 |
 |
 |
 |
back to archive home
April/May/June
JANUARY/FEBRUARY/
MARCH
MARCH
JANUARY
02-01 HAPPY NEW YEAR....
Although I'm a little late I hope you will accept my warm wishes for the happiest New Year to you all. I seem to be a little late with everything at the moment. Christmas and new year seem to have washed over me and already I'm looking at Hubs back to work and Moo back at school, still at least I might actually get things done. It’s amazing how little I've actually managed to achieve in the past 2 weeks, I stupidly thought that with Hubs at home for so long I would have more time not less, but sadly not! We have had a brilliant time though, it’s been so nice to spend time together that's not rushed, a luxury in fact and one we have been making the most of with lots of family walks and activities and lots of snuggle time on the sofa. And not much else. But now we are back into real life and Hubs heads back off to Antwerp on Sunday, should just be 3 weeks at a time, but oh the joys of a freelancer, they are already mutterings of schedule change... We had a very different new years eve this year, no sorry, last year, than the one previous. From the dizzy heights of the Capital city to rural calm. From the bells of Westminster (albeit from a bedsit window in Pimlico) to the tolling of the local church (my romantic notion of standing in the garden together listening to the new year bells rather lost some of its charm when we got outside and realised that it was REALLY cold and our kitchen clock is actually about 5 minutes fast...). From the sound of revellers partying into the morning, (and police sirens that almost inevitably followed them), and fireworks lighting up the orange sky for miles around to the sound of distant cattle and the stars lighting up the dark heavens for millions of miles. What a difference a year makes. The only downside to the whole Christmas period is with Moo and her sleeping patterns and mood swings. Normally she is a regular sleeper with no problems at bedtime but for the last 2 weeks she has been a nightmare. Obviously with all the excitement about Christmas we had been expecting a few bumps, but what we didn't factor in was the desolation and devastation that would be caused when she realised that Christmas was over. She has been queen ratty and has cranked the whinge-o-meter all the way up to 11. (hubs is currently upstairs trying to explain to her why at 11pm she should be asleep and not in fact prowling the upstairs hall yelling about how sad she is that she can't get to sleep and its making her cross - I sent up 'dad' this time just in case it makes a difference, but I fully expect to be up and down all night again dealing with little miss stroppy pants. (Another reason why blogging has been so infrequent - I'm knackered!). So I'm stealing some time down here in the living room on my own catching up. Time on your own is a strange thing. I am quite a solitary person by nature so time spent alone has never been a problem. Obviously since having Moo it has been virtually non-existent. I have a fair amount of time when she's asleep and a couple of hours 4 times a week when she's at school (but let’s face it when the drive to the supermarket is 45 minute round trip not including shopping time that doesn't add up to a lot of 'me time'). Being the only driver is a bit of a bore as every outing tends to end up a family expedition. I keep promising Gordon that we will have a day out together, just the two of us, but I can't see that happening for a while (Gordon is my trusty car just in case you didn't know). I did manage to get a couple of solo visits to feed the horse and chickens and I have to say, I loved it. I do however now want a horse as well as some chickens. Probably best start with just the chickens. Well Hubs has returned from the battleground upstairs, battered but not bloodied, so I'd best off and be ready for the next salvo.
07-01 Feeling blleeuurggh!
Along with most of the rest of the planet, so it would seem, I have succumbed to the dreaded lurgee and I feel awful. I have been putting up a valiant fight for the last few days with early(ish) nights and lemsip and paracetamol, but I'm finally giving in. I have flu. Bum. It’s been a pretty up and down week anyway with Moo resolutely ignoring all our efforts to cheer her up from her post Christmas blues and quite frankly, being a right pain in the behind. Her blues compounded by the fact that after 2 wonderful week’s daddy went back to work on Sunday, and it was back to school on Monday. She finds it quite hard still at school, but is slowly getting the hang of it. Her teacher says she is very quiet, but is starting to open up a bit more now she is learning some more of the language. It pains me to think of her having a hard time, but she does say that she enjoys it at school, and it would do her no good whatsoever not to be there (if you see what I mean). But I have decided to hold off on her going full time until she is a bit more confident. She's very like me and will not even attempt something until she knows for sure she can do it without messing it up which often means she won't do it at all. It's not a character trait I'm proud to have passed on as the fear of failure has held me back so much in my life and I have missed so many opportunities because of it, and I am desperately trying to encourage her out of it and who knows it may help me out a bit too. All that said she seemed quite excited as we headed back on Monday morning with homework book proudly clutched in her arms (a pictorial representation of our Christmas the highlight of which seemed to be chimney trashing the Christmas tree at every opportunity, and an Aladdin doll from Santa). The day got better and better for Moo as in the afternoon on the way back from the supermarket, it started to snow, and snow and snow! Moo was in raptures and informed me that Santa himself had sent her the snow as he knew how sad she was about it not being Christmas any more. How cute is that! So long walks through the village in the afternoon punting out snowballs at random passersby, trying to stop Moos hat slipping off her head (anyone with long thick hair will appreciate this particular problem, and watching the tow truck untangle the front end of a Renault 5 from the wall of the mairé's office (oops!). As much as I was loving the snow I was mightily relieved to see the 'camion du sel' spraying the road to school. The following day saw a grand snowball fight erupt outside our house with us and the neighbours kids, and a few passersby who joined in for good measure. Although I think top honours for the day go to Mr.G, our elderly neighbour who got proper stuck in after a stray ball knocked off his cap as he wandered past the battleground. In the end I was the only adult left in the fray and of course the kids all ganged up and I ended up looking like une bonne femme du neige, and although that was probably what tipped my germs over the edge I wouldn't have missed it! Although we haven't had any more snow it's been cold and dry enough for it to hang around, but the roads have mostly been cleared (apart from a few slippy patches I discovered this morning), and I dared a drive out to the big town today to get in some supplies. The best of which is a 'window helmet' for moo. That's a balaclava by the way. Window helmet is a term coined by my brother many many years ago and it has stuck with the family ever since. I have always thought there was something a bit, well, stupid looking if I'm honest, about balaclavas, but I am prepared to make my child look like a fool as long as it keeps her head warm. We had another little pootle in the garden today, (but a much shorter one with less snow thrown about), and we decided it was about time to broaden chimneys horizons and took her into the front garden. Up till now she has been confined to the back garden, mainly because a cat on a lead looks REALLY stupid, but I decided to lose any credibility I may have left and take her out front. Big mistake. An eager kitten, a lead, and an apple tree full of feeding birds. I'll leave the rest to your imagination.
Well I'm off to dose myself up and tuck myself into bed now (after I have removed a small person who I heard switching rooms about an hour or so ago, still the bed will be nice and warm for a change), and try and sleep off this wretched cold.
10-01 Tis the season to feel lousy....
Fa la la la la....I'm getting a bit bored of this now. I'm not very good at feeling ill (even when do have the luxury of a nursemaid), and I'm getting cross with my germs. I thought we had a break through yesterday as both Moo and I were feeling not so bad, as I said to hubs, not quite at deaths door but down the end of his street. We decided to venture out more through necessity than anything else as we were perilously close to running out of coffee, and that would have a TOTAL disaster. There are many things I can live without, but deprive me of coffee and it would be the end of all things. Anyway we made it to Super U for supplies and decided to take Tom for a spin at the plage as he was in the car anyway. Tom is what Moo has decided to call her bright pink princess bike by the way, I blame the parents. Anyway as we arrived we were greeted by the truly awesome sight of the frozen lake covered in snow. It truly was a sight full of glory as the sun began to set behind the forest the dying rays falling on to the surface and turning the entire lake into fire and ice. Evidence of young love before our eyes as there in the middle of the ice and snow was an enormous love heart inscribed with the legend 'ALICIA I LOVE YOU'. And of course I didn't have my camera with me. A grand romantic gesture. It brought tears to my eyes. Or maybe that was the wind. Of course as we get older and wiser (i.e. more cynical) it would be deemed foolish and downright dangerous to go to the middle of a frozen lake to write a frivolous message. Oh for the foolish spirit of young love and the grand romantic gesture, when was the last time you did something foolish and wonderful for the person you love, too long for me, but I am quite determined that it won't be too long before I do it again. Hubs look out. After a little ride around the lake path (well a very small part of it I should say it is about 5km after all). We took ourselves off home via the local bar to see how Mr & Mrs HV were doing and warm up with a coffee. It's so nice when you go into a place and are greeted with a big smile and a hug. Moo was full of tales of bike riding and new colouring books and anything else she could think of so I went across the road to visit Mme Sophie, otherwise known round here as the baker of wonder. Again to be greeted warmly with a 'bonne annee' and a kiss (no hugs though, the French don't do hugging, In fact it was interesting to find that there is no word for hug just 'serrer dans ses bras', literally close in your arms). The baker of wonder truly is a wonder. An ancient traditional stone baker’s oven with Sophie tending the organic handmade loaves to absolute perfection. I resisted the temptation to buy one of everything and opted for the still warm brioche aux fruit. It almost made it home this time. And so an early night was deemed necessary and all was well till Moo woke me up at 4am saying she felt poorly and got into my bed then promptly threw up over herself, the bed and me. Joy. So a quick change of linen and hot bath later were in order. Chimney, who unlike most cats has developed a love of water, was perched as usual on the corner of the bath but, possibly due to the hour of the day managed to drop off, both figuratively and literally, and joined us in the tub. A deal of floundering and scratching and hair drier action later we stumbled back to bed, but sleep was not an option as Moo was wide awake and wanted to play. And so the day began. Things didn't get much better. It was one of those days you just want to write off as a bad job. Moo has only managed to keep down a couple of bits of toast and I'm not that far behind. I switched on the main computer to find that only half the keyboard was working, I'm really starting to get the fear of that machine, just about every time I switch it on something goes wrong. I opened the washing machine door to exchange the now vomit free sheets for the as yet vomit covered pyjamas to find it was still full of water. It's not supposed to let you do that. I went to fetch the mop from the shed and after I had managed to defrost it and start mopping the floor the wringer on the bucket snapped. And almost simultaneously Moo's stomach decided that it really didn't want that toast after all. At least I already had the mop out. Oh yes and the bathroom tap has developed a nasty slow drip - like water torture at the moment. Despite all the yuck we have still managed to have a nice day together and in between crisis' we have done lots of colouring in, played a bit of star wars Lego and had 2 wonderful Skype chats, first with my mum and dad who were just checking in to see if we were OK (!) and second with hubs in Antwerp. For those of you who do not know about Skype, it’s a wonderful (and wonderfully free) programme that allows users to talk to each other via the computer for free, it supports web cams too so not only can we talk to grandma and grandpa and daddy wherever they are in the world, we can see them too. A real pick-me-up and much needed today. So now I'm off to prepare a light tea which I'm sure will be an 'aller retour', but the mop has not yet been put away. Hubs, I think you may have to wait a while for the grand romantic gesture.
15-01 The French are sick....no really...
So today' French word s are 'gastro entérite' not a difficult one to learn, but according to the news (and Mr.M our neighbour- so it must be true), most of France is suffering from it at the moment. Molly has been proper poorly today and was sick at school, unfortunately, without me realising, our home phone was on silent so all of 'Maitrees'' efforts to get in touch and tell me Moo was poorly were in vain. So I arrived to find her shivering wrapped in a blanket and just wanting to sleep. So I have poorly child and mum guilt too. Worse than that we got home and I found that my UK stocks of Calpol had run dry.
So we have been to the pharmacie and have a bottle of 'French calpol' - dolaprine - in case you were wondering. She was nearly asleep in the car on the way back so I got all proper mumsy and we got in our jama's and went bed with the shutters closed and a hot bottle. So now it's evening and we've just got up after a few hours sleep, goodness knows what this will do to sleeping patterns...she's still 'not hungry' but at least has had a little bit to drink. So we are snuggled up on the sofa watching cars under a duvet. No school tomorrow for Moo and I’ll keep you all updated as to how she is doing. To be honest I’m a little bit over January as it seems that all that pretty much all that has happened so far is illness, with a few days of snow thrown in to cheer us up, either myself or Moo has been under the weather for weeks and I’m a bit bored of it now. Still it will all be cleared up soon I’m sure, and at least I’m feeling better now...... well until the gastro hits anyway. Bonne weekend.... I have been looking into a new way to host the pictures on this site as it's taking up quite a lot of space and time to update them, but I have been a little bit distracted, I’m sure you will understand, so bear with me and I'll get on with it as soon as we have stopped throwing up.
