When nightingales sing pleasure

'La grippe'... as a posting title has been altered because at 15h32 on 5 march 2015 there had been 445 views on that day alone....statistics tell me a large audience in France...
Well.. it certainly took a grip! It is said that the flu vaccine would not have fought against this current virus,  so I am glad I did not have it, even though the French medical system offered it to me for the first time this year.  Such is my age! It is also said that having the 'flu' is the best vaccine against contracting any future influenza virus in the next few years. For that, I hope to be blessed.  It is not an illness to be taken lightly and anyone who says they have it when they have only a serious cold is not to be pitied.  Yesterday morning I made a few steps to the postbox but returned to the warmth of my room coughing, fit only for lying dormant again. The cough linctus didn't take long to swig but methinks it only pacifies rather than cures.
In the evening, the air  was warm so before the sparkling sun set to bed I walked in the opposite direction to town, to descend to the village with sun in my eyes.   Quite an exhausted me returned home!  It is fascinating how the body and mind insists one closes down all faculties in order to heal.  I have slept such a lot and could still sleep more.  Now two weeks and three days since this started, it is a wonder how the body and the mind begin to wish to circulate, walk, breathe fresh air, so that gradually, 'pas a pas', one returns to normal life, whatever that is!  Fortunately, as the second week progressed I was able to do cerebral activities, to keep some semblance of self-respect about my person and domesticity. To stave off the humdrum of confinement I found several YT videos of Jane Austen novels and it has been good to return to the history and culture of England.  Emma. Persuasion.  Northanger Abbey. Mansfield Park. (can't find Sense & Sensibility for free).  Pride & Prejudice 1995 BBCTV series was an epic watch in small doses. If only there were more Colin Firth / Mr Darcy characters available!  Far from being Restless I have been fairly calm, getting on with neglected tasks, lazy, yet looking AT unending chores in house and garden, knowing that in a few weeks time, cuckoos and nightingales sing pleasure and distraction for woodland walks! 

Oh. What a Way

OhWAW
MAIN RULE: never have WAW people at the last minute without a full and proper investigation as to why they wish to arrive so soon, who happen to be newly met 'Romeo & Juliet", who happen not to have any apparent onward plan, who did not reveal that they secret smoke, hence who lied on their profile, who say they can and can't, who say they will and don't, who say they are willing but aren't at the least sign of me doing something else, and who, when fully tested when I was unable to control their lack of initiative, did absolutely nothing, not even clear the kitchen or put away tools, who did not ask me what they could do to help, who had not fulfilled the tasks requested, who did not consider that the old biddy might need to be checked as she hadn't surfaced from the bedroom during the day! Ah, they could hear incessant coughing!
So... Oh. What a Way to end three weeks. I have examined facts for truth. I was not perfect. I never am.  I did annoy them.  If I wasn't monitoring, helping, working alongside, giving instructions (quicker to do it myself as English spoken language differences did not match! ... Bossy me! ) they were lazy, distracted. They told me so!! When I asked what his plan would be if, when properly employed, his boss asks him to do something and discovers he hasn't done it, he shrugged his shoulders!!!  He did not seem to make the connection!
In the classroom, good T.A.s were worth their weight in gold. The supplementary ones or trainees that came from time to time, one trained them because that was our role - to educate. It is my role as a host to pass on skills, to train to educate... BUT NOT TO DRAIN ME!  I drained my SELF! I could have moved them on after week one! but there still would have been the same discontent from them.  If I have any other WAWs there will be a very different approach. 
For three weeks I made allowances for language, youth, inexperience, an injured knee, refusal to see a medical specialist... but when hours were not made up from a man and woman who told me they were happy to work more than five hours a day and all the rest... I wanted them to go. Influenza told me I wanted to be in darkness without knowing that people in my house were doing nowt but being in their 'love nest'... hey ho what do they do? They shout at me whilst I am in my bed, say that I am unfair to rise from my sick bed and take them to the town in six hours, accuse me of giving no warning. That last part is true!  I am asking them to go one day early!  They shout at me in my kitchen and tell me I have not fed them! What?  Threaten to make a mess of my house and garden project started! Then the truth is revealed.  THEY HAVE NO PLAN AND NO WHERE NEXT TO GO, except she was supposed to be going home. Suddenly, ACTION. They spend twelve hours on the computer checking for travel and other unsuspecting hosts. No one knows where they have gone, except heading North.
When they arrived I learned that I had accepted them from a different bad scenario! Someone had threatened to kill them! Alarm bells rang but insufficiently to alert me they were kids! My name will of course be part of their future 'bad time' story!  Eventually, my logic decided it wasn't worth giving him, who has a policy of not giving feedback, any feedback. But I have notified the WAW Team. She was naive, scared like a rabbit and should have been sheltered in her family home.
What riled me when I surfaced to get a hot water bottle on one occasion was that he shoved her out of the way so that he could wash up, then allowed her to finish it because he didn't like to wipe, nor wash up! I found her washing one plate and then wiping it.. and so on!  My plates in the cupboard were dripping wet or greasy with fat!  Cutlery and crockery have all been rewashed. My two remaining wedding teaspoons were in their bin parcel. THEY HAVE GONE...and left labouring tasks for me to achieve, but I don't mind! 
Let's look at the positive: they widened the lavender border, moved logs, forked and dug,  gave me courage to buy a chainsaw, chainsawed timber, felled two trees, dug out one tree root, created timber surrounds for 4 part potager, moved heavy concrete plant troughs using roller wood I found, helped take garden waste to dechetterie, did hard labour prep of courtyard... all stuff I couldn't do plus she sorted a lifetime of postcard collection and photos. They sang and played guitar, we played board games, enjoyed a long walk... had a laugh... ate delicious food. I praised them often and at every supper ..."Well done you".  Yes I developed trust issues, suspecting they were not moving on, but had no regrets telling them the honeymoon was over! I think I have the right to not allow people alone in my house if I do not trust them. I have regrets that it ended unpleasantly! But I have received KARMA!

