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Welcome to my world!
Join me as I find my feet in my new home country. If this is your 1st visit, swing by the introductions page before browsing, and dont forget to let me know what you think.
A bientot.
Join me as I find my feet in my new home country. If this is your 1st visit, swing by the introductions page before browsing, and dont forget to let me know what you think.
A bientot.
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JULY
02 July
A visit to the local pool-welcome to hell
Well July has arrived in a hurry here. It has come upon us most unexpectedly! Since hubs got home the time has flown and here we are with Moo at school for the last day of school before the summer holiday, most excited there is a school picnic for lunch and she is, for the first time, staying all day. It will be most strange for her not to be home at lunchtime. Strange, but nice! Although if the predicted 'grand orage' arrives it will be a rather soggy lunchtime.
Yesterday we had a busy morning in the garden. I saw hubs approach the apple tree with a determined look on his face and a saw in his hand, and knew he meant business. Not that he was chopping it down you understand, just giving it a much needed 'trim'. I'm guessing its around 15 years since it was last tended as the branches were trailing on the ground all around it cutting off about half the garden and reaching out over the fence, putting passers by in grave danger of Newtonian style concussion. Much sweating and sawing occurred and after an hour or so the tree looked less like a weeping willow and more like an apple tree, and we have an 'extra' 10 metres of garden. With that done we decided to have a nice relaxing afternoon at the local swimming pool. Really Hubs and I wanted to go to the lake, but the lure of the water slides was all consuming and off we went to the 7th circle of hell. I think the entire town had decided that it would be a good day to visit the pool and it was packed to the rafters with screaming excitable children. Moo had a great time and met a school friend for a mad splash fight, but it was all we could do to endure an hour and a half before we had to get out of there or lose our sanity entirely. Next time I think I may have to use the 'parents prerogative'* and insist on the beach instead. Which is where we are hoping to head to this afternoon, weather permitting, to enjoy our last child free hours of the summer?
*The parents prerogative of course being to lie blatantly to your child about the opening hours of the pool/shop/park/ice cream van - delete as necessary.
A bientot
JUNE
28-06
Spectacular spectacular
This week was a momentous week in our household, many months of preparation and rehearsal all coming to a head on Friday night for the fin d'annee spectacle d'ecole. Moo has been practicing her singing and dancing, mostly in secret so it's a big surprise, for weeks and has been reminding us to make sure we didn't forget the date for just about as long. We arrived at the appointed hour (20.15 - in costume), and proceeded to select our position (not quite front but centre) and wait till the spectacle began. The appointed hour, 20.30, came and went without much fanfare and people still milling around chatting and sorting out the vast amounts of cakes which had been donated for refreshments. Most people were in their seats by around 20.45, poised with their cameras at the ready to capture those magic moments. With bottoms already beginning to numb, it became clear that there was a problem backstage concerning microphones and batteries that would take more than a moment or two to resolve. 21.00 saw the arrival, and fitting, of new batteries and at last we were underway. The 'big school' (7-10 yr olds), kicked off with a funny drama concerning the office of the Mairé and a wedding. Although I didn't get the full measure of wit, I got enough for a few chuckles, but Hubs was left more than a little bemused. After a protracted scene change it was time for Moo to shine. The 'moyen section' writhed and slithered on stage to perform their contemporary dance interpretation of the origins of life 'micro cosmos', and I have to say, as someone who has seen a fair bit of contemporary dance in her time, they did a rather super job. After the dance came the singing and we were treated to a couple of numbers they had learnt during the year, but sadly not my favourite ditty 'je fais pipi sur le gazon'. I charge you to look it up - you will be amazed, and possibly a little disturbed! After the singing came the much needed interval, starring the aforementioned patisserie, which was much appreciated by all. By this point it was rapidly approaching 22.00. Moo (not to mention her parents) was seriously flagging, and as 'act 2' featured only the older children, we took the cowards way out and made our farewells citing a tired grumpy child, rather obligingly Moo decided to almost fall asleep in my arms at that moment, so our getaway was covered. We made it home around 22.15 and put moo to bed lavishing her with praise for a fine performance and collapsed onto the sofa with a big glass of wine, complimenting ourselves on our exit strategy. We were even more thankful when we saw our neighbour returning with a sleeping child in his arms at around 23.30. And so the spectacle d'ecole finds itself in quite illustrious company as it is only the 3rd time in my life I have left a performance at the interval. The first was 'Napoleon - the Musical', I don't think I have to add anything further as to why we left at the end of act 1, the title should tell you all you need to know. The second was the world premier of 'Lord of the rings - the musical' at Drury lane in London. Despite the multi-million pound budget, the lure of act 2 was about a million times weaker than the lure of the pub across the road. I may well have to volunteer my services as an ex-theatre professional to the spectacle d'ecole next year, if only to keep the running time down, as there will be no interval get out for us by then.
