Since today was the first day of a trip, and since i had such an early morning, i used the day to do absolutely nothing, nothing new there i hear you cry. I got back from Lille at around Eight, let the dogs out and had a coffee, took the dogs a walk then settled into a day on the computer. I finished off some left overs for lunch, not as nice as it was when ant made it, then went out to get the post. There was an enormous package containing just one of the book i had ordered online, The Fatal Shore, by Robert Hughes, i had thought i would save these books for the journey across but on seeing it realized it would take at least a week to get through it and it would be far to unyielding for the journey so i started on it. It is a history of transportation and settlement and the effects of the colonization on the indigenous Australians, and so far has been quite interesting, i have learned a fair bit about aboriginal history and culture that i had hither to been ignorant of. I headed over to Jacqui's to check up on the rabbits, they were fine and i gave them a selection of the collection of fruit and veg she had left for them, quite a gourmet selection including endives this time, a favorite round here. I read a little more when i returned home then fell asleep on the sofa, waking up a couple of hours later with a trail of drool dripping off my chin, such a horrible way to wake.
I headed off into the kitchen and started the preparation for dinner, i had defrosted poitrine de porc, or pork chest, or even ribs to bring it down to basics, which i smothered in mango chutney, covered in foil and put in the roasting oven, i par boiled some of our spuds and got them ready to roast. An hour later i headed in to put the spuds in and realized i had put the wrong oven on and the ribs were not even warm, so had to start from scratch, most annoying, so it was well past eight in the evening before i was tucking in, but it was most delicious!!
Another evening in front of the telly, quite a few comedy shows on the BBC, including Mock the Week, which is a bit close to the bone and Stephen Fry on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, which has really gone down hill since Mark Lemar was replaced. Then the concluding episode of Psychoville, which made me wish i had seen the rest of the episodes as it was quite good. Then off to bed for more reading, unfortunately Mr Theroux has been cast aside in favor of Mr Hughes so i will have to finish him off at another time. By the time i was ready to call it a night it was past one in the morning, the book is very absorbing!! Another day done, another day closer to the tenth of august, just a couple more and ant will be home and the vacance will begin.
Friday 31 July 2009
Wednesday 29 July 2009
Wednesday 29th July
We woke a little foggy round the brain due to our evening in the garden, but got into the day, i went on line and part 4 had arrived in the email box so i sat and read it out whilst we had our coffee, it is like reading an biography and we await the next chapter eagerly. After this i did some stuff online and ant went out into the garden again, he really is making a big difference to the look of the place, and seems far happier pulling up weeds than me so i left him to it. At about el
even i got a phone call from Rosemary to see if it was ok to drop by, ant had brought her back some Bio Oil and had said he would get her some new glasses in china as they are ridiculously cheep there, naturally i said it was and she arrived about ten minutes later in her delightful Citroen Dyanne, which she calls Lady Di. I have a little bit of car envy here, and it could have been mine but at the time it was up for sale it did not make financial sense for us to buy it, ah well we live and learn. We all sat out in the garden and chatted for a while with a nice cup of tea and some Banana bread ant had brought back from Joburg on his last trip. After about an hour Rosie headed off, ant went back to the gardening and i went back to the computer.
By two in the afternoon ant had gotten a bit peed of with me doing nothing of any use so i stopped and made a bit of lunch, the flies in the kitchen were awful and started to creep me out so i decided we needed to take action, after lunch we headed into town and bought some raid and an electric plug in thing, i blitzed the place and the flies were no more, thank goodness. I hustled myself into doing some tidying up and ant finished in the garden. Ant came in around four for an afternoon nap, so again i left him to it and carried on with the computer.
At seven in the evening Jacqui and Simon arrived with Sadie, they are all off to the UK for a bit tomorrow so i am going to look after her fish and rabbits, the fish come to live with us but the rabbits stay in their garden, otherwise Ruby and Banjo would have a field day. We sat and chatted for a while out in the garden, i had woken ant up when they arrived, by the time they went it was nearly eight so i quickly nipped upstairs to programmed an evenings viewings then put a couple of pizzas in the oven and we settled in for a gentle evening, we will have to get up at 4:30 in the morning to get ant to Lille for work. We headed off to bed at about eleven then i had a very restless night of waking and sle
eping before finally getting up.
The dogs hardly even stirred when i came down to put the kettle on but i booted them out into the garden and i got ready for the drive. For some reason i had a bit of a foreboding feeling of doom saying goodbye today and it was clear he really didn't want to go, i felt like a parent dropping of a kid for their first day at school, he will be fine when he gets there but parting is such sweet sweet sorrow as the bard puts it, just three days and he will be back so there is no reason to feel so black really. So here's ant in his uniform at five in the morning for you.
catch you soon
even i got a phone call from Rosemary to see if it was ok to drop by, ant had brought her back some Bio Oil and had said he would get her some new glasses in china as they are ridiculously cheep there, naturally i said it was and she arrived about ten minutes later in her delightful Citroen Dyanne, which she calls Lady Di. I have a little bit of car envy here, and it could have been mine but at the time it was up for sale it did not make financial sense for us to buy it, ah well we live and learn. We all sat out in the garden and chatted for a while with a nice cup of tea and some Banana bread ant had brought back from Joburg on his last trip. After about an hour Rosie headed off, ant went back to the gardening and i went back to the computer.By two in the afternoon ant had gotten a bit peed of with me doing nothing of any use so i stopped and made a bit of lunch, the flies in the kitchen were awful and started to creep me out so i decided we needed to take action, after lunch we headed into town and bought some raid and an electric plug in thing, i blitzed the place and the flies were no more, thank goodness. I hustled myself into doing some tidying up and ant finished in the garden. Ant came in around four for an afternoon nap, so again i left him to it and carried on with the computer.
At seven in the evening Jacqui and Simon arrived with Sadie, they are all off to the UK for a bit tomorrow so i am going to look after her fish and rabbits, the fish come to live with us but the rabbits stay in their garden, otherwise Ruby and Banjo would have a field day. We sat and chatted for a while out in the garden, i had woken ant up when they arrived, by the time they went it was nearly eight so i quickly nipped upstairs to programmed an evenings viewings then put a couple of pizzas in the oven and we settled in for a gentle evening, we will have to get up at 4:30 in the morning to get ant to Lille for work. We headed off to bed at about eleven then i had a very restless night of waking and sle
eping before finally getting up. The dogs hardly even stirred when i came down to put the kettle on but i booted them out into the garden and i got ready for the drive. For some reason i had a bit of a foreboding feeling of doom saying goodbye today and it was clear he really didn't want to go, i felt like a parent dropping of a kid for their first day at school, he will be fine when he gets there but parting is such sweet sweet sorrow as the bard puts it, just three days and he will be back so there is no reason to feel so black really. So here's ant in his uniform at five in the morning for you.
catch you soon
Tuesday 29th July
I though i would start with a couple of pics of ant and i in the morning, on the left my beloved, always so cheery in the morning, but isn't he cute in his teddy, and on the right me! ant took this picture, he said he wanted to get my sexy legs in!! So to start the day i was expecting our friend Tony at ten this morning as he needed a birthday card for his beloved, Jackie, and Jacqui who lives in the village here makes them, i also needed a card for Jackie so i said we could head over together and see what she had got. He arrived on time and we headed over and picked a couple, then we set off to Le Parq to pick up Mark and go shopping, and do other sundry tasks. Ant decided he wanted to stay home and do some work in the garden.
After shopping we went back to Le Parq for coffee, i took some pictures for the blog, they are; Tony and David sorting out some canes, David's lovely garden, and then again the garden looking towards the house, and finally Mark.
By the time i got home i had been out for four hours and ant was getting a bit concerned, but what a difference he had made in the garden, he had weeded the entire veg patch, something i had been putting off for ages, and it now looks like a veg patch should. Tony stayed for coffee then i went to dig out some potatoes for him, as i was doing this Dave, the owner of Fen and Tally arrived to pay us for keeping the dogs, he stood and chatted for another hour or so and also took some potatoes with him, we have a bit of a glut at the moment.
Once everyone had departed i discussed some garden furniture i had seen at Carrefore with ant, he procrastinated as per so in the end i decided we would just go and look at it, we ended off buying a new table, six chairs, an umbrella and six cushions, it was quite a struggle to get them all in the fiesta but we managed. I mowed the back lawn and we set it all up, finally we have a nice place to sit out on summer evenings. So we sat for a while, ant brought out a couple of beers, i said we should invite Janinne over for an apero, its ages since we have had anyone over for one, he didn't want to but i persuaded him and we asked if she wanted to come over, which she did. We all sat out till about ten in the evening, it was starting to get a little cold by then, chatting away in french, i finally got irais, aurais and saurias correct so was quite pleased with myself. Janinne set of home, we sat out for a while longer, then headed off to bed merry, yet again!!
Monday 28th July
Today was all quiet on the western front, Fen and Tally were due to be picked up so we stayed around the house all day, me on my computer, ant on his. I chatted to mum for a while on face book, did the farm then played Syd Myers Colonization all afternoon, this was one of the first computer games i ever owed and it is incredibly simple but i enjoy the nostalgia. I had said to ant he could cut my hair once the dogs had gone, but in the end they left at about seven in the evening, so it never happened.
Ant cooked dinner for a change, gnocchi with a bolognaise sauce and blue cheese, he is a bit of an experimentalist, but it was quite nice, then we settled in to an evening in front of the telly. After about an hour i got bored with the telly and went back on line and did some research for an Aussie holiday in February, i found that we could hire a camper van for a little more than the cost of hiring a car for the period we would be there and set off down this track, i kept asking ant what he thought about this camper or that and he got decidedly peed off with me. After deciding which camper i wanted i looked into flights to aus for us, due to our free ticket the price was incredibly reasonable, and then i looked into how to get to Adelaide from Sydney, fly, train or drive, flights were very reasonable, the train was ridiculous and ant didn't fancy a 14 hour drive, so it looks like the plane wins out again. I really fancied the train but it would cost 2000 Aussie dollars for the two of us, compared with 120 pounds on Quantus, we get a special rate, so its a no brainer!! After getting even further on ants nerves by asking what he thought of this we went to bed in a bit of a funk, but after a little gentle teasing we made up and went to bed happy.
