please come again sooooooon xx

Blog 17 July 2015

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 went to Orglands to watch the annual spectacular and decided that as it is such a long evening we would take the camper and stay the night. We imagined that there would be a good camper crowd so we got there early and set up camp in the stadium by the football managers dug out and waited for the crowds to arrive. 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to show off with this year…lovely..

Blog 16 / July 2015

 

It has been hot hot hot in Brevands and we have been able to open the pool every day and after Mike has gone through the fly clearing, skimming, ph reading and all the things a good pool boy does we cool down and totally relax, have our board meetings and just count our lucky stars that this old pool is going to last for yet another season……we hope

 

 

Until the area where the steps are became wet and flooded and the water level in the pool seemed to be going down and OOOHHHH NO….we found a leak. We spent a frustrating  two days looking for the puncture repair kit and another infuriating two days looking for the goggles to allow Mike to get down to work under water.

 

 

And finally on the Monday we had planned to go to St Malo for a two day break, Mike mended the leak and as we wallowed about cooling down we took a board room decision to stay in the garden and have our two day break here in sunny Brevands, with all mod cons right here.

 

 

 

 

We drove the camper into town, bought holiday food and drove it back to the top car park to let  ourselves into el campo del Brevands  and found a nice shady place by the pool and settled down for a two night stay.

 

 

 

 

We BBQ’d and made our own S’mores, the latest craze in Canada involving marshmallow, chocolate bar and digestive biscuits all squiggled together,  thank you to the Joiner family for inspiring our al fresco desert.

 

 

 

We positioned the camper to get the morning sun and as we know the dynamics of this garden like the backs of our hands I was looking forward to the soft rays of the new day stroking us out of our slumber only to wake up at seven thirty to the gentle pitter patter of rain and the sun stayed resolute behind the clouds till way into the afternoon

 

 

 

 

 

 

so, what if we are bonkers, at least we are having fun just us two and  it still amazes me that after all these years we can still do this sort of stuff. We played scrabble and I won, and crib and Mike won, so all was balanced and calm in the Brevands camp site for a couple of nights.

 

 

In the week previous we had a few mates around to have a hot chicken salad, all very impromptu and a lot of fun and laughs. I have the eating-out process off to a fine art now, and I don’t find myself plodding back to the house just to fetch the salt any more, but I have a very big request that if and when we ever move on from here my al fresco terrace will have to back onto the kitchen, it saves time and makes sense……..my legs say so.

 

 

 

 

And after the sun went down we lit the tent lights and enjoyed that wonderful late night comradery you can only get after a few bottles of wine and good cheese board, oh yes. and a box of grown up chocolates goes down well too.

 

 

 

And finally, my appreciation of the rogue plant and I love it when it happens. A Gladioli growing out of a potted fuchsia

 

 

 

 

And an, I don’t know what this is called lilly, out of the yellow loosestrife which pops up every year without fail and now has a very pretty playmate to show off with this year…lovely..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sharing our bit of paradise……

Blog 15 / June2015

 

 

 

 

Ron and Pauline’s visit is now an annual event and they have only missed a couple of years ever since we have been here in Brevands. We love to hear about their camper trips into Spain and Mike is all geared up with all the best tunnel passes and camp sites and is raring to get on the road. Our visitors spent three days here camping in the garden and we did a day out to St Vaast and then came home to play Crib. I have been keen to learn how to play crib to challenge the number blindness I seem to have developed in my old age…..so a bit of card game therapy was the order of the day and thank you to my excellent teachers, it was well appreciated.

The terrace is all set up for the summer and we have been up there most days about four in the afternoon for a soak in the pool and a flop out on the lounger with a good book.  Mike has installed a solar heating system for the pool and we have gained at least 3 degrees on last ears temperatures and it gives us the motivation to get in and enjoy. There have been times when it has been warmer in than out. I swim on my bungee line tied around my waist and Mike just floats about relaxing and of course it’s there that we put the world to rights and lay the seeds to our next phase of projects and good ideas.

