CHRIS'S VISIT

I had a nightmare journey to meet Chris at the airport on Sat 19 July.  All those bloody tourists heading to the beach interrupting my life!   I went to the beach for a couple of hours and then met him.  I was a bit disappointed to find that our favourite beach now has a German 'London Eye clone' - progress, I suppose.  Chris was pretty knackered but I had to give him strict instructions on the way home, about visiting Madame B.  She has taken to spending the afternoons in a T shirt and her knickers and it's not a pretty sight so I advised, strongly, that he only visits in the mornings when the chances are she'll be pretty much covered up.

The village meal and entertainment was that night and Chris very much wanted to attend.  It was OK, reasonable food considering the number being catered for and we ended up on a table with some really nice youngsters.  One of the guys obviously knew us and we couldn't remember who he was but he eventually explained that he was one of the chaps working on our wall last year.  [Problem was, he was the sexy young one and I never actually looked at his face but I knew I recognised something about him.]

Most of the first week we were working really hard.  One afternoon we went to Stuart's house: his wife is a potter and they were having an open day for people to look at her work so we thought we'd pop over for an hour before another Village Meal.  Well, the pottery was beautiful, she is obviously very talented and wine was offered and then more wine and then someone turned up with loads of curry and rice and then there was more wine......we never got to the Village meal.

We started the week seeing people, phoning people, getting things organised.  Time well spent.  I had painted 5 sets of shutters out of 9 sets.  Chris was very keen to paint the remainder so off he went!
My order from the new TriDome store arrived.  I still haven't mentioned to Chris how much it cost, just that it is a LOT cheaper than normal because the store has this massive opening sale.

 

Paving, mortar,



stones and finally

 

 

 

my very own Olivier!!  The delivery was free because it took them more than an hour to take my order and the olive tree was very cheap and so it seemed too good to be true!



 

 

In addition, by the end of the first week we were the proud owners of a suntunnel that works properly, another 60 metres of hedging, trellis and we'd pretty much committed to some expensive electrical work.

 

Chris really enjoyed painting the shutters but I got a bit fed up, having been reduced to the position of gopher/housewife.

 

By Friday Chris was knackered  so we decided to go to a bar and watch the Tour de France which was passing from Eymet to Bergerac.  We could have gone to watch the actual race but thought we'd see more on the TV.   After a week of very hot days, 29 degrees by 10am every day, Friday was cooler and then about an hour before we were going to watch the race, the Heavens opened and the temperature plummeted to 19 degrees.  It got so dark that in the town the street lights came on.  So, all in all, the bar was a better place to be.  The bad weather gave way to a glorious evening with no need to water the garden, couldn't be better!

 

Saturday was a lovely day and for us it was a clearing up and finishing off day as Kate is threatening to come and visit.  The highlight of the day was measuring out the [very tiny] orchard.  It was interesting and logical, didn't take long and was pretty satisfying.  We put broken breeze blocks down to show where the holes need to be dug.  The garden once again looks a bit like a scrap yard - hopefully not for long.

 

 Kate arrived in the middle of the night and they slept in the caravan without waking us. We had a lovely couple of days, an apero with some friends and neighbours, lots of playing with Isis, resting and time at the lake.  We talked to Beth and Barney on Skype, which was lovely, but then the connection broke down and we didn't get a chance to say a proper goodbye.

 

Too soon, they headed back to Aix after helping Ricky to move the caravan around the corner.  He did a lot of work, including digging the holes for the fruit trees, which we'll plant next spring.  It was very hard to say goodbye to Kate as we won't see her for a very long time now.

 

We took a couple of days off to go and visit Steve and Caron in their house in the foothills of the Pyrenees and Chris had a well-deserved rest.  Thursday night we went to our local Marche Gourmand and had some scrummy duck and foie gras.  [That sounds like a grown up Famous Five sentence]

 

Friday was an important day, because after working in the garden all day we went to visit Peter who we are hoping will build our garage.  He showed us around his house and then took us to 2 other jobs that he had done and we finished with a degustation in a chateau, which did the trick and we decided to go ahead with him.  We did wait until the next morning to make the decision!!  We didn't sign anything under the influence!

 

Saturday was just a finishing off day and then I took Chris to the airport.  It was so horrible saying goodbye yet again, it will be 7 weeks before he comes back.  It's been a week of goodbyes and it never gets any easier.  I was sooooo miserable on the journey home and the next day.  Even Skype didn't do much to make me feel better.

 

I hoed and edged the beds in between the thunderstorms and worked until 9.30 in the hope that I would sleep well and start to feel a bit happier.  Even had a small beer while watching the Eurasian Jays, lots of them, grubbing around for their supper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL

Sunday was a bit grim, it rained all day and I had to get the trench ready for the hedge.  I just came indoors when the rain got heavy and changed my clothes a couple of times to dry out.  I worked til late and was disappointed when I couldn't sleep again.