A bientot.
23-09
Multigym madness
The soundtrack to last evening was a steady stream of half uttered sentences 'where on earth does that...' but if that goes there'........ 'damn thing isn’t properly...' a few mild, but totally necessary, expletives through to discussion of people in a factory deliberately mislabelling parts in order to deceive and confuse, (well you would wouldn't you?). It can mean only one thing. Self assembly. We have been out and bought ourselves a multigym in attempt to regain a reasonable level of fitness (more of that in later posts I can assure you!). Even hubs looked daunted when we opened the boxes and saw the sheer volume of parts and scarcity of instructions. Getting it here was fun in itself and I wish I had a camera to record the look of utter disbelief on the face of the kindly assistant who brought the very large boxes out to the very small car. He obviously didn’t realise he was dealing with people who used to cram huge theatre sets into the back of small wagons. After a little jiggling we got the boxes in and closed the boot. I could tell the assistant was deeply impressed. How to get Hubs in was a slightly more complex matter as the front passenger seat was rammed up against the front window with a large container on top. After a short trip to the supermarket it was decided that cowering on the floor in the back under the said box, just would not do, so more adjustments were carried out enabling both Hubs and Moo to sit on the back seat without too much squishing. Sunday and Monday were (amongst other things), set aside for assembly and with one look in the box I decided that I would be best suited to making sure the workman had enough tea. After an heroic struggle against all the odds of tiny and badly drawn diagrams, an alarming system of labels, and a little encouragement from the sidelines (Moo's Monday morning comment of 'haven’t you finished it yet' went down particularly well), Hubs conquered and we now have a shiny new multigym ready to hone us into chiseled individuals. All we have to do now is use it.
A bientot.
19-06
Hubs is home and this time not just for a week!
So here we are somehow already at the time we have all been waiting for - summer holidays! Hubs is now finished in deepest darkest Belgium, well till the end of September anyway. We had a late night run to Le Mans on Thursday night to get him and bring him home just in time for his birthday. Friday morning, before school, saw Moo and I frantically decorating the living room with streamers and a birthday banner, so we could have a 'birthday lunch' when she came home for dinner. And it was lovely. Hubs refreshed from a lovely lie-in and a heap of cards to open and trying to adjust to the fact that he was home for a good long while and not the usual few short days. After Moo was sent, rather reluctantly, back to school Hubs and I had a leisurely wander round and found the perfect way to spend his birthday money, a fab rug for the living room and a copy of Mary Poppins. In all honesty I think Hubs was far more excited about viewing the new DVD than Moo, who took quite a lot of persuading, but dad’s promises of magic drawings and renditions of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious convinced her into it. With the evening’s entertainment sorted and a steak dinner consumed we all crashed out on the sofa and fought to keep our eyes open till the end of the film. Only Moo managed to achieve this and woke us up to tell us it was bedtime. How right she was.
A bientot.
16-06
Must clean!
Well the ‘big bed’ still seems to be weaving its magic spell, not quite at 7.30, but it’s still a very good thing! I have been having a very busy few days around the house, which started by cleaning a few mucky fingerprints from the window and turned into a full scale 3 day assault with the marigolds on. Now I’m not really a neat freak, (by any stretch of the imagination), but I do like a tidy house, after Moo has gone to bed obviously, any hope of a tidy house before that is false and doomed to failure, but the ‘deep clean’ is something I tend to avoid for as long as possible. But once you have one shiny clean window pane, it rather shows the rest up, and when you have a full set of gleaming windows, well the white cotton curtains take on a rather dingy appearance, and so it goes on. My well of enthusiasm ran dry at the end of day one, unfortunately only the upstairs was done by that point and I dragged myself through to the end of day two with a heavy heart and wrinkly hands, trying to find things for Moo to ‘help’ with without meaning double the work for me. I failed, miserably. But she meant well I’m sure, although I did have to explain that while it was very good of her to bring the curtains back upstairs for mummy to hang, it may have been a good idea to wash the jam off her hands before hand.
So all that is left now is to re-hang the curtains, after a boil wash to remove the aforementioned jam, but as I cant do that till morning I am going to enjoy this evening soaking in my shiny clean bath in my sparkling bathroom with a big glass of local brew as my reward for a spotless house, well till Moo gets up anyway.
A bientot.