J.O.Y.

I have rushed to write.
The sun is shining... I spent thirty minutes in the sun, warming my face and heart, starting to read The Book Thief".  Then, gathered all the strength I could muster. to do what had to be done.
LONG STORY!...but...the mains drainage backed up into the garden.
I am cleaning a brick that has the word "SPECIAL" incised into one side...how silly and funny!... it's literally had a pile of poo on it, as have others.  This brick will have to take pride of place in my garden and not be hidden from view, to serve as a reminder of madness.  I am cleaning the area where a clematis struggles and maybe I shall plant a rose there!
HARK!
JOY mounts within my soul when I hear those cries.... those sounds I always associate with where I live and the passing of the seasons.  Les grues.  Apart from death there is one certainty, that whatever the shit in one's life, the seasons will come and go; they will bring forth LIFE and DESIRE to live. Spring will arrive to climb the ladder from recent despair and influenza.
Too late for the camera... but I heard them.  I opened the gates to Fort Knox, searched the sky from my street and there they were, towards the north / east flying, heading that way .. several v shape forms... SPRING AT LAST!!!!   I am in tears of JOY. They are JOY.
It's a long haul but I can get there., wherever I have to go! Death hasn't wanted me yet!!!!! I defy it! The last ten days or so have been absolute HELL and WILL (who is he?) has been more than rock bottom, battling with trying to keep me warm, stop me coughing, stop me crying, help me to sleep ...  I am not ashamed! Being ill needs a nurse, needs creature comforts, needs need to be pampered. It's hard!  I am human. Dramatic? Maybe but I don't care. I am who I am! 
SPRING SUNSHINE... LET ME HAVE IT! Let it shine into my house.  I need someone to instal a velux or sun tunnel.

Far and near a witches' rock

I love this view ... not realising before that I could capture so many rooftops.

