so that we can get away and enjoy…….xx

blog 24 August 2014

 

 

 

Before we set off on our Belgian road trip last week we popped into St Mere Eglise to wish Carol and Trevor Good luck in their new venture, selling vintage clothing to the world war two re-enactors of this world. I was delighted to see other friends there in their 40’s outfits swelling the crowds and giving the whole day a real sense of purpose and fun.  I am so envious that Trevor and Carol have found an outlet for their hobby and we hope they have a profitable and successful business

 

 

Then against all the odds, with dodgy  weather and  Mike  recovering from a nasty  tummy bug we finally set off and got to Ypres late on Monday in the pouring rain.  We camped on a site walking distance from the town centre which made visiting the Mennen Gate easy and worthwhile.   The whole of Ypres was rebuilt between 1918 and 1965 and although it is a strange concept to rebuild exactly as was, these old buildings are still crisp and as new as the day they were conceived hundreds of years ago

 

 

 

On the walls of the Mennen gate  are the names of 55 thousand  solders missing in action and as we walked around the endless tablets of engraved stone,  I read out as many  names as I could so their names, would be in my voice and heard again

At 8:00 every evening since 1928 buglers have played the last post to honour of the dead in the 1st world war.  I was however, not prepared for this touching and thought provoking ceremony.  We stayed an extra night just so I could go a second time and was amazed that every night is different, there were hundreds of people there and on the first night a small choir of male voices sang in this, oh, so, acoustically perfect arched building.  6 buglers played the last post and it sent a deeply profound shiver through the crowd. The second night, a lone bag piper played whilst wreathes were laid. At the end of the second evening’s ceremony we were honoured to participate in the recognition of 60 years’ service of one of the burglars  in the team who attend this ceremony every night.  What a commitment, what a fantastic event and so unexpected

We did a day of sightseeing and visited the Tyn cot ceremony and hill 60 all in the area around Ypres, It  is possible to spend days just walking the paths of the great war but we had lots of other things to do.  Belgium is a country of two halves and as a half Belgian I was very bewildered by the utter difference in language and culture and it was so very obvious at the dividing line how things changed.  In the North Aldi supermarket would not take our French or English bank cards, they would not take a euro cheque and we had to get cash to pay for our shopping, bit like being in Spain or Greece but harder because we were starting to feel at home and I thought I had arrived  when I was given a tube of mayonnaise with my crock monsieur lunch and the choice of mayo in the shops was stunning,  I stroked the jars I said to Mike….I really am home. But we struggled with the town names and thanked our lucky stars that our GPS speaks Flemish and headed south into Walloon French speaking territory to visit our dear family friends who have been in my life all my life.

 

 

 

Hedwige and Ivan have been part of the family scene for ever and we were welcomed and treated to an exquisite lunch, but sadly not enough time to fully catch up so we will be back, it is not so far and we spent a few moments  eyeing up where we could park the camper and stay over ….watch this space we make a habit of camping on peoples drives.

 

 

 

Our next mission was to understand the battle of Waterloo. My great uncle was a celebrated expert in the life and times of Napoleon and the Waterloo event has been in my head since I was five yet never really explained . Mike had an interest as well so we paid the full tourist price to visit the Wellington museum  in Waterloo, the visitor centre at the Butt du Lion memorial and then over to Napoleon’s headquarters.  All this for one day of battle and thousands of lost lives in 1815.

 

There is a fantastic 360 degree painting of the day’s events and the building was erected to accommodate it in the 1820’s. The building and painting have now been painstakingly restored. I just love this art that is effectively the BBC of the day, giving news and opinion of this epic event. The site is now priming up for the 200 year anniversary next year, we might  just  go back in June next year to see what they do. And if you were wondering…Yes, we did climb the hill to the top to look over the battle field and it is high and we both realised just how unfit we are






We then made our way to Welhain 30 kilometres from Brussels to meet up with my cousin Dominque and her husband Michel. We shared  a wonderful evening of good food and cine films. They have family film of me at the age of 3 and 5 and I saw my Mum and Dad and m brothers and sisters as I remember them in my mind but to see the reality in old cine film was extraordinary and a lot of fun

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took one snap shot of the old cine screen and when I looked back at it there was a picture of my Mum 55 Years ago how very touching and amazing is that .

