easy peasy orangey or lemony cake

I have been meaning to post this recipe... adapt it as you wish

375g clementines or 3 citrus fruits!
I also tried it with leftover wintry wrinkling lemons and limes but it was an acquired taste!
6 large eggs
225g sugar
250g ground almonds
1 teaspoonful baking powder

Cook for apx two hours the orange fruit in boiling water.  Drain and cool. Cut each in half and remove the pips. Blitz the fruit to a pulp in a food processor...add to all the other ingredients. Pour into a prepped greased 21cm springform cake tin or whatever cake tins you have.  Bake for apx an hour about 190C... maybe you have to cover it with greaseproof paper or foil to prevent the top from burning or lower the temperature ... you know your oven!....
An inserted skewer comes out clean when you test if it has finished baking.
Leave to cool before eating.
Nice the day after it has been baked.
Can be iced.
Can be served with custard, cream or ice cream!
Can be frozen.

Courtyard Garden

On 16th May the courtyard garden was finished: it was started in February before 'la grippe'.
Here is what it looked like; very green when the weeds and moss grew, brown, dark and depressing when raked.  I had previously tried to cheer it with garden pots:

The concrete troughs were there when I bought the property but set elsewhere in the courtyard ... they have to be emptied to move them and then they need more than two people to lift... also they have holes in the bottom where the concrete has fallen out.
I helped the two Italian workawayers trolley and roll them on cylindrical lengths of wood to the back garden for lettuce etc... It was fun but had work bent double running, pushing and keeping the troughs steady whilst  Fl. pulled the weight.

In the past, logs for the woodburner have been stacked under a blue bache, but this cannot be a place in the future. Nor will I be allowed to store geraniums to overwinter in smaller plant troughs under copious layers of bubble wrap with pine branches weighing it down. The photo was taken in January! (This French village ties fir tree branches to vertical guttering along the streets and then decorates with shiny paper bows and wrapped boxes for the Christmas season!) I also acquired some for my downpipe and used them again before they headed to the dechetterie.

There will be no more hoeing, raking and weeding of soil-filled gravel.

Here it is now:

The fence is to be painted/stained a kind of charcoal grey.
 It is intended to provide a degree of privacy between those in the B&B room and those venturing to the exterior toilet block!
I made the fish a long long time ago for a party to hang suspended from the trees in a different French garden...
soon time to throw them out, but they add a watery theme!!!

Anyone who stays at my Chambre d'Hôte can enter from and exit onto the courtyard, even eat there if it is warm enough once I put the new table and chairs there...I am inclined not to clutter the courtyard with furniture!

I like mirrors in gardens.. and once the fuschias start to trail in the hanging baskets there will be more colour. I want only blue pots but beggars cannot be too choosy. I know the paviours could do with a scrub but that would be very hard work... it  amazed me how much moss grew in the last winter and how much soil I sweep towards the gate on a weekly basis.

After five years in this house, with help from WORKAWAYER friends, and others, the courtyard garden is clean, tidy, open, bright with light, and lets light into that kitchen, where I hope in the next few weeks or months a brown window and door will be no more...the kitchen will be gutted, not me! AND we all will WATCH that kitchen space... for progress and when it is finished from my lovely garden. Then from the kitchen I will be able to look out on ongoing fresh brightness!
I am so happy to have my courtyard garden looking cheerful ... it is not quite the intended Asian feel... am not sure what feel it is... but clean and tidy it is .... no more throwing the decorating paint onto manky gravel... no more weeding of manky gravel... and after all my angst i have no regrets that the wretched tree, which did entice the birds is gorn!!!!!!!!
I just love what I have done, even though it has doubled the previsioned budget which was already 1/3 more than I wished...... the price of love!!!!
To begin with I had no idea what to do but did a little research, went more than once to look at what was available to try and understand what to do! To see the possibilities within keeping the funding grounded!   I recycled a friend's tommettes as well as  the fish shapes  There are camellias, an acer, roses, clematis, geraniums, baskets of fuchsias waiting to take off,  lavender and rosemary, a struggling tree paeony and herbs. The flag irises have just finished, anemones struggle on to bloom, choisiya gives that lime green feeling. When I add the table, chairs and lime green parasol kept indoors for the now, then outdoor life will be complete ... at least in my imagination!!!!!!
In Reality life is becoming very different!