Shepherd or Vineyard Worker Huts - Posting One

In the very local surroundings of my village, Angles sur L'Anglin, you may discover on private land, or along a chemin, the vestiges of ancient dry stone wall buildings that have a small entrance.  Evidently, they are found only in this region and in Provence.  Several years ago the Office du Tourisme conducted a tour of these on one of the Patrimoine days, therefore, I am reporting what I understood when my French language skills were poorer than they are now!  I know where many of them are, and as far as I can remember there are no more than 20 or so.   I shall do further homework as I am not exactly sure of their title.  However, this is a post posting sentence; they are called 'Loges' but in Provence are called 'Bories'.   They were built to shelter shepherds or vineyard workers or those who worked in fields from the onslaught of the heat or inclement weather. Many are in ruins. 

This is one of the largest that I know and in a private field.

 

This  one has a teeny weeny entrance and we were told it was for 'the little dog'... I think a chihuahua!

but close by, along the chemin, again built into the dry stone wall were other shelters for people...

...the inside of this one is remarkably dry

Another is in a private garden...

So that makes five on that particular walk, plus another nearby on an off route chemin leading into a field but I could not locate it. 
Maybe I should make a map of where they are!

Glorioso Weekend Feastings

SUNDAY: Sleepy head on the first day of the month got up late as did the Workers...
At about two thirty we had something to eat but none of us were hungry until we started to eat...
from the freezer a leftovers rice dish from October served three with raw carrot strips and a bit of lettuce, the last of the Ciabatta rolls and the last of the Pear Meringue tart... A FEAST...
Then we partook of a WALK for an hour and a half to 'Le Roc à Midi'.  On the return journey I found a route I haven't taken in years!!!!!! Splendissimo! I also started to learn the days of the week in Italian and Spanish! Tricky!
Pics to follow tomorrow......
Two Roasted chicken cuissons stretched to feed three persons with potatoes, garlic and parsnips roasted. They had not ever eaten the latter! More carrots. I made a gravy with roasted red pepper out of a jar, swished with apple juice, carrot juice, pesto, cream and a  little flour to thicken.  I don't do gravy cubes or powder. YUK! We were stuffed! No one wanted apple crumble. Good oh.. it is for tomorrow! 
In addition, I cooked a casserole of three chicken legs on a bed of onions and potatoes, lemon and ginger......that should feed us for two days... AND I made BREAD,  which was started Thursday night using left-over Ciabatta mix and flour scraped out of the bowl and off the kneading table. It had kept covered with a cloth whilst the wild yeasts grew... then I added flour etc on Saturday night, kneaded it Sunday morning, cooked it late Sunday evening!  YUM!

SATURDAY, they brought the trailer to the house, filled it with weeds, emptied my front-of-house plant troughs brought into the outhouse last November as they are not frost proof... One cannot have everything as they were only 3e from SuperU. All the soil is in black bins ready for Spring plantation! Some geraniums etc show signs of life, so we extracted the living and repotted them into three troughs in my kitchen hoping to flourish!!! Give life I say! They had also moved more logs into drier storage.  My lovely workers managed 3 hrs labour and I called it a day as I was tired. They left me alone so I took opportunity to indulge in a bath and to test where shower water now spatters to... will still have to be careful!
Yesterday we ate beef casserole... it is a Bourgninon (spelling?) cut of beef and for 3.50e served four ( one portion in the freezer for me at a later date!). We had rice and carrots!  The Italians were complimentary!

What will the days of the blackbird bring?

‘giorni della merla’ (days of the blackbird).

with thanks to rspb for image

Yesterday, my guest informed me of this story!
In Italy,  the days of the blackbird or 'i giorni della merla' are traditionally the coldest days of the year...29, 30, 31 January, sometimes including February 1st.  Folk-lore says that the colder those days the better Spring weather there will be!  Fascinating to learn something new, if true!
Here are three links for you to read if interested!

‘giorni della merla’ (days of the blackbird).

‘giorni della merla’ (days of the blackbird).

‘giorni della merla’ (days of the blackbird).

‘giorni della merla’ (days of the blackbird).

‘giorni della merla’ (days of the blackbird).

 http://www.italyheritage.com/traditions/january/29-30-31-merla-days.htm

 http://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/days-blackbird-when-italy-coldest

‘giorni della merla’ (days of the blackbird).

 http://www.swide.com/art-culture/giorni-della-merla-history-of-the-italian-legend-of-the-three-days-of-the-blackbird/2015/01/29

January Accomplishments

Cook the Tagliatelli in plenty of boiled salted water and stir immediately to prevent it sticking together.  In a pan gently melt gorgonzola with milk, butter and cream!  Mix together.  Sprinkle with rocket.

