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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/
DECEMBER
DECEMBER
OCTOBER
01-10 Can it REALLY be October already?
How is it possible that it’s the first of October? The days and months seem to whizz by. Moo has been at school for nearly a month already and the talk is now all of winter setting in and dare I mention the 'c word' - I can't even think about it yet never mind talk about it. Well it's been a busy few days, Hubs and I managed a bit of quality time pottering about with Moo and doing a bit of shopping in Le Mans. It’s a fantastic city and we have barely scratched the surface, the shopping is fantastic (with a multitude of shoe, handbag, lingerie and chocolate shops it's my idea of heaven) and it’s a great place to wander with lots of little arcades tucked away waiting to be discovered. We also managed to get some chairs. We have a distinct lack of chairs in our house, due to lack of space in our little moving van we had to leave our 2 wonderful black leather armchairs (just like Blofeld's chair in the James Bond films), in my mother in-laws shed to be collected at some unknown point in the future, and our folding kitchen chairs got stolen from a lock up we had, (along with many other lovely things), just before we moved, so all we have is a sofa a pouffe and an exercise ball called into emergency use when we have visitors! We got a lovely table a couple of months ago, and have been dithering over chairs, through lack of choice and funds, ever since. But we saw some very cheap chairs and decided that they will do for now and when we finally have enough cash for the chairs we really want they will do very nicely indeed for the garden. So we were finally able to sit together as a family for a meal at a proper table (the coffee table is now just a coffee table again). It's the little things that make such a big difference, I'm so ridiculously happy that we have chairs. I even did a little happy dance round the living room. Then yesterday we had the day of gloom, when Hubs had to go back to work in UK. So we packed ourselves off in Gordon and set off on the road to Tours airport. It's a bit of a trek at just short of 100 miles, but the easiest for him to fly in and out of for now, and auto route most of the way. After we had dropped him off and said our goodbye's I decided to go a different way home and see what the 'local' roads were like. After a few miles of roundabout frenzy, the route was a joy. Taking in about 15 or so little villages, all festooned with beautiful flowers and the roads in-between were a glory of Autumnal splendour. A joy to drive, and although it took about ½ an hour longer it was actually 15 miles shorter, and no tolls to pay either, even the 'getting back through LeMans' bit was easy and I discovered another whole new retail park ( must give my beautiful blonde friend a call and see if she's up for a jaunt next week....). I would seriously recommend getting off the A roads and onto the D's if you happen to be driving through France at any point. It might take a bit longer, but the joy of the journey makes up for the time.
04-10 Aaaattisshhhouch
Yesterday I sneezed, nothing too dramatic you may think, but I was sitting at a strange angle and I pulled a muscle in my back and it REALLY hurt. I tried to take it a bit easy so as not to make it worse and had a nice hot bath and an early night, and when I got up this morning it's not quite as bad. It's not the end of the world or anything it's just a pulled muscle and with a little rest and heat I'm sure it will be fine. It does however bring into sharp focus the realities of rural life. I am fortunate enough that it's not so bad that I can't drive, should I need to, but what if it was. Although we are reasonably close to a village with a shop if I'm poorly enough not to be driving I'm sure I wouldn't fancy the walk. And what would happen to Moo, with hubs away a lot it's always been a worry for me. I'm feeling bit 'far away from everyone' today. But then I haven't lived that close to any of the family for a good number of years, my mum and dad have lived in America for the last 4 years, and I know that should anything ever so dramatic occur, any one of them would be here as fast as they could. We may not be geographically close, but I couldn't wish for a better bunch to be related to. And I do have some lovely neighbours who I know would help out in any way they could ,in fact one of them saw me limping to the mail box this morning and was most concerned and offered to get supplies in from the supermarket for me if I needed anything. And there would be no shortage of volunteers to look after Moo I'm sure. I'm still getting used to the idea of friendly helpful neighbours to be honest. It's not that I didn't have nice neighbours in the UK it just took an awful lot longer to get to know them, and I'm quite sure that if I hadn't had a small child it would have taken a whole lot longer (the ability of a small person to communicate with anyone, is quite startling!). In fact when we lived in north London we had a flat for 18 months and met the neighbours the day we moved out. You just seem to get to know people quicker here. Perhaps because the pace of living is so much more relaxed, people have more time to stop and chat. In fact if you are 'just popping in for a coffee' you need to allow minimum of an hour. I've just talked myself into feeling a lot better about things! I'm sure when I get up in the morning things will seem a lot better again and my eeyore mood will have shifted. I think I just need a cuddle. 2 weeks and counting....
05-10 Happy birthday big sis
Oh my Lord, how old are you !!!!! It comes to us all I know, but you've got a good few years on me. I hope you have a fantastic birthday and a great holiday. You deserve a break and goodness knows you need all the rest you can get now you're getting on a bit. I know it's said that you should never reveal a lady's age, but she aint no lady she's my sister....I wouldn't be so cruel. In all seriousness have a great time on you hols honey. Love from your (much) younger sister.xx
06-10 Attention Aux Poux, and other emergency's
Today is our wedding anniversary. Happy day with lots of fond memories. Maybe next year we might get to celebrate it together, or at least in the same country would be nice.
Moo brings home a little book with any information that we parents need to know. Today's note, even with my limited French, sent a shudder of fear through me. Attention Aux Poux. The dreaded head lice have reared their ugly little heads again. (My head is itching just writing about them). So it's into the medical kit bag to retrieve the comb and conditioner. We are no stranger to head lice as Moo will catch them from anyone and anywhere at one point during her nursery days in UK I was seriously contemplating giving her a crew cut as I was having to treat 3 times a week every week, (and believe me this was no fun at all with a girl who doesn't even like to have her hair brushed), but Hubs put his foot down on that one, well he didn't have to do it did he. We have been officially lice free for 11 months now, but at the sight of that little green comb, she still ran a mile! After I had caught her and bribed her with some jam tarts for supper, I am pleased to report that we are still free of the little beasties. It wasn't too traumatic and she we actually laughed a lot at the thought of me looking in her hair for poux, which of course in the mind of a nearly 4 year old sounds exactly like poo. This leads me quite neatly on to our other emergency situation. Yesterday Moo locked herself in the toilet. She was being terribly independent and went to the loo and decided to lock the door. It was the hammering and screaming which alerted me to the problem. She had locked it ok, but the lock is a little stiff on the return and she couldn't get it undone, despite the coaching from outside the door. She was starting to get a little hysterical so I tried to calm her down enough for me to dash out to the shed and fetch some tools. One hastily deconstructed door handle later the situation was resolved and a very scared looking Moo emerged gave me a big hug and said 'thank you for rescuing me mummy' and promptly burst into tears. We had a little chat and she has promised that she will never ever do that again, (till the next time I expect), but the relevant tools now have a new home in the hall, just in case.
08-10 What's in the box?
Not long after we moved in Moo was in the garden playing with the neighbours cats and Mmlle.A and I had a conversation along the lines me-'yes it would be nice to get a cat for moo one day' MmlleA-'well I'll keep a look out for you', me-'yes maybe in the future we will get a cat'. And we thought no more of it every once in a while since the she has joked that she 'hasn't found us a kitten yet' or 'no kittens being born yet'. A few weeks ago she came and told me the sad tale of a cat that had lost all of her kittens, and said 'it's a shame perhaps one could have been for you'. I agreed that this was indeed sad, and reiterated that one day we may indeed get a cat of our own. That day was today. At around 7pm there was a knock at the door and MrA &MmlleA were at the back door with a small box in their hands and big smiles on their faces. 'Here is you kitten'. Oh. OK then. I pasted a big smile on my face and looked in the box, a small furry bundle with lovely big blue eyes looked up at me. I got it out of the box and it promptly climbed up my chest, over my shoulder and down my back. As MrA retrieved the cat I was told that it was about 6 week old, they didn't know if it was a boy or girl, and apparently it used a litter tray. Bit of a shame I haven't got one really. Or anything you need to own a cat. What DO you need to own a cat? MmlleA appeared with some kitten food, some litter and a toy, as she realised we were totally unprepared for the appearance of a cat. Then Moo arrived to see what the fuss was all about outside. The look of sheer joy on her face when I told her that this was our kitten is beyond description, and put all my doubts about cat ownership firmly into the dustbin. She is already deeply in smitten with our kitten. So inside we went and I hastily arranged a blanket in a box and filled up my newly purchased paint tray with litter (no painting tonight then...the bedroom will get finished one day soon), and sorted out a couple of bowls for food and water. The kitten prowled around sniffing out its new surroundings while I rang Hubs and informed him of the new arrival. He was as bemused as I was, but happy that we finally have a pet. I am sending him a picture tonight so that later we can discuss naming - I have already discounted most of Moo's suggestions as being either too weird or not something I would really want to be shouting out in the garden, but I'm rather taken with the name 'shazzam' it's quirky (a bit like us) and rather fittingly describes its arrival into the family. After I had managed to wrestle Moo into bed, I came back down to find the kitten snuggled up in 'bed', looking thoroughly at home. As I pottered about making coffee it decided to have another prowl, and spent a good half hour fighting our sheepskin rug and poking about under the furniture. I managed to grab it for a quick cuddle and an investigate, it's a girl, and she is now fast asleep in her makeshift bed. I'm slowly warming to her and I'm sure in no time at all I'll be boring everyone to death with cute cat stories and posting 'amusing cat pictures' everywhere. You see I always imagined my first proper pet would be a dog, (called Colin - long story), and here I sit as the almost proud owner of a very cute little kitten with no name. I'll let you know what we decide to call her.
11-10 It's very hard to type with a kitten on your keyboard..
So we are all getting used to the changing family dynamic, most of all having to enforce the new door shutting and toilet lid down rules that all of a sudden apply. After a quick trip to super U kitty now has a bed and a proper litter tray (not that I've done any more painting yet, but I promise I will soon hubs, it WILL be done by the time you get back), and a few toys donated by the cats next door. We have also had to invest quite heavily in flea powder as she came with a few friends in tow, but hopefully they have all gone now.... My cat mum credentials must surely be a lot higher now as I have even made her a carpet clad climbing post, it’s amazing what you can do with a few bits of left-over wood and half a broom handle. Oh yes and we have had a family conference and decided on a name for her. CHIMNEY. That's what happens when you let a nearly four year old have the casting vote, mind you I wanted to call her shazzam so who am I to judge. She is a very happy little cat and has taken to us well, a little too well when I'm trying to type and she's chasing my fingers (still it's a good excuse for typo's....). So apart from playing with the cat and fighting fleas the last few days have been quite busy with school swimming, and then school photo's yesterday. We had to get up extra early in order to have enough for me to have time to fight Moos hair into plaits for the occasion. I'm dying to see the pictures but I have no idea when they will be ready, so we just have to wait. As a reward for letting me tidy up her hair, I took her to la plage yesterday afternoon. It was a beautiful afternoon, but surprisingly we had the beach all to ourselves so we were running about, building sandcastles and soaking up the sun. On the beach in shorts and t-shirt in October, brilliant. (OK so the lake was a bit on the brrr side, but I can’t really complain). Today is another beautiful day now that the mist has finally cleared so we're off to take some autumnal pictures soon to be uploaded. I hope whatever you're getting up to today you have a lovely day too.
13-10 Lessons learned
Over the weekend I have learned many things. Most of them quite funny.
I have learned never to get distracted when your paint tray is resting on a step of your ladder.
I have learned to always make sure that your dust-sheets are actually covering the things they are meant to be covering.
I've learned that white emulsion actually comes out of our carpet quite easily (thank the lord).
I have learned not to bother paying the extra money for '1 coat' paint - 1 coat, Mon derriere!
I have also learned that the day after your back starts to feel better is not necessarily the best time to start climbing ladders and decorating.
My biggest lesson however came from my big sister. I received an e-mail, from someone I respect and trust, about the danger associated with certain lipsticks and that ingredients in said brands were carcinogenic. I did what was asked and forwarded this e-mail to many of my friends thinking how awful this was. Fortunately my big sister was on my e-mail list and is a lot more conscientious than I and actually checked the content of this e-mail and found it to be entirely false. She let me know in no uncertain terms that I had been party to spreading mis-information, so I immediately sent out another e-mail to correct my mistake. Of course if I had checked in the first place I would have known this for myself already. It is all too easy to be taken in by these things and do what would seem to be the right thing, when in fact upon reflection all I was doing was spreading propaganda for a rival cosmetics company. SO please do as I say and not as I do and check any e-mail forwards you get for accuracy before hitting that forward button. Thanks sis, Lesson learned. I also learned that I am becoming unusually obsessed with taking photographs of mushrooms.
18-10 Friday, already?
It's been a very busy week with not much happening, if that makes any sense at all. I have been in a painting frenzy and not only have I done the gate, I've finished the bedroom (I even make a new lampshade), and I've given the toilet a much needed make over. The blue palm tree wallpaper is no more (thank the lord), and has been replaced by white with some rather attractive floral 'vinyl wall art' (posh stickers). Gordon has had a good old spruce up and at least a kilo of sand hoovered form his carpets and a large amount of unidentifiable mung removed from around Moo's car seat. I've also managed to get in touch with some old friends who I haven't spoken to in years- gotta love the internet. I'm absolutely knackered, but extremely happy. Hubs is home tomorrow and if that weren't exciting enough, he's bringing AJ with him. AJ is my step-daughter, and she is fab! She's 12 (going on 16) and is turning into a wonderful young lady (and Goth, at the moment apparently). It's such a long time since Moo or I have seen her, circumstance and moving house too many times have gotten in our way too many times. Of course she has spent time with Hubs, but I haven't gotten to give her a hug for the longest time. Moo is on cloud 8 & 1/2 right now with the dizzy heights of 9 expected when I'm trying to get her to eat some breakfast before getting in the car in the morning. We are so very fortunate with our circumstance with AJ in that there is no bad feeling between the 2 families, AJ lives with her grandma and we have stayed with each other many times in the past and I hope that will continue in the future. In fact I would go so far as to say we are actually good friends. I have seen so many family's torn apart by bitterness as soon as the word 'step' comes into play and I thank the Lord on a regular basis that we are not one of them. I'd actually just like to take this opportunity to thank AJ's family for welcoming me and Moo into their lives with open arms and making it so easy for us to be a part in her life. It could all have been so different. So it will be a busy week with lots going on and, I'm sure, plenty of material for the blog!
22-10 Never on a school day...