Tuesday should prove to be a little more interesting
Ant cooked dinner for a change, gnocchi with a bolognaise sauce and blue cheese, he is a bit of an experimentalist, but it was quite nice, then we settled in to an evening in front of the telly. After about an hour i got bored with the telly and went back on line and did some research for an Aussie holiday in February, i found that we could hire a camper van for a little more than the cost of hiring a car for the period we would be there and set off down this track, i kept asking ant what he thought about this camper or that and he got decidedly peed off with me. After deciding which camper i wanted i looked into flights to aus for us, due to our free ticket the price was incredibly reasonable, and then i looked into how to get to Adelaide from Sydney, fly, train or drive, flights were very reasonable, the train was ridiculous and ant didn't fancy a 14 hour drive, so it looks like the plane wins out again. I really fancied the train but it would cost 2000 Aussie dollars for the two of us, compared with 120 pounds on Quantus, we get a special rate, so its a no brainer!! After getting even further on ants nerves by asking what he thought of this we went to bed in a bit of a funk, but after a little gentle teasing we made up and went to bed happy.
Tuesday should prove to be a little more interesting
Monday 27 July 2009
Sunday 26th July
A busy day of cleaning, cooking and picking up ant today, then dinner with friends in the evening, so i started early, i was out of bed before eight!! quite a shock to the system. After the morning routine i set to with the house work, it wasn't too bad except for the huge tumble weeds of dog hair rolling around the place, i should really be saving it up to stuff a duvet, wouldn't that be nice and snug. During the housework i had a good chat with gran on the phone and then a chat with ant, i like to break the work up with a chat to someone to make the affair less boring. After the housework i set too on the curry, i had already made some for ant and i so i added to it and put the whole lot in the slow cooker on low, then went out to cut some flowers for the house. The wild flower seeds i cast over the orchard have now started to flower, and they look very pretty so i gathered a few of those for the kitchen, and what a pretty lot they made, they don't last long out of the ground but 
are very effective. 
I had to go online for a while and whilst on did the farm and the blog for Saturday, then went back out and cut some flowers for the dining table. At last the glads are up and they look so good in a vase, a nice mix of colors too, so they brightened the table up nicely.
By the time i ha
d done all this it w
as time to head off to pick ant up in Lille, so i headed out, quite a nice peaceful drive up, picked him up and got the usual run down of events on the trip, i had listened to the world service on the way up and was interested to hear about the Chinese sabotage of the Melbourne Film Festival website, the organizer was interviewed and sounded like the kind of bloke you would like to have round for a dinner party. We so rarely hear anything of Aus on the news over here that it was a refreshing change to hear an aussie voice on the radio.
When we got home ant was bathed and put to bed for an hour or so whilst i set to organizing the dinner and
table ready for Alan and Chris arriving at seven. I woke ant at twenty to seven and he was like a bear with a sore head, not surprising really, i gave him the option of either getting up or staying in bed, he wisely chose to get up. The evening went very smoothly, Alan and Chris are an interesting couple to have for dinner, and i have been to their place and drained their wine cellar so often it was a nice chance for me to return the hospitality. The curry was nice, and the Indian style onion salad seemed to go down well, ant had been unable to procure nan breads for me and had brought pita's instead, not ideal but they also went, we finished it all off with an ice cream gateaux thing which was also nice, if a little sweet. The conversation was varied and interesting, and there was something there for everyone, so all in all it was a good evening. By about eleven Alan and Chris headed off home and ant and I sat and chewed the cud for another hour or so whilst finishing off the open bottle of wine, waste not want not.
So to bed, a little merry and definitely tired, i think we were both off to sleep before the first cuddle had finished, the kitchen strewn with dirty pots and plates ready for me in the morning.
are very effective. 
I had to go online for a while and whilst on did the farm and the blog for Saturday, then went back out and cut some flowers for the dining table. At last the glads are up and they look so good in a vase, a nice mix of colors too, so they brightened the table up nicely.
By the time i ha
d done all this it w
as time to head off to pick ant up in Lille, so i headed out, quite a nice peaceful drive up, picked him up and got the usual run down of events on the trip, i had listened to the world service on the way up and was interested to hear about the Chinese sabotage of the Melbourne Film Festival website, the organizer was interviewed and sounded like the kind of bloke you would like to have round for a dinner party. We so rarely hear anything of Aus on the news over here that it was a refreshing change to hear an aussie voice on the radio.When we got home ant was bathed and put to bed for an hour or so whilst i set to organizing the dinner and
table ready for Alan and Chris arriving at seven. I woke ant at twenty to seven and he was like a bear with a sore head, not surprising really, i gave him the option of either getting up or staying in bed, he wisely chose to get up. The evening went very smoothly, Alan and Chris are an interesting couple to have for dinner, and i have been to their place and drained their wine cellar so often it was a nice chance for me to return the hospitality. The curry was nice, and the Indian style onion salad seemed to go down well, ant had been unable to procure nan breads for me and had brought pita's instead, not ideal but they also went, we finished it all off with an ice cream gateaux thing which was also nice, if a little sweet. The conversation was varied and interesting, and there was something there for everyone, so all in all it was a good evening. By about eleven Alan and Chris headed off home and ant and I sat and chewed the cud for another hour or so whilst finishing off the open bottle of wine, waste not want not.So to bed, a little merry and definitely tired, i think we were both off to sleep before the first cuddle had finished, the kitchen strewn with dirty pots and plates ready for me in the morning.
Sunday 26 July 2009
Saturday 25th July
After the morning ritual i decided to take a walk along and see Chris and Alan, who have a holiday home, i knew they were here as Chris had posted it on her facebook page. I took back the book i had borrowed, Bryson's 'Notes From A Small Island', i had a copy of my own but lent it to gran and have never seen it since, she didn't enjoy it but i did. So i chatted to Alan and Chris for a while, they have recently been on holiday in the same region we were in in May so we chatted on that for a while, i invited them round for dinner on Sunday evening as it was Alan's birthday, they said they would love to. On returning home a did a little messing around on line, chatted to ant on skpe and chatted to his mum on facebook for a little bit.
In the afternoon I headed off into town to do a little shopping for Sunday evening, got some wine and salad and bits to add to the chicken curry i was already going to cook for ant and me. When i got home a did a little work in the garden, a little more weeding and finally put the Brussel Sprouts in that i had bought ages ago, they seem to have come on a fair bit in the bathroom sink so it should help them not they have to contend with nature.
After my foray into the garden i watched a couple of episodes of Are You Being Served, German week being one of my favorite episodes, then put a huge pig trotter thing in to roast for my dinner, great excitement for the dogs as they get the bone and the skin.
After this i settled in to another exciting night of television fun, what ever happened to Saturday nights, i used to be out dancing every weekend from Friday till Sunday, ah well i suppose that's age for you. Nothing of interest on the telly, Top Gear presenters doing the same things they do every week, just a different car and place, i think Richard Hammond even uses the exact same expressions every week, its becoming so formulaic, which is a shame because i used to like the old format. Not that many people can afford the new Jag, or the latest BMW, and when they do show anything that the average person might even have a sniff at they just rip the hell out of it, and why does everything have to be about speed, who really cares if a car can do 160 miles an hour when none of us would ever have the guts to drive it that fast anyway. I rant like this to the dogs whilst i am watching it, they are used to it and i think probably agree with me, at least i'm sure i saw Banjo nodding her head whilst i was mid rant last night. Total Wipeout was amusing as usual, though again Hammond was annoying with his use of facial expressions, hopefully he will be like an old prune by the time he's fifty so that will serve him. I topped the night off with the top 100 sex idols, i didn't see anyone i remotely found interesting by number 80 so decided enough was enough and headed for bed, Theroux is in Cambodia at the moment, it does sound really interesting and he quotes some interesting books, i will have to look see if i can find them on line. Ant's home tomorrow so it will be a day of cooking, cleaning and heading off to pick him up, which is good, at least i will have someone to rant at.
catch you soon
In the afternoon I headed off into town to do a little shopping for Sunday evening, got some wine and salad and bits to add to the chicken curry i was already going to cook for ant and me. When i got home a did a little work in the garden, a little more weeding and finally put the Brussel Sprouts in that i had bought ages ago, they seem to have come on a fair bit in the bathroom sink so it should help them not they have to contend with nature.
After my foray into the garden i watched a couple of episodes of Are You Being Served, German week being one of my favorite episodes, then put a huge pig trotter thing in to roast for my dinner, great excitement for the dogs as they get the bone and the skin.
After this i settled in to another exciting night of television fun, what ever happened to Saturday nights, i used to be out dancing every weekend from Friday till Sunday, ah well i suppose that's age for you. Nothing of interest on the telly, Top Gear presenters doing the same things they do every week, just a different car and place, i think Richard Hammond even uses the exact same expressions every week, its becoming so formulaic, which is a shame because i used to like the old format. Not that many people can afford the new Jag, or the latest BMW, and when they do show anything that the average person might even have a sniff at they just rip the hell out of it, and why does everything have to be about speed, who really cares if a car can do 160 miles an hour when none of us would ever have the guts to drive it that fast anyway. I rant like this to the dogs whilst i am watching it, they are used to it and i think probably agree with me, at least i'm sure i saw Banjo nodding her head whilst i was mid rant last night. Total Wipeout was amusing as usual, though again Hammond was annoying with his use of facial expressions, hopefully he will be like an old prune by the time he's fifty so that will serve him. I topped the night off with the top 100 sex idols, i didn't see anyone i remotely found interesting by number 80 so decided enough was enough and headed for bed, Theroux is in Cambodia at the moment, it does sound really interesting and he quotes some interesting books, i will have to look see if i can find them on line. Ant's home tomorrow so it will be a day of cooking, cleaning and heading off to pick him up, which is good, at least i will have someone to rant at.
catch you soon
Saturday 25 July 2009
Friday 24th July
A very lazy day today, i had thought i would take a trip up to Fruges to have a look for a dresser again but in the end it did not happen, so i spent the entire day based at home. In the afternoon Jacqui and Sadie came over for a coffee and a play with the dogs. I decided to have an Are You Being Served marathon and watched season seven and season two from start to finish. At six i dug up some potatoes and made some chips and had steak, chips and egg for my tea, very unsophisticated but very enjoyable. I went online later in the evening and chatted to Ian, ants brother, for a while, then set to with mr Theroux before heading off to the land of nod. Not a very eventfull day and the height of my hermitage, tomorrow i will do something more constructive!!