 

 

Another night on another drive with all mod cons and more importantly renewing family ties. Dominque and I share the same great grandmother  on my Mum’s side  and we have fond memories and real history between us, so this really was a good reunion and we look forward to our next time together.

Our camper broke down in some tiny town somewhere in France on our way back and had to, for the first time, call for assistance, it is a good job that we kept the paperwork together and current and I made the call, gave the very polite young man our number plate and he said, oui Madame Baker where are you and what is the problem.  A big tow truck  driver called to say he was on his way and he got us going in two seconds flat diagnosing a broken battery  so we drove straight to Norauto on the outskirts of this little town and after a cooool 160 Euro, we had a new battery fitted and although it took half a day from beginning to end we were back on the road.  I forgot to mention that we stopped in town to buy chips for lunch and for that I am very ashamed, but extremely pleased to say that despite the deviation on diet we were able to test the road assistance system and by George it works

 

 

Mike was very patient with me this holiday because it was all about me and as we made our way to le Havre to cross the River Seine, I asked Mike if he could stop at the Air de Baye de Seine so that I could walk the Pond de Normandy, and he did stop, and we did walk ourselves to the top of the arch and walked back down again

 

Both our knees were still complaining from the waterloo experience but we did it and that is another tick dealt with.

 

 

 

 

We could not do all this history and family and not stop off at Renville to make a salute to Mike’s Uncle Bill’s grave, killed on 23^rd July 1944 . We took HOSS in with us and asked him to sit and he lay down and just looked so wonderful and knowing, such a good dog xx  

 

Our last night out, and we were gone 8, was on the hill at Arromanche looking over the mulberry harbours. For 6 euro you get to stop the night and watch the sun go down on a bit of history that truly change the look of Europe. When we arrived at 4:00 I asked the ticket man if we could camp the night as we have done before but he said this is not a camp site Madame, I said that we had stayed here before overnight and he explained that times had changed, but if we wanted to park for the night we could sleep there and we would need to leave before 10 in the morning …..is that not camping ? Mike and I chatted over this discussion I had just had and we have now decided that you do not ask to camp, you ask to park overnight….subtle, but mind blowingly obvious if you are French …

We walked along the hill taking in the views and forever the mariner, Mike is here retying HOSS’s bit of rope which he proudly holds in his mouth thinking he is the mariners bees knees, but actually we give him the rope to discourage his barking, especially when we walk in the evenings and in the morning, so Mike keeps his monkey’s fist knot and his coiling rope skills alive, and  we then get a quiet HOSSy walk.

 

 

 

So finally the holiday is over we did 1355 kilometres and saw great things and lovely people, but most of all we enjoyed the freedom of the camper spending free nights in the many Air de Camping Car and the little low cost sites where the welcome is always friendly and sincere.  We had a really good time and have to say a huge thank you to our friends who feed the animals and watch the house so that we can get away and enjoy…….xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and that is a statistic we can be proud of.

blog 23 August

ahh ohh  our faithful old television finally flickered into oblivion and we were left in the dark, at a loss and feeling like a dear old friend was about to be kicked out for a new, and oh so modern version. We bought our  Soni 44 inch back projection TV in 1996 on a wet Sunday afternoon after our current TV had popped it’s clogs. With three growing teenagers in the house we vowed not to replace it and we would play cards and talk in the evening instead of gorping at the box.  Realistically though, that thought probably lasted a day and Mike and I were off to Curries to buy the biggest and bestest TV we could afford, and at the time, it was the most awesome, and this week, 18 years later, we still think it is awesome to have given us such great service. Mike, in true Mike style took the back off when the lights went out and lost himself in the gubbins for a morning and then pronounced it well and truly dead……..