"It's not all play"

The Reality of French Home Ownership:

The water boiler has been intermittently making worryingly loud noises and occasionally has settled down in peacefulness for a while. I phoned the electrician in October, and sometime between January and March and then again in April, then he came in May and went away to find out from the manufacturer what is wrong with it and how to repair it!  He installed it! I am still waiting, phoning and waiting!!
Just before Easter I noticed copious amount of warm water trickling into the waste pipe.  So I turned off the electric boiler.  When my family came we didn't have hot water every day until I risked turning it on. Same problems.  I can do without a bath or shower for only so long, then my brain seems to need a watery experience!!! A sink wash isn't the same thing at my age! So, I turn the elec on and sod the noise and whatever it costs!!! I need a bath!

In addition the toilet seat I thought I'd fixed shouted 'bah humbug' at me an 'it aint so easy,'  as the complicated hinge fell apart! Not sure what to do!!!! Am waiting for a man who I know can!
In addition the three bathroom spot lights suddenly went out! Fortunately a wall light by a different switch opposite works nicely!
Next is my form of humour:
The weather had been dry for a while.  One early May morning I was concerned about the lack of water for my newly planted peas and beans, potatoes and leeks and self seeded poppy plants I had moved.  I spent about half an hour which wasn't too bad I suppose trying to get rainwater through the pump from the cistern into the hosepipe for watering the garden.  I understand the principles about priming but I couldn't remember or see how I'd taken it apart on a previous occasion and filled it with tap water.  The outcome was: I undid a plastic screw plug and got a lovely warm shower!! I laughed! Quickly I pushed it back onto the strong fountain! Then switched electricity and the on / off button,  on off on off... took the hosepipe apart in two places and was amazed that there was water in it, tried again and yippppppeeeee ........I am not sure what I did but wasn't I lucky that it worked so quickly.  the potager got watered and within two hours it rained mightily! I laughed again! Water pumps are notorious for needing to be primed after being unused for a while!

Nightingale hovering high

A friend recently led me to be listening to THE MOODY BLUES... and whilst I was listening to the lyrics of Voices in The Sky  I heard a reference to the nightingale...
I am somewhat obsessed by its song this year as the bird is immediately at the end of my garden most of all night and most of all day!!! Maybe there is more than one.
This particular video is lovely to look at if you wish to meditate on the images and song...
It is amazing how creative people are!

"Voices In The Sky"

Bluebird, flying high
Tell me what you sing
If you could talk to me
What news would you bring
Of voices in the sky

Nightingale, hovering high
Harmonize the wind
Darkness, your symphony
I can hear you sing
Of voices in the sky

Just what is happening to me
I lie awake with the sound of the sea
Calling to me

Old man, passing by
Tell me what you sing
Though your voice be faint
I am listening
Voices in the sky

Children with a skipping rope
Tell me what you sing
Play time is nearly gone
The bell's about to ring
Voices in the sky

Just what is happening to me
I lie awake with the sound of the sea
Calling to me

Bluebird, flying high
Tell me what you sing
If you could talk to me
What news would you bring
Of voices in the sky
Voices in the sky
Voices in the sky
Voices in the sky

The thrill is gone....

but the music will live on for generations to come...
with thanks to all those other marvellous musicians who discovered B.B.King...
and so my little tribute is
With respect...  to the master, a man who crossed boundaries...
and to all those with whom he played.

May Observation

May is the Most Marvellous of Months in The Garden
May is the Most Marvellous of Months to have a Writing Moment
A warm May evening is delectable.

When the cuckoo vocalises its name from minor to major third, 
sometimes to a fourth 

or an interval in-between

that is why it’s sometimes hard for me to echo.

When the nightingale plays an operatic role 

it doesn’t need a chorus.  

He is singing now, waiting for a friend to cease his solitude.

My cat likes to be stroked in hot evening sunshine 

as she lies on the table. 

I forgive her as she stretches out in pure pleasure.
Naughty cat!

She frowns when she hears the neighbour say ‘Stop’ 

to presumably the dog 

as there was no reply.   

Big Feet’s fur is so incredibly hot as it absorbs the sun. 

