How much?

It’s been a bit of a time, in that we have continued to pack and sort and move, whilst trying to keep a few other balls in the air. First the house we own (which we are renting) needed a new cooker and three new heaters. (It also needs semi-redecorating and some other peripheral stuff doing.) Anyhow, I broke the cooker. Well, I didn’t break it. I sort of, not fixed it, if you know what I mean. We didn’t want to leave the nearly new, expensive cooker for the tenants. It wasn’t a decision made on cost, but on complexity – easily the cheapest option would have been to leave the almost £800 cooker in place, rather than take it out, wrap it up and leave it in the garage cooking nothing. But it requires degree-level qualifications to operate and we were worried we might over-face our tenants (whomever they may be) and end up with a broken NEFF … and some angry tenants. So we bought the simplest of cookers from Currys and, in half an hour, I took one out and put one back in again.

[image error] before I broke everything

C then turned it on to ‘burn off the smells of a new unit’. There was a smell and, after 10 minutes, the house fused. I took it out again, had a good look at my handiwork, couldn’t see a problem and put it back in again. C stuck it on and it worked … fine. But there was that lingering doubt, you know? We had an elusive electrician due sometime at the end of the month. And he would check everything (it’s the law) and give, among other things, the cooker the thumbs up. But C wanted to use it between now and then, and I wasn’t happy about just leaving it there. So we phoned ‘electricians R us’ and they had someone round the next morning (at £120 per hour, would you believe … this was likely turning out to be an expensive decision).

Emma was her name. And she was lovely. She took everything apart, found a loose earth wire, put it back together again and charged us for an hour (having spent two with us). And she also agreed that she would do the electrical check on an exact date (which our elusive electrician was currently struggling with) for half the price of our original quote. Result! So maybe it wasn’t so expensive after all?

new lungs for the old girl

Along with plenty of other pushing and pulling, including changing the oil and filter in the Focus (a treat for passing her MoT; total cost: £28 plus 40 minutes of my labour), we spent a day up at our new place with P&K sorting out space in their garage/stables complex. One outcome of which was a whole stable freed up for C and I to use as a shed. Fabulous. As a result we’ve driven three loads of gear up … of probably eight, between now and when the three Poles and their van turn up in early January. So that’s all looking fab. 

The other good news is that there is snow in Chatel (we’re about six weeks short of getting on the ferry) and the slopes open this weekend.  And the current batch of cold weather has us getting in the mood. One job between now and when we move is to wax and edge our skis. We’ve promised ourselves new pairs for years, but what with one thing and another we haven’t got around to it. This year, with the costs associated with moving home, we’re sticking with a hot iron, a rusty file and a tub of wax. Hasn’t let us down so far!

and we made a Christmas tree

We’re now at Mary’s for a couple of days to help with her birthday party (on Sunday) and I’m popping up to see mum tomorrow (Saturday). Then, next week, it’s back into the groove … because on Friday evening I’m off to pick up Henry! (Oh, and Bex and Steven.) My world will then be complete.

Stay safe everyone.