made us laugh more often that we growled at you…..xxxxx

Blog 25 / September 2015

 

 No sooner had  we decided that we needed gravel  to complete the gate garden extension and it was on its way with customer service and good humour, oui madam this, and oui madam that, and a call in the morning over breakfast to say the lorry was on his way …perfect. 14 tons of gravel is better that chocolate and roses for me and Mike knows that and got stuck into filling the garden making  the offering even more delightful by committing himself to getting the job done

150 shovels of gravel in each trailer is equivalent to  14 barrows  walked  backward and forwards from gravel pile to garden. It is hard work  but in no time at all using the trailer we have a good covering even with sore shoulders and wobbly knees. Getting the railway sleepers into position is the hardest bit having to measure once and measure again for square and positioning for best effect and now we are just at the point of seeing the fruits of our labours.

 

 

And then the work of piecing together somebody else’s disassembling…..It is a good thing Mike worked for Waitrose and has an inkling of what a trolley bay might look like in separate bits on the gravel.

 

 

Ron and Pauline came by again on their way back to the UK from Spain in their camper and have now convinced us this is the way forward with our travels. We have not felt like we have had a real change if we go away in France, just a rest, a bit like going to Bognor from Bracknell, so a trip to Spain is now arranged and we are off to find some winter sun quite soon

 

 

 

 

Whilst waiting for dinner to cook we all went down to Carentan Port for the Fete des Normand which was the same as all the  other  fete de port with the wooden sailing boats on their annual visit. This year however the Viking re-enactor club, pretended to be Normans. The atmosphere was good and the town rocked up to have a look, have a beer and take a little promenade around the port to see who they can see….and so did we.

On Sunday night I set the alarm for 3 am and hardly slept in case I missed it but none the less fell out of my slumber into my joggers and set myself up to see the eclipse of the moon. I say I, because, although Mike is really not into this sort of thing he does join in and we hugged our tea mugs and waited for the special event  to develop in front of our very eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We both sat for an hour and a half with binoculars and a telescope and  watched our garden go from being bathed in moonlight to really quite dark and eerie, and I just love this sort of thing. I thought about our girls on the other side of the world going about their business

 

 

The very next morning we had planned to go to the bankruptcy auction of the Hotel de Baie in the next Village.  Our friends brought it to our attention and although we really had no need for anything in the catalogue we thought there may be a table to go in the trolley bay but really we were just curious about how these things work and see what was for sale and for how much.  I must admit not to being very impressed but the experience was good and we will go to auctions when  we have an  interest……we have however watched this hotel go from worse to even worse and  when they did not seem to be full to overflowing for the 70^th  DDay anniversary last year,  when we heard they had gone under it came as no surprise.
 

 

With October knocking at the door and the promise of a few dry days Mike decided the pool must be emptied and dismantled. We wait for the water to go ph normal and empty into the pond and to date it has taken three days to get this far but we still have good weather on the horizon and will let it go at it’s own pace. There is a tinge of sadness that summer is over but the excitement of autumn and winter and the New Year to come lifts our mood to do a good job ready for next spring.

 

 

We finally did it and found a digger at the right price and not on the other side of our huge country. We fell very lucky and called this nice man just as he got in, and made our claim to his digger. Mike has been searching for over a year and we knew that if we reacted quickly and positively we would find what we wanted but we had to get the money in the envelope and know we had access to a flatbed trailer and all the bits came together like a well-rehearsed ballet.

 

 

 

So today we got it home and we are like a mum and dad with a  new baby . I was a little concerned that mike’s first go at driving was to get it off the trailer but as always he showed an amazing proactive attitude and just got in and did it using all the safety tricks he has obviously seen in his working life, and for that, I am thank full. Mike has a to-do list as long as your arm for jobs that need the help of a digger and we just can’t wait to get cracking.

 

On the same day that we got our digger home Mike asked if I had seen Napoleon that morning because there was a pile of glorious coloured feathers in front of the beach garden and it may just be that he has popped his clogs.

