Angles sur L'Anglin

This is a link to a previous but existing blog 

that was created to my design with the skills of my former partner about 

Angles sur L'Anglin.

I am publicly publishing this information because the blog contains personal, creative writings about previous Feu d'Artifice (firework) events at this beautiful village.

It explains how he / I / we found this beautiful village and recently people have been asking how I came to live here.  It's hard to find the short story! This explains!

I had intended to expand that particular Blog,  but, within my inner psyche,  I was locked, blocked, stuck, ashamed. in regret, in remorse, in bereavement. It was and has been and IS difficult to accept and acknowledge all the good that there was In a Previous Life!  

Indeed, I might add to that blog  for which I have paid the domain name,  but for the Now, I have other objectives.  I enjoy self-publishing my photos and scripts as part of being Restless in France.

Perhaps it is time to publicly celebrate MY STORY and not to hide the past.

I'm wishing to remember and celebrate my past, my life, my long friendship with my former soulmate. I'm wishing to celebrate who I am and where I've been to get to where I am, despite the LOSSES experienced and despite an emotional HELL that I seem to have allowed myself to go through, for whatever reason. Agreed, it is nothing compared to what others bear in their lives.   It is just who I am. I seem to feel things very deeply and wish I didn't.
Nevertheless that does not diminish the love I have for my inner core and the love I have for other people and things.  Most of the thoughts that are truly in my head are linked to emotions. To stop them or put them into a box may mean to become mentally and emotionally inert.  I don't know about that! I am told that I have to put the past to bed in order to heal, to prevent the inner torture.

It is ironic that I come to live on a street called the Road to Hell and another plot is number 13.  I never knew these facts when I signed for the property. If I did, I would not have completed the purchase.  This actually makes me laugh... because what else can one do but see the humour in the twists and turns of life... otherwise one would go completely barmy and need the institutional nuthouse!

It is impossible to believe that once I was a person of social standing with more responsibilities for others than I could manage!

However,  here I am, mostly extremely happy to live in this most beautiful of villages despite that sometimes perhaps I do not make as much of my life every day as that which I could!  I miss many things. The clock is ticking as I search for the next adventure!

 

Angles sur L'Anglin Pyromelodique 2013

It IS tricky to capture night scenes and fireworks.  I was up high and it was interesting to see how the air pressure kept the vapour from the explosives near the ground. The whole valley was filled with smoke so whether or not those near the river saw much will be interesting! The disadvantage was not being able to fully hear the music and spoken account.  I paid my fee but was annoyed that some visitors did not. I suppose 6.50euros for one person is not a great entertainment fee but for a family it must get expensive when then there is the need to eat, drink and participate in the fairground activities. I used to take a picnic before I lived here.  Last year's event was cancelled and the year before I watched whilst sat on the rocks high up at La Huche Corne which was a good position. In 2010 I sat on the Low Town side of the river which was not bad... that was the year the pompiers had to extinguish a fire on the cliff face to many cheers once it was realised it was not part of the drama!  In 2008 or 9, I sat on the High Town side of the river by the first tree and all the years before that going back to 2004 I believe!  Hey ho the years pass!

In Memoriam and Celebration

In Memory of my beautiful Aunt Ivy, sister of my father, whose birthday was today and who died many years ago with Alzheimers. Her last words when she had not spoken for a long while were evidently to me as she patted me on the arm and said "Come along" and we walked across the room where another patient had tipped out all the earth from the flowerpots! I have always felt privileged to have known her.

Her eldest daughter who was married on the 3rd August has celebrated 50 years of marriage with her husband. It was a grand family affair in their garden, very relaxed and gentle.  They celebrated the ceremony in July when their son, Mark and his family who live in USA could be in England and their daughter, Carol and her family from Kent could be there at the weekend.

I consider it to be a grand achievement of commitment, dedication, patience, tolerance, determination, endurance, faith, hope, charity and grace and much more. x

Spicy Moroccanish Lamb Burgers without bread on a bed of lentils and green salad.

A shoulder of lamb cost 11.70 euros as it was 7.50 euros per kilo. I cut 800g meat from the joint. I could have cut more but roasted the rest of the meat on the bone, then made stock from the bones after removing the cooked meat. Once the bones had been boiled, all remaining pieces of meat were removed and put into the stock.

 This quantity could serve 4 to 8 people depending on appetites or greed!

Mince or grind in a blender 800g raw lamb, a little at a time.  I added:

• finely sliced red onions, garlic and fresh ginger pre-sautéed in olive oil
• a small handful of porridge oats
• salt and black pepper, cumin, coriander, nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, paprika doux and piment doux ground powders,  plus dried coriander leaves, lots of dried mint leaves, lemon juice, dash of soy sauce, dash of olive oil infused with chilli
• (note you can add garam masala but I didn't have any)

I squeezed it all together with a clean hand. Then I weighed each burger to be about 100g which made 8 flat burgers but you could make them larger and fatter or smaller into meatballs, in which case I think a tomato sauce would be good.
I pan fried the burgers for  a few minutes each side. To me it didn't matter if they broke apart but mainly they did stay in one piece.  They were served in the centre of a bed of a rocket/mache/oakleaf lettuce/ fresh coriander leaves salad. I let guests add their own dollop of natural yoghurt but I didn't have any sambal oelek (chilli base) to blend with it.