23-01 Mulch ado about nothing
Before I begin I would like to wish my sister and her husband a very happy 21st wedding anniversary. Congratulations you guys. I can't quite believe you are really that old now....... It's a shamefully long time since I wrote my blog and for that I sincerely apologise, but as today's title suggest, there really hasn't been too much to report. I can assure you that in-depth descriptions of myself and Moo's various bodily fluids are really not what you want to hear about. The January illness train is rolling on, but hopefully will soon depart for good. At the end of two very long weeks, that feel like a lot longer, I am left today with a nose that rivals Rudolph himself and a vast pile of soggy handkerchiefs but, hands down, it beats the stomach bug of doom (as it has become named around these parts). There have been a few points of interest including a birthday party, the only kid’s party I have ever been to where hardly any of the kids ate any food - we are not the only passengers on the sickness train. It was touch and go whether we would attend, but Moo had picked up a bit by the Sunday morning and had been looking forward to this for such a long time that I decided to take her, but stay in case she got too tired or crabby (a cheap excuse for me to stay and drink coffee and chat.). The party went well and after the organised games and the garden free-for-all the other parents arrived to collect their children. A few of us gathered around the kitchen table studiously ignoring the banging and crashing from upstairs, and talked well into the evening. Well mainly I listened, but was surprised and delighted to find that I caught the gist of most of what was going on, and even managed the odd comment or too, whilst explaining that although I knew what they were saying, I'm just not fast enough to join in fully. This was taken in good grace and I feel I made a few more friends that day. As long as they talk slowly to me that is! A few hours later with Moo tucked up in bed I thought about updating the site, really I did, but a few hours total concentration on trying to understand a conversation took its toll and I was felled by a horrendous migraine, and of course, we had run out of ibuprofen. Typical. The first night in 2 weeks that moo has slept through and I didn't sleep a wink. By the time Monday morning rolled round Moo's temperature had shot up again so it was back to the sofa for her and dealing with the plumber for me. In all honesty 'dealing with the plumber' entailed me showing him the bathroom and getting him a coffee. So really quite easy, but nothing feels that easy with the leftovers of a migraine'. I also had the spectre of the census forms hanging over me. It is time for our department to be accounted for and the forms have been sitting in the letter rack glaring at me for the past week, daring me to pick them up and try and figure out what the heck I'm supposed to write. I can't even figure out a job description for Hubs in English, never mind in French. But over the next couple of days they were done and I waited nervously to see if I had done them right.... After another couple of 'duvet days' watching films and Moo being waited on hand and foot, the time came on Thursday for Moo to go back to school. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth and Hubs was enlisted via mobile phone to reinforce the 'you must go back to school, even if you don't want to' message. Of course the heartstrings were pulled to great effect by Moo who insisted that 'she didn't understand anything at school' she 'had no friends' there and generally that putting her back into that 'horrible place' would be tantamount to child cruelty. I almost wavered. Had it not been for the fact that the census lady was arriving at the house in an hour to discuss our forms I may just have cracked. But off she went with her wobbly lip, leaving me to wallow in the guilt of parenthood and worry about my census forms. As it turns out I need not have been worried about either. Mme C. arrived, checked the forms, pronounced them 'parfait' and left. And when I went to pick Moo up from school she was smiling and kissing her classmates as she walked out the door. Today has been mostly about trying to catch up with all of the things and people I have been neglecting for the past two weeks. A lovely visit to Mr & Mrs HV after school, resulting in a HUGE box of eggs to take home, apparently the chickens are a little over-active in the laying department and she keeps finding eggs all over the garden, so omelettes all round and crêpes for supper (for the next couple of weeks at least), Banking in the afternoon a long awaited very long walk for chimney, and finally tidying up the leaves in the front garden that have been rotting in big piles since late October ( I bet you were thinking that the 'mulch' reference in the title was a spelling mistake - it may have taken a while to get there but it's amazing the lengths I will go to fit in a pun - I blame my father). Tonight Moo is finally back in her own bed, the cat isn't trying to break out of the house and I have written my blog. So time for a hot bottle, a hot toddie and bed. I would say that normal service will be resumed on the blog, but hubs gets home on Sunday, (YEAH), so I'm not making too many promises. Oh and in case you were wondering he's 'un informaticien du le spectacle de theatre'. Well he is now anyway!!
02-01 HAPPY NEW YEAR....
Although I'm a little late I hope you will accept my warm wishes for the happiest New Year to you all. I seem to be a little late with everything at the moment. Christmas and new year seem to have washed over me and already I'm looking at Hubs back to work and Moo back at school, still at least I might actually get things done. It’s amazing how little I've actually managed to achieve in the past 2 weeks, I stupidly thought that with Hubs at home for so long I would have more time not less, but sadly not! We have had a brilliant time though, it’s been so nice to spend time together that's not rushed, a luxury in fact and one we have been making the most of with lots of family walks and activities and lots of snuggle time on the sofa. And not much else. But now we are back into real life and Hubs heads back off to Antwerp on Sunday, should just be 3 weeks at a time, but oh the joys of a freelancer, they are already mutterings of schedule change... We had a very different new years eve this year, no sorry, last year, than the one previous. From the dizzy heights of the Capital city to rural calm. From the bells of Westminster (albeit from a bedsit window in Pimlico) to the tolling of the local church (my romantic notion of standing in the garden together listening to the new year bells rather lost some of its charm when we got outside and realised that it was REALLY cold and our kitchen clock is actually about 5 minutes fast...). From the sound of revellers partying into the morning, (and police sirens that almost inevitably followed them), and fireworks lighting up the orange sky for miles around to the sound of distant cattle and the stars lighting up the dark heavens for millions of miles. What a difference a year makes. The only downside to the whole Christmas period is with Moo and her sleeping patterns and mood swings. Normally she is a regular sleeper with no problems at bedtime but for the last 2 weeks she has been a nightmare. Obviously with all the excitement about Christmas we had been expecting a few bumps, but what we didn't factor in was the desolation and devastation that would be caused when she realised that Christmas was over. She has been queen ratty and has cranked the whinge-o-meter all the way up to 11. (hubs is currently upstairs trying to explain to her why at 11pm she should be asleep and not in fact prowling the upstairs hall yelling about how sad she is that she can't get to sleep and its making her cross - I sent up 'dad' this time just in case it makes a difference, but I fully expect to be up and down all night again dealing with little miss stroppy pants. (Another reason why blogging has been so infrequent - I'm knackered!). So I'm stealing some time down here in the living room on my own catching up. Time on your own is a strange thing. I am quite a solitary person by nature so time spent alone has never been a problem. Obviously since having Moo it has been virtually non-existent. I have a fair amount of time when she's asleep and a couple of hours 4 times a week when she's at school (but let’s face it when the drive to the supermarket is 45 minute round trip not including shopping time that doesn't add up to a lot of 'me time'). Being the only driver is a bit of a bore as every outing tends to end up a family expedition. I keep promising Gordon that we will have a day out together, just the two of us, but I can't see that happening for a while (Gordon is my trusty car just in case you didn't know). I did manage to get a couple of solo visits to feed the horse and chickens and I have to say, I loved it. I do however now want a horse as well as some chickens. Probably best start with just the chickens. Well Hubs has returned from the battleground upstairs, battered but not bloodied, so I'd best off and be ready for the next salvo.
07-01 Feeling blleeuurggh!
Along with most of the rest of the planet, so it would seem, I have succumbed to the dreaded lurgee and I feel awful. I have been putting up a valiant fight for the last few days with early(ish) nights and lemsip and paracetamol, but I'm finally giving in. I have flu. Bum. It’s been a pretty up and down week anyway with Moo resolutely ignoring all our efforts to cheer her up from her post Christmas blues and quite frankly, being a right pain in the behind. Her blues compounded by the fact that after 2 wonderful week’s daddy went back to work on Sunday, and it was back to school on Monday. She finds it quite hard still at school, but is slowly getting the hang of it. Her teacher says she is very quiet, but is starting to open up a bit more now she is learning some more of the language. It pains me to think of her having a hard time, but she does say that she enjoys it at school, and it would do her no good whatsoever not to be there (if you see what I mean). But I have decided to hold off on her going full time until she is a bit more confident. She's very like me and will not even attempt something until she knows for sure she can do it without messing it up which often means she won't do it at all. It's not a character trait I'm proud to have passed on as the fear of failure has held me back so much in my life and I have missed so many opportunities because of it, and I am desperately trying to encourage her out of it and who knows it may help me out a bit too. All that said she seemed quite excited as we headed back on Monday morning with homework book proudly clutched in her arms (a pictorial representation of our Christmas the highlight of which seemed to be chimney trashing the Christmas tree at every opportunity, and an Aladdin doll from Santa). The day got better and better for Moo as in the afternoon on the way back from the supermarket, it started to snow, and snow and snow! Moo was in raptures and informed me that Santa himself had sent her the snow as he knew how sad she was about it not being Christmas any more. How cute is that! So long walks through the village in the afternoon punting out snowballs at random passersby, trying to stop Moos hat slipping off her head (anyone with long thick hair will appreciate this particular problem, and watching the tow truck untangle the front end of a Renault 5 from the wall of the mairé's office (oops!). As much as I was loving the snow I was mightily relieved to see the 'camion du sel' spraying the road to school. The following day saw a grand snowball fight erupt outside our house with us and the neighbours kids, and a few passersby who joined in for good measure. Although I think top honours for the day go to Mr.G, our elderly neighbour who got proper stuck in after a stray ball knocked off his cap as he wandered past the battleground. In the end I was the only adult left in the fray and of course the kids all ganged up and I ended up looking like une bonne femme du neige, and although that was probably what tipped my germs over the edge I wouldn't have missed it! Although we haven't had any more snow it's been cold and dry enough for it to hang around, but the roads have mostly been cleared (apart from a few slippy patches I discovered this morning), and I dared a drive out to the big town today to get in some supplies. The best of which is a 'window helmet' for moo. That's a balaclava by the way. Window helmet is a term coined by my brother many many years ago and it has stuck with the family ever since. I have always thought there was something a bit, well, stupid looking if I'm honest, about balaclavas, but I am prepared to make my child look like a fool as long as it keeps her head warm. We had another little pootle in the garden today, (but a much shorter one with less snow thrown about), and we decided it was about time to broaden chimneys horizons and took her into the front garden. Up till now she has been confined to the back garden, mainly because a cat on a lead looks REALLY stupid, but I decided to lose any credibility I may have left and take her out front. Big mistake. An eager kitten, a lead, and an apple tree full of feeding birds. I'll leave the rest to your imagination.
Well I'm off to dose myself up and tuck myself into bed now (after I have removed a small person who I heard switching rooms about an hour or so ago, still the bed will be nice and warm for a change), and try and sleep off this wretched cold.
10-01 Tis the season to feel lousy....
Fa la la la la....I'm getting a bit bored of this now. I'm not very good at feeling ill (even when do have the luxury of a nursemaid), and I'm getting cross with my germs. I thought we had a break through yesterday as both Moo and I were feeling not so bad, as I said to hubs, not quite at deaths door but down the end of his street. We decided to venture out more through necessity than anything else as we were perilously close to running out of coffee, and that would have a TOTAL disaster. There are many things I can live without, but deprive me of coffee and it would be the end of all things. Anyway we made it to Super U for supplies and decided to take Tom for a spin at the plage as he was in the car anyway. Tom is what Moo has decided to call her bright pink princess bike by the way, I blame the parents. Anyway as we arrived we were greeted by the truly awesome sight of the frozen lake covered in snow. It truly was a sight full of glory as the sun began to set behind the forest the dying rays falling on to the surface and turning the entire lake into fire and ice. Evidence of young love before our eyes as there in the middle of the ice and snow was an enormous love heart inscribed with the legend 'ALICIA I LOVE YOU'. And of course I didn't have my camera with me. A grand romantic gesture. It brought tears to my eyes. Or maybe that was the wind. Of course as we get older and wiser (i.e. more cynical) it would be deemed foolish and downright dangerous to go to the middle of a frozen lake to write a frivolous message. Oh for the foolish spirit of young love and the grand romantic gesture, when was the last time you did something foolish and wonderful for the person you love, too long for me, but I am quite determined that it won't be too long before I do it again. Hubs look out. After a little ride around the lake path (well a very small part of it I should say it is about 5km after all). We took ourselves off home via the local bar to see how Mr & Mrs HV were doing and warm up with a coffee. It's so nice when you go into a place and are greeted with a big smile and a hug. Moo was full of tales of bike riding and new colouring books and anything else she could think of so I went across the road to visit Mme Sophie, otherwise known round here as the baker of wonder. Again to be greeted warmly with a 'bonne annee' and a kiss (no hugs though, the French don't do hugging, In fact it was interesting to find that there is no word for hug just 'serrer dans ses bras', literally close in your arms). The baker of wonder truly is a wonder. An ancient traditional stone baker’s oven with Sophie tending the organic handmade loaves to absolute perfection. I resisted the temptation to buy one of everything and opted for the still warm brioche aux fruit. It almost made it home this time. And so an early night was deemed necessary and all was well till Moo woke me up at 4am saying she felt poorly and got into my bed then promptly threw up over herself, the bed and me. Joy. So a quick change of linen and hot bath later were in order. Chimney, who unlike most cats has developed a love of water, was perched as usual on the corner of the bath but, possibly due to the hour of the day managed to drop off, both figuratively and literally, and joined us in the tub. A deal of floundering and scratching and hair drier action later we stumbled back to bed, but sleep was not an option as Moo was wide awake and wanted to play. And so the day began. Things didn't get much better. It was one of those days you just want to write off as a bad job. Moo has only managed to keep down a couple of bits of toast and I'm not that far behind. I switched on the main computer to find that only half the keyboard was working, I'm really starting to get the fear of that machine, just about every time I switch it on something goes wrong. I opened the washing machine door to exchange the now vomit free sheets for the as yet vomit covered pyjamas to find it was still full of water. It's not supposed to let you do that. I went to fetch the mop from the shed and after I had managed to defrost it and start mopping the floor the wringer on the bucket snapped. And almost simultaneously Moo's stomach decided that it really didn't want that toast after all. At least I already had the mop out. Oh yes and the bathroom tap has developed a nasty slow drip - like water torture at the moment. Despite all the yuck we have still managed to have a nice day together and in between crisis' we have done lots of colouring in, played a bit of star wars Lego and had 2 wonderful Skype chats, first with my mum and dad who were just checking in to see if we were OK (!) and second with hubs in Antwerp. For those of you who do not know about Skype, it’s a wonderful (and wonderfully free) programme that allows users to talk to each other via the computer for free, it supports web cams too so not only can we talk to grandma and grandpa and daddy wherever they are in the world, we can see them too. A real pick-me-up and much needed today. So now I'm off to prepare a light tea which I'm sure will be an 'aller retour', but the mop has not yet been put away. Hubs, I think you may have to wait a while for the grand romantic gesture.
15-01 The French are sick....no really...
So today' French word s are 'gastro entérite' not a difficult one to learn, but according to the news (and Mr.M our neighbour- so it must be true), most of France is suffering from it at the moment. Molly has been proper poorly today and was sick at school, unfortunately, without me realising, our home phone was on silent so all of 'Maitrees'' efforts to get in touch and tell me Moo was poorly were in vain. So I arrived to find her shivering wrapped in a blanket and just wanting to sleep. So I have poorly child and mum guilt too. Worse than that we got home and I found that my UK stocks of Calpol had run dry.