Her head is cool 

but as I run my hand along her back 

it becomes hotter midway along her spine 

hottest three-quarters of the way, almost too hot to touch, 

then her tail is quite cool.  
How a cat responds to sunshine is quite phenomenal. 

How can she cope with such heat as she lies on the oiled skin / plastic tablecloth?

She loves it when I stroke and scrunch a right ear with my left hand.

This time she stretches closer to my pen, 
reaching out to touch lightly with both paws 

as an acknowledgement 

that I am writing about her.
A narcissistic cat!

Now she has turned so that her cooler tummy faces the sun.   

She has always been called a French tart, a French tottie.

She is very much at home in my garden.   

I stroke under her chin and along the jawline.  

She caught a field mouse this morning.

My loud voice told her to go ‘OUT’ of the house.  

It’s really warm 

so I remove layers of my own clothing 

and expose my skin towards the golden ball 

to enjoy the heat of sun for the first time in the year.   

It’s after six p.m.

It's the second week of May.

After midnight

Yesterday had been another glorious HOT day of the kind I like with a gentle warm breeze becoming strong with a chill as the sun descends. It has been cycling weather.  That has yet to be accomplished. I have been gardening of necessity. Skip the story with the neighbour about the debate concerning 'un village fleuri,'  'un plus beaux village' 'sans Office de Tourisme',  and a possible bye law preventing me from doing what I have done for the last five years. He said he would find out more.
The barbecue at a friend's house was fun with seven children under seven and how lovely that the youngest who knows me well came several times to sit on my lap and chat... maybe it had to do with him arriving at the front of his house  as I arrived and me catching him unawares, asking him if he was up to mischief. Was he a scallywag. Yes, he said! Ergo, he will now be called 'earwig'...  My son was always affectionately known as Earwig because he too was an intelligent child always up to mischief as children should be!!
Earlier in the week I took the weeds in black 'poubelles' to the 'dechetterie' and filled one with their compost ...but it's a dry compost.  This morning I made myself go to purchase more of the right kind of soil to pot up camelia, magnolia and other plants for the courtyard. I got a huge bag of straw for the potatoes but I would rather have a bale of straw - no known farmers, except the Maire!  I very naughtily bought 6 right royal strawb plants named Charlotte, lettuce and kale plants and must find a space in the garden for them!!!  Must finish the task today and mow that lawn!
So much to do ...Today is a grey day for "The  Feast of the Ascension"...

this Salon has to be cleared by the end of the day!!   Ciao!

Just before Easter 2

For clever ones who have noticed, (and how would you if you don't know me?) I have gone backwards in time ... and now this is the end of the April catch up!  Life can continue.  Postings won't have to be retrograde.

We stayed too far north of the island of Ré for day returns to the two nights house rental for refreshments. The kitchen was upstairs but we did not venture forth into the balcony which was integral to the main house. Neat idea to remove the roof tiles but blinds don't cost the earth! I was a bit worried about the floor, beneath which was the ceiling of the front living room where the single bed was.

It got sorted but was very annoying to arrive late to find there was no bedlinen! Greeting lady dashed off to get some. Owner lived in Paris.  As I had signed no contract the linen fee was waived. I gather this is standard for this level of holiday place. So I shall be on the watch next time, as cost plus linen equalled nice hotel room pre-season.

With the tide out we wandered on a nature walk.

For afternoon tea we had an expensive though sumptuously presented gourmet delight on a plate!

Green loo rolls can be found at IKEA!

 We were leaving the island, heading home when the Giant Spider spotted us! I expect it had been a youth project.  We weren't scared!

I have had wonderful fun with my family out and about... 

the only stress seemed to be when we were back indoors... so we are each working on that!

I had a lovely restful time with friends and family in England and although I am pleased to be back safe and sound in my very own French home I miss them all enormously, as well as the ones I did not arrange to meet.  I miss nattering and being part of their lives!

The world is a busy place. I don't understand any of it or myself but what does that matter!

It's important to have fun however we make it.

Just before Easter 1

My daughter and grand daughter came to stay.
We went away for two nights and a day
to the Ile de Ré.

One should not laugh at a donkey as he stands and stares!

There were a lot of silly photos taken as we were told to be models and each took turns with posing in the alcoves or being the photographer! FUN.

