stay in contact in a really easy and comfortable way.

Blog 3 / January 2016

 

 

So this is the bit of camper that needed replacing and I am very happy to blog that our girly is now running fine and going up hills like she should have been doing 1500 kilometres away from home…..

 

For you petrol heads in our readership, this is where it went…..  Mike had his work cut out, short of space and just not really wanting to do the job. He asked me, nicely, if I would go out with him to be the monkey wench and hand him the tools. I have been doing this ever since Mike go his first motorbike in 1970 and I have been acting interested and have become a little  engine knowledgeable in all that time.  I wrapped up warm and stood in the cold watching the work go badly, and we abandoned our posts two days in a row. I then  declared that I was having a duvet day and it was while I was contemplating the insides of my eyelids that Mike applied himself, with only the dog to rant and rave at, and got the manifold off and the rest is history.

 

This is the coldest day so far, it came and then it went and we are back to double figures again but for a mega second it was very cold, and healthy, for this time of year

A bit of chilly frost is good all-round and it gives you the opportunity to find the scarves and gloves at the bottom of the drawer, wrap up warm and really need to light the fire.

I have often mentioned how I like big Lorries visiting and the annual gas delivery is a good moment to enjoy.   The pond is frozen over and the atmosphere wintery and a full load of gas for the central heating gives you a bit of a lift.  We left this fill-up until the last minute as I hate having gas sitting there with nothing to do and now we have the central heating on full blast to dry out the house after the tirade of rain in the past few weeks.  I am waiting for the payment to be whipped out from under our feet straight from the bank and we are expecting it to be in the region of 1500 Euro….. ouch, that hurt.  I have to make sure that the money is in the bank because they just come along and take it.  You can’t have a contract with Butagas without being on standing order and if you don’t have the money in the bank waiting it is a criminal offence…..but it is nice and cosy at ours at the moment……

 

We wrapped up warm in the week and went over to the Maisey German Battery for a wonder round. We were slushing through ice covered puddles but it was not only good exercise it was very interesting as well. We walked around the whole site and then jumped into the car with the heating on full and had a pic nic looking over the harbour in Grand Camp Maisey just down the road. We continue to see Graham and Ann once a week and always go out for a picnic even in the rain …. It gets us all away from our to-do lists and we have a good natter and a lot of laughs.

Mark played Host and Shirley cooked Pie….my favourite. We were 8 around the table and enjoyed the company of a bunch of expats just making it happen in France.   The confection in the foreground is homemade chocolate treats and in the middle of winter, pie and chocolate is the very best solution 

And finally, I spend a lot of time on Facebook and have many people that I watch and chat to who have been in our loves for many, many years.    Mike and I moved to Winnersh, Bershire in 1981 with our three young children. I met up with Lyn at the school gates with her 2 tiny little girls and later she had a boy and we brought our kids up in and out of each other’s homes. Being away means we are in danger of losing contact with this history. I am always delighted when I can get up to date and through Sarah’s (bride) Facebook page I watched her preparing for her wedding and looked at all her wedding day pictures. It is at times like this that  we are sad we left all of that behind, then we look at what we have achieved and how comfortable we are, so I thank our lucky stars, we are here in our special place in Brevands.  I have a huge appreciation for Facebook, for giving us the opportunity to stay in contact in a really easy and comfortable way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

so I promise to keep my appointment in 12 months’ time…already in the diary.

blog 2 / January 2016

We were excited, even if you are not, right now, but this is what will get our camper back on the road …all fingers crossed.  Mike went on line and ordered this baby from a UK company who did not bat an eyelid at sending it all the way to us here in Brevands. There are times when Mike has to deal with the UK and this was one of them.  He was more comfortable discussing his requirements all be-it mostly on email but we have the choice of, away or home and sometimes it has to be away that gets the business, just on ease of communication…..

 

We were involved in cider making from 2008 to 2011 and we are still drinking our cider now and again as it is an acquired taste, and  has to be very cold and you need to be quite thirsty….. As we emptied the bottles I dutifully cleaned each one and stored them away just in case, one day, we may make more cider. There is however a tipping point when you have to make the decision and we had decided that we no longer need these bottles, and we no longer needed to make cider.  I put an advert on Le Bon Coin and for a whole year I had no interest then Mike saw on Anglo Info advert that a Brit ex pat in our area was looking for cider bottles……what luck. I was very reluctant to throw them away, so the cider making brit turned up and took them away and I am glad they have gone to a good home, and he gave us a bottle of wine in way of a thank you, so it was a che-ching moment all round.

On that same morning we welcomed a new Duck to our pond. Once again, on Anglo info, Mike saw an advert asking if anyone could take in a lonely white and black duck. Mike asked if I had room for another, and of cause I was delighted. As it happens the people needing to rehouse their Duck are a couple I knew when I worked briefly in the Tour business in St Mere Eglise  so it was doubly wonderful to make contact with them again and also give their lonely Duck called Peaches a new home. She has settled in well and has made me laugh with her antics, one of which is her love of swimming under water to avoid the man ducks who have fallen hopelessly in love with her. All is good and joyful out there the pond once again.