OK so every other day I have to go in and wake Moo up for school so why then on a Wednesday (when there is no school here) does she wake up early and hassle me till I give in and take her downstairs? One of life's little mysteries...We have had a few fantastic family days so far, doing, well, not really very much to be honest, just being together is enough. On Sunday we had joy with the weather and headed to la plage, I wasn't really sure if AJ, being a street-smart 12, would be still into buckets and spades, but it wasn't long before castles were being built and destroyed and great works of sand art were being created (hubs got a little involved with the sand sculpting...). After a fruitless search for conkers (decoration and gaming purposes) amongst the oak trees we headed back home for a hearty tea and an early night. Getting Moo to school next morning was not the easiest thing in the world but we made it with seconds to spare. Moo has been ever so excited about AJ coming and has obviously been telling her school friends about her big sister and by the time we went to pick her up there was a big crowd of children waiting and waving at the door. The afternoon was taken up with supermarkets and grocery shopping, and the 'kids' were swallowed into the world of X-box star wars Lego for a couple of hours. (Whilst Moo's star wars knowledge is at a satisfactory level, AJ does need a re-education in the ways of the force, I thought hubs was going to cry when she claimed not to know what a wookie was). Yesterday after school we headed off to 'family village' on the other side of Le Mans for a bit of retail therapy. What a great place, fantastic shops a couple of restaurants and a park for when the kids get board. We shopped until we almost dropped then headed off to McDonalds as a 'treat' for the kids (we decided to wait a little to eat...), and I managed al the transactions and conversations in French today without too many mistakes of blank looks so I must be improving. The kids were happy with their meals, (no trades description breaches there then), and we headed back home through Le Mans rush hour and a REALLY big rain storm- oh joy- and home. With Moo and AJ finally in bed Hubs and I settled down for a cosy night in front of the tele watching 'spaced', an old favourite of ours (that has some rather spooky co-incidences with our own lives), that always makes us smile. We really don't ask for a lot in life, a day out with the kids and a cosy night in front of the tele. Hopefully now we are getting a bit more settled we will get to have a few more of them. Well, the sun is now up and I don't see why every else isn't so I'm off to rouse the troops and see where we end up today.
25-10 Where has the week gone?
All of a sudden it's Saturday evening and tomorrow I'm taking hubs and AJ to the airport. We have had a brilliant week, but oh so quick. AJ has had a good time and is already looking forward to the next visit. We didn't do that much really, but having time together as a family is such a rarity that even going to the supermarket together was a pleasure (OK well maybe I'm stretching that a bit, but you know what I mean!). We managed to get out and about a fair bit - weather permitting, it's not all sunshine and beaches - and discovered a few more medieval castles littered about the place but I have to admit to thanking the lord for the creator of the x-box games console as it kept 2 children (and hubs) happy during the rainy days. Thursday was a great day for me and my French practice. I volunteered (I think I did anyway...) to help out one of the other mums with a baking afternoon for the kids in Moo's class. The theme was 'Halloween' and the subject was 'muffins'. It was quite reassuring when I got there and saw the recipe and method up on the board and could actually understand it, and I managed to take my little group through with minimal assistance, the most used phrase of the afternoon being, ne touché pas (don't touch!). But it all went off rather well and muffins were baked, iced and left to be eaten the next day on the last day of term (as it was Moo got a pumpkin one and was NOT impressed at all - c'est la vie...). It was nice to be involved and speaking in only French for the afternoon, and also seeing Moo at school and realising just how much she already understands. In the evening we had all been invited to Dinner with my muffin making friend and her family to celebrate our triumphant cooking class! Mme W is from this area, but has lived all over France only very recently returning, and Mr W is a Canadian, who has lived in France for many years. They have two delightful children who go to school with Moo. We arrived and the children proceeded to run around like mad things for half an hour before dinner making conversation a little tricky, but as soon as they had their food, things were a little more civilised! We had a fantastic evening and have made some fab new friends and I have somehow volunteered (I think...) to cook a haggis supper on burns night. Although I flatly refuse to cook it in the traditional manner, once a life time is quite enough for that..... (For the curious amongst you the traditional manner is to cook it in the stomach lining of a sheep, and I am NEVER doing that again, MY stomach is turning just at the memory of that cold day in Wisconsin.....). But for now half term is looming for Moo and I, but before that we have one last night with Hubs and AJ so I'm off to enjoy.
26-10 Through wind and sleet and rain and hail...well almost!
So today was the day for the airport run, what with it being half term all over the place and the airline's propensity to quadruple the fares during these 2 weeks (I kid you not), we were off to a different airport where Hubs had managed to find a couple of flights that we didn't need to sell our souls to afford, I had been to this one before (130 miles North) and although it's not as nice (or short) a drive as our normal route, it's not too bad and we made the journey in just over 2 hrs., in fact we were so early that we decided to pop to St. Malo for a coffee before heading to the airport. Sadly for us there was a sailing festival there today and everybody and their aunties appeared to have 'popped there for a coffee' and all the car-parks (and side streets and flowerbeds) were already occupied. So we turned around and headed for the airport coffee bar instead. Although St. Malo does look rather beautiful and we do plan to return on a slightly less busy day, we may even get a parking spot. After our encounter with the highwayman who runs the airport bar, (I mean 10Euros for 2 small coffees and a coke, it was like being back in London), we said our goodbyes. Moo was particularly upset today as she has had such a good time with her big sis and we're not sure when she'll get to come out next (although she did say she wants to come back as soon and as often as possible which is wonderful for us, hopefully next time her grandma can come too). I always get quite gloomy when I say goodbye to hubs, but it's only a couple of weeks till he's home again, and hopefully this time he will be here a bit longer. When we left the airport I decided to try and find another way out as last time we ended up getting stuck on a bridge for half an hour...well I found the right road, sadly I was going the wrong way......but not for too long! We got back in the right direction and had only lost about 40 mins so it wasn't too bad as we headed for home. Just around the point where we got lost last time (I take no responsibility for this as I had 2 navigators in the car with me and neither of them knew the way either), the heavens opened and in about 10 seconds the visibility was reduced to about 2 meters so I decided to pull over and wait it out. Another 20 minutes. When it eased off again we set off and with no further problems, other than lots of other cars going WAY too fast in the rain, we almost got to the 'home stretch'. Just as the road turns from local dual carriageway to Auto route I saw a line of gendarmes directing traffic away from the A route and on to the really really local roads! By this point it still raining and getting dark and I had no idea where I was. I only passed my driving test 6 months ago and having a little one who is normally in bed by about 8pm means I don't really drive at night, in fact I think I have only driven twice in the dark before and it they were only 'down the road' trips so I'm not very experienced at driving in the dark, as for getting lost, well that happens to me constantly so I wasn't too worried about that! I decided to follow the signs to the nearest big town as I'd been there before and if I could get to the centre I could find my way home. Sadly the centre was closed off tonight. So I decided to head for the next big town.......Thankfully I got to that one and nearly cried when I saw a signpost with my local town on it. At last I could actually say I knew where I was and where I had to go. As I headed out through the country the fog closed in around me like a big blanket and once more the visibility was drastically reduced, I just thank the lord that the van I was following was going my way or I dread to think where we may have ended up. So the last 25 miles was done at around 20 miles an hour, but at last I saw the lights of our little village and our church appearing from out of the gloom. I can honestly say I have never been so glad to get out of the car. Through all of this my little Moo was a superstar, she is a great traveller anyway (just as well really), but not once did she whinge or complain, she never even objected when I switched the Wombles CD for Muse (bad weather, getting lost, fog AND the wombles was just too much for me to cope with tonight). After informing Hubs that we were at last safely home and dispatching Moo to bed with a big cuddle and a long story, I looked at some news and discovered that the reason the A route was closed was due to a big pile up during the sudden rain and that's round about where I should have been at the time if I hadn't gone the 'wrong way' out of the airport and so although I feel like I've been hit by a truck, but I'm very relieved that I haven't. I'm off to bed now to recover.
30-10 part 1 WOOOOHOOOO.
There are not many times since we have moved here that I have been jealous of things in the UK, but all the reports of snow from people have had me sulking a bit. However when I woke this morning, all jealousy vanished in an instant. All was white and thick snow was still falling, (no worries about what to do today). When Moo woke up she was, as usual, most reluctant to get dressed, until I told her to look out the window.....quick as a flash she was up and trying to get clothes on! So we are off out to have a play! I will report back with pictures later.....
30-10 part 2 Snowmen and snuggles
What a fab day! The snow was indeed falling thick and fast so we ventured out fully kitted with the hats scarves and gloves I bought on a whim yesterday. A quick walk down to the Mairé's office to dispense with the formalities of bill paying was rewarded with a nice chat with the administrator and the Maire himself (who also happens to be our landlord). My French is improving slowly and we managed to chat about the weather and consistency of the snow, (a bit on the wet side), and it's snowman building potential - the general consensus was not good, and Moo even managed a few words concerning le bonhomme de neige (that’s a snowman by the way, I told you I was improving!!!). Despite the prognosis we set out for home marvelling at how beautiful the village looked today, well I was marvelling and Moo was pitching snowballs, with a determination to build. And build we did, you can see the results on the photos page. His name is Vincent. A few snowballs later and the wet had soaked through our gloves, and my shoes, enough to warrant home time. Marshmallow-cornflake cakes were made and refrigerated, a pot of soup was prepared and consume, the duvets fetched from upstairs and when the hot chocolate was ready the afternoon movie could begin. Now most almost 4 year olds I know would choose a nice cartoon film, maybe a toy story or perhaps even a Shrek or Madagascar, but not Moo. Today's movie of choice was 'Return of the Jedi' - I blame her father entirely! With the emperor dispatched and a rather involved discussion/explanation of Boba Fett's job and transport (coming soon to the Mooism's page...), it was time for tea, a play with chimney a quick bath then off to bed. Another day of half term filled, only a week to go!
01-10 Can it REALLY be October already?
How is it possible that it’s the first of October? The days and months seem to whizz by. Moo has been at school for nearly a month already and the talk is now all of winter setting in and dare I mention the 'c word' - I can't even think about it yet never mind talk about it. Well it's been a busy few days, Hubs and I managed a bit of quality time pottering about with Moo and doing a bit of shopping in Le Mans. It’s a fantastic city and we have barely scratched the surface, the shopping is fantastic (with a multitude of shoe, handbag, lingerie and chocolate shops it's my idea of heaven) and it’s a great place to wander with lots of little arcades tucked away waiting to be discovered. We also managed to get some chairs. We have a distinct lack of chairs in our house, due to lack of space in our little moving van we had to leave our 2 wonderful black leather armchairs (just like Blofeld's chair in the James Bond films), in my mother in-laws shed to be collected at some unknown point in the future, and our folding kitchen chairs got stolen from a lock up we had, (along with many other lovely things), just before we moved, so all we have is a sofa a pouffe and an exercise ball called into emergency use when we have visitors! We got a lovely table a couple of months ago, and have been dithering over chairs, through lack of choice and funds, ever since. But we saw some very cheap chairs and decided that they will do for now and when we finally have enough cash for the chairs we really want they will do very nicely indeed for the garden. So we were finally able to sit together as a family for a meal at a proper table (the coffee table is now just a coffee table again). It's the little things that make such a big difference, I'm so ridiculously happy that we have chairs. I even did a little happy dance round the living room. Then yesterday we had the day of gloom, when Hubs had to go back to work in UK. So we packed ourselves off in Gordon and set off on the road to Tours airport. It's a bit of a trek at just short of 100 miles, but the easiest for him to fly in and out of for now, and auto route most of the way. After we had dropped him off and said our goodbye's I decided to go a different way home and see what the 'local' roads were like. After a few miles of roundabout frenzy, the route was a joy. Taking in about 15 or so little villages, all festooned with beautiful flowers and the roads in-between were a glory of Autumnal splendour. A joy to drive, and although it took about ½ an hour longer it was actually 15 miles shorter, and no tolls to pay either, even the 'getting back through LeMans' bit was easy and I discovered another whole new retail park ( must give my beautiful blonde friend a call and see if she's up for a jaunt next week....). I would seriously recommend getting off the A roads and onto the D's if you happen to be driving through France at any point. It might take a bit longer, but the joy of the journey makes up for the time.
04-10 Aaaattisshhhouch
Yesterday I sneezed, nothing too dramatic you may think, but I was sitting at a strange angle and I pulled a muscle in my back and it REALLY hurt. I tried to take it a bit easy so as not to make it worse and had a nice hot bath and an early night, and when I got up this morning it's not quite as bad. It's not the end of the world or anything it's just a pulled muscle and with a little rest and heat I'm sure it will be fine. It does however bring into sharp focus the realities of rural life. I am fortunate enough that it's not so bad that I can't drive, should I need to, but what if it was. Although we are reasonably close to a village with a shop if I'm poorly enough not to be driving I'm sure I wouldn't fancy the walk. And what would happen to Moo, with hubs away a lot it's always been a worry for me. I'm feeling bit 'far away from everyone' today. But then I haven't lived that close to any of the family for a good number of years, my mum and dad have lived in America for the last 4 years, and I know that should anything ever so dramatic occur, any one of them would be here as fast as they could. We may not be geographically close, but I couldn't wish for a better bunch to be related to. And I do have some lovely neighbours who I know would help out in any way they could ,in fact one of them saw me limping to the mail box this morning and was most concerned and offered to get supplies in from the supermarket for me if I needed anything. And there would be no shortage of volunteers to look after Moo I'm sure. I'm still getting used to the idea of friendly helpful neighbours to be honest. It's not that I didn't have nice neighbours in the UK it just took an awful lot longer to get to know them, and I'm quite sure that if I hadn't had a small child it would have taken a whole lot longer (the ability of a small person to communicate with anyone, is quite startling!). In fact when we lived in north London we had a flat for 18 months and met the neighbours the day we moved out. You just seem to get to know people quicker here. Perhaps because the pace of living is so much more relaxed, people have more time to stop and chat. In fact if you are 'just popping in for a coffee' you need to allow minimum of an hour. I've just talked myself into feeling a lot better about things! I'm sure when I get up in the morning things will seem a lot better again and my eeyore mood will have shifted. I think I just need a cuddle. 2 weeks and counting....
05-10 Happy birthday big sis
Oh my Lord, how old are you !!!!! It comes to us all I know, but you've got a good few years on me. I hope you have a fantastic birthday and a great holiday. You deserve a break and goodness knows you need all the rest you can get now you're getting on a bit. I know it's said that you should never reveal a lady's age, but she aint no lady she's my sister....I wouldn't be so cruel. In all seriousness have a great time on you hols honey. Love from your (much) younger sister.xx
06-10 Attention Aux Poux, and other emergency's
Today is our wedding anniversary. Happy day with lots of fond memories. Maybe next year we might get to celebrate it together, or at least in the same country would be nice.
Moo brings home a little book with any information that we parents need to know. Today's note, even with my limited French, sent a shudder of fear through me. Attention Aux Poux. The dreaded head lice have reared their ugly little heads again. (My head is itching just writing about them). So it's into the medical kit bag to retrieve the comb and conditioner. We are no stranger to head lice as Moo will catch them from anyone and anywhere at one point during her nursery days in UK I was seriously contemplating giving her a crew cut as I was having to treat 3 times a week every week, (and believe me this was no fun at all with a girl who doesn't even like to have her hair brushed), but Hubs put his foot down on that one, well he didn't have to do it did he. We have been officially lice free for 11 months now, but at the sight of that little green comb, she still ran a mile! After I had caught her and bribed her with some jam tarts for supper, I am pleased to report that we are still free of the little beasties. It wasn't too traumatic and she we actually laughed a lot at the thought of me looking in her hair for poux, which of course in the mind of a nearly 4 year old sounds exactly like poo. This leads me quite neatly on to our other emergency situation. Yesterday Moo locked herself in the toilet. She was being terribly independent and went to the loo and decided to lock the door. It was the hammering and screaming which alerted me to the problem. She had locked it ok, but the lock is a little stiff on the return and she couldn't get it undone, despite the coaching from outside the door. She was starting to get a little hysterical so I tried to calm her down enough for me to dash out to the shed and fetch some tools. One hastily deconstructed door handle later the situation was resolved and a very scared looking Moo emerged gave me a big hug and said 'thank you for rescuing me mummy' and promptly burst into tears. We had a little chat and she has promised that she will never ever do that again, (till the next time I expect), but the relevant tools now have a new home in the hall, just in case.