Everyone was happy in the crisp wind, warm sunshine, space with freedom to roam! Cartwheels are a sign of great joy!

Les hérissons

When my family were here we went out at night to see the stars and explain to little one why we often cannot see them because of light pollution! My daughter who has very good eyesight spotted two hedgehogs. I grabbed a torch and camera!  I was so pleased to see these creatures in my garden. My grand daughter was very excited at the event!

Electing to Vote

I admit that perhaps my thoughts, feelings, knowledge or lack of it, combined with not fully reading, or fully understanding  the media, has led to a situation where I cannot vote today in UK.  Even though I am not politically-minded I am appalled by the difficulties and apparent unfairness that exists within the UK electoral system. As for attempting to complain then that is another story!  HOWEVER, in my belief, it is not totally my fault!
I registered online within the deadline on 21 April 2015 at apx 17h30.
It annoyed me that I was required to put my last UK address where I was last on a UK electoral roll ten years ago.   As a result of ... not understanding at the time what the potential implications might be... I received three emails.. one was automated. The next was at 20h.. maybe automated: 

Please find attached confirmation of your recent application to register as an overseas elector. If you have not already put in place an absent vote arrangement please read the following:
-          If you are living overseas and you are therefore unable to attend at a polling station in the ******* area, you will need to put in place an absent vote arrangement. (If you have recently sent in a form for an arrangement and have had confirmation that this has been processed, please ignore this email)
-          At this late stage, the absent vote arrangement is as follows: 
o   Vote by proxy – the deadline to submit an application form to vote by proxy is at 5pm on Tuesday, 28^th April. Applications are available from the link below. The form must be printed so that it can be signed by hand, but can then be returned electronically by email. Your appointed proxy would need to be able to attend at your usual polling station for the address you are registered in connection within *******. Once appointed, you can advise them of how you wish to cast your vote and they will attend and be issued with your ballot papers on your behalf.
-          Proxy application form: I have removed the link.

I replied that I knew no one in that area and therefore it seems that although I was within the application time-frame I cannot be allowed to vote!

Then at 21h30 I received another email which was from a person or automated:

 Although you were within the deadline to register which was at midnight, leaving your registration until the evening of the final day meant that it would not be data-checked and processed by our team until the following day. This is not a problem with regards to processing your registration, as the original application was submitted before the deadline and so could still be processed the following day after the data-check, but as the postal vote deadline was at 5pm today and you had asked for a form to be sent to you by post, there was then no time for this to be done. Had your application been submitted prior to the evening of the final day then we could have posted the application form to you.

At this late stage, the only available absent vote arrangement is a proxy arrangement. This is where you appoint someone to go along to the polling station on your behalf. It would need to be someone who could attend at the polling station in ******* on your behalf, they do not have to live in ******* themselves but they would need to be able to get to the polling station here on 7^th May. If you know of anyone who would be willing to travel to ******* to cast your vote for you then they can be appointed by you using the attached form. Were you to have applied earlier, you could have put in place in a proxy arrangement for someone who lived further afield and then they could have subsequently applied for a ‘postal proxy’ arrangement where your ballot paper was sent to them by post, but as the deadline for this was also today and as you had not applied or put in place the proxy arrangement, there was no opportunity for anything like this to be put in place.

I am very sorry that the options are now so limited; unfortunately the election deadlines are fixed in Law and once they pass we are unable to do anything other than offer you the available alternatives.

I was pretty miffed!!!   I found it too difficult to absorb whilst I was traveling and trying to read it all on the ipad presents me with challenges especially when I want to keep away from internet!

Since then I have spoken to the same person at the District Council on two occasions and even attempted to speak to someone at the Electoral Commission but it is my belief that he hung up on me when I said I wished to make a complaint.  He said I had to complain to the Returning Officer at ******* but she had said I needed to complain to the Electoral Commission. He obviously did not like me saying that!!!

I am not quite sure of the facts or if I have the truth, but I read a headline in a newspaper for expats that said Ballot papers for UK expats in France have been delayed...  .... .....  I must find out more!

hmmmm me thinks they don't want our votes...  