 

 

 

We fed the ducks and in 5 years he has never missed a meal opportunity. We had to separate him from the other coq in the hen area as they fought and we gave Napoleon the garden. He has spent two winters on the loose perusing his estate and letting us all know about it. I asked Mike if he could please trim the hedge in the potages and he said he was reluctant whilst Napoleon was living in there so I let that excuse go, but today Mike, I would really like the hedge trimmed.   …RIP Napoleon, you will be missed but perhaps not at 3 in the morning when you set off the other coq …… we will miss you sweet pet, you made us laugh more often that we growled at you…..xxxxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

wonderful and very autumn squiralish……

Blog 24 / September 2015




Despite our late start in the allotment this year we are seeing a harvest at last. I planted out my poly tunnel potted strawberry plants as Geneviève said potted strawberries are rubbish and she knows best, so they are out and doing well. I have gone through this bed twice already to cut the runners and kill the weeds so a good crop is expected in June. Mike promises to build a netted cage to deter the birds without trapping and killing them and now the beds are raised the hedgehogs will not get caught in the nets either.  In the distance you can see the Canadian pumpkins showing off, we now have 3 huge fruit and are planning to be winners in the contest at the end of October





I never thought we would, but we are now harvesting the sweet corn. We pick them and put them straight in for the boil and the taste is exquisite, covered in lashings of butter it is the best appetitive on earth. We have taken the habit of eating sweet corn everyday whilst in season and then don’t ever buy them from the shops so at this time of year it is a real treat, because fresh off the cob is quite amazing.






The ducks are in good fettle although one has this lack of lanolin in his feather and looks a bit rough and won’t go in the water but, hey ho, we all have our little ailments to deal with.  The ducks have eaten the insides of the Gunnera so I have built fortifications and surrounded the crowns with a  row of  twigs to stop the greedy ducks getting inside. Ducks are not conducive to decorative pond areas but we keep on the challenge and it is a challenge and a half at the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

In July we cut this hedge thinking we had totally condemned it to the compost heap but just  look at what has happened in two months…….

 

 

 

 

It is tough to grub out a hedge with so much spirit and determination so we may just leave it there and try to incorporate it in the build of the camper park. We have bought a second-hand electric hedge trimmer as it is lighter and quicker to use and I can get a grip on it as well so a hedge like this could be kept in control, we hope…….

 

 

 

We got given this little bug house for our birthdays last year and I popped it on the window ledge of the barn and noticed that we have occupancy this year and we are thrilled. I will leave it there so that the message will get passed on for full occupancy in 2016

 

 

 

 

This is the apple tree that our grandchildren visiting from Canada in 2013 went up to, picked the apples and just ate them on the spot. We were so excited that they thought it was OK and good fun and every time I go to the tree I think of them. This year we have a bumper crop and we are eating them and cooking with them and drying them to try and use the whole crop. The bramley trees are also abundant and I am making apple pies for the freezer for those dark winter days when apple pie and custard puts the puts the world to rights.

 

 

 

 

 

We have started the Gate Garden extension and this is where the two trolley bay shelters will sit looking out across the garden. It is a great view from here and we don’t spend anything like the time we should just looking, and I hope we will, once this is complete. We measured and re-measured and measured again to get the railway sleepers into place and that is no mean feat, as they are extraordinarily heavy but as always, Mike applies his appliance of science to make it as easy as possible. We are now committing ourselves to yet another lorry load of gravel. Looking at the accounts it seems that we have had a 14 ton delivery every year since starting the gardens of Brevands, not including the trailer loads and big bags delivered at odd times as well. Gardeners World do not tell you just how much hard landscaping there is to consider in a garden design and its development. We now go straight to the gravel pit and have an opinion on what is good at one and not price viable from another, and all in French. Today we go with a handful of gravel to match and a quaking cheque book to do it all over again……but I must say that I just love laying gravel, it is so complete and instant and as long as we have done our homework, projects like this are quick and easy to complete

 

 

 

And finally, the dehydrator is humming away nicely giving us fruit and veg we can store and it is really

quite wonderful and very autumn squiralish……

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sadly I have yet to convince Mike………!