 

Just about  every week we set off with our friends Graham and Anne to have a picnic…..somewhere, and this week we decided to go to the Azeville Battery evening spectacular. Billed as a picnic to music, followed by an open air film show we set off with our camping chairs and cold bags to find we were the only people to had read the notice in the things-to-do-in –June, book. The event was so organised so that the picnic and the film were in two different fields on either side of the road.  We set ourselves up on our own, on a picnic bench and after our repast as always full of laughs and fun we made our way to the next field

 

 

 

 

There we found a tent with local tourist officers offering a free aperitif of cider and nibbles with a handful of people keen to participate. You can see we were among the  German batteries with their gun ports patrolling what were to become our DDay  beaches, now repainted as they were  in the 40’s to look like houses in the village, so after our aperitif we took a free unguided tour of these two World War 2 relics and as Graham is well versed in the history it was a good tour.  I enquired if the film would be OK for a bunch of ex pats and the very kind lady who works in the tourist office apologised that they could not get the version with subtitles and in any case it was a bit of a heavy film for English people without good French, so we took her lead and set off home to finish  the evening in Graham and Anne’s garden with a cup of tea and more laughs and putting the world to rights…..

 

 

 

The very next evening we drove across the peninsular to St Lo D’ourville to be at  the village music evening. Our friend Ray’s son is on the entertainments committee and we went along to join in. We sat in the ‘salle de fete’ and experienced a fantastic hour listening to a jazz group playing a wide variety of music to such a high quality I was a bit bemused as to why they were there. Usually at these events the music has a lot to be desired but these musicians were amazing and thoroughly enjoyable. We then had a sausages in a stick, a bucket of chips and bottle of wine and chatted ‘entre nous’ and listened to the ambience of families enjoying their village bash. The local line dancing team put on a show and although this is not my cuppa by any means to see people participating and gathering for the only reason that they all live in the same village is a joyous experience.

 

 

 

 

And then the next day we were off again to have a plod around a couple of car boot sales and finish off in St Vasst for a fish lunch.  We drove a few more kilometres that we anticipated as two of the advertised boot sales were either cancelled or in someone’s back yard and we could find it. I did ask a lady where the vide grenier was and she apologised, most profusely, saying that it has been rescheduled for July and they had forgotten to take it off the internet site……she was only the messenger so I stopped myself from slapping her about a bit.  I was  a little rattled that no one had the manners  to put a sign at the village entrance  saying  ‘desole vide grenier annule’ then the locals would not be apologising to the hundreds of people wondering around the village eagerly looking for their Sunday second hand shopping fix

 

 

 

When we got home from Canada I planted two rows of dwarf beans and I am delighted that they have all germinated and I have the promise of a good crop. I am doubly pleased because for 8 years of growing I have very rarely germinate in the final beds as I choose to nurture these delicate little babies in the poly tunnel until they are mature enough to go out into the wild big garden. I am now converted into starting the seedlings later outside and getting the same result…..roll on next year as I am taking May off again and sewing seeds later and in the spot. You can see my dahlia patch in the back ground in full bloom looking great.  We ran out of time in April to make a special bed for these lovely plants from last year so as not to lose them after lifting and caring for them all winter I popped them in a veggie bed and they are liking it….. thank you very much……..

 

 

Mike and I spent a morning clearing out the spent daffodil leaves and sorting out the rose from the maple tree.  As we went through this bed we realised that we have done nothing with it for a couple of years and we found tree saplings and rose suckers as thick as your arm but we both set to and now I have a lovely rose garden  to look at from the house front door with the pond beyond.

 

 

 

 

 

Last year’s dahlia garden has now become the rose garden and the box hedge that I grew from cuttings three years ago and planted out last year is now a proper little hedge for which I am very proud, and the roses in the garden are just fantastic and just what a rose garden should look

 

 

 

So while I am blowing my trumpet, here is the rest of the little hedge growing around the pool. It just takes the edge off the blue blot on the landscape look, we have inadvertently produced, but are prepared to put up with, as the daily treat of a swim and a wolla are worth the worrying blueness against the wonderful green vista we have created and enjoy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And lastly the Storks are defying the extensive efforts our EDF engineers made two years ago, and have decided that they like it on the electric pole despite the expensive and ugly work. The engineer team rolled up with a lorry, a van, a car and 9 blokes who worked for an entire morning to put up four spikes to stop the storks sitting on the pole and nesting up there.  The storks are however, back again this year eyeing up the possibility of a home and vantage point looking over our garden and home. I for one love them sitting up there clicking and clacking and then launching themselves into the air to delight us with a fly past and then, another fly past. They will be off to warmer climes in August so we make a real effort to enjoy and appreciate them sharing our bit of paradise……