26 March 2009

Pink trees and plugged chimneys

Just a few photos of some trees that are in bloom right now. The weather has turned gray and chilly but the colors are still nice. Whites and pinks dominate at this time of year.

From the front terrace

It's always something, isn't it? The chimney above our wood-burning stove seems to be stopped up. We didn't have it swept last fall because the man who usually does that job never responded to my phone calls.

Ditto

One day in October we heard on the news that chimney sweeps in France were overwhelmed by the high number of calls they were getting. The reporter said that so many people had started burning wood because of the high price of heating oil that it would be better to wait until spring to have your chimney swept.

In a neighbor's yard

So we waited. We crossed our fingers that we wouldn't have a fire, because without an annual certificate from a chimney sweep our insurance wouldn't cover us.

One more time...

Yesterday morning I called Monsieur Lucas and actually got him on the phone. I told him about our problem and asked whether he could come sweep the chimney this week. I fully expected him to say no, he was too busy. But instead, he said he'd be here within 24 hours. We expect him this morning.

We still have the boiler and radiators for heat, and we need heat right now. It is chilly outside. Maybe later today we'll be able to have a wood fire again.

2 comments:

  1. A chimney sweep in time saves nine...is that how it goes? I'm glad he'll be there soon.

    I awoke to thunder and steady rain, "March showers bring April flowers" in Alabama where Spring starts earlier. Nothing but twisted rhymes here this morning.

    How was the blanquette? We had lasagna that a friend made last night. Miam, miam.

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  2. Despite needing your chimney swept, you have managed to grace your blog with exquisite photos once again. Don't you love it when the fruit trees are in bloom? Ours are on the tail end, except we've still got apples to go, I think. But when those pinks and whites and purples take over, it's a glorious time.

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