Ste Larissa
During our enforced exile from the virtual world, we've been reading several books and tonight I'll be going to our local bookshop group to comment on just one of them. 'On The Road' by Jack Kerouac (kindly lent to me by my sister). It's a semi-autobiographical account of a couple of young men travelling across the USA in the mid 1940s. I thought it sounded an interesting read, the book inspired many young men in the 1960s, Bob Dylan and the Beatles included but I personally didn't find it the 'classic' it has been labelled.
I thought that the characters in the book were some that I would dread running into in real life and was extremely irritated with their thoughtless, drunken antics.
And then I read the article on Wikipedia and looked for further links. Now I feel that I understand why the book was written and how and it has revised my opinion. Not totally, but enough for me to appreciate it more. So I hope I can speak intelligently about it tonight!
For our other book group we read 'The Leopard' by Guiseppe Tomasi di Lampadusa written around the same time as the Kerouac book. I found this one a challenging read too but could at least sympathise with some of the characters and, although I felt the book moves very slowly, at times I wondered why Lampadusa had bothered himself writing it, it has a certain charm to it.
We've dipped into other books too for groups or not; John Le Carre's 'The Mission Song' which I found a little disappointing after 'The Constant Gardener', but it has inspired me to go backwards and read more Le Carre (or re-read), Alan Titchmarsh's autobiography 'Trowel and Error' which is a very charming read (rather like the man himself), you can hear his voice in his writing, Diane Setterfield's 'The Thirteenth Tale' which I loved and a little book by Alan Bennett 'The Uncommon Reader' (Thanks to Mum for that one) which I won't spoil by explaining but do recommend for a fun, undemanding read.
I hope that little lot has given you something to think about reading.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Thursday, 27 March 2008
Sunday, 27 January 2008
A little warmth
Ste Angèle
The mornings have remained very cold. Deep frosts freeze the cat's water bowl overnight and the world is very white until about 10.30am.
Lunchtimes have been quite different for the last week. We've been able to sit outside with a cuppa or sometimes a beer enjoying the warmth of a January sun which has plenty of heat in it but which, sadly, disappears behind the hill far too soon. Sitting outside today (with a cuppa) we even heard the odd cricket quietly chirruping away in the distance. A couple of male chaffinches were arguing at the top of a tree and the distant squeal of a buzzard made us think that, just maybe, spring might be on its way.
A glance through last years diary though makes us less complacent. 22 degrees one February lunch time but I recorded that March 21st was 'the coldest day yet'. Brrrrr.
We've taken a day off today, which gives me the opportunity to catch up on some reading. For my sins I now belong to no less than three reading groups. The English Bookshop at Gourdon (http://www.booksandcompany.co.uk/) has two reading groups and I have recently joined one of them with a friend, we'll be going along to our first meeting on Thursday and I have a very interesting book to read. The Perfect Summer, buy Juliet Nicholson is a fascinating book about the summer of 1911; a new King will be crowned, the country has just come out of mourning for Edward VII and the difference between the rich and poor is wider than the Atlantic Ocean. I'm really enjoying the read which is so different from the second book club's choice for January 'We Need to Talk About Kevin'. This novel was dramatised on Woman's Hour on Radio 4 earlier this month. I avoided listening to it as I was in the middle of the book at the time and had been advised that it would be a bad idea to hear the end before I'd read it.
'Kevin' was a really harrowing read but I'm so glad I did get through it. Not to be read if you are feeling depressed (it would probably make you suicidal) but very well written, even though I did have one of the most awful American accents reading it 'to' me.
The latest group I have joined is a really good idea. It is a postal book group. Twelve people, all living in France and some of them French have selected a book each from their collection. The idea is that you send it on to one person on the list and you receive another book from another member. By the end of 12 months we should receive our own book back again. It's quite exciting not knowing what the next book will be.
With all this reading - and Jon is reading the books too even though he only belongs to one of the groups - it's a good job we are fast readers. The next job is to make a selection of books for our long flights - something gripping but not too heavy in weight.
The mornings have remained very cold. Deep frosts freeze the cat's water bowl overnight and the world is very white until about 10.30am.
Lunchtimes have been quite different for the last week. We've been able to sit outside with a cuppa or sometimes a beer enjoying the warmth of a January sun which has plenty of heat in it but which, sadly, disappears behind the hill far too soon. Sitting outside today (with a cuppa) we even heard the odd cricket quietly chirruping away in the distance. A couple of male chaffinches were arguing at the top of a tree and the distant squeal of a buzzard made us think that, just maybe, spring might be on its way.
A glance through last years diary though makes us less complacent. 22 degrees one February lunch time but I recorded that March 21st was 'the coldest day yet'. Brrrrr.
We've taken a day off today, which gives me the opportunity to catch up on some reading. For my sins I now belong to no less than three reading groups. The English Bookshop at Gourdon (http://www.booksandcompany.co.uk/) has two reading groups and I have recently joined one of them with a friend, we'll be going along to our first meeting on Thursday and I have a very interesting book to read. The Perfect Summer, buy Juliet Nicholson is a fascinating book about the summer of 1911; a new King will be crowned, the country has just come out of mourning for Edward VII and the difference between the rich and poor is wider than the Atlantic Ocean. I'm really enjoying the read which is so different from the second book club's choice for January 'We Need to Talk About Kevin'. This novel was dramatised on Woman's Hour on Radio 4 earlier this month. I avoided listening to it as I was in the middle of the book at the time and had been advised that it would be a bad idea to hear the end before I'd read it.
'Kevin' was a really harrowing read but I'm so glad I did get through it. Not to be read if you are feeling depressed (it would probably make you suicidal) but very well written, even though I did have one of the most awful American accents reading it 'to' me.
The latest group I have joined is a really good idea. It is a postal book group. Twelve people, all living in France and some of them French have selected a book each from their collection. The idea is that you send it on to one person on the list and you receive another book from another member. By the end of 12 months we should receive our own book back again. It's quite exciting not knowing what the next book will be.