So we have been to the pharmacie and have a bottle of 'French calpol' - dolaprine - in case you were wondering. She was nearly asleep in the car on the way back so I got all proper mumsy and we got in our jama's and went bed with the shutters closed and a hot bottle. So now it's evening and we've just got up after a few hours sleep, goodness knows what this will do to sleeping patterns...she's still 'not hungry' but at least has had a little bit to drink. So we are snuggled up on the sofa watching cars under a duvet. No school tomorrow for Moo and I’ll keep you all updated as to how she is doing. To be honest I’m a little bit over January as it seems that all that pretty much all that has happened so far is illness, with a few days of snow thrown in to cheer us up, either myself or Moo has been under the weather for weeks and I’m a bit bored of it now. Still it will all be cleared up soon I’m sure, and at least I’m feeling better now...... well until the gastro hits anyway. Bonne weekend.... I have been looking into a new way to host the pictures on this site as it's taking up quite a lot of space and time to update them, but I have been a little bit distracted, I’m sure you will understand, so bear with me and I'll get on with it as soon as we have stopped throwing up.
23-01 Mulch ado about nothing
Before I begin I would like to wish my sister and her husband a very happy 21st wedding anniversary. Congratulations you guys. I can't quite believe you are really that old now....... It's a shamefully long time since I wrote my blog and for that I sincerely apologise, but as today's title suggest, there really hasn't been too much to report. I can assure you that in-depth descriptions of myself and Moo's various bodily fluids are really not what you want to hear about. The January illness train is rolling on, but hopefully will soon depart for good. At the end of two very long weeks, that feel like a lot longer, I am left today with a nose that rivals Rudolph himself and a vast pile of soggy handkerchiefs but, hands down, it beats the stomach bug of doom (as it has become named around these parts). There have been a few points of interest including a birthday party, the only kid’s party I have ever been to where hardly any of the kids ate any food - we are not the only passengers on the sickness train. It was touch and go whether we would attend, but Moo had picked up a bit by the Sunday morning and had been looking forward to this for such a long time that I decided to take her, but stay in case she got too tired or crabby (a cheap excuse for me to stay and drink coffee and chat.). The party went well and after the organised games and the garden free-for-all the other parents arrived to collect their children. A few of us gathered around the kitchen table studiously ignoring the banging and crashing from upstairs, and talked well into the evening. Well mainly I listened, but was surprised and delighted to find that I caught the gist of most of what was going on, and even managed the odd comment or too, whilst explaining that although I knew what they were saying, I'm just not fast enough to join in fully. This was taken in good grace and I feel I made a few more friends that day. As long as they talk slowly to me that is! A few hours later with Moo tucked up in bed I thought about updating the site, really I did, but a few hours total concentration on trying to understand a conversation took its toll and I was felled by a horrendous migraine, and of course, we had run out of ibuprofen. Typical. The first night in 2 weeks that moo has slept through and I didn't sleep a wink. By the time Monday morning rolled round Moo's temperature had shot up again so it was back to the sofa for her and dealing with the plumber for me. In all honesty 'dealing with the plumber' entailed me showing him the bathroom and getting him a coffee. So really quite easy, but nothing feels that easy with the leftovers of a migraine'. I also had the spectre of the census forms hanging over me. It is time for our department to be accounted for and the forms have been sitting in the letter rack glaring at me for the past week, daring me to pick them up and try and figure out what the heck I'm supposed to write. I can't even figure out a job description for Hubs in English, never mind in French. But over the next couple of days they were done and I waited nervously to see if I had done them right.... After another couple of 'duvet days' watching films and Moo being waited on hand and foot, the time came on Thursday for Moo to go back to school. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth and Hubs was enlisted via mobile phone to reinforce the 'you must go back to school, even if you don't want to' message. Of course the heartstrings were pulled to great effect by Moo who insisted that 'she didn't understand anything at school' she 'had no friends' there and generally that putting her back into that 'horrible place' would be tantamount to child cruelty. I almost wavered. Had it not been for the fact that the census lady was arriving at the house in an hour to discuss our forms I may just have cracked. But off she went with her wobbly lip, leaving me to wallow in the guilt of parenthood and worry about my census forms. As it turns out I need not have been worried about either. Mme C. arrived, checked the forms, pronounced them 'parfait' and left. And when I went to pick Moo up from school she was smiling and kissing her classmates as she walked out the door. Today has been mostly about trying to catch up with all of the things and people I have been neglecting for the past two weeks. A lovely visit to Mr & Mrs HV after school, resulting in a HUGE box of eggs to take home, apparently the chickens are a little over-active in the laying department and she keeps finding eggs all over the garden, so omelettes all round and crêpes for supper (for the next couple of weeks at least), Banking in the afternoon a long awaited very long walk for chimney, and finally tidying up the leaves in the front garden that have been rotting in big piles since late October ( I bet you were thinking that the 'mulch' reference in the title was a spelling mistake - it may have taken a while to get there but it's amazing the lengths I will go to fit in a pun - I blame my father). Tonight Moo is finally back in her own bed, the cat isn't trying to break out of the house and I have written my blog. So time for a hot bottle, a hot toddie and bed. I would say that normal service will be resumed on the blog, but hubs gets home on Sunday, (YEAH), so I'm not making too many promises. Oh and in case you were wondering he's 'un informaticien du le spectacle de theatre'. Well he is now anyway!!
Misadventures in Mayenne
FEBRUARY
04-02 Hallelujah, it's February!
It’s been a funny old week or so. We are, thankfully, back in the land of relatively good health which is a brilliant place to be after the last month (January officially sucked). We had a lovely week with hubs at home but waved him off again (a couple of times), on Sunday - but more about that later..... He arrived last Sunday, after a dramatic journey featuring late trains from Belgium and a mad dash across Paris in a taxi (I was ever so jealous!!), at the local train station. I am NOT missing the airport run every couple of weeks. Moo was so excited all day but when the time came to leave took so long getting ready that we were actually late picking him up. Months of being early when its 150km away and when it's 8km we managed to be late - go figure. We have had a nice cosy week, with a few outings for chimney and tom (Moo's bike) alike, but spent most of the week indoors still getting over our bugs and undoubtedly passing them on to Hubs. We did have a nice trip out to 'the big city' on Wednesday and joy, found the H&M sale! Moo seems to be sprouting again and her jeans were distinctly on the short side. She's going to be about 8 foot tall if she carries on at this rate, at age 4 and a wee bit she is already in size 6-7 clothes. She has always been tall and quite forward thinking for her age and it's often difficult to remember that she is only 4 and a wee bit. I'm sure we are as guilty as anyone of expecting too much from her at times, and forgetting she is still a child with so much to learn. She is having a few difficulties at school, and after a chat with her teacher we have decided that after the holidays she will go full time. At the moment she only does mornings, but Maitress thinks that she will benefit more by attending afternoons too as this is when much of the 'learning' gets done. I must admit to a few collywobbles on her behalf, but my head knows that this is the right thing for Moo - well it’s pretty sure anyway. She has been pulled up this week for lazy writing, and trying to get out of work with the 'je ne comprende pas' card, so we have been hitting the books at home too and although not particularly willing, she is getting on well. There has been much bribery on my part, with the promise of an hour or two on the x-box for good behaviour, but by far the best incentive at the moment is the '5 star fish tank'. A big star chart with 5 spaces for stars awarded for good behaviour, good work and helping out around the house. When the 5 stars are achieved the reward of an item for the fish tank is received - just wait till you see how creative hubs and I have been with the craft foam....pictures to follow! We had a small incident with Moo on Saturday as we were rushing to get out to la poste before it closed. She did not want to go out. A small tantrum (more of a tant really), and the tears were flowing as we left the house. As I was locking the door I heard the volume of crying increase and I turned to see an ashen faced hubs walking Moo back from the gate to the house with his hand on her head covered in blood. We rushed her straight back in and I fetched the first aid box full of dread and trying not to imagine the worst. Thankfully she only had a very small cut on the top of her head, totally disproportionate to the amount of blood on the floor, and hubs and her coat, her top, her shoes and of course her brand new pink skirt.....even Chimney managed to get in on the act and somehow ended up splattered. Needless to say la posted was postponed and we tried to console Moo with tales of misadventure from our youth with numerous head bashing stories and the showing off of scars from long ago. It seemed to do the trick and soon she was laughing her socks off at the thought of mummy going to work with an eye patch on and the numerous pirate impersonations that inevitably followed. (If you must know I tripped on a rug and managed to fall into a set of low shelves, the corner of which intersected with my right eye scratching the surface quite badly. 'Ha - har me hearties' reverberated around wherever I went for a couple of weeks and I even found a parrot in my locker at work one night - oh, how I laughed....). On Sunday it was once again time to say au revoir to Hubs and off we went to the big city train station to wave him off. We got back to the car and tried to pay for our parking, but the machine wasn't playing ball and refused my ticket so we were stuck there. There was a number to call, but no payphone and, of course, I had run out of credit on my mobile, so we ran back to the station hoping that hubs had not left, grabbed his phone and had a hurried conversation with a very bored man in the car parking central control office somewhere in the city. I managed to gather that I had to push the button near the exit, but wasn't really sure to which button he was referring, so with hubs now needing to dash for his train I handed back the phone said goodbye again and headed off to try and find said button. Thankfully there was not a large variety of buttons to choose from and the very same bored young man obligingly raised the barrier and we managed to escape for a well earned 'treat' at the golden arches. Since then it has been the usual gloomy day or so after hubs leaves with little sleep and to make things worse we had to watch the UK being blessed, (or cursed depending on your point of view), with lashings of lovely snow. All we managed was a small flurry on Monday that had gone within an hour. But so many things to look forward to. Tomorrow Moo has another birthday party to attend and, joy unconfined, our good friend JJ has managed to get a bunch of time owed from work and is arriving on Friday for a few weeks holiday. Best tidy up a bit then.
08-02 Be careful what you wish for...
The day of the birthday party dawned with the ground and the sky full of snow, suddenly the short drive to the next village seemed as far as a trip to the moon. By 11am we had over an inch and a half and counting so a snowy walk with chimney and Moo seemed the best course of action. As we were out the clouds disappeared as fast as they had arrived and we were bathed in glorious sunshine. After a rapid snowball fight and a quick bite of lunch the sun had done its work and the roads looked fairly clear, so the party was on again. Again I stayed to help (glutton for punishment or what?), and had a lovely afternoon ploughing my way through conversations, but seeming to make myself understood. Towards the end of the party Moo had a small tussle with one of the boys over the possession of a toy gun, but it was nothing more than too many sweets and too much excitement. All was forgotten 10 minutes later, well by us anyway. I received a phone call from the mother of the boy later that evening to profusely apologise for the bad behaviour of her son and she hoped that Moo was OK and I was not upset (at least I'm pretty sure that's what she said...). I was taken aback to say the least, but touched that she called. I have been feeling a bit low and hit the wall on Thursday. Despite the fact that life is good I was feeling very sorry for myself and confess to having a bit of a cry. But one well chosen and perfectly timed word from an old friend snapped me out of it and made me realise how blessed we are and I just needed to pick myself up and get on with it! Thanks Mate. I got on with it in the form of checking train tickets to Belgium next week to go and see hubs and found a good deal for nearly a week away. Feeling better already. Friday saw the last day of school for Moo for 2 weeks and a trip to the local station for the simple task of buying the tickets. Hmm simple. Right. When we arrived armed with my little pieces of paper with the times on the computer said no. Well actually the computer said nothing as it decided to pick that moment to malfunction in a terminal fashion. ½ an hour of watching the station staff flounder was enough and as I left the blinds were pulled and the 'ferme' sign applied for the rest of the day. So back to t'internet to try and book. Of course my bank card was one of the few that the Belgian Train company do not accept so after a quick call to hubs, I tried again using his. Thankfully I realised just before I confirmed that of course to get the tickets you need to have the card that you booked them with...doh! So I tried the 'new ticketless' option where you can print at home. All was well until I tried to add a child to the booking. You see for ticketless booking all passengers need a separate e-mail account and mobile number. So big deep breaths and onto the phones. I get very nervous on the telephone and even though I know that I know the French, it all flies from my tiny brain as soon as I have to speak it, and the fear of a question I don't understand is almost paralysing at times. But God was smiling and I got a LOVELY man who although he didn't speak English was very helpful and spoke slowly and helped me spell everything out to make sure I ordered them OK. So fingers crossed our tickets will arrive in the post before Wednesday.... So that was the tickets from Paris to Belgium. I would need to return to the station the following day and hope the computer was fixed enough for me to get the tickets from here to Paris. I had just about had enough of the day and was glad to go to tea with Mr & Mme W in the next village. They are becoming really good friends and it was nice to be able to relax, enjoy great food and watch Moo play with their 2 kids, and listen to her speak French when she thought I wasn't listening! I can't remember what the dish is called but its pork in a cream sauce with carrots and mushrooms. For the whole of my life I haven't eaten mushrooms as the texture does something funny to my taste buds. But out of politeness and to try and encourage Moo to eat them, I tried one, and had a revelation. I actually liked it! A whole new world of food has opened up to me and much to hubs delight I may actually start cook them at home. After a wonderfully relaxing evening I was ready to face the joys of the local station again, .but one again the snow came down over night and covered the roads in white stuff. More snowmen and snowball fights, and once again the afternoon brought more sunshine, so I was able to get there in the afternoon. All went smoothly and we are now booked all the way. Fingers crossed that French post is quicker than UK and the other tickets arrive in time..... This morning we took Chimney for one of her walks and my quiet evening evaporated as we met Mr & Mrs HV, who are catering the local football club do tonight and have been let down by the people who were supposed to be helping, so.....tonight Moo and I will be helping out at the salle de fetes down the road. So a quick update for the site, a quick tea and a quick call to hubs, and we're off out again. You may be wondering why my friend JJ has not merited a mention yet. Well she hasn't arrived yet, she has been snowed in and is awaiting a 'weather window' so Lord knows when she will get here, hopefully before we bog off to Belgium......
11-02 Run run as fast as you can....
