Friday 9 August 2013

Peachy

If you were able to buy a whole tray of luscious peaches for just under 3€ (about £2.58), what would you do with them?

Tray of Peaches

I got these at SuperU in St Junien today, and the trayful was 2.99€! Fruit is the second thing that is cheaper here than in England (the first being wine!) although usually in the summer only.

They looked so fabulous that I had to buy them, although I'm not sure what to do with them.  Unlike in English supermarkets, this fruit is ripe NOW so I need to use it straight away, or I'll just be throwing it in the bin!

I have lots of preserving jars, so I could preserve the fruit in syrup.  I also have lots of jam jars, so I could make jam.  I could also cook them and freeze the result, although I only have a very small freezer, so I think this is the least viable of the options.

Maybe I should do all three, and perhaps make a pie for now as well.  What do you think?

Catalyst

Yes - that's what the French mechanic called the Catalytic Converter on my car (although my massive French dictionary tells me the correct translation is pot catalytique) - yeah, well, tell that to the man!  Remember I told you the garage had quoted me the jaw-dropping sum of 790€ for a new one?

Well, I was virtually on my way to the garage to get the work done when my daughter texted me to say she could source one in the UK for £89.  No, I haven't missed any figures off that - eighty-nine pounds! That s 103€.  That means the British one is about 87% of the price of the French one!  (Maths not being my strong point, I hope that's right.) That is just amazing!

So, she harrassed persuaded me to tell the garage I didn't want the Cat replaced.  Now I HATE confrontation, but 677€ is a lot of money, and worth saving.  So I told the man.

He was NOT a happy bunny, and postured around a bit saying that it was too late, the part had been ordered - was there, in fact, and so on.  But in the end he agreed just to do the headlamp (an insurance job) and STILL lent me a courtesy car for the day. Pretty good in the circumstances, I thought, though the courtesy car was not exactly in girl-racer style!

Spitting in the Soup

Anyway, I picked up my car at the end of the day with its shiny new headlight and wended my weary way home.  Halfway home I had to indicate right coming off a roundabout and, as soon as I heard the super-fast tick-tick-tick of the indicator, I knew that there was a bulb gone or something.  I stopped and checked and, sure enough, all was OK - flashing at the back, flashing at the side but no flashing at the front!  So, brand-new headlamp, but no indicator.  Was this the equivalent of spitting in the soup, I wondered?

It was too late to ring the garage - they were closing as I left - so back I went this morning.  Hesitantly, as I was not at all sure of my welcome.  However, they were all very jolly and looked at it straight away, although the forecourt was choc-a-bloc with cars and they were obviously very busy.  The mechanic was only two minutes and came back to me with a grin on his face. "I forgot to put the bulb in!"  he said!

So - all sorted.  Now all I need to do is get the new Cat over here and fitted.

4 comments:

Natas Nest said...

The peaches look so beautiful! I would make jam :-). Maybe test some different new types? I just found a recipe where they added thyme to the peach jam, sounds interesting! Or add some almond liqueur. Anyhow, enjoy!!

Anonymous said...

Hello there. Perhaps you could make a peach something for the garage man!!I haven't been to your blog before. I love looking at what you have done on Flickr - we are contacts - so I thought I'd come and have a browse. I wasn't disappointed! Great blog! See you again later.

Sharon said...

I think I would preserve some for making pies!! They look delicious, so eat some now too! I love peaches but not the furry skin, it makes me itch, so I stick with nectarines.
On the cat thingy, well done you! I hate garages because I'm sure they think we are all stupid! So good for your daughter for finding the part and you for standing your ground!

Elizabethd said...

Peach jam is lovely.
But I gently simmer them in a little water, or port if feeling like that, bit of sugar and you have a super dessert. It does freeze well.