Ady & The Turkey Run

The Turkey Run

This morning, Ady, our long term HelpX'er, went back to the UK.  His excuse - a winter back at his mum's place with central heating (what a wimp).  Ady it's 29°C here at the moment! And this was someone nicknamed, not by us, Macho!!

Anyway, with Ady's help (or more truthfully, Ady with my help) we have completed a great number of projects.  From renovating the old bakery, converting the attic, adding an upstairs bathroom, new workshop doors, fencing/gates and finally he has rewired our house in readiest for EDF moving our incoming electrics (this will be a post on it's own - when it happens!).  Plus he has helped with many other jobs in between. Without his help I'd still be languishing on the bakery.

So Ady not only are we greatly indebted to you for all the work you have done for us - we are also indebted to you for teaching our sons how to play poker and how to whack me in the shins without leaving a mark.  But regarding the poker, it's okay, I've given the boys your credit card number!

Now the Turkey Run - a little difficult to describe.

The ducks and turkeys reside in the same pen and if we feed them together the ducks eat everything before the turkeys get a chance and of course we want bigger turkeys.  Now in a race across the field back to the pen the turkeys are faster than the ducks. So at evening feed time all the birds gather in the field corner by our house. Their pen is diagonally opposite.  So it it a case of - get the feed bucket, run to the pen, let turkeys in and shut, rather pi**ed off, ducks out.  Turkeys have a good feed and then let the ducks in for their dinner.  Works okay normally.  Well that was until Ady tried - even the ducks nearly beat him!

And this is when we discovered that Ady, despite being a great help around the place and being a bit of a karate expert (he was in Team GB) in his prime, (and why I'm writing this after he has gone), was trying to keep one fact very quiet from us .  And that is he runs like a 'big girls blouse'!   And he thought he could run to the turkey pen faster than I could get to the camera - WRONG. And the photo shake is caused by a fit of the giggles not only by me but all of us.

Ady -  although put to shame by 5 turkeys in the 50 metre dash - once again thank you for all your hard work and getting loads of jobs done.  Thank you for putting up with us all and being the butt of jokes (which you paid back in kind).  And just remember there is always a nice bowl of pasta with ketchup waiting here for your return, oh and courgettes - your favourite!!

Thanks Mate and catch up soon.

Oh and Ady - apart from the thanks to you I'd also like to thank those people (mainly ladies) who, in my opinion correctly, thought I looked younger than you - hee, hee.

Internet and Television available at Eco-Gites

Posted by Rosie

We are pleased to announce that guests at Eco-Gites 

will now have Internet access, free of charge, and 

UK satellite TV on request for a small additional fee.

Up until now guests have been able to pick up our WiFi connection with varying degrees of ease, sometimes in the gite, sometimes only leaning over the garden gate. Now all that has changed with the gite having it's own Internet access. You just need an Ethernet cable to connect your laptop into the wall and you are free to surf away at your leisure, totally free of charge.

We are also offering guests the chance to have a TV showing UK programmes by satellite. Many families have already commented on how they have enjoyed NOT having the TV along with the constant nagging from (generally speaking) the younger members of the family who want to sit in front of the box rather that be out and about enjoying themselves in the fresh air. However, we are parents ourselves and we can't deny that at times, having a TV can be a godsend, so we have decided on what we hope will be a solution to please everyone:-

The gite will be let as TV free but for a small fee of €25 we will install a TV for your weeks stay complete with all the UK 'freeview' channels.  You can even choose to have the TV part way through the week should you later decide you want it.  Hopefully this way we can keep everyone happy when it comes to the question of,  "should we book a gite with or without a TV?" It's your choice at Eco-Gites of Lénault :-)

I know - it needs a door!

New Shower

We now are the proud owners of an upstairs bathroom, with full working shower, hand basin and loo.  I have already used the shower and had a very pleasant 'cleaning experience'!  In fact I'm off in there after I've posted this.

New Toilet

And those early morning trips to the loo will be much shorter.  In winter, a blessing as it will be quickly back to a nice snug bed.

I've just got one or two finishing touches and must admit one of these is to fit the door - so not altogether private at the moment!