Blog 23 September 2015

September has come and spanked us on the bottom and it only seems like yesterday that we were having a wonderful holiday in Canada with these two here on the morning of their first day at school.  As a Mum you go through this process of getting your kids off into the run and mill of life and as a grandparent it is so easy just to let it go by without a bye or leave, especially at such a great distance. However I wrote this day in the diary so we thought about them on their first day into what life is going to dish up and then we skyped them as soon as they got home and we all agreed it might be a jolly good idea to go back tomorrow.

The back end of the summer means needing to prepare for the winter and I wanted to put the call into our local wood man to put our order in for this year.   I was unsure of what I ordered last year so I went to our accounts stored on my computer, but to my horror I could not find them.  An 8 year account of every cent we have spent whilst living here in France seemingly gone. I did an extensive computer search and it came up empty so I bit the bullet and agreed to agree that I had lost them and I would have no computer reference to our accounts. I put a little posting on Facebook saying that I had lost my time consuming accounts and my friend Shirley called and just mentioned that I might want to look in the recycle bin as her computer does not search in there. Blow me over with a passing suggestion because there they were, all excelled and waiting to be reinstated, and are now   back where I would have expected to see them. The upshot of all of this was that we only ordered one cord of wood last year and I really fancied two but the woodman solemnly announced that wood is hard to get this year….like last year I might add, but he would do what he could and three days later he delivered one and three quarter cords….I have no idea how to measure a cord and just have to trust the trusted wood supplier that a cord is a cord in any ones money

 

 

 

It probably looks like 1 and ¾ cords and it cost me 290 Euro, so no passing event. This is serious expenditure for that lovely warm corner of the kitchen.

 

 

We did another fishing excursion and made this an evening affair. We all turned up at four in the afternoon with BBQ, tents, fishing kit and enough food to feed a family of four for a year. Trevor won the trophy by landing a 20 pound carp. Shirley landed an eighteen pounder and Mike landed their baby .

 

 

 

 

Mike was not discouraged and has bought 2 more rods at the vide greniers since, and is itching to get back to the bank to prove,  he can…….

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone was involved and we stayed there till the last of the light drifted away and we came home in the dark having had a very sociable and fun night out. I must say that we have awakened Mike’s love of fishing so I can see this becoming a good day out more often than not.

 

 

 

I mentioned that Mike found more fishing rods at the vide grenier and it was at the event in Carentan that  he found a top quality rod at an average price and was very chuffed with himself, but I found myself looking at a building in Carentan that we have seen before but really hadn’t  looked hard enough

 

What a lovely building hiding behind a boot sale and sitting unassuming in a back street of Carentan. I will find out what it is and why it is there and report back to you soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK….this is a trolley bay in Carentan and we took this picture because we have just bought two second hand trolley bays to make a summer shelter for our mobile home visitors and in the winter a tractor shed to keep the snow and rain off our kit.  

 

 

 

 

 

A Bon Coin experience starts with Mike catching my attention saying… what do you think of this ??

We have the discussion, I put the phone call in, I log all the details we need to get for a viewing and then we go. This purchase was a little more risky and we decided as it was a two hour drive to St Hillare de harcouet that we would take the trailer with us just in case we were happy with the quality and would bring it home on the day.

 

Happily the structure was already dismantled and Mike and our vender loaded it up

This is our new car trailer that I thought we would probably never use again and here we are multi-tasking and we towed two trolley bays home for an exciting new project to begin. I keep all our bon coin purchase sheets in the year book I run with these blogs so in the years to come we can be reminded of the lovely people we met along the way and how we manhandled some of the wonderful things we have bought for so very little money.

 

 

We have decided where the shelter will go and an extension to the gate garden is in progress. The grass has been weed killed the membrane bought, and the railway sleepers are waiting on the top car park. All we need now is proof the grass is on it’s way out and then we can cover up and start constructing…….

 

This is the gate garden in 2009 so keep your eye on the next pictures I put up of the extension. The difference will be spectacular but it is good for us to be reminded where the garden started and how it has developed

 

 

 

This is gate garden in 2011 and now on its way to a complete makeover to include a trolley bay rain and sun shelter for people who come to use the mobile homes in July and August, and, tractor shed in winter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally ….I want us to make benches like these, they are fantastic,

sadly I have yet to convince Mike………!