February 2012...& a belated Happy New Year!

Well, goodness gracious me! What a game I've had trying to re-connect with my blog! I'm not 100% sure how I've now managed to find the right page in order to compose new articles, but here I am with a quick update of events since Christmas. ( & apologies to everybody who thought I'd dissappeared off the face of the earth!)
The maire of Asnois gave his annual address in January. Nothing terribly exciting...except news that the white elephant of a doctor's surgery...built for a Romanian doctor to come & start up his medical practice 2 years ago...& which fell through after the gentleman in question did a runner, now has a new use! Our commune sponsored him (the doctor) and entertained him for 18 months whilst he upped his French language skills in hospitals in Poitiers. By the time the Vienne medical boards considered him satisfactory to start a GP unit here in Asnois, he & his wife decided to head for more exotic parts of France...leaving a lot of unhappy councillors here. Anyhow..the new surgery is now to be for a dentist!
The winter weather didn't arrive until last week. After 2 weeks of snow & ice the thaw has arrived. I can't really say we were badly affected, but many local folk still have frozen or burst pipes.
Geoff has been building all this winter in a bid to break the back of the gite renovations. We stopped for a couple of days partying over the Christmas break...and for a couple of days last week when it was just too cold. Otherwise he has worked steadily onwards. Progress seems slow..deadlines to finish this, that & the next job, come...&....go!...but I suppose we are getting there! When you are not a professional, some jobs take an agonisingly long time!
The latest digression is the arrival ( this morning!) of the 'Tooway' satellite dish. This will take a day or 3 to erect, but we have decided that we can no longer carry on without 'broadband'. Friends & clients complain because they can't get us on the phone...and we spend a long time online, which is VERY slow! So, all I can say, is...watch this space!