Good Luck Joiner family

15 blog April 2015

 

 

What a treat to find a bunch of blossom showing off on the side of a cherry tree busting to burst into a new branch. I went into the pond area to collect duck eggs and just wanted to share this with you.

 

 

Getting ready for summer is a fulltime spring occupation and we are here refilling the barley straw cage in the pond to encourage clean and healthy water.  We bought a huge round bale of straw in the autumn, delivered to the house for 25 Euro and it is giving the hens and Ducks first class bedding and is letting us keep the pond in good condition. Sadly though we will not use up this huge bale before it goes off but it is good whilst we have it. And then we can compost it down over next winter.

 

 

 

Every week we get out with our friends Graham and Ann and this week we packed our picnics and set off to St Fromond to take a look at an abandoned chateaux that has now been inhabited by a flock of nesting storks. It has become a real local tourist corner so we parked the car with a view, and out of the wind, got our deck chairs out and enjoyed the sun looking at a bit of local history munching on a sandwich

 

 

 

This fortified home was last lived in, in 1818 and was badly damaged in 1944 as the Germans left to go home.  As you stand and stare at such a fragile yet heroic site the storks fly overhead like flocks of pterodactyl and it is a very interesting and inspiring place to visit. I am sure we will go back to chateaux  Rivierre sometime soon.

 

 

 

 

A night out at les Perroquets with Trevor and Carol for a raclette supper made all the funnier and totally enjoyable as most of us had never done it before. Keeping track of all the instruction, do’s and don’ts when's and why's was a bit overwhelming until we got stuck in and the food and wine started to flow and the evening just ran away with itself. We were also thrilled and  spilled with a little bit of magic in the guise of Mr Mark Mystery Man performing a death defying card trick which had me breathless with amazement although it seemed all around the table had sussed out how it was done. I found it very funny and  amazing so I insisted Mr Mark Mystery Man do it over and over until I understood his slight of hand and only gullible me could fall for it, hook line and sinker…..

 

 

We moved the cider to make way for Monty the Morris and in the process gathered all the empty champagne bottles that in the past we have collected to bottle our home-made cider. We have decided that we no longer need to make cider and have enough stock to see us for a year or two. I have advertised my bottles on Le  Bon Coin, 200 bottles for 40 Euro, what a great deal,  but no takers, and I can see me having to give all these bottles away or have a champagne bottle shire and throw wooden balls at them for entertainment…….please someone, come and buy my bottles…….

 

 

Here we are posing in our kitchen in France with our flags flying because Georgina and Alan are now sworn in and officially Canadian citizens. 

 

      

 

 

My latest hobby is scrap book covers and I made this cover to celebrate the Canadian great occasion. Our friend Jill McNeilly gave us a card she had made in this style for our 35^th wedding anniversary. It was full of hearts, frills and bling and I needed a good reason to have a go myself as I have stock of bling and net curtains, bits of material and reels of ribbon and this art form is really starting push my buttons.  All the elements are sewn together and the fun is making it all feel right and make visual sense.  I am a bit clumsy at the moment and my sewing skills are being challenged but I hope to get good at this sewing hobby to enjoy the process. 

 The French and Canadian post did not let us down and our commemorative gift arrived in Canada the day before Georgina and Alan’s special  ceremony day in Vancouver.      

Good Luck Joiner family

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

no previous gardening experience or vision.

Blog 10 April 2015

 

 

My bloggy fans will know that I have a real problem with the way the French chop their trees for fire wood and this is an unbelievable responds to my screams of discontent.  This tree has been left looking like a stranded island in mid-air wondering what on earth is going on.  I spoke to a French Friend about this ridiculous method of stripping trees to within an inch of their lives and she explained, with some authority, that there is a new wave of thought and the younger farmers and arboriculturalists are being less ruthless in their approach, This  tree fella, however, has not fully appreciated the new wave of thought that suggests a slightly less brutal attack leaves the tree to recover better, and not to give it a five year complex about looking ridiculous

