There is
nothing better than a bit of Glad’ to make your day, and I am delighted to have
a whole row of them showing off and being beautiful. Mike bought a bag of mixed
gladioli in the autumn and I plucked up the courage in spring to dig and plant
and I moaned and groaned at the time, but today I am full of joy….
I haven’t
mentioned Cat lately so I thought I would give her a little bit of column space
and here she is on her daily walk out with us. She is well and keeping the
mouse population under control ducking and diving and being clever.
Here is Deb in 2008 on one of her last visits before
moving to Australia with her family and by chance out of the kindle of Kittens
that we were watching develop, Deb was
pictured with the kitten we decided to keep and named Cat.
The grass
is looking good and I am able to get on with the weekly mow on our new and
shiny mower. I can get around the lawns in 3 hours without Mike needing to
worry about having to join in, but sadly, the way my mower empties the cuttings
it means that I am encroaching onto the garden and as you can see it is
becoming a problem. We have a plan to purchase a mini digger to be able to push
this cuttings-pile back but the plan is long term so in the meantime Mike has
welded a pair of runners onto his grader blade and hey presto we have a
cuttings-pile pusher…..it is not as good as we would like but it is good enough
for now. Roll on mini digger purchase as
I have a list of projects to be getting on with……
Every
week I visit Geneviève in the village and we talk in French about things ladies
like to talk about….what the neighbours are up to, how France is being governed
and what to do with a certain veg or cut of meat. She loves to hear about our life in her country
and I have taken the opportunity to get my facts right on issues about how to be
French in the best of British ways we can manage. Geneviève and Jeanmarie live in a very
little bungalow which was once the village bakery and they have a simple and
uncomplicated life which in many ways we envy and enjoy hearing about. I took
HOSS up for a walk and hoped he would get on OK with their dog and I was
not disappointed as they played and shared their afternoon snack with only a
little growl between them
I am back
in the sewing room once a week and have had to rethink my cushion project. The
French postal system fell in line with the UK in January and have limited the
size of package you can send letter post. A cushion to USA changed from 15 Euro
to 80 euro and made my desire to send the customer the complete product a
little prohibitive. I have now decided to go back and remake the inner cushion
so that it can be filled and closed at customer end…..not what I had wanted to
offer, but needs must.
Whilst I was in the swing of sewing I fulfilled my promise to make Victoria another frock and just for good measure I made Alex a waistcoat. All well and good, but once I had put these in the post to Georgina in Canada she sent me current pictures of the children and I fear that in the 2 months that have passed since our visit, the kids will have grown out of these little works of Art ……oh well the dress will be a top and the waist coat will fit a teddy bear… to be sure
We were confident that the weather forecast was going to be truthful for a change and on Thursday I sent out invites for a Boule contest in the garden for Friday, bring a picnic, and let’s play………
After lunch we played each other, then the losers played each other, then the winners played each other and all afternoon there were ooohhs and ahhs and we had a very enjoyable time. We did realised however, that we were all pretty bad at the game and should now do more practising and respect the national game and become more proficient.
We had a winner,
and because by chance it became a family competition, Mrs Scrivens beat Mr Scrivens and whilst
clutching her goblet of honour she said,
looser, and the picture was taken for us to enjoy that moment for ever
and ever….. We ate strawberries and cream to celebrate the victory and
generally had a very happy afternoon in the garden. It is so good to make good
use of this space we spend so much time getting to look like it does. The echo
of laughter and good fun is so very important to Mike and me. Having people
come to stay in our mobile homes means the garden is seen and appreciated and as
the French are generally not very 'grand ideas' for gardens ours never fails to
impress……and I like that.
A vide Grenier
in Carentan took us for a morning out and about, and we saw this carriage for 200 euros and for a micro moment I saw
Mike eyeing it up and taking mental measurements for his trailer. We walked by
without a word to each other, as I know, and Mike knows, I would say No. We bumped into friends going through the
exact same thought pattern so we all ended up at the café drinking coffee
before we caused any more damage to our wallets.
We
sat out in the morning sunshine and put the world to rights, watching the world
go by. Mark had spotted a boxed train set on the stall across the road and got
up and purchased it without a bye of
leave, he is a very proud granddad and
can’t wait for his kids to turn up for a visit
The local
firemen drove their fire engine past us just to make sure they could get though
if they needed to. Every time there is a
street event in Carentan the firemen drive their machine at walking pace and we
can only imagine that is why they do it, but perhaps it is to give us a treat and
for us all to marvel at their uniforms and their savoir faire…..…. either way
it is not a problem as I like fire engines and so do all the kids waving and
pointing at the big red engine xx
The Pond
project is coming to fruition at last.
We have dragged out buckets of decayed willow and straw and although we
still had a sludgy bloom on the surface the men ducks were less reluctant to go
for a swim. The whole area has started to smell better and on a good day even
looks a lot better as well. I have spent
quite a few hours dragging and netting to get us ready to add the barley straw
and hope that this will clean the algae off and get us back to a clean and adorable
pond
Napoleon is
still well and is strutting his stuff keeping our mobile home customers awake
at dawn. A couple of days ago we watched
him make eyes at one of our blokey ducks. We witnessed the whole, I love you,
dance as he dropped his wings and shook his back end and danced around the
bewildered duck, and then it was all over.
We were reminded that the swan took to courting the ducks once a year
and have concluded that ducks must be pretty, easy, as well as very loveable.
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