With all this reading - and Jon is reading the books too even though he only belongs to one of the groups - it's a good job we are fast readers. The next job is to make a selection of books for our long flights - something gripping but not too heavy in weight.
Friday, 25 January 2008
Just call me Dusty
St Artémis
Not Dusty Bin, nor Dusty Miller, but Very Dusty.
Since Jon is still sanding the bedroom floor, I decided to tackle the loft this morning. We've been using it as a dumping ground for so long now that it needed sorting out. I really went up there to look for some spring clothes to take to Hong Kong with us next month but you know how it is; one minute you're moving a couple of things out of the way and the next minute you're doing a major clear up and reorganisation.
All the camping equipment is up there, don't ask me why, we haven't been camping for 10 years now but the tent did come in handy last summer when my sister-in-law came to visit and couldn't sleep in the house because she is severely asthmatic and the cats would have caused her no end of problems. So, all the camping equipment is in one area of the loft now.
All the baby equipment is up there too. Travel cot, two car seats, toys, pushchairs. Hopefully they will get used again this year depending on whether Lizzie can come over soon after the new baby is born. Leo will have to have the travel cot so baby will have to sleep, in time honoured fashion in this family, in the bottom drawer of my Grandfather's tallboy. We've all slept there at one time or another when we were babies. We can make it very comfortable for a little scrap who doesn't yet sit up or crawl.
Then there are the Christmas decorations, they are in another area next to the spare bedding, double duvets, single duvets, pillows, spare sheets and bedcovers. All for those 'just in case' visitors.
Finally, in a wardrobe with far too many clothes (I really must go through and throw lots of them away), are too many years worth of Open University course books. The French and Spanish courses are downstairs because one day I really will find time to go through them all again (come back in 2020 if I'm still alive) but up in the attic are three of Jon's courses, Arts and Music, and my English course, the French and Italian history course and the Film and Television History course. Part with them? No, never. The trouble with studying with the OU whilst working full time and too long hours is that you have to be quite selective in how deep you go into the course so I worked really hard on the areas I knew I was strong in and not so hard in the other areas (French and Italian politics 1943 - 73) but I so want to go back and re-read these courses, and I want to do the music courses too - all in my own time and no exam at the end - no stress, no time limits. Bliss.
Anyway back to the point. Whilst moving all this stuff around and tidying up, I had to sweep away about 10 years of dust and debris - the loft is not yet insulated (this summer's job) and all sorts of stuff gets blown through the roof. So while Jon was making dust by sanding the bedroom floor, I was up in the loft creating a little dust storm of my own.
Now we're having a cuppa and waiting for the dust to settle - guess what I'll be doing tomorrow?
Not Dusty Bin, nor Dusty Miller, but Very Dusty.
Since Jon is still sanding the bedroom floor, I decided to tackle the loft this morning. We've been using it as a dumping ground for so long now that it needed sorting out. I really went up there to look for some spring clothes to take to Hong Kong with us next month but you know how it is; one minute you're moving a couple of things out of the way and the next minute you're doing a major clear up and reorganisation.
All the camping equipment is up there, don't ask me why, we haven't been camping for 10 years now but the tent did come in handy last summer when my sister-in-law came to visit and couldn't sleep in the house because she is severely asthmatic and the cats would have caused her no end of problems. So, all the camping equipment is in one area of the loft now.
All the baby equipment is up there too. Travel cot, two car seats, toys, pushchairs. Hopefully they will get used again this year depending on whether Lizzie can come over soon after the new baby is born. Leo will have to have the travel cot so baby will have to sleep, in time honoured fashion in this family, in the bottom drawer of my Grandfather's tallboy. We've all slept there at one time or another when we were babies. We can make it very comfortable for a little scrap who doesn't yet sit up or crawl.
Then there are the Christmas decorations, they are in another area next to the spare bedding, double duvets, single duvets, pillows, spare sheets and bedcovers. All for those 'just in case' visitors.
Finally, in a wardrobe with far too many clothes (I really must go through and throw lots of them away), are too many years worth of Open University course books. The French and Spanish courses are downstairs because one day I really will find time to go through them all again (come back in 2020 if I'm still alive) but up in the attic are three of Jon's courses, Arts and Music, and my English course, the French and Italian history course and the Film and Television History course. Part with them? No, never. The trouble with studying with the OU whilst working full time and too long hours is that you have to be quite selective in how deep you go into the course so I worked really hard on the areas I knew I was strong in and not so hard in the other areas (French and Italian politics 1943 - 73) but I so want to go back and re-read these courses, and I want to do the music courses too - all in my own time and no exam at the end - no stress, no time limits. Bliss.
Anyway back to the point. Whilst moving all this stuff around and tidying up, I had to sweep away about 10 years of dust and debris - the loft is not yet insulated (this summer's job) and all sorts of stuff gets blown through the roof. So while Jon was making dust by sanding the bedroom floor, I was up in the loft creating a little dust storm of my own.
Now we're having a cuppa and waiting for the dust to settle - guess what I'll be doing tomorrow?
Monday, 14 January 2008
Feeling quite intellectual
Ste Nina
We spent a very nice day yesterday with friends discussing the last two months' reading group books. We have developed into a nice group of 8-10, all early retirees of similar age and interests- mostly renovating our houses and gardens to various degrees.
For the first time yesterday we settled down to proper organised discussions on the three books. Raymond Queneau's 'Zazie in the Metro', Albert Camus' 'The Outsider' (both books read in English, in case you were wondering), and Alan Alda's autobiography with the wonderful title 'Never Have Your Dog Stuffed'.
Everyone had enjoyed the books, which was also a first. Usually one of us hasn't managed to finish a particular book because of time (actually some people were still a bit behind with the last book) or just can't be bothered to finish a book because they don't like it. We are very proud to say that we have both finished all the books so far chosen, even though we don't always like the subject matter.