Friday 24 July 2009
Thursday 23rd July
I woke at the usual hour and had my morning ritual: dogs, coffee and fags, then phoned Mark to arrange when i would pick him up to take him back to the hospital to get his paperwork filled in for his health insurance. I had decided it would be best to do this in the afternoon so arranged to pick him up at 1.30. I settled in to my usual lazy morning, doing the farm, writing up the blog and messing around on the internet. At 12.30 i had lunch and set my dinner going in the slow cooker, a nice Mediterranean style duck stew, and then sat and watch a bit of daytime tv, then got myself organized to go pick up Mark.
I picked up Mark and off we went, conversation is quite difficult as he is quite deaf and has no batteries left for his hearing aids so we had a half hour drive me shouting at him and him not hearing what i was saying and veering off in different conversational directions. The hospital staff were very helpful, there was a strange hospital moment, lying on a bench in the reception area was a large older lady looking very unkempt, she motioned to me to come over but i declined the offer, a few moments later two gendarmes arrived and took her away, it is quite a rare thing to see here in our little safety bubble life.
When we left the hospital i said i would take Mark to look at a car he had seen in the local newspaper, the garage was in Humieres, the village next to ours, so i knew where it was. As yet the future of his car is still uncertain, he is trying to get his money back from the garage and buy a different car but i am less than optimistic for him. I said i wondered what he would have left to moan about once the car was sorted, but i'm pretty sure he will manage to find something. We had a look at the car, a Renault Laguna from 1996, it was in really good condition considering its age, and the garage guy was very friendly, i asked about getting our car fixed there, i have damaged the back bumper, he said this would be no problem and would only take a couple of days, so this is something i will have to look into.
I dropped Mark at home but declined the offer of coffee and headed home, released the hounds and went back online, chatted to aunty m on skype, played a game for a bit, then Jacqui arrived with her niece Sadie, so i sat and had a coffee with her for a while whilst the Sadie played with the dogs outside, great for tiring them out a little. By the time they had left it was late afternoon, i checked the dinner, smelt really good, then decided on the evenings viewings, nothing much of interest except Team America World Police, i had missed this the last time it was on so programmed it in. I phoned gran to see how her week was going, she had had a big day of social engagements on Wednesday so we chatted about this, she seemed to have enjoyed it, but everyone else involved had moaned about the food, she did not moan about the food but had chatted all night to an interesting woman, which is good.
By seven i was settled in front of the telly watching the Simpsons and enjoying my delicious stew with some fresh baked bread, a most enjoyable repas. I enjoyed Team America, it was still quite topical despite it being a couple of years old, i am not a big fan of South Park, written by the same guys, but this was much more up my street, so that was good. Off to bed, Theroux has finally arrived in Singapore and is really grinding his axes about it, he worked there for some years in the sixties. I worried a little about my feelings about Singapore, i like the fact it is a clean, safe and attractive place, and am impressed by what has been achieved in the way of economic growth, but it is on the back of an aggressive government who clamps down on any opposition and stifles individuality, so it does not sit well with my liberal views, i will just have to proclaim myself a hypocrite and live with it.
Thats all for today, who knows what fun tomorrow holds!!
I picked up Mark and off we went, conversation is quite difficult as he is quite deaf and has no batteries left for his hearing aids so we had a half hour drive me shouting at him and him not hearing what i was saying and veering off in different conversational directions. The hospital staff were very helpful, there was a strange hospital moment, lying on a bench in the reception area was a large older lady looking very unkempt, she motioned to me to come over but i declined the offer, a few moments later two gendarmes arrived and took her away, it is quite a rare thing to see here in our little safety bubble life.
When we left the hospital i said i would take Mark to look at a car he had seen in the local newspaper, the garage was in Humieres, the village next to ours, so i knew where it was. As yet the future of his car is still uncertain, he is trying to get his money back from the garage and buy a different car but i am less than optimistic for him. I said i wondered what he would have left to moan about once the car was sorted, but i'm pretty sure he will manage to find something. We had a look at the car, a Renault Laguna from 1996, it was in really good condition considering its age, and the garage guy was very friendly, i asked about getting our car fixed there, i have damaged the back bumper, he said this would be no problem and would only take a couple of days, so this is something i will have to look into.
I dropped Mark at home but declined the offer of coffee and headed home, released the hounds and went back online, chatted to aunty m on skype, played a game for a bit, then Jacqui arrived with her niece Sadie, so i sat and had a coffee with her for a while whilst the Sadie played with the dogs outside, great for tiring them out a little. By the time they had left it was late afternoon, i checked the dinner, smelt really good, then decided on the evenings viewings, nothing much of interest except Team America World Police, i had missed this the last time it was on so programmed it in. I phoned gran to see how her week was going, she had had a big day of social engagements on Wednesday so we chatted about this, she seemed to have enjoyed it, but everyone else involved had moaned about the food, she did not moan about the food but had chatted all night to an interesting woman, which is good.
By seven i was settled in front of the telly watching the Simpsons and enjoying my delicious stew with some fresh baked bread, a most enjoyable repas. I enjoyed Team America, it was still quite topical despite it being a couple of years old, i am not a big fan of South Park, written by the same guys, but this was much more up my street, so that was good. Off to bed, Theroux has finally arrived in Singapore and is really grinding his axes about it, he worked there for some years in the sixties. I worried a little about my feelings about Singapore, i like the fact it is a clean, safe and attractive place, and am impressed by what has been achieved in the way of economic growth, but it is on the back of an aggressive government who clamps down on any opposition and stifles individuality, so it does not sit well with my liberal views, i will just have to proclaim myself a hypocrite and live with it.
Thats all for today, who knows what fun tomorrow holds!!
Thursday 23 July 2009
Wednesday 22nd July
Today has been a quieter day, we woke as per usual, we were sitting with our coffee when ant noticed Janine was on her way over so we had to leap into action and get some clothes on. She stopped for a cup of tea, she had brought across a box of her home grown tomatoes, which are so tasty. We then spent the morning doing our independent things, i went online for a while and ant sorted out his packing. We both had a bath, then i chatted with mum on skype for a while, which is always nice. We had a spot of lunch then slowly got ourselves ready for the drive to Lille. At 3pm we set off to Lille, it takes about an hour and 20mins, stopped for some petrol at Arras, and got to Lille in plenty of time for ants train, i dropped him outside the station and headed home.
Back at home i went back into hermit status, sorted the dogs out, spent some time on the internet, made my dinner, watched the telly for a bit then got bored of it and went back online. At about 9 ant phoned in a fluster because he could not work out how to get into the room he was staying in, it's in a house owned by a cabin crew member and all the rooms have coded locks on them, so i phoned the owner for him and got the instructions. I phoned ant back and he was already in the room so the panic was over! i spent some more time online, chatted to ant on skype for a while then headed off to bed, read for an hour or so, i tend not to read in bed when ants at home because he puts me off. So that was the day, pretty average, as my days tend to be when ant's not here.
Back at home i went back into hermit status, sorted the dogs out, spent some time on the internet, made my dinner, watched the telly for a bit then got bored of it and went back online. At about 9 ant phoned in a fluster because he could not work out how to get into the room he was staying in, it's in a house owned by a cabin crew member and all the rooms have coded locks on them, so i phoned the owner for him and got the instructions. I phoned ant back and he was already in the room so the panic was over! i spent some more time online, chatted to ant on skype for a while then headed off to bed, read for an hour or so, i tend not to read in bed when ants at home because he puts me off. So that was the day, pretty average, as my days tend to be when ant's not here.
Wednesday 22 July 2009
Tuesday 21st July
We had nothing special planned for today so we woke and had our usual morning, then i spent ages trying to get ants new notebook to sign in to the wireless access, it simply would not take it. I gave up on the wireless and decided to have a move about, bring the desk downstairs and put it in the hall so ant could use the internet via a cable. Having moved the desk out of the bedroom i now had a gap that needed filling so we decided to go to Fruges to have a look at the depot de vent, like a junk/antique shop, to see if we could find a chest of drawers that would fill the space. We also decided to stop off at Jackie and Tony's on the way and drop off the egg cartons we had been collecting, they have four chucks and a lot of eggs.
We arrived at Tony and Jackie's and the whole family were there, Jackie also works for BA and had just returned from a trip, and their son who now lives near Melbourne and is over visiting with his girlfriend, we stayed there for a while and chatted then moved on to Fruges. When we got to Fruges it was still in the lunch period so nothing was open, we wandered around a bit but were being driven mad by tiny little flying insects called thunder flies, to escape we went to the local supermarket to get something to eat, while we were there ant saw a garden furniture set that was quite cheap, but i didn't like it, because it looked quite cheap! so we decided to give the depot de vent a miss and head off to Ikea to see if they had any better garden furniture.
Ikea is about a half hour drive from here, we got there, looked around, didn't see anything we liked and ended up leaving with three candles and a wok, so not a very productive trip.