Monday 14 July
Bastille Day so my hedge plants will be delayed an extra day but no problem everything's ready for them now.  I got out there early and finished off.  Then I went to Jardiland and stocked up with weedkiller - tomorrow's going to be an aggressive day!   Today's a  bit of a non-event really.

I saw 2 deer this morning, wandering quite casually through the field opposite the house.  Birds are everywhere but luckily the swallows have obviously nested elsewhere and are not making daily attacks on the kitchen any more.  I put the hammock up this afternoon for the first time and lay there, luxuriating in the novelty of the heat.  I opened my eyes and there was the owl again, obviously can't tell day from night. The hare came back this evening but I thought I'd scared him off before I realised he was there.  Anyway, he came back and ran madly around the garden quite a few times like he owns the place.  The African Hoopoes ignored him.  Kate didn't believe me about the birds so I took some photos a couple of days ago.

I washed all the garden furniture and put it out, just the lights to sort out and clean the house before Chris comes.

Decided to have some organic wine and see how that goes.  It went quite well until my night time routine was disturbed by what I later realised was fireworks

Tuesday 15 July
Weeded all day, cut back blackberries and trimmed laurels by Poney Club.  It was very hot.  My car remote broke, the livebox had a hissy fit. The photinia have got aphids so I must get out first thing to buy something to treat them with. Had better days.

Wed 16 July
Shopped early and came back to kill those pesky aphids.  I wrote to the plant suppliers to ask what is going on with my hedge and basically they're out of stock and said they'll deliver Friday.  I said that's no good because I won't be here on Saturday so they've deferred delivery until Tuesday.  The bloody trench will need redigging by then!  Stuart came but couldn't get his strimmer to work so all in all not a good day.  I am moving stones and pretending it's good for my figure.

In fact I moved stones and faffed around in the garden til after 10 but still find it difficult to sleep.  Perhaps I should start drinking alcohol again!

DIARY OF AN INSONMIAC

Friday 11 July

I chose the bedroom as it didn't smell too bad but the nocturnal visitors meant that I had to keep the bedside light on so I didn't sleep too well.

I drove down to the village to get rid of my empty bottles etc.  It gave me a chance to listen to some of my new music which has just arrived from Amazon.  Unfortunately the only way I can play them is on the car CD player, still it'll make journeys more interesting.

I was intending to paint one more set of shutters but had real problems with one of the screws on the door furniture and ended up trying to rip the damn thing off the shutter but couldn't even do that.  Luckily the window fitter phoned around 10am to say that he was lost in the village, so I gave him directions, welcomed him warmly, offered him coffee and then asked him to sort out the screw situation for me.

He did it and confirmed that it's foutu,  but I'd guessed that!

Anyway, he got on with his jobs and I got on with mine.  Still got to sand and put a final coat and repaint the hinges and then it'll be finished.  That's 5 sets down and 4 to go.

The windows are installed and they're OK but I don't think Chris is going to like them.  Just have to wait and see.  It's rather wonderful to be able to have a pee or a shower and not worry about someone driving into the garden and seeing straight into the rooms.  Also, the wind has been heading straight through those window openings for months and it will be so nice not to have that.

Chris wants some photos, so here they are.

The guy didn't leave until after 2 and I was starving so opened some tins.  I risked a bit more weedkilling and watered all the new plants and the raised beds.  Then I pretty much finished clearing out the caravan ready for its move around the corner.

By then it was after 5 and I was totally exhausted after my broken night.  So I drove to Leclercs to get a pizza to take home but there was no one in the restaurant.  Perhaps they were all on a food break but I couldn't guess what they were eating as there was a distinct lack of food around.  I just bought some beers and headed off to the pop up pizzeria near Intemarche.  I was gutted to discover it wasn't open, after all I had tried to have a reasonably healthy supper, so sod it, I headed to McDonalds and took the food home to eat. 

Uncertainly, I chose the bedroom again for tonight.  If I don't get used to being in it now, I never will.

Exausted but as usual can't sleep.

 Saturday 12 July
Had to put the light on because of little visitors during the night so didn't sleep well again.  Got to sort this out.

I intended to finish painting the shutter this morning but again, contrary to the forecast, the Heavens opened before I had even got out of bed.

Rolled over and then it was 11 am and the sun was shining.  Shame that it had disappeared by the time I'd had a shower so I had a quick visit to the market, a cup of Earl Grey and did some shopping.