During the afternoon one couple were talking about a local restaurant they have been going to. It is a school for hoteliers and the restaurant is open most weekday evenings and lunchtimes for the students to practice on 'real people'. The menus are amazing and several of us plan to try the restaurant out in the next few weeks. Fortunately I wasn't nominated as the organiser of these outings, especially as I was the nominated scribe for the book group this month.
I spent this morning writing up our notes ready to post to the internet which, stupidly, I did live on the website. Then I tried to backspace something out and the whole lot disappeared never to be seen again. You'd think that all those years working as a PA, document formatter and indexer would have taught me to do everything in Word, save it over and over again and then, and only then, post it to the website! I had to write it all over again this afternoon and it took me an hour each time.
Maybe a year out of the workplace has made me forget these basics!
We spent a very nice day yesterday with friends discussing the last two months' reading group books. We have developed into a nice group of 8-10, all early retirees of similar age and interests- mostly renovating our houses and gardens to various degrees.
For the first time yesterday we settled down to proper organised discussions on the three books. Raymond Queneau's 'Zazie in the Metro', Albert Camus' 'The Outsider' (both books read in English, in case you were wondering), and Alan Alda's autobiography with the wonderful title 'Never Have Your Dog Stuffed'.
Everyone had enjoyed the books, which was also a first. Usually one of us hasn't managed to finish a particular book because of time (actually some people were still a bit behind with the last book) or just can't be bothered to finish a book because they don't like it. We are very proud to say that we have both finished all the books so far chosen, even though we don't always like the subject matter.
During the afternoon one couple were talking about a local restaurant they have been going to. It is a school for hoteliers and the restaurant is open most weekday evenings and lunchtimes for the students to practice on 'real people'. The menus are amazing and several of us plan to try the restaurant out in the next few weeks. Fortunately I wasn't nominated as the organiser of these outings, especially as I was the nominated scribe for the book group this month.
I spent this morning writing up our notes ready to post to the internet which, stupidly, I did live on the website. Then I tried to backspace something out and the whole lot disappeared never to be seen again. You'd think that all those years working as a PA, document formatter and indexer would have taught me to do everything in Word, save it over and over again and then, and only then, post it to the website! I had to write it all over again this afternoon and it took me an hour each time.
Maybe a year out of the workplace has made me forget these basics!
Friday, 28 December 2007
December's reading
St Gaspard
Not content with finishing one bathroom, Jon has now started work on the downstairs 'smallest room', also known as the reading room as we have bookshelves in there. Storage was one of our major concerns when we moved in with the boxes of books, already reduced in number from the vast collection we had in the UK.
We seem to have shelves of books in most rooms whilst still trying to keep the number down to a reasonable level and, finally, beginning to get over the compulsion to keep every book we have read over the years. Now we are more willing to part with books after we have both read them, although so far they have only got as far as the garage. Our original intention was to take some back to the UK to charity shops there and the better ones were going to be sold on Amazon, unfortunately we filled the car so much with other things that there was no room for them.
There are a couple of charities here that will take English books, and there is also a recently discovered small library run by a French/British association locally so we may be able to offer some of them there. Just as long as we remember to put them in the car one day when we go out.
We have just read the latest reading group read. Alan Alda's autobiography 'Never Have Your Dog Stuffed'. We both really enjoyed this insight into the actor's childhood and his strained relationship with his mother who suffered from schitzophrenia and an alcohol problem. His book isn't the usual 'I'm a celebrity, look at me I'm wonderful' type of book littered with references to other actors and actresses. Instead it is the story of his unusual childhood, his struggle to get work as an actor leading to his success in the series M.A.S.H, and the story of his love for his wife and family.
Now we move on to Lionel Schriver's 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' which, from first glance through looks rather more challenging!
Not content with finishing one bathroom, Jon has now started work on the downstairs 'smallest room', also known as the reading room as we have bookshelves in there. Storage was one of our major concerns when we moved in with the boxes of books, already reduced in number from the vast collection we had in the UK.
We seem to have shelves of books in most rooms whilst still trying to keep the number down to a reasonable level and, finally, beginning to get over the compulsion to keep every book we have read over the years. Now we are more willing to part with books after we have both read them, although so far they have only got as far as the garage. Our original intention was to take some back to the UK to charity shops there and the better ones were going to be sold on Amazon, unfortunately we filled the car so much with other things that there was no room for them.
There are a couple of charities here that will take English books, and there is also a recently discovered small library run by a French/British association locally so we may be able to offer some of them there. Just as long as we remember to put them in the car one day when we go out.
We have just read the latest reading group read. Alan Alda's autobiography 'Never Have Your Dog Stuffed'. We both really enjoyed this insight into the actor's childhood and his strained relationship with his mother who suffered from schitzophrenia and an alcohol problem. His book isn't the usual 'I'm a celebrity, look at me I'm wonderful' type of book littered with references to other actors and actresses. Instead it is the story of his unusual childhood, his struggle to get work as an actor leading to his success in the series M.A.S.H, and the story of his love for his wife and family.
Now we move on to Lionel Schriver's 'We Need To Talk About Kevin' which, from first glance through looks rather more challenging!
Sunday, 18 November 2007
Stiff sheets
Ste Aude
Yesterday's weather: Freeeeeezzzzzing. Brrrrr.
Happy Birthday to Jacqui.
Congratulations to Diana and Jeff on the birth of their baby girl.
I left the sheets and pillowcases out on the washing line last night. They are still frozen this morning, but at least I had some washing on the line today before Mrs Veranda!! I don't think that lady ever sleeps - her washing is always out first thing in the morning before we even surface. And anyway, how can two people create so much washing? We always thought that they must have a gîte or a B&B but now that we know more about them we know that there are just the two of them. And a lot of washing.