When we got home Janine was in her garden and invited us over for an 'apero', apero's are a little unpredictable and can range from drinks with a couple of nuts for an hour to a full blown evening of drinks and eats, we naturally accepted and set to letting the dogs out. It is normal practice to take something along to an apero so i dug up some potatoes and cut some of the gladioli that are coming up, put some chicken in to roast just in case we needed to eat and then we headed back out. We had a very nice time at Janine's chatting away and drinking Pastis and water, she put on a nice spread of snacks and had made a flamiché, a local tart, a bit like a quiche with bacon bits and leeks, very tasty it was too, after about an hour i had to nip back home to turn the oven off.
We were at Janine's for about four hours, half way through another couple of neighbors joined, Christel and Philippe, with their little baby son Antoine. By the time we got home it was about ten in the evening and too late to be eating, we had had a good fill at Janine's anyway, so we cracked open a bottle of wine and settled in for a long chat about aus.
I went online and checked emails, part three from mum, it was quite a revelation and something i had never been told before, so it was a bit emotional, not so much for me personally but for the empathy with how hard it must have been for mum, i sent of a quick email, then we headed off to bed. The girls were in with us again and half way through the night i could not move my legs, after the initial panic i realized it was because Banjo was pinning them down. Ruby kindly peed on the carpet in the night, she is such a giving dog, so i will have to get the vax out and shampoo it now, life is full of these enjoyable tasks!!
catch you soon
We arrived at Tony and Jackie's and the whole family were there, Jackie also works for BA and had just returned from a trip, and their son who now lives near Melbourne and is over visiting with his girlfriend, we stayed there for a while and chatted then moved on to Fruges. When we got to Fruges it was still in the lunch period so nothing was open, we wandered around a bit but were being driven mad by tiny little flying insects called thunder flies, to escape we went to the local supermarket to get something to eat, while we were there ant saw a garden furniture set that was quite cheap, but i didn't like it, because it looked quite cheap! so we decided to give the depot de vent a miss and head off to Ikea to see if they had any better garden furniture.
Ikea is about a half hour drive from here, we got there, looked around, didn't see anything we liked and ended up leaving with three candles and a wok, so not a very productive trip.
When we got home Janine was in her garden and invited us over for an 'apero', apero's are a little unpredictable and can range from drinks with a couple of nuts for an hour to a full blown evening of drinks and eats, we naturally accepted and set to letting the dogs out. It is normal practice to take something along to an apero so i dug up some potatoes and cut some of the gladioli that are coming up, put some chicken in to roast just in case we needed to eat and then we headed back out. We had a very nice time at Janine's chatting away and drinking Pastis and water, she put on a nice spread of snacks and had made a flamiché, a local tart, a bit like a quiche with bacon bits and leeks, very tasty it was too, after about an hour i had to nip back home to turn the oven off.
We were at Janine's for about four hours, half way through another couple of neighbors joined, Christel and Philippe, with their little baby son Antoine. By the time we got home it was about ten in the evening and too late to be eating, we had had a good fill at Janine's anyway, so we cracked open a bottle of wine and settled in for a long chat about aus.
I went online and checked emails, part three from mum, it was quite a revelation and something i had never been told before, so it was a bit emotional, not so much for me personally but for the empathy with how hard it must have been for mum, i sent of a quick email, then we headed off to bed. The girls were in with us again and half way through the night i could not move my legs, after the initial panic i realized it was because Banjo was pinning them down. Ruby kindly peed on the carpet in the night, she is such a giving dog, so i will have to get the vax out and shampoo it now, life is full of these enjoyable tasks!!
catch you soon
Monday 20 July 2009
Monday 20th July
Another peaceful night, i think the boys are settling down a bit and they decided not to start howling until about nine this morning. I phoned David after the coffee and fags and said i would be there in about half an hour, he told me which hospital Mark was in and gave me the phone number for him. I phoned the hospital but got no response so i phoned Janine to ask about hospital visiting hours and directions to the hospital, after which i tried the hospital again, it was Marks direct room phone so i chatted to him for a little, asking him what he needed. We had a hunt about for magazines and books that might interest him and put together a little bag. We set off into town and picked David up on the way, the people at the supermarket were very helpful, they asked how Mark was getting on and retrieved his shopping for us. Then we did our shopping, David spent more on food for his eight cats than i spent for a whole week of food for ant and me, i am not sure if that's a good thing or bad.
After we had dropped David off we came back and had some lunch, i spent a little time doing the farm and read the second installment of mums life story, again i was a little teary but i am looking forward to the next part. We headed off to the hospital at 1.30, it's about half an hours drive towards the coast, neither of us had been in a french hospital so we were not sure what to expect. From the outside the building looks quite depressing, like a young offenders unit, but inside it was very light and clean and the staff were very helpful. We found our way to Mark's room and he was out of bed walking about so not quite as bad as we might have suspected. He seemed cheery enough, a little bored as he had nothing to read and couldn't watch telly as it was french, should have spent the last seven years learning the language then this might not have been such an issue! The room was nice, just two beds, they don't have wards here very often and the privacy must be nice, the nurses were very friendly but could not tell us how long he was likely to be in.
We chatted for a while, he had a look at what we had brought him and seemed to cheer up a little since he now had crosswords to do and a pair of reading glasses. After a while he wanted to go for a smoke so we went downstairs and joined him, after this we said our goodbyes and headed home. I decided to take the scenic route home, after asking ant what he wanted to do and getting a wishy washy response. We stopped at Montreuil to get the few items i had forgotten to buy the first time round the shop, then came home. Ant headed off upstairs for an afternoon nap and i sat down to write up two days of blogs. Tonight should be a quiet affair, a bit of dinner, a bit of telly then an alcohol free nights sleep so we are fresh for the challenges of tomorrow
bye for now
After we had dropped David off we came back and had some lunch, i spent a little time doing the farm and read the second installment of mums life story, again i was a little teary but i am looking forward to the next part. We headed off to the hospital at 1.30, it's about half an hours drive towards the coast, neither of us had been in a french hospital so we were not sure what to expect. From the outside the building looks quite depressing, like a young offenders unit, but inside it was very light and clean and the staff were very helpful. We found our way to Mark's room and he was out of bed walking about so not quite as bad as we might have suspected. He seemed cheery enough, a little bored as he had nothing to read and couldn't watch telly as it was french, should have spent the last seven years learning the language then this might not have been such an issue! The room was nice, just two beds, they don't have wards here very often and the privacy must be nice, the nurses were very friendly but could not tell us how long he was likely to be in.
We chatted for a while, he had a look at what we had brought him and seemed to cheer up a little since he now had crosswords to do and a pair of reading glasses. After a while he wanted to go for a smoke so we went downstairs and joined him, after this we said our goodbyes and headed home. I decided to take the scenic route home, after asking ant what he wanted to do and getting a wishy washy response. We stopped at Montreuil to get the few items i had forgotten to buy the first time round the shop, then came home. Ant headed off upstairs for an afternoon nap and i sat down to write up two days of blogs. Tonight should be a quiet affair, a bit of dinner, a bit of telly then an alcohol free nights sleep so we are fresh for the challenges of tomorrow
bye for now
Sunday 19th July
We woke around nine, the dogs were howling again, at least they had not howled during the night for a change, we have a whole week of this before they are due to go. I had a little stuff to do online, the farm and Saturdays blog and ant wanted to get some phone calls in, so we had a nice relaxed morning. Ironically, on a political chat show in the background as i was on the computer, an identical discussion to the one i had had the previous night was happening, it must be the topic of the moment.
We set off to Hesdin
at about 12:40 in the afternoon for Marion's birthday bash at Maggie's house. just as we pulled in to park i spotted Marion heading around the corner to the house laden with her little dog Nessie and a dog carrier, by the time we had parked and caught up with her she was already through the front gates. We first met Marion (the one with blond hair, Maggie is the one with brown hair) when we started looking for a house in the area, we were on a holiday and wandered into Maggie's estate agents and found Marion sitting behind a desk, we sat and chatted to her for a couple of hours and she answered all our questions on house buying and living in the area, it then turned out the Maggie, the owner of the agency was married to a British Airways cabin crew member who ant knew and had flown with years ago. we ended up buying our house through the agency and have never looked back, we have become ever closer friends and they have always been there to help in any situation we have found ourselves in.
When we arrived there was only the four of us there, so we had a bit of a catch up, it's hard to peg Marion down to a social event since she is such an independent spirit, but she and Maggie are such good company it's always a pleasure to get together with them. The rest of the guests arrived, Sandra and Jim (who i think i have already mentioned previously), Rodger; a Bichon Frisé breader, Rosemary; an ex trolly dolly, and two people we had never met before who were staying at Rosemary's holiday rental property. Maggie is a great hostess and had done a seventies style buffet which was as good as always, i was famished so pigged out a bit and enjoyed myself imm
ensly, especially on the guacamole which you can't really buy here.
The afternoon passed very pleasantly, the conversation was good and the booze liberal, though i was driving so only had a lager. Maggie and her husband Mike have a beautiful home just off the main square in Hesdin, their garden is totally enclos
ed and you would hardly know you are in the center of the town. Marion's little dog, a Bischon Frisé, Nessie, running around the garden and having a wail of a time, and the guests chatting and drinking and generally making merry. by five o'clock people started to make a move but i could tell Ma
ggie was still in the party mood so we stayed for a while longer, back to the four of us again. They are very excited at the prospect of our trip to Australia so the chat was made up of that and many other area's of life here that affect us all. Eventually, about ten in the evening, we set off home, the poor dogs having been shut in all that time, so needless to say they were ecstatic to have us home, and to get fed.
When we got home there was a message on the phone, it was David, Mark had collapsed on Saturday and had been taken into hospital, he has a blood condition and was saying to me the other day he would have to go into hospital soon for a transfusion. David didn't seem too bothered by the event, only that Mark had left a bag of shopping at the supermarket and could i take him to pick it up, i asked if he wanted to visit Mark in hospital but he said he wasn't bothered! After this we phoned gran, i try to phone every Sunday evening as she does not generally see anyone on a Sunday and it gives her a little company, as usual she did not have a great deal to say to me but was chatting to ant for ages, eventually i got him to agree to phone her on Monday to carry on their conversation as by this time i was ready for bed.