Sunday night was very funny. All I was really doing was collecting and washing glasses and eating the occasional piece of galette that floated past the bar. It wasn't until a crowd of guys had congregated at the end of one of the tables with a few bottles of cassis and vin that we were told that they don't normally have chairs at this do and we could be in for a long night....I however made my excuses at 9ish and we wandered home. The next morning Moo had slept in - woohoo - as I was wandering about in my pyjamas, at around 10am, the front door opened and in walked JJ. Hurrah,. She decided to dig out her car and travel overnight as it looked to be the only night for about a week where she would be able to get through the snow on the UK side and the storms on the French side. Good decision. It was so nice to see her so unexpectedly, she had of course been trying to ring me before she set off but we were out and then when she rang in the morning we were still in bed, both unusual events, but it was better for me that she just 'popped in'! We spent the day relaxing, stocking up on veggie options and hiding from the rain. By the early evening the wind was getting to scary levels so we battened down the hatches to await the predicted 150km winds. An early-ish night was had although sleep did not come for a while for me as there was large something blowing its way through the village. I don't think JJ had the same problem after an overnight ferry and a long drive, although I believe there may have been issues with Chimney and a duvet cover at some point..... We let JJ have a lie in on Tuesday and Moo and I did breakfast and writing practice and general mucking about upstairs. By lunchtime we kicked her out of bed and went to see a few friends then had a lovely walk around 2 of the local villages (with a very conveniently placed boulangerie at the top of the hill - most of my walks are planned that way). Home to a hearty meal of lentil and veg stuffed cabbage leaves (a rather nice recent discovery of mine and another vegetarian recipe I know that's not just pasta and...). And oh yes I suppose I had better pack for Antwerp. It's just as well I did pack then as I made the near fatal error of hitting stop and not snooze on my alarm and woke up an hour later than I had intended. Lots of headless chicken impersonations later I was just about ready and realised that JJ was still in bed (she had offered to take us to the station). She woke and had a leisurely shower and it was only when the church bells struck that she realised that she hadn't actually reset the time on her alarm yet and it was actually an hour later than she thought and now understood why I was actually getting a little twitchy about leaving soon!!! I went to grab my phone, only to discover that for some reason over night the screen had decided to turn completely black, brilliant! So we jumped in the car without phone, and headed off only to discover that not only was it really ever so foggy but we were stuck behind a big van with no hope of overtaking. I have no idea how she did it but time seemed to have slowed down for us and we made it to the station with about 5 minutes to spare. And then the boot catch stuck. JJ dived in the back and started to dismantle seats, threw us our bag and we ran. I didn't really get the chance to say Thanks for the lift and looking after the cat, see you in a week! We made it to Paris without further incident and found our way to Gare du Nord and onto the train to Belgium. So here I sit wondering how to connect to the free broadband while Molly and 'travel bear' have a play in the seat next to me. I do however NEED to find the bar as I have only had ONE cup of coffee so far today and, those of you who know me will know just how serious that is. And to the grumpy man in the seat in front - if you wanted peace and quiet that much you should have paid extra and booked yourself first class! Now, did I pack Moo's trumpet.......
17-02 Waffles and champagne and noodles, oh my!
Sadly I didn't have the trumpet. But instead decided that this was the perfect time to ensure that we both knew how to spell the word 'bum' correctly and giggle rather a lot. On arrival at the station my quest to find a pay-phone ended after a thorough search revealed none. Well strictly speaking there was 1 but in order to use it you had to have a Belgian blue card and all the station shops were closed. Oh the life without a mobile phone. I'm sure the last time I travelled without a mobile there was at least a pay phone to use. So we gave up and hailed a cab to the hotel and paid (through the nose) for 20 minutes internet credit so I could at least let hubs know I had arrived in the country. 20 minutes later hubs arrived and we got to his room, and then sent him out to get supplies (COFFEE). All was good in the world again. The next morning hubs headed off to work and Moo and I and travel bear headed off (rather later), to discover the joys of the city. We took a most exciting ride on a tram to the top end of town, found a rather nice cafe that served giant waffles then headed off to see the cathedral. It looked lovely from the outside, but the scot in me didn’t think that 8 Euros was a reasonable price to pay to have a look round, Instead we spent that money on a sticker for travel bear's case and, maybe, another waffle or 2. Disaster struck on day 2. As we were heading to the station to purchase a new sim card for my phone, (which, incidentally, you can buy from a vending machine for 10euros, which is a brilliant idea!), we lost travel bear. After retracing our steps to conduct a search, travel bear was still missing, presumed lost. A lengthy reassurance later, Moo seemed satisfied that travel bear had in fact just gone off to do a bit more travelling on his own and was probably having a lovely time and was meeting more friends and having exciting adventures. The promise of another waffle seemed to fully stem the tears. After the loss of our companion shopping wasn't quite as much fun so we abandoned it quite quickly and did some cooking instead. Valentine’s Day dawned and for the first time in years it was a real pleasure to be wished a happy day by the man himself in person. Due to the nature of work and life we have been apart for the last few, and even if it was only for a few minutes before he went to work, it was a lovely few minutes! Moo and I had a 'site visit' today and it was brilliant to actually see Hubs at work, and made it a lot easier to understand what he was actually talking about on the phone each day. I'm not allowed to describe in detail what goes on in the rehearsal space (it's all very 'secret squirrel'). But suffice to say that Moo was kept well entertained by the highly trained acrobats flying through the air at great speed, and launching themselves into a large pool, and I was kept entertained by the fact that the highly trained acrobats were nearly all wandering around in their Speedo’s. Travelling back through the city centre reminded me just why I always avoid shopping on a Saturday, eeeww it was horrible! That evening we had a wonderful steak dinner with champagne and chocolates, thanks Hubs, and thanks to 'kung-fu panda' we actually had relative peace to enjoy it, and with 2 days off for hubs coming up it was quite a party mood! Sunday was Zoo day, and I have to say it was brilliant. There are many fuzzy pictures of fish and monkeys and all of us in silly animal masks, and of course the regulation 100 or so pictures of penguins that I always take (well they are just so cute...). Monday we tried to shop, and although Hubs did find a beautiful leather jacket at an incredible bargain price for me, the shopping muse was just not really with us, just a bored 4 year old, and it's not quite the same. We headed off to Wagamamas for an incredible Japanese lunch and Moo was a star with her chopsticks and most adventurous in her choice of menu, once again I think thanks are due to 'kung fu panda'. Our night ended in the best possible way with a big family cuddle in the big hotel bed. What a way to round off an amazing few days. Our holiday was over far too quickly and Tuesday it was back to work for Hubs and back home for us. It was a relatively uneventful journey and our 'spare time' in Paris was taken up drinking coffee, going on merry-go-rounds and trying to spot the Eifel tower. We must be the only tourists in Paris who didn't see the darned thing! Back to Gordon who we had abandoned in the car park at the local station last week and the sudden remembrance that I really did mean to put diesel in him before I left him, and the equally sudden realisation that the local petrol station was closed by now. Hmm, a slightly nervy drive home on fumes, but we got there and were welcomed by a wonderfully clean house, a big pot of soup and a happy cat. I can thoroughly recommend a 'house sitter' when you go on holiday, what a nice welcome home after along and tiring journey. I have about a million and one things to catch up on this week as well as getting Gordon ready for his first big test. The Controlé Technique (French MOT) is due very soon I need to get new tyres and lights fitted, before I even begin. Hopefully there won't be too much else wrong with him as I don't have that many limbs to spare.....but I’m sure there will be more than that later in the week.......Molly also has a couple of social functions to attend and of I might actually get round to spending some time with JJ!
26-02 Where did we get to? Ah, yes.
OK so to sum up, had a visitor arrive then we went to Belgium, (which was BRILLIANT - see previous blog). We came home, did lots of catching up and patchwork and walking with JJ (which was most relaxing). I saw Moo kissing her first proper boyfriend (which was so sweet), and have her first full day at school (which was a bit nervy for me, but overall a success).We ate lots of eggs and interesting soup, turnip and black radish the runaway winner, (which was a leap into the unknown) ate quite a few delicious crepes (which was very cool) and I discovered the cost of tyres (which was not so cool). Nearly caught up, now let’s continue. I now do a fine repertoire of star wars characters as Moo is insisting that she wants Luke to cook the dinner, Han to help with spelling and the emperor to do almost everything else. Leia got a turn to drive the car yesterday. JJ has headed south for a few days to visit some other friends and I’ve been chasing round in circles of French motoring and vehicle registration procedures trying to make sense of any of it, to get Gordon ready for his CT. Yesterday saw a flurry of panic as I realised that once again I had fallen foul of 'advice'. After a swift phone call to the DVLA, to a wonderfully helpful chap called Alex, who assured me that it was nothing that couldn't be sorted by the use of 'next day delivery'. A couple more calls and a race against the 'midi fermature' deadline saw me handing over an eye watering amount of Euros for the assurité livraison. If it's not there by lunchtime, I’m gonna kick right off! Big thanks to my sis for being my UK liaison. I just have to take a moment here to bow to the organisational prowess of my sis*. If ever we need a family event to be organised we all turn to sis., and let’s face the logistics involved in trying to co-ordinate my family would tax the most organised mind. You see, to put it mildly, I would call myself 'organizationally challenged' and to me my sis' abilities seem like a super power. I kid you not. Anyway, the afternoon was taken up securing and paying for 4 brand spanking new tyres for Gordon. Cue-more eye watering. A visit to the park was most definitely in order. It’s been gorgeous weather today, and Moo and I had a lot of fun running about pretending to be in star wars. Today is tyre fitting day. Oh yes and trying not to cry when I find out how much the new headlights are going to cost.
*now I do have 2 wonderful sisters but anyone who knows our family knows which one I’m talking about here. No offence big sis.
28-02 NOOOOOOOOO!
It’s been a painful few days. I took Gordon to have his tyres fitted, had a lovely child-free meander through some local stores, (Moo was spending some quality time with her new love 'D', after school so I didn't have to drive back at 130 all the way to make it for the bell - Thank you Mr& Mme W, I owe you one), and then returned after the appointed hour had elapsed to collect him. There he was in the car park with his shiny new wheels, looking very smart I have to say. Inside, I was presented with the bill, so I closed my eyes and paid. When I opened my eyes I saw the other piece of paper, the one with the really big number at the bottom telling me exactly how much it was going to cost to have his suspension replaced in the very near future. Quel domage. It was a quiet drive back home with lots of numbers swimming around in my head, but however much I reworked them it wasn't looking good. Now even with my strictly limited knowledge of auto-mechanics, I know that dodgy suspension is a BAD thing (something that costs that much to repair has to be bad), and would need attention before attempting any motor vehicle test. And with the addition of new lights, the test itself, then the cost of making him officially French, (a process which seems to involve giving large amounts of cash to various different Europe wide organisations in order for them to tell each other that a car that was made and purchased in Europe is allowed to be driven in another part of Europe), all added up to a number nearly 4 times the amount that we paid for him. Now admittedly he was very cheap, but even so..... I arrived to pick up Moo, from our friends impromptu after school club, with a heavy heart. But the contagion that is children's laughter soon shook my mood (well that and some strong coffee and lots of chocolate biscuits). I wrenched a tearful Moo from the grasp of her beloved and went off to tell Hubs about Gordon. The news was met with the same sadness by Hubs, but after a brief discussion it was decided that we have to look for another car. The cost of a small (very used) French car will be less than sorting Gordon and much as we love him, I fear our time together may be drawing to a close. He has been a wonderful servant to the family, going above and beyond what we could have hoped, for such a small outlay he has MORE that paid for himself, several times over (including the incident with the alternator back in July). As we discussed our next move I heard a small sob, which grew, in seconds, to a heart-rending lament. Poor Moo was in despair at the thought of losing Gordon, and could not contain her grief for another second, pleading with us not to get rid of him. Talk about guilt. After half an hour or so she seemed a bit more accepting and was wondering if we could call our 'new car' bum-bum. Ah the fickle-ness of youth. Young Mr D, be warned. I have been a bit glum to be honest. I am gutted about Gordon, but equally gutted that he had his tyres fitted before we found out the rest. At least I hadn't ordered his new lights yet - there are some benefits to being so disorganised - or paid out too much on his new nationality so I guess it could be worse, and I know it’s only a car, but I will miss him when he's gone.
04-02 Hallelujah, it's February!
It’s been a funny old week or so. We are, thankfully, back in the land of relatively good health which is a brilliant place to be after the last month (January officially sucked). We had a lovely week with hubs at home but waved him off again (a couple of times), on Sunday - but more about that later..... He arrived last Sunday, after a dramatic journey featuring late trains from Belgium and a mad dash across Paris in a taxi (I was ever so jealous!!), at the local train station. I am NOT missing the airport run every couple of weeks. Moo was so excited all day but when the time came to leave took so long getting ready that we were actually late picking him up. Months of being early when its 150km away and when it's 8km we managed to be late - go figure. We have had a nice cosy week, with a few outings for chimney and tom (Moo's bike) alike, but spent most of the week indoors still getting over our bugs and undoubtedly passing them on to Hubs. We did have a nice trip out to 'the big city' on Wednesday and joy, found the H&M sale! Moo seems to be sprouting again and her jeans were distinctly on the short side. She's going to be about 8 foot tall if she carries on at this rate, at age 4 and a wee bit she is already in size 6-7 clothes. She has always been tall and quite forward thinking for her age and it's often difficult to remember that she is only 4 and a wee bit. I'm sure we are as guilty as anyone of expecting too much from her at times, and forgetting she is still a child with so much to learn. She is having a few difficulties at school, and after a chat with her teacher we have decided that after the holidays she will go full time. At the moment she only does mornings, but Maitress thinks that she will benefit more by attending afternoons too as this is when much of the 'learning' gets done. I must admit to a few collywobbles on her behalf, but my head knows that this is the right thing for Moo - well it’s pretty sure anyway. She has been pulled up this week for lazy writing, and trying to get out of work with the 'je ne comprende pas' card, so we have been hitting the books at home too and although not particularly willing, she is getting on well. There has been much bribery on my part, with the promise of an hour or two on the x-box for good behaviour, but by far the best incentive at the moment is the '5 star fish tank'. A big star chart with 5 spaces for stars awarded for good behaviour, good work and helping out around the house. When the 5 stars are achieved the reward of an item for the fish tank is received - just wait till you see how creative hubs and I have been with the craft foam....pictures to follow! We had a small incident with Moo on Saturday as we were rushing to get out to la poste before it closed. She did not want to go out. A small tantrum (more of a tant really), and the tears were flowing as we left the house. As I was locking the door I heard the volume of crying increase and I turned to see an ashen faced hubs walking Moo back from the gate to the house with his hand on her head covered in blood. We rushed her straight back in and I fetched the first aid box full of dread and trying not to imagine the worst. Thankfully she only had a very small cut on the top of her head, totally disproportionate to the amount of blood on the floor, and hubs and her coat, her top, her shoes and of course her brand new pink skirt.....even Chimney managed to get in on the act and somehow ended up splattered. Needless to say la posted was postponed and we tried to console Moo with tales of misadventure from our youth with numerous head bashing stories and the showing off of scars from long ago. It seemed to do the trick and soon she was laughing her socks off at the thought of mummy going to work with an eye patch on and the numerous pirate impersonations that inevitably followed. (If you must know I tripped on a rug and managed to fall into a set of low shelves, the corner of which intersected with my right eye scratching the surface quite badly. 'Ha - har me hearties' reverberated around wherever I went for a couple of weeks and I even found a parrot in my locker at work one night - oh, how I laughed....). On Sunday it was once again time to say au revoir to Hubs and off we went to the big city train station to wave him off. We got back to the car and tried to pay for our parking, but the machine wasn't playing ball and refused my ticket so we were stuck there. There was a number to call, but no payphone and, of course, I had run out of credit on my mobile, so we ran back to the station hoping that hubs had not left, grabbed his phone and had a hurried conversation with a very bored man in the car parking central control office somewhere in the city. I managed to gather that I had to push the button near the exit, but wasn't really sure to which button he was referring, so with hubs now needing to dash for his train I handed back the phone said goodbye again and headed off to try and find said button. Thankfully there was not a large variety of buttons to choose from and the very same bored young man obligingly raised the barrier and we managed to escape for a well earned 'treat' at the golden arches. Since then it has been the usual gloomy day or so after hubs leaves with little sleep and to make things worse we had to watch the UK being blessed, (or cursed depending on your point of view), with lashings of lovely snow. All we managed was a small flurry on Monday that had gone within an hour. But so many things to look forward to. Tomorrow Moo has another birthday party to attend and, joy unconfined, our good friend JJ has managed to get a bunch of time owed from work and is arriving on Friday for a few weeks holiday. Best tidy up a bit then.