This months reading group books are Albert Camus' The Outsider' and Raymond Queneau's 'Zazie in the Metro', selected by me. We have a very complicated voting system where one person selects 4 books for the month, everyone has two votes and then there is another vote between the top two books. The group voted them both equally and as they are 'thin books' we decided to read both. We won't be discussing them until we meet in January so there's plenty of time to get through those two and also next month's book 'Never Have Your Dog Stuffed', Alan Alda's autobiography - chosen by Jon. No-one has yet volunteered to host the next meeting, which should be held in January. I think we are all sitting back and waiting for someone else to offer! I don't mind doing a summer lunch party but the idea of sitting 10 people in our kitchen would be just too cosy!
Yesterday's weather: Freeeeeezzzzzing. Brrrrr.
Happy Birthday to Jacqui.
Congratulations to Diana and Jeff on the birth of their baby girl.
I left the sheets and pillowcases out on the washing line last night. They are still frozen this morning, but at least I had some washing on the line today before Mrs Veranda!! I don't think that lady ever sleeps - her washing is always out first thing in the morning before we even surface. And anyway, how can two people create so much washing? We always thought that they must have a gîte or a B&B but now that we know more about them we know that there are just the two of them. And a lot of washing.
This months reading group books are Albert Camus' The Outsider' and Raymond Queneau's 'Zazie in the Metro', selected by me. We have a very complicated voting system where one person selects 4 books for the month, everyone has two votes and then there is another vote between the top two books. The group voted them both equally and as they are 'thin books' we decided to read both. We won't be discussing them until we meet in January so there's plenty of time to get through those two and also next month's book 'Never Have Your Dog Stuffed', Alan Alda's autobiography - chosen by Jon. No-one has yet volunteered to host the next meeting, which should be held in January. I think we are all sitting back and waiting for someone else to offer! I don't mind doing a summer lunch party but the idea of sitting 10 people in our kitchen would be just too cosy!
Sunday, 4 November 2007
The Reading Group
St Charles
Yesterday's weather: dull, miserable but not wet
Last night we had our quarterly book club meeting. This took place at the home of one of the members, it's a beautiful 13th century house - or at least part of it is, and he has made the rest of it look just as old. A beautiful conversion.
Sometimes we visit other people's homes and they are so stunning that we are concerned what they will think when it is our turn to invite them to ours, a modest four roomed (at the moment) farmhouse. But then, we realise that there are only two of us living here, we don't need more room than we have, and we love our home, simple as it is.
We had a very nice dinner and discussed our past and present books. We have recently read Felidae by Akif Pirincci. I don't recommend this book, and neither did any of the group members. It is the strangest book I think I have ever read. The next book was The Pirate Hunter by Richard Zachs. The book is supposed to be the true story of the 'infamous' pirate Captain Kidd but includes much more information about pirates, pirate hunters, and most of all injustice. I struggled with this book finding it a real trial, far too much information and a liberal sprinkling of Zachs' own imagination.
We also made our choices for the next three months which sound like more interesting reads. December's book is the first volume of the actor Alan Alda's autobiography 'Never Have Your Dog Stuffed' - now, how is that for a title? I love Alan Alda, so I hope the book doesn't let me down. Then we have On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. I've never read any of his so we are looking forward very much to this one, and the third is 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' by Lionel Shriver, who is apparently a woman , which took me by surprise. The member who chose this book has already read it but doesn't know anyone else who has so hasn't been able to discuss it with them - she said that she wouldn't recommend it to anyone who was thinking about having children but felt that that was pretty safe with our group.
Which will obviously let you know that we are all 'of a certain age'.
We're looking forward to this selection of books. I must get on to Amazon and order them soon.
Yesterday's weather: dull, miserable but not wet
Last night we had our quarterly book club meeting. This took place at the home of one of the members, it's a beautiful 13th century house - or at least part of it is, and he has made the rest of it look just as old. A beautiful conversion.
Sometimes we visit other people's homes and they are so stunning that we are concerned what they will think when it is our turn to invite them to ours, a modest four roomed (at the moment) farmhouse. But then, we realise that there are only two of us living here, we don't need more room than we have, and we love our home, simple as it is.
We had a very nice dinner and discussed our past and present books. We have recently read Felidae by Akif Pirincci. I don't recommend this book, and neither did any of the group members. It is the strangest book I think I have ever read. The next book was The Pirate Hunter by Richard Zachs. The book is supposed to be the true story of the 'infamous' pirate Captain Kidd but includes much more information about pirates, pirate hunters, and most of all injustice. I struggled with this book finding it a real trial, far too much information and a liberal sprinkling of Zachs' own imagination.
We also made our choices for the next three months which sound like more interesting reads. December's book is the first volume of the actor Alan Alda's autobiography 'Never Have Your Dog Stuffed' - now, how is that for a title? I love Alan Alda, so I hope the book doesn't let me down. Then we have On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan. I've never read any of his so we are looking forward very much to this one, and the third is 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' by Lionel Shriver, who is apparently a woman , which took me by surprise. The member who chose this book has already read it but doesn't know anyone else who has so hasn't been able to discuss it with them - she said that she wouldn't recommend it to anyone who was thinking about having children but felt that that was pretty safe with our group.
Which will obviously let you know that we are all 'of a certain age'.
We're looking forward to this selection of books. I must get on to Amazon and order them soon.
Saturday, 6 October 2007
The paper mountain
St Bruno
Yesterday's weather: mild, mixed, warm
Such excitement. Our IKEA delivery expected after mid-October and ordered in June arrived yesterday. All the 18 packages were off-loaded into the garage where they are still sitting this morning. The lorry arrived at exactly the same time as our lunch guests so we have delayed unpacking until today.
The first job will be to put together the two glass fronted bookcases which will mean unloading the many book cases we have already and selecting the 'specials' to go in the new ones. Apart from the obvious curse-ridden air that is normal when putting together flat packs, there will be other emotions in the air today, mostly nostalgia from finding old friends amongst the books. We have for many years collected pre-WW2 guide books to France and it will be difficult not to flick through them delicately admiring the writing, maps and photographs. There are many books of writings on France and the French dating throughout the 20th century which I can't bear to part with. Favourite authors and auto-biographies that I know I will read again one day - when I have the time. Add to this the piles of reference books, DIY references in French and English, home decorating, storage, knitting projects, sewing projects, gardening books and so the list goes on.