08-10 What's in the box?
Not long after we moved in Moo was in the garden playing with the neighbours cats and Mmlle.A and I had a conversation along the lines me-'yes it would be nice to get a cat for moo one day' MmlleA-'well I'll keep a look out for you', me-'yes maybe in the future we will get a cat'. And we thought no more of it every once in a while since the she has joked that she 'hasn't found us a kitten yet' or 'no kittens being born yet'. A few weeks ago she came and told me the sad tale of a cat that had lost all of her kittens, and said 'it's a shame perhaps one could have been for you'. I agreed that this was indeed sad, and reiterated that one day we may indeed get a cat of our own. That day was today. At around 7pm there was a knock at the door and MrA &MmlleA were at the back door with a small box in their hands and big smiles on their faces. 'Here is you kitten'. Oh. OK then. I pasted a big smile on my face and looked in the box, a small furry bundle with lovely big blue eyes looked up at me. I got it out of the box and it promptly climbed up my chest, over my shoulder and down my back. As MrA retrieved the cat I was told that it was about 6 week old, they didn't know if it was a boy or girl, and apparently it used a litter tray. Bit of a shame I haven't got one really. Or anything you need to own a cat. What DO you need to own a cat? MmlleA appeared with some kitten food, some litter and a toy, as she realised we were totally unprepared for the appearance of a cat. Then Moo arrived to see what the fuss was all about outside. The look of sheer joy on her face when I told her that this was our kitten is beyond description, and put all my doubts about cat ownership firmly into the dustbin. She is already deeply in smitten with our kitten. So inside we went and I hastily arranged a blanket in a box and filled up my newly purchased paint tray with litter (no painting tonight then...the bedroom will get finished one day soon), and sorted out a couple of bowls for food and water. The kitten prowled around sniffing out its new surroundings while I rang Hubs and informed him of the new arrival. He was as bemused as I was, but happy that we finally have a pet. I am sending him a picture tonight so that later we can discuss naming - I have already discounted most of Moo's suggestions as being either too weird or not something I would really want to be shouting out in the garden, but I'm rather taken with the name 'shazzam' it's quirky (a bit like us) and rather fittingly describes its arrival into the family. After I had managed to wrestle Moo into bed, I came back down to find the kitten snuggled up in 'bed', looking thoroughly at home. As I pottered about making coffee it decided to have another prowl, and spent a good half hour fighting our sheepskin rug and poking about under the furniture. I managed to grab it for a quick cuddle and an investigate, it's a girl, and she is now fast asleep in her makeshift bed. I'm slowly warming to her and I'm sure in no time at all I'll be boring everyone to death with cute cat stories and posting 'amusing cat pictures' everywhere. You see I always imagined my first proper pet would be a dog, (called Colin - long story), and here I sit as the almost proud owner of a very cute little kitten with no name. I'll let you know what we decide to call her.
11-10 It's very hard to type with a kitten on your keyboard..
So we are all getting used to the changing family dynamic, most of all having to enforce the new door shutting and toilet lid down rules that all of a sudden apply. After a quick trip to super U kitty now has a bed and a proper litter tray (not that I've done any more painting yet, but I promise I will soon hubs, it WILL be done by the time you get back), and a few toys donated by the cats next door. We have also had to invest quite heavily in flea powder as she came with a few friends in tow, but hopefully they have all gone now.... My cat mum credentials must surely be a lot higher now as I have even made her a carpet clad climbing post, it’s amazing what you can do with a few bits of left-over wood and half a broom handle. Oh yes and we have had a family conference and decided on a name for her. CHIMNEY. That's what happens when you let a nearly four year old have the casting vote, mind you I wanted to call her shazzam so who am I to judge. She is a very happy little cat and has taken to us well, a little too well when I'm trying to type and she's chasing my fingers (still it's a good excuse for typo's....). So apart from playing with the cat and fighting fleas the last few days have been quite busy with school swimming, and then school photo's yesterday. We had to get up extra early in order to have enough for me to have time to fight Moos hair into plaits for the occasion. I'm dying to see the pictures but I have no idea when they will be ready, so we just have to wait. As a reward for letting me tidy up her hair, I took her to la plage yesterday afternoon. It was a beautiful afternoon, but surprisingly we had the beach all to ourselves so we were running about, building sandcastles and soaking up the sun. On the beach in shorts and t-shirt in October, brilliant. (OK so the lake was a bit on the brrr side, but I can’t really complain). Today is another beautiful day now that the mist has finally cleared so we're off to take some autumnal pictures soon to be uploaded. I hope whatever you're getting up to today you have a lovely day too.
13-10 Lessons learned
Over the weekend I have learned many things. Most of them quite funny.
I have learned never to get distracted when your paint tray is resting on a step of your ladder.
I have learned to always make sure that your dust-sheets are actually covering the things they are meant to be covering.
I've learned that white emulsion actually comes out of our carpet quite easily (thank the lord).
I have learned not to bother paying the extra money for '1 coat' paint - 1 coat, Mon derriere!
I have also learned that the day after your back starts to feel better is not necessarily the best time to start climbing ladders and decorating.
My biggest lesson however came from my big sister. I received an e-mail, from someone I respect and trust, about the danger associated with certain lipsticks and that ingredients in said brands were carcinogenic. I did what was asked and forwarded this e-mail to many of my friends thinking how awful this was. Fortunately my big sister was on my e-mail list and is a lot more conscientious than I and actually checked the content of this e-mail and found it to be entirely false. She let me know in no uncertain terms that I had been party to spreading mis-information, so I immediately sent out another e-mail to correct my mistake. Of course if I had checked in the first place I would have known this for myself already. It is all too easy to be taken in by these things and do what would seem to be the right thing, when in fact upon reflection all I was doing was spreading propaganda for a rival cosmetics company. SO please do as I say and not as I do and check any e-mail forwards you get for accuracy before hitting that forward button. Thanks sis, Lesson learned. I also learned that I am becoming unusually obsessed with taking photographs of mushrooms.
18-10 Friday, already?
It's been a very busy week with not much happening, if that makes any sense at all. I have been in a painting frenzy and not only have I done the gate, I've finished the bedroom (I even make a new lampshade), and I've given the toilet a much needed make over. The blue palm tree wallpaper is no more (thank the lord), and has been replaced by white with some rather attractive floral 'vinyl wall art' (posh stickers). Gordon has had a good old spruce up and at least a kilo of sand hoovered form his carpets and a large amount of unidentifiable mung removed from around Moo's car seat. I've also managed to get in touch with some old friends who I haven't spoken to in years- gotta love the internet. I'm absolutely knackered, but extremely happy. Hubs is home tomorrow and if that weren't exciting enough, he's bringing AJ with him. AJ is my step-daughter, and she is fab! She's 12 (going on 16) and is turning into a wonderful young lady (and Goth, at the moment apparently). It's such a long time since Moo or I have seen her, circumstance and moving house too many times have gotten in our way too many times. Of course she has spent time with Hubs, but I haven't gotten to give her a hug for the longest time. Moo is on cloud 8 & 1/2 right now with the dizzy heights of 9 expected when I'm trying to get her to eat some breakfast before getting in the car in the morning. We are so very fortunate with our circumstance with AJ in that there is no bad feeling between the 2 families, AJ lives with her grandma and we have stayed with each other many times in the past and I hope that will continue in the future. In fact I would go so far as to say we are actually good friends. I have seen so many family's torn apart by bitterness as soon as the word 'step' comes into play and I thank the Lord on a regular basis that we are not one of them. I'd actually just like to take this opportunity to thank AJ's family for welcoming me and Moo into their lives with open arms and making it so easy for us to be a part in her life. It could all have been so different. So it will be a busy week with lots going on and, I'm sure, plenty of material for the blog!
22-10 Never on a school day...
OK so every other day I have to go in and wake Moo up for school so why then on a Wednesday (when there is no school here) does she wake up early and hassle me till I give in and take her downstairs? One of life's little mysteries...We have had a few fantastic family days so far, doing, well, not really very much to be honest, just being together is enough. On Sunday we had joy with the weather and headed to la plage, I wasn't really sure if AJ, being a street-smart 12, would be still into buckets and spades, but it wasn't long before castles were being built and destroyed and great works of sand art were being created (hubs got a little involved with the sand sculpting...). After a fruitless search for conkers (decoration and gaming purposes) amongst the oak trees we headed back home for a hearty tea and an early night. Getting Moo to school next morning was not the easiest thing in the world but we made it with seconds to spare. Moo has been ever so excited about AJ coming and has obviously been telling her school friends about her big sister and by the time we went to pick her up there was a big crowd of children waiting and waving at the door. The afternoon was taken up with supermarkets and grocery shopping, and the 'kids' were swallowed into the world of X-box star wars Lego for a couple of hours. (Whilst Moo's star wars knowledge is at a satisfactory level, AJ does need a re-education in the ways of the force, I thought hubs was going to cry when she claimed not to know what a wookie was). Yesterday after school we headed off to 'family village' on the other side of Le Mans for a bit of retail therapy. What a great place, fantastic shops a couple of restaurants and a park for when the kids get board. We shopped until we almost dropped then headed off to McDonalds as a 'treat' for the kids (we decided to wait a little to eat...), and I managed al the transactions and conversations in French today without too many mistakes of blank looks so I must be improving. The kids were happy with their meals, (no trades description breaches there then), and we headed back home through Le Mans rush hour and a REALLY big rain storm- oh joy- and home. With Moo and AJ finally in bed Hubs and I settled down for a cosy night in front of the tele watching 'spaced', an old favourite of ours (that has some rather spooky co-incidences with our own lives), that always makes us smile. We really don't ask for a lot in life, a day out with the kids and a cosy night in front of the tele. Hopefully now we are getting a bit more settled we will get to have a few more of them. Well, the sun is now up and I don't see why every else isn't so I'm off to rouse the troops and see where we end up today.
25-10 Where has the week gone?
All of a sudden it's Saturday evening and tomorrow I'm taking hubs and AJ to the airport. We have had a brilliant week, but oh so quick. AJ has had a good time and is already looking forward to the next visit. We didn't do that much really, but having time together as a family is such a rarity that even going to the supermarket together was a pleasure (OK well maybe I'm stretching that a bit, but you know what I mean!). We managed to get out and about a fair bit - weather permitting, it's not all sunshine and beaches - and discovered a few more medieval castles littered about the place but I have to admit to thanking the lord for the creator of the x-box games console as it kept 2 children (and hubs) happy during the rainy days. Thursday was a great day for me and my French practice. I volunteered (I think I did anyway...) to help out one of the other mums with a baking afternoon for the kids in Moo's class. The theme was 'Halloween' and the subject was 'muffins'. It was quite reassuring when I got there and saw the recipe and method up on the board and could actually understand it, and I managed to take my little group through with minimal assistance, the most used phrase of the afternoon being, ne touché pas (don't touch!). But it all went off rather well and muffins were baked, iced and left to be eaten the next day on the last day of term (as it was Moo got a pumpkin one and was NOT impressed at all - c'est la vie...). It was nice to be involved and speaking in only French for the afternoon, and also seeing Moo at school and realising just how much she already understands. In the evening we had all been invited to Dinner with my muffin making friend and her family to celebrate our triumphant cooking class! Mme W is from this area, but has lived all over France only very recently returning, and Mr W is a Canadian, who has lived in France for many years. They have two delightful children who go to school with Moo. We arrived and the children proceeded to run around like mad things for half an hour before dinner making conversation a little tricky, but as soon as they had their food, things were a little more civilised! We had a fantastic evening and have made some fab new friends and I have somehow volunteered (I think...) to cook a haggis supper on burns night. Although I flatly refuse to cook it in the traditional manner, once a life time is quite enough for that..... (For the curious amongst you the traditional manner is to cook it in the stomach lining of a sheep, and I am NEVER doing that again, MY stomach is turning just at the memory of that cold day in Wisconsin.....). But for now half term is looming for Moo and I, but before that we have one last night with Hubs and AJ so I'm off to enjoy.
26-10 Through wind and sleet and rain and hail...well almost!
So today was the day for the airport run, what with it being half term all over the place and the airline's propensity to quadruple the fares during these 2 weeks (I kid you not), we were off to a different airport where Hubs had managed to find a couple of flights that we didn't need to sell our souls to afford, I had been to this one before (130 miles North) and although it's not as nice (or short) a drive as our normal route, it's not too bad and we made the journey in just over 2 hrs., in fact we were so early that we decided to pop to St. Malo for a coffee before heading to the airport. Sadly for us there was a sailing festival there today and everybody and their aunties appeared to have 'popped there for a coffee' and all the car-parks (and side streets and flowerbeds) were already occupied. So we turned around and headed for the airport coffee bar instead. Although St. Malo does look rather beautiful and we do plan to return on a slightly less busy day, we may even get a parking spot. After our encounter with the highwayman who runs the airport bar, (I mean 10Euros for 2 small coffees and a coke, it was like being back in London), we said our goodbyes. Moo was particularly upset today as she has had such a good time with her big sis and we're not sure when she'll get to come out next (although she did say she wants to come back as soon and as often as possible which is wonderful for us, hopefully next time her grandma can come too). I always get quite gloomy when I say goodbye to hubs, but it's only a couple of weeks till he's home again, and hopefully this time he will be here a bit longer. When we left the airport I decided to try and find another way out as last time we ended up getting stuck on a bridge for half an hour...well I found the right road, sadly I was going the wrong way......but not for too long! We got back in the right direction and had only lost about 40 mins so it wasn't too bad as we headed for home. Just around the point where we got lost last time (I take no responsibility for this as I had 2 navigators in the car with me and neither of them knew the way either), the heavens opened and in about 10 seconds the visibility was reduced to about 2 meters so I decided to pull over and wait it out. Another 20 minutes. When it eased off again we set off and with no further problems, other than lots of other cars going WAY too fast in the rain, we almost got to the 'home stretch'. Just as the road turns from local dual carriageway to Auto route I saw a line of gendarmes directing traffic away from the A route and on to the really really local roads! By this point it still raining and getting dark and I had no idea where I was. I only passed my driving test 6 months ago and having a little one who is normally in bed by about 8pm means I don't really drive at night, in fact I think I have only driven twice in the dark before and it they were only 'down the road' trips so I'm not very experienced at driving in the dark, as for getting lost, well that happens to me constantly so I wasn't too worried about that! I decided to follow the signs to the nearest big town as I'd been there before and if I could get to the centre I could find my way home. Sadly the centre was closed off tonight. So I decided to head for the next big town.......Thankfully I got to that one and nearly cried when I saw a signpost with my local town on it. At last I could actually say I knew where I was and where I had to go. As I headed out through the country the fog closed in around me like a big blanket and once more the visibility was drastically reduced, I just thank the lord that the van I was following was going my way or I dread to think where we may have ended up. So the last 25 miles was done at around 20 miles an hour, but at last I saw the lights of our little village and our church appearing from out of the gloom. I can honestly say I have never been so glad to get out of the car. Through all of this my little Moo was a superstar, she is a great traveller anyway (just as well really), but not once did she whinge or complain, she never even objected when I switched the Wombles CD for Muse (bad weather, getting lost, fog AND the wombles was just too much for me to cope with tonight). After informing Hubs that we were at last safely home and dispatching Moo to bed with a big cuddle and a long story, I looked at some news and discovered that the reason the A route was closed was due to a big pile up during the sudden rain and that's round about where I should have been at the time if I hadn't gone the 'wrong way' out of the airport and so although I feel like I've been hit by a truck, but I'm very relieved that I haven't. I'm off to bed now to recover.
