Le Grand Salon

Just before anyone, that is me, myself and I, scatter the stuff of living life in the Grand Salle de Sejour I remembered to take pics of what is in effect a cleared space, though one may not think so!
I seem to have a lot of tables which will not all stay here!
Bedroom furniture is here because I need another bedroom in the grenier!  Dream on!  Je rêve.
The settee could be refurbished. Madame Chat (her deceased sister committed most of the crimes) scratched two ends over the years, so what is the point! The settee has its own stories to tell!
The whole room, ceiling, beams and floor were thoroughly cleaned of cobwebs.
I cleared all the logs only to have to bring them in again when weather turned chilly.
The music stands on the stand to remind me to practise.
Shutters are closed for the night!
In a few days time it will be filled with kitchen paraphernalia, store cupboard food and a different kind of chaos!

Niort

An evening and morning in Niort before heading to Poitiers was enjoyable.  I love exploring new places.  It is a clean town with nice architecture. I intended to take a photo of the river which is certainly green like 'the venice vert' that the region is described as.
A flavour of a gentle, tranquil town where I enjoyed a wonderful 'Fre nch coffee'.  I have a story about this expression but it is too complex to record in writing.  It relates to England where I tried to order a Fre nch coffee, when really I meant an expresso!   Here in France people just say 'un café'. One learns!
It does seem a bit odd that the signwriter had to make a space in the word 'Fre nch'.  It is a franchise... (another French mot!)
Two views from the troisième étage of my Logis hotel.

 

The dungeon very imposing next to the Market Halles

The Ancient Oratory was interesting.

and  the Pillories!

This is the Mairie...

 and a Museum

It is in the Land of Melusine, hence the dragons...a clever way of allowing vehicles into a pedestrianised pavemented area of centre-ville.

 Some buildings if one looks up high have been touched and retouched!

 Towers and pinnacles on more church buildings:

 

I saw several rooftop gardens from down below.

 

I love this building because of the not quite symmetry with the open windows on one side. I haven'tseen this style in France before.  Fascinating.

Return of the intrepid itinerant worker traveller

He arrived whilst I was playing Chopin Nocturnes on the out-of-tune piano at Poitiers Gare.
There he was wondering if it was me! Nothing said but I asked him to take a photo or two.

Over forty hours travelling all the way from an island of Malaysia to Paris and then Poitiers.  Naturally anyone of any age would be tired.  He was back in Europe. Back in France. Un verre de vin rouge was imperative in the bar across the road where he remembered cacahuetes... and so.. tales unfolded as stories began, some of which I had read about as we have kept in email correspondence for the year... and for the five years in which we have been separated from being a couple! Nothing like the telling of a tale c.f. reading a story Jackanory!

The full moon was in full bloom.  A larger orange dot than turbines on a horizon.
I had been away for a couple of days, so the next day, there was shopping and affairs to see to.  Even though it was a so-called rest day for him, once washing was sorted, (less than 10kg of belongings on his back), he wanted to start planning the kitchen.  It was his choice, although I'd said, "Take a break".  With pencil, paper, ruler, he sat down and asked me this and that about THE KITCHEN PLAN... and the LAUNDRY ROOM PLAN...
I began to wonder if he has possibly underestimated how long the process and project will take!  Our ideas are miles apart!  Adrenalin was riding. I am glad he has arrived to force action over the difficult task of changing the kitchen!
He is keen to be in Europe for the weather, the summer weather, and the implications of this are not lost on me.  He is keen to continue travelling and that of course is also not lost on me. Everything is clear without further enquiry or explanation. We are very good friends and have surpassed many challenges!   I am sure everything will be perfectly ok!   Hope is everything!

