The journey home from home

My return journey took 17 hours, the longest ever from door to door.  I'd set off from a Suffolk coastal town at 7h15 and after about 30 minutes I really felt as if I could drive no further, I was that exhilaratingly exhausted after 4 weeks of FULL on FUN!  However, the torrential rain abated away from the coast leading to optimism for good weather, but that dwindled as driving conditions became treacherous with more watery stuff falling from the sky.  Apart from that, it was a good journey and I made sufficient progress to pop in to S's supermarket to get items for my English friend in France. She'd made the most amazing store cupboard cakes for me to take and everyone was hungrily pleased to eat them! This made me late for the ferry but I'd worked out that I would still be OK for time the other side of the channel.  However, I had not bargained for technical problems on the ferry and so everyone had to wait two hours before the next boarding.  I slept on the boat! The sun shone as the cars emerged from the hull of the vessel to drive onto terra franca.  How I love to see that wide open sky at Calais! The weather did not hold.  More rain came. When the sun shone yet again it gave a false promise for me to carry on despite the fact that I was tired.  I'd forgotten that at this time of the year it gets suddenly dark. I'd left it too late to find a hotel and anyway I'd also forgotten that I have to get off the autoroute to find one.  I NEED TO PLAN!  So I ploughed on, driving slower, daring not to stop as it would make me later than late. I was resigned for the 2 a.m. arrival when the autoroute 'bouchon' required us to leave and take the Nationale route!  I lost my way, experienced danger on the road. It was my own making. I dare not tell...except to say it is not always a good idea for the brain to be on automatic and make me think I am driving on an English highway!  Fortunately, I had the wherewithal to take avoidance action and so I live to tell a tale!  Sometimes I stop at Ashford, Kent with family but this time it was not possible.   It's not much fun doing that journey all alone and next time I really must get a hotel for the return journey.

Stuff in Life, Stuff of Life

Before travelling I gathered together the very many things for every eventuality knowing that the weather further north would be less warm than here.  However, as it had already been cold and wet on account of the lower than usual jet stream, I felt prepared.  To adapt to the slightly lower temperature I needed a hot water bottle on the first two nights in my beloved home country.  Fortunately, my cousin had a spare HWB as I'd left mine at home in my adopted country. Although it was on the list it did not get packed!  I thrive on lists as my aide-memoire but the list was abandoned several times as I tried to pack and unpack essentials and optionals.

The outcome of yet another unsuccessful attempt at travelling light was that I took too many outdoor clothing options and too many indoor summer clothing options and too much unnecessary, superfluous to requirement THINGS based on the thought that I MIGHT need it!  One needs very little as it happens.

Possibly, the key would be to have one bag and ONE bag only taking time to reduce the pile of options until it goes into the ONE bag!   I tried that. I failed. Time ran out. I bundled what I had or what I thought I needed into the car on the basis that if no more would fit into my small vehicle then that would be the criteria for leaving it behind.

It was imperative to take clothes for a wedding,  plus the champagne flutes I had promised,  plus the fruit salad bowls and bunting.  UK was awash with bunting! Bubbly in bottles and French wines were carried in order to avoid paying UK prices, to be used as a back-up supply should the young couple have under-ordered.  They were awash with alcohol!  Towels were necessary, as required by the cottage rentals, plus extra bed linen in case visitors wanted to stay.  A new small portable barbecue and accoutrements were packed.  I was so glad it was unused as I had not considered the mess of a used one being packed into the car!  Boots as well as sandals for coastal and heathland walks accompanied the wellies should the wedding party field be akin to Glastonbury on a wet, muddy, gloopy day!!!!!   I took clothing to feel glamorous but opportunity for venues I ridiculously dreamed of meant most of my flamboyant dresses and scarves stayed in the suitcase.  Horror descended when I discovered that my silver ear-rings had been left on the options table and so one pair alone was all I could wear! How narcissistic can one be?

Gifts for birthdays and gifts for people were squeezed into spaces as was at least one bag of paperwork tasks that I might do if unoccupied.  That was a pessimistic or optimistic thought because I had no time other than for family and friends. 

