how well we try to integrate or speak….. Funny old world.

Blog 9 / March

Our Spring break this year was full of wonderful gatherings with friends, good food and a lot of laughter.  Here we are a gang of happy ladies with our Host, Tony, at his Sunday picnic.  This gathering was billed as a picnic in the wood but as storm Katie thought she had been invited as well we shut the door on her and stayed in. If you were wondering where the chaps are they were in the other room… and not out with Kati

On Monday we were around the table at the Simply Chateaux headquarters being spoiled with a full blown roast dinner and extremely grown up desserts… what a treat. It must be noted that we were at dessert stage in this photo and the windows are still full of daylight, summer is well and truly on the way……

 

Not to put tradition on too much of a back burner Mike and I cracked on with decorating this spring holiday in the middle spare room. The carpet for this room has been rolled up and on the landing since November 2014. Now that the house windows are all painted and I no longer need this room as a painting room we have got to get this project done and dusted…….The problem is, Mike dislikes decorating with a passion and I am just no good at it.  Mike gave me a master class in painting doors and my frustration at my hopelessness was palpable, and although he was very patent  he knew if I walked off the job ( of which I was very capable of doing)  then he was going to have to step in or we would never finish……..

 

We have been introduced to a Jay and Helen recently who are interested in WW2 vehicles and activities and also own horses.  At one of our gatherings I mentioned that I needed some horse poo for my garden as I have been very lazy these past few years and the winter Brussels sprouts were not as great as I had hoped. The soil in my veggie beds is exhausted and I really need to fork in some poo  so when Jay looked kindly down at me and said of course we have well-rotted poo and you can have as much as you like, I was delighted …….

 

We made all the arrangements to meet up at their home and I was thrown into a flurry of great excitement as the pile of poo Jay showed me was veritable black gold. I was introduced to the horses and understood immediately how this poo pile had developed and when the vintage tractor came out to take the trailer across the muddy field I had a good feeling I had found my Zenith in gardeners’ perfection. Jay dropped two bucket loads into the trailer which equates to 8 wheel barrows and I need 2 barrows per bed. Am I becoming a gardening anorak? Yes, I am, but I also know I am going to need more black gold so a bit of supper and smooth talking will be in order to keep our friends on side ….. I know you read the blog Jay and Helen so thank you for your horse poo, invite in the post xx

 

 

I will not be able to get through a blog now without a drone picture of the garden so here it is, and that is the veggie patch where the manure is going. It will be so interesting to see how this view changes as the season moves on and now that we are on summertime clocks the season is well and truly under  way.

 

We had another family birthday as Toby, youngest grandson in Australia has turned 10….and here he is having his first driving lesson out in the outback on a camping holiday ….. It is so good to see them all getting on with their new lives…..driving forward, so to speak!!..

 

With Napoleon gone, and the gongs of the grandfather clock muted, mornings at Brevands have been far more stressless and quiet. It was therefore, a bit of a shocker when we were woken up by the sound of a noisy goose at near quarters.  Mike got up to look out of the window and there he was …… putting the fear of huge goose into my ducks and generally making himself at home. We got up and walked him out of the pond area and over the road into our neighbours drive. We guessed he had escaped and came from there, but I could not get a reply at the door so I closed the gate to keep him, chez lui.  I lost my male duck who flew off in the face of confrontation and left the girls to fend for themselves but we did pick him up in the field next door so he is safe and back at home. Later in the day I saw my neighbour and explained what had happened and she was very concerned that we had been inconvenienced. In the run of this short conversation she mentioned that she had told her husband that the goose was ‘chez les Anglais’ and it suddenly struck me that we had been pigeon holed and index shelved as ‘Les Anglais’.  It is the first time in 10 years of living in France that this has happened and I took a miniscule amount of offence as we neither of us regard ourselves as the English people ….. But… in reality we are, and always will be, regardless of how well we try to integrate or speak….. Funny old world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

was a life changing experience. xx

Blog 8 / March 2016

 

 

 

The Dumper has developed an oil leak so Mike went on line and found the main dealers for his Hatz engine in Germany. The web site was all in English and Mike was delighted that he could buy all his spares through the Hatz, Classic department, and put in his order for everything he needed.