12-06
bedtime glories
In comparison with our weekend, the last few days have been a little...boring, to be honest. Settling back in to the home routine, such as it is. I feel I should possibly not have commented on the glorious start to June, as since I did the weather has been atrocious. Wet, cold and grey. Moo and I have been watching a lot of films. We managed to make it to the swimming pool on Wednesday afternoon and although it was lousy weather Moo still wanted to go in the outdoor pool, mainly because there is a big water-slide outside, but we had fun swimming in the rain for about 15 minutes until the cold got the better of me and we headed back indoors. Moo is really coming along in the water, and her confidence is growing each time, its so good to watch her progress from week to week and it makes me so proud. Also this week we finally got Moo a proper bed. She has been quite content on her old bed base and mattress while we hummed and hawed over the 'new bed' purchase changing her mind on an almost daily basis as to what she wants. She had seen a country cottage enclosed bed that she liked for a while but at nearly 700Euros we decided to wait till she had gone off that particular idea. Thankfully she did! But I decided enough was enough and it was time to get her a plain old bed, rather fortunately my decision coincided with a sale at a local furniture shop and I managed to pick up a bargain at 40Euros. So now she has a 'big girl' bed and at last I can see the floor in her bedroom as there is ample space underneath to hide a multitude of toys. As I was telling hubs about the new bed Moo disappeared upstairs, only to reappear a few minutes later having changed herself into her pyjamas and insisted that it was time to go to bed. Now those of you who know Moo, either in person or through reading this site, will know that it's normally a bit of an effort at bedtime and we have had some long running 'bedtime issues', so for her to ask to go to bed at 7.20 was an offer I couldn't refuse. I quickly said goodbye to hubs and by the time I got upstairs she was already under the duvet with her night-light on, waiting for me to close the shutters. A quick story and I was dismissed and downstairs having a coffee by 7.35. Now I'm sure the novelty of the new bed will wear off quite quickly, and the usual struggles will resume in time, but for now, it's goodnight from me, and it's goodnight from her.
A bientot
10-09
yesterday I met an angel in Paris
The train left Belgium 10 minutes late, not so much, we had AGES to cross Paris and make our connection. We watched the storms rolling across the sky as they followed us for most of the journey, and were quite snug as the rain battered the carriage windows. Then, about half an hour outside Paris the train stopped, and we waited and we waited, and just for fun waited some more. As the minutes ticked by I realised that the 'ages' we had to cross the city were rapidly becoming too short. By the time we got going again we were 50 minutes late, leaving just over half an hour till the next train was due to leave. Now officially the time it takes to get from gare du nord to montparnasse by metro is 25 minutes. Having done the journey several times now, I can only assume that the official who recorded that time must have been a member of the French olympic running squad travelling at a time when the metro was closed to the public. And they certainly did not have a tired, grumpy 4 year old and a heavy suitcase to contend with. A taxi was our only realistic option, and even then it would be a close thing. I don't know if you have ever tried to catch a taxi from a main international train station at around tea-time in the middle of a storm, but as we stepped outside and I saw the queue my heart sank and the hope of making our connection seemed to wash away in the rain. Unused to the idea of waiting, Moo marched right up to the head of the line, and as I tried to explain we had to wait at the other end, an angel appeared. There is a man at gare du nord whose job it is to see that the taxi queue remains orderly, and that people take their turn.. There is a man at gare du nord who told us that he has a little girl at home around the same age as Moo. There is a man at gare du nord who took pity on us and ushered us into the first taxi ahead of a hundred or so patiently waiting customers. There is a man at gare du nord who truly is an angel. Merci Monsieur. We told the driver our destination and our plight of timing, he just smiled an assured us it would be 'pas de problem' A dramatic and fast paced ride across the city ensued, and despite our hurry I enjoyed every second. Swerving in and out of non existent lanes, undercutting a police car on a roundabout, racing past the eerily glowing pyramid of the Louvre, passing through the Arc de Triomphe to the accompaniment of booming thunder, and there is nothing quite like the sight of lightning forking to within an inch of the Eiffel tower. Magical. We pulled up at the station with minutes to spare and with Moo clinging to the back of the wheelie suitcase, I ran. We got on the train and collapsed into our seats, moments before it pulled away on the last leg of our journey home.
A bientot.
07-09
all the fun of the fair
So a wonderful weekend with hubs and Moo, the highlight being that there was a fun-fair in town, so off we trooped on a stormy Sunday afternoon to take in the delights. And it really was a delight. It's been so long since I have been to a funfair, and it really didn't disappoint. Moo was entranced by the sights, sounds and smells and spent her pocket money in the blink of an eye. Fortunately the 'bank-of-dad' has not yet had too many lending restrictions placed upon it so she was able to secure adequate funding for the day. Watching her go for broke on the junior bumper cars had me fearing for the time in the future when she will be requesting driving lessons, and even though he still had a stinking cold, Hubs could not resist the plea for us all to go on the water ride together. As we lined up for our boat the heavens opened, and we were soaked before we even got on, but we weren't going to let a little rain dampen our spirits, well Moo was clearly not going to let a little rain dampen our spirits so we had little choice but to soldier on. The hall of mirrors seemed like as good a place as any to dry out, and many slightly steaming families seemed to have the same idea, and whilst I know that conventionally it's very bad form to laugh out loud at the appearance of a complete stranger, it was impossible not to. We had the most fun of the day pointing and laughing at our distorted reflections, and ended up staying in there for about half an hour, crying with laughter. After we were sufficiently dried out I was delegated the task of accompanying Moo on the 'pirate ship carousel' which at first glance held no fear, but as I watched it twist and spin and rise and fall at ever growing speed, the fear of a reappearing hot dog grew ever stronger. Moo looked a little terrified, but as it was her idea to go on there was to be no backing down, I don't know where she gets that stubborn streak.... Almost as soon as we got going the fear turned to laughter as we were thrown around inside the tiny boats, occasionally seeing the blur that was a waiting, watching hubs as we twirled passed, and all I could do was hug her and laugh like I haven't laughed for years.