I'm trying to highlight the fact that most of us have STUFF IN LIFE, and this is stunningly not simple.  Things in Life tend to become complicated.  I wish to simplify travel packing and unpacking, simplify life, dispose of that which I do NOT need, dispose of the excesses. But then the thought that I would have to go and buy AGAIN if I were to need it arrives and so I think what is the point of getting rid of what I need and have.  Confusion!  I have some lovely things that come into their own on occasions and meet the needs of LIVING a LIFE!  Why is it that some people travel so neatly and with ONE bag?  How did they learn to do that?

Back home, I've been unpacking the packed vehicle of STUFF I took and STUFF I have accumulated, even though I off-loaded STUFF to others.  Wandering around the house to put things into their respective places I THINK  I have too much STUFF and wish to free myself of CLUTTER ... yet it all is very useful, even though there are useful things that I do not have.

I wonder how many people have these thoughts.

I met friends who were decluttering, who were reluctant to let me step foot in their house on account of the great "sort-out" of collected model vehicles!  Every room was piled high with model sports cars, remote controlled vehicles of all sizes, some in their original boxes. They were being sorted into those for charity shops and those to be sold as collectible items.  I asked about why and how they were collected.  I knew he (and she?) had a passion but never did I realise how much they'd stored in the attic space!  It was an interesting to hear their story.

Vous avez une barricade

Now, I can't help it if my gates are like a barricade.  I inherited them.  I affectionately refer to them as Fort Knox. 
I am at a loss to know how to replace them with gates that are more friendly to those outside and those within!  They are 2.90m wide when most gates are at least 3.00m in width. They open immediately onto the road.  My courtyard is within.  It's nice sometimes to keep the world OUT and have privacy and yet sometimes I want to open up so that I can see the real world go by and they can see in!
When a passing lady referred to them as 'une barricade' it made me smile as well as feel slightly numb!  I was indeed paying attention to security, locking my gate against the hoards of visitors whilst I attended the village event.  I stopped the delightful French lady in her tracks, re-opened the gates to show her my house and explained that doors were windows and windows were doors and so, if I do not lock the gates and leave my windows which are doors open, then all manner of people could intrude.  She understood, saying 'c'est normale' in the way that only the French can use this descriptive phrasal clause.     Ho hum!!!!!!!!

The gates face the western sun. At this time of year to leave them open until 10pm or later when the sun has warmed the stone walls so that the courtyard has an ambient warmth is a wonderful thing to do.

Art Gallery Exhibition

Sir Peter Blake and Pop Music


Unfortunately the juke box was awaiting repair...there were some great 45rpm titles...to listen to those and look at the art work would have been amazing.  A dream is to organise motivation and start creating art when I have never ever done any outside of a primary classroom.

The pirate and the princess

 

This is not a brilliant photo but the best I have so far of the happy couple on board.

  

This is better. I stole it from my son and daughter-in-law's blog!

Read about the wedding adventure of the two aboard the Wendy Ann 2 

Here WAS the wonderful cake!

 

Moth

What was hitting the window last night whilst I read in bed?  It was a huge moth about as large as my handspan which is relatively small. Probably a Hawk moth but I'm sure I've not seen one that large.

Delight

A French lady whom I had not met for 18m interrupted me as I looked at refrigerators. She was radiant and as I like to get people to talk about themselves, she talked about her husband and his project and she was in raptures.  I loved listening to her.  Then she asked about my house and my friends and so it went on...all the time I kept hearing her use the word 'ravi'.  She was delighted to see me and I could see she meant it.  I was also delighted to see her.  I hope that we can meet up again for I am very fond of her.  She's cultured and funny but serious and correct. 
Nobody in my lifetime, to my knowledge has ever told me, they have been delighted to see me!!! Nobody has ever come rushing up to me so pleased to see me quite in the way that she did!!! Wow..... I like living in France!  I know this report sounds rather arrogant but the incident made me feel full of self-esteem.

Date and Almond Buns or Slices

• Rub 110g butter into 225g flour sieved with 1 teaspoon of baking powder and the same of salt. 
• Add 110g or just less of brown sugar 
• plus 85g chopped dates (in France buy a paste of dates) 
• plus 85g almond slivers (substitute walnuts)
• Mix all with one egg and a slosh of milk to get the required consistency to form sticky balls.
• Place on a greaseproof sheeted tray or spread into a circular Victoria sandwich tin.