We were out buying welding equipment from le bon coin which always takes us into unchartered waters. We write down a private home address from a phone call, set it up in the GPS and just follow the instructions never really knowing where we are heading. It is a great way to end up in the back and beyond and we have met lots of interesting people buying second hand stuff. On this particular trip we passed a Brocante in the middle of nowhere and made a point of popping in on the way back from our appointment to purchase. The Barn was full of interesting bric-a-brac and we enjoyed just sifting and poking about looking for a little treasure.   We chatted with the owner who invited us to take a look outside  and we found a gentleman welding and hammering, creating art, and if I were rich I would have bought  the lot and put it in my garden.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a second hand gas welding trolley in the boot of the car and I just matter of fact asked Mike if he could teach me to be a welder so I could make art like that.  I promised to wear the special glasses, like eclipse day but he just smiled and said, we will see………

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I am not sure how to react when you invite your mates around for a spag bol and they rush off to the dishcloth draw and cover themselves up like we are about to battle the bol and attack the spag. Yet another fun evening just food and friends what more could we ask for

 


But an early rise the next day, yes the old clock says ten past six and that is in the morning……I had forgotten that time of day  existed. But after a few days with us Eric and Gill set off to the UK and left us sitting in the kitchen with the sun still not risen and HOSS wondering at what point he will get his morning walk…..

 

 

 

 

And finally, just a quick preview of our next project.  In 2009 we gave both our Mums a little album with pictures of our garden and our menagerie at the time.  We got both the albums back when our Mums died and in the process of going through our photo albums and getting us up to date I came across these two Mum gifts  and  are now going to create a before and after album 2009 to 2015. We started this garden in 2007 but the difference from then to now is too vast to demonstrate as there are not gardens to relate to.  So, with prints in hand we are off with camera poised to try and capture the same angle to appreciate how a garden grows and takes over what was. in the beginning a good design and is now natures interpretation of our original thoughts.

We have decided that we need to wait for the right season as the pictures here show the same area in different seasons so we start the project when the leaves are full on the trees.

 You may think we are a little up our own selves but I have decided that if you don’t blow your trumpet loud enough then no one will hear about the pleasure and achievement we have felt creating a garden like this. We are not alone in this achievement and I can feel a really good TV programme coming on just to celebrate ordinary people doing great things with little or no previous gardening experience or vision.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good luck and get planting.....

We had harrowing news from Australia this week and these two lovely dogs, pets to our children died suddenly leaving the family in a state of shock. Events like these are not about our life in France but our children’s lives can have nothing but a huge impact on our French experience. We are now so many miles apart that we can only offer our love and thoughts and that leaves us empty, helpless and unable to be instrumental in a recovery after such an event.  Both Deb and Jez have written their thoughts on facebook and I have taken a copy and added them to our year book as this is a sadness we will never be able to share with our children but truly feel.

In loving memory of  Tia and Jade

 

And it is at times like this that we take stock of the animals we love and care for and Mike caught these two having a little snooze together in the sun.  We live in such relaxed and ordered chaos where our pets potter around us filling our lives with joy. Until the day that  Ducks are caught eating the cherished Gunnera plant that we’ve neutered  last summer and all winter ready for planting in the pond area this year…..

 

 

 

 

OK, it is only a plant but Mike and I have had a yearning to have gunnera around the pond and it has taken us 7 years to get to this stage and the ducks have taken a fancy to it, which is not good…..

 

 

 

My answer to all things plant tricky is to make a chicken wire collar and give the animal that is eating my plants the opportunity not to fail and forget there was ever a super tasty plant available to them.  Throughout the making of our garden I have made chicken wire collars to protect the rabbits from themselves, if they don’t eat the plants I won’t trap them and between us we have a win win no failure solution. Only problem is Mike has a deep and meaningful hate of chicken wire to the point that I salvage all I can and store it in the beach hut where it will not get in his way or cause offence …..Deep and meaningful hates are taken seriously here ……it makes sense to stay happy.
 

My very wow factor butchers block centre isles in the Kitchen has now stopped shrinking. It spent perhaps 20 years in the outbuildings before we realised that, what Mike was using as a work bench  had  bigger value  in the kitchen, so we hauled it in some three years ago and let it find it’s way. We are now quite happy that it has settled. Mike took off the metal brackets that hold it all together and then cut and tapped and tapped and cut until it fitted without the gaping holes that were just starting to get on my nerves, so good job…….

