so role on wood fire expert, and role on Summer

blog 7 February

It is quite plain to see by the congestion in the court yard that Mike and I have too many vehicles for our own good without a mention of the soft top in the garage and the motor bike and tractors and mowers and I need not go on.  Yesterday morning we had a board meeting over breakfast to discuss the madness of being just us two and having so much transportation at our disposal, so we decided the Mondeo should go.  She failed her MOT for a few little bits but it is time for a change of Cam Belt and tyres and a silencer and bla dee bla dee bla. I stole the words from other French advertisers selling their cars and launched our sales pitch then sat back for about 15 minutes and the phone rang, so, Yesterday afternoon I had one guy coming the next day, another saying cancel him I’ll come now, 5 e-mails and 3 messages on the answer phone so we knew we were going to sell. The man came from Caen via the moon and called to say he was lost I asked him what he could see so I might try to figure out where he was and he said there is a farm some houses with red tiled roofs, there is a fence and sheep in the field.  I needed to be pleasant but wanted to shout…. doh, this is the country and you are describing every corner of Normandy but we got there the end  and  an hour later he arrived. He kicked the tyres started the car several times then made us an offer we had to  refuse but met  him half way .  He paid and we locked the gate as he left giving ourselves a nice tall high five.

 

 

 

 

 

I sometimes feel that Mike and I start a project just because we like having Lorries on the drive making deliveries with the promise of a new beginning. Mike loves the ordering of material and the planning and this is no exception.  We popped into Big Mat, a real workman’s DIY store with the thought of pricing up our next build but ended up making the order as we were there and in the mood. We have decided that I want raised beds in the allotment so we can keep the area in control of weed and pestilent  and I  want mike to see the garden as a hobby and not a chore so we came up with a plan to make concrete boxes and create the Monty Don of all raised bed allotments. 

 

 

This is the wood to make the moulds and as soon as mike has had his treatment for his headache and that happens next Thursday then we will begin. Through March and April we will create a concrete box every three days and that way within a month the job should be done…..well that is the theory and the delivery is the starting point.

 

HOSS is very relaxed and happy to be just him and is here sat in front of the switched off fire , I seriously struggle with this black cold hole in my kitchen so I light candles inside and it just takes the edge off the chilled anxiety of not having this  cosy focal point doing it’s job.  I had my new boss come visit today and she kept her coat on and mentioned that she was looking forward to going back to her nice warm fire ....

so role on wood fire expert, and role on Summer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

in our camper with HOSS just because we can......

blog 6 February

Mike started to feel better with a diagnosis of arthritis in the neck and knowing is half the problem solved so I talked him into letting me light a fire again as it makes me feel so much more relaxed, and happy, and for a few days all went well.  I thought we had cracked it and then on the fourth day we both came down with blinding headaches and were both very sleepy.  We have decided to shut the fire down again and have arranged for a wood burner expert to come in and look at our installation as Mike is now convinced we are being poisoned by carbon monoxide leaking in from the chimney. I will ke­­­ep you informed as I feel an epic in the making

We had another challenge to face this week and went to the private hospital in Caen for a consultation with a neurological surgeon our GP had referred Mike to. We arrived at this very shiny and muffled marble monument of a building with more open space and running water than Versailles and as we took the middle of the atrium bottle on a stick lift to the consulting room level I wondered just what we were letting ourselves in for. Our white haired consultant was very pleasant and although he laughed us back out of the office saying there is nothing wrong that a good massage couldn’t put right his gold dollar bed manner made him take the time to explain why Mike was OK but why he has headache, and was totally bemused as to why Mike had put up with it since 2009.  Mike is now referred  to a neurologist to try a cortisone treatment and then 6 weeks of massage and physio and as we had been bothering our GP for the past 5 years the consultant suggested that we need not go back to the GP and stick with a specialist and get it sorted. We came away believing we had been in the company of a medical god and then his secretary wrapped the paperwork up and took payment from as ordinarily as buying a baguette ...costing a cool 90 Euro …..well worth every penny…….

Our faithful van did it again when in a fit of pique with the weather and Mike feeling so rubbish we went to Cherbourg looking to buy a new wood burner and a therapeutic walk around Brico Depot the best DIY store in the area. We did not find a fire or any DIY to make us drawl so before going off to find a sandwich for a day out picnic we popped into one of  our most favourite depot vents and found this most fab sofa  for 120 Euro. It was 10 minutes to midday and when I asked the staff if we could get it off the staging to give it a try I could sense the panic of a transaction so near to lunch time but then relief when Mike sat in the bigger than normal chair and looked so right and comfortable I just said hooorah  in a French accent and it was out and in the van and paid for before lunch could be disrupted.

 

I have been a good recycler this week again and have continued to make wood chippings from  our winter pruning. I love the smell of fresh wood and the motion of chipping wood, it is noisy and I wear my ear plugs to protect myself so I am in a little bubble of comfort and neither Mike or HOSS can get in it…. It’s all mind.