30-10 part 1 WOOOOHOOOO.
There are not many times since we have moved here that I have been jealous of things in the UK, but all the reports of snow from people have had me sulking a bit. However when I woke this morning, all jealousy vanished in an instant. All was white and thick snow was still falling, (no worries about what to do today). When Moo woke up she was, as usual, most reluctant to get dressed, until I told her to look out the window.....quick as a flash she was up and trying to get clothes on! So we are off out to have a play! I will report back with pictures later.....
30-10 part 2 Snowmen and snuggles
What a fab day! The snow was indeed falling thick and fast so we ventured out fully kitted with the hats scarves and gloves I bought on a whim yesterday. A quick walk down to the Mairé's office to dispense with the formalities of bill paying was rewarded with a nice chat with the administrator and the Maire himself (who also happens to be our landlord). My French is improving slowly and we managed to chat about the weather and consistency of the snow, (a bit on the wet side), and it's snowman building potential - the general consensus was not good, and Moo even managed a few words concerning le bonhomme de neige (that’s a snowman by the way, I told you I was improving!!!). Despite the prognosis we set out for home marvelling at how beautiful the village looked today, well I was marvelling and Moo was pitching snowballs, with a determination to build. And build we did, you can see the results on the photos page. His name is Vincent. A few snowballs later and the wet had soaked through our gloves, and my shoes, enough to warrant home time. Marshmallow-cornflake cakes were made and refrigerated, a pot of soup was prepared and consume, the duvets fetched from upstairs and when the hot chocolate was ready the afternoon movie could begin. Now most almost 4 year olds I know would choose a nice cartoon film, maybe a toy story or perhaps even a Shrek or Madagascar, but not Moo. Today's movie of choice was 'Return of the Jedi' - I blame her father entirely! With the emperor dispatched and a rather involved discussion/explanation of Boba Fett's job and transport (coming soon to the Mooism's page...), it was time for tea, a play with chimney a quick bath then off to bed. Another day of half term filled, only a week to go!
Misadventures in Mayenne
NOVEMBER
02-11 Toussaint, Truffles and Trees
Halloween came and went without any incident here, (there's not much point in dressing as a pumpkin when there's no-one to show off to and trick or treaters don't come out this far), but we did have a nice pumpkin soup! The next day is of course Toussaint, All saints day, and, as my friend who is currently touring in Austria realised, is a European National holiday (except in the UK) so we had a rainy bank holiday spent visiting friends and drinking spiced wine (well not Moo obviously....) lovely. And yesterday was a big day for my big sister who officially launched her new business CHOCALLY - www.luxurytruffles.co.uk selling handmade luxury truffles and cards. I can thoroughly recommend the truffles they are REALLY good. Sadly, as yet, she only ships to the UK so I'll just have to wait to get some more.... Today we decided to take advantage of no rain and headed out for a mystery ramble on one of the woodland trails near our house and see where we ended up. We ambled up the hill and took a new path winding our way through the trees and stumbled upon the loveliest little chapel, set in the midst of, well nowhere ,really. It is tiny and to our great delight open. We stepped inside, fully expecting it to be totally empty, but it was fully kitted out with statues of our lady and St Anthony, (my personal favourite!), an altar and fresh flowers. We sat for a few moments in the stillness of the woods and said a small prayer of thanks. From what I could gather from the available information it was built in around 1860 as a refuge for the lost and weary (hence St Anthony, who is the patron saint of lost things, the poor and travellers -which is also why he is my favourite!!). As we journeyed on we found yet more statues of our lady hidden away (yet perfectly tended) in the wood. And most unusually for here statues of the empty cross. There are literally hundreds of crucifix statues dotted around the local area but this is the first time I have ever seen an empty one. The walk was a joy and we were out for around 2 hrs before Moo began to tire and start tripping over so we called it a day and headed home just as the hunters who were out today began to warm up and the sound of gunshot echoed through the trees (They were out on the other side of the wood so we weren't too close). Moo was slightly alarmed when I told her they were probably hunting deer, but reassured when I told her that it Bambi didn't live in France....It still seems strange to me to hear a gunshot that is not followed by a police siren, and as Hubs commented when he was home last week, the last time he saw a man walking down the street with a dog and a shotgun, the last thing on his mind was to stop and say hello...same planet, different world.
05-11 Re discovering my favourite books - no wonder I’m tired!
Since I discovered that my little computer’s charger was broken and not charging, (there are 2 current suspects, one almost 4 year old child and one almost 4 month old kitten - it’s even money), the luxury of wifi has been taken away and I am ‘chained to the mainframe’! No more surfing in bed for me for a while. However the lure of the internet does not prove as strong as the lure of bed and a hot water bottle and I decided to have an early night for once. So I thought 9pm was just TOO early to sleep so I grabbed a book for ‘an hour’s read’. Now anyone who knows me knows that I find it very difficult to put down a book once it’s started (even if I have read it a few times before) and last night proved to be no exception…. Now the charms of the Harry Potter series are not by any means limited to myself, but did I really have to read the whole if book one, and maybe just start book 2, (well 150 pages is a good start….), it was only the advent of the 3am chimes that shamed me into putting it down (well after I had finished the chapter). Even though I was fully aware that Moo could be up at any time after 6 (thankfully she decided to have a lie in too), I still kept on reading. It’s not like I don’t know what happens. I just love reading. I have recently reread the excellent ‘his dark materials’ trilogy by Phillip Pullman, and one of my favourite reads ‘Perfume’ by Patrik Suskind. My favourite book of all time however is a children’s book written by Anna Holm called ‘I am David’. The story of a Jewish boy, set during the 2nd world war, and his escape from a concentration camp. It is a wonderfully moving and hopeful tale that I have been having read to me and then read since I was about 6 years old. My dad gave it to me when he came back from one of his ‘work trips to England’ I think. It has my name written in crayon on the first page and is one of my most treasured possessions. And it has been at least a year since I read it so I think once Hogwarts is out of the way again I have the next one lined up ready to go! Apart from reading, there have actually been a few other things going on. We spent the day yesterday visiting people who were out ( really, we tried 4 visits and everyone was out), then realising that all the driving meant we were going about on mainly fumes so had a slightly nervous drive to the local garage to get Gordon a much needed drink. Moo and I decided to give up trying to visit people for the day and head home for a movie and some pop-corn. Much as Moo wanted to watch another star wars I felt it was time for a more traditional kid’s film so back to Pixar and the realisation that toy story has so many star wars homage’s in it that we may as well have watched star wars anyway! Then I managed to speak to speak to my big bro somewhere in America fixing planes for the RAF, and wish him a happy birthday. Although he was busy and it was a short call it was really good to speak to him, and hopefully when he’s a few time zones closer we will catch up for a bit longer. (If he remembers the fact that you can ACTUALLY make calls, and not just receive them….). As for today, well it’s bonfire night ,but not in France of course so no fireworks here, and the USA have elected themselves a new president (so a few firework there I would wager). And its time I was getting on. We are going to try and do some visits again this afternoon; hopefully someone will be in today. And we really do need an early night tonight as school starts again tomorrow (WOOHOO!) and we are swimming first thing, that reminds me, must shave my legs…..!
08-11 Rain rain go away.
There's no getting away from it, I've had a miserable week. I have had a proper case of the eeyores. Probably something to do with the weather and the fact that I'm missing Hubs so much. Its normally OK, I mean I miss him all the time when he's not here, but I can normally slap on a happy grin and get on with things, but somehow this week it’s been so hard. I feel like my left arms have been cut off. Moo has had a grotty week too with a few nightmares (mostly about French speaking kangaroos carrying lightsabers being chased by giant ginger marbles - and no, I don't know.) and a case of the sniffles that were threatening to turn into the real thing but thankfully haven't yet. But at least she has been excited about getting back to school. I've been hit by a big fat week of insomnia, (it happens occasionally and I just cannot sleep whatever I try) so lots of reading and I'm really starting to wish I hadn't lent out my Harry Potter 6 & 7.
We have managed to make a couple of sorties this week. Off we went to the circus parc (see photos page!) only to find that after a couple of weeks of closure it was now no longer the circus parc as it has all been ripped out and replaced and is henceforth to be known as the 'OZ parc'. I'll get some photos up soon and you will see why. And at last I managed to sate my, some would say obsessive, desire for conkers. It started about a month ago (around the time I redecorated the smallest room). We had a lovely little brownish grey glass vase which I had a notion would look nice filled with conkers. Easy I thought, just take a walk around, there will be loads scattered around. But I seemed cursed never to be in a place where there was a single conker tree, oaks a plenty, beeches as far as the eye could see and when I did happen to stumble upon a conker tree the most I managed to find were one of two sad lonely rejected looking things, but into my pocket they went. By this time the vase stood at only about ½ full I decided I had probably seen the last of the conkers for the season. The day we did find a large sprawling conker tree in the area the ground was covered in snow. But one visit to the OZ parc and my pockets were bulging at the seams (it's always the day you don't have a bag with you...) and Moo was happily skipping around shouting 'you're bonkers for conkers', and I think she's right. But still my vase is now full, and although it is rather reminiscent of one of those 'guess how many xyz's in a jar and win a teddy' type things. Even if I do say so myself, it looks rather nice.
14-11 Time flies
I can’t quite believe I've missed nearly a week of writing. I so meant to update, but things just seemed to get in the way. We have been busy with school, shopping, making pies, watching films and getting cross with you. Moo has spent large part of the week on the naughty step for various reasons, most of which have involved the cat somewhere along the line or her new favourite thing to do which is yelling and stamping of feet, not a very attractive quality, nor one that will endear her to her already grumpy mother. She has started to get a little better today but the threat of losing birthday presents seems to be sinking in at last. (Thank goodness it’s going to be Christmas after that and I can threaten her with Santa bypassing her bedroom soon, lord knows what I'll do after that). The cat is starting to drive me a little insane as she is desperate to get outside, but vet bills for jabs weren't in the budget this month - heck we didn't have a cat when this month’s budget was dreamt up. and as many times as I have been tempted to throw her out the window.......Drusilla is bearing most of the brunt (she’s a little dragon tree in the front hall now with nicely lacerated trunk), but her little cute kitten feet are Wolverinesque in their ability to transform into daggers of pain at any second. It’s not too bad when you're wearing jeans and a jumper, but pyjamas are a whole different nightmare, I look like I've been running naked through a bramble hedge, not a nice proposition whichever way you look at it. We spent a very quiet remembrance day together visiting the village memorial and explaining to Moo why we were there, and what we were doing. From the mouth of a child came the wisdom 'mummy if people just talked to each other they wouldn't have to fight any more'. I couldn't agree more.
I have been taking another look through the poetry book, (the ode less travelled, by Stephen Fry), that Moo's godmother, and my best friend, bought for me 3 years ago, I didn't get through much of it before, I wasn't feeling terribly poetic at the time, and it’s been packed and shipped around the world since then, but I'm really enjoying it although I have been finding myself forming my speech in iambic pentameters for the last few days and seeing if anyone notices, (go to the naughty step now young lady, falls rather neatly don't you think?), but as both molly and chimney are as yet unaware of the linguistic subtleties I think I may be barking up the wrong tree, and I assume that if I try and engage Hubs in a conversation about Shakespeare’s use of the form he may well start gibbering uncontrollably. Speaking of Hubs, he's home at the moment for a few days (particularly for Moo's birthday on Sunday). Then we lose him again for a week then. Oh joy, he is home for a few weeks till the next job starts. We have been taking advantage of our time together and had great fun making a 'school birthday' cake for Moo to have this morning with her classmates (pictures to follow...). And we have had an offer that we couldn't refuse from some of our friends. They have offered to have Molly for the evening and so we find ourselves in the position of having 'a night off' with just the 2 of us. Sheer luxury. So we are trying to think of something to do now..... I'm sure we will come up with something, but it’s actually quite difficult to think of something when you haven't had a night out for such a long time, and you have no idea what is open in the evening! So we will have an adventure I'm sure. We will be full on preparing for the Moo's birthday tomorrow as we have another cake to bake and presents to wrap and cards to write and trying to keep her contained till the big day. A full report to follow.
19-11 OUCH ! I’ve just re-located my big toe.
I didn't lose it you understand. I was carrying Moo upstairs to bed when our beloved chimney decided to entangle herself around my feet, and I lurched forward and instinct took over and I realised that if I dint slam my foot really hard against the step I was going to fall over and drop my little lady. Fortunately we were near the top and I was able to unceremoniously dump her on her bottom. Unfortunately the process of slamming my foot against the stairs didn't agree with the alignment of bones in my big toe. I was panicking as I thought it was broken at first, but then realised that if I acted quickly and decisively I could pop it back. I nearly said a bad word. Poor Moo was wondering what was going on and asked me if banging on the floor really helped ….. It did. Just as well the cat had the sense to scarper. So a couple of funky painkillers down and I can just about see straight again. I hope it’s not to blue tomorrow, I've got swimming in the morning.
19-11 So many things...
