I had wanted to cycle a route that I had walked with a friend and before that with an organised walking group. We set off from my house on the cycles one late evening as it began to cool down. Across the bridge, turn left to Le pied Griffé and continue to various hameaux. En route we stopped to take pics by the water and I was immediately pounced upon by mossies. Keep pedalling and moving! Once away from the water I sometimes had to walk as I have a road bike. I must get into the habit of riding the hybrid one with shock absorbers.
We stopped for fruit and nut refreshments and plenty of water.
Then came a tractor dance. One man, one tractor brings one trailer of hay bales from the field where others waited to be brought in after the wheat grain had been taken either that day or a few days before. He took no more than apx ten minutes or so to unload about 16 circular bales and stack in the grange. Imagine how many men and how many days it would have taken! It was fascinating!
Onwards...
and in the woodlanded area there was a deer....
Back to La Place where a private party for neighbours living in the houses surrounding La Place were having an annual public party. Needless to say the bar visitors of whom there were many enjoyed the music too.
At home we ate a lamb steak...
and the day after, I roasted aubergines... I like this, especially when anchovies are squeezed between the fingery shaped halves of fruit.
About a week ago:
La buanderie ... electrics and plumbing extended... and later the 4 year old Bosch washing machine waste water pipe sprung a leak. The man himself mended it with a kind of two part filler and taped the joint .. but really I should get a new one and a fitter..... Where from? I have no idea!
Wouldn't it be wonderful to do that road trip or indeed any other ?
...
but what to do about my cat who has just cost me several arms, legs and lives with her flea infestation!
Thank you to my father and mother, my ancestors, friends and not friends who have created who I am today! I am most grateful also for all the negative and positive experiences in my life!
I aim to get the kitchen done and have a wonderful year of freedom and happiness.. tick off a few more boxes and if the attic doesn't get cleared then, hey, what does it matter!
It seems France is my home and will be for the foreseen future and there isn't a lot left!
My son has another birthday! I wish he would let the past see a future. I have tried and am not sure what more I can do. Everyone makes mistakes but sometimes we just need to start again! When people will not move their thinking and start to blame and criticise, there can be no progress.
I learnt that to my cost in various scenarios from the past. I have had to learn not to do it!
In fact the heart, mind and body die whilst trying to protect oneself.
It is like drawing the curtains and blocking out the light, closing the door and window instead of opening them wide to let in sunshine, good humour and an open heart...
Wherever he is, whatever he is doing, whatever he is thinking, I love him with all my heart as a parent whose little bird sings to him a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I cherished him through difficult years after a 36 hr difficult birth. I asked of him too much and yet not enough. I gave him such a lot and yet never emough! I wanted him to be successful and possibly then I wanted to bathe in his glory, and he is and has been successful but not in the way that I anticipated. I acknowledge that his way of life is good for him, even if it would not be my choice. I have been very proud of his talents, skills, ability, knowledge, sense of humour, as well as deeply sad that he too has had to battle with depression... but I know now it can be turned around and isn't always a negativity. Depression or feeling low is a signal that something is not quite right in one's life. He is a very talented man and can make beautiful items. He used to take wonderful photos. He cycles without gears. He can make with metal, wood. He lives on a steel vessel which he has lovingly renovated.
It is not a truth to say I have never praised him, which is what his wife believes. He knows who he is... and he knows who I am, and hopefully soon he will come to understand what it is to be a not perfect parent. Hopefully, he will understand that my life journey is how it has been and that I am indeed his mother. Hopefully, one day he will be able to sing again with me! He and his wife!
"And Your Bird Can Sing"
You tell me that you've got everything you want And your bird can sing But you don't get me, you don't get me You say you've seen Seven Wonders and your bird is green But you can't see me, you can't see me When your prized possessions start to weigh you down Look in my direction, I'll be 'round, I'll be 'round When your bird is broken will it bring you down You may be awoken, I'll be 'round, I'll be 'round You tell me that you've heard every sound there is And your bird can swing But you can't hear me, you can't hear me
BUILDING
Normally the gates are closed on what I believe is a former butchery or charcuterie. It's the house with a wine bottle sign above it. With recent renovation commencing I passed with camera at hand!! SNAP! I had no idea all this was hidden from public view. The builders enterprise looks an excellent one.
BAT
Oh dear, this little feller got himself stuck in the shutter hinge, maybe on a night when the wind blew the shutters open... now it is dessicated. I think it is a Common Pipistrelle, smaller than mon puce, my thumb, a measurement of one inch. I felt sadness.
An evening walk to a sax performance meant crossing the bridge and river. Look up and down.
Water scum was like 'oil on water' prints that I learned when I as a junior girl, when in school we made hard binders as a book cover. For me it included poetry and recently it was again unearthed and again I believe I have kept it! When I was a teacher I taught the technique at school.
A willow tree had fallen from a private garden and blocked the passage of flowing river. Oh weeping willow, let me cry for thee.
High above, majesty reigns in an evening of glory. Look at the curved and rounded corner on the left. Has anyone ever seen that before and if so, where????
The church tower can be seen from the bridge.
The vestiges of a chateau residence on a rocky falaise calls one back to stand and stare in awe at HISTORY.
Midsummer evening was a splendid view of blue blue sky...
A temporary garden table is created with temporary recycled kitchen worktop for the overspill of al fresco dining when the small orange table can just about have a setting for two.
On this particular day in June we ate home made rye bread with pick 'n mix food of jambon, (not for me), a cheese with hay on top called 'FOIN', olives, nuts, crudites and fruit, wine and fruit juice.
A handful of peas cropped just before Midsummer's day. The spidery pea plants produced two more handfuls before yielding no more, despite being watered abundantly in the early days of summer. Broad beans and runner beans seem to have come to nothing at today's date!
Another gutted picture of the gradually emptied kitchen! Oh what fun!