There will be a lot of regret too as we decide which books have to go. We can't possibly keep all the books we have and many will be packaged up to be taken back to the UK where we will pass them on to friends and family and any left over will go to charity shops or to be sold on Amazon on our behalf.
Then I will discover the dozens of books that I've just not got round to reading yet. Lots of auto-biographies, history books and still more novels. We can't possibly part with those, yet.
And of course the main reason for the cull is to lessen the guilt when I buy another pile of books from Amazon or Waterstones or charity shops when we make a trip back to the UK later this year. But I haven't told Jon that yet.
Ooops. I think I just did!
Yesterday's weather: mild, mixed, warm
Such excitement. Our IKEA delivery expected after mid-October and ordered in June arrived yesterday. All the 18 packages were off-loaded into the garage where they are still sitting this morning. The lorry arrived at exactly the same time as our lunch guests so we have delayed unpacking until today.
The first job will be to put together the two glass fronted bookcases which will mean unloading the many book cases we have already and selecting the 'specials' to go in the new ones. Apart from the obvious curse-ridden air that is normal when putting together flat packs, there will be other emotions in the air today, mostly nostalgia from finding old friends amongst the books. We have for many years collected pre-WW2 guide books to France and it will be difficult not to flick through them delicately admiring the writing, maps and photographs. There are many books of writings on France and the French dating throughout the 20th century which I can't bear to part with. Favourite authors and auto-biographies that I know I will read again one day - when I have the time. Add to this the piles of reference books, DIY references in French and English, home decorating, storage, knitting projects, sewing projects, gardening books and so the list goes on.
There will be a lot of regret too as we decide which books have to go. We can't possibly keep all the books we have and many will be packaged up to be taken back to the UK where we will pass them on to friends and family and any left over will go to charity shops or to be sold on Amazon on our behalf.
Then I will discover the dozens of books that I've just not got round to reading yet. Lots of auto-biographies, history books and still more novels. We can't possibly part with those, yet.
And of course the main reason for the cull is to lessen the guilt when I buy another pile of books from Amazon or Waterstones or charity shops when we make a trip back to the UK later this year. But I haven't told Jon that yet.
Ooops. I think I just did!
Monday, 27 August 2007
Feeling sorry for oneself
Ste Monique
Yesterday's weather: Wonderful
There's nothing worse than a summer cold, is there? Jon had one last week and, being the kindly, generous, sharing person he is, he's let me have a turn at it now.
The weather is better than it has been for ages; sun shining, no clouds, beautifully warm and I feel like going back to bed. I hardly slept last night being either too hot, or too cold, or coughing and today I am feeling thoroughly sorry for myself.
So I will pull myself together, dose up with paracetamol and go and keep Jon company putting up the tool shed (which did arrive intact and has a floor). I'll probably take a chair and my latest book with me 'Blood and Sand' by Frank Gardner which is a really good read and will certainly stop me from feeling sorry for myself. For those of you who don't know him, Frank Gardner is the BBC's Security Correspondent and was shot in Saudi Arabia in 2004 leaving him paralysed from the waist down. The book is his autobiography telling of his passion for the Middle East and his recovery from the attempt on his life. And I will send a big 'thank you' to Simon A for recommending it to me.
We have recently received a whole batch of books from Amazon UK which we are hoping to work our way through in the coming weeks, Turkish authors seem to be the order of the day plus a very large volume about Louis Darquier former Mayor of Cahors and Nazi collaborator. Called 'Bad Faith' this book will not make for pleasant reading but has glowing reviews and should be an interesting insight into someone who had great influence locally during WWII - unfortunately not good influence. As one of my interests is the participation of the Resistance in these parts during WWII, I am in some strange way looking forward to this book.
So, it is a public holiday in the UK today. Enjoy the sunshine. We will.
Yesterday's weather: Wonderful
There's nothing worse than a summer cold, is there? Jon had one last week and, being the kindly, generous, sharing person he is, he's let me have a turn at it now.
The weather is better than it has been for ages; sun shining, no clouds, beautifully warm and I feel like going back to bed. I hardly slept last night being either too hot, or too cold, or coughing and today I am feeling thoroughly sorry for myself.
So I will pull myself together, dose up with paracetamol and go and keep Jon company putting up the tool shed (which did arrive intact and has a floor). I'll probably take a chair and my latest book with me 'Blood and Sand' by Frank Gardner which is a really good read and will certainly stop me from feeling sorry for myself. For those of you who don't know him, Frank Gardner is the BBC's Security Correspondent and was shot in Saudi Arabia in 2004 leaving him paralysed from the waist down. The book is his autobiography telling of his passion for the Middle East and his recovery from the attempt on his life. And I will send a big 'thank you' to Simon A for recommending it to me.
We have recently received a whole batch of books from Amazon UK which we are hoping to work our way through in the coming weeks, Turkish authors seem to be the order of the day plus a very large volume about Louis Darquier former Mayor of Cahors and Nazi collaborator. Called 'Bad Faith' this book will not make for pleasant reading but has glowing reviews and should be an interesting insight into someone who had great influence locally during WWII - unfortunately not good influence. As one of my interests is the participation of the Resistance in these parts during WWII, I am in some strange way looking forward to this book.
So, it is a public holiday in the UK today. Enjoy the sunshine. We will.
Thursday, 23 August 2007
Finalement
Ste Rose
Yesterday's weather: Wet
It would appear that Castorama Direct have found our floor. They say it will be delivered within 2 - 5 working days. They don't tell us where it has been since it wasn't delivered last week, but at least we have something on the way.
I haven't telephoned them, I've been communicating via e-mail and I must say that they have been very good when I have contacted them. I did have to chase them up a couple of times when I didn't get a response immediately but when I told them off for it, they did at least come back with a message saying that they were looking into the matter for us.