The end of another day, a strange day all in all, we had had a lovely time at Maggie's but then i was a little upset at David's attitude towards Mark being in hospital, i know if ant was taken into hospital anywhere in the world i would be on the next available flight to be with him and vise versa, it seems such a pity that after forty years being together that is the attitude, but it's their relationship so, there's nowt as queer as folk and all that
bye for now
We set off to Hesdin
at about 12:40 in the afternoon for Marion's birthday bash at Maggie's house. just as we pulled in to park i spotted Marion heading around the corner to the house laden with her little dog Nessie and a dog carrier, by the time we had parked and caught up with her she was already through the front gates. We first met Marion (the one with blond hair, Maggie is the one with brown hair) when we started looking for a house in the area, we were on a holiday and wandered into Maggie's estate agents and found Marion sitting behind a desk, we sat and chatted to her for a couple of hours and she answered all our questions on house buying and living in the area, it then turned out the Maggie, the owner of the agency was married to a British Airways cabin crew member who ant knew and had flown with years ago. we ended up buying our house through the agency and have never looked back, we have become ever closer friends and they have always been there to help in any situation we have found ourselves in.When we arrived there was only the four of us there, so we had a bit of a catch up, it's hard to peg Marion down to a social event since she is such an independent spirit, but she and Maggie are such good company it's always a pleasure to get together with them. The rest of the guests arrived, Sandra and Jim (who i think i have already mentioned previously), Rodger; a Bichon Frisé breader, Rosemary; an ex trolly dolly, and two people we had never met before who were staying at Rosemary's holiday rental property. Maggie is a great hostess and had done a seventies style buffet which was as good as always, i was famished so pigged out a bit and enjoyed myself imm
ensly, especially on the guacamole which you can't really buy here.The afternoon passed very pleasantly, the conversation was good and the booze liberal, though i was driving so only had a lager. Maggie and her husband Mike have a beautiful home just off the main square in Hesdin, their garden is totally enclos
ed and you would hardly know you are in the center of the town. Marion's little dog, a Bischon Frisé, Nessie, running around the garden and having a wail of a time, and the guests chatting and drinking and generally making merry. by five o'clock people started to make a move but i could tell Ma
ggie was still in the party mood so we stayed for a while longer, back to the four of us again. They are very excited at the prospect of our trip to Australia so the chat was made up of that and many other area's of life here that affect us all. Eventually, about ten in the evening, we set off home, the poor dogs having been shut in all that time, so needless to say they were ecstatic to have us home, and to get fed.When we got home there was a message on the phone, it was David, Mark had collapsed on Saturday and had been taken into hospital, he has a blood condition and was saying to me the other day he would have to go into hospital soon for a transfusion. David didn't seem too bothered by the event, only that Mark had left a bag of shopping at the supermarket and could i take him to pick it up, i asked if he wanted to visit Mark in hospital but he said he wasn't bothered! After this we phoned gran, i try to phone every Sunday evening as she does not generally see anyone on a Sunday and it gives her a little company, as usual she did not have a great deal to say to me but was chatting to ant for ages, eventually i got him to agree to phone her on Monday to carry on their conversation as by this time i was ready for bed.
The end of another day, a strange day all in all, we had had a lovely time at Maggie's but then i was a little upset at David's attitude towards Mark being in hospital, i know if ant was taken into hospital anywhere in the world i would be on the next available flight to be with him and vise versa, it seems such a pity that after forty years being together that is the attitude, but it's their relationship so, there's nowt as queer as folk and all that
bye for now
Sunday 19 July 2009
Sat 18th July
Ant is home today so its a busy day making the house sparkle, i really enjoy the clean through as the place is so much more pleasant with a bit of tender care. I decided to do a real good deep clean and try to banish some of our many cobwebs so it took most of the day, it's a shame they can't find some use for cobwebs, we would be coining it in if they were worth money. After cleaning the kitchen i stopped and chatted to gran on the phone, i like to break the work up, not much news but apparently Barry is learning how to use a computer, i am not sure what he will use it for when he has but maybe it is a sign he is joining the modern world. The dog situation is still a bit of a pain as i am having to keep them all separated and i think the smell Ruby is giving off is driving the boys a little mad. I put together a meatball dish in the slow cooker for tea, and boy did it smell good;
I finished the housework by two, had a shower and got dressed to head out and pick ant up, his train usually comes in to Lille which is about an hours drive from here. I stopped off at a supermarket on the way to get a little wine as requested by ant, and got to Lille about five minutes before he was due in. On the return journey ant chatted away about his trip and meeting his mum and brother in London, he looked a bit tired and seemed extremely relieved to be home after so long. When we got back there was a message on the phone from Jacqui asking if we were coming over for the evening, i asked ant what he wanted to do, he wanted to go for an hour or so then come back and have dinner at home so i phoned Jacqui back and said we would be over in a little while.
The evening was good fun, Simon did barbecue, which was very tasty, and there was a nice spread of salads, Jacqui's daughter Sophia, father, niece, a friend of Sophia and a lady friend of her father were there and they were a good mix. After eating half the group went downstairs for karaoke but i stayed upstairs and had a good blow out argument with Jacqui about immigration to the UK, i think she was a bit worried i was upset with her but i emailed her the next day to re-assure her, so hopefully it won't affect our relationship, though i suspect she was frustrated with me as i am a staunch liberal. Unfortunately ants romantic meal at home did not materialise but the meatballs will keep for Sunday dinner.
At about half eleven we headed home, nicely glowing with the free flowing wine, but not drunk enough to fall into a hedge on the way home, put the dogs out for a while then headed off to bed, we had the girls in the room with us to see if the distance would stop the boys from howling all night, which it seemed to, instead we had Ruby licking herself all night and Banjo scratching, i hope she hasn't picked up fleas, though they both had a jab last November that's supposed to make them flea resistant for a whole year. Another social engagement on Sunday, it's Marion's birthday, this time i will be driving so no booze for me, i don't really like drinking two days on the trot so that's a blessing, i just have to hope ant keeps it real because he can be soo annoying when he's drunk and i'm not.
catch you soon
I finished the housework by two, had a shower and got dressed to head out and pick ant up, his train usually comes in to Lille which is about an hours drive from here. I stopped off at a supermarket on the way to get a little wine as requested by ant, and got to Lille about five minutes before he was due in. On the return journey ant chatted away about his trip and meeting his mum and brother in London, he looked a bit tired and seemed extremely relieved to be home after so long. When we got back there was a message on the phone from Jacqui asking if we were coming over for the evening, i asked ant what he wanted to do, he wanted to go for an hour or so then come back and have dinner at home so i phoned Jacqui back and said we would be over in a little while.
The evening was good fun, Simon did barbecue, which was very tasty, and there was a nice spread of salads, Jacqui's daughter Sophia, father, niece, a friend of Sophia and a lady friend of her father were there and they were a good mix. After eating half the group went downstairs for karaoke but i stayed upstairs and had a good blow out argument with Jacqui about immigration to the UK, i think she was a bit worried i was upset with her but i emailed her the next day to re-assure her, so hopefully it won't affect our relationship, though i suspect she was frustrated with me as i am a staunch liberal. Unfortunately ants romantic meal at home did not materialise but the meatballs will keep for Sunday dinner.
At about half eleven we headed home, nicely glowing with the free flowing wine, but not drunk enough to fall into a hedge on the way home, put the dogs out for a while then headed off to bed, we had the girls in the room with us to see if the distance would stop the boys from howling all night, which it seemed to, instead we had Ruby licking herself all night and Banjo scratching, i hope she hasn't picked up fleas, though they both had a jab last November that's supposed to make them flea resistant for a whole year. Another social engagement on Sunday, it's Marion's birthday, this time i will be driving so no booze for me, i don't really like drinking two days on the trot so that's a blessing, i just have to hope ant keeps it real because he can be soo annoying when he's drunk and i'm not.
catch you soon
Friday 17 July 2009
Friday 17th July
I had a good evening at Marté's, drank perhaps a little too much wine and stumbled home by ten o'clock. The night was quite thundery and there was a great display of lightning that we get from time to time. I went to bed, ready for a good sleep after the hard days work in the garden only to be woken about three times by the dogs howling. I eventually got out of bed at nine in the morning, slightly hung over and a little groggy, i phoned David to see if he wanted to come over to work on the garden, as i had suggested the day before, he was eager so i set off to pick him up.
David made a start sorting out the edging on the lawn and i did a couple of things online, after which i sorted out some lunch then started trying to get the grass out of the drive. A long hard day of scraping, hoeing and humping gravel around the garden. Jaqui's daughter Sophia called round to say hi, she is here for a couple of days as it was her birthday on Thursday, she brought a friend and jaqui's young niece who was very taken with the dogs and played with them for a while. The person who fitted our windows had called to say he would come round and replaced the cracked pane in the spare room, he was here for a couple of minutes and it was done, so our windows are finally finished.
At about six pm Jannine popped over with a plate of Polonaise doughnuts, so i asked her in for a cup of tea, she gave me a short french lesson and we chatted for a bit. By six thirty i decided it was time enough to call a day to the work on the garden so i took David home and settled in for a gentle night, i went online to find ant on skype, we chatted for about half an hour until it was time to eat my dinner, so off for a bit of steak, very enjoyable it was too. The rest of the night hopefully only contains peace and quiet and a bit of telly, 'my big fat greek wedding' is on so i will watch that. Tomorrow is a day of house work and cleaning before ant gets home so i will need a good restful night.
bye for now
David made a start sorting out the edging on the lawn and i did a couple of things online, after which i sorted out some lunch then started trying to get the grass out of the drive. A long hard day of scraping, hoeing and humping gravel around the garden. Jaqui's daughter Sophia called round to say hi, she is here for a couple of days as it was her birthday on Thursday, she brought a friend and jaqui's young niece who was very taken with the dogs and played with them for a while. The person who fitted our windows had called to say he would come round and replaced the cracked pane in the spare room, he was here for a couple of minutes and it was done, so our windows are finally finished.