 

Eric and Gill popped through again on their way to house sit in France. They are quite committed to come and live in France and we spend many hours chatting about the whys and where’s and I just hope they make a good start and we have not put them off.  It is a well-known fact that ex pats can be a tad negative about this journey but I am sure they see through all of that and appreciate  what we have achieved, knowing what they want out of life.

 

 

 

In the olden days we might have sat around the fire and read our books,  or even sat in front of the TV, but in the new era of tablets and laptops we sat around the table playing games looking at houses on line and just surfing and sharing knowledge. I kept asking if everyone was OK bur everybody seemed very relaxed and happy.

 

 

 

 

 

I did however insist that we had a board game of scrabble and we laughed out loud when the four first words placed were the same per couple….what are the chances, we should have run down to the tabac to buy a lotto ticket …what fun.

 

 

 

We had some beautiful pics from Australia and are always happy to see that our children are happy. It is the boys summer holidays and they are out and about enjoying their time off school but they all seem well and the boys are growing so fast that we can’t keep up but OZ  suits them and we are happy about that x

 

 

 

 

 

We have sadly lost a friend this week after a long illness during which Jill fought a good fight until she could no longer.  Her treatment was extensive and long, over three years, but now her pain is over.  As Expats away from our roots we worry about the care and treatment we might need here in France and it is at times like this that we find confidence and belief that we are in good hands in our chosen lives away from home. We said our final goodbyes to Jill at the little church in Vindefontaine with fond memories of a lovely lady who we sadly knew for such a short time before she fell ill.

 

 

This is Jill with me and Shirley in 2012 at Jill and Tony’s Easter bonnet party. It rained and what was to be a party in their wood ended up in the house, I remember being the only bonnet there and I wore it all afternoon, regardless, because I could,  but as usual a good party at Rue des Fontaines with lots of laughs and plenty to eat and drink.  

 

 

 

 

One of my dilemmas in old age is teeth……I have a deep set fear of the dentist  rummaging about in my head and I have difficulty hiding this fear when sat in his chair.  A year ago my new, young and enthusiastic dentist said I needed a crown. He gave me a quote and said it will wait 6 months, see you then……. I did not go, and his temporary filling held so I was happy to ignore his quote. Mike and I had our annual check this week and we have heard that if you have a dentist pay him with gold coins because they are impossible to keep if you let the annuals drift and don’t pay up.  So we  went in and Mike got the all clear and was congratulated, but when I sat in the chair I said I did not have the courage to have the crown  work and please refill my empty cavity and set me  free………. You have to understand at this point that in the waiting room there is a sign that says. This clinic no longer takes new patients. …..  The dentist then sat down and asked me why we live in France, did we know Brighton and how come I speak French so well and this went on for perhaps 15 minutes to the point that I could not understand what the delay was, with a waiting room full of people sweating away with dental fears. He finally and slowly started work filled my huge cavity, said, next time it will have to come out and then asked to see us  next year……..I shook his hand, mine sweaty and trembling ,  thanked him with all my heart knowing  I had protected my smile for yet  another year….I hope. Oh by the way that cost us 114 Euro,  cheap at the price as we will get 60% back from the government, so I promise to keep my appointment in 12 months’ time…already in the diary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

may the customer services continue through 2016…….

Blog 1 / 7th January 2016

Happy New Year and Best Wishes

for a bright and purposeful 2016

 

I have been working, since late last year on keeping the grey matter loose and flexible.  I played on line scrabble for a couple of months and worked out how to use scrabble cheats so I can look clever and intelligent. This year I am adding to all of that and I have downloaded a number of brain train games that sadly become a little addictive.  Last month I gave up my smart phone as it was far too expensive for the odd time I go on line away from home.  I now have a best ever, simple, no bells attached phone that makes calls and sends text with an unbelievably long battery life. With no smart phone to word search and the like I treated myself to a Kindle and I am now equipped to read, play and keep in touch in the comfort of my armchair. Instead of having his head immersed in Le Bon Coin, Mike is now watching over my shoulder to see if he have play as well.

‘Couples that play together stay together’, and with our 40^th wedding anniversary looming on 14^th February I guess we can say that that little ditty just might be true.

 

The end of the year means that I need to close my year book  and I do this with relish as it gives us a chance to go through the last years exciting events. My year book is full of my blogs, cards, bon coin adverts of things we have bought, tickets, brochures and anything that will remind us of our time here in Brevands, so when we are old and infirmed and need an aid memoir… voila .  The 2016 folder is ready, the new blog page is set up and I am  on the off. I hope you will join us on our 2016 journey

 

 

 

I think I do this every year….take a picture of daffodils next to the roaring fire and I do this because it just makes me laugh. every time.  We are months away from spring and our garden is bleak and very wet. A bunch of daffs growing in the courtyard is a breath of fresh air and a promise that spring is actually not too far away. The fire has a cracked glass front and we are having to be a little more careful than usual. We went to Point Vert, our local house and garden store and put in an order for a new glass and when I asked how long the nice man said 'oohh….....dix jours'….and he promised to call, which he did, two days later to say that the glass was in and in French terms, that is a really great way to start the year, and long may the customer services continue through 2016…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year 2016

Hello to all our blog followers

Happy New year to you all

the 2016 blog will start soon so put us in your favourites
and join in the fun and send us your news so we can stay in touch

x