It’s been too many days since my last update, apologies, so much going on. I had intended to do this much sooner but things just kept happening! So firstly, our 'date'. Moo was thrilled to bits to be having a night with her 2 school chums and we didn't get so much as a backward glance when we left her. We headed off to one of the local towns in search of a restaurant to have a belated anniversary dinner, and we hit the jackpot. A tiny family run place that serves the MOST delicious food I've ever eaten. I can’t even begin to explain how good it was, Snails to start, and oh boy were they good. Beef for main, and I have to say that the beef here even beats the Wisconsin Beef - They sure know how to cook round these parts, and I'm not going to try and describe the chocolate pudding as I couldn't do it justice. It was a bit on the pricey side, but my mouth is still watering almost a week later so worth every cent. The restaurant was absolutely amazing, the staff extremely pleasant and I'm sure we will be visiting again (on a very special occasion anyway!). We headed back to the local Pub for a coffee before collecting a totally zonked out Moo. It was such a joy to have a night out together, and I look forward to more. (And just so you all know the cost of B&B includes a night of babysitting!). Saturday we had a VERY lazy day, but thankfully were out of our pyjamas by the time BB popped in for a coffee and a catch up (and if she's reading this she will realise just how lazy a day we were having...!). The rest of the day was all about playing and shopping for birthday tea (burgers and chips - that's my girl), and making sure presents were wrapped, cards written and cakes baked. The last of which was done by Hubs, his first attempt at cake, and a marvellous success. And at last the big day dawned, our little lady is 4. Where has the time gone? After a leisurely muck about upstairs we descended to the present pile in the kitchen much wrapping paper related carnage ensued, along with cat running round the floor in oversized envelopes. Much fun. There were many clothes (I thank you) a winter snow suit (again I thank you) some playmobile figures (including a playmobile advent calendar - brilliant, Moo was a little disappointed she couldn't start opening it now, but consoled with the fact that she was going to get a toy every day in December!). A new leap-pad with half a dozen books (some in French), a princess Jasmine Barbie which she has been after since watching Aladdin (nice one AJ) and a purple Lightsabre (what have we done?). Not a bad haul. Whilst we were having breakfast and present opening it became clear that there was a major event occurring in the village as between 30 - 40 cars were angling for parking spaces outside the house (normally its noteworthy if there are more than 5 or 6) so in the best family tradition we went out for a nosey. It seems that here remembrance day is commemorated on the Sunday after the 11th as the church was packed to the rafters and the surviving soldiers were carrying their flags into the service. In the interests of keeping a 'happy' birthday we decided not to attend the service (that and the fact we were all still in our slippers and half way through a present pile), but we did attend the commemoration after the service at the war memorial. It was a deeply moving experience and one which I am glad we were a part of. Mr G, (our back garden neighbour), was bearing a flag with a chest full of medals and after the ceremony came over to shake our hands and seemed very pleased to point us out to some of his comrades. I'm not sure that many of the ex-pats get involved with things like this and it seemed to make a great impression on the locals that we had made the time. For me it's a no-brainer. Remembrance should be observed wherever you are. It's not just about honouring the dead - although this should be done, it's about remembering that the armed forces are still out there, and politics aside, they are doing their job for their country. It's not just about what we have lost but what we have gained through the sacrifice of others. I sometimes lose sight of the fact that this was an occupied country. This village and all of those surrounding were full of opposition troops. Many brave people sacrificed everything and suffered terribly for the greater good, and I think it's a poor show if we can’t spare half an hour to remember that fact. So there. Anyway back to the birthday. The rest of the day was taken up with playing with presents and eating sweets, with a quick call out to the local pub to receive yet another gift and drink coffee with the landlady, always a pleasure. Birthday burgers were made and consumed, with a vain effort on my part to introduce some salad to the burger fest, and the cake of wonder produced alight with a '4' candle (yes I know - 4 candles...) and 4 wonderful sparklers. What joy on little Moo's face. Bedtime came all too soon. The day after was an early start to get Hubs back to the airport (slightly delayed by the fact that 20 minutes in we had to about turn and retrieve the forgotten bank card), but we got there in time nonetheless. Dinard is a dismal shack of an airport by any standards and at 3 Euro's 50 for a coffee it outranks most of them for cost as well. Goodbye's were said (but not too tearful this time as its only till the week-end - yeah!), and Moo and I decided to make a day of it and visit St. Malo as we were practically there anyway. What a lovely town. The beach was empty and the walk out to the fort was just possible thanks to the ebbing tide. We clambered over rocks and collected a myriad of shells, and only got slightly wet feet. We then took an amble into the old town and got thoroughly lost in the tightly packed maze like interior with brilliantly named streets (the street of the dancing cat being our favourite of the day) and, thankfully, the odd signpost directing us back to the beach. Lunch was had and after yet another torturous drive back, (no fog this time only driving rain and I only got slightly lost). We crashed out after tea and had an early night. I woke up on Tuesday feeling like I'd been squashed by a rhino. I ached from head to toe, my head was pounding and I could barely keep my eyes open. Moo's school time saw me firmly back in bed. The day passed in a bit of a haze and I spent most of it in auto-pilot till I could sink back into my bed. Thankfully today I feel better. I'm just putting it down to birthday/driving fatigue. Only one more airport pick-up for Hubs on Saturday and then he will be working in mainline Europe for the next 7 months and can get the train home!
24-11 Star wars Lego 2 has taken over my life!
My Name is Hils and it’s been 12 hours since my last game of star wars Lego. It used to be a game 'just for daddy'. Then Moo had a turn on the x-box with daddy. Then Daddy went back to work and mummy had to figure out how to get it switched on for Moo to have a play, then I had to 'help'. That's when it all went wrong. For the first time in my life I actually enjoyed trying to play a computer game. I have been hubs' wingman for many years giving strategy advice, and giving, almost always unnecessary, advice about impending trees, but actually playing games has never been something I enjoyed. Until now. There's something about blasting those little Lego men to bits that is extremely satisfying!!, While Hubs was back in the UK I got a little carried away to be honest and now I realise how time just slips away when you are in a virtual world. Anyway I have now finished all the bounty hunter missions (to hubs great disappointment) and found enough gold bricks to have a run about in Lego city. I do feel slightly guilty that I haven't actually done anything this week but it's been good to rest my toe, which is fine now by the way thanks to lots of ice. I am now the proud possessor of Moos 1st official school photo, and it’s a beauty. (Of course), just have to get some frames now.... The best part now is that Hubs is home till mid December (apart from a 2-3 day stint training in UK) and we are all looking forward to a wonderful family time.
29-11 It’s starting to look a bit like...
The trees are going up around the villages, the lights are being strung across the streets and it’s starting to look a bit like ... NO NO NO it’s still too early, Focus woman. I do love the festive season, but I have to reign myself in if I start getting festive too early, then I peak way too soon! It’s been an interesting few days here with a very short power cut that managed to kill our big computers power supply (it just went off and didn't come back on again), so we had a couple of days without big brother, but had my little notebook to keep us going (but I couldn't update hence a big chunk today!). So we had to go to Le Mans to pick up another, (and some surge protection for next time or this could start getting REALLY expensive). So we are now back in business and I have actually put some new pictures on as well so do swing by the photos page and have a look. The main bone of contention in the house of late has been the cat or rather the ******* cat as she has become known. You see we are not really cat people, but she was rather thrust upon us so we now have to become cat people, but its hard work. We are dog people you see, all of my life the family has had dogs and I love dogs. They are so much more affectionate than cats, much more personality. Anyway whilst our little chimney has been litter trained for, how shall I put it, solid matter, liquid matter on the other hand seems to be a much more problematic area for her. I have spent the last few weeks following her round and mopping up. Not terribly pleasant. Especially as I sometimes miss one or two only to be alerted when I can smell it and have to track it down, she has a few favourite spots so it’s not too hard to find, but getting to it usually means moving at least one piece of furniture. And the smell when you come down in the morning, well, let’s just say it’s not good. I have tried all the training methods suggested to me, but nothing seemed to be working. She also has a rather catlike habit of attacking the bottom of your legs, not really a problem in jeans, but when you switch to PJ's it’s a whole different level of pain (especially when, like Hubs' ) they are shorts. Her recent fascination for chewing cables hasn't been endearing her either (one computer adapter, one phone charger). The last straw was broken the other night as she was in major play mode careering round the room attacking everything that moved, or was plugged in. When she decided that the x box cable was her mortal enemy and pulled it out of the back of the machine just as hubs was about to finish chapter 4 of 6 in story mode of the empire strikes back , I thought it would be the end of her. Let’s just say it’s a good thing that the only thing in reach was a notebook and pen or I fear we may have neither a cat or an x box left to tell the tale, (for anyone who has played this game it's the Degobah level - say no more). We banished her to the hall and had the big 'what are we going to do about that ****** cat conversation. At that moment and time I was all for putting her in the car and liberating her in the woods, and had it not been for the fact that it was freezing cold and raining and I was in my PJ's I think I probably would have. (Mum, Dad, now I understand about the rabbit). In the end we decided that we should give her another chance, but her banishment would be complete. She is now a permanent resident of the hall (allowed in at our discretion, and when Moo forgets to close the door). But I think she may well have been listening to us as this morning she was peeing in her litter tray and we have yet to find one in the hall...... But as for now I must away to steam a haggis. We have guests for a 'traditional Scottish meal' tonight, and I must get on or they will end up getting a bowl of porridge and not much else! I will endeavour to update more regularly in the next few weeks, hopefully the computer won’t die again.
02-11 Toussaint, Truffles and Trees
Halloween came and went without any incident here, (there's not much point in dressing as a pumpkin when there's no-one to show off to and trick or treaters don't come out this far), but we did have a nice pumpkin soup! The next day is of course Toussaint, All saints day, and, as my friend who is currently touring in Austria realised, is a European National holiday (except in the UK) so we had a rainy bank holiday spent visiting friends and drinking spiced wine (well not Moo obviously....) lovely. And yesterday was a big day for my big sister who officially launched her new business CHOCALLY - www.luxurytruffles.co.uk selling handmade luxury truffles and cards. I can thoroughly recommend the truffles they are REALLY good. Sadly, as yet, she only ships to the UK so I'll just have to wait to get some more.... Today we decided to take advantage of no rain and headed out for a mystery ramble on one of the woodland trails near our house and see where we ended up. We ambled up the hill and took a new path winding our way through the trees and stumbled upon the loveliest little chapel, set in the midst of, well nowhere ,really. It is tiny and to our great delight open. We stepped inside, fully expecting it to be totally empty, but it was fully kitted out with statues of our lady and St Anthony, (my personal favourite!), an altar and fresh flowers. We sat for a few moments in the stillness of the woods and said a small prayer of thanks. From what I could gather from the available information it was built in around 1860 as a refuge for the lost and weary (hence St Anthony, who is the patron saint of lost things, the poor and travellers -which is also why he is my favourite!!). As we journeyed on we found yet more statues of our lady hidden away (yet perfectly tended) in the wood. And most unusually for here statues of the empty cross. There are literally hundreds of crucifix statues dotted around the local area but this is the first time I have ever seen an empty one. The walk was a joy and we were out for around 2 hrs before Moo began to tire and start tripping over so we called it a day and headed home just as the hunters who were out today began to warm up and the sound of gunshot echoed through the trees (They were out on the other side of the wood so we weren't too close). Moo was slightly alarmed when I told her they were probably hunting deer, but reassured when I told her that it Bambi didn't live in France....It still seems strange to me to hear a gunshot that is not followed by a police siren, and as Hubs commented when he was home last week, the last time he saw a man walking down the street with a dog and a shotgun, the last thing on his mind was to stop and say hello...same planet, different world.
05-11 Re discovering my favourite books - no wonder I’m tired!
Since I discovered that my little computer’s charger was broken and not charging, (there are 2 current suspects, one almost 4 year old child and one almost 4 month old kitten - it’s even money), the luxury of wifi has been taken away and I am ‘chained to the mainframe’! No more surfing in bed for me for a while. However the lure of the internet does not prove as strong as the lure of bed and a hot water bottle and I decided to have an early night for once. So I thought 9pm was just TOO early to sleep so I grabbed a book for ‘an hour’s read’. Now anyone who knows me knows that I find it very difficult to put down a book once it’s started (even if I have read it a few times before) and last night proved to be no exception…. Now the charms of the Harry Potter series are not by any means limited to myself, but did I really have to read the whole if book one, and maybe just start book 2, (well 150 pages is a good start….), it was only the advent of the 3am chimes that shamed me into putting it down (well after I had finished the chapter). Even though I was fully aware that Moo could be up at any time after 6 (thankfully she decided to have a lie in too), I still kept on reading. It’s not like I don’t know what happens. I just love reading. I have recently reread the excellent ‘his dark materials’ trilogy by Phillip Pullman, and one of my favourite reads ‘Perfume’ by Patrik Suskind. My favourite book of all time however is a children’s book written by Anna Holm called ‘I am David’. The story of a Jewish boy, set during the 2nd world war, and his escape from a concentration camp. It is a wonderfully moving and hopeful tale that I have been having read to me and then read since I was about 6 years old. My dad gave it to me when he came back from one of his ‘work trips to England’ I think. It has my name written in crayon on the first page and is one of my most treasured possessions. And it has been at least a year since I read it so I think once Hogwarts is out of the way again I have the next one lined up ready to go! Apart from reading, there have actually been a few other things going on. We spent the day yesterday visiting people who were out ( really, we tried 4 visits and everyone was out), then realising that all the driving meant we were going about on mainly fumes so had a slightly nervous drive to the local garage to get Gordon a much needed drink. Moo and I decided to give up trying to visit people for the day and head home for a movie and some pop-corn. Much as Moo wanted to watch another star wars I felt it was time for a more traditional kid’s film so back to Pixar and the realisation that toy story has so many star wars homage’s in it that we may as well have watched star wars anyway! Then I managed to speak to speak to my big bro somewhere in America fixing planes for the RAF, and wish him a happy birthday. Although he was busy and it was a short call it was really good to speak to him, and hopefully when he’s a few time zones closer we will catch up for a bit longer. (If he remembers the fact that you can ACTUALLY make calls, and not just receive them….). As for today, well it’s bonfire night ,but not in France of course so no fireworks here, and the USA have elected themselves a new president (so a few firework there I would wager). And its time I was getting on. We are going to try and do some visits again this afternoon; hopefully someone will be in today. And we really do need an early night tonight as school starts again tomorrow (WOOHOO!) and we are swimming first thing, that reminds me, must shave my legs…..!
08-11 Rain rain go away.
There's no getting away from it, I've had a miserable week. I have had a proper case of the eeyores. Probably something to do with the weather and the fact that I'm missing Hubs so much. Its normally OK, I mean I miss him all the time when he's not here, but I can normally slap on a happy grin and get on with things, but somehow this week it’s been so hard. I feel like my left arms have been cut off. Moo has had a grotty week too with a few nightmares (mostly about French speaking kangaroos carrying lightsabers being chased by giant ginger marbles - and no, I don't know.) and a case of the sniffles that were threatening to turn into the real thing but thankfully haven't yet. But at least she has been excited about getting back to school. I've been hit by a big fat week of insomnia, (it happens occasionally and I just cannot sleep whatever I try) so lots of reading and I'm really starting to wish I hadn't lent out my Harry Potter 6 & 7.
We have managed to make a couple of sorties this week. Off we went to the circus parc (see photos page!) only to find that after a couple of weeks of closure it was now no longer the circus parc as it has all been ripped out and replaced and is henceforth to be known as the 'OZ parc'. I'll get some photos up soon and you will see why. And at last I managed to sate my, some would say obsessive, desire for conkers. It started about a month ago (around the time I redecorated the smallest room). We had a lovely little brownish grey glass vase which I had a notion would look nice filled with conkers. Easy I thought, just take a walk around, there will be loads scattered around. But I seemed cursed never to be in a place where there was a single conker tree, oaks a plenty, beeches as far as the eye could see and when I did happen to stumble upon a conker tree the most I managed to find were one of two sad lonely rejected looking things, but into my pocket they went. By this time the vase stood at only about ½ full I decided I had probably seen the last of the conkers for the season. The day we did find a large sprawling conker tree in the area the ground was covered in snow. But one visit to the OZ parc and my pockets were bulging at the seams (it's always the day you don't have a bag with you...) and Moo was happily skipping around shouting 'you're bonkers for conkers', and I think she's right. But still my vase is now full, and although it is rather reminiscent of one of those 'guess how many xyz's in a jar and win a teddy' type things. Even if I do say so myself, it looks rather nice.
