Tuesday 5 October 2010

Waiting.

 Jacqui & Al are waiting for an electrician to come and fix their cooker and a chap to phone about a van they want to buy. We’re waiting for our radiator to arrive. When we phoned up to ask about delivery charges to France, the man in the shop said “How long are you there for?” Dave said “Well, until the radiator turns up.” Doh! In the mean time we’ve cleaned the van from top to bottom inside and out, stuck beading round the edge of the lino and finished a few other odd jobs. We also got back to Trailfinders and finally agreed to a package. Whoo-oo! We’re going to New Zealand for 5 weeks on the 4th of January, then Australia for another 5. We’re driving from Adelaide to Cairnes in a motorhome, and then flying to Alice Springs and Darwin before coming home at the end of March. We thought it would be fun to have a month in Scotland after that, before we go boat hunting. Talking of which, while Dave had nothing else to do he found these (click here) (and here) Of course we're still not looking yet!
We have been a bit helpful on the farm; it’s the time of year when all the birds are at table weight so we’ve been plucking and preparing for the freezer. It’s a bit sad, especially in the mornings when it’s noticeably quieter, but at the same time it’s very satisfying to know that what you’re eating for dinner had a happy life and a quick death.
The van that these guys are waiting to hear about is a 1978 Renault Estaffette; so ugly it’s beautiful. They saw it in a car park with an AV in the window and now they’re waiting for the owner to get a Control Technique – a French MOT - on it. They’ve been looking for a little van for a couple of years; Al is a self employed gardener, lots of English people have holiday homes down here and he looks after their gardens and pools and keeps an eye on things for them. At the moment he goes around in a lovely old Citroen 2CV van with a trailer; he can get the big ride-on mower inside the Renault and it’s got just as much character as a 2CV. It’s boarded out inside as well and Al is going to make a removable camper conversion for it. We did a similar thing with our H Van; we could slide the seats and bed-base out if we wanted to shift anything big.
Today is Saturday and we’re all hopeful. The van man phoned last night; it’s ready to go. The radiator should be in the post this morning and the cooker electrician might well come this afternoon. We’ll see.
Ann-Marie and Jacqui are off to a French market this morning; there may be cheese.

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