Let us
start off with a bit of joy. Mike
painted our bath tub dumper truck yellow and I gathered all the sinks and
bidets we have collected over the years to create a lovely splash of colour in front
of the barn. There is a plate there in
the right hand sink that was part of a set my Aunty Baya gave us as an
engagement present in 1975. One last
plate from the set was kicking around the poly tunnel acting as a pot dish so I
broke it in two and put it in the sink, so now it has purpose, will never get forgotten,
and I love it.
The fridge
took on a new look with a lovely picture of the twins in Canada on their way to
school. The boys in Australia have grown beyond recognition but I don’t have an
up to date picture of the three of them together, so get in a crowd boys, and
send us a new picture for the fridge. The little doggie is Harry, Chris and Sam’s
little fella. The long pad is our shopping list we use these days. If we don’t write it down it does not get
replaced and we are both now very disciplined and never go out without the
list. The joys of retirement, can’t even
keep a shopping list in our heads, what fun and utterly allowable.
We finally
got onto the last run on the barn roof and a big decision was required for the
front side…slate or tin…tin or slate and tin won because I love the industrial
look and when the sun shines, it shines too.
Here is
Jacob making the final snip on the capping and the job was complete and looking
great.
We all had
a lot of fun and the boys did good. We felt the whole project went really well despite
a moment of panic at the last minute when the front capping came up the wrong
size and I had to dash up to Valogne to have new bits cut and folded. But all
in all great job done. We both learnt a
lot and are absolutely committed to never taking on such a job again. Well not
this week anyway.
It is gladiola
time again and I just love the ones that appear in all the wrong places for no apparent
reason. This potted glad is in with a fuchsia and I celebrate the partnership because
I love plants that make it in their own way at their own style, it makes me
smile out loud.
During
the weeks that the roof project was developing Mike and I moved an enormous
amount of broken slate. And when we finally took the scaffolding down for the
final time and swept the last slither of slate from the foot of the barn, I breathed
a huge sigh of relief for the chance to catch up with our daily routines and seasonal
jobs
And
then we had to bite the bullet and get inside for the BIG de-dust and de-slate
to get the barn loft back into working order. Just have to say that the masks did
not last long, they made my specs mist up and I couldn’t understand a word Mike
was saying …… but we reopened the gym and sauna and that was a great relief and
gave us both a sense of normality
When we got
to the ground floor we saw the chance to make a difference. Mike was on Le Bon
coin and came across a Brocante in Bayeux selling off all his shelving. We dashed
over in the white van and dismantled 12 feet of industrial quality racking ….Mike
was in heaven.
We now have
all the stuff we have accumulated on the floor racked up in order of
importance. We then packed our precious scaffolding in a quiet corner out of the
way. Our barn is a happy place doing exactly what is says on the tin.
We welcomed
Chris and Sam to Brevands with pie decorated for the occasion. They came and
took the camper off to see friends a little further south and actually found
the sun and had a good time. In the few
days they were gone we caught up with all our little chores and then before we
knew it they were back
We decided
to have an around the table petite fete as we do, and enjoyed a paella with
lashings of wine and cheese and a chance to catch up with Graham and Ann in the
process, great fun.
Having the
children come for a visit is always a great joy and it gives us a good relaxed
opportunity to find out what they are up to. We called Canada on skype and had
a famille jamboree from both sides of the pond. The pink flowers are a funny
little story as I thought I had grown cucumber plants. I gave them all the loving care one gives to cucumber
plants for at least a month or more then I realised when the pink flowers
started to bloom that I must have got my labelling mixed up and I was bringing
on lavateria. I have no idea where the
cucumbers are but the children do look cute behind the unexpected colour on the
drive .
The
harvest is well under way. I am delighted that the Broccoli has sprouted and I
have great big green heads to freeze down for the winter. Broccoli is unbelievably
delicious steamed straight from the plant and this is why we garden, for all those
little moments of yummy. The courgettes
are mostly going into cake and frozen for our winter afternoon teas, but as the
season develops we use them in all sorts of meals fresh off the plant along
with onions, lettuce and soon, tomatoes and peppers
And finally
I must report that the efforts I made to get our little caravan registered in
our name was a total nightmare . I decided to apply for our Carte Gris on line
to try and be a good French citizen and use all the new and simple on-line
services at our disposal. I did everything I was asked to do but sadly the
person who was in charge of my dossier at the point of pass or fail was the jobs-worth
from hell. I was fined 25 euro for making
an error and actually it was they who mistook two short signatures for one long
one. They who took an enormous amount of
money off me on line and then hidden in the small print also requested a cheque to pay the Tax. I would recommend
anybody thinking of using the Carte Gris de France on-line service to run for
the nearest prefecture and queue with everyone else. it is well worth the effort
and you can at least go to your county town and have an away day.
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