 It was a baker's dozen of ciabbata rolls. The French flour mix created a dough that was not as holey as batter but thinking about the instructions, it did say to beat vigorously for 5 minutes ... so maybe that was the part we skipped. I shall buy another packet whilst they are here and try again.

The border is no 150cm wide so I can't easily leap over it and of course it will take more grass cuttings!

 Long shadows! My four quartered potager is separated by grass which is a mower width. I must not grow too many potatoes as I need to observe a rotational plan. The quarter nearest the photographer will take spuds this year... I am torn between earlies and maincrop!  Unless I risk it and grow some in the opposite diagonal where none grew last year!  The plan was also to surround the potager with wood ... OR to plant box hedging plants... BUT that seems over-fussy. I was also thinking that I would like a standard rose 'monk' on the central cross!

 And this, the new hinged bath screen... but water still sprays too far over the edge of the bath!

 And onto February!

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday was full of rain and cold and drear! I lacked confidence, was full of doubt,  felt responsible for the weather, found myself apologising,  hearing myself say, 'but it's not my fault'.  I was embarrassed by the number of overwhelming tasks / jobs I need help with.  Down, down, down.
(I don't think I was nearly as mature and understanding of the elderly as they are at their age!!!!!!!!)

M. was fine as we settled to sort photos ... and negatives .. remember those? !  A jolt down memory lane to my former English home, which my last partner helped me to renovate, and..., oh my..., look at what we created, and look at what we took apart... and left... I was and am so saddened.

However, if I was still there I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have met the wonderful people I have met nor would I have had, and am having, the amazingly challenging tear-jerking or laughter-making experiences.
What has LIFE been all about when so much of MY LIFE has gone and so little is left? 
Make the most of it while I can and if I am down, down, down,  I have the choice and opportunity to change it for up, up, up.

So,  she and I sorted the photos into a set for HER and a set for HIM, because when I left HIS house, four to five years ago, to come to HER house,  I took the photos of MT house in UK, intending to divide them up!  ... and now, after ten years, I have!!!  What HE does with HIS set is not my business but he will be given them!  More importantly, quite a few of those hard-copy photos reached the rubbish bin!  My set is now in two albums. M. did an excellent job of sorting muddled photos and negatives of that 2/3rds of a Tudor former inn.

After much weeping and wailing which didn't actually last too long, she and I seemed to bond as women, and we managed to laugh through the task.  One fun thing to do was to complete an album from about 1995 (??) when my son and I went to Spain. That was after my father died!   We had backpacks but hired a car to drive from Barcelona to Orihuela and return. It was a great DRIVE... I could have gone allthe way around the edge!  Lovely again to to see my son so young in photos and to remember Elche and Rioja!

I think my down mood on such a grim wet dark day was SAVED by the greeting cards I found welcoming my daughter into the world.  Funny that her 'birth' day was the day before I re-discovered them!!!!!  Such a pleasure to see 1978 style 'BABY GIRL" cards and messages inside from some people I am not in touch with anymore!

I think F. felt frustrated by yesterday's weather, as did we all!  It was so bleak.  First of all he took my new Ikea trolley out of its box and put it together.  He called it the  'vegetable shelves'.  I liked that!   Then he was impressed by the new indoor or exterior lights I bought ages ago which needed to be connected, but I couldn't work out how to make them light up... I am impractical!  Negative destructive thoughts of  'how could I be so dumb' is what I thought!!!!  Evidently, I can buy more and make a longer string!  Ooh... I may just do that. Sod the cost!

Then he volunteered to work outdoors in the rain, to investigate what needs to be done to repair wooden gates at the barn down the lane, and to establish for himself what tools and resources I own and what are owned by my former partner.  All left in my possession.  I have full permission to use what I will!  Eventually, he repaired one screw in the main garden gate... such a little task, but it secures the keep on the latch and is extremely important.  I was so grateful.  He was so wet!!!!! Then, bless him, he wanted to de-nail the timbers in the newly re-roofed attic and was gone for a couple of hours. I must go up and see what he has done!