However, there is one small tale of woe to report from our expedition. Hubs has lost his grab machine mojo. Hubs is a past master of the grab machine, and has never walked away empty handed, until now. Many euros were bid a fond goodbye as we went from one machine to another, but it just wasn't his day, and whilst Moo was briefly distressed at the lack of a prize, I think this may haunt Hubs for many a long day. In all fairness he is 'carrying an injury', with his big bad cold, and you can be sure he will rise to the grab machine crown once more when he is back at peak fitness.......
A bientot.
05-06
Flaming June
The month has started by more than living up to its reputation. It is glorious. The garden is thriving and the first crop of radish’s are in and consumed, more of that later, and the rest of my fledgling plot is coming along nicely. I am watching the cherry tree like a hawk and at the first sign of proper red, the ladder is coming out and whilst the birds will probably still get the majority, I am determined that this year I will at least get some. It’s a bit of a learning curve this gardening mularky, as I’ve never really had a garden before So far I have leaned that next year I’m going to stagger the radish planting. I wasn’t really expecting that many to grow, and as Moo is not that keen on the humble radish there has been an awful lot to consume. So I decided to get creative. Enough of buttered radish and stir fry, time to get busy. There were of course the inevitable soups, but I was after something a bit more….’cakey’. Hmm. Well you can get carrot cake so why not? The carrot and radish cake was a resounding success, so flushed with this I made biscuits. Not quite so good. But the ‘piece de resistance’ has got to be scones. The humble cheese scone redefined by a little bit of radish. I was actually quite amazed at just how good they are and can thoroughly recommend trying them. Particularly filled with a nice soft brie when they are fresh out of the oven.
Sadly the good weather seems to be accompanied by bad health. The school once more has succumbed to the ‘grande rhum’, and little dears have been coughing and spluttering for a week or so now. Moo and I have had a couple of rough nights but now we seem to be over the worst. Hubs has also had a very bad cough and cold and has been feeling quite miserable and poorly. These are the hard times, when I have to look at him feeling so blue and I can’t even give him a cuddle. But that will be remedied tomorrow as we have booked a trip to Belgium for the weekend and at last I can give him a big hug. And a couple of radish scones.
A bientot.
01-06
Flying cats
I have discovered this week that our cat can fly. I always knew she was a bit special/strange. She has been showing herself to be a fearless climber for a while now, and even at this young age has shown considerable skill with her acrobatics, but aeronautics came as a bit of a surprise even to me. It first happened, (well I first saw it happen), one evening last week as I was getting ready for bed. Having managed to entice her back inside for the night with some food, I shut the doors and windows downstairs and head up. After realising the futility of throwing herself against the glass to try and execute an overnight escape, she glumly followed and proceeded to her usual spot in the bath to wait for me. I should probably take the time now to explain that our strange little moggy will only drink from the bath. I have tried may different ways to try and convince her that this is not normal cat behaviour, but she will not be swayed and every night she will go and sit in the tub and meow very loudly till I perform my duty and put a little water in for her to drink. So anyway, after her drink she sauntered into the bedroom and jumped on the window ledge while I pottered/faffed about for a few minutes. Then I decided it was time to get the cat in and close the window for the night. Chimney however had obviously decided that she did not want to stay in for the night, and reasoned that as I had already closed all the windows and doors downstairs this may well be her last chance of freedom. She arched her back with such determination that I knew what she was about to do and tried to reach her before she toppled to what I assumed would be at least a broken leg. Of course I didn’t reach her in time and was left open mouthed, framed in the upstairs window, quite frankly, a little in awe of what I witnessed. As she, and my heart, leapt I watched for what could only have been a second or two, but it felt like so much more, as she stretched herself out and glided gracefully to the ground. And it really was quite graceful. She landed with barely a sound, around 10 meters down the garden, took a moment to compose herself, and, with a cocky little upward glance at me, sauntered off through the gate for an evening of adventure. I think I’d better try and warn the birds to look up as well as down from now on.