 

The vide grenier season has started in earnest and this year Mike is looking for Morris car parts and I am looking for sewing stuff as I am so enjoying my sewing Wednesday and have made a little scrapbook cover piece, made a skirt out of a pair of jeans and made a jacket that was  10 times too small into something else. My energy and passion for recycling is getting me into quite interesting projects and the scrap book cover hobby is certainly taking my fancy. But on the tour of this vide Grenier in Carentan, we past this clock. I inherited an absolute double of this clock from Belgium and have looked after it for as long as we have owned a home. It has moved with us and has always been on the danger list of things that could damage so great care has always followed it about. I thought it was priceless so took advantage of the dealer and innocently as I could, asked... c’est combien ??……..well knock me down with a feather when he said I could have it for 120 Euro, I wanted to say don’t you mean one thousand and twenty Euro….! so my priceless clock is not worth a lot but I still love it and will still take great care of it…
 

Mike lined up his bikes to look for a new store place but until we have the barn empty they will have to go back in the garage where he is really looking for work space to rebuild the moggie. It seems however, no matter how many workshops, garages and barns you have there is never enough space. I did carefully suggest that perhaps one of the bikes could be rehomed but that suggestion most definitely fell on Stoney ground so I won’t try that tactic again.  Did I mention that we have a vintage bike parked in the lounge, which is just part of the furniture, we forget it is there and it is only when our visitors comment that we register it’s existence because apart from the infrequent dusting we really have nothing to do with it, but as with all things old it is better than spending their worth on things that have no value or putting the money in the bank.

We have cut down trees this year that we planted tree years ago and that is a gardeners delight, to reap the benefits. These trees were a design error, planted in the wrong garden doing the wrong thing so they came down and are quietly drying out this summer for the wood burner in 2016. The garden area itself has breathed a huge sigh because it was the garden who told me the trees are not welcome and the aesthetics were wrong….can you believe that?… it’s true ….

 

 

 

Dessert at midnight is a bit of a culture shock we Brits never get used to  especially  when  there is still coffee and calvados to come.  We were invited to participate in a village dinner and dance by our friend Ray whose son Robert is the head honcho of the committee of fete and a very good job he made of it.   For fourteen Euro each you are treated to a four course meal served at the table which literally takes all evening to complete. Early on in the evening the music was French traditional with accordions and thigh slapping lyrics so everyone sang along and participated. Whole families got up and danced in between courses, kids played hide and seek in between their parent’s feet and the atmosphere was one of happy friends and family sharing a village do.

 

The bar was good value and as the designated driver I stayed alcohol free, well nearly, and had loads of fun and laughter. Shortly after this photo was taken the lights went out and the village hall was swathed in laser lighting and loud modern music which brought on a different set of revellers …. The line dances hit the floor which gave us all the entertainment we could want. Mike and I are disappointed that our village does not have the fun  element to want to have a do like this. Our hall in Brevands is stuck in the middle of a field and is not the centre of  our village life.  It is obvious that Roberts’s village has a line dancing evening as so many of them just got up and danced all the same, and in a line…. We will most definitely be looking for a village with a heart if we ever make a move from here. Line dancing and craft clubs is looking quite entertaining in our older  years………
 

And finally, Mike and I have agreed to have the annual pumpkin contest here in Brevands. Shirley and Mark held it last year so we are taking our turn..

Hello pumpkin growers of Normandy

This year Mike and Viv are hosting the Normandy pumpkin competition
We have bought our seeds from Lidle this year and will be putting them in the soil at the end of April

There are 6 classes to participate in
1. best size
2. best shape
3. best Halloween cut out mask
4. best table decoration
5. best thing to do with a pumpkin after 31st October
6. best pumpkin pie

We will meet here at Brevands on Sat 31st October 2015 for a buffet lunch and pumpkin pie
Please let us know if you are growing this year and forward this  onto anyone who would like to join the fun.
We look forward to hearing from you all and your friends and family who were so envious last year and want to join in this year.

Good luck and get planting.....