St Crépin
Yesterday's weather: lovely once again
I don't suppose you knew it was Christmas Day yesterday, did you? Our friend who, you will shortly understand (and I'm sure won't mind my telling you), is as mad as a hatter, decided that, since we weren't going to see each other over Christmas, we would celebrate a virtual Christmas Day complete with virtual Christmas Tree, lights, and virtual presents. You will therefore be surprised to learn that we are extremely tired this morning (our friends had to leave before light to catch their flight back to the horror that is South East England) and our sides are aching from laughing so much.
Jon was very pleased to have received a virtual RSJ so that he can virtually knock our two rooms into one. I was given a virtual Toblerone which I was happy to share around. Our friends received a hamster exercise ball (which I think will be too small for their Jack Russell - who is real by the way) and some jewellery - received by the person whose idea it was - I think she was hinting to her husband what should be on her list this Christmas.
What pleased Jon most was that he was able to avoid having to play Christmas Carols on the piano and I managed to conveniently lose the Christmas CDs. We played virtual charades and a rather surreal game of I-Spy.
I think it's rather good that we don't see these friends too often. At my age I don't think I can take the pace of 2.30am bedtimes and riotous laughter for more than a day or so at a time.
Thanks so much for coming. We had a wonderful time with you and look forward to a return match of I-Spy very soon.
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label friends. Show all posts
Thursday, 25 October 2007
Monday, 17 September 2007
Reading matters (no, not the town!)
St Renaud
Yesterday's weather: glorious.
How to amuse oneself when one's foot must be raised all day long?
Reading? Yup finished two books and I'm currently working my way through Memoirs of a Geisha by William Golden. I've been putting it off for ages thinking that I would read it when I could devote some time to concentrate on it. It's lovely, I'm really enjoying it. But where do I go from here? I have James Clavell's Tai Pan on the bookshelf if I want to stay in the Far East, or should I go for next month's book club read Pirate Hunter which is the biography of Captain Kidd. That looks like a long and heavy read so I could get a start on it. Or I could continue with the Jean-Paul Sartre trilogy that I started some years ago - I did pick up the second book but never actually got very far with it. I've also got Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca staring me in the face and several of the last few years' 'big readers', Labyrinth, The Time-Traveller's Wife and Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. I think that's why I enjoy the reading group I joined, they tell you that you have to read a particular book at a particular time and you just get on with it.
I love reading and have collected lots of books over the last few years to save up for such a time as this. I still keep going to Amazon for new ones even though I haven't finished this pile yet! I really should go to Book-Buyers Anonymous or something. Jon seems to think I should anyway. We are planning a trip to the UK later this year, beware Waterstones in Guildford (all three branches) me and my credit card are heading your way!
- - -
Unfortunately the tiramisu is still in the fridge. Our friends weren't able to make it for lunch after all as their car has broken down. A bit like me. I'm hoping that things don't come in threes and there isn't another piece of bad luck on the horizon.
Yesterday's weather: glorious.
How to amuse oneself when one's foot must be raised all day long?
Reading? Yup finished two books and I'm currently working my way through Memoirs of a Geisha by William Golden. I've been putting it off for ages thinking that I would read it when I could devote some time to concentrate on it. It's lovely, I'm really enjoying it. But where do I go from here? I have James Clavell's Tai Pan on the bookshelf if I want to stay in the Far East, or should I go for next month's book club read Pirate Hunter which is the biography of Captain Kidd. That looks like a long and heavy read so I could get a start on it. Or I could continue with the Jean-Paul Sartre trilogy that I started some years ago - I did pick up the second book but never actually got very far with it. I've also got Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca staring me in the face and several of the last few years' 'big readers', Labyrinth, The Time-Traveller's Wife and Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. I think that's why I enjoy the reading group I joined, they tell you that you have to read a particular book at a particular time and you just get on with it.
I love reading and have collected lots of books over the last few years to save up for such a time as this. I still keep going to Amazon for new ones even though I haven't finished this pile yet! I really should go to Book-Buyers Anonymous or something. Jon seems to think I should anyway. We are planning a trip to the UK later this year, beware Waterstones in Guildford (all three branches) me and my credit card are heading your way!
- - -
Unfortunately the tiramisu is still in the fridge. Our friends weren't able to make it for lunch after all as their car has broken down. A bit like me. I'm hoping that things don't come in threes and there isn't another piece of bad luck on the horizon.
Friday, 17 August 2007
Why dahlias?
Ste Hyacinthe
Yesterday's weather: cooler but sunny
Happy birthday to Joe, holidaying in Crete at the moment.
I'm alone this morning. Jon has gone to Toulouse airport to collect our friend who will be staying for a few days. Unfortunately the weather forecast isn't brilliant. No rain but not particularly warm either. In fact, I thought I detected a sheen of frost on the car windscreen when I peered out at 7am - I do hope not. None of the plants seem to have suffered. Meanwhile, I am waiting here hoping that the chalet will be delivered at last. The delivery company promised to telephone before delivering but said that it would be by the end of this week. So, it's Friday and they don't deliver on Saturdays..... I'm still waiting.
My young friend appeared again yesterday afternoon with a huge bunch of dahlias from her mother's garden. I do hope she asked her mother's permission first! They are just beautiful and it was such a co-incidence that Jon and I had just been talking about dahlias on our way to Brive yesterday morning. We have noticed that many potagers here have a row or two of dahlias growing amongst the vegetables and we wonder if they are particularly good for seeing off any potential pests? We will have to look that up in a book of country folklore or some such book. I know that growing marigolds in a vegetable plot is good for attracting black fly but I haven't read anything about dahlias.
The main reason for her visit, she said, was to check whether Jazz had returned after her three day absence. She had taken it upon herself to tell all the neighbours that she was missing and wanted an update. Luckily I was able to reassure her and she said she would go and tell them all not to worry.