A bientot.
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02 July
A visit to the local pool-welcome to hell
Well July has arrived in a hurry here. It has come upon us most unexpectedly! Since hubs got home the time has flown and here we are with Moo at school for the last day of school before the summer holiday, most excited there is a school picnic for lunch and she is, for the first time, staying all day. It will be most strange for her not to be home at lunchtime. Strange, but nice! Although if the predicted 'grand orage' arrives it will be a rather soggy lunchtime.
Yesterday we had a busy morning in the garden. I saw hubs approach the apple tree with a determined look on his face and a saw in his hand, and knew he meant business. Not that he was chopping it down you understand, just giving it a much needed 'trim'. I'm guessing its around 15 years since it was last tended as the branches were trailing on the ground all around it cutting off about half the garden and reaching out over the fence, putting passers by in grave danger of Newtonian style concussion. Much sweating and sawing occurred and after an hour or so the tree looked less like a weeping willow and more like an apple tree, and we have an 'extra' 10 metres of garden. With that done we decided to have a nice relaxing afternoon at the local swimming pool. Really Hubs and I wanted to go to the lake, but the lure of the water slides was all consuming and off we went to the 7th circle of hell. I think the entire town had decided that it would be a good day to visit the pool and it was packed to the rafters with screaming excitable children. Moo had a great time and met a school friend for a mad splash fight, but it was all we could do to endure an hour and a half before we had to get out of there or lose our sanity entirely. Next time I think I may have to use the 'parents prerogative'* and insist on the beach instead. Which is where we are hoping to head to this afternoon, weather permitting, to enjoy our last child free hours of the summer?
*The parents prerogative of course being to lie blatantly to your child about the opening hours of the pool/shop/park/ice cream van - delete as necessary.
A bientot
JUNE
28-06
Spectacular spectacular
This week was a momentous week in our household, many months of preparation and rehearsal all coming to a head on Friday night for the fin d'annee spectacle d'ecole. Moo has been practicing her singing and dancing, mostly in secret so it's a big surprise, for weeks and has been reminding us to make sure we didn't forget the date for just about as long. We arrived at the appointed hour (20.15 - in costume), and proceeded to select our position (not quite front but centre) and wait till the spectacle began. The appointed hour, 20.30, came and went without much fanfare and people still milling around chatting and sorting out the vast amounts of cakes which had been donated for refreshments. Most people were in their seats by around 20.45, poised with their cameras at the ready to capture those magic moments. With bottoms already beginning to numb, it became clear that there was a problem backstage concerning microphones and batteries that would take more than a moment or two to resolve. 21.00 saw the arrival, and fitting, of new batteries and at last we were underway. The 'big school' (7-10 yr olds), kicked off with a funny drama concerning the office of the Mairé and a wedding. Although I didn't get the full measure of wit, I got enough for a few chuckles, but Hubs was left more than a little bemused. After a protracted scene change it was time for Moo to shine. The 'moyen section' writhed and slithered on stage to perform their contemporary dance interpretation of the origins of life 'micro cosmos', and I have to say, as someone who has seen a fair bit of contemporary dance in her time, they did a rather super job. After the dance came the singing and we were treated to a couple of numbers they had learnt during the year, but sadly not my favourite ditty 'je fais pipi sur le gazon'. I charge you to look it up - you will be amazed, and possibly a little disturbed! After the singing came the much needed interval, starring the aforementioned patisserie, which was much appreciated by all. By this point it was rapidly approaching 22.00. Moo (not to mention her parents) was seriously flagging, and as 'act 2' featured only the older children, we took the cowards way out and made our farewells citing a tired grumpy child, rather obligingly Moo decided to almost fall asleep in my arms at that moment, so our getaway was covered. We made it home around 22.15 and put moo to bed lavishing her with praise for a fine performance and collapsed onto the sofa with a big glass of wine, complimenting ourselves on our exit strategy. We were even more thankful when we saw our neighbour returning with a sleeping child in his arms at around 23.30. And so the spectacle d'ecole finds itself in quite illustrious company as it is only the 3rd time in my life I have left a performance at the interval. The first was 'Napoleon - the Musical', I don't think I have to add anything further as to why we left at the end of act 1, the title should tell you all you need to know. The second was the world premier of 'Lord of the rings - the musical' at Drury lane in London. Despite the multi-million pound budget, the lure of act 2 was about a million times weaker than the lure of the pub across the road. I may well have to volunteer my services as an ex-theatre professional to the spectacle d'ecole next year, if only to keep the running time down, as there will be no interval get out for us by then.
A bientot.