 

 
 
What a joy to have flowers showing and I have started my front of the house display ,I brought out my primrose wheel barrow that gave me such a treat in the poly tunnel in the deepest winter and I thought I could risk putting them out on display on the drive and all of a sudden I can sense warm and long days ahead.

And finally our little pals say good bye. Cass stayed with us for 2 weeks and was just starting to make firm attachments to us and our life style and it was time to pressure a change to get him in a place for his next home. We met his original owners in a car park to make the transfer and he recognised them and they were resigned that actually he was destined to go home to them and then he would be taken to their daughter in Cornwall to live on a farm. The timing for all this was perfect as Cass was starting to get comfortable and both boys were wanting to put their paw down as to who was boss. If I was keeping Cass and HOSS I would have dealt with this but 2 hours before transfer time they had a barking growly set to  on the field over a bit of rope I had been paying tug with. HOSS is now very happy to be in charge again and to celebrate we have booked ourselves a trip to the UK in our camper with HOSS just because we can......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If only our poor old bodies were that efficient…….

blog 5 February

 

 

I am sadly a week late with this blog as I took this picture last weekend with every intention of sharing it with you all but here it is anyway as I still think I have the first daffs for 2014. The last of the storms have past and we are assured that we will now get a few days of dry and for that I am grateful as I have been wading about in the field coming in with wet dogs and wet me and damp motivation, I say dogs, because this week we had to rescue our friend Ann’s newly acquired sheep dog after she fell and broke her shoulder and Cass the dog was in danger of being left home alone , so we dogsnatched him and told HOSS to deal with it….OK

 

 

So for the time being we are an extended family but having spoken to Ann it seems that she will need to give Cass up as she rescued him herself and does not see how she is going to manage, and that makes me very  sad as I am starting to love this meek and intelligent dog but I know in my heart of hearts that Mike and I are really not able to take on another mouth to feed and have the complications of camper holidays and kennel stops.  I am therefore looking for a home for Cass unless we can talk Ann around but I think she  has realised that Cass is too strong and big for her little cottage and her slight frame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Chateaux Beaulieu just outside St Saveur le Vicomte  and luckily for us we have got to know the owners of this lovely home and on a social outing just mentioned that we were off  to  buy a couple of chestnut tree  for our garden and both Sharon and Eddy said…. NO… we have a wood full of seedlings just come over and take what you need……so we did.

Luckily for me this all happened before Mike came down with shoulder ache and an explosive head ache   so I had trees lifted transported and planted before rain stopped play and mike became bed ridden in a darkened room.  We got mike in to see the doctor and he sent us straight to Coutance for a head scan. The appointment was at 4:30 and we were out of there at 5:10 having had an MRI scan of his neck and a regular scan of his shoulder, all the scan pictures and letters put in a folder and we were sent home to see the  GP again on Monday to look for solutions. .......If only our poor old bodies were that efficient…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

good value, good food and good fun…..

 

4 blog February

A jolly start to this blog with us lot turning up in silly hats to wish William a very happy 90^th   Birthday. I am pretty sure I have a photo of us surrounding William for every birthday he has had since we met six years ago.  We bought corn on the cob dishes off Anna and William's car boot stall in Blossville six years ago and have not looked back,  so happy 91^st year and let’s hope it stops raining so you can properly enjoy it.

 

 

 

And on the subject of rain we have not started or finished a conversation with anyone without bringing up the issue of rain.  It is also at this time that you thank whatever governs these things, that we bought our home here in Brevands on the high side of our little back end of the village

After days of excuses about not walking HOSS I finally donned my sailing jacket and we hit the road.  For days now there has always been something going on and yesterday it was Hilary and Michel in for lunch that stopped me taking HOSS out for a proper walk but Hilary who understands dogs mentioned that HOSS had a sad and troubled look about him so I made a point of taking him out for his 30 minute walk no matter what today. This road is the bottom side of our one way system and you can see that the gardener has dug out trenches double sized and that is why I am so relieved we live on the top end where our rainwater drains off into the ditches that empty into the low end and with the relentless downpour we look to thank our lucky stars for just about anything we can thank.

 

 

Mike has been at it again on le bon coin and in his committed dedication found us the deal of the year. It is a brand new glass door canopy to go over our winter door to the house.  We have been looking for many years for something we could afford and these babies cost 500 Euro from the shops and we paid 50 Euro and met a nice man in the back end of Quettehou on a windy wet evening to add to the occasion,  Once again while we are thanking our lucky stars we managed to fit yet another odd shaped object in the van and bring it home without a logistic challenge so, good van, good buy and just good all around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally here we are with Graham and Ann on a date day. Georgina in Canada tells us how she goes out on a date with Al or the kids on their own, so we have decided to go out to lunch  once a month, all the other weeks we picnic and get out to do something together.

­­­­­

 

 

 

This week it is a games night but last Sunday it was a walk around a garden centre and a lunch in Le Moulin Restaurant, good value, good food and good fun…..