It's all very simple... bake in a hot oven for about 15 minutes....smelling to assess if it is ready!!!!!!!
YUM... Photos were not taken!!!!!!! Next time j'ajouterais.........

Days like these

It's such a surprise when 'Unexpected' opens a door. 

The late start of the morning was kicked into action when an acquaintance phoned to say she could come that afternoon.  Debris of two days required a whirlwind of major domestic duties with the decision to bake a cake!  Springsteen's energy helped amazingly.

Nervousness to entertain in my own house became a surprise when she arrived.  It seemed illogical for I am proud of the work that my friend has achieved in difficult circumstances over the last two years.  Oh how I wish things were different.  To digress: Many were the times when I was required to speak ad lib to more than 100 parents, or lead an assembly for 120 children plus adults with 5 or fewer minutes to prepare or present a class assembly or concert for parents and never ever felt nervous.  Nor did I ever become nervous when playing hymns for daily assemblies but to perform as a musician in a concert used to de-salivate my mouth for it was something that I could never achieve.

Having explored my property we descended stone steps to the river, strolled where artists with easels were creating beautiful artwork, stood on the bridge to marvel at the perfect view and climbed to the hub of the village.  Warm tea was served with date and almond buns.  The cold wind seemed to sap my energy despite the sun trying to warm the world.

Fatigue set in before 6pm but I decided to visit the village shop for raw vegetables.  Not more than 20 metres along the lane I stopped to let the large white van pass.... Cuckoo... it's my pottery teacher. "Was I going to the concert?" "Was I going to the vernissage?  I became invited. The latter I did not know about and the former I thought I would skip on account of being tired and cold.  
Amused by surprise events I nipped back to change into something more glamorous.
I realised it must be the formal opening of the clothing exhibition where the creatrice using natural material dyed with plants had worked at threadwork called "Les Jours" which my village is famous for.  Quite stunning clothes influenced by Spanish flamenco were expensive but if one counted the hours that her needle and thread had counted then the price seemed justified.  The general message from villagers at the exhibition was of HOPE, that this was the first time in many years when new life blood was being poured into "Les Jours d'Angles". Those who practise the technique are becoming older and there is the fear that the craft will die completely. One could say it has been hanging on a thread! I felt proud to be there. Her work was exquisite and even pants and bras were available at maxicost.

The two ladies who invited me to share a picnic salad al fresco set off for the next village in DM's new Jumper van in which she has installed a bed and storage space so she can travel to exhibitions and sell her pottery.  It was great fun to eat with them and accompany them to the concert in a church.  Moi, l'anglaise et eux.  It was an excellent professional performance of piano and violincello works by Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy and Chostakovitch. In England we write Shostakovitch.

 I love days like these when LIFE seems worth living and I feel young again!
The payback was followed by a less active day!

Time to enjoy!

Apart from a bath screen and a few minor but important details the bathroom has arrived!
As always, nothing is ever finished and sometimes one learns to live with it as it is.
I ran out of paint of one colour. A little more silicone is required. I am sure that the extractor fan is not powerful enough. I WOULD rather have a stronger fan than one that has to be on 24/7!

It's going to feel very strange to have my very own toilet where it is not necessary to sit eye to eye with spidery creatures or fiddle with a water cistern mechanism to prevent water continually gushing into the pan or use the modern equivalent of a potty, i.e. a bucket, when it is wet, cold or dark outside, or use the natural environment of my garden. However, the latter I intend to continue because it will save water in the closet!  I have urinated in the garden for the last 7 years of living in France.  I lived in a fairly remote area and there were always places to hide!  We also wished to conserve clean water as well as preserve the delicate workings of a fosse septique.  I see nothing wrong with Mother Nature.  Urine when diluted makes an excellent fertiliser and when not diluted makes an excellent weedkiller in the right quantity.  Mine also used to deter moles at one time but we won't go into my health history!