23-09
Multigym madness
The soundtrack to last evening was a steady stream of half uttered sentences 'where on earth does that...' but if that goes there'........ 'damn thing isn’t properly...' a few mild, but totally necessary, expletives through to discussion of people in a factory deliberately mislabelling parts in order to deceive and confuse, (well you would wouldn't you?). It can mean only one thing. Self assembly. We have been out and bought ourselves a multigym in attempt to regain a reasonable level of fitness (more of that in later posts I can assure you!). Even hubs looked daunted when we opened the boxes and saw the sheer volume of parts and scarcity of instructions. Getting it here was fun in itself and I wish I had a camera to record the look of utter disbelief on the face of the kindly assistant who brought the very large boxes out to the very small car. He obviously didn’t realise he was dealing with people who used to cram huge theatre sets into the back of small wagons. After a little jiggling we got the boxes in and closed the boot. I could tell the assistant was deeply impressed. How to get Hubs in was a slightly more complex matter as the front passenger seat was rammed up against the front window with a large container on top. After a short trip to the supermarket it was decided that cowering on the floor in the back under the said box, just would not do, so more adjustments were carried out enabling both Hubs and Moo to sit on the back seat without too much squishing. Sunday and Monday were (amongst other things), set aside for assembly and with one look in the box I decided that I would be best suited to making sure the workman had enough tea. After an heroic struggle against all the odds of tiny and badly drawn diagrams, an alarming system of labels, and a little encouragement from the sidelines (Moo's Monday morning comment of 'haven’t you finished it yet' went down particularly well), Hubs conquered and we now have a shiny new multigym ready to hone us into chiseled individuals. All we have to do now is use it.
A bientot.
19-06
Hubs is home and this time not just for a week!
So here we are somehow already at the time we have all been waiting for - summer holidays! Hubs is now finished in deepest darkest Belgium, well till the end of September anyway. We had a late night run to Le Mans on Thursday night to get him and bring him home just in time for his birthday. Friday morning, before school, saw Moo and I frantically decorating the living room with streamers and a birthday banner, so we could have a 'birthday lunch' when she came home for dinner. And it was lovely. Hubs refreshed from a lovely lie-in and a heap of cards to open and trying to adjust to the fact that he was home for a good long while and not the usual few short days. After Moo was sent, rather reluctantly, back to school Hubs and I had a leisurely wander round and found the perfect way to spend his birthday money, a fab rug for the living room and a copy of Mary Poppins. In all honesty I think Hubs was far more excited about viewing the new DVD than Moo, who took quite a lot of persuading, but dad’s promises of magic drawings and renditions of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious convinced her into it. With the evening’s entertainment sorted and a steak dinner consumed we all crashed out on the sofa and fought to keep our eyes open till the end of the film. Only Moo managed to achieve this and woke us up to tell us it was bedtime. How right she was.
A bientot.
16-06
Must clean!
Well the ‘big bed’ still seems to be weaving its magic spell, not quite at 7.30, but it’s still a very good thing! I have been having a very busy few days around the house, which started by cleaning a few mucky fingerprints from the window and turned into a full scale 3 day assault with the marigolds on. Now I’m not really a neat freak, (by any stretch of the imagination), but I do like a tidy house, after Moo has gone to bed obviously, any hope of a tidy house before that is false and doomed to failure, but the ‘deep clean’ is something I tend to avoid for as long as possible. But once you have one shiny clean window pane, it rather shows the rest up, and when you have a full set of gleaming windows, well the white cotton curtains take on a rather dingy appearance, and so it goes on. My well of enthusiasm ran dry at the end of day one, unfortunately only the upstairs was done by that point and I dragged myself through to the end of day two with a heavy heart and wrinkly hands, trying to find things for Moo to ‘help’ with without meaning double the work for me. I failed, miserably. But she meant well I’m sure, although I did have to explain that while it was very good of her to bring the curtains back upstairs for mummy to hang, it may have been a good idea to wash the jam off her hands before hand.
So all that is left now is to re-hang the curtains, after a boil wash to remove the aforementioned jam, but as I cant do that till morning I am going to enjoy this evening soaking in my shiny clean bath in my sparkling bathroom with a big glass of local brew as my reward for a spotless house, well till Moo gets up anyway.
A bientot.