Getting a tetanus jab "en France"

Posted by Rosie

School sent home a note at the beginning of term saying that children should have a tetanus jab every 5 years. Bearing in mind we have been in France 4 years and I couldn't remember the boys having a jab I reckoned they were probably both due. Well it turned out Ben is OK for another few months (although I had better put a note on the calendar to remind me) but Tom was due for one now. 

In England getting the jab is easy - you call the surgery and book an appointment with the practice nurse who administers the injection. Job done. This is France though, where nothing is simple. Anyway I phoned up the surgery and explained that Tom need a "vaccination antitétanique". 

"No problem," she replied and we booked an appointment.

"Don't forget to go to the pharmacy first, though," she added as I was about to hang up.

"The Pharmacy?"

"Yes, the Pharmacy."

"Errrm, why?" I asked.

"To buy the injection," she replied in a somewhat surprised tone, "and then you come back to the Doctor's to get your ordonnance (prescription)."

Now I was confused. Why did I need a prescription AFTER I had bought the injection? Did the Doctor still give the injection or would I have to head off and find a nurse to administer it? However the receptionist assured me it was the doctor who gave the "piqûre".

Yesterday I was in Vire so I went to the pharmacy and explained I needed a Tetanus injection for my son.

"Pas de problem," she smiled and handed me over a box, reminding me to keep it in the fridge and asked for €10.21. She was a very nice lady and exceedingly easy to understand so I asked her why I needed a prescription from my Doctor.

"To claim back the cost of the injection," she explained. "Bring the box with it's bar-code, the prescription and your Carte Vitale (French Health card) and we'll pay you back the €10.21."

"Errrm, but this isn't my closest pharmacy," I said, not wishing to travel back to Vire just to claim back €10.21.

"Pas de problem," she assured me, "you can go the any pharmacy."

So this evening Tom had his jab, the Doctor gave me the prescription and I drove to the nearest pharmacy to claim back the €10.21.

"But this isn't where you bought the injection," the pharmacist said, before adding a couple more sentences I didn't grasp.

"Errrm, is that a problem?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I'll have to see what happens." And this is some-one who should KNOW the French medical system!!

Turns out it wasn't a problem and after much photocopying, printing and tearing in half of papers I left with the €10.21 in my purse and a nagging feeling that involving 4 separate people (receptionist, doctor and 2 pharmacists) and umpteen bits of paper and computer records, might not have been either the cheapest or the simplest way to protect against getting Tetanus.

October In Calvados

Posted by Rosie

I know I know, it's only the beginning of September. Don't panic! Our gite is however fully booked until September 27th so I thought I would take the opportunity to post a few pictures to illustrate why this is such a lovely region to visit in October :-)

October is mid Autumn and the month of Mists .....

 ..... and Mellow Fruitfulness:

Then there are the Autumn Colours ....

..... and not forgetting Harvest Home:

For further information about our gite and how to book please visit:- http://www.eco-gites.eu/

Compact: See Bijou, then divide by two.

Wardrobe Alcove

Estate Agent Speak  - Bijou: Would suit contortionist with growth hormone deficiency. 

Ady and I have been constructing an upstairs 'bijou' bathroom - well more a shower room, with WC and hand basin.  I must add at this stage that it has been mainly Ady doing the work, whilst I have got on with other things.

The bathroom is being constructed at one end of our bedroom, but we didn't want to loose too much space. So we designed the space with an alcove for a wardrobe in the bedroom. We had already had a window put in when the windows for the gite were done.  Now we (Ady) has divided the rooms and insulated it all, put the electrics in, and the first phase of the plumbing.  I've tiled the floor and we have also put in ducting for the heat exchange unit.

Our 'Bijou' Bathroom

Tomorrow the 2nd phase of plumbing starts, tiling the walls and then finishing the installation of shower doors, basin, toilet etc. and of course all those finishing bits and pieces we all love will start.

And hopefully very soon I will not have to be traipsing all the way downstairs at three in the morning for a wee. I also thought the estate agent speak summed up our 'petite bathroom'!