Garbled Gratitude 'midst Thoughtful Musings (edited)

I might edit / re-edit this post which took four days to finalise - published 9th June, started 5 June. 
GRATITUDE after Adversity
I am enormously grateful to many people, especially a particular person / friend with whom I have been through hell and heaven, for his support, assistance, skills, expertise, time, energies, faith, determination, etc, who helped me move from my humble modern terraced house where I raised two kids for 18 years and from where I often worked 15 hrs+ / 7 days  including degree study and TEFL study, then had a mental/emotional/physical breakdown...
...derrrrrrrr....
Why was that???
Joke?
It was not funny!
Well that was 13 years ago and since then this is the third house I have lived in - it being the second that I have owned. One of the several debilitating personal crises arrived whilst I was living in HIS house with no bolt hole and no independence. I didn't realize that then.    I know that now. I knew that afterwards!  When I was there, I was like a rag run ragged!
In our intimate relationship, he picked me up more than once. The first time was when I could hardly walk about 18 years ago ... and he patiently held my hand so that I could practise walking and the. cycling.  After that there was a second time about 11 years ago when my world collapsed and I became a jigsaw puzzle, a complete crumpled form on the floor, which was concurrent with him wishing to move to France.  He said he needed my courage to give him courage!!!!!!!!!!! Bizarre when I had none!!!!!!!Before we moved we finished the renovation of a 400 year old inn ... well two thirds of it in which we lived. It had already had the hard work done by others..the roof, the damp barrier, the flooring, the stabilizing of walls etc.  THAT is really the time to move in and do the work of making a show house .. a showroom home.. which is what It became!!
He finished being employed on that house, my house and became Restless.

I now recognise it is his pattern... finish a project and move on,  never mind who he abandons! Extremely self-centric! OK I can be self-centric too but I don't believe it is right to abandon others for self.  He also likes to volunteer for others and has in the past been very upset if it is not reciprocated!

LIVING IN ANOTHER COUNTRY

Despite my ramblings of what to me is my truth, 10 years ago, on 5 August we moved to France, to HIS house, which was in the course of being renovated, after my major op and my loss of career... he had already lost his job about three years before me, which is why I employed him!  

It takes courage, madness and sensible determination to live in another country.  It takes bravery and foolishness but the pay off for me has been a kind of FREEDOM, once i stopped crying! Perhaps freedom of a different lifestyle could be found in France, but like T&P and S&S have mentioned in local blogs, - they, us, one, I,  - would not have been able to afford the riches of daily life, domestic and environmental prospects / riches in England that one has here in France.  Maybe elsewhere in France it is expensive or more expensive than here and on parts of UK that I would die to live in! That matters not!

BACK TO GRATITUDE
WELL, I know this might be a repetition of blog content,  but I write it for me and not for an audience,  HOWEVER,  I am grateful and try to show my gracious loving gratitude to HIM for creating the opportunity for me to face my fears over the years and eventually become an adult.  That sounds silly but I have never been socially and emotionally aware and am better at that now!  However, unlike him, I NEED my property, my house and my home.
I don't seem to feel to receive that gracious loving gratitude in return....   hmmm... I know I must expect nothing!!!!... absolutely nothing other than what anyone gives!!!!!

HOUSE, HOME and ANCESTRY
I am a crabby Cancerian and yearn for the shield of protection around me! I have ancestors who were travellers, travelling from Edinburgh to Walberswick and back every year.   Five brothers in the 19th century started an Equestrian Family Circus. My cousin has written a novel about the end of that era and how our grandmother and her cousin left the circus.  Even though I have an urge not to stay still,  I need security, safety and a home... because that is where my heart is!

HIM
He, meanwhile, sold his French house last year and has been travelling and working for others in Asia and a bit in Australia as part of The Workaway Scheme.  His Tales from Asia cannot really tell me the depth of the endurances, smells, tastes, sufferance, joys, magic, and the overcoming of his emotions and the ability to walk away from people if they do not suit his needs or if he doesn't suit theirs.
I feel it is ironic that he has returned to work for me when five years ago he needed to be alone and banished me!
( I may edit what I am writing!)
Of course, recently, he yearned for a European style of living, food, culture and probably creature comforts.   He is tired and so would I be at his age! He is also full of energy and it is hard to keep up with such adrenaline!

