Sunday 26 April 2020

Project 366 Photo Diary : Week 17

Into the second week of holidays and, after sorting out the patio last week, this week the plan was to dejunk the house and have a good spring clean.


Sunday 19th April - For the first time in ages, we had a proper roast dinner today. Roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots, gravy, ... yum ! Afterwards, as it was a sunny day, Pierre asked if we could go outside on the big car park opposite our house so that he could ride his bike. Well, normally I say no, but as we're going back to school in three weeks anyway, it seems kinda pointless trying to keep ourselves away from everyone else - I'm sure we'll all come into contact with the virus or at least the carriers, which is what the government originally said when they shut the schools. Anyway, we headed outside, with our signed attestation in my pocket, giving us the right to an hour outside, and, as the car park now had two families riding bikes/scooters on it, we went for a big walk around the block. It was lovely to take in the sights of spring, with blossom and flowers everywhere. Heading back home, we crossed the car park opposite our house for the first time in over a month and I noticed a hole in our roof ! One (or maybe two) of the tiles where the roof joins the chimney has slipped down, leaving a hole. I wonder how long it's been there !


Monday - Today's job was to sort out someone to fix the roof. As I expected, I phoned about fifteen companies that were shut or not answering their phones, then finally, someone picked up - phew ! I had to send photos (not easy with the sun just behind the chimney !), then sign a quote sent by email. They will get back to us. We finished off out on the patio, doing a Yucky Science kit with Pierre, then playing Monopoly twice (after raiding Sophie's room for all her old craft kits - she did say we could !).


Tuesday - After yesterday's unexpected day off my house-cleaning mission, I was back on track ! I started catching up on laundry, then attacked the bathroom, cleaning and dejunking the cupboards. There are so many review products that never got used or finished so I was handing things out to the kids and being ruthless ! Finished off with a video chat with my parents, then watched some episodes of The Society with Sophie on a Netflix party - you watch the same thing at the same time and have a chat box at the side of the screen. It's a nice way to stay in touch when you can't see each other. The Society follows a group of high school kids who come back from a cancelled summer camp to find that their town is empty, their houses abandoned and their town surrounded by dense woodland. They struggle to keep things going and work out what's going on.


Wednesday - Another day sorting out the bathroom, and the laundry, and the cooking, ... Then I gave myself the afternoon off and played Monopoly with Pierre again. Finished off cutting Juliette's hair (she wants to go shorter - it used to be down around her waist, then a year ago, she chopped it up to just below her shoulders - this time, it is just sitting on her shoulders). Watched more of The Society with Sophie on another Netflix party.


Thursday - I took a day off tidying the house today and went shopping instead, as we were out of orange juice, apple juice, squash and potatoes. As they're all heavy, they're all the things that get left when I can't carry any more ! I did some baking with Pierre, making butterfly cakes, and cleared out some packets from the back of the cupboard, making black cherry jelly and caramel flan.


Friday - The caramel flans that we made yesterday had cooled down in the fridge, so we were ready to squeeze the caramel topping over them. It had gone very firm in the sachet though, so this didn't go quite to plan ! They still taste nice though, luckily. A quiet day today, with more tidying, some blogging and another Netflix party with Sophie.


Saturday - A quick bit of DIY aka bodging ! The metal hose that attaches to the shower head has corroded and needs replacing. The DIY stores are all closed though (just found out that they reopened yesterday in fact, but there are big queues of people waiting to get in), so I "mended" it by wrapping Duck Tape all around the bit with the hole. It'll work for a while (and if it doesn't, we'll just use the shower attachment in the bath).

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27 comments:

  1. We're having a roast dinner today. The first one in about 6 weeks at least. I can't wait for it.
    That isn't good news about the hole in the roof. I suppose it's not one of those things you'd notice unless you had days of rain.
    I watched The Society last year and really enjoyed it. The second series is supposed to be released later this year.
    Yum! I do love butterfly cakes. Well done Pierre.
    Ahh! Duck tape fixes everything. We have it all around out hosepipe which keeps getting holes in. lol. x

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    1. I used to do roast dinners every week, but I think you appreciate them more when you swap about. I'm so glad it hasn't been raining ! I'm still not sure we'd have noticed it because it's in the corner of the loft space, behind a wall in the bit that has been made into Sophie's bedroom/bathroom. For The Society, Sophie said that the second series is in production but they've had to stop filming, due to lockdown. We'll see ! Ahhh I'm glad your Duck Tape works - hopefully mine will too !