 

 

 

Within a few hours of the order to Germany we got an e-mail to say that the request had been passed onto the Hatz France dealer

……OH NO.

We waited for four days and then mailed Germany again to say that we wanted to buy the parts and not have to wait an age before the French dealer got into gear. We received a cc’d message to the French dealer from the German head office asking them to please contact us  and a quote came through the next day…. A five day late, Hooray.  I called the French dealer near Caen, whose business looked like a cleaning machine distributor and questioned who they were, and where they were, and were the parts we needed in Stock.  Oh No, said the French dealer, we need to order them from Germany.  You need to send us a cheque, he crooned, then when it is cleared I will order the parts…..how long I asked ….2 weeks in all, I expect, he said.  Mike got back in contact with Germany and requested that we should be able …please, to order directly because we are already 6 days down the process.  I then got a call from the head of Hatz France based in Lyon at eight thirty in the morning,  who wanted to know what had gone wrong, so…. I let him have it, with all the frustrations and disappointments. He agreed it was a poor show and promised to send me an e-mail that day with a solution so we could  have the parts in the next few days. It is now mid-evening and we have heard nothing so we are now giving up and will have to pretend to be German or get the supplier in the UK to send the parts in the post………I so wish I could understand why customer services and a robust commercial approach to people who are not in business was a way of life here. …….but, the wine is great and the cheese is delicious so it is not all bad except for the oil leak that we have still not mended.

We were at a vide grenier last week and I came across this knitting of power cable for all the appliances we have ever owned in our lives.

I was in thoughtful mood and wondered just how many kilometres of discarded cable there must be in a years’ worth of Vide grenier in France alone …… to Mars and back I shouldn’t wonder.

 

 

 

 

We had a birthday in the family this week, our middle grandson in Australia turned 11 and although we are unable to hug, kiss and share we are at least able to see that what we did send was appreciated. Life in France is all about finding ways to deal with the loss of family contact and even after 10 years away in different corners of the world it is the birthdays and Christmas’s that are tough for us to deal with, Happy Birthday Blake xx

 

 

We did our weekly car boot sale, vide grenier to us, and Mike saw a drone on a family stall with the Mum and son and a collection of smaller children all with their wares waiting for the right person to take the bait. It is fair to say that Mike fell for the Son’s drone, hook line and sinker and after we were given a jaw dropping demo in the middle of the cattle market in St Mere Eglise we parted with 35 Euro, and rushed home to see if it was going to do everything we hoped it would. 

You can see it is performing way beyond expectation and now I can take pictures of my garden from a Storks view point …..fantastic

 

 

 

 

 

Our weekly outing with Graham and Ann took us to Dead Man’s Corner Museum.  We decided to give their latest attraction a visit and were not at all disappointed. This Museum just outside Carentan has installed a C47 simulator which just blew my mind. We were taken from a very plausible briefing into the aircraft that took off with all the sounds and movement you would expect. The view out of the windows was extremely life like and the whole effect very convincing. The Plane got shot down and crash landed in a field and there was fire outside and smoke in the cabin and I declared a little  too  true to life, ‘the plane is on fire we need to get out’. The other tourists on the flight were a little baffled at my role play antics but actually I meant it and can’t wait for a chance to go  again.....

 

 

 

We were invited out for a 40’s night in with a boiled beef and carrots supper followed by the best bread and butter pudding I have ever eaten.

 

 

Our Hosts Carol and Trevor run a successful vintage clothing company here in Normandy and showed us how it is done, right down to the food and music ….. When we were dishing up the meal the plaintive cry of …there is a war on you know’ just made me chuckle because in reality each of our portions on our 40’s night out would have had to  last at least a week in the rationed 1940’s.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And lastly I wanted to mention my 40’s dress, which is itself, not genuine but passes as OK. The collar however came out of a box of bits I got from my Mum and is very old.  I like to think that my Mum may have even used it herself to spruce up her genuine 40s frock 72 years ago when she was liberated in Brussels.  What a shame she is not here to see what we are up to, and I know she would have found it a total hoot to see us dressing up in theme to celebrate and remember an historic period that I know for her, and my Dad was a life changing experience. xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

keep a little bit more of his memory alive.