08-02 Be careful what you wish for...
The day of the birthday party dawned with the ground and the sky full of snow, suddenly the short drive to the next village seemed as far as a trip to the moon. By 11am we had over an inch and a half and counting so a snowy walk with chimney and Moo seemed the best course of action. As we were out the clouds disappeared as fast as they had arrived and we were bathed in glorious sunshine. After a rapid snowball fight and a quick bite of lunch the sun had done its work and the roads looked fairly clear, so the party was on again. Again I stayed to help (glutton for punishment or what?), and had a lovely afternoon ploughing my way through conversations, but seeming to make myself understood. Towards the end of the party Moo had a small tussle with one of the boys over the possession of a toy gun, but it was nothing more than too many sweets and too much excitement. All was forgotten 10 minutes later, well by us anyway. I received a phone call from the mother of the boy later that evening to profusely apologise for the bad behaviour of her son and she hoped that Moo was OK and I was not upset (at least I'm pretty sure that's what she said...). I was taken aback to say the least, but touched that she called. I have been feeling a bit low and hit the wall on Thursday. Despite the fact that life is good I was feeling very sorry for myself and confess to having a bit of a cry. But one well chosen and perfectly timed word from an old friend snapped me out of it and made me realise how blessed we are and I just needed to pick myself up and get on with it! Thanks Mate. I got on with it in the form of checking train tickets to Belgium next week to go and see hubs and found a good deal for nearly a week away. Feeling better already. Friday saw the last day of school for Moo for 2 weeks and a trip to the local station for the simple task of buying the tickets. Hmm simple. Right. When we arrived armed with my little pieces of paper with the times on the computer said no. Well actually the computer said nothing as it decided to pick that moment to malfunction in a terminal fashion. ½ an hour of watching the station staff flounder was enough and as I left the blinds were pulled and the 'ferme' sign applied for the rest of the day. So back to t'internet to try and book. Of course my bank card was one of the few that the Belgian Train company do not accept so after a quick call to hubs, I tried again using his. Thankfully I realised just before I confirmed that of course to get the tickets you need to have the card that you booked them with...doh! So I tried the 'new ticketless' option where you can print at home. All was well until I tried to add a child to the booking. You see for ticketless booking all passengers need a separate e-mail account and mobile number. So big deep breaths and onto the phones. I get very nervous on the telephone and even though I know that I know the French, it all flies from my tiny brain as soon as I have to speak it, and the fear of a question I don't understand is almost paralysing at times. But God was smiling and I got a LOVELY man who although he didn't speak English was very helpful and spoke slowly and helped me spell everything out to make sure I ordered them OK. So fingers crossed our tickets will arrive in the post before Wednesday.... So that was the tickets from Paris to Belgium. I would need to return to the station the following day and hope the computer was fixed enough for me to get the tickets from here to Paris. I had just about had enough of the day and was glad to go to tea with Mr & Mme W in the next village. They are becoming really good friends and it was nice to be able to relax, enjoy great food and watch Moo play with their 2 kids, and listen to her speak French when she thought I wasn't listening! I can't remember what the dish is called but its pork in a cream sauce with carrots and mushrooms. For the whole of my life I haven't eaten mushrooms as the texture does something funny to my taste buds. But out of politeness and to try and encourage Moo to eat them, I tried one, and had a revelation. I actually liked it! A whole new world of food has opened up to me and much to hubs delight I may actually start cook them at home. After a wonderfully relaxing evening I was ready to face the joys of the local station again, .but one again the snow came down over night and covered the roads in white stuff. More snowmen and snowball fights, and once again the afternoon brought more sunshine, so I was able to get there in the afternoon. All went smoothly and we are now booked all the way. Fingers crossed that French post is quicker than UK and the other tickets arrive in time..... This morning we took Chimney for one of her walks and my quiet evening evaporated as we met Mr & Mrs HV, who are catering the local football club do tonight and have been let down by the people who were supposed to be helping, so.....tonight Moo and I will be helping out at the salle de fetes down the road. So a quick update for the site, a quick tea and a quick call to hubs, and we're off out again. You may be wondering why my friend JJ has not merited a mention yet. Well she hasn't arrived yet, she has been snowed in and is awaiting a 'weather window' so Lord knows when she will get here, hopefully before we bog off to Belgium......
11-02 Run run as fast as you can....
Sunday night was very funny. All I was really doing was collecting and washing glasses and eating the occasional piece of galette that floated past the bar. It wasn't until a crowd of guys had congregated at the end of one of the tables with a few bottles of cassis and vin that we were told that they don't normally have chairs at this do and we could be in for a long night....I however made my excuses at 9ish and we wandered home. The next morning Moo had slept in - woohoo - as I was wandering about in my pyjamas, at around 10am, the front door opened and in walked JJ. Hurrah,. She decided to dig out her car and travel overnight as it looked to be the only night for about a week where she would be able to get through the snow on the UK side and the storms on the French side. Good decision. It was so nice to see her so unexpectedly, she had of course been trying to ring me before she set off but we were out and then when she rang in the morning we were still in bed, both unusual events, but it was better for me that she just 'popped in'! We spent the day relaxing, stocking up on veggie options and hiding from the rain. By the early evening the wind was getting to scary levels so we battened down the hatches to await the predicted 150km winds. An early-ish night was had although sleep did not come for a while for me as there was large something blowing its way through the village. I don't think JJ had the same problem after an overnight ferry and a long drive, although I believe there may have been issues with Chimney and a duvet cover at some point..... We let JJ have a lie in on Tuesday and Moo and I did breakfast and writing practice and general mucking about upstairs. By lunchtime we kicked her out of bed and went to see a few friends then had a lovely walk around 2 of the local villages (with a very conveniently placed boulangerie at the top of the hill - most of my walks are planned that way). Home to a hearty meal of lentil and veg stuffed cabbage leaves (a rather nice recent discovery of mine and another vegetarian recipe I know that's not just pasta and...). And oh yes I suppose I had better pack for Antwerp. It's just as well I did pack then as I made the near fatal error of hitting stop and not snooze on my alarm and woke up an hour later than I had intended. Lots of headless chicken impersonations later I was just about ready and realised that JJ was still in bed (she had offered to take us to the station). She woke and had a leisurely shower and it was only when the church bells struck that she realised that she hadn't actually reset the time on her alarm yet and it was actually an hour later than she thought and now understood why I was actually getting a little twitchy about leaving soon!!! I went to grab my phone, only to discover that for some reason over night the screen had decided to turn completely black, brilliant! So we jumped in the car without phone, and headed off only to discover that not only was it really ever so foggy but we were stuck behind a big van with no hope of overtaking. I have no idea how she did it but time seemed to have slowed down for us and we made it to the station with about 5 minutes to spare. And then the boot catch stuck. JJ dived in the back and started to dismantle seats, threw us our bag and we ran. I didn't really get the chance to say Thanks for the lift and looking after the cat, see you in a week! We made it to Paris without further incident and found our way to Gare du Nord and onto the train to Belgium. So here I sit wondering how to connect to the free broadband while Molly and 'travel bear' have a play in the seat next to me. I do however NEED to find the bar as I have only had ONE cup of coffee so far today and, those of you who know me will know just how serious that is. And to the grumpy man in the seat in front - if you wanted peace and quiet that much you should have paid extra and booked yourself first class! Now, did I pack Moo's trumpet.......
17-02 Waffles and champagne and noodles, oh my!
Sadly I didn't have the trumpet. But instead decided that this was the perfect time to ensure that we both knew how to spell the word 'bum' correctly and giggle rather a lot. On arrival at the station my quest to find a pay-phone ended after a thorough search revealed none. Well strictly speaking there was 1 but in order to use it you had to have a Belgian blue card and all the station shops were closed. Oh the life without a mobile phone. I'm sure the last time I travelled without a mobile there was at least a pay phone to use. So we gave up and hailed a cab to the hotel and paid (through the nose) for 20 minutes internet credit so I could at least let hubs know I had arrived in the country. 20 minutes later hubs arrived and we got to his room, and then sent him out to get supplies (COFFEE). All was good in the world again. The next morning hubs headed off to work and Moo and I and travel bear headed off (rather later), to discover the joys of the city. We took a most exciting ride on a tram to the top end of town, found a rather nice cafe that served giant waffles then headed off to see the cathedral. It looked lovely from the outside, but the scot in me didn’t think that 8 Euros was a reasonable price to pay to have a look round, Instead we spent that money on a sticker for travel bear's case and, maybe, another waffle or 2. Disaster struck on day 2. As we were heading to the station to purchase a new sim card for my phone, (which, incidentally, you can buy from a vending machine for 10euros, which is a brilliant idea!), we lost travel bear. After retracing our steps to conduct a search, travel bear was still missing, presumed lost. A lengthy reassurance later, Moo seemed satisfied that travel bear had in fact just gone off to do a bit more travelling on his own and was probably having a lovely time and was meeting more friends and having exciting adventures. The promise of another waffle seemed to fully stem the tears. After the loss of our companion shopping wasn't quite as much fun so we abandoned it quite quickly and did some cooking instead. Valentine’s Day dawned and for the first time in years it was a real pleasure to be wished a happy day by the man himself in person. Due to the nature of work and life we have been apart for the last few, and even if it was only for a few minutes before he went to work, it was a lovely few minutes! Moo and I had a 'site visit' today and it was brilliant to actually see Hubs at work, and made it a lot easier to understand what he was actually talking about on the phone each day. I'm not allowed to describe in detail what goes on in the rehearsal space (it's all very 'secret squirrel'). But suffice to say that Moo was kept well entertained by the highly trained acrobats flying through the air at great speed, and launching themselves into a large pool, and I was kept entertained by the fact that the highly trained acrobats were nearly all wandering around in their Speedo’s. Travelling back through the city centre reminded me just why I always avoid shopping on a Saturday, eeeww it was horrible! That evening we had a wonderful steak dinner with champagne and chocolates, thanks Hubs, and thanks to 'kung-fu panda' we actually had relative peace to enjoy it, and with 2 days off for hubs coming up it was quite a party mood! Sunday was Zoo day, and I have to say it was brilliant. There are many fuzzy pictures of fish and monkeys and all of us in silly animal masks, and of course the regulation 100 or so pictures of penguins that I always take (well they are just so cute...). Monday we tried to shop, and although Hubs did find a beautiful leather jacket at an incredible bargain price for me, the shopping muse was just not really with us, just a bored 4 year old, and it's not quite the same. We headed off to Wagamamas for an incredible Japanese lunch and Moo was a star with her chopsticks and most adventurous in her choice of menu, once again I think thanks are due to 'kung fu panda'. Our night ended in the best possible way with a big family cuddle in the big hotel bed. What a way to round off an amazing few days. Our holiday was over far too quickly and Tuesday it was back to work for Hubs and back home for us. It was a relatively uneventful journey and our 'spare time' in Paris was taken up drinking coffee, going on merry-go-rounds and trying to spot the Eifel tower. We must be the only tourists in Paris who didn't see the darned thing! Back to Gordon who we had abandoned in the car park at the local station last week and the sudden remembrance that I really did mean to put diesel in him before I left him, and the equally sudden realisation that the local petrol station was closed by now. Hmm, a slightly nervy drive home on fumes, but we got there and were welcomed by a wonderfully clean house, a big pot of soup and a happy cat. I can thoroughly recommend a 'house sitter' when you go on holiday, what a nice welcome home after along and tiring journey. I have about a million and one things to catch up on this week as well as getting Gordon ready for his first big test. The Controlé Technique (French MOT) is due very soon I need to get new tyres and lights fitted, before I even begin. Hopefully there won't be too much else wrong with him as I don't have that many limbs to spare.....but I’m sure there will be more than that later in the week.......Molly also has a couple of social functions to attend and of I might actually get round to spending some time with JJ!
26-02 Where did we get to? Ah, yes.