At about six pm Jannine popped over with a plate of Polonaise doughnuts, so i asked her in for a cup of tea, she gave me a short french lesson and we chatted for a bit. By six thirty i decided it was time enough to call a day to the work on the garden so i took David home and settled in for a gentle night, i went online to find ant on skype, we chatted for about half an hour until it was time to eat my dinner, so off for a bit of steak, very enjoyable it was too. The rest of the night hopefully only contains peace and quiet and a bit of telly, 'my big fat greek wedding' is on so i will watch that. Tomorrow is a day of house work and cleaning before ant gets home so i will need a good restful night.
bye for now
Thursday 16 July 2009
16th July; hard day in the garden
I woke at eight this morning, due to the rude noise of the alarm clock, i am so unused to being unnaturally woken these days it seems one of the hardest things to deal with. The reason i was up 'so early!' the two boy dogs we look after were arriving at eight thirty. The boy 
dogs are Fen and Tally, show names, we have been looking after them since last year for another couple of trolly dollys we know who live near us, they are ok but with ruby on heat at the moment it is not an ideal situation. They are Parson Russells, a little bigger than a Jack Russell, and everyone seems to think they are beautiful, i don't think they are half as good looking as my girls! They arrived on time and i settled them in and went online to get my farm out of the way early, i had big plans for the day. I spoke to ant for a little while, he had been back to the shop and got a brand new note book so he seemed happy, he had had a nice time with his mam and brother and was looking forward to getting the next bit of the trip over 
with so he could get home.
After talking to ant i dug all the plants out of the bathroom and set to preparing the days work, there was quite a good selection of bits so i sorted them out into types and got stuck in, i put the lavender next to the rose and was just about to put in the rose of sharon when a neighbor drove up, her name is Martè, she has a flat in Paris and a lovely house in the village, though she is generally only here in summer, she invited me to a drinks get together this evening, so that should be nice, she also asked if i would invite Jaqui and her husband Simon, Marté speaks very good English as she used to work in the French consulate in London and was married to an English man for a few years.
No sooner had i recommenced when another neighbor, Jannine, who lives opposite us, came over to return a saucer, she asked what i was up to and i explained, she seemed quite impressed with a few of the plants, though she is a hard woman to please. I asked her in for a for a cup of tea and we chatted for a while about her recent holiday and what was happening in our lives, she does not speak English but this is the main reason my french has improved so much over the last year she is a very lovely neighbor and we have spent some very happy times around her table and vise versa.
Once Jannine had gone i got on with the serious work, sorted the plants out, got a big bucket of water and a tr
owel, some plant fertilizer and some determination, the target; a long bare trench along the front wall, i had quite a job as the ground was well compacted and hard to work but i got a good selection of interesting stuff all mixed along the trench, it took about two hours in the very hot sun, but at least it got it done, unfortunately i had a good selection left at the end which meant i needed to put them somewhere else, more work , but i did not want to waste them as they were a gift and plants are somewhat pricey here, but i had to have a short rest, i was perspiring like mad and all this hard work now i am retired was way too much, a short fag break and a good glass of juice and i was ready again.
I decided i
needed to cut another trench along the back wall of the garden and put the rest of the stuff in there, this was a serious bit of work and quite exhausting, there is quite a lot of stone in the back garden and it is very difficult to dig, but with my superior weight i managed to get it dug out. Another hour and the trench was filled up with the remainder of the plants, thank god that was all over and done with. During this second torturous period the post woman had been so i decided i would have a rest and see what she had brought.
There was a letter from the Skilbecks, we get one every week, we lived next door to them for a very short period before we moved to France and now i get a letter every week, it's my own fault i started it but i can't find the interest to write back, i know i need to but i have developed a mental block, i keep asking ant to do it but he just isn't interested. A letter from Newcastle Council telling us our council tax situation was sorted and they owed us money, they have been pursuing us for money we didn't owe since January and i have been talking myself blue in the face trying to get it sorted, i phoned and informed ant who was happy but a little angry too, "we should get the debt collectors on them now", not such a good idea, well its sorted now, though an appology would have been nice.
Last but not least of my gardening chores, i wanted to harvest some of the potatoes in the veg patch, the intention was to replace them with the brussel sprouts but by the time i had taken up about four plants i was at the end of my energy so decided to give it a rest and relax for the afternoon before going out tonight, don't the potatoes look good!! they were really good to eat last year and i didn't even have to plant any this year, i was just a bit lazy about harvesting last year and they have grown again this year, fortunately i was a bit lazy this year too so we may get them next year as well.
Well thats it for today, i am going to get something to eat, laze on the sofa for a bit then go and soak off all the dirt in a nice long bath before heading out c'est soir. will fill you in about it tomorrow, bye for now
dogs are Fen and Tally, show names, we have been looking after them since last year for another couple of trolly dollys we know who live near us, they are ok but with ruby on heat at the moment it is not an ideal situation. They are Parson Russells, a little bigger than a Jack Russell, and everyone seems to think they are beautiful, i don't think they are half as good looking as my girls! They arrived on time and i settled them in and went online to get my farm out of the way early, i had big plans for the day. I spoke to ant for a little while, he had been back to the shop and got a brand new note book so he seemed happy, he had had a nice time with his mam and brother and was looking forward to getting the next bit of the trip over 
with so he could get home.After talking to ant i dug all the plants out of the bathroom and set to preparing the days work, there was quite a good selection of bits so i sorted them out into types and got stuck in, i put the lavender next to the rose and was just about to put in the rose of sharon when a neighbor drove up, her name is Martè, she has a flat in Paris and a lovely house in the village, though she is generally only here in summer, she invited me to a drinks get together this evening, so that should be nice, she also asked if i would invite Jaqui and her husband Simon, Marté speaks very good English as she used to work in the French consulate in London and was married to an English man for a few years.
No sooner had i recommenced when another neighbor, Jannine, who lives opposite us, came over to return a saucer, she asked what i was up to and i explained, she seemed quite impressed with a few of the plants, though she is a hard woman to please. I asked her in for a for a cup of tea and we chatted for a while about her recent holiday and what was happening in our lives, she does not speak English but this is the main reason my french has improved so much over the last year she is a very lovely neighbor and we have spent some very happy times around her table and vise versa.
Once Jannine had gone i got on with the serious work, sorted the plants out, got a big bucket of water and a tr
owel, some plant fertilizer and some determination, the target; a long bare trench along the front wall, i had quite a job as the ground was well compacted and hard to work but i got a good selection of interesting stuff all mixed along the trench, it took about two hours in the very hot sun, but at least it got it done, unfortunately i had a good selection left at the end which meant i needed to put them somewhere else, more work , but i did not want to waste them as they were a gift and plants are somewhat pricey here, but i had to have a short rest, i was perspiring like mad and all this hard work now i am retired was way too much, a short fag break and a good glass of juice and i was ready again.I decided i
needed to cut another trench along the back wall of the garden and put the rest of the stuff in there, this was a serious bit of work and quite exhausting, there is quite a lot of stone in the back garden and it is very difficult to dig, but with my superior weight i managed to get it dug out. Another hour and the trench was filled up with the remainder of the plants, thank god that was all over and done with. During this second torturous period the post woman had been so i decided i would have a rest and see what she had brought.
There was a letter from the Skilbecks, we get one every week, we lived next door to them for a very short period before we moved to France and now i get a letter every week, it's my own fault i started it but i can't find the interest to write back, i know i need to but i have developed a mental block, i keep asking ant to do it but he just isn't interested. A letter from Newcastle Council telling us our council tax situation was sorted and they owed us money, they have been pursuing us for money we didn't owe since January and i have been talking myself blue in the face trying to get it sorted, i phoned and informed ant who was happy but a little angry too, "we should get the debt collectors on them now", not such a good idea, well its sorted now, though an appology would have been nice.
Last but not least of my gardening chores, i wanted to harvest some of the potatoes in the veg patch, the intention was to replace them with the brussel sprouts but by the time i had taken up about four plants i was at the end of my energy so decided to give it a rest and relax for the afternoon before going out tonight, don't the potatoes look good!! they were really good to eat last year and i didn't even have to plant any this year, i was just a bit lazy about harvesting last year and they have grown again this year, fortunately i was a bit lazy this year too so we may get them next year as well.Well thats it for today, i am going to get something to eat, laze on the sofa for a bit then go and soak off all the dirt in a nice long bath before heading out c'est soir. will fill you in about it tomorrow, bye for now
Wednesday 15 July 2009
wednesday 15th July
I have to start with the end of tuesday, i suspected it was going to rain so decided to put off mowing the lawn for yet another day, i was right, it did, but only for about ten minutes, by which time it was too late. I spent the afternoon on Aussie research, looked up the sketch of Daryl and Wayne and got a little potted history of Aussie comedy thanks to U tube, what a gift to society! After that i decided my knowledge of Aussie politics was woefully inadequate so i started to look it up, i learnt all about the constitution and the nature of Australian government, looked up the current governor general, Ms Quentin Bryce, and the prime minister Kevin Rudd, though i could not really get a sense of how well the government was thought of and what they really stood for, still it was quite an education. After this i looked into citizenship, it seems as though it will be quite straight forward for me due to the date of my birth, i just have to turn up at the Australian consulate with my birth certificate a passport and a photo and pay the fee, though nothing is ever this smooth with government agencies, i spoke to ant about this today to see if he had any worries about me doing it, he didn't so i think it will be something i will pursue in the future, it will save me paying for a visa to enter the country of my birth!! I then had a little look at property in Australia, it seems to be quite reasonable if you are buying out of the main centers so who knows, ant and i have started to discuss the possibility of moving but are agreed it needs to be at some point in the future, we need to get this place sorted first and he never likes to discuss change. By this point i was getting a bit of a headache from staring at the screen for so long so i decided it was time to give it a rest, i cooked a nice Chicken Tandoori with rice for my tea and settled down to a night of telly, very uninspiring stuff, until the very end of the night when i watched 'Casers war on everything' an Aussie sketch show, which was ok but not side splittingly funny, the BBC seems to have a little thing for antipodean comedy at the moment as this is running alongside 'flight of the conchords'. So to bed for another couple of chapters from Mr Theroux, i always seem to find travel books fascinating and sometimes long to go experience what the writer has, even if it is the grinding poverty and smells of India.