14-11 Time flies
I can’t quite believe I've missed nearly a week of writing. I so meant to update, but things just seemed to get in the way. We have been busy with school, shopping, making pies, watching films and getting cross with you. Moo has spent large part of the week on the naughty step for various reasons, most of which have involved the cat somewhere along the line or her new favourite thing to do which is yelling and stamping of feet, not a very attractive quality, nor one that will endear her to her already grumpy mother. She has started to get a little better today but the threat of losing birthday presents seems to be sinking in at last. (Thank goodness it’s going to be Christmas after that and I can threaten her with Santa bypassing her bedroom soon, lord knows what I'll do after that). The cat is starting to drive me a little insane as she is desperate to get outside, but vet bills for jabs weren't in the budget this month - heck we didn't have a cat when this month’s budget was dreamt up. and as many times as I have been tempted to throw her out the window.......Drusilla is bearing most of the brunt (she’s a little dragon tree in the front hall now with nicely lacerated trunk), but her little cute kitten feet are Wolverinesque in their ability to transform into daggers of pain at any second. It’s not too bad when you're wearing jeans and a jumper, but pyjamas are a whole different nightmare, I look like I've been running naked through a bramble hedge, not a nice proposition whichever way you look at it. We spent a very quiet remembrance day together visiting the village memorial and explaining to Moo why we were there, and what we were doing. From the mouth of a child came the wisdom 'mummy if people just talked to each other they wouldn't have to fight any more'. I couldn't agree more.
I have been taking another look through the poetry book, (the ode less travelled, by Stephen Fry), that Moo's godmother, and my best friend, bought for me 3 years ago, I didn't get through much of it before, I wasn't feeling terribly poetic at the time, and it’s been packed and shipped around the world since then, but I'm really enjoying it although I have been finding myself forming my speech in iambic pentameters for the last few days and seeing if anyone notices, (go to the naughty step now young lady, falls rather neatly don't you think?), but as both molly and chimney are as yet unaware of the linguistic subtleties I think I may be barking up the wrong tree, and I assume that if I try and engage Hubs in a conversation about Shakespeare’s use of the form he may well start gibbering uncontrollably. Speaking of Hubs, he's home at the moment for a few days (particularly for Moo's birthday on Sunday). Then we lose him again for a week then. Oh joy, he is home for a few weeks till the next job starts. We have been taking advantage of our time together and had great fun making a 'school birthday' cake for Moo to have this morning with her classmates (pictures to follow...). And we have had an offer that we couldn't refuse from some of our friends. They have offered to have Molly for the evening and so we find ourselves in the position of having 'a night off' with just the 2 of us. Sheer luxury. So we are trying to think of something to do now..... I'm sure we will come up with something, but it’s actually quite difficult to think of something when you haven't had a night out for such a long time, and you have no idea what is open in the evening! So we will have an adventure I'm sure. We will be full on preparing for the Moo's birthday tomorrow as we have another cake to bake and presents to wrap and cards to write and trying to keep her contained till the big day. A full report to follow.
19-11 OUCH ! I’ve just re-located my big toe.
I didn't lose it you understand. I was carrying Moo upstairs to bed when our beloved chimney decided to entangle herself around my feet, and I lurched forward and instinct took over and I realised that if I dint slam my foot really hard against the step I was going to fall over and drop my little lady. Fortunately we were near the top and I was able to unceremoniously dump her on her bottom. Unfortunately the process of slamming my foot against the stairs didn't agree with the alignment of bones in my big toe. I was panicking as I thought it was broken at first, but then realised that if I acted quickly and decisively I could pop it back. I nearly said a bad word. Poor Moo was wondering what was going on and asked me if banging on the floor really helped ….. It did. Just as well the cat had the sense to scarper. So a couple of funky painkillers down and I can just about see straight again. I hope it’s not to blue tomorrow, I've got swimming in the morning.
19-11 So many things...
It’s been too many days since my last update, apologies, so much going on. I had intended to do this much sooner but things just kept happening! So firstly, our 'date'. Moo was thrilled to bits to be having a night with her 2 school chums and we didn't get so much as a backward glance when we left her. We headed off to one of the local towns in search of a restaurant to have a belated anniversary dinner, and we hit the jackpot. A tiny family run place that serves the MOST delicious food I've ever eaten. I can’t even begin to explain how good it was, Snails to start, and oh boy were they good. Beef for main, and I have to say that the beef here even beats the Wisconsin Beef - They sure know how to cook round these parts, and I'm not going to try and describe the chocolate pudding as I couldn't do it justice. It was a bit on the pricey side, but my mouth is still watering almost a week later so worth every cent. The restaurant was absolutely amazing, the staff extremely pleasant and I'm sure we will be visiting again (on a very special occasion anyway!). We headed back to the local Pub for a coffee before collecting a totally zonked out Moo. It was such a joy to have a night out together, and I look forward to more. (And just so you all know the cost of B&B includes a night of babysitting!). Saturday we had a VERY lazy day, but thankfully were out of our pyjamas by the time BB popped in for a coffee and a catch up (and if she's reading this she will realise just how lazy a day we were having...!). The rest of the day was all about playing and shopping for birthday tea (burgers and chips - that's my girl), and making sure presents were wrapped, cards written and cakes baked. The last of which was done by Hubs, his first attempt at cake, and a marvellous success. And at last the big day dawned, our little lady is 4. Where has the time gone? After a leisurely muck about upstairs we descended to the present pile in the kitchen much wrapping paper related carnage ensued, along with cat running round the floor in oversized envelopes. Much fun. There were many clothes (I thank you) a winter snow suit (again I thank you) some playmobile figures (including a playmobile advent calendar - brilliant, Moo was a little disappointed she couldn't start opening it now, but consoled with the fact that she was going to get a toy every day in December!). A new leap-pad with half a dozen books (some in French), a princess Jasmine Barbie which she has been after since watching Aladdin (nice one AJ) and a purple Lightsabre (what have we done?). Not a bad haul. Whilst we were having breakfast and present opening it became clear that there was a major event occurring in the village as between 30 - 40 cars were angling for parking spaces outside the house (normally its noteworthy if there are more than 5 or 6) so in the best family tradition we went out for a nosey. It seems that here remembrance day is commemorated on the Sunday after the 11th as the church was packed to the rafters and the surviving soldiers were carrying their flags into the service. In the interests of keeping a 'happy' birthday we decided not to attend the service (that and the fact we were all still in our slippers and half way through a present pile), but we did attend the commemoration after the service at the war memorial. It was a deeply moving experience and one which I am glad we were a part of. Mr G, (our back garden neighbour), was bearing a flag with a chest full of medals and after the ceremony came over to shake our hands and seemed very pleased to point us out to some of his comrades. I'm not sure that many of the ex-pats get involved with things like this and it seemed to make a great impression on the locals that we had made the time. For me it's a no-brainer. Remembrance should be observed wherever you are. It's not just about honouring the dead - although this should be done, it's about remembering that the armed forces are still out there, and politics aside, they are doing their job for their country. It's not just about what we have lost but what we have gained through the sacrifice of others. I sometimes lose sight of the fact that this was an occupied country. This village and all of those surrounding were full of opposition troops. Many brave people sacrificed everything and suffered terribly for the greater good, and I think it's a poor show if we can’t spare half an hour to remember that fact. So there. Anyway back to the birthday. The rest of the day was taken up with playing with presents and eating sweets, with a quick call out to the local pub to receive yet another gift and drink coffee with the landlady, always a pleasure. Birthday burgers were made and consumed, with a vain effort on my part to introduce some salad to the burger fest, and the cake of wonder produced alight with a '4' candle (yes I know - 4 candles...) and 4 wonderful sparklers. What joy on little Moo's face. Bedtime came all too soon. The day after was an early start to get Hubs back to the airport (slightly delayed by the fact that 20 minutes in we had to about turn and retrieve the forgotten bank card), but we got there in time nonetheless. Dinard is a dismal shack of an airport by any standards and at 3 Euro's 50 for a coffee it outranks most of them for cost as well. Goodbye's were said (but not too tearful this time as its only till the week-end - yeah!), and Moo and I decided to make a day of it and visit St. Malo as we were practically there anyway. What a lovely town. The beach was empty and the walk out to the fort was just possible thanks to the ebbing tide. We clambered over rocks and collected a myriad of shells, and only got slightly wet feet. We then took an amble into the old town and got thoroughly lost in the tightly packed maze like interior with brilliantly named streets (the street of the dancing cat being our favourite of the day) and, thankfully, the odd signpost directing us back to the beach. Lunch was had and after yet another torturous drive back, (no fog this time only driving rain and I only got slightly lost). We crashed out after tea and had an early night. I woke up on Tuesday feeling like I'd been squashed by a rhino. I ached from head to toe, my head was pounding and I could barely keep my eyes open. Moo's school time saw me firmly back in bed. The day passed in a bit of a haze and I spent most of it in auto-pilot till I could sink back into my bed. Thankfully today I feel better. I'm just putting it down to birthday/driving fatigue. Only one more airport pick-up for Hubs on Saturday and then he will be working in mainline Europe for the next 7 months and can get the train home!
24-11 Star wars Lego 2 has taken over my life!
My Name is Hils and it’s been 12 hours since my last game of star wars Lego. It used to be a game 'just for daddy'. Then Moo had a turn on the x-box with daddy. Then Daddy went back to work and mummy had to figure out how to get it switched on for Moo to have a play, then I had to 'help'. That's when it all went wrong. For the first time in my life I actually enjoyed trying to play a computer game. I have been hubs' wingman for many years giving strategy advice, and giving, almost always unnecessary, advice about impending trees, but actually playing games has never been something I enjoyed. Until now. There's something about blasting those little Lego men to bits that is extremely satisfying!!, While Hubs was back in the UK I got a little carried away to be honest and now I realise how time just slips away when you are in a virtual world. Anyway I have now finished all the bounty hunter missions (to hubs great disappointment) and found enough gold bricks to have a run about in Lego city. I do feel slightly guilty that I haven't actually done anything this week but it's been good to rest my toe, which is fine now by the way thanks to lots of ice. I am now the proud possessor of Moos 1st official school photo, and it’s a beauty. (Of course), just have to get some frames now.... The best part now is that Hubs is home till mid December (apart from a 2-3 day stint training in UK) and we are all looking forward to a wonderful family time.
29-11 It’s starting to look a bit like...
The trees are going up around the villages, the lights are being strung across the streets and it’s starting to look a bit like ... NO NO NO it’s still too early, Focus woman. I do love the festive season, but I have to reign myself in if I start getting festive too early, then I peak way too soon! It’s been an interesting few days here with a very short power cut that managed to kill our big computers power supply (it just went off and didn't come back on again), so we had a couple of days without big brother, but had my little notebook to keep us going (but I couldn't update hence a big chunk today!). So we had to go to Le Mans to pick up another, (and some surge protection for next time or this could start getting REALLY expensive). So we are now back in business and I have actually put some new pictures on as well so do swing by the photos page and have a look. The main bone of contention in the house of late has been the cat or rather the ******* cat as she has become known. You see we are not really cat people, but she was rather thrust upon us so we now have to become cat people, but its hard work. We are dog people you see, all of my life the family has had dogs and I love dogs. They are so much more affectionate than cats, much more personality. Anyway whilst our little chimney has been litter trained for, how shall I put it, solid matter, liquid matter on the other hand seems to be a much more problematic area for her. I have spent the last few weeks following her round and mopping up. Not terribly pleasant. Especially as I sometimes miss one or two only to be alerted when I can smell it and have to track it down, she has a few favourite spots so it’s not too hard to find, but getting to it usually means moving at least one piece of furniture. And the smell when you come down in the morning, well, let’s just say it’s not good. I have tried all the training methods suggested to me, but nothing seemed to be working. She also has a rather catlike habit of attacking the bottom of your legs, not really a problem in jeans, but when you switch to PJ's it’s a whole different level of pain (especially when, like Hubs' ) they are shorts. Her recent fascination for chewing cables hasn't been endearing her either (one computer adapter, one phone charger). The last straw was broken the other night as she was in major play mode careering round the room attacking everything that moved, or was plugged in. When she decided that the x box cable was her mortal enemy and pulled it out of the back of the machine just as hubs was about to finish chapter 4 of 6 in story mode of the empire strikes back , I thought it would be the end of her. Let’s just say it’s a good thing that the only thing in reach was a notebook and pen or I fear we may have neither a cat or an x box left to tell the tale, (for anyone who has played this game it's the Degobah level - say no more). We banished her to the hall and had the big 'what are we going to do about that ****** cat conversation. At that moment and time I was all for putting her in the car and liberating her in the woods, and had it not been for the fact that it was freezing cold and raining and I was in my PJ's I think I probably would have. (Mum, Dad, now I understand about the rabbit). In the end we decided that we should give her another chance, but her banishment would be complete. She is now a permanent resident of the hall (allowed in at our discretion, and when Moo forgets to close the door). But I think she may well have been listening to us as this morning she was peeing in her litter tray and we have yet to find one in the hall...... But as for now I must away to steam a haggis. We have guests for a 'traditional Scottish meal' tonight, and I must get on or they will end up getting a bowl of porridge and not much else! I will endeavour to update more regularly in the next few weeks, hopefully the computer won’t die again.
DECEMBER
01-12 Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Woohoo, it's December, I can officially start getting Christmassy now - YEAH!
But first I have to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY AJ! We are now the proud (step-for me) parents of a teenager, oh the joys. Hubs is already having nightmares about boyfriends, although to be honest if I were a potential boyfriend it would be me who would be worried...... This morning is of course the first day of advent and as such was the grand opening of day one of the advent calendar. This year we opted for a playmobile calendar and although it took a certain amount of time to construct last evening we are thrilled with the results. It really is amazing. 24 boxes each with a little toy inside that completes a large forest playmobile scene, this morning was a tree and two little birds. It’s so cool, and the value for money is excellent, and already has been worth it for it helped as an incentive to get Moo out of bed and dressed this morning with slightly less fuss than usual, and that has to be a good thing. (I now appreciate your struggle mum). This afternoon we are off to a local(ish) Christmas market so I'll report back after that.
02-12 How soon the Christmas spirit can disappear...
Well the Christmas market trip was a disaster. It was cold, a bit drizzly and Moo was in the worst mood. It wasn't even a 'Christmas' market, just a big normal one, so no comedy decorations to laugh at either. She was OK for about 10 minutes, and then the whingeing started, and kept on going, and going and going. She was on fine form. Then after we had enough in the market we needed to go the supermarket, and full scale tears were unleashed with added shouting. We did all the talking to and trying to distract but the tears continued. As we are all incredibly stubborn we carried on around the shop regardless, but it was a joyless experience for all concerned. When we eventually got back to the car, the journey home was a sombre one. The rest of the day passed in much the same manner and quite frankly bedtime couldn't come soon enough. Hubs and I decided that the best course of action was to settle down and watch a film as we both needed a bit of an unwind after a stressful day, and 'Batman Begins' was just the ticket. After that we hit the sack, for about 10 minutes until Moo woke up for some unknown reason, and started kicking off again. I went to fetch her a drink and as I tried to stop the ****** cat getting into her room and ended up getting a bite and a handful of scratches for my trouble, not the best way to endear me especially after the last couple of weeks . She is extremely fortunate not to have found the short way down the stairs last night. I just about managed to calm myself enough to go back and try and sort out Moo, who by this time was yelling for her drink, and eventually she settled down and went back to sleep. So far today has been good, but its only 10.30 and she's been at school since 9, so we will see what the afternoon brings. Ho Ho Ho indeed.