Throughout the day I battled with being in a gloop of depression, which was really a kind of sadness and eventually an Ibuprofen sorted it as well as some lively music.  It is lovely to have people to feed but takes my time! It is inspirational to have people stay who appreciate food.  The evening meal was delicious - two slices of lambs liver cut into small pieces in a creamy tarragon sauce with cauliflower leaves and florets, julienne carrots and Ciabbata rolls that M. made!  OK, it was a prepared flour mix but she has always let her sister do the cooking.  I made a Pear Meringue Tart and a Hazelnut Torte because egg whites needed to be used.  We were stuffed!  I am eating more than I normally would!

They wished me to play the piano so had to endure two Chopin Nocturnes plus two pieces from the film 'The Piano' composed by Michael Nyman.  The deal was that they would sing and play Friday evening but then we had a musical soirée.  She has a beautiful voice and he plays guitar well... a couple of 'The Doors' pieces. This was followed by a discussion about something I did not understand, so I showed him a video of the Stroh instruments played by a French theatrical, musical group who I know... then he showed me videos of guitar playing by Bob Brozman.

Today I got up at nine but they didn't get up until ten and started work at 10h30!!!!!! But by then the sun was shining and although they looked reluctant without adequate clothing, for the wind was keen and bitter,  they were bossed about by me.  I laughed heartily, yet severely when I told them I was bossy when necessary!!! They had to wear a hat!! "Choose one of these"... and a gilet and a coat or jacket... "Choose from these" is what I said!!!   "You can shed them as you get warmer."   They did not understand this use of the verb 'to shed'.  So they worked for an hour and I took them coffee and Epiphany cake.   Then they worked another hour and a half and I made them Red kidney bean and Red pepper soup, lemony with sage, served with ciabatta. Pear tart was to follow!

I explained to these two that in January, despite my own rules which I break,  the weather is inclement for starting much before 9 or 10 in the morning. One awaits the sun rising above the village roofs to shine on my garden!
BUT WOW... today they forked over and weeded three sections of my potager AND made the fourth quarter ...  all this in addition to work on Tuesday and Wednesday where they have finished widening the rose and lavender bed! How I love them! In addition, they moved weeds to the trailer (dechetterie trip next week) and moved logs exposed to rain when wind whipped off the bache to the space in the sheltered area where logs have disappeared since October!

POSTSCRIPT TO SUSAN's comment below:
The soil appears to be remarkably friable this year ... most of it only needed a light fork even though it was of course wet with the amount of RAIN we have endured!  Hey ho! My back has been saved and what would have taken four weeks 'potager' digging has been achieved in a few days. I did a few rows of forking over to demonstrate technique!  Last year or the year before I added a lot of 5 year old chicken manure... I also added wood ash from the woodburner, wood shavings and oak bark dust once I have sieved the oak bark.  Waste veg matter is just dug in randomly!  I don't bother to compost!

Meanwhile, whilst monitoring progress in the garden, I discovered my son's school reports plus his photographic accomplishments...so am sorting those into a chronological order and boxing up!!!!!!!!

My Italian helpers went to sleep. I took a fast walk, whereupon at apx six pm, for it is still daylight 'twixt twilight, I became aware of bird song which I have not heard for so long. Then, Blackbird trilled. When I reached ' The American Way' I returned along the road from whence I had travelled. A tawny owl hooted hhhhhhhhhooooooo.  I felt full of the joys of Spring. So happy!!!!!!

Today, the artisan came to instal a shower screen... the para-douche!  I only waited three days.   It was bought at the end of October.  Previously, I never found one that I liked. Now I've completed the action but the glass tiles I think do not have the correct grouting. Hey ho!  BUT ...How glad I am!!!!!!!!  It's another hymn I am remembering!!

Glad that I live am I;
That the sky is blue;
Glad for the country lanes,
And the fall of dew.

After the sun, the rain,
After the rain the sun;
This is the way of life,
Till the work be done.

