Fishpaste sarnie, anyone?

St Quentin
Yesterday's weather: cloudy, mild, sunny afternoon

DIY doesn't come easy after all these years but Jon has been doing terrific work on the kitchen, the chalet and the next plan is a hard standing for the car. Yesterday's rain was the first for many weeks but our only access to the 'daily use' car is across the grass. We've put down some wooden 'stepping stones' but they aren't that satisfactory so we have to organise something else now.

The idea is to have edging blocks bordering an area of limestone chippings. We thought about gravel but this might be too tempting to cats who are used to litter trays, so something more uncomfortable for their feet is required.

Because the shops and builders' yards are so far we try to do as much research as we can on the internet before we go out. Jon found the edging stones but we haven't yet discovered whether our local merchants will do the limestone as well. It seems to me that the French haven't really caught on to the internet in the same way as we were used to in the UK. It is certainly a lot better than a year or so ago, but we find that many sites are just like showroom windows with little information and often no prices. There are some companies who have on-line ordering facilities but here in France most transactions take place face-to-face.

We are gradually getting used to this but it is all to do with the transition from working full time and arranging as much as possible over the internet so that you don't spend every lunch hour and every weekend doing the shopping. I believe that part of the reason for the French being a little slower to embrace the internet is to do with the Minitel.

The Minitel was a little terminal provided by the French telephone service on which you could make certain purchases, order train tickets and even communicate by e-mail. The French thought that this was a brilliant idea and would rival the world wide web but unfortunately they forgot that France is actually quite a small country in the great scheme of things and the www overtook Minitel by being embraced by the rest of the world. However, it did mean that many French people were ahead of a lot of us 'others' in making on-line transactions.

I believe that some supermarket chains here are beginning to do trials with on-line grocery shopping and delivery, but after all our problems with the shed delivery, we might just let them get on with it for a few years before we even attempt it. I don't relish the idea of the substitutions they may make whenever an item is unavailable.

I'll never forget the time I ordered some expensive, good-quality smoked salmon pâté from a supermarket in England. Unfortunately it wasn't available that day and they delivered me a jar of fish paste in its place!

Busy, busy, busy

St Bienvenue
Yesterday's weather: nice morning, wet afternoon

EDIT:

How rude, Anne (see comment)! I've been a very busy girl today. Breakfast followed by shopping. Lunch followed by ironing. Jon's been measuring out for a hardstanding area for the car, footpath across to the chalet and proposed pool area.... I can't just sit around blogging you know. Must go, there's a game of scrabble on Facebook that I have to fit in too........

I know my place

Ste Narcisse

Yesterday's weather: lovely, sunny. Glass of wine in the garden at lunchtime!

Misty really doesn't like the change in the seasons. She just can't decide between in and out, sofa or garden, high level or low level, but mostly in or out. She spends most of her time sitting at the kitchen door, still confused as to why she can't just walk through it and get her food, blanket or toy Bagpuss that she is so fond of. If we open the door she wanders once round the kitchen and back to the door waiting to go out, so a lot of the time we just ignore her requests.

She will either wander away for all of 30 seconds or mouth a little 'mew'. If that fails she will put her paw on the door thinking that we might notice and let her in. If that fails she will stand on her hind legs to see if she can push the door open with her front paws and if that fails she will jump onto the kitchen window ledge and call to us from there:

'Oi! You in there! Didn't you see me at the door? I just want to come in and walk round the kitchen once and ask you to let me out again.'

We have a little plaque by the back door - just in case we should forget

Chore list:

Let cat in .... Let cat out

Let cat in .... Let cat out

Past neighbours and woolly hats

St Jude
Yesterday's weather: Lovely and sunny, cool again! Where's that lovely mild autumn people promised me????

St Jude, eh? Would that be anything to do with the lovely Jude Law? No, surely not.

He was, by the way, my neighbour during the filming of 'The Holiday'.

OK, well actually, the entire film crew set up camp in the field next to our house, they took over our village with fake snow, fake shops and even a fake house. I'm sorry to burst the bubble, but the village of Shere in 'The Holiday' was a huge exaggeration of the true village. Parts of Godalming also became Shere including Godalming Station where they changed the station signs to read 'Shere' which was extremely disconcerting for all the commuters who intended to get off the train, saw that it wasn't Godalming and got back on again! Oh, and because we were at work all day, we never did see him, or Kate Winslet, or Cameron Diaz.

- - - -

Congratulations to my two girlie cousins in Brisbane who bravely had their heads shaved in aid of Cancer Research this week. As I was delving for my woolly hat yesterday morning I was feeling quite sorry for them until I realised that of course short hair is just the thing for the summer months in Oz! Well done E and D x x x

A series of unfortunate events

Ste Emeline
Yesterday's weather: cool, cloudy, some sun

Some years ago we heard a lovely story regarding our house. We returned from lunch with some friends and found, to our surprise, a middle aged couple and an elderly woman hovering outside. They had, it transpired, come to see if the previous occupant of a neighbouring house was still here as the elderly woman had lost touch with him some years ago. As she admitted to being 92 we were hardly surprised, but had to give her the sad news that her old friend had died just a couple of years earlier.

The car they were travelling in had come off the side of the road and was hanging precariously over the side of the hill facing into our garden, so while they were waiting for some breakdown assistance to appear, we offered a seat and some water to the two ladies. The seat was accepted for the elderly lady but they refused water and a more comfortable seat in our garden and sat by the side of the lane.

The elderly lady told us that she had been brought up in our village and had moved away after her marriage, to a village just 10 kilometers from here but rarely returned. She knew very well the gentleman in the neighbouring house and had even had her very first flirt in our own house - this was a subject about which she offered no more information.

She did, however, mention that the water in the well on the lane was supposed to be of excellent quality and that we should have it tested. We have only see it as very rusty water that comes from the broken pump and have to take her word for it's quality. It does seem to come straight off the limestone hill and continue in an underground stream across our land which can be heard burbling away when we have particularly heavy rain.

Unfortunately for this family, the breakdown truck then arrived and as the driver of the car assisted pushing it back up the hill, he fell and broke his foot and his wife carted him off to hospital with his mother sitting in the back of the car shaking her head as if to say 'Well, I've seen it all before, life, death, accidents...' but I do like to think that she had fond memories of her little teenage flirt in our little home.

No news

St Dimitri
Yesterday's weather: cold, mostly sunny.

A friend called at lunch time today to say that they had seen a strange cat near to them and it might be Jazz. They live just over the hills from us and it was quite possible that she had wandered there. Unfortunately the cat he had seen was no longer there but we hung around for a while until we saw a black and white cat eyeing us from a nearby fallen tree trunk.

We've been for a long walk on the hill this afternoon calling and rattling her biscuit box but there is still no sign of her. We haven't given up hope and both of us feel in our bones that she hasn't come to any harm but is around somewhere and will return in her own good time. We have told a few people that she is missing but as she has done this before, even though it wasn't for so long, we don't want to put up notices locally as I feel that every unrecognised cat for miles around will produce a phone call for us building up our hopes - and then when she turns up on the doorstep and goes off again in a few weeks time we would have to do it all over again.

We have to accept that this is part of Jazz's nature and we won't be able to stop her if this is what comes naturally to her. It was a risk we took when we brought her to France and allowed her outside, we are very lucky that neither Misty nor Figaro (aka the Little Bar Steward) want to roam very far at all and always come to greet us when we return home.

Thanks to everyone for their concern over Jazz. I will certainly keep you informed when (I nearly said 'if' and corrected myself), when she appears.

We Wish You a Merry....

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.