Sunday, 12 February 2012

Icicles ...

Saturday was crisp and very cold.






However, nothing like the temperatures experienced in France at the moment. Martin and Denise who ‘look after’ our house, report that out toilets are frozen and that the tennis balls we placed in the pan haven’t had the desired effect! Perhaps it has been just too cold for too long. Luckily our water supply is turned off and Martin will return when the thaw is underway to check for leaks etc.

We are pretty pleased that we decided to spend February half term catching up with jobs at home. Although we have a wood burner and a large, relatively efficient (albeit old) boiler, Le Pre Vert doesn’t have double glazing and has ten sets of French windows. In the winter my electric blanket is an essential item!

Our friends Chris and Sally have braved the journey, trying out the new Manchester to Tours service operated by Ryan Air. Last night they were shivering at their house near Angles sur l’Anglin …
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10 comments:

  1. cheshire wife12 February 2012 at 21:52

    This current cold weather is just what I need to get on and do some jobs in the house, in the warm.

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  2. The Broad13 February 2012 at 16:03

    My husband puts anti-freeze in the toilets and drains down the hot water tank -- but we are still wondering what he'll find when he gets down there at the end of May.

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    Replies
    1. GaynorB14 February 2012 at 07:53

      A friend of ours does this too, but then has to sponge it all back out to prevent the antifreeze from going into the septic tank. Still it could well be easier than replacing cracked toilets ...

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  3. LindyLouMac13 February 2012 at 18:13

    Wise decision not to make the trip, we are still very much in the grip of The Big Freeze here in Europe.

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  4. Midwest to Midlands13 February 2012 at 21:28

    Hope you are staying warm. It was 2C in southern Spain too, so guess we don't have to feel bad we aren't there.

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    Replies
    1. GaynorB14 February 2012 at 07:54

      You're probably right - just not as interesting ...

      Delete
  5. Jean13 February 2012 at 22:14

    We drained our water system down when we left after Christmas. It was so mild then that we nearly forgot to do it !!
    We are lucky enough to have Alex and Nicole checking up for us, like you with Martin and Denise, which is just such a relief. When we had burst pipes a couple of winters ago they got it fixed before we even had to face it for ourselves, which is wonderful.
    And to think that when we were looking at houses in the area the agent said it never snows !!
    Actually, he was probably right. According to our neighbour Mme André, it never did until two or three years ago !!

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  6. GaynorB14 February 2012 at 07:58

    Hi Jean,
    I think we turned off the water and drained down the central heating system but unfortunately we don't think we opened the taps to drain off the water ... I just hope that if there isn't too much damage!
    So much for global warming...

    ReplyDelete

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