My chickens
make me laugh. I went to get my crop of eggs and found these two in the nest
together, both extremes, and I am sure that the girly who laid the large egg was
concentrating good and hard to give us that breakfast treat.
We held an
appero with friends and then walked to the event field with our picnic chairs
to set up for the entertainment to start. This event is a night time son et
lumiere and is usually held in May but due to the past 3 years of being rained
out they moved it to July. We turned up en masse at 9:00 and then had to sit
patiently listening to a traditional duo singing and playing the accordion and
we waited and waited when it suddenly dawned on us that the night darkness is
so much later in July and the event did not start until 11:00 and finished with
a spectacular firework display at one in the morning.
It
is not so clear in the picture but there was a shire horse and hay cart trotting
past in front of us and this story telling evening was crammed with vintage
cars, farm yard animals and people dressed in period 1940’s telling the story
of the days after the war in Orglands itself
We took
HOSS for a walk into town and are still enjoying his good behaviour and ended
up at the German cemetery where 10,000 men are laid to rest but saw a sign
banning dogs in the cemetery which is not a problem but I was amused to see
that they were banning German Shepherds from the German cemetery, but HOSS was happy
to sit and stay and we were delighted and actually, just I bit proud of him…
Since I
have lost 50 percent of my hearing I have become very aware of noises around me and as I sat in our empty
football stadium I was amazed at how
different the ambient sound was around me and I put it down to this lovely tree
full of mistletoe. We had a little discussion about mistletoe in France and the
amount of trees that are infested and then concluded that because French culture allows you to kiss
at welcome after knowing each other a mere 2 days there is no need to have the Christmas tradition of kissing under the mistletoe.
There are, therefore, no market traders clearing out the trees and as it is a
parasite it is illegal to load it into a trailer and sell it in the UK. There
are frequent calls from local Marie’s obliging tree owners to pull out the mistletoe
to let the trees recover…….. quite interesting, how a small and a perhaps forgotten
tradition has real power to save trees in one country when they are strangled
in another….perhaps we should insist on our mistletoe tradition in the expat
community and decorate our fireplaces and give the trees here a fighting chance
to survive…. .
Mike and I found a tent to sit
under as the sky was determined to confuse and it felt like it might rain. Friends
just kept coming and we were a happy and sing along group way into the pouring wet
evening. We were some of the last to
leave as we were then determinedly sat under our bit of tent enjoying the
entertainment despite the down pour and chilly winds. There were
French people dancing in the rain and a line dancing group set up shop for all
to join in and that in itself was entertainment enough
We
went to St Mere Eglise for an evening of fun and music and as Mary and the Bugs were on the bill we
thought with a band name like that , it just had to be done, and it was.
We celebrated
two birthdays in posh frocks and black tie in a local Hotel. We all took a 22
Euro menu which makes the splitting up of the bill so much easier, the food was
good and we had a great night out. The tourist
are nowhere to be seen this month once the June fun and antics is finished and I
am sure these Hotels and happy to accommodate a cranky bunch of ex pats all
tiara and bow ties and that is what makes us unique in our far from home
communities. The people around us were holiday makers and the American gentleman
who took this shot was in jeans and t shirt but did not bat an eye lid and
joined in our fun.
I thought I
was coming to the end of a mad week of outings and doings when our brother John
called to say he was calling in on his way home from Brittany. He arrived at
the cheese course of a lunch date with
our friend Ray and we sat once again in the pouring rain under our faithful
tent and when Ray went home Mike, John
and I found ourselves sat out until it
got dark catching up and putting the world to rights. John slept on the drive
in his camper and quietly broke camp at 6 in the morning but I just had
enough time to blow him a kiss from the bedroom window as 6 in the morning does
not exist in our retired routine of life.
And when we
thought the June military madness was finished we found a bunch of enthusiasts
commemorating Operation Cobra and we were thrilled to see working tanks revving
up the contents of a typical WW2 jeeps laid out in front of us. All these
collectables and precious memorabilia set out for us to look at and admire. Mike and Graham took a walk around the tank museum
whilst Anne and I sat in the sun and chatted as only like two old girls can do.
We had our weekly picnic together and the sun shone and we enjoyed our picnic outing
2 kilometres from home.
As this picnic
date was just in the next village we decided to take Monty for a run. We parked our 1936 Morris amongst 1940’s jeeps and tanks knowing that he was already by
then, eight years their elder and was very at home in the re-enactor
environment we found ourselves in that
day. We all got in Monty and took a run around Carentan waving at picture
taking bye standers, crunching the gear box and willing him up the hills with 4
of us comfortably sat in for the ride.
And lastly...
it is a year since Mike and I had the joy and privilege of filling our home and
garden with family and friends to celebrate Mike's and My 60th birthdays. The sound
of the fun we had still resonates in our rafters and the joy of filling
Brevands up to capacity is a memory that will stay with us forever
Thank you
family…we are still having a hoot, so please come again sooooooon xx
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