So here she is LA SALLE DE BAIN waiting to be used.  I am immensely proud. Indeed I am more than extremely grateful for the motivation, dedication, commitment, hard work and patience given by my friend in creating the style and ambiance that I hoped for.  It looks like a piece of cake but behind the scenes of this and any worthwhile project, the knowledge, skills, talents, techniques of what we have learned and what we need to learn become apparent.  They are there along with frustrations, mishaps, mistakes, nightmares, laughter, and heavenly moments which are all too soon forgotten!

 THANK YOU TO MY FRIEND FOR KEEPING ME ON TRACK

Time to enjoy when looking back

It's early in the morning

Arriving at the computer to research some early morning thoughts I eventually am led to the news.
The diamond igniting of the beacons was very theatrical and oh it must be marvellous to be part of such a world event. I can feel how wonderful it is to be British.  I am proud of being English,  I admire Charles' strong speech.  He has changed for the better, becoming emotionally literate and not so restricted in his speech and mannerisms, becoming more relaxed, personable, likeable, showing humanity, having his glory for he knows not the future.
I can see that the 4 day party has provided a wealth of reason for people to have fun and enjoyment in times where there are many other concerns.  I feel the events may give hope and promise when austerity, far from Britain's elite, is present for many people who face financial struggles. In 2012 it seems to be a  time for wonderment. There is struggle in Britain and elsewhere. Let us hope that tables turn for those who experience poverty of emotion as well as financial support and for those who experience struggle in adversity.  The world is changing.

A year ago today

It was a year ago today I moved house completely and after all was done and I was ensconced in my very own French property I sat on the kitchen sill in the sunshine with a cup of tea in my hand, thinking that I would like to knit!!!!!! Actually, I prefer crochet.
Postscript: Miss Monkey was finished in July 2012 after 4 years in the making! She only needed stuffing and her features added! I think Grace liked her!

Pomp and Pageantry

I love  P & P & Circumstance. Even though I disapprove of the public cost of Royalty,  I believe that in a modernist world they probably do help charities. However, there are so many people who could have benefited from the cost of those seats on the barge that the Queen would not sit on!
The public fund in UK has been slaughtered and yet who knows how much the 4 days of celebrations for the Queen have truly cost.  This could have helped pensioners, those with disabilities, children and what do we hear??? Oh yes cut the taxes on Granny flats!!!!! It's only those who are more rich who have Granny Annexes!   So the flagrant use of public funding does make me boil!

Since Diana's death magnified an emotional outpouring of the Nation, giving a public outlet for bereavement and loss, I confess, I became fascinated by some members of the Royal Family.  I believe that because we have a Land of Hope and Glory (thank you, Sir Edward Elgar) it is better to keep a Monarchy than to have a Presidency.   Rule Britannia  is what I say!  And all the music that has been generated for Royal events.  We've been lucky with the type of Monarchy that has been created and established over the last 60 years.  In my opinion, England / UK has been fortunate since 1952 and after WWII.  I am grateful that the Monarchy / Government / World  produced freedom and peace in Europe and that I have been lucky to have experienced the kindnesses of humanity.  I love my country. I like the fact that I am British and that the United Kingdom is the home for so many international peoples. Yet I love France and Europe too. I love the diversity of people, culture, places and systems of celebration.
 
However, I wonder as to where all the clothing goes once worn.  I wonder about the cost to the private person like me and what the minor royals do to justify their existence.  Perhaps the Jubilee has given people an opportunity to communicate with each other and be friends and develop community.  However, a previous neighbour who promoted such street parties and bon homie became very bitter, rude and spiteful after breaking through a Georgian stud wall into my property.  Therefore, I am left to wonder about the "street party bash" and the degree that it can help to transform neighbourliness.

Without a television, it was a pleasant surprise and pleasure that I could watch the flotilla live on my Apple Mac whilst living in France. Thank you BBC and those who dreamt up the idea and organised it! But again wouldn't the funding have been better utilised?

I really don't like the coinage of the term "New Elizabethans" and I nearly vomited when I heard CAM oron, woops spelling mistake M. Cameron sycophanting about her Majesty! If perhaps it was Neo-Elizabethans I could cope!!!!!

A cucumber sandwich made with my home-made poppyseed and mint bread was enjoyed with Saumur demi-sec bubbly! Very nice and as equal to a Cremant de Loire or Cremant d'Alsace which I prefer to champagne, unless it's an expensive one, of which I rarely have imbibed!

