They say moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do - and that’s amusing when you consider that I’m both singularly Ill equipped to deal with stress and that I’ve moved 15 times since 1983. Lol. I’ll spare you the rollercoaster hell scape that was my September (this post was originally entitled « for the want of a nail ») and skip right to confirmation that I’m now finally bound for France at last… despite madam Truss and her genius Chancellor.*
Special thanks should go to everyone who’ve kept me entertained via their blogs during this period and an even bigger thanks to master Crook who completely unbidden sent me a lovely big book about Elizabethan England. Essential reading…and just when I needed it. It does make a change to get post that’s not just death threats written in cut out newspaper letters.
We’ll be departing blight (y) on the 10th October and living in what will be our gîte while the sale on the main French property concludes in mid November - (whereupon we get access to the whole site).
Meanwhile I’ve been stocking up on essentials to see me through the winter.
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| A bulk order of cravats will provide essential attire while I learn to smoke… |
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| …these…and sneer disdainfully at anyone who has not read this chap… |
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| …in the original French. |
Painting miniatures will hopefully recommence in early November and gaming in the Spring when I’ve evicted the last of the family members sucking on the Broom family Christmas teat.
The only thing I’ll be able to report on over this period will be my homebrew Star Trek ship to ship combat rules so it’s going to be slim pickings for a little while I’m afraid!
Toodleooh for now, or as they say in France…erm…Toodleooh.
*Apparently there are three types of people in the world…those that can count…and those that can’t.
Good luck with moving in and good to see you posting again.
ReplyDeleteCheers Peter, it’s impossible to come up with new blog content when you’ve packed all your toys away and are scared to order anything because it’s bound to arrive after you’ve moved!
DeleteBon voyage et bonne chance Mr Broom, or should I say, M. Balais. Talking of which, the main verse of Je ne regrette rien is rather appropriate as you repars à zéro in the France.
ReplyDeleteChris/Nundanket
I’ve long harboured a suspicion, now proven, that you are far to clever to be frequenting this blog. Lol.
DeleteJBM I am glad you are making it through the slings and arrows of the moving experience and will soon be on the property, even if only part of it.
ReplyDeleteEven in the antipodes the UK Treasurer's actions are raising eyebrows. Although on a personal level anything that causes Sterling to fall is fine as it means my purchases can be bigger. 😂
Hey Ben, every cloud has a silver lining I suppose! The East Midlands lead belt will be inundated with orders from the antipodes from here on in then. Good job some part of British industry will be thriving in the current climate.
DeleteThe wheels turn - with a fraught September behind you, here’s to a very successful couple of months while you get yourselves up and running.
ReplyDeleteYeah Norm, it’ll be good to put the last month behind me. Thankfully previous experience has prepared me for the kafkaesque nightmare of re engagement with French officialdom. Roll on Christmas!
DeleteFingers crossed you all arrive safely and with the baggage train intact. Ditto for the completion of the main house in November.
ReplyDeleteCheers Steve, all the toys have been wrapped to within an inch of their life so hopefully no breakages this time around.
DeleteI suppose in addition to cravat wearing and Gitanes smoking, you will be listening to Edith Piaf - or perhaps "Voyage, voyage".....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlgmH5q9uNk .... the singer is sooooo typically French!
ReplyDeletePiaf…not so much, she’s a bit to nasally for my liking. The young lady in the video was very French (I’d forgotten that track by the way) and has the sort of intense intellectual beauty I thought the country would be replete with. Unfortunately the agricultural area I’ll be living in tends to a more bovine gene pool. Most of the women in the Creuse fell out of the ugly tree and seemingly hit very branch on the way down. Hey ho, you can’t have everything I suppose.
DeleteClever move by Mrs JBM then. 😊
DeleteAll the best, jeune homme - you'll be pleased you were still around in Blighty to join the 13 hour queue to walk past HM's coffin? Ms Truss has already had a quick bash at wiping out my pension fund, so I'm watching what happens next from behind the sofa. You will be well out of this crap.
ReplyDeleteHope the move goes nicely, and that your new home brings you a lot of peace and happiness. I believe peace and happiness are the correct things to wish you, though I have some difficulty remembering what they were! All the very best, mate - keep in touch.
Thank you for those kind wishes Tony. Going back does feel like I’m fixing something that was broken, in a bizarre sort of way. Second chances and all that I suppose. Peace will undoubtedly descend when I return to the standard issue crappy French rural internet and can’t spend every waking hour doom scrolling through the constant unstoppable tide of bad news. Sadly I have to report that I never made it across to London in order to tug my forelock and shuffle past Brenda in her box. Shame that.
DeleteHello Mon Ami,
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely no problem old chap and I am pleased that it helped to keep you sane over the bumpiest bits….
I wish you both the very best of luck and look forward to seeing the new abode and the supply of cravats - I assume you have been practising your Gallic shrug as well!
All the best old chap,
DC
Hi David - the book was a lovely surprise, so thanks again! Mrs Broom apparently not keen on cravats for some reason, so I might have to wear them in secret. Gallic shrug is coming along nicely thanks, it’s the first lesson you get on Duo Lingo after you’ve done 365 days non stop.
DeleteBest wishes. You probably look devastating handsome in a cravat. Learning to smoke is not hard once you get over the bodies natural tendency to rebel about inhaling smoke on purpose. Learning to quit is another matter…
ReplyDelete😀😀
Cheers Stu, I can’t think of anyone that doesn’t look better when wearing a cravat. They’re due for a come back I reckon. From what you say learning to smoke sounds harder than I imagined, and as my father once wisely said, “if somethings hard to do it’s not worth doing”.
DeleteGood luck with the move. I do hope all goes well! Getting out of the UK seems quite a good idea right now, tbh...
ReplyDeleteHi David, I have to agree with you. For the first time in my life I might have timed something just right!
DeleteGood luck with your second chance, I quite liked gitanes but I was a pasty faced teenage art student and they were probably the healthiest things I was consuming at the time!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Cheers Iain! As a bona fide artist student smoking Gitanes you must have been waaaaay cool!
DeleteVery best wishes for the move JBM, you are jumping ship at the right time way things are going here mate! I must recommend one of those embroidered Victorian smoking caps to go along with the cravat, and if you don't have a smoking jacket just put your dressing gown on inside out like Richie in Bottom when he went all sophisticated and took up chess.
ReplyDeleteLee.
Now that is exactly the look I’m going for. I’ll see if I can get one with a tassel or some such. Thanks for the tip about the smoking jacket too. I can see me now, swanking about in the old maison with a Gauloir in a holder, dressing gown inside out, defiantly sporting a paisley cravat and a smoking hat in a deliberately louche fashion. Lolz.
DeleteBy the time you read this you will be safely in the arms of the EU once again. I suspect that Ms Truss and her coterie are hoping that by ruining our economy we will no longer have to worry about all the illegal immigrants in their rubber dinghies crossing the channel. Personally, I'm considering nipping down to Kent to see if I can't pick up one second hand in case I want to reverse the trend and head over to your side as a refugee!
ReplyDeleteHi matey, yes you are right I’m back in the arms of the EUssr as my leave voting mother in law (who lives in Spain…but don’t get me started) would say. Here the unelected Brussels Eurocrats she professed to despise have capped our electricity price rise at a whopping 4% for the year. Makes me miss Dear old Brexitania. Erm…not. If you can find an abandoned rubber boat you can paddle over here and stay at my gaff until the revolution starts. At the very least you’ll be doing your civic duty by attempting to balance out the immigration / emigration equation. 😆
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