I have also heard from Amazon France who had also managed to lose something they were sending us and another copy of Le guide de la Méhari is now on its way to us. They too were very pro-active when I contacted them.
We hope the chalet floor turns up closer to 2 than 5 working days from yesterday because we only have a week to erect the whole chalet before our next guests will need to sleep in it! I don't know how much time I'll have for blogging next week. And we are praying that the rain stops soon.
Yesterday's weather: Wet
It would appear that Castorama Direct have found our floor. They say it will be delivered within 2 - 5 working days. They don't tell us where it has been since it wasn't delivered last week, but at least we have something on the way.
I haven't telephoned them, I've been communicating via e-mail and I must say that they have been very good when I have contacted them. I did have to chase them up a couple of times when I didn't get a response immediately but when I told them off for it, they did at least come back with a message saying that they were looking into the matter for us.
I have also heard from Amazon France who had also managed to lose something they were sending us and another copy of Le guide de la Méhari is now on its way to us. They too were very pro-active when I contacted them.
We hope the chalet floor turns up closer to 2 than 5 working days from yesterday because we only have a week to erect the whole chalet before our next guests will need to sleep in it! I don't know how much time I'll have for blogging next week. And we are praying that the rain stops soon.
Monday, 13 August 2007
Books and reading
St Hyppolyte
Yesterday's weather: Mostly sunny, hot, quite heavy. Until midnight when it clouded over so we couldn't see the meteors.
We had a lovely afternoon yesterday. We met face to face for the first time with our book group. The group is still in its infancy and is quite small. I suppose the official membership is 8 but the group organiser invited us all to lunch yesterday afternoon and we found that, in fact, most of our partners are also reading, so that almost doubles it. Eleven of us met for lunch to choose books for the next three months.
It is much easier for us to buy books in advance as it saves on postage if we can order several at one time from Amazon in the UK. Also, some of us are lucky enough to live close to each other so we can share books too. Which, of course helps keep the paper mountain down.
We had a cull of books before we moved in, but we still manage to have too many, and I've just ordered another 5! The trouble is that three of us had 4 books each to suggest and it was very difficult to select them. I suspect we are not the only ones from the group who want to read more than one book from each selection.
As is normal with us retired folk when meeting others for the first time, our conversations turned to 'the previous life'. 'Do you miss work?' was one of the more popular questions. 'Not at all' was the usual answer. 'All those meetings. God, no, I don't miss those'.
It struck me later as very amusing that we had all just got together for the first time for .......... a meeting!
Yesterday's weather: Mostly sunny, hot, quite heavy. Until midnight when it clouded over so we couldn't see the meteors.
We had a lovely afternoon yesterday. We met face to face for the first time with our book group. The group is still in its infancy and is quite small. I suppose the official membership is 8 but the group organiser invited us all to lunch yesterday afternoon and we found that, in fact, most of our partners are also reading, so that almost doubles it. Eleven of us met for lunch to choose books for the next three months.
It is much easier for us to buy books in advance as it saves on postage if we can order several at one time from Amazon in the UK. Also, some of us are lucky enough to live close to each other so we can share books too. Which, of course helps keep the paper mountain down.
We had a cull of books before we moved in, but we still manage to have too many, and I've just ordered another 5! The trouble is that three of us had 4 books each to suggest and it was very difficult to select them. I suspect we are not the only ones from the group who want to read more than one book from each selection.
As is normal with us retired folk when meeting others for the first time, our conversations turned to 'the previous life'. 'Do you miss work?' was one of the more popular questions. 'Not at all' was the usual answer. 'All those meetings. God, no, I don't miss those'.
It struck me later as very amusing that we had all just got together for the first time for .......... a meeting!
Saturday, 21 July 2007
Rue des memoirs
St Victor
Yesterday's weather: Better than anticipated. Mr Meteo said rain, we had sunshine.
Happy Saint's Day to Vic.
We have been reading a book called 'Au Revior: Running Away from Home at Fifty'. The title itself appealed and when we read that the author was an Australian lady who ran away to South West France, we thought it would be a good read. It was. But what we didn't know was that she ran away to our little corner of France. What was even more surprising for us was that she had spent six months in an even smaller corner where we had spent many a happy séjour with some very dear friends of ours.
Yesterday afternoon we decided to take a little tour of Ms Moody's stamping ground as a trip down memory lane for us. We rarely go to this area since our friends, sadly, no longer live there, so it is some years since we took the route that we selected yesterday.
Through Cazals to St Caprais noting, this time, the little auberge mentioned in the book, which we had never actually spotted before (it is about 10 years since we last took this particular road), down to Frayssinet-le-Gélat (often confused with our own Frayssinet-le-Gourdonnais), through Pomarède where we once viewed a little house.
The little house in Pomarède, which you will now realise we declined, was an 'interesting' property. In the centre of the village (we had said to estate agents that we did NOT want to live in a village), with a very small plot of land which was being used as a short cut by a tractor as we arrived. The upstairs of the house had two bedrooms, one had to be crossed to reach the second which had a toilet placed in the corner of the room. Nice. There were french windows in the larger bedroom and no balcony so one had to be very careful not to fall out on opening them!
We were delighted that we had decided not to buy this property as the village has probably trebled in size since we viewed it. There are new properties going up all over this part of the Lot in particular. Our own little corner has a certain amount of building but not nearly as much. This is probably because we are on the edge of a National Park and also the ground around here is very rocky and not quite so suitable for new properties. Thank goodness.
From Pomarède we travelled south to Prayssac, site of our favourite weekly market but just out of striking distance for a regular visit. We stopped off here because there was a pottery fair on all day. We are looking out for some nice pots for our kitchen herbs. The plants don't last very long because we are using them all the time. We buy plastic pots of basil, parsley and chives and wanted to put them in something a little more asthetically pleasing. However, we were not going to pay 20 Euros per pot, pretty as they were.