In addition I made a lentil salad - sauté gently finely sliced onions, garlic and ginger with brown sugar, add drained can of lentils, cumin and coriander, nutmeg or any other such spices, add tomato puree, lemon juice and chilli infused olive oil.

This lentil dish is one of my favourites as a bed for salmon. My guests had a bread free four course menu:

• Starter of paprika anchovies on a bed of potato salad with grated parmesan and strewn rocket.
• Goats cheese was served with oatcakes.
• Dessert was apricot compôte with lavender flowers, poured over commercial meringues as I am not clever enough to make them.

They didn't want coffee or tea so I had Rooibus tea once they had all gone home!  Lovely evening with little washing up as the prep work had all been done in the morning so the evening was largely a construction jobbie!

Angles sur L'Anglin

This village has unmeasurable secrets.
One can walk through lanes that separate houses and gardens, chateau walls and water, to discover different fascinations.
One can walk through lanes at different hours, in varying seasons,  to see no one or someone.
Tonight, stone walls pump heat into the summer air and trap it, so that it is a wonderful warmth on bare arms and legs.  One can hear many voices in secreted gardens and courtyards, laughter, children and the chink of a glass.  In the winter, the stone walls suck up coldness and damp so that one's breath can be seen before one. I often meet no one between stone walls...................
Bathed in sunlight tonight but on 4th August at 10pm, the pyromelodique will light the chateau in a different way. 

Storms

Last night I was thinking how absolutely terrifying for people experiencing,  for example, the Japanese tsunami (I was visualising January 2012) - to be in that wind with the sea and sounds and one's home floating to wherever and destiny disastrous ... knowing the frailty, and preciousness of life, in that very moment, moving towards certain death, dying or surviving, makes all other matters in life irrelevant and inconsequential....

Last night the wind whipped up at the start of the storm. The sheet lightning was not as ferocious as the night before but even so the éclairage was as bright as light from the sun and difficult to look at. I had to pull the shutters tight amidst the rain falling fast and furious.  I returned to bed and a clap of thunder immediately above my house made me swear aloud whilst my horizontal body jumped in the air in some form of death throe, but hey, mercifully, I am still alive.

The night before, the storm was also immediately overhead. Wide awake in fear, telling myself I was safe and secure, I wandered around my house, peeking through shutters, peering at the garden, amazed and overawed by the brightness of the electrical charge, the loudness of the thunder, the sound of the rain, which combined to make a storm of a kind that I have never before witnessed. I had previously disconnected the laptop from a power source.  I don't trust parafoudre sockets.  Then the  electricity was tripped, the lights went out and a huge clap of thunder caused me to scream..... and this from a person who likes thunderstorms! 

This morning all seemed ok in the courtyard though chairs and tables were blown over. But in the garden three fence panels were toppled ... this was on account of several factors:
a) a branch from the neighbour's old apple tree fell but as it was still attached to the trunk it dragged on the fence panel, pushing it over into my garden.
b)  two panels either side came down because the wobbly fence posts were never cemented properly into the ground.
c) In May a friend dug a hole to investigate why the posts were wobbly. The man did not return on two mornings as arranged to correct the poor workmanship.
d) My face and self-esteem were still injured and the ground became dry so we decided to leave the hole and the posts until the Autumn!

So the storm won.  I spent 9 hours collecting and returning my former partner and his tools to do the work, buying and returning extra fence posts which in the end we did not need, helped to dig two large holes, fill with concrete and put the fence panels back level vertically and horizontally.  The installer had not used enough screws,  used nails because he ran out of screws. Three other posts are still wobbly but we ran out of time and energy.  It was unbelievably humid and hot.  The treats were coffee and almond croissant, Salade Niçoise for lunch, afternoon tea and almond croissant (the best in this region are from Yzeures sur Creuse),  a happy me and a happy (I think) neighbour.  It all looks reasonably good again! And now the lawns need mowing!

Three panels down

This WAS the depth of the hole from Jenny Wren fencing company!

Garden Privacy maintained

Deeper holes and more cement for two posts

In memory of a father

Nineteen years ago my father died as a result of a traffic accident in Spain where he lived:
This poem and the following hymn came to me on the day of his funeral. I read and sang impromptu at his funeral where there was no other family member apart from myself and daughter:

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.

1932 by Mary Elizabeth Frye

HYMN
Peace is flowing like a river,
Flowing out through you and me;
Flowing out into the desert,
Setting all the captives free.

with extra verses beginning with: 
Joy is flowing like a river, ...
Faith is flowing like a river, ...
Hope is flowing like a river, ...
Love is flowing like a river, ...