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  2. I did a roast for Easter Sunday, but haven't bothered apart from that. Well done on the duck tape repair - it's a pity the roof isn't as easy to fix.

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    1. Ooh I could have bodged the roof with Duck Tape ! lol

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  3. Lovely to have a nice roast dinner and to be able to get outside for a while. I love the butterfly cakes and caramel flans even if the caramel topping didn't quite go according to plan! Good luck with getting the roof fixed. #project366

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    1. The roof was fixed yesterday and this morning it's raining - just in time !

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  4. Nice that you had a roast dinner on Sunday. I don't remember when it was the last time we had a roast dinner. Since my DH has become a vegetarian, and my kids are not that keen on any roast, I don't cook it for myself, but I do miss a good roast chicken. Hope you'll be able to have the hole on the roof sorted out soon, and the same with the shower head. Lovely that you were able to watch The Society with Sophie. Is it age-appropriate to watch with Eddie?

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    1. No, it's got a bit of sex in it so he's probably a bit young. :(

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  5. Monopoly twice that's impressive, we usually take so long to pay finishing one game is a job well done! I quite fancy one of your butterfly cakes!

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    1. We introduced the rule of "if you don't want to buy the property you land on, stick it up for auction" and it totally speeds up the game !

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  6. The roast dinner looks fab. Not good news about the hole in the roof. I suppose it's one of those things you'd notice unless you've had rain. Those cakes look fab, well done Pierre. xx

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    1. We wouldn't have noticed for ages as it's in a shut off bit of the loft that we have no access to !

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  7. I've been doing a lot of repairs also that will need to be done properly when lockdown eases up a bit more. Nice you can now go out for a walk with the kids. Wow 3 weeks till school resumes, hope all goes well for you all, keep safe

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    1. We're waiting to see what is decided - it will be done by region apparently. They're releasing more details on a day by day basis.

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  8. forgot to add hope you get your roof fixed and it's not too expensive

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    1. Thanks - it was a couple of hundred quid. Don't know how that compares as they were the only ones who appeared to be working !

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  9. nice we have had little rain if you have a hole, hope it gets sorted soon.
    The sauce for the caramel pudding spreads better if placed in hot water first.
    So your schools are going back, dont think they are planning on us going back till August.
    Glad you got out for a while

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  10. We've just had three complete days of rain - the first for ages - but luckily, not until the day after it was fixed - phew ! The sauce actually melted and spread perfectly all by itself in the fridge, although the kids didn't necessarily wait long enough for that to happen. Bunch of pigs ! lol. In theory yes, for school, but maximum 15 kids per class and not in areas that are still classed as red. It all sounds very complicated - we'll see what happens.

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  11. School is opening in 3 weeks? Isn't that dangerous? The roast sounds delicious! Interesting story of The Society. The cupcakes and caramel flam look delicious.

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    1. I'm not overly reassured about going back to school in three weeks, but I won't have any choice about it. Fingers crossed most of the kids will stay at home ! (They have the choice of whether to go back or not.)

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  12. Ooh, love a roast dinner. I've not heard of Netflix parties before, it would be like having your own Gogglebox chatting to friends.

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    1. It's great for spending some time with people that you can't see - which for us is Sophie, stuck on the other side of the Channel !

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  13. those caramel puddings look lush!

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  14. Hope you got your roof quote and sorted. Always a pain when things like that happen. The baking and puddings look good! #project365

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  15. I am very jealous of your Monopoly game: no one will play against me as I'm too competitive (and good!) #project366

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  16. I really need to do some decluttering I keep saying I am going to attack the kids rooms but don't get round to it. Could be this weekend... Hope the roof is now fixed and the shower is still working okay. Scary to think the kids are back to school.

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