16.30 - All is well! We decided on big diversions today and so far it has been a roaring success. This afternoon we have built a rocket, oh yes, we are in fact today rocket scientists. The cardboard construction is a masterpiece of engineering (and I only had to gently remind hubs once that it was for a 4 year old and it didn't actually have to fly...although with my, quite frankly, superb flaming rocket boosters on the back I wouldn't be surprised.......) We are currently touring the universe with a couple of stops off in Hartlepool and Wisconsin for lunch and tea, sorry if we missed you. We now have to go and give our flag to Jabba the Hutt, so you must excuse me.
08-12 its beginning to look a lot like......
The Christmas spirit is alive and well again. Harmony is restored and all is well, whilst not exactly a 'silent night' (due to molly's dreams that “a French person took my seat in the car and wouldn't let me back in”), it was a reasonably peaceful one. So for me the 'airport run' is finally over with Hubs no longer going back to work in the UK, he had to do a quick trip back last week to finish up and pick up his tools, but that should be it for a good few months now. We have him at home for another week then he's off to Antwerp till Christmas Eve. So I'm guessing it's a week of frantic shopping and list making before he disappears back to work. Yesterday was the grand decorating day and as we retrieved Christmas (a holdall that we travel our Christmas' in, that has been packed since January 07) from the shed we realized quite quickly that we were going to need some more decorations. We have got downstairs almost done and the tree looked lovely - I say looked for good reason, at the time of writing I can hear that ******* cat behind me clambering around up the tree with the sound of baubles bouncing on the floor at regular intervals, so I've just decided not to look. The situation with that ******** cat has improved since we started keeping her mainly in the hall and she seems to have finally grasped the concept of pee-ing in her litter box rather than the floor so the trip to the woods has been postponed. I must say though I'm looking forward to the end of January after she's been 'seen to' so we can finally let her out (we took the decision to keep her in till then as apparently cats can get pregnant from around 4 months old - about now- and there are an awful lot of tom cats round here, and as annoying as she is better just one of her than a whole load of kittens!). So this afternoon we will be on a quest for more decorations to wrap up the house in. We need something for the gate and the fence, although much to my surprise and delight we already have a small tree outside as our house is on the village decoration route and accordingly we have been Christmassed up! It is so pretty round these parts as every little village is decorated and it really is just so lovely as you drive through all those little pockets of festive cheer, although I'm fairly sure we have come across a little rivalry between the maire of our village and the next one, as every time we go through they seem to have a few more lights or trees, then the next day we see our maire out with his little band of happy elves (otherwise known as tenant farmers) fixing up yet more stuff in the village....I can see it ending with tears and tinsel. I am really looking forward to doing the rest of the decorating, I'm seeing lots of wreaths and ribbons, I do however draw the line at a burglar Santa You know the ones I mean, where you have a jolly old Santa scaling the walls of your house or breaking in through an upstairs window...there seem to be an awful lot of them round here. Hopefully there won’t be a storm as mostly they get blown off the walls and left dangling in curious positions looking rather like a hangman's gallery and really not very Christmassy at all... still better than the one that our UK neighbours had whose trousers were a bit to baggy and whose head used to fall off .... Talk about emotional scarring.....
12-12 Papa Noel, fog and a sudden realisation
Papa Noel came to the village on Wednesday. We had a note in Moo's schoolbook telling us to be at the village hall at 4pm, so after a quick trip to Le Mans mid morning to get Moo's Christmas present, we headed back thinking that there would be a Santa on a tractor going through the village handing out sweets. How wrong we were. Our neighbours came calling at the appointed hour and off we all went to the village hall to find it packed with most of the village, young and old, and a party about to happen. Pere Noel dutifully arrived on a beautiful horse drawn carriage and all the children came outside to have their pictures taken with the great man. However Moo was rather overcome by meeting a celebrity and had an attack nerves and refused even to look at him, no matter how much he tried to make her smile! We all went inside and Papa Noel sang a karaoke medley of French Christmas hits and proceeded to give out bags of sweets to all the children and still Moo refused to smile. It wasn't until he managed to magically produce a box of smarties from behind her ear that she gave in and showed off her dimples. Hot chocolate and brioche all round, a present of a book for all the children from 'the village' and we were on our way home again after a thoroughly pleasant hour or so. Moo was still a little unsure about meeting Santa, and was a little concerned as to the whereabouts of his reindeer, but after a few well chosen words about the reindeer resting up for the big night she seemed content. This week has been all about fog. Dense Murky fog. Everywhere. Blankets of the stuff covering the whole area. Whilst it does look pretty, it sure makes it tricky getting anywhere, but we ventured out to the parc at the lake yesterday to help Moo run off a bit of energy and were rewarded with the glorious sight of half the lake frozen and the forest on the opposite bank shrouded in fog. The pictures really don't do justice to the view. As Hubs so rightly says, 'every day I see something that takes my breath away'. We hurried home as I had a chocolate cake to make for our guests who were coming in the evening. We finally had our neighbours over for an evening of coffee and cake (and possibly a little Christmas cheer...). We had a marvellous evening of 'franglais' conversation (fortunately Mr. speaks much better English than we speak French, but we did manage a few gentle conversations with Mme.A without the need for too much translation!!). They are such a wonderful family and we are so happy to count them amongst our good friends here. But it was during a conversation with Mme.A about getting ready for Christmas that I had the sudden realisation that I have not actually done any Christmas shopping yet (apart from Moo and my parents...) and really there is very little time left to do it if I want anyone to actually receive anything, although I did manage to track down a pack of Christmas cards (which is a lot more difficult than you may imagine), but sadly I haven't actually managed to write them yet. And for the first time in our life together Hubs has actually finished his Christmas shopping before mine has even begun. Well it has been a year of big changes....
16-12 Like a bottle of 3 day old coke, strangely flat.
Well that's all the Christmas shopping done (except for Hubs - always a challenge) and posted the cards are mostly all on their way and a list of 'lunch' shopping has been drawn up. But I'm feeling rather deflated at the moment. Nothing is actually wrong, just a bit low. I'm guessing it's because Hubs is back at work and we have been playing text tennis on the phones today as we have managed to just miss each other all day (not helped by the fact I left my mobile at home today instead of taking it with me - oops). It was so good to be at home all together the past few weeks and, although I am used to him being away, the house feels empty. But life goes on and after school we decided to visit our friends who own the local bar, ( L'Homme Vert ). Mrs HV was at home and we enjoyed a nice chat and coffee, then went to visit the chickens. Moo is fascinated by chickens, which is quite a turn around as she used to be terrified of them when she was little, but we spent a pleasant half hour watching her chasing them round the garden and feeding them. I am actually considering getting some chickens in the spring as the taste of fresh eggs is just SO delicious and they have to be the lowest maintenance 'pets' in the world! But we shall see. I'm not even sure if we are allowed to keep chickens in the garden so I will have to check with Mr. Marie before I get too carried away with the notion. As they are going back to the UK to see family just after Christmas we stepped into the breach and offered to feed the chooks for them, a good practice run! Then Mr HV appeared and casually mentioned that he hadn't actually sorted out anyone to feed his horse yet..... He took us up to meet Picasso and, most importantly, showed us how to turn off the electric fence. He is a friendly beast and we had a good get to know you feed and stroke and were showed the ropes for feeding. It was so good to be around a horse again. I used to ride a lot when I was younger, and I loved it. Moving to a big city put an end to riding for me and I haven't been for years, but I do so love them. I just happened to casually mention this while we were feeding him and Mr HV kindly offered me a ride when the weather improves, so I jumped at the chance and I'm already longing for the spring. We named our price for looking after the animals, a family sized jar of Marmite - just about the only thing we miss, (you can get it here but it’s SO expensive and I try to avoid the ex-pat section of the supermarket!), and tootled off home to colour in pictures of Santa and eat biscuits. Tomorrow is for posting the rest of the cards and finishing the washing and visiting the park. I believe there may be another Santa lurking around with his sleigh in the big town too so we may well seek him out.
18-12 And the word of the day is 'brouillard'.
We never did get to see the other 'pere noel' as Moo has contracted 'the' cough. Not 'a' cough you understand, but 'the' cough. We have been waiting for it as all the other children in her school have had it and it was only a matter of time. By the time Tuesday evening had arrived she was hacking like a miner, so much Vicks was rubbed and calpol administered and off to bed for a fitful night's sleep, followed by a grumpy cross day with only one small excursion that was supposed to be to the post office, but as we got there and I realised I had left the 'post office bag' on the sofa, I gave up for the day and we went for a quick turn around the park instead. More vicks and calpol and a plea from the heart to sleep in mummy's bed saw us both in bed by 9pm. This morning she was much better and had only a slight tickle so back to school to get re-infected she went! With the school run complete I took myself off the big town to see if I could find something/anything to get for Hubs for Christmas. I trawled the latest hopeful shop and although I managed to pick up some lovely festive nibbles, a present for daddy from moo that she's had her eye on for a while, and given 'Santa' a rather tasteful helping hand for myself, still nothing for Hubs. I'm seriously running out of time now. As I left the big town I was a little surprised to see that the morning brouillard, (that good old fashioned fog to you and me), had not yet burned off, but was not too perturbed as it sometimes hangs around till after lunch then was confident it would be either the same or gone by the time I wanted to go to 'la poste'. Boy was I ever wrong. By the time after lunch arrived I looked out the window to check conditions and realised that I couldn't actually see my garden fence, which is only about 10m from the window. Uncle Peter and Record shop John, I'm afraid you may not get your cards till after Christmas. So another afternoon of house bound activities beckoned. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it previously but when Hubs was home we decided that the biggest problem with the ******* cat (apart from her mere existence) was that she was bored. So hubs (the big softie) decided to buy her a lead.....(as I know I have mentioned before, none of the toms round here are 'done' and I really don't want any more kittens, so she can’t be out on her own till she has been 'done')... so he thought a lead may be the answer. Moo and I took her for a test drag around the front garden the other day (it didn't go too well) and decided to try and repeat the experience today and see if we fared any better. Well it was slightly better and she didn't seem quite so reluctant to be tethered, but I thought we had lost her when moo slipped over on some soggy leaves, dropped the lead and chimney made a break for it, fortunately she's not too bright and managed to get herself wrapped up in some bushes so we were able to catch her again quite easily. The rest of the afternoon was spent in relative harmony with Moo getting into her 'bunny game' which is a CD ROM called Jump Ahead , for kids learning French, which I have to say is brilliant for Moo and me, while I pottered around watering plants, tidying up and humming Christmas carols. Then we had a wonderful video chat with mum and dad on Skype. It’s so good being able to see them and I know they were both over the moon to see and speak Moo who proceeded to show them the playmobiles she has had so far from her advent calendar, even chimney made a guest appearance. I was starting to have quite warm feeling for the cat by this point, she has only broken one bauble today. Then I went upstairs and discovered why she has been so quiet. She's been digging up grand-dad. She has always had a good relationship with grand-dad and left him alone, even when I moved him upstairs and decorated him for Christmas, she didn't seem that interested, but for some reason today she went for him. He doesn't get in the way and he's never a bother so why today? who knows, what I do know is that it took me ages to get him right again, and to be honest he still looks a bit peaky and I've had to move him into the comparative safety of our room for the time being. And chimney is once again 'that ******* cat'. Having just re-read today's entry I feel I should perhaps point out that grand-dad is not in fact a long suffering relative that we keep hidden in the upstairs hall, but a much loved rubber plant.
27-12 Where has it all gone?
So that was Christmas 2008. Well I know I haven't updated for awhile so I'll try and recap first and hopefully you will forgive my tardiness. On the 20th December I went to turn on the computer again and, well, nothing to be precise, it's been broken again. I have no idea why so I just told Hubs and then ignored it. Of course as Hubs had my little computer with him in Antwerp I was left without t'internet till he got back late on the 23rd. In all fairness you haven't missed very much, Moo had a dreadful cough and didn't really sleep for 2 nights, then I had a sickness bug and didn't really sleep for another 2-3 nights so I've been very tired and grumpy (especially the night Hubs rang and all I could hear was a bunch of crazy Belgians singing 'a viva espagna' at max volume). On the 22nd I started to feel vaguely human again and managed to sleep, so went out on the 23rd to finish my Christmas shopping and I finally managed to get e pressie for Hubs - hurrah! Then it was home, eat, then off to Le Mans to get Hubs. It's defiantly silly season for driving lots of nut bags on the road a fact compounded by the sighting of around 10 ambulances on the journey (on a normal journey we would be lucky to see 1), and the fact that someone nudged into the back of me while I was driving along towards a roundabout. They do like driving up close here, but this was a little too close. No damage to Gordon (or I doubt the other car, but as they didn't stop I count be sure),I could see him coming so was ready for it, but the other driver got quite a shock when he realised he had made contact, hopefully that made him pay attention for the rest of his journey.... ) Without further incident we made it home and crashed out. A long few days and now the chance to rest at Christmas, well after the late night assembly of Moo's Present - I emptied the box, took one look at all the bits, called over Hubs and went to put the kettle on. And after that it really was restful and peaceful, and the weather was gorgeous. After the grand unwrapping we took the Moo for a ride on her new bike at the local plage, and I have to say that she has taken to it like a natural. Then we had a stroll on the beach then home to eat my own body weight in lovely food! The rest of the day was spent recovering, playing buckaroo and catching up with relatives. Nice. Boxing day isn't boxing day here just the 26th and we headed off to see if we could get a few bits and bobs in the sales at Le Mans, but we weren't really in a shoppy kind of mood so we didn't actually buy anything for us, just bits to fix the computer (which took some days yet...) and by the time we were returning it had grown dark and I made the rather disturbing discovery that I only had one headlight in full working order so the driving was a little more arduous than usual, but we made it and after moo had gone to bed attempted to watch what Hubs says is a brilliant film, Frost Nixon, but after many failed attempts we gave up and reverted to Star wars Lego. A great way to lose hours of your life, but great fun too. Hubs bought us a new game for Christmas and we are battling through it at the moment s I'll let you know how we get on, (although I will be avoiding 'HOTH' till we have gained invincibility). All in all I can say that we had a very merry Christmas and we are most defiantly looking forward to a peaceful new year.
A bientot.
01-12 Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Woohoo, it's December, I can officially start getting Christmassy now - YEAH!
But first I have to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY AJ! We are now the proud (step-for me) parents of a teenager, oh the joys. Hubs is already having nightmares about boyfriends, although to be honest if I were a potential boyfriend it would be me who would be worried...... This morning is of course the first day of advent and as such was the grand opening of day one of the advent calendar. This year we opted for a playmobile calendar and although it took a certain amount of time to construct last evening we are thrilled with the results. It really is amazing. 24 boxes each with a little toy inside that completes a large forest playmobile scene, this morning was a tree and two little birds. It’s so cool, and the value for money is excellent, and already has been worth it for it helped as an incentive to get Moo out of bed and dressed this morning with slightly less fuss than usual, and that has to be a good thing. (I now appreciate your struggle mum). This afternoon we are off to a local(ish) Christmas market so I'll report back after that.
02-12 How soon the Christmas spirit can disappear...