Needing yet more DIY provisions, we then went into Cahors and called in at E LeClerc where I found three very nice clay pots for my herbs and they were only 2 Euros each! Bargain!
Back to the book. It was a good read and reminded us of many happy holidays in the 1990s. Thank you to our friends for letting us share your house for so many years.
Yesterday's weather: Better than anticipated. Mr Meteo said rain, we had sunshine.
Happy Saint's Day to Vic.
We have been reading a book called 'Au Revior: Running Away from Home at Fifty'. The title itself appealed and when we read that the author was an Australian lady who ran away to South West France, we thought it would be a good read. It was. But what we didn't know was that she ran away to our little corner of France. What was even more surprising for us was that she had spent six months in an even smaller corner where we had spent many a happy séjour with some very dear friends of ours.
Yesterday afternoon we decided to take a little tour of Ms Moody's stamping ground as a trip down memory lane for us. We rarely go to this area since our friends, sadly, no longer live there, so it is some years since we took the route that we selected yesterday.
Through Cazals to St Caprais noting, this time, the little auberge mentioned in the book, which we had never actually spotted before (it is about 10 years since we last took this particular road), down to Frayssinet-le-Gélat (often confused with our own Frayssinet-le-Gourdonnais), through Pomarède where we once viewed a little house.
The little house in Pomarède, which you will now realise we declined, was an 'interesting' property. In the centre of the village (we had said to estate agents that we did NOT want to live in a village), with a very small plot of land which was being used as a short cut by a tractor as we arrived. The upstairs of the house had two bedrooms, one had to be crossed to reach the second which had a toilet placed in the corner of the room. Nice. There were french windows in the larger bedroom and no balcony so one had to be very careful not to fall out on opening them!
We were delighted that we had decided not to buy this property as the village has probably trebled in size since we viewed it. There are new properties going up all over this part of the Lot in particular. Our own little corner has a certain amount of building but not nearly as much. This is probably because we are on the edge of a National Park and also the ground around here is very rocky and not quite so suitable for new properties. Thank goodness.
From Pomarède we travelled south to Prayssac, site of our favourite weekly market but just out of striking distance for a regular visit. We stopped off here because there was a pottery fair on all day. We are looking out for some nice pots for our kitchen herbs. The plants don't last very long because we are using them all the time. We buy plastic pots of basil, parsley and chives and wanted to put them in something a little more asthetically pleasing. However, we were not going to pay 20 Euros per pot, pretty as they were.
Needing yet more DIY provisions, we then went into Cahors and called in at E LeClerc where I found three very nice clay pots for my herbs and they were only 2 Euros each! Bargain!
Back to the book. It was a good read and reminded us of many happy holidays in the 1990s. Thank you to our friends for letting us share your house for so many years.
Tuesday, 10 July 2007
Birthday boy, reading and more dust
St Benoit
Yesterday's weather: Will it never stop raining?
IT'S LEO'S FIRST BIRTHDAY TODAY. HAVE A LOVELY DAY, LEO XXXXXXXXX
I finished a book yesterday. It's The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney. I won't give anything away but I struggled a little with it. I still can't make up my mind whether I enjoyed it or not.
I joined a reading group recently. We all live quite some distance from each other so the plan is to meet up every three or four months to discuss the books we have been reading. Soon it will be my turn to select the book of the month and I'm not sure how to go about it. The books we've read so far seem to have been picked at random from Amazon's top sellers, so I'd like to be completely contrary by selecting something different. Maybe Five go to Smuggler's Top by Enid Blyton - that's pretty different. I always liked George best in the Famous Five, but I think I secretly wanted to be Anne, the girly girl who had to be looked after all the time.
Jon is reading all the book group books too and we have time to discuss them between ourselves before we get to say anything to the others. Jon is way ahead of me in our personal reading list. This is partly because I am a sudoku addict - and also because I write the blog. The good thing about sudoku is that I can buy them here in France because the rules are the same!
Jon finished off the window this morning. We hope that we will soon be at the point where we can paint the kitchen but there is more work to do in there first. Of course now that the window has gone in, the hall and stairway need painting again too. They lead into the lounge so that will also have to be done, and I haven't even started on the bedroom yet. I'm still supposed to be renovating the wooden floors but I lost heart again yesterday when my nicely waxed floors went pink with all the brick dust. I'll get back to them again soon, especially if it never stops raining.
The pink hue around the house is still there, even though we had another thorough clean yesterday, and the dust still feels as if it is in our every pore. No wonder the cats don't appear to want to stay home much at the moment - three pink dusty cats, we would only be able to tell them apart by the miaow!
An update on the shed/garden room/bedroom, second shed and shower purchase is that I did hear from the bank that I could set up a transfer if I added another function to our bank account for a further four euros a month! Needless to say I told them what to do with their additional functionality. I contacted the company we are buying from and eventually we decided that I would send them a cheque. They should have received that now and the goods should be with us in three weeks - but watch this space! We still don't know exactly how they will be delivered, whether the sheds are in panels or slats so we don't know how long they will take us to put up, but hey, every day another challenge!
Yesterday's weather: Will it never stop raining?
IT'S LEO'S FIRST BIRTHDAY TODAY. HAVE A LOVELY DAY, LEO XXXXXXXXX
I finished a book yesterday. It's The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney. I won't give anything away but I struggled a little with it. I still can't make up my mind whether I enjoyed it or not.
I joined a reading group recently. We all live quite some distance from each other so the plan is to meet up every three or four months to discuss the books we have been reading. Soon it will be my turn to select the book of the month and I'm not sure how to go about it. The books we've read so far seem to have been picked at random from Amazon's top sellers, so I'd like to be completely contrary by selecting something different. Maybe Five go to Smuggler's Top by Enid Blyton - that's pretty different. I always liked George best in the Famous Five, but I think I secretly wanted to be Anne, the girly girl who had to be looked after all the time.