It was a significant moment in my life.
My sister chose not to come to Spain as planned, did not share the inheritance and terminated all contact with me.  So my niece and nephew were deprived of growing up with their cousins. Shame!
I often wonder if I will ever see her again and much more.

Glow worm

I saw one of these tonight and poked it gently.  It did not move but kept shining its little light on the steps up from the chateau to the High town. I've never seen one this close before!
With thanks to Wikipedia as I did not have my camera with me!!!!!! It is a female Common Glowworm (Lampyris noctiluca.)

On my crepuscular walk, I gained one lettuce, borrowed a DVD about the Magdalennian caves (it won't read on my Mac) discovered information.....heard one lady complaining that it was too hot!!!!!!!!!!!       non non non j'ai dit
I absolutely LOVE THIS weather!!!!!!!!! It is in my Mediterranean blood!

Uncertainty, Insecurity and their opposites

Ten a.m. there is a slight movement of air, although yesterday, being so hot and still, I was Restlessinthehammock at Siesta time.  Paintwork should not be done in above 30C temperatures so I had to abandon exterior door painting, that to give me credit, I had with difficulty started as promised to my inner core!

Listening to a friend's telephone call in the afternoon made 'questionable thinking' recommence. I found this quote:   “Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.” ~John Allen Paulos
 
Nine thirty p.m.  despite the short 'orage' mid afternoon with not much wet stuff it is 26C outdoors. I am still painting between words!

The quote is apt! 
I certainly DO feel uncertain about many things.

I have no idea of what could ever be a certainty, except death.
It is true that the only security and certainty I really have is that I am alive at this current moment, and that by past standards I am really ever so happy!!!!!!!  With a roof over my head, food in the cupboard, a moving vehicle ( just!), good physical health, healthy and happy family and friends, I count my blessings!
However, I DO live with feelings of insecurity.  Yet, I find security in small things, in small moments of time which give a kind of freedom rather than imprisonment! For example:

• When THE ROLLING STONES strut their stuff to give me music I love even though I can't or don't hear / understand the words......
• When I can afford to go to a classical concert and listen to the prowess of professional musicians I am in awe.  
• When I remember LOVE, Romance, Pregnancy and Parenting ... though absent and occasional grandparenting is a different kettle of fish....... 
• When I enjoy living alone, I do what I want when I want and be who I am.  I can  forgive my weaknesses and praise my strengths. (Insecurity arises soemtimes if I think and wish for A. N. Other.)
• When I celebrate my age!
• When I sleep in my comfortable bed!
• When I walk or cycle in the great outdoors.
• When I marvel at tiny insects, beautiful flowers and wonders of this world.
• When many other things..............

Don't you wish you were here....

Crossing hours ..... here in France it is almost half past midnight when in UK it is half an hour before midnight. Equally, I am sure, there is a full moon!
The temperature outside is 25C and indoors 26C.
We are in a heatwave. The definition of the French canicule in English is:

A heatwave is a period of intense heat during the summer.  It comes from the Latin 'canicula' meaning little bitch or dog... and so we get dog tired or dogged by the weather.   It usually occurs when the difference in temperatures between day and night is weakened for at least 72 consecutive hours.  The heat accumulates faster than it is discharged by  convection or radiation.  The temperature does not drop below 20 ° C at night, and reaches or exceeds 30 ° C during the day, especially since the phenomenon of a heatwave can lasts several days or weeks.

I remember the canicule in France in 2003.... I'd been to Carcassone and Cahors. The scenery was bizarre as all the trees suffering from drought were drained of the colour green. It was as if I was standing within a sepia photograph.
Personally, I love these temperatures. When it is consistently this hot and hotter I like to wake very early, do jobs, sleep a siesta after a light lunch, wake, do jobs or relax and enjoy the SUMMER.
It's healthy and good for vitamin D. However, one must drink plenty of liquid even if not thirsty, (and I don't mean alcohol) during the day to avoid dehydration and keep out of the intense sun to avoid heatstroke. Wear a hat!
I like to have plenty of showers or baths ... saving water in the bath and topping it up with hot water.  And I am ecologically minded. When there is a drought I pail the water into buckets for the plants!

Temperature Update:  8am 27C indoors 23C courtyard

Sussex

 

I've walked before several times from Seaford where a cousin lives to Beachy Head along the coast.
Not being able to stay with relations I chose to stay for three nights at the new YHA at Southease.  It was excellent value but one has to share a dorm with 5 others. Ironically the German and French young ladies were more sociable than the Brits, not counting myself of course!
On the first day, a sea mist day, I walked from Southease to almost Beachy Head, then caught a bus as it was raining and without a map walked the dangerous main road from Newhaven to Southease, not thinking sensibly that there was a road to the Southease village.  I was impatient to keep moving so did not want to wait for the train as that seemed the easy way!  In all I walked for 8 hours, getting slower as I went!