OK so to sum up, had a visitor arrive then we went to Belgium, (which was BRILLIANT - see previous blog). We came home, did lots of catching up and patchwork and walking with JJ (which was most relaxing). I saw Moo kissing her first proper boyfriend (which was so sweet), and have her first full day at school (which was a bit nervy for me, but overall a success).We ate lots of eggs and interesting soup, turnip and black radish the runaway winner, (which was a leap into the unknown) ate quite a few delicious crepes (which was very cool) and I discovered the cost of tyres (which was not so cool). Nearly caught up, now let’s continue. I now do a fine repertoire of star wars characters as Moo is insisting that she wants Luke to cook the dinner, Han to help with spelling and the emperor to do almost everything else. Leia got a turn to drive the car yesterday. JJ has headed south for a few days to visit some other friends and I’ve been chasing round in circles of French motoring and vehicle registration procedures trying to make sense of any of it, to get Gordon ready for his CT. Yesterday saw a flurry of panic as I realised that once again I had fallen foul of 'advice'. After a swift phone call to the DVLA, to a wonderfully helpful chap called Alex, who assured me that it was nothing that couldn't be sorted by the use of 'next day delivery'. A couple more calls and a race against the 'midi fermature' deadline saw me handing over an eye watering amount of Euros for the assurité livraison. If it's not there by lunchtime, I’m gonna kick right off! Big thanks to my sis for being my UK liaison. I just have to take a moment here to bow to the organisational prowess of my sis*. If ever we need a family event to be organised we all turn to sis., and let’s face the logistics involved in trying to co-ordinate my family would tax the most organised mind. You see, to put it mildly, I would call myself 'organizationally challenged' and to me my sis' abilities seem like a super power. I kid you not. Anyway, the afternoon was taken up securing and paying for 4 brand spanking new tyres for Gordon. Cue-more eye watering. A visit to the park was most definitely in order. It’s been gorgeous weather today, and Moo and I had a lot of fun running about pretending to be in star wars. Today is tyre fitting day. Oh yes and trying not to cry when I find out how much the new headlights are going to cost.
*now I do have 2 wonderful sisters but anyone who knows our family knows which one I’m talking about here. No offence big sis.
28-02 NOOOOOOOOO!
It’s been a painful few days. I took Gordon to have his tyres fitted, had a lovely child-free meander through some local stores, (Moo was spending some quality time with her new love 'D', after school so I didn't have to drive back at 130 all the way to make it for the bell - Thank you Mr& Mme W, I owe you one), and then returned after the appointed hour had elapsed to collect him. There he was in the car park with his shiny new wheels, looking very smart I have to say. Inside, I was presented with the bill, so I closed my eyes and paid. When I opened my eyes I saw the other piece of paper, the one with the really big number at the bottom telling me exactly how much it was going to cost to have his suspension replaced in the very near future. Quel domage. It was a quiet drive back home with lots of numbers swimming around in my head, but however much I reworked them it wasn't looking good. Now even with my strictly limited knowledge of auto-mechanics, I know that dodgy suspension is a BAD thing (something that costs that much to repair has to be bad), and would need attention before attempting any motor vehicle test. And with the addition of new lights, the test itself, then the cost of making him officially French, (a process which seems to involve giving large amounts of cash to various different Europe wide organisations in order for them to tell each other that a car that was made and purchased in Europe is allowed to be driven in another part of Europe), all added up to a number nearly 4 times the amount that we paid for him. Now admittedly he was very cheap, but even so..... I arrived to pick up Moo, from our friends impromptu after school club, with a heavy heart. But the contagion that is children's laughter soon shook my mood (well that and some strong coffee and lots of chocolate biscuits). I wrenched a tearful Moo from the grasp of her beloved and went off to tell Hubs about Gordon. The news was met with the same sadness by Hubs, but after a brief discussion it was decided that we have to look for another car. The cost of a small (very used) French car will be less than sorting Gordon and much as we love him, I fear our time together may be drawing to a close. He has been a wonderful servant to the family, going above and beyond what we could have hoped, for such a small outlay he has MORE that paid for himself, several times over (including the incident with the alternator back in July). As we discussed our next move I heard a small sob, which grew, in seconds, to a heart-rending lament. Poor Moo was in despair at the thought of losing Gordon, and could not contain her grief for another second, pleading with us not to get rid of him. Talk about guilt. After half an hour or so she seemed a bit more accepting and was wondering if we could call our 'new car' bum-bum. Ah the fickle-ness of youth. Young Mr D, be warned. I have been a bit glum to be honest. I am gutted about Gordon, but equally gutted that he had his tyres fitted before we found out the rest. At least I hadn't ordered his new lights yet - there are some benefits to being so disorganised - or paid out too much on his new nationality so I guess it could be worse, and I know it’s only a car, but I will miss him when he's gone.
MARCH
02-03 Spring has sprung.
What joy, sunshine and spring flowers! The last 3 days has seen the return of my favourite season. There are crocuses and primroses dotting the lawn and the thoughts of becoming the next Monty Don flutter briefly through my head as I gaze out of my bedroom window listening to the sound of birdsong and breathing in the fresh morning air. Then without warning a blur of brown and black at my side as Chimney launched herself at the open (upstairs) window in an attempt to hear the birdsong from a much closer range. Those of you who know my natural ability for lightning quick reactions, in the hours of am in particular, may be surprised by the fact that I did in fact manage to catch said cat before she made her first solo flight. They will however not be astonished by the fact that in the process of my rapid response I managed to bang my head on the window, stumble backwards and knock over grandad (who has only just gotten over the digging up incident). 1 annoyed cat, 1 pot full of earth and one slightly throbbing temple. As the manure trailer rolled by and filled the air with 'aroma of nature', I rushed to get to the window again before the cat. There could only be one more thing to complete this perfect moment.... “Mummy, why does your bedroom smell like poo? WHAT have you done to granddad? AAAAAIIIIEEE chimney did bite me mummy, MUMMY!” Ah, must be Monday. After a rather less eventful breakfast, I was delighted to discover that it was Mr. O's week on the school run (in September my neighbour Mr. M laboured hard and sweated over the production of a school run rota, which to this day I cannot decipher so on a Monday I just hang around outside with my car keys, and if the others don't drive up, then I know that it's my turn) , and I headed back indoors for a relaxing morning surfing e-bay France for small/cheap/OK/relatively local cars, and drinking coffee, while JJ caught up on some sleep downstairs. That’s better. After lunch, JJ and I headed out for a pootle and enjoyed the fine weather and spectacular views, before returning to get Moo from school, hung around till 'la vieux four' opened and stuffed ourselves silly with freshly baked brioche. This is only Moo's second week at school full time, but the difference is amazing. I mean she's not exactly leaping out of bed or anything, but she is all of a sudden keen to learn again, and most importantly she feels much more part of the group. When I through the classroom window and see her clapping her hands and laughing with the other kids it makes me feel so proud. We all still have a long way to go, and a lot of things to learn, but today it feels like we are getting there.
09-03 A smashing weekend
Well, what a weekend. We had a frantic last week with our visitor with lots of shopping and sightseeing (which included a trip to Le Mans to pick up hubs- Yeah!). We waved goodbye on Saturday afternoon and set out for a drive. We found a lovely spot near a lovely church with a pond and Moo and Hubs had a nice explore, then we caught up with some friends and had coffee. So really a lovely day out. Apart from me crashing the car of course. Oh, did I not mention that? I was coming of a roundabout, (near the aforementioned lovely church), checked my mirrors to see if anyone was behind, looked out the front window to see the car in front had stopped very suddenly, sadly I did not stop quite as suddenly and ended up about a meter or two in front of where I should have been, crumpled into the back of the car in front. Thank the Lord no one was injured, but we were all very shaken up. We pulled over and got out as the man in front explained that the car in front of him (by now long gone) had braked sharply and so did he. A few phone calls later and lots of people had arrived to hand over forms and generally point and sigh. The gendarmes arrived and were fully satisfied that they wanted nothing to do with it other than to get a copy of my documents. At that point the truly wonderful Mr & Mrs LV arrived to pick us up and take us back for a drink,(the aforementioned coffee with friends) and a sit down. Once the formalities had been sorted the shock kicked in and I burst into tears .After that and another coffee I was fine, and ready to be regaled with tales of what Moo & Hubs had been up to while I was trying to keep it together and fill in accident forms. Their walk (many times) around the duck pond was interesting, with Moo asking many questions, like “why does everybody look so cross?” “Why is Gordon all crumpled?” and on the arrival of the police “Have they come to take mummy away?” .Thankfully not. But Hubs said that the thing she was most concerned with after the initial shock was if she would be able to get her leap pad out of the car, and what he was most concerned with was stopping her from shouting “BOGIES” at the police (kids TV has a lot to answer for). So here we are car-less once more tripping through the minefield that is French insurance, and trying to figure out how best to dispose of the remains of our beloved Gordon. Although on a brighter note I think we may have found another car, not entirely sure how we are going to get to it yet, but that's another tale for another day.
12-03 The wonderful world of buying a car!
Woohoo! We have found a car, a delightful looking Peugeot 106 in, liveried in what can be politely described as turquoise. I have managed to obtain Insurance from the very wonderful Eurosud and the unbelievably helpful, (and thank the Lord, fluent in English), Marie-Eva. I would also like to take a moment to thank all the folks on the Anglo-Info forum for the help and recommendations; I really don’t know what I would have done without you. And I have secured a lift tomorrow to pick it up, Mrs LV I salute you once more. Mme A and Mr O have filled in for my ‘school run’ week, Mlle A has been ferrying our family around to banks and train stations as required, and Moo has almost come to terms with the loss of Gordon. So all in all, a pretty good few days. Once again I have been overwhelmed by the kindness of friends and neighbours. I am still amazed at how nice people are. Does that make me a bad person? Perhaps just a cynic. I have had my French skills tested once more (although thankfully not when dealing with the insurance), and have managed to successfully find out about and reserve a car, almost entirely in the native tongue, just a little help with numbers, so I am quite pleased with myself. The man at the Garage even complemented me on my language (although I do begin every conversation with the statement - Pardon ma Francais, c’est ne bon pas, as at least it gives me a chance and most people will speak nice and slowly!), so I was a little bit chuffed. The wonderful Marie-Eva held my hand through the process of insuring our new purchase and patiently explained the various pieces of documentation that I needed to send, and profusely apologised for the fact that in France insurance was so very expensive and to gain your full no claims bonus it takes 13 years (!). I was actually quite impressed with the price, as a new driver who had no no-claims to start with it was really a little cheaper for me, but I can imagine that the 13 year rule comes as quite a surprise to most ex-pats who are used to getting full discount after just a few years (and it also explains why most people have been regaling me with tales of exorbitant insurance payments). Hubs and I hitched a lift with the after-lunch school run on Tuesday, to stock up on provisions at the local village and had a glorious walk back through the country lanes. To my shame it’s a walk I haven’t done since getting Gordon, although in fairness, it’s not too much fun when you have a grumpy 4 year old for company! On our return I went next door to see Mlle A to ask for a lift to the nearest bank to start shuffling money around and had a lovely chat with her about all things French and neighbourly. It’s been a while since I have seen the neighbours, as we all tend to hibernate in the winter, so I was a little nervous to ask her for a lift, but she was really pleased I had felt that I could and was only too happy to help us out. In fact when I told her that hubs returning to Belgium the next day and I was on my way back to book a taxi to the local train station, she insisted that she take him, even when I told her he was leaving at 7.30am! Absolutely brilliant. As ever the day Hubs left was a bit glum, but Moo and I got out and about with Tom (her bike), and had a picnic at the church across the road admiring the spring blooms. Today I asked Mme A if I could get a lift to the bank (for more shuffling of funds), and was a little dismayed when she said she was busy all afternoon, but without a moment’s hesitation she thrust her car keys into my hand and waved me off with an ‘a tout a l’heure’. I wondered if now would be a good time to remind her that I had in fact crashed my car at the weekend and had never driven a Left Hand Drive before, but the fact that I couldn’t think of the French quickly enough combined with the overwhelming need for a jar of coffee won out and I was on my way. The drive went well and I am really pleased I have now had a little try in a LHD car before picking up mine in the morning. Although it may be some time before I stop banging my hand on the driver’s door when attempting to change gear……
16-03 And the truth shall set you free….
Verity. c.1375, from Anglo-Fr. and O.Fr. verite "truth," from L. veritatem (nom. veritas) "truth, truthfulness," from verus "true" . Mod.Fr. vérité, lit. "truth," borrowed 1966 as a term for naturalism or realism in film, etc.
Verity has truly set us free. She is the new car you see. That’s her name. Verity. And although the camera did lie a little with her colour, the truth is she is green. Very green. Vert in French - very vert! Friday was a glorious spring day and myself and Mrs LV had a marvellous drive to pick her up in the morning and a beautiful, if rather circuitous, drive back, we inadvertently discovered some extremely pretty villages on the way back, and I only bashed my knuckles twice when attempting to change gear with the wrong hand. As Moo was being wined and dined by the neighbours today we stopped for a lovely and relaxing lunch, what a luxury, a whole lunchtime when I didn’t have to encourage someone to eat, and then I set out to see Gordon. He is still where we left him as I am rather unsure what to do about him now. After repeated attempts to contact my insurance company they still have not been in touch to tell me what to do with him. He cannot be driven as he has no front lights or grille, and although he still starts and drives ok it is forbidden to tow in France. I am at a bit of a loss. Whilst I know he will end up in the scrap yard, the four new tyres are nagging at me, maybe we could sell them, but then we would have a car with no tyres to get rid of, and it still doesn’t answer the problem of how to move him. I’m not very good at this. So instead of addressing the problem I have put a notice on his window saying ‘awaiting recovery’, plundered his interior of radio and safety equipment and will be making another attempt at contact today. Verity has already done good service as we took full advantage of the lovely weather and we spent the weekend lounging around at our local plage, we even managed a little paddle, (although in truth Moo must have a lot tougher feet than I as all I really managed was a dip of the toes). Oh the joy of spring. The garden is bursting with primroses and my neighbour Mr. G Furnished us with a magnificent bunch of daffodils that have been split between Moo’s room, my room and the living room, although the living room bunch are under review due to repeated cat intervention. So life is slowly returning to normal, whatever that means. Moo has been revelling in the age of 4, and seems to be constantly trying to find new ways to drive me slowly mad. She is dipping her toes back in the world of the tantrum, (hopefully short lived), and is taking personal glory from the amount of times she can say ‘bum’ within the course of a day. Still I guess it could be a lot worse. At the moment I seem to be doing lots of sleeping. I don’t know if it’s my brain telling my body to catch up or if I’m coming down with something again (please NO), but every time I sit down I seem to nod off, even after a little doze in the morning sun, I still felt the need for a sneaky nap when I had packed Moo off to school this afternoon. I had hoped that I would feel a bit more awake this evening, but my eyes are telling me a different story, so I’m going to call it a (very early) night and hopefully I’ll be a bit more awake for tomorrow, when I will fill you all in on the further adventures of ‘Travel Bear’.