 

So there you have it, the faithful state of the art TV given it’s own cage because it is so big and the very nice man from the dechetery wrapping it up for recycling. I told the dechete man about our lovely old TV and he suggested that perhaps monsieur broke it on purpose just to get a new thin one, and although I can see his point I know from Mike’s sad face that he would have been happy to have pottered to keep it going for another few years yet…..

 

 

The white van played it’s part in the sad disposal process and once again it has proved it’s worth delivering our large load to the dechete. We then took the van  for it’s 2 yearly MOT and it failed spectacularly with failed back brakes and  front tyres, so although we love our white van and how it makes us feel useful and flexible in all that we do, that day we were pretty well, fed up.  We got quotes for the work and while we were there at Norauto the very nice assistant who in the past has been very helpful and always gives us choices and time to debate came back to us with the news that the brakes will cost 450 Euro the tyres 250 Euro and while we are there the front right drive shaft was clicking and although not urgent, spend 250 euro now, and you will not regret it. So there you have it the magical grand of euros popped into my adding up reckoning and my heart hit the ground.

 

We went to a couple of vide greniers last  weekend and decided to go into calvados as we rarely go in that direction. We live on the border but the regions never share information so you need to look at La  Manche list and then the Calvados list of things to see and do and as we live in la Manche we tend to stay faithful. We found ourselves in a tiny village called Ecrammeville where there was only a handful of sellers and no traders so it was homely and interesting and then through my insatiable curiosity I ventured over to look at their village lavery and was gobsmacked at it’s perfect beauty .  The water was crystal clear and the stone work and roof perfectly preserved and the whole effect was stunning. I had to take photos just to share a moment in our day.  Some years back a governmental decree went out to all the Mairies in the land to find all the old lavery sites renovate them and make them the historical land mark for each village, town and city. We have our own in Brevands where last year we had a re-enactment with period dressed shop dummy placed to create a living museum of lady washing clothes. The first official occasion we went to in Carentan was the reopening of the lavery.  So we all have them but few will look as inviting and interesting as this one in Ecrammerville. There was however an official letter nailed to the post that makes the washing of clothes forbidden…..oh well, that is France for you

 

 We parked our van by the church in Ecrammeville and I looked over the wall to find these world war one graves spruced up and made respectful. The names on the brass plaques were followed with mort pour la france, died for france.  These three graves were covered in sand and some official in the village had been over that very morning to rake  the site to make it resemble a Japanese  garden and as I wondered around taking pictures I looked behind me and hoped the orderly did an afternoon shift, If he had left the rake I would have happily obliged, but by sharing this with you, all his hard work is worthwhile.

 

 

The Other village we visited was La cambe and we were pleased to be there as we so very nearly bought a house there. The maison maitre was for sale and had me in a flutter as it reminded me of  my grandparents’ house in Belgium and I had to force my heart not to rule my head and we decided Brevands was a better option. We stood in front of the house and I asked the stall holder if he lived here and he said no, but she does, and I was delighted that this young family with kids and love for life had bought it and made it into a wonderfully beautiful family home. At that vide grenier however I bought this amazing dehydrator that actually works and I have been drying apples and tomatoes this past week, non-stop. The tomatoes are quite fantastic and gives me yet another preserving option for the bumper crop this year. I sorted the freezer this week and I have 60 x 400ml bags of tomato passata and Mike worked out that I only need to use one a week and I will use it all so I am encouraged to carry on harvesting roasting and sieving so that we have plenty to see us through the long winter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And finally the onions are plaited and hung in the barn   and that is one job well and truly finished, all we need to do now is  unhook  them and eat them as they will be  happy to hang here until next year. I used the last of last year’s crop two weeks ago and I have not bought an onion in 6 years, and that is a statistic we can be proud of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

then it rained and I hit the ground running for shelter…..ohh dear

  blog 22 August

 