All that we need to do,
Be we low or high,
Is to see that we grow,
Nearer to God on high.

A simple Italian feast

On a depressingly dark, cold wet Wednesday morning, I suggested the Italians sand two doors in Le Grand Salon. They cleared the dust and went to grub up the three young plum tree roots that I razed to the ground in the Autumn. Over five years I let them grow but I could not get the mower between and with no fruits they were unattractive where they were!
I had a dental appointment. One wished to purchase clothing as washing had been left in the machine at their last residence, from which they escaped unexpectedly, one night before their intended departure.  A valid story.  They had been intimidated, nay threatened!
My dentist is good but always at least one hour late! Eventually, after almost two hours, I found the two at The Loft, where I suggested we had a warming drink.  Then we proceeded to look at garden stones / gravel at Jardiland - only to dismiss the shop as ridiculously expensive.  Missing the turning to Bricomarché, we went to Lidl and Leclerc for food, as there were no fruit or vegetables dans la maison, apart from onions and potatoes. Laden and tired, we returned home.
For lunch we had the last of the garden leeks that I thought were non-edible! I made them into soup with garlic and mashed potato from the previous evening but one...plus juice from one lemon. Delicious. I also made individual shortcrust pastry tarts baked for ten minutes, then filled with a mixture of canned spinach, mashed potato, cinnamon and cream into which is cracked an egg and baked for another 15 minutes or so!
It was agreed they would cook the evening meal!  He used the factory-produced, 'fresh' Tagliatelli from Lidl and made a sauce of cream, milk, butter, olive oil, gorgonzola warmed but not boiled. Crushed walnuts and grated nutmeg were added.  Meanwhile the pasta is cooked in a pan of salted water, drained and the sauce poured over and mixed.  I wished to scatter rocket over it ... but they preferred to have the rocket and walnut oil afterwards.  Each had one glass of a Roche-Mazet Chardonnay.  Still hungry, he tucked into Goats Cheese and the 'Pain Nordique' that I discovered in Châtellerault.  Marvellous! Exactly the same bread that I discovered on the Ile de Re. I  tried to emulate it without a recipe but mine was too heavy! I will try again.

Each little bird that sings...

In Praise of my daughter's birth this day in 1978.  

May she grow ever strong 

Singing melody in song

Aloud from treetops high

In a beautiful clear sky.

Sing little bird with all your might

Fly with feathers very light

Do not carry any weight

Search the earth for sunny lands... 

This is a heritage song from my father's sister: Ivy Evelyn Shaw. It was a favourite of hers. It was a favourite of mine at my own primary school and when I taught in a Catholic school. I loved to play hymns on the piano for 120 children to sing.  My daughter was one of the throng. Hence, this song is my song for her and her daughter too.

All Things Bright and Beautiful

Ce­cil F. Al­ex­an­der

Hymns for Lit­tle Child­ren, 1848

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colours,
He made their tiny wings.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
He made them, high or lowly,
And ordered their estate.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

The purple headed mountains,
The river running by,
The sunset and the morning
That brightens up the sky.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,
He made them every one.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water,
To gather every day.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful
The Lord God made them all.

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.

THANK YOU GOD FOR HER LIFE WITHIN MY LIFE x

Eccelentissimo

My Italian friends finished widening the rose and lavender border by digging and removing turf which find a new home in my garden.  I had got about half way but then weather, laziness and other jobs made it a slow process. In addition I measured and marked with string the four parts of the potager.  I shall have doubled in size what i started three years ago! It shall not become any larger! It does mean that I shall have four rotational areas. Their next task is to fork over three quarters and to dig the last quarter. However, there is an acacia trunk root and I may have to pour bleach or some other concoction over it if I or they can't grub it out! Once they have finished i shall cover all four areas with plastic before I plant in Springtime!