18-03 The further adventures of Travel Bear
Those of you who follow this site will know that on a recent trip to Belgium, something very distressing happened. On a busy morning tram Moo became separated from Mr T Bear. After retracing our route several times and enlisting the help of many fine Belgian commuters and transport workers it became obvious that Mr Bear was not to be found. Moo was inconsolable. Travel bear was a Christmas present, he came in his own little case and Moo had decided that he would go ‘everywhere’ with us. He had already covered a fair few miles, but that fateful morning was the one time he travelled out of his case. We managed to persuade Moo that as he was indeed a travelling bear, he had gone off on his travels and was exploring the world and having new adventures and meeting new friends and although he was sure to be missing her, he was safe and having fun. This tall tale stemmed the tears, but ever since she has been asking where he might be going and if he would ever come home. All that remains is an empty case with a lovely ‘Belgium’ sticker, (purchased the day before the parting of the ways), stuck to its lid. Till now that is. My truly wonderful sister-in-law (who gave Moo the bear originally), heard this sad tale and managed to find us another travel bear. When I heard this, a plan was hatched! Requests have been sent out to our friends and family around the world, and anyone who happened to be going on holiday anytime soon, for postcards. Not just any postcards, but postcards to Moo from Travel Bear documenting his travels and telling her that he was going to come home. So far we have cards coming from Belgium (his starting point), America, Canada, lots from the UK and I have decided that the final one will be from Paris, and then one day there will be a knock at the door……. When a few more cards have arrived we will start planting them in the mailbox for Moo to find, and I will keep a map to mark his adventures. If per chance any of you reading this happen to be in far flung places (or know anyone who is and is a big softie like me!) and wish to contribute to Travel Bears adventures, there are still a lot of places he could have been…and if you happen to pick up a ‘name place’ sticker for his case too I’d be very much obliged!!
23-03 Some mothers do av em
A mixed bag of a week has just passed. It started with a major disappointment. Hubs Daughter AJ was due for a visit over Easter, and when ringing to confirm travel arrangements he was told that there had been a mix-up with dates and she would not be able to come after all. We are all gutted, as this means we won’t now get to see her till the summer, so quite a few tears here. But, ever onwards. Verity is shaping up nicely and we seem to be getting on. I haven’t bashed my knuckles on the window for about 4 days now, getting used to putting on the seat belt may take a little more time however. I have finally had some communication with the insurance company, so that seems to be moving along now too, and through the wonderful website ‘ANGLO-INFO’, I have found someone who can move Gordon for me. It really is a great site for people who live abroad, bringing together helpful information and wonderfully helpful people! We have had the first communication from Mr T Bear, who has made it all the way to Canada (his travel page will be on the site later this week). I wasn’t actually going to start delivering the cards till next week, but I dropped the post and lo and behold Molly found the card addressed to her, and we are off! Moo was thrilled beyond belief to hear news from Mr Bear and we have looked on the map to see where he has gone, and where we think he might go next. Thanks to everyone who is joining me on this silly adventure, and feel free to join in if you haven’t already. It has been a week of glorious sunshine here and I have been inspired to actually start work on the garden. The back now boasts a medium sized plot ready for vegetables and fruit to be sown after another dig over this week. I had planned to have a larger patch, but after a few hours hard digging (and only a small plot dug) I scaled back my plans a little, I’m sure my back will thank me for it in the long run. The front now sports a border of beautiful primroses, which had popped up all over the lawn over the last 2 weeks, and as I didn’t want to lose them all when the strimmer comes out, I have moved them into the border between the roses. I mean it’s not exactly Alan Titchmarsh level gardening, but it’s a good start! Yesterday was of course Mothers day, and I received a lovely card form AJ and was amazed by the computer prowess of Moo as an E-card arrived from ‘her’! I had a lovely day and managed to get Moo dressed in time for the arrival of the bread van, so fresh croissants and strawberry tarts were bought and consumed in a matter of moments. We ventured out to the garden in the afternoon (to manoeuvre the afore mentioned primroses), and I had a lovely time pottering about while Moo rode her bike up and down the path. It was only when I went back inside I realised something was amiss. To start with Baghera was in the living room. Baghera is one of the cats who live next door, and while she will sometimes bring us small dead gifts, she is not in the habit of coming inside. As we arrived she made a swift exit through the living room window and into the back garden. But hang on a minute, when I went outside the window was open but the shutters were closed, and if the shutters and window were now both open…. Chimney was gone. Moo insisted that we make a search of the house in case she was still inside, (not likely), while I was pondering how on earth she had managed to open the shutters. That’s when I noticed that Moo had gone rather quiet. I turned to her and her eyes were brimming with tears and she said ‘mummy please don’t get cross on mothers day’ and dissolved into sobs. When I had managed to calm her down she told me that when I was outside getting the gardening bits together she had climbed on her stool and opened the shutter so chimney could see into the garden. When she heard me coming back she suddenly remembered that she was not supposed to play up near the windows, got down, moved her stool and came to meet me, and in her panic, forgot to close the shutter properly. So the cat had been out for at least an hour already and had gone, well, who knows where. Moo was sincerely upset and realised she had done wrong, and spent the next 20 minutes calling all over the house before giving up and coming back into the garden. We carried on in a rather more sombre mood, with Moo constantly asking if chimney was ever going to come back, or if she had gone off on her adventures just like ‘travel bear’. After about half an hour I decided that I’d had enough of moving flowers around and packed up the tools and took them to the shed. Who should I meet, but a very nonchalant looking Chimney, covered in brick-dust and cobwebs, perched on a high shelf. As I brought her back in Moo rushed up and hugged us both and promised never to let her out of the house again. I assured a very worried looking cat that she only meant for the next couple of weeks, but with the looks I’ve been getting since I shut the windows again, I’m really not sure she believed me.
28-03 What a difference a day makes…
The day after I posted my last blog I had the most wonderful e-mail. AJ’s schedule has been rearranged and she now will be joining us for a few days next month after-all. Joy unconfined, what super news. And just the lift we needed. This week has been mostly about Moo. Whoever told me the ‘2’s’ were terrible lied. They are nothing compared with the 4’s! My beautiful princess has turned into a squealing banshee. Ok so not all of the time, but it certainly feels like it at bed times. Normally bed times are quite a placid affair, so it has taken me a little by surprise that things have gone so wrong so quickly. From a story and a cuddle to screaming and throwing things in one fell swoop. She has been trying out the odd daytime tantrum to little effect and seems to have switched her attention to night-times. We have had tears and tantrums and slammed doors, toys thrown, cats terrorised water poured onto the bed, you name it she’s trying it. Which makes for a rather grumpy household. The worst night consisted of a litany of things she hates, including school, the house, living in France, the cat, me, her bedroom, her ‘friends’, the lot. Mostly I can just let it wash over me, but I must admit to a teary phone call to hubs that night. These are the hard bits, the bits when a real cuddle would be much more welcome that a virtual one (however nice). With much reassurance I was soothed and had an early night not much looking forward to the getting ready for school battle I faced in the morning. The next day dawned and to my utter astonishment Moo was up and dressed and asking to get to school early so she would have time to play. I just don’t understand. The battles decreased as the week wore on, but it’s still not even close to back to normal, and my nerves although a little frayed are not quite as shattered as they were. As well this week I have managed to procure a new ‘carté gris’ (registration document), for Verity and to my delight I found that I could do this at the local Maire, just down the road, instead of going on a 100km round trip to the prefecture, as I was first told. It’s amazing what you can find out if you ask the right people! I have also managed to secure an appointment for Chimney at the vet (next Thursday), for her ‘big op’. She will hate me in the short term I’m sure, but will be thrilled beyond meows when she can finally get out and chase all those big fat birds in the Garden. And I can stop worrying about her knocking herself out as she launches herself headfirst at the window. We are off to Belgium to see hubs this week-end, we were going to go today, but the lovely man who is helping me fetch the old car could only do so this afternoon, so I’m just sitting waiting for him now, in splendid peace as Moo is having a ‘play day’ with some school friends (thank you Mr & Mrs W, you don’t realise just how welcome that is!). So we are off in the morning for a jolly to see ‘real daddy not flat daddy’, as Moo has christened Hubs’ on screen image. So having dropped Moo off, I am now at home, alone, and loving it. I have packed for the week-end, finished tidying up and the lovely man will arrive here in about an hour so we can fetch the stranded Gordon. Aaaahh that’s better. I will not be posting till we return from Belgium as my little laptop has had a partial breakdown and only half the keyboard is working, which makes blogging a little tricky. So I will wish you all a bon weekend and hope that I remember to change the clocks tonight or it will be a very short trip away indeed!
A bientot
02-03 Spring has sprung.
What joy, sunshine and spring flowers! The last 3 days has seen the return of my favourite season. There are crocuses and primroses dotting the lawn and the thoughts of becoming the next Monty Don flutter briefly through my head as I gaze out of my bedroom window listening to the sound of birdsong and breathing in the fresh morning air. Then without warning a blur of brown and black at my side as Chimney launched herself at the open (upstairs) window in an attempt to hear the birdsong from a much closer range. Those of you who know my natural ability for lightning quick reactions, in the hours of am in particular, may be surprised by the fact that I did in fact manage to catch said cat before she made her first solo flight. They will however not be astonished by the fact that in the process of my rapid response I managed to bang my head on the window, stumble backwards and knock over grandad (who has only just gotten over the digging up incident). 1 annoyed cat, 1 pot full of earth and one slightly throbbing temple. As the manure trailer rolled by and filled the air with 'aroma of nature', I rushed to get to the window again before the cat. There could only be one more thing to complete this perfect moment.... “Mummy, why does your bedroom smell like poo? WHAT have you done to granddad? AAAAAIIIIEEE chimney did bite me mummy, MUMMY!” Ah, must be Monday. After a rather less eventful breakfast, I was delighted to discover that it was Mr. O's week on the school run (in September my neighbour Mr. M laboured hard and sweated over the production of a school run rota, which to this day I cannot decipher so on a Monday I just hang around outside with my car keys, and if the others don't drive up, then I know that it's my turn) , and I headed back indoors for a relaxing morning surfing e-bay France for small/cheap/OK/relatively local cars, and drinking coffee, while JJ caught up on some sleep downstairs. That’s better. After lunch, JJ and I headed out for a pootle and enjoyed the fine weather and spectacular views, before returning to get Moo from school, hung around till 'la vieux four' opened and stuffed ourselves silly with freshly baked brioche. This is only Moo's second week at school full time, but the difference is amazing. I mean she's not exactly leaping out of bed or anything, but she is all of a sudden keen to learn again, and most importantly she feels much more part of the group. When I through the classroom window and see her clapping her hands and laughing with the other kids it makes me feel so proud. We all still have a long way to go, and a lot of things to learn, but today it feels like we are getting there.
09-03 A smashing weekend
Well, what a weekend. We had a frantic last week with our visitor with lots of shopping and sightseeing (which included a trip to Le Mans to pick up hubs- Yeah!). We waved goodbye on Saturday afternoon and set out for a drive. We found a lovely spot near a lovely church with a pond and Moo and Hubs had a nice explore, then we caught up with some friends and had coffee. So really a lovely day out. Apart from me crashing the car of course. Oh, did I not mention that? I was coming of a roundabout, (near the aforementioned lovely church), checked my mirrors to see if anyone was behind, looked out the front window to see the car in front had stopped very suddenly, sadly I did not stop quite as suddenly and ended up about a meter or two in front of where I should have been, crumpled into the back of the car in front. Thank the Lord no one was injured, but we were all very shaken up. We pulled over and got out as the man in front explained that the car in front of him (by now long gone) had braked sharply and so did he. A few phone calls later and lots of people had arrived to hand over forms and generally point and sigh. The gendarmes arrived and were fully satisfied that they wanted nothing to do with it other than to get a copy of my documents. At that point the truly wonderful Mr & Mrs LV arrived to pick us up and take us back for a drink,(the aforementioned coffee with friends) and a sit down. Once the formalities had been sorted the shock kicked in and I burst into tears .After that and another coffee I was fine, and ready to be regaled with tales of what Moo & Hubs had been up to while I was trying to keep it together and fill in accident forms. Their walk (many times) around the duck pond was interesting, with Moo asking many questions, like “why does everybody look so cross?” “Why is Gordon all crumpled?” and on the arrival of the police “Have they come to take mummy away?” .Thankfully not. But Hubs said that the thing she was most concerned with after the initial shock was if she would be able to get her leap pad out of the car, and what he was most concerned with was stopping her from shouting “BOGIES” at the police (kids TV has a lot to answer for). So here we are car-less once more tripping through the minefield that is French insurance, and trying to figure out how best to dispose of the remains of our beloved Gordon. Although on a brighter note I think we may have found another car, not entirely sure how we are going to get to it yet, but that's another tale for another day.
12-03 The wonderful world of buying a car!