 

 

Blog 7 March 2016

 

Oh flip…. look at us all dressed up in our best Indian bib and tucker.

 

 

 

Our lovely Hosts Shirley and Mark laid on a tasty curry buffet with an Indian rope trick thrown in.  Evening themed gatherings are a real treat as you have to put a bit of thought into what to wear and then as people come through the door you realise you didn’t put that much effort in after all and commit to try harder next time. Mike and I were not too unhappy with our effort and were comfortable and in the mood. I also hit a first as Mike was keen to use his abandoned MP4 player so I learned how to download the sound track to Bride and Prejudice which was the one and only Bollywood film we have seen. Mike rolled up in costume playing loud Bollywood hits from his pocket. The impact was as hoped and we all had a jolly bolly good laugh.

 

And whist on the subject of socialising we had a lovely Lunch in my favourite place around my Kitchen table with Graham and Ann who had been away for a month, so we were keen to get all caught up on news and plans.

 

 

 

I did warn you in the last Blog that a Dumper was looking like a definite possibility and no sooner said than done…. Mike found this 1966 single stroke dumper on Le Bon Coin for far too much money in my reckoning but actually, in reality, quite a snip as it needed a little TLC which is well within Mikes remit.

 

 

 

And before you know it, there is a new sound in the garden and a very happy chappy going out for a spin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were keen to get another cut on the grass and for all you new blog followers you will come to realise that the lawn upkeep plays a big part in our summer time lives.  Mike was keen to do yet another Knife and fork job but I was really keen …. No, really keen, to pick up what we cut to get this season underway.  We decided as this early second cut would be voluminous we agreed that I would dump the clippings where I stopped and would then take the clippings to the public dump in Carentan.  I dumped three piles like this and it took two trailer loads to dispose of it. At the next board meeting we will have to agree where I can dump my clippings and what Mike is going to do with them once they are dumped…… and you think you have a complicated life.

 

We are clearing a way through from the house to the orchard and ended up with a pile of ancient hedge as high as a house that needed disposing of. Although we have a good public dump where we can use the compost bins as often as we like, it is hard work. At the board meeting at breakfast time we decided that we would light yet another bonfire and get rid of the pile. We started in a controlled oil drum fire but that became too slow and arduous and mike just threw the complete hedge with chain link fencing still in it and as the oil drum fell over we realised he had created a Furness to light the dechete. We now had a raging fire in a can setting light to the hedge making lots and lots of smoke to upset the neighbours.

 

With the flames up the furnace now roaring I rummaged about for all those rotten pallets and planks we hang on to for no reason. HOSS watched on as the last of the fire was raked up and managed and now we have the space we wanted without even leaving home ….. Excellent.
 

 

 

Opening up the Potager to the garden has meant that the hens can now roam freely and there is something very ‘good life’ about your hens roaming the estate. They are on their last call and I am stopping my chicken loving days when our current four pop their clogs.  I can then throw their dilapidated hen house out and not have to worry about getting a chicken sitter round when we want to get away for more than 4 days…..

 

 

 

 

 

 The, don’t waste too much money, Kitchen project is finished and I am really pleased with the result. Mike painted all the doors and rubbed them down so they look worn and ancient and then matched the centre island butchers block and hey presto with an upgrade on lighting this space has become quite nice. Sadly a redecorated kitchen does not make the cooking any better but it all feels old farm kitchen and I am happy

 

We have been looking at this pile of mud since December and neither of us was prepared to do anything with it until we found a dumper to move it into the garden in, but a funny thing happened when I got cornered at the gate by my neighbour. He mentioned that he had his eye on my pile of mud and could we spare any, well knock me down with a spade! I graciously said he was very welcome to come anytime and take what he needed.  Today David the neighbour sent his son Victor with a wheel borrow and French spade and is, as we speak taking it away.  I mentioned to Mike he could now put the dumper back on the market at a profit now that it is working and going well, but he gave me one of those looks it has taken 46 years to fully understand and I will never suggest he sells his dumper again.