I woke about 9.30 and went through the usual excitement of the dogs, coffee and cigarette morning, but was determined i would get out into the garden and do some work, however, i phoned my friend Jaqui to see if she was feeling any better and had to turn on the computer to tell her the name of my blog page, so that was me online. I spent a couple of hours farming on farm town, it is amazing something so simple can be so addictive, then thought i must get out and do something, it did look as though it was going to rain but i was determined. Ant phoned, we chatted for a good while, his new notebook computer, bought because he broke his old one, three laptops in twelve months!! was not working and he was naturally a bit miffed, but he was in London so he was going to go back to the shop and demand a solution, after which he was due to meet up with his mam and brother, i will hear all about that later.
Eventually i made it out into the garden, mowed the lawn, weeded the trench that runs along the outside wall and thought, i really need to put some plants in there so the weeds will not take hold, i phoned David to see if he fancied a run out to a garden center so i could pick his brains on what to get, he said he would love to and i arranged to pick him up at two in the afternoon, garden centers, and a lot of other shops, still shut for two hours for lunch here. i put a nice small joint of beef in the slow cooker with a bottle of beer and some gravy so i would have a good hearty meal tonight then got back into the garden and mowed the second bit of lawn at the back of the house. I then started on the veg patch, it has gotten quite weedy, so much so that the weeds are chocking some of the veg, so i weeded that, taking out a couple of veg plants by accident in the process. The veg patch is looking quite good really, i have celeriac, good for soups in winter, cabbages, the nice dark green variety, some cauliflowers, though the snails enjoyed most of them, potatoes due to be harvested about now, swedes, good for hearty winter stews and four pumpkin plants which have grown to immense proportions, one of which now has a tiny pumpkin on it, my curried pumpkin soup is one of ant's favorites so it looks as though we may be eating that all winter long. i decided not to run the mower round the wild patch i call the orchard as i had sown some wild flower seeds a couple of months ago and they have started to flower, a few poppies, cornflowers and forget-me-nots, the packet had promise these flowers would run rampant and purge the weeds, i hope they do but am a little skeptical. It is funny really i don't really consider myself a Gardner, i have to drag myself out there to do anything, but i am quite proud of my veggies.
I got to David and Marks just before two, had a quick chat with Mark, the car again, then he pointed out two great big containers of plants, "those are for you, David has been thinning out and said it would save you buying stuff" it would indeed, it would also take me a good days worth of work to get them all put in, so another day in the garden tomorrow, thanks David. David and i set of to Point Verte in Fruges, David chatting away about his garden and how useless Mark was at everything, if i had anything i could bash ant about i don't think i would want to do it publicly, fortunately he is generally the perfect partner so i don't really have that issue. We had a a good old wander round Point Verte, plants can be really pricey here and David had slightly knocked me off track by giving me so many plants, so i was not too sure what i wanted. i ended up with a rose of sharron, we dont have much yellow in the garden and it does grow well, a lavender plant to go next to the one rose left that doesn't have one, it keeps the green fly off, seems to work really well, and six brussel sprout plants, i love sprouts but ant hates them, they can go in when i take a row of spuds out tomorrow, should keep me in greens through the winter. i bumped into Sandra and Jim when we were there, they were having their car serviced, i like Sandra, she is from Birmingham and i love the brummy accent, and she is quite funny, they are heading back to England as she has a new job, they are going to live in a small caravan, the things we do for money. After a quick nip to carrrefour to get Mark some crisps "half of which will go all over the carpet", and some engine oil for me, we headed back to David's, i got a coffee and listened to David talk about his garden for half an hour then made my excuses and left, i arranged with David to have him here on Friday to do some work in the garden, i will have to find something to feed him, not sure if i will have them both over for dinner in the evening this time as ant won't be here and i can't be bothered being social for so long when i am on my own.
I returned home to a joyous greeting from the dogs, obviously thought i was never coming back, emptied all the plants into the bathroom for tomorrow, checked the dinner, seems to be going well, then filled the oil on the car. The dipstick was telling me there was absolutely no oil in the car at all so it was just about the right time to refill, i watched a horrifying slot on a car show the other night where they explained what will happen if you don't check your oil frequently, scary stuff!! after which i used the weed killer on the drive, its more of an extension of the lawn with some gravel under it at the moment and several big weeds, not very pretty. Tonight i shall savor my beef in beer with some roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts, now i am in the mood, and settle down in front of the telly for some quality time with the dogs on the sofa.
bye for now
I woke about 9.30 and went through the usual excitement of the dogs, coffee and cigarette morning, but was determined i would get out into the garden and do some work, however, i phoned my friend Jaqui to see if she was feeling any better and had to turn on the computer to tell her the name of my blog page, so that was me online. I spent a couple of hours farming on farm town, it is amazing something so simple can be so addictive, then thought i must get out and do something, it did look as though it was going to rain but i was determined. Ant phoned, we chatted for a good while, his new notebook computer, bought because he broke his old one, three laptops in twelve months!! was not working and he was naturally a bit miffed, but he was in London so he was going to go back to the shop and demand a solution, after which he was due to meet up with his mam and brother, i will hear all about that later.
Eventually i made it out into the garden, mowed the lawn, weeded the trench that runs along the outside wall and thought, i really need to put some plants in there so the weeds will not take hold, i phoned David to see if he fancied a run out to a garden center so i could pick his brains on what to get, he said he would love to and i arranged to pick him up at two in the afternoon, garden centers, and a lot of other shops, still shut for two hours for lunch here. i put a nice small joint of beef in the slow cooker with a bottle of beer and some gravy so i would have a good hearty meal tonight then got back into the garden and mowed the second bit of lawn at the back of the house. I then started on the veg patch, it has gotten quite weedy, so much so that the weeds are chocking some of the veg, so i weeded that, taking out a couple of veg plants by accident in the process. The veg patch is looking quite good really, i have celeriac, good for soups in winter, cabbages, the nice dark green variety, some cauliflowers, though the snails enjoyed most of them, potatoes due to be harvested about now, swedes, good for hearty winter stews and four pumpkin plants which have grown to immense proportions, one of which now has a tiny pumpkin on it, my curried pumpkin soup is one of ant's favorites so it looks as though we may be eating that all winter long. i decided not to run the mower round the wild patch i call the orchard as i had sown some wild flower seeds a couple of months ago and they have started to flower, a few poppies, cornflowers and forget-me-nots, the packet had promise these flowers would run rampant and purge the weeds, i hope they do but am a little skeptical. It is funny really i don't really consider myself a Gardner, i have to drag myself out there to do anything, but i am quite proud of my veggies.
I got to David and Marks just before two, had a quick chat with Mark, the car again, then he pointed out two great big containers of plants, "those are for you, David has been thinning out and said it would save you buying stuff" it would indeed, it would also take me a good days worth of work to get them all put in, so another day in the garden tomorrow, thanks David. David and i set of to Point Verte in Fruges, David chatting away about his garden and how useless Mark was at everything, if i had anything i could bash ant about i don't think i would want to do it publicly, fortunately he is generally the perfect partner so i don't really have that issue. We had a a good old wander round Point Verte, plants can be really pricey here and David had slightly knocked me off track by giving me so many plants, so i was not too sure what i wanted. i ended up with a rose of sharron, we dont have much yellow in the garden and it does grow well, a lavender plant to go next to the one rose left that doesn't have one, it keeps the green fly off, seems to work really well, and six brussel sprout plants, i love sprouts but ant hates them, they can go in when i take a row of spuds out tomorrow, should keep me in greens through the winter. i bumped into Sandra and Jim when we were there, they were having their car serviced, i like Sandra, she is from Birmingham and i love the brummy accent, and she is quite funny, they are heading back to England as she has a new job, they are going to live in a small caravan, the things we do for money. After a quick nip to carrrefour to get Mark some crisps "half of which will go all over the carpet", and some engine oil for me, we headed back to David's, i got a coffee and listened to David talk about his garden for half an hour then made my excuses and left, i arranged with David to have him here on Friday to do some work in the garden, i will have to find something to feed him, not sure if i will have them both over for dinner in the evening this time as ant won't be here and i can't be bothered being social for so long when i am on my own.
I returned home to a joyous greeting from the dogs, obviously thought i was never coming back, emptied all the plants into the bathroom for tomorrow, checked the dinner, seems to be going well, then filled the oil on the car. The dipstick was telling me there was absolutely no oil in the car at all so it was just about the right time to refill, i watched a horrifying slot on a car show the other night where they explained what will happen if you don't check your oil frequently, scary stuff!! after which i used the weed killer on the drive, its more of an extension of the lawn with some gravel under it at the moment and several big weeds, not very pretty. Tonight i shall savor my beef in beer with some roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts, now i am in the mood, and settle down in front of the telly for some quality time with the dogs on the sofa.
bye for now
Tuesday 14 July 2009
14th July 'Bastile Day'
So today is Bastile Day, the 'feté nationale' that remembers the storming of the Bastile prison in Paris, it is a bank holiday, and as such most businesses are shut. i had arranged to take Mark, an older gay uk resident who lives in Le Parq with his 79 year old partner David, to the supermarket, he still has no car as it is in the garage waiting to be repaired, this has been on going for about three months and has been a constant source of annoyance for him. I had arranged to go today as i had been given a coupon at Carrefour which, i thought, said if i spent eleven euros they would knock four off. I try to go shopping once a week as it is a ten minute drive away and a bit of a waste of petrol.
