Hello Hello Kitchen types
The sky and the sea are blue - I am definitely not! Had a successful day starting with a trip to the hairdresser. She greeted me with the news that the Salon is closing permanently from Saturday. My face! You can imagine. She then made the news much more acceptable by saying she will be a mobile coiffeuse now and will come to our home when required. Wonderful! Since I hate going to the hairdresser but love what she does to my hair, I am more than pleased now.
We came home and had coffee and then my neighbour turned up at the gates with an armful of lilac and little roses and hydrangea. She said she was "tidying" her garden. I was so pleased. I felt that dear Puzzler - or the French version - had arrived to make a difference to my day. A couple of weeks ago she gave us jam and a wonderful loaf. She gave me a mountain of plums once and I made her a Plum and Ginger Crumble as a thank you. She was thrilled at the "Englishness". We have missed our occasional meeting for apéros, so the food exchanges make up for it.
No grumpy old bat today - but thank you so much for protesting that I could never be that person. Mmmm ! Have to say my glass is normally half full - except at the moment when I am enjoying some Baileys Salted Caramel whilst typing this - but when crossed I am ....well, very cross. I try to work off the grumpiness at the appropriate time. I have a very recent story which hopefully will amuse :
We had our new dishwasher installed. We use a very nice family business rather than buy from a big store because, certainly in this country, after sales service is remarkably thin on the ground. We pay the same, we just pay for installation and receive great back up and service if things don't work out.
We expected the owner and his Son to arrive. They are quite genial and always very obliging and correct in their behaviour.
My DH let their van into the garden. I could see on the camera (whilst I hid in our study before looking at Gransnet doing the ironing). Son gets out of the van, wearing a mask, my DH greets him, then not Father but another young guy gets out and I see he's not wearing a mask. Immediate wild indignation comes upon me, but when I've put on my own mask ready to go forth and be unpleasant outside, I see that the guy is then wearing a mask.
DH later recounted the situation. He was surprised when the second young guy - someone he describes as quite unpleasant, arrogant and unhelpful - got out of the van, almost ignore a customer and then think to go into his house without a mask. So, he said 'where's your mask?" Response- "do I need a mask?" My DH said that he needed one like everyone else, definitely, at the same time as the Son agreed and said a similar thing. "Well, I don't have one" was the response. Had I been there, little old Rottweiler me, I would have said at that point, "then you go and wait in the drive, but if that doesn't suit, you and the dishwasher can go back to where you came from". (We hadn't yet paid for it!) DH, being of a more sound mind and disposition and wanting to sort it out told him that he could borrow a mask, which he then handed over. Surly youth put on the mask, without a word, and sloped off indoors. There he behaved like a truculent child, was of no use nor ornament - the Son did all the work - was quite rude and ignored anything said to him and eventually I picked up his ugly face again lounging against our trailer in the drive, staring at the sky. He then went and sat in the van until the Son re-appeared struggling with a trolley. He didn't help him load up the old dishwasher, he simply idled about. My DH said that when he left - which I never saw - the Son said goodbye and thank you, about 3 times, the other guy said not a word (almost a criminal offence in France), but he did throw - seriously throw - the mask he'd borrowed into the middle of our dining table. !!!!!!!!!!!
They were going to have to return the following day because the plinth needed some adjustment which the Son was going to do in their workshop. I felt that if the idiot one was with him, very rude words would have to be said and so I decided to write to the company (the Father/owner) and just tell him what had happened and what could possibly have been in his mind to send out someone who behaved like that in a client's home. Our home is a safe place for us, I said. I don't want that employee here again, ever. You come here with a mask, so does your Son, what planet is this person on that he has failed to understand that we are not only in the middle of a pandemic, he is putting us at risk and he doesn't care, but surely everyone is aware by now that it is actually an offence here not to wear a mask. Off went the mail.
An hour later, a very courteous and genuine apology. He will see that this behaviour doesn't happen again, he is very sorry that we had to suffer such treatment etc.,
Next day, I feel reassured that only he or his Son would come here. I'm pleased to hear very happy conversation as my DH walks in with the Son - alone.
Here's the punchline - the Son says, again, that Monsieur is very sorry for what happened BUT - he tells my DH - that he is not the Son, "I'm just an employee", he says, so.........it's the Son who has behaved in such a shameful and ignorant way. Silly old us, we assumed that the two we knew were Father and Son
Well, once he had gone we did laugh. That was the obvious explanation - an entitled (if scruffy and stupid) brat in his 20's who clearly thought he'd do whatever he liked, even risking ruining his parents' business - just because he could. The kind of idiot that thinks everything will just fall into his lap whatever, and he can live happily ever after.
We certainly had our explanation as to why two very efficient and smart workaholics (his parents) could be daft enough to have an employee like that. It was so amazing it actually made our day!
Hope that all of you have had a good day, please let us know that things are better for you, when you can, dear Panache. Are you bearing up and not stressing, Muse? Syn just tell your builder what's required - hardly unreasonable. He can always tell you he'd rather not - but I wouldn't imagine that's going to happen.
Brook Culloden and that cottage. How simply beautiful - what history. I am choosing to ignore the snow - it is almost May after all.
Here it's not really summer yet, Puzzler. We're enjoying the sun and the wonderful colours but the pool is empty, I desperately need a new swimsuit (and a new body!), I don't like water melon and I need to wash the cushions for the loungers. Other than that......bring it on, we're ready.
Keep safe lovely people. Hope you're not cross about the above lengthy story----just had to tell someone!
Soop the muse will be upon you if you don't panic (not our "Muse* but the arty farty one. Maw probably has all the photos she needs of that dear Hattie person, she'll be happy to wait for a painting when the Artist is firing on all cylinders, I'm sure.
Take care all of you. x ?♀️
, we gave them cake the next year which went down much better. 