 

And finally, we took local villagers, Genevieve and Jean Marie to Bayeux hospital for treatment and had 4 hours to kill so we went to the Bayeux museum as it had been 20 years since we last went. We were not sure we liked the changes, but that is life and progress but I did however notice that they had many more photographs blown up and on display. We came across this picture of the tank division Mikes Uncle was in and this shot was taken before he was killed in action. I took a photograph because there is a very good chance Uncle Bill is there somewhere and that made us smile as we keep a little bit more of his memory alive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

garden antique for the children to inherit.

Blog 6 / March 2016

 

Although I blogged that the storks were back because Mike had heard the clatter they make one afternoon but they were not yet on the nest we watch and I was getting worried. Geneviève had mentioned it to her Brother who also lives in the village and he also sucked on his teeth and said, not good, they are late.  I was in the garden supervising, from the patio, Mike applying the first lawn cut and saw two storks in the air above me. I watched as they swooped off over Madame’s field next door and then up into the tree tops to settle on their annual Brevands summer location…Hooray they have arrived

On the subject of cutting the grass Mike became a little twitchy about getting out as soon as possible as the grass has continued to grow pretty much all winter in these ambient temperatures. Three days of dry weather and high winds gave him the window to get out and cut. The collection box came off my tractor as it is the better of all the machines we have and it was just a matter of getting his head down and getting around our 3 acres as best he could.

 

 

 

We call this type of cut, the worst we do, and nick name it, knife and fork job, but we know after doing this for the past 8 years it always recovers and there is no point getting upset or besides yourself because it will all look good by May when we want to spend time out here and invite friends to share our joy of the garden

 

 

 

We took advantage of this spell of dry weather and had a day of bonfire and hunted around in all our piles of things to get rid of and had a few hours of very satisfying rubbish burning.  All the buddleia cuttings went on and we even did a bit of spring weeding and put the dechete straight on the fire….fabulous.  Mike is taking down a whole hedge so that we can bring the house into the garden and lighting a fire then cutting the hedge so we can burn away the dechete as we go is a system we are quite liking. This garden was a farmer’s field when the previous owners lived here and they cut themselves off from this space with hedges and gates but we are feeling confident that we will stay here and are freeing ourselves from the years of differentiation and are going to cut trees and hedges so we can see the garden from the house and then we will build a conservatory so we can sit close to the house and enjoy the view.

 

For a housewife and value for money type of lady that I am, I was put into a bit of a tizz when my faithful Sebo vacuum cleaner stopped working.  I bought this Sebo in John Lewis in Reading when it was still called Heelas in 1997 and there has not been a day that it has let me down, until now. I did not hesitate to mention to Mike that he needed to mend it …..or else he would need to buy me the best cleaner on the market and you can’t get the best for anything less than 400 Euro these days.   In 30 minutes Mike had my Sebo apart and working as good as new so I celebrated in style by giving it a good clean, change the  filters and washed the hoses in and out and then went through the house like a housewife possessed…..and relieved that I may get a few more years out of this historic and wonderful machine.

 

 

Our 9 year old duck died this week after a short illness that we will call, Old age.  She was  one of the first two ducks we bought from the chicken and duck man at Carentan Market in 2007.  My Mum was staying with us a couple of weeks later and she bought two males to make the clutch of four and we have had them come and go ever since, but this last one had a jolly good innings and may I say a pretty lovely life.  One of our new male ducks found his wings and has flown off to greener fields so we are left with a happy clucking group of 4, and all is good on the pond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, I am sad to say that the 80 year old sweet pea seeds my mate Shirley gave me for my birthday in October did not germinate and I was left with a big dark pot where I imagined would be beautiful flowers. It was a bit of a long shot but well worth the effort because as a point of reference I picked the seeds from last season’s sweet peas and planted them at the same time.   I now have a hand full of plants already potted up waiting for some warmer weather to go out and give us a display.  I have kept the 1930’s seed envelope  and will put it in my year book so we will always have a garden antique for the children to inherit.