Oh Jess, you missed it!!!

What a fantastic week we have had with my sister and her grand-daughter here; Richard took them to the airport yesterday morning and they are now back in their own homes, but mum, dad, Richard and I miss them already. Jess was such a joy to have, she can come back any time she likes. The reasoning behind the title of this post, you will see from the photo. Jess loves animals of any kind and we were looking for all sorts while she was here, but would you believe we found this beauty this morning. Well, my dad and Richard found it in the barn. I have put a mobile phone by the side of it otherwise you don't realise the size of it. I should mention that this model of phone isn't one of the teeny tiny ones either. I'm glad I didn't find it, because I was scared enough just taking this photo, never mind putting my hand on it!!! Yuk!

Last Monday we all went to the Donjon des Aigles, which is an original presentation of the most extraordinary collection of birds of prey (over 45 species) and every afternoon they have a show of international fame performed with a background of music and arousing deep emotion. FANTASTIC!! Eagles, Condor, Vulchers, Owls, Parrots and the like, a secretary bird which was my favourite, to name just a few and at the end, they have them all flying together!! I would never have thought you could have these magnificent birds all in the same air space, but they have them swooping through the crowd so you can see just how huge most of them are, especially the Condor. This picture doesn't do this bird justice, but it was sitting in the tree just above us for quite a while. They must be quite happy doing what they do, otherwise, what is to stop them just flying away?

Of course, I can't leave this post without a photo of Smokey, just to let you see how settled and laid back he is. Mind you, we haven't told him he is being neutered this week!! It seems as though we have had him for years, he is so much part of the family here. Please God, let him be here when we return from the UK. We are making everything as comfortable for him as we can, he is going to have his own "room" outside, with a cat flap, a chair and cushion and the little kennel that my dad has made for him, and the neighbours said they will come in and give him a cuddle for me, he is such a person cat! Well, it is time for me to go get lunch, so I will say cheerio till next time.

Surprise, Surprise

I wish you were here to see the faces of my parents on Wednesday. We got up and Richard had already left to "go somewhere". We told mum and dad that he had to go and help a friend and would be back before lunch when in fact he had gone to the airport to pick up my sister who was coming to visit and bringing her grand-daughter with her. He walked into the garden with one on each arm and my dad did a double take and then we went upstairs to mum who was dutifully mopping the stairs bless her and promptly shed a few tears. It was fantastic to have them here and even more special to have family being the first ones to sleep in "the room". It isn't finished but it is certainly comfortable enough. In all the excitement I haven't taken any photos of the room with some furniture in it, but I will do it later. Here is a photo of my great niece, my sister and me at the window of the room.

Our little Smokey is still being as good as gold and just loves being cuddled. I'm not sure what photos to post because I have taken so many. Perhaps this one which is really cute because it seems to show how young he is, because when you cuddle him, he finds a crevice and suckles, perhaps looking for his mummy's milk? How cute is he though?? We had a bit of a panic last night because when it was time for bed he was still outside. There we were out with the torch looking and calling but nothing. We carried on looking for him until nearly midnight and then decided it was time for us to go to bed, because in the end, when we are back in the UK for a couple of weeks, he shall have to stay out, the same as most cats in France. He is already catching various wild life and I can't get upset about it because it is only nature after all. I hope and pray he will still be here waiting for us when we get back; as usual the timing is really bad because we haven't got him here long enough to settle him properly before we go back on the 6th August. All our neighbours have promised to feed and cuddle him, so I'm sure he will be OK. We haven't had him a week yet but I would be heartbroken if he wandered off. I called in to the vet today to buy some Frontline and ask about him being neutered, also to check if he is chipped. The last photo is of my great niece with Smokey, she is having such fun with him and he is loving having a young person to play with. Well I will sign off now and I promise not to go on about Smokey again next time, it must be getting rather boring by now.

Smokey - Settled in Nicely

Oh my goodness, this beautiful little boy has come into our lives and it seems as though he has been here for ever. I will show you a photo of how settled he is and how much my parents have taken to him, not only us. He just melts your heart. It seems there is no-one in the village who has lost him and I have been to the vet and nothing there either, so fingers crossed, he will soon be ours. I daren't raise my hopes just in case. We are waiting to have him neutered (or is it spayed) because we don't want to spend out the money just yet, in case he is claimed. He uses his dirt box all the time, even when he has been outside all day, so we are thinking he may have been a house cat, he is so loving and so trained. Very strange, but very lucky for us. By the way, does anyone know if there is a way we can age our cat, I am guessing he will be about 9 months, but it would be good if we could age them with their teeth perhaps like a horse!!

Also this week, we had some friends come over because they wanted to pull some bull-rushes out of our pond as they wanted to dry them for making more baskets. It was quite good fun getting them out of the pond and Richard was up to his hips at one time. Phew, the after-shave he was wearing was a bit off though!! It's amazing how many rushes we have because we haven't planted any, where on earth do they come from. We still have so many more, I suppose you just keep pulling them out?? Any advice on that one? It was fascinating poking through all the rubbish, weed and roots on the side of the pond and just looking at all the life that is there both large and small. I love it and could waste quite a few hours just watching.