Woohoo! We have found a car, a delightful looking Peugeot 106 in, liveried in what can be politely described as turquoise. I have managed to obtain Insurance from the very wonderful Eurosud and the unbelievably helpful, (and thank the Lord, fluent in English), Marie-Eva. I would also like to take a moment to thank all the folks on the Anglo-Info forum for the help and recommendations; I really don’t know what I would have done without you. And I have secured a lift tomorrow to pick it up, Mrs LV I salute you once more. Mme A and Mr O have filled in for my ‘school run’ week, Mlle A has been ferrying our family around to banks and train stations as required, and Moo has almost come to terms with the loss of Gordon. So all in all, a pretty good few days. Once again I have been overwhelmed by the kindness of friends and neighbours. I am still amazed at how nice people are. Does that make me a bad person? Perhaps just a cynic. I have had my French skills tested once more (although thankfully not when dealing with the insurance), and have managed to successfully find out about and reserve a car, almost entirely in the native tongue, just a little help with numbers, so I am quite pleased with myself. The man at the Garage even complemented me on my language (although I do begin every conversation with the statement - Pardon ma Francais, c’est ne bon pas, as at least it gives me a chance and most people will speak nice and slowly!), so I was a little bit chuffed. The wonderful Marie-Eva held my hand through the process of insuring our new purchase and patiently explained the various pieces of documentation that I needed to send, and profusely apologised for the fact that in France insurance was so very expensive and to gain your full no claims bonus it takes 13 years (!). I was actually quite impressed with the price, as a new driver who had no no-claims to start with it was really a little cheaper for me, but I can imagine that the 13 year rule comes as quite a surprise to most ex-pats who are used to getting full discount after just a few years (and it also explains why most people have been regaling me with tales of exorbitant insurance payments). Hubs and I hitched a lift with the after-lunch school run on Tuesday, to stock up on provisions at the local village and had a glorious walk back through the country lanes. To my shame it’s a walk I haven’t done since getting Gordon, although in fairness, it’s not too much fun when you have a grumpy 4 year old for company! On our return I went next door to see Mlle A to ask for a lift to the nearest bank to start shuffling money around and had a lovely chat with her about all things French and neighbourly. It’s been a while since I have seen the neighbours, as we all tend to hibernate in the winter, so I was a little nervous to ask her for a lift, but she was really pleased I had felt that I could and was only too happy to help us out. In fact when I told her that hubs returning to Belgium the next day and I was on my way back to book a taxi to the local train station, she insisted that she take him, even when I told her he was leaving at 7.30am! Absolutely brilliant. As ever the day Hubs left was a bit glum, but Moo and I got out and about with Tom (her bike), and had a picnic at the church across the road admiring the spring blooms. Today I asked Mme A if I could get a lift to the bank (for more shuffling of funds), and was a little dismayed when she said she was busy all afternoon, but without a moment’s hesitation she thrust her car keys into my hand and waved me off with an ‘a tout a l’heure’. I wondered if now would be a good time to remind her that I had in fact crashed my car at the weekend and had never driven a Left Hand Drive before, but the fact that I couldn’t think of the French quickly enough combined with the overwhelming need for a jar of coffee won out and I was on my way. The drive went well and I am really pleased I have now had a little try in a LHD car before picking up mine in the morning. Although it may be some time before I stop banging my hand on the driver’s door when attempting to change gear……
16-03 And the truth shall set you free….
Verity. c.1375, from Anglo-Fr. and O.Fr. verite "truth," from L. veritatem (nom. veritas) "truth, truthfulness," from verus "true" . Mod.Fr. vérité, lit. "truth," borrowed 1966 as a term for naturalism or realism in film, etc.
Verity has truly set us free. She is the new car you see. That’s her name. Verity. And although the camera did lie a little with her colour, the truth is she is green. Very green. Vert in French - very vert! Friday was a glorious spring day and myself and Mrs LV had a marvellous drive to pick her up in the morning and a beautiful, if rather circuitous, drive back, we inadvertently discovered some extremely pretty villages on the way back, and I only bashed my knuckles twice when attempting to change gear with the wrong hand. As Moo was being wined and dined by the neighbours today we stopped for a lovely and relaxing lunch, what a luxury, a whole lunchtime when I didn’t have to encourage someone to eat, and then I set out to see Gordon. He is still where we left him as I am rather unsure what to do about him now. After repeated attempts to contact my insurance company they still have not been in touch to tell me what to do with him. He cannot be driven as he has no front lights or grille, and although he still starts and drives ok it is forbidden to tow in France. I am at a bit of a loss. Whilst I know he will end up in the scrap yard, the four new tyres are nagging at me, maybe we could sell them, but then we would have a car with no tyres to get rid of, and it still doesn’t answer the problem of how to move him. I’m not very good at this. So instead of addressing the problem I have put a notice on his window saying ‘awaiting recovery’, plundered his interior of radio and safety equipment and will be making another attempt at contact today. Verity has already done good service as we took full advantage of the lovely weather and we spent the weekend lounging around at our local plage, we even managed a little paddle, (although in truth Moo must have a lot tougher feet than I as all I really managed was a dip of the toes). Oh the joy of spring. The garden is bursting with primroses and my neighbour Mr. G Furnished us with a magnificent bunch of daffodils that have been split between Moo’s room, my room and the living room, although the living room bunch are under review due to repeated cat intervention. So life is slowly returning to normal, whatever that means. Moo has been revelling in the age of 4, and seems to be constantly trying to find new ways to drive me slowly mad. She is dipping her toes back in the world of the tantrum, (hopefully short lived), and is taking personal glory from the amount of times she can say ‘bum’ within the course of a day. Still I guess it could be a lot worse. At the moment I seem to be doing lots of sleeping. I don’t know if it’s my brain telling my body to catch up or if I’m coming down with something again (please NO), but every time I sit down I seem to nod off, even after a little doze in the morning sun, I still felt the need for a sneaky nap when I had packed Moo off to school this afternoon. I had hoped that I would feel a bit more awake this evening, but my eyes are telling me a different story, so I’m going to call it a (very early) night and hopefully I’ll be a bit more awake for tomorrow, when I will fill you all in on the further adventures of ‘Travel Bear’.
18-03 The further adventures of Travel Bear
Those of you who follow this site will know that on a recent trip to Belgium, something very distressing happened. On a busy morning tram Moo became separated from Mr T Bear. After retracing our route several times and enlisting the help of many fine Belgian commuters and transport workers it became obvious that Mr Bear was not to be found. Moo was inconsolable. Travel bear was a Christmas present, he came in his own little case and Moo had decided that he would go ‘everywhere’ with us. He had already covered a fair few miles, but that fateful morning was the one time he travelled out of his case. We managed to persuade Moo that as he was indeed a travelling bear, he had gone off on his travels and was exploring the world and having new adventures and meeting new friends and although he was sure to be missing her, he was safe and having fun. This tall tale stemmed the tears, but ever since she has been asking where he might be going and if he would ever come home. All that remains is an empty case with a lovely ‘Belgium’ sticker, (purchased the day before the parting of the ways), stuck to its lid. Till now that is. My truly wonderful sister-in-law (who gave Moo the bear originally), heard this sad tale and managed to find us another travel bear. When I heard this, a plan was hatched! Requests have been sent out to our friends and family around the world, and anyone who happened to be going on holiday anytime soon, for postcards. Not just any postcards, but postcards to Moo from Travel Bear documenting his travels and telling her that he was going to come home. So far we have cards coming from Belgium (his starting point), America, Canada, lots from the UK and I have decided that the final one will be from Paris, and then one day there will be a knock at the door……. When a few more cards have arrived we will start planting them in the mailbox for Moo to find, and I will keep a map to mark his adventures. If per chance any of you reading this happen to be in far flung places (or know anyone who is and is a big softie like me!) and wish to contribute to Travel Bears adventures, there are still a lot of places he could have been…and if you happen to pick up a ‘name place’ sticker for his case too I’d be very much obliged!!
23-03 Some mothers do av em
A mixed bag of a week has just passed. It started with a major disappointment. Hubs Daughter AJ was due for a visit over Easter, and when ringing to confirm travel arrangements he was told that there had been a mix-up with dates and she would not be able to come after all. We are all gutted, as this means we won’t now get to see her till the summer, so quite a few tears here. But, ever onwards. Verity is shaping up nicely and we seem to be getting on. I haven’t bashed my knuckles on the window for about 4 days now, getting used to putting on the seat belt may take a little more time however. I have finally had some communication with the insurance company, so that seems to be moving along now too, and through the wonderful website ‘ANGLO-INFO’, I have found someone who can move Gordon for me. It really is a great site for people who live abroad, bringing together helpful information and wonderfully helpful people! We have had the first communication from Mr T Bear, who has made it all the way to Canada (his travel page will be on the site later this week). I wasn’t actually going to start delivering the cards till next week, but I dropped the post and lo and behold Molly found the card addressed to her, and we are off! Moo was thrilled beyond belief to hear news from Mr Bear and we have looked on the map to see where he has gone, and where we think he might go next. Thanks to everyone who is joining me on this silly adventure, and feel free to join in if you haven’t already. It has been a week of glorious sunshine here and I have been inspired to actually start work on the garden. The back now boasts a medium sized plot ready for vegetables and fruit to be sown after another dig over this week. I had planned to have a larger patch, but after a few hours hard digging (and only a small plot dug) I scaled back my plans a little, I’m sure my back will thank me for it in the long run. The front now sports a border of beautiful primroses, which had popped up all over the lawn over the last 2 weeks, and as I didn’t want to lose them all when the strimmer comes out, I have moved them into the border between the roses. I mean it’s not exactly Alan Titchmarsh level gardening, but it’s a good start! Yesterday was of course Mothers day, and I received a lovely card form AJ and was amazed by the computer prowess of Moo as an E-card arrived from ‘her’! I had a lovely day and managed to get Moo dressed in time for the arrival of the bread van, so fresh croissants and strawberry tarts were bought and consumed in a matter of moments. We ventured out to the garden in the afternoon (to manoeuvre the afore mentioned primroses), and I had a lovely time pottering about while Moo rode her bike up and down the path. It was only when I went back inside I realised something was amiss. To start with Baghera was in the living room. Baghera is one of the cats who live next door, and while she will sometimes bring us small dead gifts, she is not in the habit of coming inside. As we arrived she made a swift exit through the living room window and into the back garden. But hang on a minute, when I went outside the window was open but the shutters were closed, and if the shutters and window were now both open…. Chimney was gone. Moo insisted that we make a search of the house in case she was still inside, (not likely), while I was pondering how on earth she had managed to open the shutters. That’s when I noticed that Moo had gone rather quiet. I turned to her and her eyes were brimming with tears and she said ‘mummy please don’t get cross on mothers day’ and dissolved into sobs. When I had managed to calm her down she told me that when I was outside getting the gardening bits together she had climbed on her stool and opened the shutter so chimney could see into the garden. When she heard me coming back she suddenly remembered that she was not supposed to play up near the windows, got down, moved her stool and came to meet me, and in her panic, forgot to close the shutter properly. So the cat had been out for at least an hour already and had gone, well, who knows where. Moo was sincerely upset and realised she had done wrong, and spent the next 20 minutes calling all over the house before giving up and coming back into the garden. We carried on in a rather more sombre mood, with Moo constantly asking if chimney was ever going to come back, or if she had gone off on her adventures just like ‘travel bear’. After about half an hour I decided that I’d had enough of moving flowers around and packed up the tools and took them to the shed. Who should I meet, but a very nonchalant looking Chimney, covered in brick-dust and cobwebs, perched on a high shelf. As I brought her back in Moo rushed up and hugged us both and promised never to let her out of the house again. I assured a very worried looking cat that she only meant for the next couple of weeks, but with the looks I’ve been getting since I shut the windows again, I’m really not sure she believed me.
28-03 What a difference a day makes…
The day after I posted my last blog I had the most wonderful e-mail. AJ’s schedule has been rearranged and she now will be joining us for a few days next month after-all. Joy unconfined, what super news. And just the lift we needed. This week has been mostly about Moo. Whoever told me the ‘2’s’ were terrible lied. They are nothing compared with the 4’s! My beautiful princess has turned into a squealing banshee. Ok so not all of the time, but it certainly feels like it at bed times. Normally bed times are quite a placid affair, so it has taken me a little by surprise that things have gone so wrong so quickly. From a story and a cuddle to screaming and throwing things in one fell swoop. She has been trying out the odd daytime tantrum to little effect and seems to have switched her attention to night-times. We have had tears and tantrums and slammed doors, toys thrown, cats terrorised water poured onto the bed, you name it she’s trying it. Which makes for a rather grumpy household. The worst night consisted of a litany of things she hates, including school, the house, living in France, the cat, me, her bedroom, her ‘friends’, the lot. Mostly I can just let it wash over me, but I must admit to a teary phone call to hubs that night. These are the hard bits, the bits when a real cuddle would be much more welcome that a virtual one (however nice). With much reassurance I was soothed and had an early night not much looking forward to the getting ready for school battle I faced in the morning. The next day dawned and to my utter astonishment Moo was up and dressed and asking to get to school early so she would have time to play. I just don’t understand. The battles decreased as the week wore on, but it’s still not even close to back to normal, and my nerves although a little frayed are not quite as shattered as they were. As well this week I have managed to procure a new ‘carté gris’ (registration document), for Verity and to my delight I found that I could do this at the local Maire, just down the road, instead of going on a 100km round trip to the prefecture, as I was first told. It’s amazing what you can find out if you ask the right people! I have also managed to secure an appointment for Chimney at the vet (next Thursday), for her ‘big op’. She will hate me in the short term I’m sure, but will be thrilled beyond meows when she can finally get out and chase all those big fat birds in the Garden. And I can stop worrying about her knocking herself out as she launches herself headfirst at the window. We are off to Belgium to see hubs this week-end, we were going to go today, but the lovely man who is helping me fetch the old car could only do so this afternoon, so I’m just sitting waiting for him now, in splendid peace as Moo is having a ‘play day’ with some school friends (thank you Mr & Mrs W, you don’t realise just how welcome that is!). So we are off in the morning for a jolly to see ‘real daddy not flat daddy’, as Moo has christened Hubs’ on screen image. So having dropped Moo off, I am now at home, alone, and loving it. I have packed for the week-end, finished tidying up and the lovely man will arrive here in about an hour so we can fetch the stranded Gordon. Aaaahh that’s better. I will not be posting till we return from Belgium as my little laptop has had a partial breakdown and only half the keyboard is working, which makes blogging a little tricky. So I will wish you all a bon weekend and hope that I remember to change the clocks tonight or it will be a very short trip away indeed!
A bientot
If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at hillywillyworld@gmail.com