She also asked if we had lost any other cats or if we just had the three as two beautiful white cats had been hit by a car recently. I am so glad it wasn't ours but I do feel for the person who lost them. I wonder if they may have been strays as in recent years we have seen a couple of little white strays cats in the area.
Young Swanne loves to come and ring all our wind chimes. We have three around which can be quite annoying on a windy night but at the same time strangely soothing. Swanne just loves them all and has to make a tour of the garden in order to check them all out. We'll miss them when they return home at the end of August.
Yesterday's weather: cooler but sunny
Happy birthday to Joe, holidaying in Crete at the moment.
I'm alone this morning. Jon has gone to Toulouse airport to collect our friend who will be staying for a few days. Unfortunately the weather forecast isn't brilliant. No rain but not particularly warm either. In fact, I thought I detected a sheen of frost on the car windscreen when I peered out at 7am - I do hope not. None of the plants seem to have suffered. Meanwhile, I am waiting here hoping that the chalet will be delivered at last. The delivery company promised to telephone before delivering but said that it would be by the end of this week. So, it's Friday and they don't deliver on Saturdays..... I'm still waiting.
My young friend appeared again yesterday afternoon with a huge bunch of dahlias from her mother's garden. I do hope she asked her mother's permission first! They are just beautiful and it was such a co-incidence that Jon and I had just been talking about dahlias on our way to Brive yesterday morning. We have noticed that many potagers here have a row or two of dahlias growing amongst the vegetables and we wonder if they are particularly good for seeing off any potential pests? We will have to look that up in a book of country folklore or some such book. I know that growing marigolds in a vegetable plot is good for attracting black fly but I haven't read anything about dahlias.
The main reason for her visit, she said, was to check whether Jazz had returned after her three day absence. She had taken it upon herself to tell all the neighbours that she was missing and wanted an update. Luckily I was able to reassure her and she said she would go and tell them all not to worry.
She also asked if we had lost any other cats or if we just had the three as two beautiful white cats had been hit by a car recently. I am so glad it wasn't ours but I do feel for the person who lost them. I wonder if they may have been strays as in recent years we have seen a couple of little white strays cats in the area.
Young Swanne loves to come and ring all our wind chimes. We have three around which can be quite annoying on a windy night but at the same time strangely soothing. Swanne just loves them all and has to make a tour of the garden in order to check them all out. We'll miss them when they return home at the end of August.
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
Chez Louise
St Evrard
Yesterday's weather: Very nice, thank you.
Last night we met up with some friends and went in search of a restaurant. It was a spur of the moment meeting and as one couple live south of here and another were holidaying north, we ended up on our 'patch', so to speak.
Monday is not a particularly good night to try and find a restaurant as so many close for the day after a usually frantic weekend. We decided to head for the nearest large town but as we passed through a village I suddenly remembered passing a small auberge there so we thought we would give it a try.
Luckily it was open, and if Madame was somewhat surprised to have to find a table for six unreserved on a Monday evening she coped with it very well. Her English was very good and she obviously wanted to use it so we sat back and relaxed, not having to translate everything for friends who find French a little challenging at times. Our friend jokingly asked Madame if she needed a hand with the washing up as she had mentioned to us that she and the chef were working alone that evening, and quick as a flash she responded 'No, it's OK, I have the dog!'
We really did find a little gem there. While not cheap and not plentiful, the food was delicious, served hot (something that is a bit of a hit-and-miss affair especially in the tourist season) and the nougat glace was to die for.
As we were leaving, one of our friends stopped to chat with Madame, saying that he intended to live in France once his children had finished university. He asked what she thought about the influx of English, German, Dutch and Belgians in the area, saying that he had heard that the Dutch are renowned for bringing their own food on holiday with them. 'Yes', she laughed, ' they even bring the cat food with them! It's not so good for the local economy. But we are mostly happy to have people move into the area because they do bring good business to the area and they are friendly too.'
We left the restaurant with that nice warm, fuzzy feeling that you sometimes get after a good meal with good company. It doesn't always happen, but doesn't it make you feel great when it does?
Yesterday's weather: Very nice, thank you.
Last night we met up with some friends and went in search of a restaurant. It was a spur of the moment meeting and as one couple live south of here and another were holidaying north, we ended up on our 'patch', so to speak.
Monday is not a particularly good night to try and find a restaurant as so many close for the day after a usually frantic weekend. We decided to head for the nearest large town but as we passed through a village I suddenly remembered passing a small auberge there so we thought we would give it a try.
Luckily it was open, and if Madame was somewhat surprised to have to find a table for six unreserved on a Monday evening she coped with it very well. Her English was very good and she obviously wanted to use it so we sat back and relaxed, not having to translate everything for friends who find French a little challenging at times. Our friend jokingly asked Madame if she needed a hand with the washing up as she had mentioned to us that she and the chef were working alone that evening, and quick as a flash she responded 'No, it's OK, I have the dog!'
We really did find a little gem there. While not cheap and not plentiful, the food was delicious, served hot (something that is a bit of a hit-and-miss affair especially in the tourist season) and the nougat glace was to die for.
As we were leaving, one of our friends stopped to chat with Madame, saying that he intended to live in France once his children had finished university. He asked what she thought about the influx of English, German, Dutch and Belgians in the area, saying that he had heard that the Dutch are renowned for bringing their own food on holiday with them. 'Yes', she laughed, ' they even bring the cat food with them! It's not so good for the local economy. But we are mostly happy to have people move into the area because they do bring good business to the area and they are friendly too.'
We left the restaurant with that nice warm, fuzzy feeling that you sometimes get after a good meal with good company. It doesn't always happen, but doesn't it make you feel great when it does?
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!
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