Aloha.
Yesterday Pogacar once again gave a master class in how to win a mountain stage, doing a remarkable chase to catch up 3 minutes and overtake Carapaz and Martinez in the final kilometre doing the chase on his own. Today we see Stage 20 Le Bourg d'Oisans to Alpe D'Huez again. A grand finale to the mountains, the final highland stage featuring the Tour's greatest cumulative vertical gain at 5450 metres. and links some iconic climbs in the Alpine Massif. Will Carapaz get revenge on Pogacar?
This is the Alps in the rain which I found when looking through my old illustrations. Not what it will look like today but you get the drift of the climbs.
Yesterday the chimney sweep came and was most satisfactory. We saw soot first and then sky which is what you want to see in that order. A clean chimney and a clear view to the sky at the end. He was an unusual sweep in that he was a former civil servant having become disillusioned with the British Civil Service a few years back and switched to being a self employed sweep. He said he had no regrets. He didn't look anything like I was expecting. He was tall, smart and like Raold Dahl with sweeps equipment and clean in spite of already doing two chimneys before he came to me. He got very dirty doing mine and then as if by magic in his van he cleaned up when he finished and I was busy preparing washing facilities for him. He self cleaned in his van. We chatted about soot and chimneys and a few issues of politics. I didn't want him to go.
I ordered heating oil. I do not want to get into any panic about not having heating oil and waiting weeks for it like I did last winter. Not something I want to go through again. Order, pay and be done with it. Next thing is logs.
I guess sweeping chimneys could be quite satisfying! Getting rid of the soot and then having the cleaned up chimney afterwards. It's a shame that he had to go after you had enjoyed his company. Good that you are organised with your heating oil and now to get stocked up on logs. Sending you positive vibes this July Saturday Rachel! x
ReplyDeleteOh yes, any job like that with a before and after is satisfying. I would like to have chatted to him but he was a professional and businesslike man getting to his next job was important to him so I didn't want to hold him up but it was nice to chat to him why he was here. I am getting my summer jobs over and done with. xx
DeleteJust seen what you did there with the greeting! x
ReplyDeleteI didn't enlighten why I said it! I thought it a strange word until I used it and then remembered there is a blogger commenter from Hawaii who used to say it, probably still does. Now I know what it means!
DeleteThe dog I'm minding this w/e got me out of bed early and I very nearly sent you an Aloha, but thought 6 ish too early.
ReplyDeleteWe went up and down A d'H years ago and picnic-ed watching odd folk attempt the climb on bikes. My husband didn't want to stop at the top due to -he said- lack of oxygen. Loving the Tour but frustrated by the coverage . Lesley
I am thinking about TNT and whether I watch the Champions League this year and that might justify the subscription. I have missed the afternoon live coverage of the Tour .
DeleteI wake up early but don't get up these days! Rachel xx
It is live on S4C this afternoon.
DeleteHello to you Rachel. I'm not following any of the Tour (like I didn't follow any of the soccer) but just thought I'd pop in to say hi. We bought our own extendable brush to clean out our stove pipe for our woodstove a few years ago, so no need to call someone in. I was trying to picture Roald Dahl as a sweep after I read that. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteI have this mental image of Roald Dahl as a very tall, slim man and looking studious. This is what the sweep man looked like. I think chimney sweeping is a very fulfilling occupation and I can see why he enjoyed it after the civil service life. He was very well organised and super clean in my house. Thanks for dropping in Jenn. Rachel xx
DeleteRoald Dahl? I don‘t know what he looked like but I love some (actually, most) of his writing. Fancy having him sweep your chimney… ! He would have loved that word play, I think 😄
ReplyDeleteIt‘s wise to buy anti-cyclical, such as you ordering heating oil in the summer or my Mum buying Christmas tree candles in the summer. It costs less and you have peace of mind.
I know that Raold Dahl was a very tall, slim man and I have an image of him in my mind and I just thought of him immediately I saw the chimney sweep. I agree that Raold Dahl would not have minded and would have laughed. Incidentally Dahl had a fascinating boyhood enabled by his very forward looking Norwegian mother. I picked up a slim book I found in the children's books called The Boy which the charity shop had obviously thought was another Dahl children's story. In fact it was the autobiography of his early life and definitely not a children's book.. (I was at the time buying Dahl children's books in charity shops because I was studying the illustrations). I became very interested in Dahl after reading the book.
DeleteI buy my logs in the summer to obtain summer prices just as my mother did with coal. The oil is a slightly different story but still I want that peace of mind that I will actually have a tank of oil when I need it. Rachel