LIVING NOT IN UK
I have recently read a posting and comments from others about whether or not we are expats (expatriates). It is an abbreviation I do not like. The definition is muddled with the words:-  immigrants, emigrants, migrants,
I would like to ADD to the lexicology, another word that would define:  'people who are making the most of opportunities' but I cannot think of one.  'Opportunists'  does not describe that sufficiently!
To my mind an expat goes to work abroad but then returns, whilst someone who takes up residency in another country is an emigrant and therefore an immigrant.  I am those two. I am a migrant.
I understand from family stories that my distant ancestors were migrants ... there were the tisserands from Nîmes and Nantes and there were Protestants from St-Onge, near La Rochelle.  There are Spanish or Italian roots somewhere but I don't have the evidence.  Certainly my brother looks Indian or Pakistani and those travellers went across the Bering Strait.  At one time I was very interested in Native American Indians.. and still am a little ... and I believe that those roots call me to the tall trees.   Some have likened my high cheek bones to some of the tribes and one suggested that I looked like Eva Peron. I think that was an exaggeration!
I AM proud of being English but also I like living in France.  It is necessary to embrace the land in which one lives and where one makes a home. 

LIVING IN FRANCE
I am proud of what I have achieved ... and in many ways am glad I have not had property in UK to run back to when the going got tough.  I LOVE the space.  I LOVE my large house.  I LOVE that I have to keep active even when I have to drag my body to mow lawns when I am not a practical girl!
I LOVE my garden as it keeps me fit.  I LOVE that French people will rally and help if one asks... otherwise they keep a distance and that is good too!  I LOVE that although it is 'small steps' my French language has improved.  I LOVE that I have experienced challenges and difficulties as a result of weather, accident,  ill health or even fun events.  It has been truly 'character building' and I am so much happier these days, laughing at the absurdities of what I think or do or what others say as well as laughing in shared enjoyment!

I have learned to meet and be involved with people of all age brackets and I am grateful for that.
I am grateful to all the Workawayers who have helped me and I do need some more!

My lists of things to achieve grows ever longer and I am such a lucky woman that HE has returned to get the kitchen and other things done. Not even my son was prepared to help his mother but why should he.. there is nothing to say he should and I ceased to ask him about two years ago!

Too hot to cycle (Saturday 6 June), but we did it...
Fuschias and broad beans were rescued from the brink by watering several times throughout the day. I was only away for two days during the week but heat and drought got to my courtyard garden plants causing them to wilt!

On Saturday
We had a Banana Split and a Peach Melba as we went to buy an ice cream and thought to have these instead! All very retro yet scattered with modern Smarties!  Very odd!
No starter and No first course.
Only in France can a Banana Split not have a banana but the waitress realised as she arrived and did it again.  It was rather like a Julie Walters soup sketch!

At last  I feel as if I belong to my village.  I have a home.  Yes, I miss the green and pleasant land,  but here I have unbridled Nature with no fear to wander and that is a huge richness for me.
I shall struggle on because that is what LIFE is for! 
... and hey Josette's bar-restaurant has a new owner from Normandy! THE MENU LOOKS GOOD!

How the garden was

I am proud that the garden has achieved this level because five years ago it was ghastly!
Like this, with a view of the neighbours' only garden and a view from the rear of the garden towards the house.... not a plant in sight! The photos were taken in January 2010.

Hang about ...

