ALBI THE RACIST DRAGON & PASCALE THE FECKLESS ROOFER

I am sitting at my computer watching the excellent and hilarious Flight Of The Conchords on youtube in a bid to distract myself from my impending (and probably painful) induction.

If you'd like to be distracted from thinking about it too, I'd recommend "Albi The Racist Dragon"

If you don't like Flight Of The Conchords, how about an update on the Belgian? I saw him the other day. He was explaining to one of the locals that Pascale had been 'working' on his roof for 2 and a half months and had yet to lay a tile.

If you have been losing sleep over what happened to Pascale's scaffolding, this is for you: Neatly laid out against the side of the Belgian's house by the johnny-come-latelies. One of the excuses Pascale gave to the Belgian was that he felt too "faible" to do any work, so the Belgian probably doesn't want to risk him falling off. How thoughtful of him. Notice they cleaned up all the old laths and off-cuts before I could get there, dammit!

I commiserated with the Belgian and offered my assistance should further roofing assignments be undertaken. We exchanged email addresses. I don't think he suspected for a minute that I was an undercover blogger and nosy neighbour.

Twitch.

HONOUR AMONGST ROOFERS...

There obviously is no code of honour among the French roofing fraternity.

I got terribly excited this morning when I heard hammering and male voices coming from the Belgian's roof. Could it be Pascale, returned from a fortnight of festive frolicking, determined to make the Belgian's roof an accomplishment of 2011?

Alas no. When I went out to check my post box, I recognised the johnny-come-lately roofers who only yesterday finished a repair to the house across the square. The Belgian has obviously decided enough is enough. Poor Pascale.

According to Michelle (the toothless one-eyed cadger with a speech impediment) Pascale has been in the grip of la grippe for the last 2 weeks. I tend to take most things Michelle says (when I can decipher them) with a pinch of salt as it's usually a meandering prelude to trying to borrow money from me; however... In this instance, when I think back to the horrendous weather, and the poor little Frenchman being lashed by torrential rain trying to nail down laths and insulation in the teeth of a fierce gale, I wouldn't be surprised if she is right.

Will the Belgian's roof ever get finished? Will Pascale ever get his scaffold back? Will anyone notice if I sneak out under cover of darkness and collect the old laths and off-cuts for kindling?

Twitch Twitch!!

Greetings From The Haute Vienne To Tamil Nadu

FIRSTLY:

I'd like to welcome Sri of Chennai to my blog. I like that I have an international readership. He introduced himself by way of a comment on my post "Thank Goodness For Friends". He appears to work for a scaffolding company, so if anyone is building in the Tamil Nadu area, check out his site: www.lotusscaffolding.com

SECONDLY:

Check out what Paul is doing to the wall in my courtyard:

This is the party wall between my courtyard and the garage/storage area next door that belongs to an unspecified woman in Montpelier. At some point I plan to make contact and charm her into selling me the garage, which I will turn into a walled garden.

There has been a lot of debate amongst friends as to whether this opening, which used to contain a saggy old chipboard cupboard, is in fact a well or a bread oven. I have asked Paul to retain the curve of the top rather than just concrete the whole thing over. One thing's for sure. It's not going to be a bloody barbecue, which is what Aussie John is lobbying hard for. Erm, hello?? I don't even eat meat! I love barbecues. Just not at my house.

This is what it looks like from Mme. Montpellier's side. She ought to feel very kindly towards me as she is getting her side of the wall fixed for free.




FINALLY: All acro props used in this photo shoot are the builders own. If I was building a skyscraper in Southern India, I would definitely use Sri at Chennai Scaffolding.

Have a good weekend y'all.