I had been up late the night before, i watched a film called 'Keeping Mum' which starred Maggie Smith, i always like her in films, it was quite a good film and, incidentally, revolved around the story of a mother and daughter that had never met. After the film i went to bed and read until about one in the morning, i am reading Paul Therouxs' 'Ghost Train To The Eastern Star' in which Mr Theroux is retracing an earlier journey to the east he wrote about thirty years ago. He has just got as far as Jaipur in India. Ant brought the book home some time ago, i am a big fan of Bill Brysons' travel works and Bill mentions Paul a fair bit in his works, so i was eager to read the man himself, it is quite an entertaining book though it would be nice if he talked a little more about the places he is visiting.
I woke about 9.30 am, got dressed and came down stairs, to the ecstatic
excitement of the dogs, it never ceases to amaze me how exciting this daily event is to them, obviously eight hours out of my company is just too much for them to bare. I put the dogs out into the garden, made a cup of coffee and headed into the lounge to watch the news on France 24, i got fed up of watching the BBC breakfast show as it has become so puerile and they make more of the latest event on come dancing than anything of greater importance. One mug of coffee and three cigarettes later and i was fit to face the day, i went back up stairs and sorted myself out in the bathroom, found a shirt that didn't need ironing and got dressed. it was quite a nice day so i decided to wash some bedding. i fed the goldfish; cheese and pickle, then washed out the dog bowls and put food in them for the girls, brought the dogs in and headed off out.
When i arrived at Mark and David's i was met by Mark, David was already out working in the garden, it appears to be his only pleasure in life now but he has got a stunning little garden and puts a lot of work into it, he told me he wants to get it just right before he is too old to work on it anymore. They are a very agreeable couple, though they don't really seem to like each other, despite being together for over forty years. Mark is somewhat deaf and conversation can be a little difficult, we talked about his car on the way down to Hesdin, still no sign of it coming out of the garage. There was a big commotion in the car park of Carrefore, some monster truck rally is taking place there and there were huge trucks with these monster trucks on the back, taking up half the car park and looking very interesting. Inside the supermarket i lost Mark as i prefer to wander around on my own, there is only me to feed this week so i didn't need much, some cleaning stuff for the bathroom, some meatballs for a change, a small steak, a small beef joint, a pork rib joint and some herby sausages, a couple of packets of cookies for the sweet tooth in me, a pack of fat free yogurts, various lunch items and some bread and milk. i have stopped buying fresh veg at carrefour as it is useless within three days, i don't know how English supermarkets can sell carrots that will last a week and french ones can't, never mind. When i got to the till Mark had already finished, he offered to help with packing, as he does every time, but once again i said i was alright, i don't even like Ant packing the shopping because it just gets thrown in, i much prefer to do it myself, not that i have any form of compulsive disorder i just prefer it to be ordered. I handed over my coupon to be told i had to spend 110 euro's not 11, ah well, i thought it was to good to be true.
Back at David and Marks i got a coffee and a bit of cake and sat out on their patio and chatted to them for a bit, it is usually interesting stuff as David has been about a fair bit, the talk was mostly of my upcoming trip to Australia, how long i would be there, where i would be landing, how i was feeling about meeting mum for the first time, who else would be there. After about an hour i made my excuses and left, thinking the paté i had bought would probably not be doing so well in the car in the heat. i got back and unpacked,let the dogs out, excitement again!! hung out the washing and put another set of bedding going then thought, time to look at my farm! I set the laptop up on the dining table and went on line, an email from aunty m telling me everything was booked up for next month, a frisson of excitement for that as it meant we were one step closer to it all coming together, then on to face book. There was mum, online and on facebook, so i clicked and we chatted for a good while, after which i started this blog page and have been doing it since, i still need to go plant my farm, i need to get the second lot of beding on the line now, and i want to start reading up on australia, i don't think i know half enough about the place, i have a general idea of the geography but no so little about the culture and politics. a friend's son's girlfriend, visiting from Melbourne, told me the name of the prime minister the other day and i have forgotten it already. I could still mow the lawn and strim the weeds in the orchard as it is not yet too late, but i doubt i will.
until next time
I had been up late the night before, i watched a film called 'Keeping Mum' which starred Maggie Smith, i always like her in films, it was quite a good film and, incidentally, revolved around the story of a mother and daughter that had never met. After the film i went to bed and read until about one in the morning, i am reading Paul Therouxs' 'Ghost Train To The Eastern Star' in which Mr Theroux is retracing an earlier journey to the east he wrote about thirty years ago. He has just got as far as Jaipur in India. Ant brought the book home some time ago, i am a big fan of Bill Brysons' travel works and Bill mentions Paul a fair bit in his works, so i was eager to read the man himself, it is quite an entertaining book though it would be nice if he talked a little more about the places he is visiting.
I woke about 9.30 am, got dressed and came down stairs, to the ecstatic
excitement of the dogs, it never ceases to amaze me how exciting this daily event is to them, obviously eight hours out of my company is just too much for them to bare. I put the dogs out into the garden, made a cup of coffee and headed into the lounge to watch the news on France 24, i got fed up of watching the BBC breakfast show as it has become so puerile and they make more of the latest event on come dancing than anything of greater importance. One mug of coffee and three cigarettes later and i was fit to face the day, i went back up stairs and sorted myself out in the bathroom, found a shirt that didn't need ironing and got dressed. it was quite a nice day so i decided to wash some bedding. i fed the goldfish; cheese and pickle, then washed out the dog bowls and put food in them for the girls, brought the dogs in and headed off out.When i arrived at Mark and David's i was met by Mark, David was already out working in the garden, it appears to be his only pleasure in life now but he has got a stunning little garden and puts a lot of work into it, he told me he wants to get it just right before he is too old to work on it anymore. They are a very agreeable couple, though they don't really seem to like each other, despite being together for over forty years. Mark is somewhat deaf and conversation can be a little difficult, we talked about his car on the way down to Hesdin, still no sign of it coming out of the garage. There was a big commotion in the car park of Carrefore, some monster truck rally is taking place there and there were huge trucks with these monster trucks on the back, taking up half the car park and looking very interesting. Inside the supermarket i lost Mark as i prefer to wander around on my own, there is only me to feed this week so i didn't need much, some cleaning stuff for the bathroom, some meatballs for a change, a small steak, a small beef joint, a pork rib joint and some herby sausages, a couple of packets of cookies for the sweet tooth in me, a pack of fat free yogurts, various lunch items and some bread and milk. i have stopped buying fresh veg at carrefour as it is useless within three days, i don't know how English supermarkets can sell carrots that will last a week and french ones can't, never mind. When i got to the till Mark had already finished, he offered to help with packing, as he does every time, but once again i said i was alright, i don't even like Ant packing the shopping because it just gets thrown in, i much prefer to do it myself, not that i have any form of compulsive disorder i just prefer it to be ordered. I handed over my coupon to be told i had to spend 110 euro's not 11, ah well, i thought it was to good to be true.
Back at David and Marks i got a coffee and a bit of cake and sat out on their patio and chatted to them for a bit, it is usually interesting stuff as David has been about a fair bit, the talk was mostly of my upcoming trip to Australia, how long i would be there, where i would be landing, how i was feeling about meeting mum for the first time, who else would be there. After about an hour i made my excuses and left, thinking the paté i had bought would probably not be doing so well in the car in the heat. i got back and unpacked,let the dogs out, excitement again!! hung out the washing and put another set of bedding going then thought, time to look at my farm! I set the laptop up on the dining table and went on line, an email from aunty m telling me everything was booked up for next month, a frisson of excitement for that as it meant we were one step closer to it all coming together, then on to face book. There was mum, online and on facebook, so i clicked and we chatted for a good while, after which i started this blog page and have been doing it since, i still need to go plant my farm, i need to get the second lot of beding on the line now, and i want to start reading up on australia, i don't think i know half enough about the place, i have a general idea of the geography but no so little about the culture and politics. a friend's son's girlfriend, visiting from Melbourne, told me the name of the prime minister the other day and i have forgotten it already. I could still mow the lawn and strim the weeds in the orchard as it is not yet too late, but i doubt i will.
until next time
First Posting
Welcome to my blog on every day life in a small French village in the Pas De Calais. My village that has about 66 residents and is in an area know as the Seven Valleys. My house is a pretty fin de siecle cottage at th
e far end of the village and I live here with my partner Anthony and our two dogs, Banjo and Ruby, we have lived here since February 2008 and are gently bringing the house up to date. Anthony works for an airline as a member of cabin crew and is abroad a fair bit as a consequence, I am a home maker and look after our two dogs. There are no diversions in the village, only the church, which is used about three times a year, and a telephone box, but the villagers are very friendly and the comité de feté, a committee that organizes village activities, is quite active, there are about five village get togethers a year in different forms. Life can be a little dull round here; why bother writing about it? I have recently become re-acquainted with my mum, whom I have never met, and this is a chance for her to read what happens in my every day life, and for Anthony to check in and see what i have not been doing. hope 
you enjoy
e far end of the village and I live here with my partner Anthony and our two dogs, Banjo and Ruby, we have lived here since February 2008 and are gently bringing the house up to date. Anthony works for an airline as a member of cabin crew and is abroad a fair bit as a consequence, I am a home maker and look after our two dogs. There are no diversions in the village, only the church, which is used about three times a year, and a telephone box, but the villagers are very friendly and the comité de feté, a committee that organizes village activities, is quite active, there are about five village get togethers a year in different forms. Life can be a little dull round here; why bother writing about it? I have recently become re-acquainted with my mum, whom I have never met, and this is a chance for her to read what happens in my every day life, and for Anthony to check in and see what i have not been doing. hope 
you enjoy
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