DIY, living in France

Dodgy DIY

In January 2001, my husband and No2 son were in our french house doing a load of DIY while I was in the UK earning the money to pay for all this work.

Was I envious? You bet I was!! It was miserable and cold in Manchester whilst they were giving me daily reports of having lunch in their shorts on the terrace, watching the sun go down, aperitif in hand after a hard day’s graft. The annoying thing is that they kept phoning me to ask me the French words for their various DIY purchases.

They couldn’t be bothered to look in their comprehensive dictionary. So one night they asked me to help them buy wood preservative. 'Same as in English' I said. The next night they called furious with me. Why?? Well the word preservative only means one thing in French: a condom! Apparently, the whole store had come to have a good giggle at them. Serves them right!!!

DIY, living in France