Best laid plans

It was an unusual event for me to sally forth to the community bar/shop.  I haven't been since October.  It was Friday night.  I needed to post a letter, so at 6pm, I went along for a hot chocolate drink.  I sat writing - planning for impending volunteers to subject themselves to Midwinter Life in a French village.  Then.. my little space of peace and privacy was shattered as English arrivals sat opposite.  Eventually I plucked courage to check if he was who I thinkhe was, because a while ago I made a horrible mistake speaking to someone else and asking him if he was a particular name and he was not!!!!!!  Very embarrassing!  This man, whom I have only ever met once or twice hadn't recognised me or signalled that he knew me!  Lo, another two arrived, and with, excuse me, loud voices, which some Brits have, (I do too sometimes!), particularly those not from the South.  This is without prejudice, as I have several friends from the North of England and wonderful people they are!  I couldn't concentrate as I had hoped for French tranquility, or at the very least French company.  I left them to their beer. They had cut into their hot, home-made corned beef pie, no chips, for their Friday night suppet.   There were also 'what looked like English crisp-type-snacks' but maybe, just maybe, they were French products!  It is a good idea to go out to a bar and have a social night out...I am not knocking that... It was just that I didn't expect to be so disturbed! 
In France if the bar does not sell food one can eat other food.  For example, go the Boulangerie and buy a croissant and then to the bar for the coffee. Increasingly there are some Boulangeries that serve coffee/tea. Increasingly there are bars that serve croissants. So always best to politely check with the proprietor and if you've scanned what other clients are doing and are uncertain!

Suddenly, I have more things to do in order to tick off winter garden tasks.  Helpers are arriving! I have no energy as it is so cold and wet... I don't cope with this level and type of humidity!

Simple Purl to start with

I found the knitting needles and crochet hooks some time ago. Now,  I have really started .... hm... a few errors as the needle splits the wool...it was unraveled but getting the loops back onto the needle was tricky!!!  I discovered the skein / ball of 100% wool has weak places where one ply has broken!!! How annoying. I suppose this is why it was once in a sale at a famous French clothing shop!  I am hoping it will be 'a square'! Just purl. The idea is to make other 'squares' with a different stitch / pattern.. for a challenge and hands to be busy!
Watching The Fall in short sections, whilst knitting prevents nail biting whilst drinking a glass or two... but I need bi-focals.  I really don't like them, so am peering atop the reading / knitting spectacles!
There exists the phenomena of 'knitting finger' where the left-hand forefinger pushes the needle back, after the yarn has wrapped and looped through the stitch on the L.H. needle.  Hmmm ...need to tape my finger.  I know one can purchase finger protectors!

Cat and Mouse

Big Feet likes to play with her Christmas gift.. a pink, felt mouse!

Isère, France

A drive to Tours, a deviation, a cage in a field, a photo, a posting, plus correspondence has brought me to a second comment about that Cage - a recent posting.
One friend from the blogging world made a comment to confirm my thinking.
Another friend, who has no blog, sent me a link to a photo which I am not permitted to reproduce. Look at how maize is/was stored in the South of France.
http://samisarkis.photoshelter.com/image/I0000XTHV6J0I3Ho
I love the stark colours in the photograph.

Then I started to research the 'departement' and river named Isère. You too can do that. 
 It is a Gallo-Romain 'departement' , part of the Rhone-Alpes region and I have probably driven through in severe snowy weather to Haut-Savoie.  It is one of the original 83 departements organised during the French Revolution, but over the years has been reduced in size. 
Please note that France is on another re-organisation which many people are unhappy about.  It seems nonsensical to amalgamate and change regions all in the name of progress.  
I so much wish to travel all over France... nay... all over Europe!

Poetry: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

'I love driving in open country... was making my way back onto the route from which I had accidentally deviated...which reminds me of the story of my life!'

... and THAT deviation reminds me of a favourite poem:
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, 

And sorry I could not travel both 

And be one traveler, long I stood 

And looked down one as far as I could 

To where it bent in the undergrowth; 

Then took the other, as just as fair, 

And having perhaps the better claim, 

Because it was grassy and wanted wear; 

Though as for that the passing there 

 Had worn them really about the same, 

And both that morning equally lay 

In leaves no step had trodden black. 

Oh, I kept the first for another day! 

Yet knowing how way leads on to way, 

 I doubted if I should ever come back. 

