to Baudelaire or Chambon in the Creuse, where there were a couple of matches.

Instead, though, I stayed in, because I was busy. I have a lot to do and it won’t be done if I don’t do it.

I actually managed a lie-in until 09:45 today, although that wasn’t too much of a lie-in seeing as how I didn’t go to bed until about 02:00.

And after watching The Cannonball Run, which is definitely one of my favourite films for mindless, light-hearted entertainment, I sat down and started on a new project.

As you might (or might not) know, I present a Radio Anglais rock music programme twice a week for Radio Tartasse in Marcillat-en-Combraille.

That sounds very grand but it is in fact just a couple of programmes recycled during the month.

However, I’m playing stuff that most, if not all, my listeners have never heard, because I’m not going for mainstream music but for the more marginal stuff that never had the airplay to be a top 20 hit.

So what I’ve started to do today is to prepare a web page listing all of the albums from which I’ve been playing stuff, and arranging them by month.

It’s a long way from being finished but at least it’s started and it’s well on its way

This evening I picked up Cécile at her place and we went down to Liz and Terry’s – for me to rehearse my radio programmes with Liz and for Cécile to discuss some work with Terry.

In the end we all had a very good chat and a nice socialising evening.

And tomorrow, we’re recording our radio programmes, so I’ll be out all day.

It won’t leave me much time to do this floor.

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