Well the Christmas market trip was a disaster. It was cold, a bit drizzly and Moo was in the worst mood. It wasn't even a 'Christmas' market, just a big normal one, so no comedy decorations to laugh at either. She was OK for about 10 minutes, and then the whingeing started, and kept on going, and going and going. She was on fine form. Then after we had enough in the market we needed to go the supermarket, and full scale tears were unleashed with added shouting. We did all the talking to and trying to distract but the tears continued. As we are all incredibly stubborn we carried on around the shop regardless, but it was a joyless experience for all concerned. When we eventually got back to the car, the journey home was a sombre one. The rest of the day passed in much the same manner and quite frankly bedtime couldn't come soon enough. Hubs and I decided that the best course of action was to settle down and watch a film as we both needed a bit of an unwind after a stressful day, and 'Batman Begins' was just the ticket. After that we hit the sack, for about 10 minutes until Moo woke up for some unknown reason, and started kicking off again. I went to fetch her a drink and as I tried to stop the ****** cat getting into her room and ended up getting a bite and a handful of scratches for my trouble, not the best way to endear me especially after the last couple of weeks . She is extremely fortunate not to have found the short way down the stairs last night. I just about managed to calm myself enough to go back and try and sort out Moo, who by this time was yelling for her drink, and eventually she settled down and went back to sleep. So far today has been good, but its only 10.30 and she's been at school since 9, so we will see what the afternoon brings. Ho Ho Ho indeed.
16.30 - All is well! We decided on big diversions today and so far it has been a roaring success. This afternoon we have built a rocket, oh yes, we are in fact today rocket scientists. The cardboard construction is a masterpiece of engineering (and I only had to gently remind hubs once that it was for a 4 year old and it didn't actually have to fly...although with my, quite frankly, superb flaming rocket boosters on the back I wouldn't be surprised.......) We are currently touring the universe with a couple of stops off in Hartlepool and Wisconsin for lunch and tea, sorry if we missed you. We now have to go and give our flag to Jabba the Hutt, so you must excuse me.
08-12 its beginning to look a lot like......
The Christmas spirit is alive and well again. Harmony is restored and all is well, whilst not exactly a 'silent night' (due to molly's dreams that “a French person took my seat in the car and wouldn't let me back in”), it was a reasonably peaceful one. So for me the 'airport run' is finally over with Hubs no longer going back to work in the UK, he had to do a quick trip back last week to finish up and pick up his tools, but that should be it for a good few months now. We have him at home for another week then he's off to Antwerp till Christmas Eve. So I'm guessing it's a week of frantic shopping and list making before he disappears back to work. Yesterday was the grand decorating day and as we retrieved Christmas (a holdall that we travel our Christmas' in, that has been packed since January 07) from the shed we realized quite quickly that we were going to need some more decorations. We have got downstairs almost done and the tree looked lovely - I say looked for good reason, at the time of writing I can hear that ******* cat behind me clambering around up the tree with the sound of baubles bouncing on the floor at regular intervals, so I've just decided not to look. The situation with that ******** cat has improved since we started keeping her mainly in the hall and she seems to have finally grasped the concept of pee-ing in her litter box rather than the floor so the trip to the woods has been postponed. I must say though I'm looking forward to the end of January after she's been 'seen to' so we can finally let her out (we took the decision to keep her in till then as apparently cats can get pregnant from around 4 months old - about now- and there are an awful lot of tom cats round here, and as annoying as she is better just one of her than a whole load of kittens!). So this afternoon we will be on a quest for more decorations to wrap up the house in. We need something for the gate and the fence, although much to my surprise and delight we already have a small tree outside as our house is on the village decoration route and accordingly we have been Christmassed up! It is so pretty round these parts as every little village is decorated and it really is just so lovely as you drive through all those little pockets of festive cheer, although I'm fairly sure we have come across a little rivalry between the maire of our village and the next one, as every time we go through they seem to have a few more lights or trees, then the next day we see our maire out with his little band of happy elves (otherwise known as tenant farmers) fixing up yet more stuff in the village....I can see it ending with tears and tinsel. I am really looking forward to doing the rest of the decorating, I'm seeing lots of wreaths and ribbons, I do however draw the line at a burglar Santa You know the ones I mean, where you have a jolly old Santa scaling the walls of your house or breaking in through an upstairs window...there seem to be an awful lot of them round here. Hopefully there won’t be a storm as mostly they get blown off the walls and left dangling in curious positions looking rather like a hangman's gallery and really not very Christmassy at all... still better than the one that our UK neighbours had whose trousers were a bit to baggy and whose head used to fall off .... Talk about emotional scarring.....
12-12 Papa Noel, fog and a sudden realisation
Papa Noel came to the village on Wednesday. We had a note in Moo's schoolbook telling us to be at the village hall at 4pm, so after a quick trip to Le Mans mid morning to get Moo's Christmas present, we headed back thinking that there would be a Santa on a tractor going through the village handing out sweets. How wrong we were. Our neighbours came calling at the appointed hour and off we all went to the village hall to find it packed with most of the village, young and old, and a party about to happen. Pere Noel dutifully arrived on a beautiful horse drawn carriage and all the children came outside to have their pictures taken with the great man. However Moo was rather overcome by meeting a celebrity and had an attack nerves and refused even to look at him, no matter how much he tried to make her smile! We all went inside and Papa Noel sang a karaoke medley of French Christmas hits and proceeded to give out bags of sweets to all the children and still Moo refused to smile. It wasn't until he managed to magically produce a box of smarties from behind her ear that she gave in and showed off her dimples. Hot chocolate and brioche all round, a present of a book for all the children from 'the village' and we were on our way home again after a thoroughly pleasant hour or so. Moo was still a little unsure about meeting Santa, and was a little concerned as to the whereabouts of his reindeer, but after a few well chosen words about the reindeer resting up for the big night she seemed content. This week has been all about fog. Dense Murky fog. Everywhere. Blankets of the stuff covering the whole area. Whilst it does look pretty, it sure makes it tricky getting anywhere, but we ventured out to the parc at the lake yesterday to help Moo run off a bit of energy and were rewarded with the glorious sight of half the lake frozen and the forest on the opposite bank shrouded in fog. The pictures really don't do justice to the view. As Hubs so rightly says, 'every day I see something that takes my breath away'. We hurried home as I had a chocolate cake to make for our guests who were coming in the evening. We finally had our neighbours over for an evening of coffee and cake (and possibly a little Christmas cheer...). We had a marvellous evening of 'franglais' conversation (fortunately Mr. speaks much better English than we speak French, but we did manage a few gentle conversations with Mme.A without the need for too much translation!!). They are such a wonderful family and we are so happy to count them amongst our good friends here. But it was during a conversation with Mme.A about getting ready for Christmas that I had the sudden realisation that I have not actually done any Christmas shopping yet (apart from Moo and my parents...) and really there is very little time left to do it if I want anyone to actually receive anything, although I did manage to track down a pack of Christmas cards (which is a lot more difficult than you may imagine), but sadly I haven't actually managed to write them yet. And for the first time in our life together Hubs has actually finished his Christmas shopping before mine has even begun. Well it has been a year of big changes....
16-12 Like a bottle of 3 day old coke, strangely flat.
Well that's all the Christmas shopping done (except for Hubs - always a challenge) and posted the cards are mostly all on their way and a list of 'lunch' shopping has been drawn up. But I'm feeling rather deflated at the moment. Nothing is actually wrong, just a bit low. I'm guessing it's because Hubs is back at work and we have been playing text tennis on the phones today as we have managed to just miss each other all day (not helped by the fact I left my mobile at home today instead of taking it with me - oops). It was so good to be at home all together the past few weeks and, although I am used to him being away, the house feels empty. But life goes on and after school we decided to visit our friends who own the local bar, ( L'Homme Vert ). Mrs HV was at home and we enjoyed a nice chat and coffee, then went to visit the chickens. Moo is fascinated by chickens, which is quite a turn around as she used to be terrified of them when she was little, but we spent a pleasant half hour watching her chasing them round the garden and feeding them. I am actually considering getting some chickens in the spring as the taste of fresh eggs is just SO delicious and they have to be the lowest maintenance 'pets' in the world! But we shall see. I'm not even sure if we are allowed to keep chickens in the garden so I will have to check with Mr. Marie before I get too carried away with the notion. As they are going back to the UK to see family just after Christmas we stepped into the breach and offered to feed the chooks for them, a good practice run! Then Mr HV appeared and casually mentioned that he hadn't actually sorted out anyone to feed his horse yet..... He took us up to meet Picasso and, most importantly, showed us how to turn off the electric fence. He is a friendly beast and we had a good get to know you feed and stroke and were showed the ropes for feeding. It was so good to be around a horse again. I used to ride a lot when I was younger, and I loved it. Moving to a big city put an end to riding for me and I haven't been for years, but I do so love them. I just happened to casually mention this while we were feeding him and Mr HV kindly offered me a ride when the weather improves, so I jumped at the chance and I'm already longing for the spring. We named our price for looking after the animals, a family sized jar of Marmite - just about the only thing we miss, (you can get it here but it’s SO expensive and I try to avoid the ex-pat section of the supermarket!), and tootled off home to colour in pictures of Santa and eat biscuits. Tomorrow is for posting the rest of the cards and finishing the washing and visiting the park. I believe there may be another Santa lurking around with his sleigh in the big town too so we may well seek him out.
18-12 And the word of the day is 'brouillard'.
We never did get to see the other 'pere noel' as Moo has contracted 'the' cough. Not 'a' cough you understand, but 'the' cough. We have been waiting for it as all the other children in her school have had it and it was only a matter of time. By the time Tuesday evening had arrived she was hacking like a miner, so much Vicks was rubbed and calpol administered and off to bed for a fitful night's sleep, followed by a grumpy cross day with only one small excursion that was supposed to be to the post office, but as we got there and I realised I had left the 'post office bag' on the sofa, I gave up for the day and we went for a quick turn around the park instead. More vicks and calpol and a plea from the heart to sleep in mummy's bed saw us both in bed by 9pm. This morning she was much better and had only a slight tickle so back to school to get re-infected she went! With the school run complete I took myself off the big town to see if I could find something/anything to get for Hubs for Christmas. I trawled the latest hopeful shop and although I managed to pick up some lovely festive nibbles, a present for daddy from moo that she's had her eye on for a while, and given 'Santa' a rather tasteful helping hand for myself, still nothing for Hubs. I'm seriously running out of time now. As I left the big town I was a little surprised to see that the morning brouillard, (that good old fashioned fog to you and me), had not yet burned off, but was not too perturbed as it sometimes hangs around till after lunch then was confident it would be either the same or gone by the time I wanted to go to 'la poste'. Boy was I ever wrong. By the time after lunch arrived I looked out the window to check conditions and realised that I couldn't actually see my garden fence, which is only about 10m from the window. Uncle Peter and Record shop John, I'm afraid you may not get your cards till after Christmas. So another afternoon of house bound activities beckoned. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it previously but when Hubs was home we decided that the biggest problem with the ******* cat (apart from her mere existence) was that she was bored. So hubs (the big softie) decided to buy her a lead.....(as I know I have mentioned before, none of the toms round here are 'done' and I really don't want any more kittens, so she can’t be out on her own till she has been 'done')... so he thought a lead may be the answer. Moo and I took her for a test drag around the front garden the other day (it didn't go too well) and decided to try and repeat the experience today and see if we fared any better. Well it was slightly better and she didn't seem quite so reluctant to be tethered, but I thought we had lost her when moo slipped over on some soggy leaves, dropped the lead and chimney made a break for it, fortunately she's not too bright and managed to get herself wrapped up in some bushes so we were able to catch her again quite easily. The rest of the afternoon was spent in relative harmony with Moo getting into her 'bunny game' which is a CD ROM called Jump Ahead , for kids learning French, which I have to say is brilliant for Moo and me, while I pottered around watering plants, tidying up and humming Christmas carols. Then we had a wonderful video chat with mum and dad on Skype. It’s so good being able to see them and I know they were both over the moon to see and speak Moo who proceeded to show them the playmobiles she has had so far from her advent calendar, even chimney made a guest appearance. I was starting to have quite warm feeling for the cat by this point, she has only broken one bauble today. Then I went upstairs and discovered why she has been so quiet. She's been digging up grand-dad. She has always had a good relationship with grand-dad and left him alone, even when I moved him upstairs and decorated him for Christmas, she didn't seem that interested, but for some reason today she went for him. He doesn't get in the way and he's never a bother so why today? who knows, what I do know is that it took me ages to get him right again, and to be honest he still looks a bit peaky and I've had to move him into the comparative safety of our room for the time being. And chimney is once again 'that ******* cat'. Having just re-read today's entry I feel I should perhaps point out that grand-dad is not in fact a long suffering relative that we keep hidden in the upstairs hall, but a much loved rubber plant.
27-12 Where has it all gone?
So that was Christmas 2008. Well I know I haven't updated for awhile so I'll try and recap first and hopefully you will forgive my tardiness. On the 20th December I went to turn on the computer again and, well, nothing to be precise, it's been broken again. I have no idea why so I just told Hubs and then ignored it. Of course as Hubs had my little computer with him in Antwerp I was left without t'internet till he got back late on the 23rd. In all fairness you haven't missed very much, Moo had a dreadful cough and didn't really sleep for 2 nights, then I had a sickness bug and didn't really sleep for another 2-3 nights so I've been very tired and grumpy (especially the night Hubs rang and all I could hear was a bunch of crazy Belgians singing 'a viva espagna' at max volume). On the 22nd I started to feel vaguely human again and managed to sleep, so went out on the 23rd to finish my Christmas shopping and I finally managed to get e pressie for Hubs - hurrah! Then it was home, eat, then off to Le Mans to get Hubs. It's defiantly silly season for driving lots of nut bags on the road a fact compounded by the sighting of around 10 ambulances on the journey (on a normal journey we would be lucky to see 1), and the fact that someone nudged into the back of me while I was driving along towards a roundabout. They do like driving up close here, but this was a little too close. No damage to Gordon (or I doubt the other car, but as they didn't stop I count be sure),I could see him coming so was ready for it, but the other driver got quite a shock when he realised he had made contact, hopefully that made him pay attention for the rest of his journey.... ) Without further incident we made it home and crashed out. A long few days and now the chance to rest at Christmas, well after the late night assembly of Moo's Present - I emptied the box, took one look at all the bits, called over Hubs and went to put the kettle on. And after that it really was restful and peaceful, and the weather was gorgeous. After the grand unwrapping we took the Moo for a ride on her new bike at the local plage, and I have to say that she has taken to it like a natural. Then we had a stroll on the beach then home to eat my own body weight in lovely food! The rest of the day was spent recovering, playing buckaroo and catching up with relatives. Nice. Boxing day isn't boxing day here just the 26th and we headed off to see if we could get a few bits and bobs in the sales at Le Mans, but we weren't really in a shoppy kind of mood so we didn't actually buy anything for us, just bits to fix the computer (which took some days yet...) and by the time we were returning it had grown dark and I made the rather disturbing discovery that I only had one headlight in full working order so the driving was a little more arduous than usual, but we made it and after moo had gone to bed attempted to watch what Hubs says is a brilliant film, Frost Nixon, but after many failed attempts we gave up and reverted to Star wars Lego. A great way to lose hours of your life, but great fun too. Hubs bought us a new game for Christmas and we are battling through it at the moment s I'll let you know how we get on, (although I will be avoiding 'HOTH' till we have gained invincibility). All in all I can say that we had a very merry Christmas and we are most defiantly looking forward to a peaceful new year.
A bientot.
If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at hillywillyworld@gmail.com
January/February/March