Tuesday 28 July 2015
Cloudy and cool rising to 31 - less humid than before
Wake at 5 am and it is still dark so attempt to catch up on blog lag. Eight months since I started already. Laptop seems to have appreciated the weeks rest. I will take off all the photos and documents. Like me, it is full of old stuff which slows us up - kilo bites of stuff which takes up all of our memory and makes us sad.
Discover to my delight that client for today has cancelled. I could open for Hamlet. I need to sleep away these bags before I go out and terrify the general populace. Put away all of my stuff, resolve not to take so much stuff next time (ha!) and admire my new handbag which is cream in colour and has many pockets and a big silver badge. On the edge of being bling... Stroke the English coins, the chunky one pound nuggets, the silver five and ten pences and the big brown pennies like the Quality Street Christmas boxes of my childhood. Each coin special and individual and solid. Euros are flimsy in comparison and the one, two and five coins are virtually indistinguishable.
OH tries on his new shirts and tops and some of them clash horribly with his head (he has a somewhat florid complexion) but he is very happy with them. Caught up with the emails and general business and tasks on computer then I go out and hack at a Photinia which has aspirations to be a tree until it gets too hot and come in. Try and speak to a notary who is never available and always says they will ring back and don't and spoke to my colleague who is very wound up because we are still missing the local planning document and this notary is meant to be chasing it and isn't.
Speak to eldest son of German chateau owner and, unsurprisingly, he says that 200k is far too low and they want 400k. The youngest son then rings and says that in his opinion, the massive creeping mushrooms are not dry rot and that the other son should get some analysis done and can I get an alternative quote for the roof. The current one is for 250k which everyone finds extraordinary. If there is not actually dry rot and I can get a quote for over 100k less, then my guy can up his offer and we can arrive at a deal.
Also spoke to English lady whose house received an offer whilst I was away. I had it on market at 159k and the offer came in at 130k which I thought was on the low side but apparently another agent has put forward an offer of 95k rising to 105k. That is a taking the piss offer. However, it always amazes me how people refuse just to spend a bit of money on their houses in order to make good the faults before exposing them to the public. It is the equivalent of sitting in a shop window with your knickers showing and runs in your tights. I think we can arrive at a deal with some skillful manoeuvring. She doesn't have to convert her euros immediately and can wait for the exchange rate to improve in favour of the Euro once all the crap with Greece settles down.
OH went fishing and I made tuna salad with all our own veg - potatoes, tomatoes, garlic, piments and beans.
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