NOSTALGIA
Tomorrow I might make a "Victoria sandwich" for nostalgia, you understand!!!!!!! I rarely make one preferring to make other types of cake. It was my version and with pineapple!!

I remember being 3 and sitting at long tables at the Coronation party in what was eventually my High School,

I remember the Queen's Silver Jubilee when my son won first prize in the village fancy dress competition. We still have the Jubilee sovereign. A tea-towel, wrapping paper to make a hat, a windmill, a flag, his blue school jumper and trousers! It was one of the only fancy dress events my children have ever participated in!

ADDENDUM June 4th
It's not surprising that Philip is ill... We saw the Queen go downstairs... but he did not, me thinks. Conditions were perishing and even I would have required several toilet breaks, hot tea and a hot water bottle.  They did not wear suitable warm woolly blankets to keep out the rain and chill and at their age more consideration should have been given to that than Pomp and Pageantry. The lady would not sit down and so neither could anyone else. 

I promised some bathroom photos

 Sink area is complete apart from light above and mirror. I daren't clean my teeth over this glass bowl!

 It's all so pretty!

The bathroom now has 3 spots but the wrong extractor fan unit!!!!!! My fault! The bath screen will arrive late summer! The suspended wc cannot be seen here. Doors and doorways are finished and final coats of paint on all surfaces are required. Luxury after all chaos can well be appreciated!

Yesterday

Yesterday......
PART ONE
oh George, oh Paul, oh John, oh Ringo, oh The Beatles, oh how I used to weep between screams and smiles of joy, of sentiment, of being on the edge of a cliff of musical, magical, majestical mystery.
PART TWO
Yesterday ....... was a stormy day... in more ways than one.

Yesterday, I sat on a bench under the hands of horse chestnut trees, whilst rain penetrating through leaves dropped drips, one by one, onto my blue-grey rain mac and in my hair, as I sat and studied  lightning across a river valley, watching rain fall against the backdrop of trees. Birds stopped song and flight as rain fell and when the clouds abated, the feathered friends struck up their tunes and were seen to fly from place to place, for it was not yet 9 o'clock in the evening.

Yesterday, I sat under the leaves of conker trees and smelled the damp bark. I leaned against the tree and wished to hug the strength out of it.  I witnessed conkers lying on the ground from last Autumn.  I looked up into the canopy of green and felt protected.  My wistful melancholy whimpered at my soul like a French nightingale with all the joys and happinesses of Spring and Summer but solitariness seethed towards a wonderment about people and existence.

Yesterday, I sat wishing I had my camera, purse and tissues, for I had nothing except my self and what I wore. Then CLOCK. I see before me a Toyota MR2 sports car with a GB number plate... ah ha .. English people are here.  Ah ha, and what is this, as a Porsche Boxster S parks alongside it. "Bonsoir" le monsieur dit a moi. "Bon soir Monsieur" je dit.  "Hello".  He discusses the weather and who they are visiting and asks me something where I reveal a twist in the day but reveal nothing more than the wistfulness of a stormy day.  I ask if he has seen me before, for he is quite friendly! He offers to bring a glass of wine as he clutches his two bottles of red to the place he is going to.  Of course he never arrives. Why would anyone in a thunder storm want to return to a wet bench under trees with two glasses of red in his hand when he is the age of my son?
But oh, I dreamed that he would..for a person to talk to and not to talk about me... oh no... for as I have been told I am as mad as a biscuit and I am told that I dream fancifully.
There I am in a film set ... rather as Bathsheba in the storm. I see Troy with Fanny as the rainstorm flooded the earth and spoiled the crops and yet made characters strong to allow love to win through tragedy.    Oh such a fanciful imagination in search of company and more than that... normality.

PART THREE
Wishing to maintain privacy, just let me say that the following day I was feeling so good that after almost 3 hours of mowing grass, I walked far into countryside at a pace, descending and climbing a circuit of stone steps, lanes, streets and pavements about the village and its environs.  I courageously knocked on a door to see if I could discover this person to explain that I do not normally sit in rain and thunder storms. These English people were so kind and not at all phased...so French really... we showed interest, discussing all manner of things French and English, their lives and mine. They fed me a most amazing 3 course meal followed by coffee.  I hope I can return the conviviality.