I shall be telling this with a sigh 

Somewhere ages and ages hence: 

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -

I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference.

Ah, I sigh...wondering at my age, about roads that I chose not, for reasons I know not, or, because I didn't know they were camouflaged under brambles! I often took the easier route, yet have thought: "Why does life have to be so complicated?"

    The Road Taken: At times, remorse. At times, joy. I have arrived at this place in my life, in my time, and have much to be grateful for. I am thankful to so many others who have influenced my arrival, even when I thought I had experienced poor choices and interludes. Occasionally, it is true, I have unwittingly waved the "woe is me" flag for attention, knowing it was wrong to blame or criticise anyone for bringing me to this point.  Indeed, I praise them.  I had to learn to take responsibility. Oh the path is winding!

    The poet doesn't necessarily say that the choice of path one takes in LIFE is more full, or less full, of crises, decisions, choices, chance... it's just that, we do not know before we make the choice that eventually we might look back at our lives to think differently, or at the very least, wonder what would have happened if x or y or z.   The poet predicts that in the future we might re-arrange the story of our lives to suit our purpose but, in truth, cannot get away onto any other path, for honesty must prevail!
    I remember a friend telling me, when I was dithering about whether to buy a property or not and where...,  "it doesn't matter what the choice/decision is, it matters that you DO make a choice/decision and after that, if you think it was wrong, you can change it, you can make another choice of decision!" Wise words indeed! Who wants to be lost in the woods all day, like Little Red Riding Hood?  There are so many different paths in the yellow woods! The poet is telling us that there is no right path and that it is wasteful of precious life-time making a decision... Hey, I am just appreciating this viewpoint.  I wonder if the poet ever had a kitchen conundrum to solve!?

Cage

I have been here before!  I think these might be ancient maize storage cages during the harvesting process or as storage for cattle fodder.., no doubt someone will inform my enquiry!!
Difficult to see in the pic but wooden stakes mark the ditch so that farm vehicles do not 'plough on' into the dyke! These were in the opposite direction to the rusty cages.  I love driving in open country... was making my way back onto the route from which I had accidentally deviated...
which reminds me of the story of my life! 

Tulips and Hyacinths

I love to watch and wait for tulips to dance in their vase. The hyacinth bulbs have struggled and are uneven in strength... so the race is on for the three to flower!  Below is my brand new artisan made glass protection plate - a Christmas gift from my dearest cousin... an incentive to get my kitchen replaced / revamped at as little cost as possible, as quickly as possible,  but to my satisfaction!

Spanish memories, French delights

The rhythm of the Gypsy Kings rings in the air whilst my innate passion, (probable Spanish ancestral roots),  is transported to memories of Barcelona, Tarragona, Parc Naturel del Delta de' L'Ebre, Peniscola, Valencia,  Guadeleste, Denia, Moraira, Altea, Alicante,  Elche, Orihuela, Torrevieja, Marbella, Estepona, Granada, Jaca, Zaragoza....ah.....  I can feel it in my bones!!!!!!!!!

One roasted Herefordshire beef .. topside cut... succulent and delicious....
Another cooked potatoes... peel, boil, cut, sauté, roast with black pepper and olive oil... a few minutes each in that order...
Another sliced thinly white cabbage, leeks and garlic, to sweat in a pan with a little white wine (water or cream)  on top of the hob.
I mixed a batter and took my two carefully wrapped specialist pans to cook a pile of pancakes for 13 hungry mouths.
There was a delicious Burgundian white to commence ... it was a DOMAINE JOUARD - Chassagne Montrachet  - Clos de la Truffiere - a taste I had not ever experienced but at the price it was DELECTABLE!!!!!!!!!......ASTOUNDING!!!!!!!!!
 then a red, driven up from the Languedoc ( see this link ) .... Oh my oh my!!!!!!!!!!

After a walk we had Cremant de Loire with apx two pancakes each with lemon, honey, sugar, followed by coffee and Cognac chocolate!

What a lovely Sunday afternoon it was ... and after helping my friends clear the tables I came home to remind myself how good LIFE can be, and left them to family bedtime!