Top picture: First night of snow - Chez nous, "Body and Soul" - pro-tem
L to R: 1. High Street Caumont; 2. "Anna", with Mark and Annie; Bow section.
Bottom: 1. "Connie", with Charles and Caro; 2. "Minute" with Dave and Carol, far off sporting a sun brolly,
This weather, according to the Meteo, is somewhat unusual for France and indeed for Aquitaine and our department - the Lot et Garonne. The above photos, taken on the 2nd of February but at the time of writing (9th Feb) the temperature falls to minus 11 degrees centigrade at night! Our coldest experience yet on board B & S. As yet there is no sign of a thaw.
There is precious little traffic on the roads and almost no attention to any but the most important highways. The French, in this area at least, are not prepared for significant amounts of cold weather.
When walking the dogs this morning up on the hill behind Caumont I experience that very rare and much missed perfect silence. When I stop my boots crunching in the snow and tell the dogs to "Sit" there is absolutely no sound. Even my tinnitus seems to have subsided. What rapture!
Question: Is tinnitus a natural defence or a reaction against unnecessary or damaging noise in the human ear? Quite against expectation, it would explain why, given perfect silence, my tinnitus is much less apparent, because no defence is needed. Just a thought.
Tinnitus www.entnet.org/HealthInformation/tinnitus.cfm
This week's beer making is suspended because the barrel I left on the roof, full of water, is frozen solid. The remnants in the other barrel are excellent however and I bottle them up to carry me through the next few weeks. It's the best I can do. Mark (next door on Anna) and I, are arranging a beer making party some time next week when we hope to brew some of the new stuff which has just been delivered.
What else happens on our barge in the face of a bleak winter? Of course, life is more precarious. Slipping over and falling in the ice covered canal is a real possibility - then the central heating "Erbespacher" could break down, or one could run out of logs for the wood burner. One prepares oneself for the worst - but then the unexpected always happens - for instance, just as we think we've had it good this winter and just as the snow falls upon Caumont, the one aparatus most dreaded and feared, breaks down.
The black water "pump-out" pump seizes up and grinds to a halt. It is positioned in about the most awkward place in the "bilges" underneath the main wardrobe - but, for once, I have a spare - one of my wiser purchases. Being unable to dispose of our sewage is an urgent problem. It means that the reserve "cassette" loo has to be brought in to action until I've mended or replaced the old one.
Replacing the pump is no easy matter - it takes all of one afternoon on my knees with every conceivable tool, rubber gloves and some neighbourly advice - the job is done none-the-less - and the cassette loo is put back under the bed (after emptying it, of course!).
But it really ain't all plain sailing y'know, is it?
PS. First sign of spring 18th Feb. - the Cranes are flying back overhead in their thousands. A wonderful sight and sound, against a clear blue sky. We're looking forward to our return to Meilhan but await the promised increase in water levels, the melting of the ice and the opening of the locks.