First Monday Wrong Shoes

Fleetwood Mac - Monday Morning 1975

Up relatively bright and early to witness the final skim of floor-levelling compound in the bathroom-to-be, then to help raise flagstones in the drive to reveal the guttering drainage pipes which have to be re-routed.  I keep finding myself saying, "Wrong shoes", as I try to keep outdoor and indoor shoes separate.  I have tiled floors and am constantly sweeping, vacuuming, mopping.  Clean sand, mucky sand, stones and rocks, have been dug out and heaped onto polythene sheets so we can drag and tip back in the dug channels after the new pipe has been laid.  Stone rocks are being carried to the growing rockery at the end of my rear garden and rubbled earth was scattered on the dips in the 'lawn', Broken slabs and rubbish from the ground was collected for the déchetterie. All mains drainage pipes had to be tested with the real thing!  Not nice but it had to be done as the drop, I think is 1mm or 1cm in every 100.  I never remember figures.  My friend is experienced in drainage difficulties! Then we had to lift and carry sand in the wheelbarrow from the rear garden to the front courtyard.  Kept after the beams were blasted, it was bound to be useful.  Back and forth helping the main man.

Meanwhile, I re-organised and cleaned the laundry/larder room.  And why on earth did I choose clinically white floor tiles?  Yes, I can see the dirt! I've now organised 'ballet shoes' by the door so that I don't wear 'wrong shoes' and make footmarks on the floor!  This is where the aerodynamic water boiler is situated and I'm sure one day it will take off! I also carried a lot of logs in..for the two woodburners as well as chopped kindling wood from the waste wood piled in a dry outdoors area.

Lunch was mainly pre-prepared: home made beef and mushroom casserole found in the freezer, which I served with wild rice and savoy type cabbage.  Yesterday the freezer section of the fridge which also acts like a freezer needed to be urgently de-iced... and hey, I have a guest invited for New Years day dinner!  For dessert it was more of the Tesco Christmas pudding that I cooked yesterday. Blackened, dried fruits had 'coagulated' into a rich and creamy consistency.  My daughter gave it to me... and being never too much worried about sell-by and eat-by dates decided to give it a try. It was dated 2007/2008 and was remarkably delicious with cream and brandy butter. By 16h we were wilting. Tea and the shared final slice of a New Year chocolate gooey French cake indicated we'd had it!  Here I am resting and reporting but the next task is to tackle the paperwork.

How unusual is this?
Daffodils in my garden are so small that I have had to carefully place the metal wine rack on the grass to protect them from being trodden on.  They were not dwarfed last year!
Yesterday, the blackbirds sang as if it were Springtime.

FRENCH  LANGUAGE:
déchetterie; noun feminine  = waste recycling site