PART FOUR

Yesterday... I was told by an English person that I look French...oh oh oh... MY MY MY! J’ai arrivé.
I do actually have ancestors who are from Nîmes et de Nantes. How good do I feel!!!!!!!!

Life is looking up!!!!!!!

Verbosity

This word, I am avoiding repetition, is evidently supposed to be a no-no for writing, and for some, for speaking.
Do I talk too much?
Evidently, yes, when too much alcohol has been consumed. I accept that and try to curb my intake for my age!
Sometimes when I have had coffee, I know I become eloquent / verbose!
Sometimes when nothing has been imbibed, I get over-enthusiastic.
I try to listen with attention.  I thought I was a good listener.
I try hard to let the other person speak because I learn so much.
Once a friend used to let me talk, then after many months, nay years, complained that I talk too much.
I can see that the ploy of some when asking others to speak about themselves can indicate a lack of self-confidence putting them into a position of power to wrong foot the person ... Cynic that I am!
Do I write too much?  Maybe!!!!!! Sometimes!!!  Yes I do!!! And sometimes I, me, moi, just love it!
That last line is deliberately verbose!!!
The cure for verbosity is: 

•  to rephrase each sentence deleting as many words as possible
•  to use one word instead of several
•  to use bullet point
• to engage the listener or reader, so as to avoid their boredom from the use of flowery language and excessive use of words!!!!

Definition of verbose adjective long-winded, wordy, garrulous, windy, diffuse, prolix, tautological, circumlocutory, periphrastic, pleonastic

When drunk, he becomes pompous and verbose.

BUT I like writing and attempt creativity with words, trying to avoid the use of AY, AYE, EYE and I.
I certainly would not wish anyone to consider my writing to be TEDIOUS so perhaps it is time for re-assessment, acknowledgement and change.   What do you, the reader, think?

The bathroom saga

I feel so sad ..... HE REALLY HAS done his best to work at the plumbing problem (a leak) on the bath tap that also operates the shower! He is by no means incompetent and has years of experience as a builder and as a plumber / electrician and you name it, he can do it, and problem solve and find a way and help those who do not have his skills.  He is a serious builder (in France that means professional). He is a perfectionist and I love him for that even though he accepts he is not perfect and because I am not perfect........ well, we won't go own that road!!!!!!!! He is very conscientious and I do not believe this is his fault but he is very depressed, downhearted, and tired of course.
I can vouchsafe for his work. His workmanship at my previous property was outstanding. I loved it and regret leaving that house but if I had stayed there I would not be here, where I am today...... somewhere very, very special, even it at times it is tough being single .......
He even created his own terrace and verandah using old oak beams for posts and beams, wearing himself out doing so, but he now enjoys he warmth that this conservatory on the front of the house gives to the rest of the idyllic pretty cottage and so does Big Feet, his beautiful poly-pawed cat! Yes, more than the normal amount of claws on each foot and tortoiseshell too.  I love her.
In the bathroom, the tap module needs to be plumbed "traverser le cloissoné", that is, the pipes have to go through the stud work wall, where plumbing pipes to the shower are concealed.  It's such a wonderful idea and normal in luxury hotels.  But French plumbing parts as well as a lot of his own plumbing parts have defeated him... well not quite.   We bought new parts and followed the advice of the LeroyMerlin assistant, even though my friend was confident that what we needed was correct, I wanted it confirmed and so it was!  When he tried to repair the leak.......to cut a long story short.... the rubber washer which was supplied got itself sucked into the connecting brass joint and so there was a different leak and so we tried a red fibre washer which fragmented and also got sucked into the joint. This fact was only discovered after about 4 hours of disconnecting and connecting and turning stop cocks on and off!  Never in his career as he ever seen such events!!!!!!!!  So now he will try to obtain a different joint and try again.  I am past caring about how much it costs... just let me have that bath again!!!!! Looks like I will have to wait a while for the shower party!
Meanwhile, here's a photo of my bathroom ready for the electrician who hopefully will arrive tomorrow for final fix; to fit the extraction fan, 3 spotlights, towel rail, wall switch, shaver socket, wall light.  I have this sneaking suspicion he will not have all of that which I need despite the fact that I have emailed him with photos and details.