Calm before Change

Since the CCC I have been cleaning and gardening.
WELL ... I never realised that such a small amount of dusty debris could necessitate a deep clean as IF guests were going to be in the Chambre d'Hôte. I have to vacate my room if I let it!   I last did EVERY surface of these two rooms in early March!  Down came the mosquito net and that was soaked in the bath. It does look better now!  It was a bit of a balancing act to have the step ladder balanced on the bed whilst I proceeded up two steps to reach the loop onto the cup hook in the beam! 
All high beams and ceilings in between were vacced....56m2 of ceiling including the stairwell.  I had to actively climb on chairs, stretch to reach the beams and ceiling with the vac brush. I couldn't just sweep the cobwebs down because that would mean the almost transparent spiders would rush alongst the floor before I caught them, and heavens knows where they would go if not caught.   Like the insects in 'James and the Giant Peach' anything could happen. Not worth the risk. Every inch of wall, ceiling and floor is as clean as I can get it! It makes me feel so much better!
All bedlinen has been cleaned and ironed plus duvets aired in the sunshine. They were all dry cleaned last September.
The one bedroom wall attached to my neighbours (it is the end of the original barn) had an almost indiscernible bloom of grey when I was up close with my cleaning cloths and with light streaming into the room. I hadn't ever had that problem... but I think this winter I was less willing to periodically open the door to outside. There are no windows.. only doors!!!!! Weird! Very French!  I always felt that this wall was the coldest and wish we had put another layer of plasterboard on it! 
Friday I ached but had to spend three hours mowing the lawns ... that's a lot of walking and emptying the grass collection box! Plus two hours speaking to my daughter on the phone (catch up) and an hour on the phone to my mother.
The weekend - another slow start but the last of the cleaning has been done...and how annoying, I am convinced that mouse is still in the laundry room where I store dry foods... so it is poison time. The door is securely locked against Big Feet my cat!  A friend popped round to gove me some beautiful scented roses so that was time to sit and enjoy the minor spots of rain in the garden. I have tried to get my blog postings prepared in advance. I have tried to clear surfaces, rearrange furniture and generally look as if I am a neat and tidy person!
A bit more attic re-organisation and admin stuff was achieved. I am feeling much better and ready for who knows what!
I have been on Countdown!!! Someone is arriving to begin the renovation of my kitchen!!!!!!!!  There is a lot of prep - one door and one window frame ( the only proper window in the house) have to be taken out and glass replaced with double glazed units, a temporary kitchen area is to be created, sink and cupboards must be installed into the laundry / larder room ... and the rest!
There had better not be ANY dust getting into my freshly spring-cleaned rooms!
BUT I shall be grateful when it is completed and it will be good to work as a skivvy again!

Not a Show Garden View 4

Paul's Himalayan Musk - this virulent rambler should not be on this pergola I now realise... its scented fairy roses are looking white in the photos but are pink. In a few weeks the blooms will be over. There is a clematis struggling too. The Boxwood border behind the pergola surrounds what was once a herb garden overtaken by Sage.

This is what I call my Aunty Ivy lily...she had lots by her garden and I took a root... and I keep taking a root from wherever it gets established for the next garden ... and so she lives on in my memory.

 A lone rogue poppy seeded itself near the house by the wild spring bulbs sector.

And the Potager  - there are now four quarters and it has taken four years to dig out the sections... and I still have planted half as potatoes! Next year, only one quarter Madame! But it does need manuring!
That pile at the back will go once the tree and wall are attended to and then I think I shall build a proper composting area... and a place to grow courgettes and pumpkins... a wilderness...

Not a Show Garden View 3

My ONE Digitalis Purpurea (Common Foxglove - is there one that isn't common?) has thrived (there used to be some by the stone wall) ... it looks resplendent in front of a movable Van Gogh picture frame. Sometimes called fairy fingers, fairy gloves, fairy bells, floppy dock,  tod-tails!  I would like to see a field of them!

Who nibbled the lower bell?

Beneath the Breezeblock wall is bedrock which I scraped clean five years ago. It was covered in chicken muck, bones, oyster shells, metal nails and things and blue string.  I exposed the rock and scraped out soil and started to plant seeds or sprigs of rockery plants.... some died, some survived. I have been planting 'iris roots'  which have grown abundantly. I can never keep the stems from flopping over.

Unfortunately in this area grow nettles, buttercups, brambles and other wild neighbours!

Above and beyond the wall is wild, wild, really wild orchard land belonging to my neighbour. I absolutely love that she does not tend it.  BUT that acacia tree has to go! It has been pushing the breezeblock wall which is now about to fall over. She says she takes full responsibility. I presume the deed will be done at the end of Autumn! I shall weep for the Acacia, the sky, the land and I don't know how long the roots will take to die.

The tree roots spread into my garden and this is why my potager is drained of nutrients. I let four others grow because they were beautiful when young, their leaves providing visual interest and shade... but have since cut them down. 

