The fine tale of a complicated scam

Today I have had the pleasure of being chatted up by a TDH* bearded man.  On offer was a scheme to reduce my electricity costs by making various changes to the structure of my house.  My house has six ground floor rooms and a bathroom and four larger upstairs room with a library and bathroom, stone and mud construction near 300 yrs old...

His offer was that he would inspect the structure of my house and make suggestions that would, most likely, reduce the future carbon tax and increased electricity prices.  He was armed with a large folder that contained obvious EDF bills, some interesting looking charts with downward going lines....

Unfortunately for him I had mentioned the initial contact to my daughter who got her detective hackles up and started to dig in. It was decided that, rather than cancelling the appointment, we should let it happen and.....Tell the Gendarmes!    (Yes, I can see that looks like the title of a book...)

Firstly the name of the prospective electrician had been given to me by a lady who had driven into my short drive - very evident from the main road - with a request for help about....something...She then told me that there were ways to reduce the possible effect by contacting a certain person. She telephoned and made an appointment for XyX to visit me at home at a specific time.

Then I asked my neighbour in the house just below me if she had an initial contact on the subject of electricity prices later that day..Answer NO. Clever daughter then discovered that the name of my future electrical expert did not exist...

So we decided it would be useful to local society in general if we let the scan go ahead - and keep the gendarmes in the loop..

He came, parked his car - the tenant of the house below mine was opportunately in the vegetable garden with her telephone.   (Yes, yes, in Dordogne you need telephones to help you garden..) So she registered his number plate....And my two quite hefty Dutch workmen who happened to be on site, made notes.

He came in, I offered him a chair with a view to the outside.   My French son-in-law was seated on the opposite side of the table. His dog was weaving its heavy way in and out of the table legs.  After a few questions my son-in-law suggested all this was a waste of time..than the TDH should leave which he duly did.

Son in law then telephoned the local Gendarmes who checked the number plate..car not in the name driver who was supposed to have been my advisor...not a local car, supposed conducter not a local person...possibly not even born in France..

Drinks all round at home!!

 

Warmth, leaves, wind - and and the tree that looked back at me.

 This sunny Sunday - the 3rd of November - was mostly spent by me sweeping up leaves from the terrace outside and - inside the kitchen - sweeping up dead flies..In a way I was glad my garden man was not here to do it - like most men (?) he likes to use machinery to do things...and his leaf-blower is hideously noisy.  He wears it on his back, cigar in mouth, and stomps to and fro.    I had  cleverly put all the chairs on the table so there were no obstacles as I went to and fro. All suggestions as to how to get moss off stone easily gratefully accepted.

In the kitchen it was dead fly time and I confess to having used a fly killer spray - yes, yes, I did cover all the pans, crockery etc (my nose) before spraying.   When I was much younger - and permitted to go up ladders - I did use those sticky coils that you pin to the ceiling.  For some reason the flies are attracted - and get stuck. Then one has to go up a ladder and unpin the sticky mess....

After my hard work I decided a drink on the terrace was merited. I duly supplied myself with a glass of wine and decided to somnole a little whilst resting my eyes on the clump of oak trees on the  corner of the woods.

After a little while I began to feel a little uneasy....I looked around but there were no persons to see...all was unnaturally quiet...I looked towards the trees....there was one looking back at me...!!