Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Acte de Vente and my legs prove irresistible


Monday 24 August 2015
Sunny periods 25 degrees

Woke at 3 am and was awake for at least an hour.  Gave up on trying to sleep and read some of Penelope Lively's Heat Wave.  Can't say I was really taken with the story although I did really like the acerbic main character.  Slept again fitfully and alas, 8 am came around all too soon.  Drank lots of tea and had long cool shower in order to wake myself up. Printed off the new less scary painting quotes (11000 euros instead of 25000 euros), our bill and the references for water and electricity then it was time to pick up the ladies and go to the notary's office.  

I drove them around the big town and showed them where they could buy food, furniture, white goods, clothes etc and then we went for coffee and CB mooted an idea of us working together, which was tremendously exciting.  Watch this space.  This really could be a New Normal.  Am wondering whether to have a blog a year.  Change the name for the start of the new 12 months.  Perhaps Normal Reloaded.  Or indeed A New Normal.   Just a thought....

We arrive at the notaries at the same time as the owners - the daughter of the now deceased original owners and a nephew.  They are joined by their notary and we pack into the waiting room and wait to be received.  Their notary is wearing a brown crimplene suit and reminds me of a Co operative shop manager whom I met about 30 years ago in a tiny town in the Lake District.  Back in the bad days of my being an Auditor...  We are finally received and it all goes smoothly and all sign and then I have a quick run through my various open dossiers before joining the ladies and the daughter for a drink.  The nephew has just disappeared.  Charming.  We have kir which is Jurancon white wine and black currant juice and the lady reminisces about growing up in the house and tells us it used to belong to a childless surgeon who used the big back room as a breastfeeding clinic at the start of the 20th century.  He also travelled a lot in China - curious as the buyers also lived in China for many years.

I dive back home and all I can find to eat is jam toast so have that and then back to the house for 2 pm to meet the water engineer and the builders.  The meter and pipework are down in the basement and as he opens the stop cock, the water shoots into the ancient copper piping and can be heard rushing upwards and filling the system.  There are almost immediately shouts from the kitchen, where it appears the charming nephew has taken out the washer without closing off the tap.  Fortunately the builders fix things and then it takes a very long time for them to go around the house with the clients, during which I ring the gas and electric people and make appointments to have the gas turned on.  The electrician then arrives and we go through the house yet again.  Start to feel very tired and very thirsty.  It is now 5 pm.  

The ladies, in a flight of expensive madness, have decided they want to take the roof off the very ugly extension and so we go to see the neighbour who does not like the sound of this at all so I have to do a lot of reassuring but don't see how they are going to get the roof off without quite a lot of crap falling into her immaculate garden.  The neighbour button holes me and says she wants a private word and it turns out that she may be interested in selling as well.  Her home is completely done in white and is absolutely immaculate with azure blue swimming pool.  Two very small dogs fall out on the patio and then come in and fight for the right to lick my legs.  My legs are utterly irresistible to small dogs.  I have never seen a woman with such a large clothing and jewelry collection.  Two bedrooms are just full of it.  I have one small wardrobe and my jewelry collection could fit in a small bonbon tray.  She wants a very high price for her tiny house and I say I will see who I have who may be interested.  I need someone like her to buy this place...

Back home and am absolutely knackered.  OH makes egg and bacon.  Clients tomorrow and Wednesday but think they are more suspects than prospects...

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