Their root system is phenomenal. The wood is very hard. It can be burnt but gives an acrid smell. There are different varieties of Acacia. Lovely in the correct setting! I don't want the tree to come down as it provides a lot of interest for me but the boundary wall has to be rebuilt at one end. I don't wish it to topple on anyone!

Not a Show Garden View 2

The rose/lavender border was measured and dug about four years ago before the lawn took hold and the concept/size has developed over time.  Last Autumn I widened it from 1m but ran out of energy only being able to dig for 30 minutes at a time. I got about 10m along,  so the Italians finished the last 15m length for me1  It is now 1.50cm wide.  BUT I must keep the edges straight!
Nearest the house is Sorrel which I dislike but make myself eat occasionally in an omelette!
This year I managed to find a beautiful rose that I had in the previous garden called Tequila Sunrise, still small but should reach about 1.50cm height and spread.
Then this year I put two Gaillardia plants

before the  David Austen Rose: Benjamin Britten - pink

 after which is a deeper hued David Austin Rose - Chianti  - I adore the rich dusky hue.  In this photo it is looking too bright.

After that are two blue Ceanothus bought at different times. I can't work out if they are the same variety. I know they are too close together so will risk moving them in Autumn. Must dig in old horse manure. Must learn to prune so they get bushy.

Then sandwiched between three (looks like two)  Laurel which E. told me to hard prune or dig out, is a small Choisya being dwarfed by it's neighbours. I intend to move this further up the garden. Waiting for rain to penetrate the soil.

Originally, the three Laurel were the start of a hedging plan when I could not afford to do the 25m length. I wanted to conceal my neighbours.  I realised a fence was required in front of the dwarf stone party wall with a wire fence on top.  I quite like the evergreen element and maybe that is good for birds so these unsightly hedge plants which grow like topsy may have to be constantly pruned into spheres as they are more or less central to the length of this border.  After the Laurel is a series of much smaller roses. I had no idea what to buy! I purchase roses by name, colour and try to get ones that are 'remontante', which flower profusely and repeatedly throughout the spring and summer season!

The first is Peter Beales Shrub rose - Hybrid Musk 1928 - 120cm - Francesca ... my grand daughter's name! Funnily, it is very wayward and straggly! I wonder who the lady was that it was named after! Not my g.d.!

then for my daughter Felicity, Peter Beales Shrub Rose - Hybrid Musk 1928 - 120cm - Felicia neat in the pink when it buds!

Then

Peter Beales Shrub Rose  Hybrid Tea 1984 - 75cm
Remember Me
 yet to bloom and looking poorly

David Austin  Hybrid Tea 80cm  

Freedom - yellow
next to
Peter Beales Floribunda Cluster Rose - 60cm 
Sexy Rexy 

Unknown  name  - maybe better in a pot.

David Austin - Olivia Rose Austin 80cm
pink when it blooms

David Austin Boscobel 80cm
red when it blooms

Unknown name

After that are Buddlieas at the wild end of the border...essential for butterflies. I had a splendid one in the Mediterranean styled courtyard at my old house in England.  The main stem was pruned about two feet of the ground and so every Autumn we pruned it back hard... it was a sheer delight every year!  Before the buddleia is a plant whose name I can't find which has a beautiful scent...flourishes well in French towns and stays flowering for a long time.

and after that is a Lamprocapnos spectabilis or Dicentra ( called also Bleeding heart, Dutchmans breeches, Lyre flower, Lady in a bath!)
Must get photo

About here in the border I abandoned the rose and lavender plan. I squeezed in some wild flower seeds, transplanted self seeded poppies, and homed a rhubarb plant. Also have put some sweetpeas to train up an old wine rack...had to attach string to get them to climb.
Must get photos later.

In front of the roses are different varieties of lavender.   I must take cuttings as evidently one should annually to ensure continuation. Lavender gets straggly and can suddenly die off. As they are at least 4.50e a plant I have to make savings! For two years now I have made lavender bags using the coloured bags for putting wedding almonds in!  A 'no sewing' gift! Everyone loved them and they were easy to post!  French Lavender even though Lavender is English!
END OF GARDEN VIEW 2