I gnawed on half a chicken before starting the shutters and I also painted the troughs to go outside so it was 8 o'clock before I finished and sat down and ate some more chicken and a Champagne flavoured Magnum.  The evening is surprisingly lovely - surprisingly because I spent the entire afternoon painting in the shade.  Unsurprising really as it is July in South West France.

 One painted set of shutters

 

The loo is not working properly so I've turned the water off for the time being.  Tomorrow I MUST tackle the 60o metre trench for the hedge and I was going to go to the Firemen's Ball in the evening [honest!] but a] it's supposed to rain and b] they've had the foresight to put up a giant screen so everyone can watch the football.  Two reasons to give it a miss.

I went to the caravan to read for an hour or so but ended up watching a hare run around our house, having a wonderful time.  I haven't even seen a rabbit in all the time we've had this house and suddenly I get a performance by a hare!

Sunday 13 July
I moved the lamp away from the bed which helped me sleep better, until the noise from the Poney Club woke me at 2.30.  The 'music' continued for another couple of hours.  If I had the energy I would drive the car close to their tents and play my music loud. But I can't be bothered.

And it's raining steadily.  SO glad that I'm not here on holiday, it would be miserable, although the temperatures are 28 or 29.

I repaired the loo.  A minor, but important, victory.

The plan is to prepare the bed for the hedge today in the rain.

MORE GARDEN WORK

Wed 9 July

Pissed off to wake up to rain, after my hours with the weedkiller yesterday.  The night had been disturbed by dust and stone falling in the room - I don't know if it was just chunks of the wall falling off or some little critter messing about in the loft space.

So, all in all, I wasn't a happy bunny.

Phil and Lyn came around with some irises for me to plant.  There's nowhere ready for flowers so I stuck them in the raised bed for the time being.

In the afternoon I went to the local Recyclerie where you can buy stuff that was donated at the tip.  I was looking for something to use as a kitchen cabinet but there was nothing suitable.   A lovely drive back through the pretty little lanes with the vines all looking glorious.  A very late lunch and a sleep in the caravan in order to make up for lost time last night!  Then a few hours planting the climbers which had arrived while I was out.

I was up to me elbows in compost when Lucien, the stonemason, arrived to arrange a date for the building of the wall.  We decided on 15 August as a starting date.  OK by me.

Garden's not looking bad but large areas need to have a dose of weedkiller!  I sat in the caravan and had a couple of beers in the evening, enjoying the lovely evening but out of the wind.  I am a bit worried that all these plants are going to suffer through the winter, if the wind is this cold in July.  Whatever happened to global warming?????

Rain not forecast til Sunday so maybe tomorrow is the day to tackle those weeds.  The wind has been strong all day but has really got going tonight.  I am trying to decide whether to brave the house tonight with its busy little visitors or whether to stay in the caravan and get a decent night's sleep.
I walked into the bedroom and it just smelled damp so I buggered off to the caravan and passed a peaceful night. [That sounds like a doctor's report!!]

Thurs 10 July

I bravely ordered 60m of hedging.  Doing the ordering isn't brave, planting the bloody things is!

Breakfast was organic strawberries and raspberries [living off the land] and some oat biscuits [living off the larder!].

With no rain forecast [stupidly I believed the meteo] I was out early killing the weeds.  Then took a couple of hours to have a look around some garden places and found some troughs, which I have been looking for so I bought 2, safe in the knowledge that the chap there would load them in the car and Stuart could unload them for me.

Stuart came to cut the grass and I congratulated him again on how he'd looked after it while I was away.  The storm clouds started to gather in the early afternoon.  Crap!

I worked on the produce part of the garden and it was looking OK so a bit of rain would not be a disaster in that area.  I decided to water anyway, to make sure all the new things were well-settled.  I am a bit worried about all the climbers on the arches as the wind is cold at the moment so what will it be like in the winter?

Supper in the evening sun then I sat and thought about tomorrow.   The windows should arrive and there's 60 metres of trench to prepare for the hedge.  The house is dripping in cobwebs and I feel exhausted.  I just don't know where to sleep tonight to get the best night's sleep...........

A COUPLE OF QUIET DAYS

Sunday 6 July

Yes it was noisy and smelly.  A storm during the night meant that the bedroom was very damp-smelling and not nice.  The noise appears to be the birds having a drink and a bath in the gutter outside the bedroom - not much I can do about that.

Warm but cloudy and humid so I stayed in bed and caught up with my sleep.  No chance of weedkilling today so a bit of housework instead.

The Gardening Club met in the afternoon, tea and lovely cakes at Lyn and Phil's and didn't finish til 8pm so just time for a quick supper before bed.

There was a beautiful African Hoopoe in the garden when I got home.

No beer, no wine.  Hope there's no noise and no smells tonight!

