Rain: It rained again yesterday morning and yesterday afternoon. Walt was going to mow the grass with our new riding mower, called un tracteur-tondeuse in French. The model we bought, relatively small one, in France it's called un rider. Anyway, yesterday afternoon's rain made mowing impossible. The grass is still growing rapidly, even though it is basically under control. As for the vegetable garden, I'm afraid we might not be able to have one this year. The garden plot has still not been tilled. Too much mud...
Driving to Blois: I have to drive up to Blois again on Tuesday for an appointment with an anesthetist in preperation for my cataract surgery on June 11. In French, the word for "anesthetist" is anesthésiste, which I find very confusing. it's pronounced [ah-ness-tay-'zeest'], with a slight stress on the last syllable. For some reason, it trips me up unless I'm very careful about pronouncing it. Otherwise, if I accidentally say [ah-ness-tay-teest], people look at me as if I were a Martian or something. On June 11, I'll go back to Blois for the actual procedure (called l'intervention) in French, and I'll be riding in a taxi that my supplemental health-care insurance will pay for. It'll be the same thing on June 25, for the procedure on the other eye. The round-trip taxi ride from Saint-Aignan to Blois costs a little more than 125 euros, so the insurance coverage is a good thing. And I won't have to deal with road closures as a driver. Those will be the taxi driver's challenge.
Renewal of my U.S. passport: Yesterday morning I finally got an e-mail from the American Embassy in Paris telling me that my passport was ready to be mailed out to me. Yesterday afternoon I saw on the French postal system web site that the passport had been put into the system for delivery to me. This morning I see a message that says the new passport is on the way to our local sorting center from which the factrice will bring it to our address. Maybe it will arrive today or tomorrow. What a relief! I was stressing about it because I hadn't been able to follow the embassy's detailed instructions to the letter because the envelopes they specified were not available for purchase at our local post office here in the Saint-Aignan area.
"un rider" - I love it. Maybe your vegetable garden will start late and get harvested late, as the seasons are in arrears this year?
ReplyDeleteThis is the mower we bought. It's actually called un mini-rider.
DeleteI had a frisson when I saw your mini-rider- my dad had a troy built just like that. It was a great machine! When I have time I'll look for a photo.
DeleteThanks, Evelyn. I'd love to see that photo. It's funny, because the Troy-Bilt factory was in Troy, NY, just across the Hudson River from Albany, where Walt grew up. The Troy-Bilt mower was the one we found and decided to buy at the Bricomarché hardware and builders' supply store over on the other side of the Cher river, not two miles from our house. Right now, the grass needs cutting again, and I know Walt hope sit will stop raining someday soon so he can get to work on cutting it.
DeleteWas the Troy Built, built in the US?
ReplyDeleteI don't think so, William. It was built somewhere in eastern Europe, if I remember correctly what I read about it.
DeleteI'm so pleased for you to have your passport issue going well! Gosh, these things can all be so stressful.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I just retired... I'm fortunate to have a pension, but no one at work told me how to get that signed up for, or even that I had to put in a lengthy application for that, or where to go... ditto on my change in healthcare benefits (because I'm also starting Medicare as of tomorrow). I just started asking everyone I could think of, and finally hit a person or two who gave me info, but then the applications were lengthy, detailed, and so important... I was afraid of making a mistake! It's a relief to know when these things are finally set.
I know what you mean, Judy. Good luck getting everything set up. When you retire, you think you'll be able to relax a little, but that's often not the case.
DeleteDiogenes, I hope you are right about the vegetable garden and the growing season. We have to get in touch with the owner of the landscaping company and see if he can come over or send somebody over to do the tilling. Problem is, it's raining again this morning. He tilled it last year in March or April, but that hasn't been possible this year. He only charged us 40 euros to do it.
ReplyDeleteHello! You don't know me, although I've posted here a couple of times in the past. Have you ever considered becoming a French citizen?
ReplyDeleteGood luck with l'intervention!
ReplyDelete