I haven't posted on this blog for nearly two months - far too long. Lot of things have been happening but I really have to put it down to laziness. I am not going to attempt to write about everything, just some of the events.
One of my best friends went into hospital and had a tummy tuck operation which followed her gastric bypass. The last weeks have reminded me what it was like when I had mine and how pleased I was to lose the incredibly tight corset after two months of compulsory wear. She is just reaching that stage now and only has another week with it.
The five yearly Census was being carried out in France in the first two months of the year and I visited by a very pleasant girl who works in the Newsagent in St Nicolas du Pélem who helped me complete my form. I seem to remember that the commune had just over 1700 people following the last Census, it will be interesting to see if that has changed much.
I had my first Workaway of the year during a snowy week on the crossover from January to February.
Obviously we couldn't do much work, but did complete some of the inside jobs outstanding which were on my very long list of Things To Do. I hope I get lots more people wanting to come and work and stay in St André as the year goes on. Here are Ruby and Bella eating broccoli stalks on the white stuff.
During February I had my downstairs floor replaced which was a labour intensive time for me, moving books, shelves, and emptying cuboards.
It was all worth it and I am pleased with the result. The majority of the old floor was good and friends who's niece has just acquired a property over here is going to use it in her property, so good recycling going on.
I've really enjoyed cooking during these winter months and have made so many different soups. In fact, as I write, I have two pans on the hob, parsnip in one and butternut squash in the other. The butternut squash was one of six I brought back from the UK in October last year. I have started storing all my veg in the garage and they certainly all last much better in the cooler, darker area. Here's a mushroom soup I made a couple of weeks ago ... absolutely delicious.
A large dog fox took and/or killed seven of my hens and injured one Muscovy duck at the beginning of February. Thanks to lots of tlc the duck has recovered well. Then, a week later, my three rabbits were taken one afternoon. Opinion amongst my neighbours and a couple of hunters is that the killer was a pine martin or weasel in view of the decapitation. It was very upsetting and I shall probably not have rabbits again now. Later in the week a neighbour asked me to hold his fox terrier while he went into a barn where the dog had cornered a dog fox. With another neighbour's gun the fox was shot - I'm not normally in favour of killing but I just hope it was the one responsible for the suffering of my poultry.
My oldest son has finally exchanged on his first house which is currently being built. It's a very exciting time for everyone concerned and I'm really pleased for him.
My granddaughter, Mia, now has nine teeth and will soon be eating steaks without any problem at all! She is gorgeous and is now 19 months old.
A yellow dog appeared at my gate one day last week. He was still there the following day, so after feeding him, a friend and I took him to the local vet to have him checked for an identity chip. Unfortunately, he wasn't chipped so we were advised to take him to the Mairie. There a commune employee took him back to his own home while they waited for someone to report him missing. He was a lovely boy and I hope he is reunited with his owner very soon.
One of my best friends went into hospital and had a tummy tuck operation which followed her gastric bypass. The last weeks have reminded me what it was like when I had mine and how pleased I was to lose the incredibly tight corset after two months of compulsory wear. She is just reaching that stage now and only has another week with it.
The five yearly Census was being carried out in France in the first two months of the year and I visited by a very pleasant girl who works in the Newsagent in St Nicolas du Pélem who helped me complete my form. I seem to remember that the commune had just over 1700 people following the last Census, it will be interesting to see if that has changed much.
I had my first Workaway of the year during a snowy week on the crossover from January to February.
Obviously we couldn't do much work, but did complete some of the inside jobs outstanding which were on my very long list of Things To Do. I hope I get lots more people wanting to come and work and stay in St André as the year goes on. Here are Ruby and Bella eating broccoli stalks on the white stuff.
During February I had my downstairs floor replaced which was a labour intensive time for me, moving books, shelves, and emptying cuboards.
It was all worth it and I am pleased with the result. The majority of the old floor was good and friends who's niece has just acquired a property over here is going to use it in her property, so good recycling going on.
I've really enjoyed cooking during these winter months and have made so many different soups. In fact, as I write, I have two pans on the hob, parsnip in one and butternut squash in the other. The butternut squash was one of six I brought back from the UK in October last year. I have started storing all my veg in the garage and they certainly all last much better in the cooler, darker area. Here's a mushroom soup I made a couple of weeks ago ... absolutely delicious.
A large dog fox took and/or killed seven of my hens and injured one Muscovy duck at the beginning of February. Thanks to lots of tlc the duck has recovered well. Then, a week later, my three rabbits were taken one afternoon. Opinion amongst my neighbours and a couple of hunters is that the killer was a pine martin or weasel in view of the decapitation. It was very upsetting and I shall probably not have rabbits again now. Later in the week a neighbour asked me to hold his fox terrier while he went into a barn where the dog had cornered a dog fox. With another neighbour's gun the fox was shot - I'm not normally in favour of killing but I just hope it was the one responsible for the suffering of my poultry.
My oldest son has finally exchanged on his first house which is currently being built. It's a very exciting time for everyone concerned and I'm really pleased for him.
My granddaughter, Mia, now has nine teeth and will soon be eating steaks without any problem at all! She is gorgeous and is now 19 months old.
A yellow dog appeared at my gate one day last week. He was still there the following day, so after feeding him, a friend and I took him to the local vet to have him checked for an identity chip. Unfortunately, he wasn't chipped so we were advised to take him to the Mairie. There a commune employee took him back to his own home while they waited for someone to report him missing. He was a lovely boy and I hope he is reunited with his owner very soon.
As a lover of home made pork scratchings, I was thrilled to find this pork skin in the local supermarket.
Within 30 minutes of arriving home it had been turned into these - scrummy!
One of my two geese laid her first egg this week - it weighed in at 187g or for those still working in imperial measurements - 6.5 ounces! In the photo the front row from left to right contains a normal hen egg, bantam egg and duck egg. The second row has my beautiful first goose egg.
I am getting a wide variety of egg colours with the hens I have at the moment. I'm not sure who is laying the olive/blue eggs or the very dark brown speckley egg, but I'm very happy that they are.
My first gite guests of the year are here at the moment and it's been good having people staying again. She was a returner and kindly offered to bring over some shopping so I replenished some of my Tesco cupboard.
My two grandchildren, cousins, Mia and Charlie, watching a film together.
Three things I like:
1. My grandson growing up, he's now had his eighth birthday - I do love him.
2. Waiting for the hatching of 18 eggs which I have in the incubator in the kitchen.
3. Hearing from my Dutch friend, Sita, who I had lost touch with for a few years.
1 comment:
As always a great read, Sandra, hope all is well , all the best Paul
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