On a spectacularly wet evening, we set off with Shirley and Mark to join the throngs at St Marie du Mont for a night of Baroque with harpsichord and violin. These two wonderfully talented musicians played for a full hour and a half for our pleasure in an inspiring church atmosphere, taking time to introduce the music and explain the instruments.  There is a government ploy to make sure all French people can have access to the classics and a free concert is just the ticket.  Sadly, and as usual in France, the advertising was poor and there were only a small core of interested  people there but  we happened to  bump into our friend Ann and my friend Veronique and other expats who have a musical interest. But, all the better for me, as the background hum of people was at a minimum and I was able to tune in to the music with hardly having to squeeze my face into a, can’t hear you expression….so that was good for me and we   enjoyed the experience.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Mike and I had a  bit of a silly day  at the beginning of the week and thought we might like to buy a small strip of ‘terrain de loisir’, which  roughly translated means, a bit of land you can only use to have your holiday on .

In the past it has been an important part of the French culture to own a strip of land by the sea so that you can take off for the whole of August with your caravan using well water and dry toilettes and have this idyllic wild and earth grounding holiday to remind you of life’s few requirements to have a good time.  But it did not take long for us to realize that this, oh so French culture is dead in the water.  We were escorted around 4 sites by a fresh faced enthusiastic estate agent who had to admit to us that the French no longer want these wild holiday destination and we only saw derelict strips of land and the access to the beaches difficult through lack of use. We realized very quickly that what we wanted now is what the French have cottoned onto and we have been financially squeezed out of the market but we were happy we had a look and now understand why there are so many ‘terrain de loisir’ on the Bon Coin. A whole generation of French families are now trying to get the best price for the old wild style site so they can afford the all singing, electric and water with  wi fi sites you find in the beach resorts that are now setting up throughout our local bits of sea side

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And what better way to get over a project fallen flat on its face, get some friends round for aperitifs in the garden and supper in the kitchen and a jolly fine time we had at that

 

 

 

Some weeks ago we were having lunch with Sarah and Peter and did the usual stroll around the garden to discuss progress and changes. Sarah mentioned that she so needed to get rid of these tree trunks so I bit her hand off up to her shoulder blades and said …..we’ll have them…  Mike looked a little confused but I just said……stumpery…..and he fully understood and we were making plans to get the trailer over there to clear their garden and create another garden in our garden. So we did lunch again and the chaps loaded up the trunks and I am so very excited to have another garden in planning.  As we were chatting over lunch Peter asked if we might like his old abri all fancy metal work and round shapes and I said YES  we are now building a stumpery with an ornate metal work abri in the middle, what fun.

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOSS came with us to Sarah’s and we chatted about his difficult molt this year and how it is a problem as I never seem to get to the end of it and with our up and coming camper trip I was dreading the hairs in our confined space and Sarah jumped up out of her seat disappeared into her arriere cuisine and came out with this amazing gadget. She scraped it across HOSS’s back and we were gob smacked at the amount of hair it pulled away. HOSS did not bat an eye lid so she offered the loan and when I got home I filled our drive with dog hairs that will now not end up in the carpet under the furniture and in every nook and cranny of the house.  The even better thing is that HOSS is not phased and I have been scraping away a few minutes at a time and he just walks off when he has had enough but the difference is staggering and he is looking very dapper and sleek with no fuzzy clumps that made him look an old dull doggie….

 

 

 

We are blessed once again with a great apple crop and we are already starting the big harvest. I made a English Brambly Normandy tart for our supper guests and I started my epic juicing program as I have  just now used the last of the apple juice I made and froze last year. We had a very strong wind whizz through the garden so harvesting was easy….just rake ‘em up…..

 

 

 

 

And lastly, after all the wall to wall blue sky this year I find a dark sky with the sun on the trees fascinating a quite beautiful….and then it rained and I hit the ground running for shelter…..ohh dear

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

dream on little piggies, no veg at Bucaille for you this time!

 

blog 21 August

 

 

Once again this year we have a great display of sunflowers and as always I am staggered by their size and jolliness.  From such a small seed these amazing plants just pick up their skirts and grow and blossom with such determination and conviction that I am in awe…. I just want to be is a sunflower….