More has been done to "the room" today and I think most of the painting is finished. We have to stain/oil the timber and also the floor and tile the bathroom, but as it is, should anyone arrive unexpectedly, they would be able to sleep in there. I have to say, it is the most beautiful room for light, amazing in the evening because the sun sets and shines through one of the big windows. I can't wait to be able to use it all the time. Oh dear, I'm sure I have said this before, I'm getting rather repetative (is that how you spell that?) I'm going on rather a long time now so I had better go and catch up with other people's blogs. Talk again soon, goodnight from us and goodnight from Smokey.

Could we be this lucky?

I'm afraid I'm not finding much time to write my blog but I just had to make the time for this one. Would you believe what happened to us today?? Look who arrived on our doorstep in need of a home? How very bizarre but isn't he beautiful. Our neighbours have asked around and no-one seems to know him, it seems as though he has been "dumped". He is very friendly and snuggles into your neck, he appears to be about 6-9 months old perhaps, he hasn't been neutered, so that will be the first job, but oh, how adorable. We are trying to keep him indoors at the moment to get him used to us, not easy when you want to open all the windows in the evening because it is so hot. We will not do anything for a couple of days, just in case someone claims him, then hopefully, he will be ours. He looks pure siamese, how could anyone dump him? Fingers crossed because we haven't got long before we have to take my parents back, we have 2 weeks for him to settle and the neighbours have promised to look after him when we go back to the UK for a few days.

The next photo is of "the room" which is coming along nicely. One more coat of paint, then we have to oil the beams and wax the woodwork, then stain the floor with a walnut oil and linseed which will give it a more "lived in" look. We are very happy with it and can't wait now for it to be finished. I wonder why all the finishing touches take the longest, when all you want to do is move the furniture in. Still, we have waited a long time so............... One of the good things about having this room finished is the fact that we can get rid of some of the excess furniture in all the other rooms and I can finally get my sewing cupboard out of store in a friends house. I wonder who will be the first guests to stay in there. The room is so lovely and bright I think Richard and I may use it as our room, the views from the windows are superb.

Mum and dad are still enjoying themselves and I can't believe the work my dad is doing to help Richard. Bless him, we have it planned out now that he works and does bits in the morning, then after lunch he has a sleep. We don't really want him to do anything else after that, but if he wants to we can't stop him. It is usually watering or something like that. At around 6pm, after he has had his tablets, we sit and have a "shangri-la" as dad calls it, Sangria to everyone else, and we sit and look at the mountains and he says, "I could get used to this". I can't tell you how good it is to have them here. Oh! Perhaps I have told you that already in a previous post, sorry. I will keep you posted about the cat, we need to think of a name for him, my my suggested Smokey which is quite good for him, what do you think?

Goodbye Little Friend

Very sad today because we have lost our little Marmalade, the cat we inherited with our french farmhouse. We don't know exactly how old she was, but the neighbours seem to think she could have been about 17, and all I can say is, we gave her the best we could in the 3 years we have had her. We have given her a couple of operations for cancerous teats, and she was always wormed and front-lined for ticks and fleas. I am happy to say we never found a tick on her so we were much luckier than my friend Debra. I have a photo of her here soon after we arrived and we were "camping" indoors and it shocked me to see how healthy she looks, very different from the last few weeks. Animals seem to know don't they because she hasn't eaten for 5 days and she kept going off and hiding. We did think about taking her to the vet, but I would have hated her to die on me while battling to get her into her carry box. Very hard to watch, but much better it was done nature's way. If only they could speak, she could have told us so much about this house and the people who lived here before us. Goodbye little friend, only known for a short time, but loved just the same.

A Couple of Days Off

We have taken a couple of days off, 1) to give my dad and Richard a break from all the clearing and taking trips to the tip, and 2) we have been visiting family and friends. Yesterday we went to see Richard's sister and brother-in-law in their newly built house. It is beautiful and in a breath-taking position with a view of the Pyrenees almost all around the house. They live in a very remote part and not what I would want at all, nevertheless, to be able to walk about bare-foot and not worry about the mucky floors was a brilliant feeling. We had a lovely lunch with them and it was good to catch up and mum and dad really enjoyed themselves. The only problem with the day was, it was SO HOT. I know we shouldn't complain, but oh my goodness I thought my mum was going to melt, it was about 106F. (Can't do the "c" I'm afraid). Having said that it was lovely and cool in the house, so perfectly lovely all the time we were there.

Today we went to some friends who live about 17 miles away from here, once again for lunch, so mum and I are pretty lucky on the cooking front at the moment. The day was cool and overcast, amazing how quickly the temperature changes, but very pleasant to walk around and look at their garden and what they have done. The picture is of mum, dad, Richard and myself at their well. They are getting on really well with their house and it is looking lovely. The garden is perfect and never a weed to be found, not like ours at all!!! While we were there, we went scrumping and ate a lot of their cherries, they were tiny but oh so sweet. Once again a lovely day and fun showing my parents all the different houses, some new but mostly all of them being in some state of renovation, so hopefully if they come again, they will be able to see the difference in them all, especially ours.

