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We are now five weeks into our time away and we are now in France. We spent the first week in the UK visiting friends, family and also a long lost friend from my nursing days.
Then off to Grenada in the Caribbean for 14 days. This is one of our “must do before we die” things and now we have been to the Caribbean we would really like to return one day I have added some photographs.
Photos:
Lady in fishmarker La Source our resort
Flower in colonial garden Damage by the Hurricane Ivan of 2004
France – We started off very busy and have continued in the same vein, mainly social I must say. When we arrived a note was waiting for us inviting us to dinner with some friends, which was a very nice welcome and a taste of things to come! The day after we arrived we went to a Barbeque and met up with some old and new friends plus my cousin Sue and husband Tony, who came the next day and stayed with us for the week. Luckily they are very relaxed and really wanted to chill out, which gave us the opportunity to unpack and reaquaint ourselves with Capet. The next day some more of my relatives arrived from the UK Paul and Monica who just popped in as they were on a driving tour of France, it was lovely to see them and quickly catch up on family news and gossip.
When we arrived the house and garden were well maintained including a thriving vegetable garden, so thank you to Aunty Diane and Philippe. It has been really great to arrive and not have to do any work other than what we want to do. Terry’s project this year is quite minor, he is going to build doors into the wood shed, nothing too hard but he has already bought the essential circular saw, men and their tools!! My priority was to have a raised bed in my greenhouse, most of the preparations were completed last year but the bed not made, so with Tony’s help and some wood ‘borrowed’ from the neighbouring farm I have a wonderful raised bed which boasts lettuce, courgette, aubergine, French beans and capsicum, I could go on but won’t bore the pants off anyone who decides to read this.
As usual we have had one or two things go wrong, starting with the electric gates, they had been working the day before we arrived but of course we arrive suitcases in hand and the gates won’t open, with some brute force and determination and then Terry remembered the key and managed to open them. One and half weeks later and numerous phone calls in French and alot of anglofrench the ‘gate technician’ arrived last night at 6pm. We had to have the beams replaced and are waiting for a new intercom and what caused these problems? You might well ask. It was an invasion of ants that had got into the electrics, as a friend said today what is the use of ants what do they do??? Who knows except they can create quite an expense.
The other problem, which, I might add has been an ongoing problem, is our tractor mower not being able to cut the back paddock, now I think the blade has dropped off and enough said with regard to the bloody thing except I will need to mow the lawn again at the weekend!
I suppose the biggest problem to Terry is the fact that his Mole explosive machine no longer works, he mended it once with superglue and it broke again so he tried to repeat the exercise and has lost a part in the garden, back to Gamm Vert (garden centre) to buy another one. I am sure he is going to say thats why his mole count went down last year and on that note he thinks he has exploded one mole so far but without the body it doesn’t count. Looking at the state of the lawn I think he will be very busy once he is fully armed with a fully working explosive ‘gadget’!
The weather has been amazing since we have been here and we have just heard that it will be in the mid 30s for the next 10 days so we have decided to erect the swimming pool earlier this year.
Petanque season in SOS has started with the arrival of the last team member ala Terence, I had forgotten what an amusing sight he makes going off on a Monday evening wearing his beret in the old blue ami 8 what a plonker, but saying that he won this week, his team members put it down to beginners luck for the year.
Now getting back into the French life we started more French classes with another teacher, this time it is a beginners class with a Dutch French teacher who lives in New Zealand 6 months of the year, but got to say we were both impressed with her style of teaching so maybe we might, I said might, learn some French.
I am sure that’s enough for one day, except to say that we are currently arranging for some chickens to be delivered when the grandchildren arrive in September, it took some negotiation which comprised of some up to date English women’s magazines – anyone coming over please keep me supplied with my bartering currency. Ha ha
Abientot