It's just to tease you!!! Cardboard to protect the ceramic and glass! Awaiting the  bath screen too!!!!!!

What a wonderful world

It is Sunday. This morning chores of cleaning and clearing prevailed whilst I listened to Radio 4 'Listen Again' and read various news articles in between my walks about the house taking things to their right and proper place!   Evidently, moving STUFF from one place to another is called CHURNING!  I seem to be saving paper and cardboard necessary for lighting the woodburner or fuelling it when it wishes to slumber and I don't!  It's all being moved outside to my LOG DEPARTMENT!

I thought about starting financial paperwork when I decided to pop along to 'La Presse' where I could buy a friend a birthday card and post another friend a postcard. The latter was easy but the 50% discounted cards had disappeared. A few days ago I didn't have sufficient money in the purse.  Follow the canny French and get in quick is their MOTTO. Today, I bought my friend a hanging basket of beautiful purple flowers rather than buying it for myself.

In the mood for relaxation (chillax seems to be the modern word),  I thought I would have a glass of wine to celebrate Pentecost but there appeared to be a party on the back terrasse. When I enquired if it was private, the nice young man said in French "Mais Non,  it's to celebrate the handover of ownership of the shop from sister to brother".  And so I was welcomed.  Here in this pretty village I arrive coincidentally at yet another unforeseen event, where I enjoyed convivial company being introduced to new people.  I enjoyed my wine with unexpected salads, bread and cheese for lunch and then a lovely lady invited me for coffee, where as we sat in her garden we patted her two domesticated chickens!!!!!
I was amazed at her diy skills with renovating a house, which makes me look decidedly feeble!
I walked home down the hill, across the bridge to climb the steps and swan past La Place to chez moi, smilingly, happily, content, witnessing 'un mariage' with barbecue at the Salle de Fetes, and lots of people in their gardens quietly enjoying hot June weather when we are only in May!!!!! Le village est plein!  I have been invited a public event at the next town and am trying to gather courage to get into a hot vehicle....but shall I just stay in the cool for it is almost 5pm?  I went and did not find them!  Lots of people doing what once I would have enjoyed, but the music bored me and I yearned to be back in my courtyard and my lovely village......I wish I had television for I would have liked to have watched le French Grand Prix.   What a Wonderful World!   www!

I can have a bath every day

Despite the plastic on the bath, despite the miniscule leak behind the thermostat bath tap (we have to return to the shop for a different fitting!), despite no silicone around the bath and a few other things  HOW WONDERFUL it is to have my own wash facilities and not have to use the bath of a friend.
A shower has to wait until I get a bath screen and I daren't yet soil the water closet!!!!
Doors are wide open as they are being fitted but hey ho progress is made and IF ONLY we could get finished. THEN it is the great clear up and removal of debris (useable wood, plasterboard, etc)  packing up the tools for the summer and trying to clean the floors!!!!!

Cloud Cuckoo Land

A friend says that I live in Cloud Cuckoo Land with a fanciful imagination and unsatisfied desires. This is true.  There are so many things I would like to do in life but feel held back by fears or lack of funds, courage, time, skills and talents!   Maybe this is the same for everyone?

Although I know what the phrase means I thought I would turn to my great educator, the world wide web, and so Wiki says:

The reference comes from The Birds, a play by Aristophanes in which Tereus helps Pisthetairos ("Mr. Trusting") and Euelpides ("Mr. Hopeful") erect a perfect city in the clouds, to be named Cloud Cuckoo Land.    That is just so fascinating.  I have improved the poem for the friend:

Cloud Cuckoo Land perfection is grand.

Hinting that I may, be unaware or fey,
Deranged and marginised, naive on every side.

Ever an optimist, it's true, happy is better than the horrid blues,

Living needs a hint of hope,  than to go to bed and mope! 

Life is lovely in a daisy dream world, more fun than being an unhappy bunny girl

When reality brings me to earth with a fall, Lovelier to have dreamed than not dreamed at all.