I had the all clear from the professor of ears nose and throat at the university hospital in Caen and although I still have a sore throat this great eminent of his subject pronounced me OK and not sick but I was to go away and seek out, calm, inner peace and sleep to rid me of a virus which has clung onto to me for an entire year, so I am taking advice from my sunflowers and I will take what the summer offers me with a big smile and a jolly attitude.

 

 

 

 

Our trusted white van, vehicle of choice,  sprung a water leak in the middle of July which progressed to an electrical warning light then no battery charge and then a defunct battery…..fortunately  we had the yellow beryl to get around  in and with all this fantastic weather there was no real hurry to get to the bottom of the problem, although, I could hear Mike's cogs turning and he kept going out with electrical meters and battery chargers over a period of five days and finally  announced that the white van needed major attention. When Mike took out the battery he found this very frazzed rat squashed in the battery housing and I daren’t wish that was the course of our problems but we did need to log his demise and then get on with the job of replacing the alternator. The local garage quoted 370 Euro to put her back on the road but as Mike and I left the shop sucking air past our now very sensitive teeth I just knew Mike would have a far cheaper option and a trip to the breakers yard had us back up and running in an afternoon for a mere 90 Euro, good job Mike, you so have the magic touch.

With the very dry weather the very last thing we expected was an attack of moles in the middle of the garden. We had a huge problem during the wet winter so we had to act quickly and Mike applied himself and very cleverly set his traps and hey presto, 4 moles later we have a calmer lawn without the acne attack that just makes us cringe. The thought of not being able to clear these blots on the landscape quickly, is too much to tolerate and when I come in from my morning walk with HOSS and announce. MOLE ALERT,  I can feel Mike’s tension levels rise..

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

We are both still very committed to the Sunday morning browse through the local vide grenier looking for that special bargain of which we can boast quite a few. Recently we are now concentrating on things we can sell on to give us a little income.   The most wonderful part of the vide grenier in the summer is bumping into your mates doing  exactly the same as you are  and I was even more delighted we were able to take a break for coffee at the pavement café to watch the world go by and chat about our purchases so far. Mark and Shirley are the king and queen of buy and sell and I sit in their shadow of knowledge and confidence and to be honest given the choice to be Shirley or a sunflower then I would choose Shirley without hesitation……

 

 

I was very delighted when I got to lift the shallots this year as we are blessed with a fabulous crop.  You plant one shallot and you get six back what a great deal that is.  Our new raised beds have revolutionised the way we work in the allotment and just to have a sense of order and control has made this year a pleasure. At the end of last year I proclaimed I would never grow another vegetable, but I take it all back as this small and significant change in the way we have approached this part of our lives has just turned it all around.  Since stopping work I find I have so many more hours at my disposal and I have found a new energy and enthusiasm for growing….. The poly tunnel is brimming with tomatoes, lettuce and runner beans and although I have not done much new work out there due to the blistering heat as soon as September clicks over then I will start a new propagation program to replenish the garden next year

 

 

 

We had a rogue runner bean plant in the poly that I left to develop and it has grown into the tomato plants and I have them growing together and holding each other up, I am not sure how I will untangle all of this at clear up time, but for now, I love the spontaneity of this melange and harvesting is very interesting

 

 

 

Every day I bring in a basket like this, I am freezing tomatoes giving us a base sauce to cook with all through winter and I am freezing down the beans and courgettes.  We have been eating fresher than fresh sweet corn for lunch for the past week and salads for  dinner,  it is very satisfying and I cannot imagine why in a fit of pique and tiredness that I thought I could  give this all this up and open tins and packets instead

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally on our way to the shops this week we came across these two lost souls wondering in the road and for a split second I was tempted to round them up and take them home. I have always had a soft spot for a lost pig and although we drove past and let the thought of ownership slope off our shoulders as we left Bucaille a sudden realisation that the gate to the garden is open as we have paying guests in our mobile homes and sweet pigs could so easily decide to own us, and grunt their way through our now, so precious veg patch ……happily though they made it home so dream on little piggies, no veg at Bucaille for you this time!