The country is going to the dogs ... The  people who wish to be chosen to run the Government of England seem to act like fighting cats and dogs...  who wants to hear all that... and look at the expense wasted which could have gone to a charitable cause.   (I know there is currently a French political story of hostility in the Headlines.)   Why can't they just get on and listen to the people... and accommodate all peoples!!!!!!! Then negotiate for the average / common good? Some may say this is the purpose of voting... but it isn't fair according to seats or votes!!!
And another thing....
Why is there so much private tutoring existing at huge costs (with stupid people to pay such astronomical fees) and more Free schools planned with unqualified teachers when there wasn't much wrong with the educational system before the National Curriculum and that dread OFF word?
I have a BAD EXPERIENCE OF a FREE SCHOOL who said for two terms that my granddaughter had S.E.N. as she was unable to read!!! Her maths is even better than her reading ... aged 7! Then within one month of a new school her reading was assessed at above average.   Ok we know that her writing and verbal expression is still below level but she is very creative.  She is in a class of 30 plus with a huge range of abilities, cultures, some with disabilities but all being given attention, care and love. No stigma to class or culture there, as there was in the Free School with its untrue accusations about me and my daughter and grand child and other parents too... A NIGHTMARE!   That complaint still is being thought about! I backed off at the time as my daughter was trying to get out of the school.
Back to the UK and Elections!
Why can't Health, Hygiene and Medical Treatment of injured and unwell people be done in an effective manner with everyone following Florence Nightingale!?  I am aware it is more complex than this!
Why are there unacceptable waits for an ambulance - a family member with a broken pelvis waited overly long on a Bank Holiday? 
Am I being too simplistic?  Let's keep it simple. 
Let's make VOTING fair for freedom, equality, humanity and the good of the common family of Hu-MAN beings... for sisterhood and brotherhood. 
Why can't they start to work with each other instead of sniping all the time!
I have been saved from making a choice and I know which colour I was about to vote for even though it may not do much good!
BUT  I am still like a dog with a bone... moaning that I have not been able to vote.
Why in the 21st century can we not be able to vote using the internet, smartphone or whatever? 
My RANT is feeling better!!!
I don't expect anyone to answer my questions...I am of simple intelligence and do not understand politics, economics, social and global issues! 

A month ago

My daughter and grand daughter aged 7 wished for a French Easter. I discovered that in this region of France families like to get out and about on Easter Sunday, but on Monday eat French agneau on a plate and spend time "en famille" in the home.
On Easter Sunday we did a tour of the Brocante. It was bitingly cold and I was for once glad not to be selling! I bought a rhubarb plant and that is all! In the afternoon we hurried to be early for the St Savin Abbey Easter egg Treasure Hunt, which was absolutely excellently organised.  It cost 20e for the three of us.  At the signalled start we all rushed to the gardens... we were at the front! There we grabbed as many wrapped eggs as possible leaving some for those behind us who were catching up. Those children who had none were brought to the front of the queue to go to the first level of the former cells of the monks. Again our family sprinted forwards, collecting and leaving! We were well pleased.  My grand daughter was trained to share her eggs with children who were rather timid and had not made 'la chasse'!  After that we had a short pause before being taken to the next floor where children sat in the front, adults behind for a wonderful puppet show lasting 50 minutes. My daughter was so happy! We certainly got our money's worth!
On Easter Monday we went to Azay le Ferron but it was rather tame compared to St Savin. One had to collect three or five corks which had been scattered about the gardens and easily found in exchange for a small bag of chocolates or a key ring. My grand daughter chose the key ring which was the same price as her entrance ticket. We wandered around the arboretum where there is an orchard of specially protected varieties of apple trees as well as huge ornamental species of other trees.  Very interesting!  However, groundworks were happening and we were cordoned off from some parts of the extensive land. We could have gone for a guided visit in the house, and it would have been interesting for my daughter, but I had already done it and explained that once caught in the system it was hard to get free. My daughter would have had difficulty comprehending the French language.  There were hardly any visitors so we declined.  However, at the bar opposite we had an entertaining discussion with an English ornithologist / twitcher who had lived in France for 45 years and afterwards with the bar owner who once danced at the Moulin Rouge. People are full of surprises. Anyone wish to buy a bar as she wishes to move to Brittany????
Inside the chateau are more 'animal trophies'!  It was a different era!

