October 2010 Photos

At Neil and Vicky's wedding
The Boys - Dudley, Terry, Chris and Chris H

The Girls - Carol, Helene, June and Tracey
Terry and Chris H at wedding - why does this not surprise me!!

The Boys, Terry, Ronnie and Ray

Gavin

Tapas at San Sebastien July

Plats Du Jour Forces
Le Frecho Fete August

Citroen Rally with Bob (not the speech maker)

Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius in Background

St Peters Square Vatican
Stepping over the line between The Vatican and Italy
Sorrento Beach in background
Lunch in Switzerland

October 2010

I hI had to check twice, actually three times to when I last blogged, it was June, I started our French year well and blogged three times in two months and since then zilch, zero, nadda. Of course the worse part of this desertion from the post (tech joke) is that so much has happened that as usual I don’t know where to start. I think dot point might an easy read but not satisfy my true blog followers (yeah right!) So a modified dot point it will be:·

We went to a friend’s son’s wedding in July in the UK and brought back Terry’s Dad, brother and Gavin. He and Ray stayed for a week and Terry’s Dad stayed for about a month.

I went to Limoges for one weeks residential photography course (all in English) and experienced a fantastic learning curve with my photography and processing of images.

July/August Mum had her heart surgery in Australia, it turned out to more complicated than initially thought along with a couple a dramas in theatre and post operatively, everyone was quite traumatised by the whole thing. I went to Australia for a couple of weeks when she got out of hospital, I am pleased to report she has had a full recovery and now firing on all cylinders. In fact she is pretty amazing and back driving.

September we went to Rome, Sorrento and Evian with Helene and Dudley and what an amazing experience we had particularly in Rome and Pompeii. Then we had a relaxing time in Evian at Helene and Dudley’s holiday home, lunching on mountain passes overlooking Mont Blanc, watching hang gliders come down in front of us and all in blazing sunshine.

How was that for a ‘potted” version of our last four months, now for a little more detail of some of the extra highlights.

The wedding was a triumph for us to get together with our friends, so much so I think we was on the verge of being thrown out of the reception for being too noisy and disruptive, only because we wanted Bob the father of the bridegroom to give a speech, I know its not traditional but Bob does like to give a speech ....actually we have all heard Bob give speeches before and we are glad he didn’t! The wedding and reception was held in and around the grounds of a stately home in Suffolk which has been converted into a very expensive boys private school and to make a few extra bob they do weddings on the side. Sorry Vicky should have mentioned the bride looked stunning which of course she did.

Terry’s brother Ray come back with us and had a week at the house, it was brilliant for Ron, Terry’s Dad to have his two sons together, alot of teasing of joking was had and with Ray’s attitude of “I will try anyting”, we made sure he did including snails, duck and various different French vegetables, I am sure he had a great time with his brother and Dad. Gavin was over for the wedding so he and a girl friend (opposed to a girlfriend) from Australia came for a week and went to Andorra for a couple of days and he also enjoyed the time with us, his Grandad and Uncle.

In between everything we have had visitors from Australia and UK, some first time and some returning, it was fabulous seeing you and all and we look forward to seeing you again over the next year or so. Perhaps in Australia Chris and Tracey!!!

The garden has been alive with wild life much to the delight of my husband the intrepid hunter, we have had loads of mole holes, a fast as he lays the detonator and blows them up (he thinks) they move further along the garden and start again, I think they are equipped themselves with personal protective clothing ie hard hats. So needless to say there is not a body count this year but lots of detonators have gone off. Then we have the heron who has been popping back and forwards to our pond to eat the frogs and langoustine (marron), its quite amazing I will be sitting quietly reading or whatever, suddenly the intrepid hunter jumps up either runs up stairs or to whatever window he had strategically placed his air rifle and tries to shoot the thing, but as soon as he opens the window the heron flies off, someone never learns and someone already has!! Then we have the cutest family of deer, they started visiting the garden just Mum and two babies, so Terry found a stretch of land that divides the garden and the woods which does not have any fencing, so he made a fence, which would have made people in Indonesia very proud of bamboo, that will keep them out he declares. Next day .... ‘How sweet they have bought their Dad with them” I say. So more bamboo was placed around the said area. We went off to Italy reassured that no more deer would come into the garden while we were away, the morning after we returned there they were looking very doe eyed at us, we might have to resort to barbed wire he remarks, they were here again yesterday eating the wind falls from the apple tree and they are cute!!! So watch this space while Terry watches the space/es they get in.

While we were in Evian with Helene and Dudley we went to some thermal baths in Switzerland for the day, should have been three hours but we managed to get out through the gates after four hours without paying the extra. Anyway the baths were inside and outside nestled between two snow capped mountains, the water must have been 36 degrees fabulous, they also had steam rooms which were huge affairs in domed rooms with murals on the walls and twinkly lights in the ceilings, it was in one of these rooms that Terry had a shock, I will set the scene, the rooms as I said are big tiled domes with seats around the outside and quite honestly it takes a time for your eyes to get adjusted to the steam so can’t see much. Anyway Terry loves the steam rooms so we left him there and later he came out looking a bit shocked, he had fallen asleep laying down on the tiled bench and a very old man came in and sat on him, both were mortified, but as we said to Terry it was lucky the man had his trunks on (as many were naked in there) and he didn’t sit on your face!!!

All in all we have had fabulous weather, lots of sunshine and not much rain, hence our vegetable garden has been prolific and as we are leaving in a couple of weeks we are going to pull out the crops still with tomatoes, aubergines and cucumbers growing on them, sacre bleau!!!!! We are going to the UK for a couple of days then off to Boston and New York for the fall or as they say in America The Change and return to Australia on 1^st November, back into exercising and losing all our French summer weight I hope ready for next year!!!!