Monday 7 July

Noise and smells meant I didn't sleep too well last night and struggled to get up before 9!

Anyway, went to the shops to get food and bits for the garden. 

I don't know if it's the cloudy weather but everyone is very subdued.  The annual pilgrimage of trailers and campervans heading to the coast has not materialised, despite the fact this is the first week of the school holidays.  Even the kiddies at the Poney Club seem to be pretty quiet.  Many shops and businesses locally have closed down [including the Coffee Shop with all the books] and it's a bit depressing.

When I came back a dug a trench more than 50 metres long, well, re-dug it as it had been done previously.  Still hurt my back though!  I saw some more hoopoes and found a dead snake.  At least it was dead, thank God. I think I might open the garden as a nature reserve if this goes on!

I cleaned up the caravan because Lyn and Phil are coming for coffee tomorrow and the house is knee-deep in cobwebs apart from the pathways I have hacked through in order to live!

A friend gave me butternut plant so I planted that and faffed around a bit before returning to painting the shutters.  Didn't actually do any painting as it started to rain so I made a very unhealthy meal and ate it with several cups of tea to wash it down.  Luverly!

I realised the end of the trench was in the wrong place so headed out after this afternoon's storm to see if I could dig a new bit.

Went to bed early so that I can get up and get on with killing those pesky weeds first thing!

Tuesday 8 July
Woke early, full of beans. Unfortunately it was raining heavily so all proposed jobs had to be cancelled.  Turned over and snuggled down for a bit.

Had a good time with Phil and Lyn, once they got over the shock of seeing the state of the house, they were quite positive.  I told them they should have seen it 4 years ago.

The weather was so changeable that I decided to go ahead with the weedkiller and so I'm going to bed with fingers crossed that it doesn't rain.

BACK IN FRANCE

Friday 4 July

Independence Day in America.  Crappy day in France!

I woke this morning to the sound of the fan blowing cooling air on me, at least I thought that's what it was.  It was actually the sound of rain pounding on the caravan roof.  After a hard journey through the rain and dark yesterday, it was not a welcome sound.

A thunderstorm started the day and the rain was obviously set in for the day. So I decided to go shopping in order to get some food and some climbing plants.  Unfortunately, although I had reconnected the water, I'd forgotten to turn on the geyser.  So I just changed my clothes and went out dirty.

I checked on the window installation due next week and got some shopping but forgot the bread so decided to go out for lunch.  I went to the lovely new restaurant overlooking the vines but discovered that after 5 weeks' absence it is now closed definitivement!  So I went into Ste Foy and got something to eat by which time the sun was out.

During the showers, I started to clean the spiders webs and general rubble, which has fallen off the walls in the time I have been away.

During a sunny spell, I looked out and saw a big bird on our drive, grabbed the camera and was lucky enough to get a couple of shots before it took off to hide in a tree.





Is it an owl?  Or some sort of falcon?

 

Anyway that was the day's excitement, along with cooing over the unexpected growth of the lavender and other plants.  Tomorrow I will have to go and buy a wholesale order of weedkiller!

 



100 lavender finally in bloom!

 Supper, beer, bed!


Saturday 5 July
Not the best night's sleep.  The bedroom smells damp and there is something having nocturnal adventures in that room and it's definitely not me.

Cloudy and warm.  I couldn't attack the garden with weedkiller as the forecast was for rain so I went looking for more climbing plants for the arches.  No luck.  So bought some food and came home. 
I had to fight my way through the annual campervan migration, it's like the wildebeest but with more bloodshed.  First weekend of the French school holidays - say no more!

Saw the owl again, it was sitting on the gutter, having a drink and flew into one of the trees when it saw me.  Pottered around,[that's probably a reference to the owl], weeded a bit, visited Mme B to give her an opportunity to moan about the weather [wet], the neighbour [miserable] and  her health [always an issue].  After inhaling more cigarette smoke than I felt comfortable with, I got away and continued with the weeding. 

I should have used the weedkiller but I believed the weather forecast.  Honestly, how many pensioners still have faith in the weather forecast? 

Chris phoned briefly, hope we'll get a chance to talk more tomorrow.

After that I did a bit of digging while trying to decide which plants to order.  Decisions, decisions,
An hour on the internet, everything ordered.  I then walked around the garden and realised just how gorgeous the lavender is, covered with bees and butterflies and smelling gorgeous.  Then I discovered 2 enormous rhubarb plants in the raised beds.  According to the internet - my bible these days - you shouldn't eat rhubarb cut after June but I couldn't see a Best Before Date so I thought 'Sod it' and I cut and cooked it anyway on the basis that Chris will eat it regardless and if he doesn't die, I'll eat it too.

Supper, wine, bed!  Hope it's not quite as smelly and noisy as last night.