Hippoptamus

Alligator

An Unexpected Chance Encounter

happened at Southwold, East Anglia,  my ancestral town...a place where my soul is much at rest and 'at home'.  I offered to take a friend and her friend, as her car was only a two seater, and my plan was to abandon them and go for a stomp.  It didn't happen!!  We shared croissants and coffee in The Crown, then strolled the promenade where I was stopped by someone calling my name enthusiastically.  Although she wore dark sunglasses her voice was not to be mistaken.   OMG a former colleague whom I have not seen for eleven years.  However, she and her husband were chatty and friendly, without enmity and it appears they knew not what had happened to me or the treatment I had received.  After about half an hour another colleague passed us by and I called out her name!  Both were with their husbands, both meet regularly and are good friends.  How peculiar!  More gossip and information.  More knowledge at that school where I worked for 23 years. More about those who since my demise have also suffered mentally, emotionally, were gagged as I had been, and generally had a worse than poor experience in education. I jovially said 'all we need is for another teacher to arrive' but was told that she rarely goes out and will not speak about the school as she is dreadfully hurt!  Although I was nervous, I managed to stop tears by laughing. I was astounded by the chance encounter.  Maybe it was necessary for the healing!  I  feel empowered to address the issues of the way that I was treated, with the County, not completely by the County but one woman in particular,  but have other things to do. I was grateful for my early retirement and freedom from a very sickly school. It destroyed me, but like the sun I am rising!

The Gunton Arms

I thought my lunch at The Gunton Arms was over priced, priced for the hooray Henrys. £16** for the main course.
(Postscript 1**: see below as I now think this is good value: I didn't wish to alter my  first opinion but am always ready to be corrected.)
It was only roast beef even if it was an Aberdeen Angus in it's lifetime.  Even though it had been cooked there in the hearth!  However, it was delicious and the veg were exquisite! Watch out though, for afterwards I discovered that the potatoes had been cooked in Goose Fat and that does my intestines no good whatsoever!  Fortunately, although I felt terrible four hours later, the maladie passed!  But of course, to eat at an establishment like that one is to enjoy the ambience which was superbly excellent so gold star for the sympathetic renovation.  Loved it! 
Therefore, on reflection, it has been wrong of me to carp on about the price. Read to the end of this posting before I am judged!!!
The lesson for me is that I may form an opinion which is not necessarily a judgement and be open to reviewing it later as the thoughts arrive in the mind.
Pity the wind was inclement and it seemed wandering around the park was prohibited. Nice to see the deer in the park and not on the plate!
I rather like my "Still Life of Cooked Carrots" amongst the Damien Hurst, Tracey Emin and other artists.   I love the play of light and tone which reminds me, maybe, of a Rembrandt?
I also had a marvellous dessert of rhubarb and custard, a bottle of Pinot Grigio and coffee.. so it wasn't as if I was watching the pennies.
The moment for me was to be taken there by a very dear friend with the pleasure of her company.

(Postscript 2 ** However, walking into town, a new "eating place" has opened and by the look of the menu I would not call it a 'restaurant' .. it also has the name of what I thought the bar sur la place was called, so at this moment in time I do not know if it is the same 'entreprise'. However, a quick scan of  the menu reveals a plate of Andouillette and salad and chips at 16e and a plate of kids food 9e ....so I have now redefined my above comment for the pricing of Roast Beef in England... I have been quite out of touch with prices and flinch when my pension can only go so far... eating out CAN be  a huge heaven or hell... and when I have travelled anywhere, sometimes, there have sure been some hellish meals!! One of the worst was an omelette in Portugal!)
So let's go to The Gunton Arms again and again!

A Walberswick lunch

My friends took me to The Bell Inn. I thanked them for their support and hospitality. I had Smoked Haddock in a cheesy sauce but the last time I had this, which was several years ago, it arrived with thick slabs of dark brown granary bread which was much healthier than the appalling toast on this occasion! The fishy choice seemed less and a deception to the eye in the shallow dish! Maybe because this was a starter and last time it was just an option from the specials board! Still it was nice and so un-French!

 The ladies had interesting decor...

 ... the huts and the sea remained as Walberswickian as ever...but I still wasn't getting a robust walk!