12-06
bedtime glories
In comparison with our weekend, the last few days have been a little...boring, to be honest. Settling back in to the home routine, such as it is. I feel I should possibly not have commented on the glorious start to June, as since I did the weather has been atrocious. Wet, cold and grey. Moo and I have been watching a lot of films. We managed to make it to the swimming pool on Wednesday afternoon and although it was lousy weather Moo still wanted to go in the outdoor pool, mainly because there is a big water-slide outside, but we had fun swimming in the rain for about 15 minutes until the cold got the better of me and we headed back indoors. Moo is really coming along in the water, and her confidence is growing each time, its so good to watch her progress from week to week and it makes me so proud. Also this week we finally got Moo a proper bed. She has been quite content on her old bed base and mattress while we hummed and hawed over the 'new bed' purchase changing her mind on an almost daily basis as to what she wants. She had seen a country cottage enclosed bed that she liked for a while but at nearly 700Euros we decided to wait till she had gone off that particular idea. Thankfully she did! But I decided enough was enough and it was time to get her a plain old bed, rather fortunately my decision coincided with a sale at a local furniture shop and I managed to pick up a bargain at 40Euros. So now she has a 'big girl' bed and at last I can see the floor in her bedroom as there is ample space underneath to hide a multitude of toys. As I was telling hubs about the new bed Moo disappeared upstairs, only to reappear a few minutes later having changed herself into her pyjamas and insisted that it was time to go to bed. Now those of you who know Moo, either in person or through reading this site, will know that it's normally a bit of an effort at bedtime and we have had some long running 'bedtime issues', so for her to ask to go to bed at 7.20 was an offer I couldn't refuse. I quickly said goodbye to hubs and by the time I got upstairs she was already under the duvet with her night-light on, waiting for me to close the shutters. A quick story and I was dismissed and downstairs having a coffee by 7.35. Now I'm sure the novelty of the new bed will wear off quite quickly, and the usual struggles will resume in time, but for now, it's goodnight from me, and it's goodnight from her.
A bientot
10-09
yesterday I met an angel in Paris
The train left Belgium 10 minutes late, not so much, we had AGES to cross Paris and make our connection. We watched the storms rolling across the sky as they followed us for most of the journey, and were quite snug as the rain battered the carriage windows. Then, about half an hour outside Paris the train stopped, and we waited and we waited, and just for fun waited some more. As the minutes ticked by I realised that the 'ages' we had to cross the city were rapidly becoming too short. By the time we got going again we were 50 minutes late, leaving just over half an hour till the next train was due to leave. Now officially the time it takes to get from gare du nord to montparnasse by metro is 25 minutes. Having done the journey several times now, I can only assume that the official who recorded that time must have been a member of the French olympic running squad travelling at a time when the metro was closed to the public. And they certainly did not have a tired, grumpy 4 year old and a heavy suitcase to contend with. A taxi was our only realistic option, and even then it would be a close thing. I don't know if you have ever tried to catch a taxi from a main international train station at around tea-time in the middle of a storm, but as we stepped outside and I saw the queue my heart sank and the hope of making our connection seemed to wash away in the rain. Unused to the idea of waiting, Moo marched right up to the head of the line, and as I tried to explain we had to wait at the other end, an angel appeared. There is a man at gare du nord whose job it is to see that the taxi queue remains orderly, and that people take their turn.. There is a man at gare du nord who told us that he has a little girl at home around the same age as Moo. There is a man at gare du nord who took pity on us and ushered us into the first taxi ahead of a hundred or so patiently waiting customers. There is a man at gare du nord who truly is an angel. Merci Monsieur. We told the driver our destination and our plight of timing, he just smiled an assured us it would be 'pas de problem' A dramatic and fast paced ride across the city ensued, and despite our hurry I enjoyed every second. Swerving in and out of non existent lanes, undercutting a police car on a roundabout, racing past the eerily glowing pyramid of the Louvre, passing through the Arc de Triomphe to the accompaniment of booming thunder, and there is nothing quite like the sight of lightning forking to within an inch of the Eiffel tower. Magical. We pulled up at the station with minutes to spare and with Moo clinging to the back of the wheelie suitcase, I ran. We got on the train and collapsed into our seats, moments before it pulled away on the last leg of our journey home.
A bientot.
07-09
all the fun of the fair
So a wonderful weekend with hubs and Moo, the highlight being that there was a fun-fair in town, so off we trooped on a stormy Sunday afternoon to take in the delights. And it really was a delight. It's been so long since I have been to a funfair, and it really didn't disappoint. Moo was entranced by the sights, sounds and smells and spent her pocket money in the blink of an eye. Fortunately the 'bank-of-dad' has not yet had too many lending restrictions placed upon it so she was able to secure adequate funding for the day. Watching her go for broke on the junior bumper cars had me fearing for the time in the future when she will be requesting driving lessons, and even though he still had a stinking cold, Hubs could not resist the plea for us all to go on the water ride together. As we lined up for our boat the heavens opened, and we were soaked before we even got on, but we weren't going to let a little rain dampen our spirits, well Moo was clearly not going to let a little rain dampen our spirits so we had little choice but to soldier on. The hall of mirrors seemed like as good a place as any to dry out, and many slightly steaming families seemed to have the same idea, and whilst I know that conventionally it's very bad form to laugh out loud at the appearance of a complete stranger, it was impossible not to. We had the most fun of the day pointing and laughing at our distorted reflections, and ended up staying in there for about half an hour, crying with laughter. After we were sufficiently dried out I was delegated the task of accompanying Moo on the 'pirate ship carousel' which at first glance held no fear, but as I watched it twist and spin and rise and fall at ever growing speed, the fear of a reappearing hot dog grew ever stronger. Moo looked a little terrified, but as it was her idea to go on there was to be no backing down, I don't know where she gets that stubborn streak.... Almost as soon as we got going the fear turned to laughter as we were thrown around inside the tiny boats, occasionally seeing the blur that was a waiting, watching hubs as we twirled passed, and all I could do was hug her and laugh like I haven't laughed for years.
