Let it snow...

Snow in October? Yes it wasn't just the UK that was hit by an early snow shower last week. Here in the Averyon where the sun always shines & it never rains we had snow on the 30th of October. An unheard of occurrence according to the locals & not brought about by global warming but by the number of British in the region. We've not only brought the language here but we now inflicting our weather on the poor old French! Speaking about the language thing (no pun intended) it really is no surprise that the French are a bit twitchy about the English language. Browsing through one of the many special offer leaflets we get in the post every week it was noticeable how many of the products on offer are labelled in English. Even the latest LCD HD TV was described as being '32 inch high definition'. 32 inch? You'd be sent to prison in the UK for trying to sell something in imperial measurements.

Saturday 25th saw the last Ryanair flight of the year into Rodez & we were there to welcome it along with Matthew who had grabbed a late booking at a bargain price. The timing of his visit turned out to be perfect with both Barbara & I being able mix a little business with pleasure & I'm sure Matthew enjoyed visiting the builders merchants and being press ganged into moving some wood & helping his dad move the scaffolding along to the next stage of the barn ceiling. Yes the ceiling saga continues & yes it does seem to take a long time to do each section but having to fit the metal supports, spray the wood with anti-termite stuff, fit the insulation, fit the plasterboard, apply tape and three coats of plaster to the joints, apply two coats of paint, clean the beams finally apply two coats of varnish does take a while but we're getting there at a slow and steady pace and the finished result does look fantastic.

Sunday saw the annual chestnut festival in nearby Laguépie and what a great place to take a city boy used to the bright lights of London and show him the quieter side of life. At least he can go home knowing which mushrooms are safe to eat & how best to roast his chestnuts. Wednesday it was off to Toulouse and after a very nice lunch in one of the many restaurants above the famous Victor Hugo market Matthew headed for the airport and we headed home.