Jon is reading all the book group books too and we have time to discuss them between ourselves before we get to say anything to the others. Jon is way ahead of me in our personal reading list. This is partly because I am a sudoku addict - and also because I write the blog. The good thing about sudoku is that I can buy them here in France because the rules are the same!
Jon finished off the window this morning. We hope that we will soon be at the point where we can paint the kitchen but there is more work to do in there first. Of course now that the window has gone in, the hall and stairway need painting again too. They lead into the lounge so that will also have to be done, and I haven't even started on the bedroom yet. I'm still supposed to be renovating the wooden floors but I lost heart again yesterday when my nicely waxed floors went pink with all the brick dust. I'll get back to them again soon, especially if it never stops raining.
The pink hue around the house is still there, even though we had another thorough clean yesterday, and the dust still feels as if it is in our every pore. No wonder the cats don't appear to want to stay home much at the moment - three pink dusty cats, we would only be able to tell them apart by the miaow!
An update on the shed/garden room/bedroom, second shed and shower purchase is that I did hear from the bank that I could set up a transfer if I added another function to our bank account for a further four euros a month! Needless to say I told them what to do with their additional functionality. I contacted the company we are buying from and eventually we decided that I would send them a cheque. They should have received that now and the goods should be with us in three weeks - but watch this space! We still don't know exactly how they will be delivered, whether the sheds are in panels or slats so we don't know how long they will take us to put up, but hey, every day another challenge!
Monday, 9 July 2007
Beanz and Lycra (they don't mix)
Ste Amandine
Yesterday's weather: Thunder, followed by grey skies, followed by thunder, followed by rain, rain, rain, rain.....
Mr Blumenthal's baked beans turned out very nicely thank you. OK, so I didn't follow the recipe to the letter, otherwise they wouldn't be finished until August but even taking a few short cuts they worked out very well. I personally would add a little more Worcestershire sauce and tabasco sauce than Mr B's recipe but they still were very nice on toast yesterday lunch time. For the uninitiated, Heston Blumenthal is a British chef who is interested in taking food to it's absolute limits. He is self taught and experiments with amazing taste combinations. He has won three Michelin stars and his restaurant has been runner up 'Best Restaurant in the World' for the last three years.
We had a super dinner last night. We are fond of Far Eastern cookery and we had two lovely dishes from Madhur Jaffrey's Far Eastern Cookery, a book based on her 1989 television series (how long ago???) It's one of our favourite books, we haven't been disappointed with any of the recipes in that one. Those of you who know us will know our collection of cookery books, we had a cull before we moved out here but still have a bookcase and a half, and I'm collecting yet more recipes all the time. I've recently discovered lots of really interesting cookery blogs (well, it was wet yesterday and Jon was watching the Tour de France - more on that later), and I've got a collection of recipes that I've taken from various magazines in the past. What with all the novels, dictionaries, DIY and gardening books, I'm surprised this house isn't collapsing under the weight of paper.
Le Tour
Yes, the Tour de France started yesterday in England. What's that all about? Shouldn't they rename it the Tour de France et Angleterre? I was amazed that it was 230 km from London to Canterbury, last time we did that trip it was only about 80 miles which, even with my lousy maths, doesn't come to 230 km.... It's actually very exciting because the Tour is coming here this year to our little corner of France. On Friday 27th July it will be passing quite near to our house on the leg from Cahors to Angouleme. Cahors itself is already gearing up with various events planned for the days leading up to the stage and the route will be lined with people for hours ahead of the actual race. These people are mad; they will take their picnic tables and chairs, the full four course French lunch with wine, and all for a few seconds viewing men in skin tight shorts on bikes.
I was wondering what the attraction was until I wrote that last sentence. Hmm, where did I put that picnic basket?
PS - this was written by Sue, not Jon!!!
Yesterday's weather: Thunder, followed by grey skies, followed by thunder, followed by rain, rain, rain, rain.....
Mr Blumenthal's baked beans turned out very nicely thank you. OK, so I didn't follow the recipe to the letter, otherwise they wouldn't be finished until August but even taking a few short cuts they worked out very well. I personally would add a little more Worcestershire sauce and tabasco sauce than Mr B's recipe but they still were very nice on toast yesterday lunch time. For the uninitiated, Heston Blumenthal is a British chef who is interested in taking food to it's absolute limits. He is self taught and experiments with amazing taste combinations. He has won three Michelin stars and his restaurant has been runner up 'Best Restaurant in the World' for the last three years.
We had a super dinner last night. We are fond of Far Eastern cookery and we had two lovely dishes from Madhur Jaffrey's Far Eastern Cookery, a book based on her 1989 television series (how long ago???) It's one of our favourite books, we haven't been disappointed with any of the recipes in that one. Those of you who know us will know our collection of cookery books, we had a cull before we moved out here but still have a bookcase and a half, and I'm collecting yet more recipes all the time. I've recently discovered lots of really interesting cookery blogs (well, it was wet yesterday and Jon was watching the Tour de France - more on that later), and I've got a collection of recipes that I've taken from various magazines in the past. What with all the novels, dictionaries, DIY and gardening books, I'm surprised this house isn't collapsing under the weight of paper.
Le Tour
Yes, the Tour de France started yesterday in England. What's that all about? Shouldn't they rename it the Tour de France et Angleterre? I was amazed that it was 230 km from London to Canterbury, last time we did that trip it was only about 80 miles which, even with my lousy maths, doesn't come to 230 km.... It's actually very exciting because the Tour is coming here this year to our little corner of France. On Friday 27th July it will be passing quite near to our house on the leg from Cahors to Angouleme. Cahors itself is already gearing up with various events planned for the days leading up to the stage and the route will be lined with people for hours ahead of the actual race. These people are mad; they will take their picnic tables and chairs, the full four course French lunch with wine, and all for a few seconds viewing men in skin tight shorts on bikes.
I was wondering what the attraction was until I wrote that last sentence. Hmm, where did I put that picnic basket?
PS - this was written by Sue, not Jon!!!
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