However, there is one small tale of woe to report from our expedition. Hubs has lost his grab machine mojo. Hubs is a past master of the grab machine, and has never walked away empty handed, until now. Many euros were bid a fond goodbye as we went from one machine to another, but it just wasn't his day, and whilst Moo was briefly distressed at the lack of a prize, I think this may haunt Hubs for many a long day. In all fairness he is 'carrying an injury', with his big bad cold, and you can be sure he will rise to the grab machine crown once more when he is back at peak fitness.......
A bientot.
05-06
Flaming June
The month has started by more than living up to its reputation. It is glorious. The garden is thriving and the first crop of radish’s are in and consumed, more of that later, and the rest of my fledgling plot is coming along nicely. I am watching the cherry tree like a hawk and at the first sign of proper red, the ladder is coming out and whilst the birds will probably still get the majority, I am determined that this year I will at least get some. It’s a bit of a learning curve this gardening mularky, as I’ve never really had a garden before So far I have leaned that next year I’m going to stagger the radish planting. I wasn’t really expecting that many to grow, and as Moo is not that keen on the humble radish there has been an awful lot to consume. So I decided to get creative. Enough of buttered radish and stir fry, time to get busy. There were of course the inevitable soups, but I was after something a bit more….’cakey’. Hmm. Well you can get carrot cake so why not? The carrot and radish cake was a resounding success, so flushed with this I made biscuits. Not quite so good. But the ‘piece de resistance’ has got to be scones. The humble cheese scone redefined by a little bit of radish. I was actually quite amazed at just how good they are and can thoroughly recommend trying them. Particularly filled with a nice soft brie when they are fresh out of the oven.
Sadly the good weather seems to be accompanied by bad health. The school once more has succumbed to the ‘grande rhum’, and little dears have been coughing and spluttering for a week or so now. Moo and I have had a couple of rough nights but now we seem to be over the worst. Hubs has also had a very bad cough and cold and has been feeling quite miserable and poorly. These are the hard times, when I have to look at him feeling so blue and I can’t even give him a cuddle. But that will be remedied tomorrow as we have booked a trip to Belgium for the weekend and at last I can give him a big hug. And a couple of radish scones.
A bientot.
01-06
Flying cats
I have discovered this week that our cat can fly. I always knew she was a bit special/strange. She has been showing herself to be a fearless climber for a while now, and even at this young age has shown considerable skill with her acrobatics, but aeronautics came as a bit of a surprise even to me. It first happened, (well I first saw it happen), one evening last week as I was getting ready for bed. Having managed to entice her back inside for the night with some food, I shut the doors and windows downstairs and head up. After realising the futility of throwing herself against the glass to try and execute an overnight escape, she glumly followed and proceeded to her usual spot in the bath to wait for me. I should probably take the time now to explain that our strange little moggy will only drink from the bath. I have tried may different ways to try and convince her that this is not normal cat behaviour, but she will not be swayed and every night she will go and sit in the tub and meow very loudly till I perform my duty and put a little water in for her to drink. So anyway, after her drink she sauntered into the bedroom and jumped on the window ledge while I pottered/faffed about for a few minutes. Then I decided it was time to get the cat in and close the window for the night. Chimney however had obviously decided that she did not want to stay in for the night, and reasoned that as I had already closed all the windows and doors downstairs this may well be her last chance of freedom. She arched her back with such determination that I knew what she was about to do and tried to reach her before she toppled to what I assumed would be at least a broken leg. Of course I didn’t reach her in time and was left open mouthed, framed in the upstairs window, quite frankly, a little in awe of what I witnessed. As she, and my heart, leapt I watched for what could only have been a second or two, but it felt like so much more, as she stretched herself out and glided gracefully to the ground. And it really was quite graceful. She landed with barely a sound, around 10 meters down the garden, took a moment to compose herself, and, with a cocky little upward glance at me, sauntered off through the gate for an evening of adventure. I think I’d better try and warn the birds to look up as well as down from now on.
A bientot.
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APOLOGIES FOR THE DELAY IN UPDATES. I WILL LEAVE JUNE ON FRONT PAGE WITH JULY TO GIVE YOU ALL A CHANCE TO CATCH UP!