On the way home, we went a different way just to see some more of the countryside and we saw this field of cows and just look at this one, what a lovely face it has, I just had to stop and take a photo. Mum and Dad can't believe the lack of traffic, we now count the cars on the way to somewhere just to see if we can get into double figures. Also, in one part of the journey today, near our friends house, there is a view which I would love to make into a patchwork picture, the fields of different greens, browns and hedges etc. Superb. Will I ever get time to do that I wonder? Probably not, but it's good to dream. While in the garden we have been watching the birds, my dad made me a lovely bird house, (I will have to take a photo of that tomorrow) and they are already used to it and having great fun hanging off the fat balls and eating all the little titbits we put on there. I really should write down the different types of birds we have in the garden, it will be interesting to see how it varies from season to season. One batch of our swallows have flown and the second are now hatched and coming along nicely. We are going to start work again tomorrow, perhaps on "the room" so some photos of that will be coming along soon. Hang on Brian, you will see them eventually.

Parental Approval and Enjoyment

We have all settled down now and mum and dad, especially mum, have got their bearings and know where they are in the house and garden. Dad never had any problem, but mum, oh dear! I can see where I get it from :-) We have spent most of our time trying to get to grips with the garden, although the lawn had been mowed for us once while we were away, it was still very long and even though Richard went over it on the sit on mower, the dreadful task of raking up and wheelborrowing the mowings to the bottom of the field were a nightmare. I think we have finally got on top of that, but today it is overcast, rainy and warm. YUMMY!!! says the grass, we'll have some of that then, let's grow very quickly and come out and play!! You will see from the couple of pictures I am putting in that dad is in the "french official gardening uniform" bless him and the other one is of us sitting outside first thing in the morning with our first cup of tea and they are getting to know the cat, Marmalade, who was very pleased to see us back.

Yesterday we went to our village dinner and we had a great time even though the language was a bit of a problem. Mum and Dad can't speak any french at all but that didn't stop people coming up and making them very welcome. My dad was the oldest one there and really, you would never have known that, he looks so young. Everyone was amazed at how young they both look and I was very proud of them. The lunch lasted from 12.30 to about 5pm and then anyone who wanted, went back for the evening to finish off the food and drink, so we walked back and watched the men playing boulles, which was great fun. I would love to have had a go, perhaps next time.

Today we are taking it a little slower because we don't want to wear my dad out before the end of their stay, there is too much to do!!!!!!! :-) For any of my family and close friends reading this, mum and dad are absolutely loving it and there are no problems whatsoever, certainly no talk of coming home early, so sorry Hilary, you have their cat for the month!! I am now going to go outside because I have just peeped out of the window and Richard and Dad are sleeping and my mum is reading her book, so I think I'm missing out somewhere. Take care everyone, talk again soon.

I'm still here

Just to let you all know that I am still here and will soon be posting some more photos. We are back in France and have brought my mum and dad with us, so we have been quite busy getting them settled. My dad is really enjoying himself and all our friends over here can't believe he is 90 next month. He has been helping us in the garden and is now helping Richard clear out the barn. All in his own time of course, but as my mum says "He's like a pig in muck" :-) It has been very hot here today so dad was up with the lark and we were doing various jobs in the garden before 7.30am. We worked all morning and after lunch we advised them to have a sleep for a couple of hours. When in France ....................................

Mum and I pottered around the house and I caught up with some washing because yesterday we had to go out and buy a new washing machine because mine had broken a couple of days before we left here last time, so there was a back log. Seeing we had run out of knickers, we thought we had better do some laundry!!!!!

I had my re-scan last Wednesday and I got the all clear and I don't have to go back again. Thank God for that, a nightmare over and done with. Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers.

While we were in the UK last month we caught up with a lot of family and friends which we thoroughly enjoyed and we look forward to some of them coming to visit us this summer. We can't wait. Really B & D, we can't wait to have you here :-) I will send you some pictures soon Brian.

I am going now as Richard is going round locking doors, closing windows etc. The Archers has finished it is getting dark, the owls are hooting and the bats are flying; is that my book calling? perhaps it is time for bed. I will get more organised and post more often now we have our computer up and running again. Talk again soon. Night night.

The Story of Og-Pog

Here I am at Clare's again so I thought I would just put a short post. As I have told you, we are staying with my mum and dad and when I left Vicki and the children, my little grandson asked me if he could have a red Og-Pog. What is an Og-Pog I hear you say? Well, I knitted him a little blanket and on this blanket was a pocket in which fitted a knitted teddy. Very, very basic, almost to being quite ugly, but he LOVED it; it was in brown and at the moment, his favourite colour is red, so he desperately wanted a red one. I bought the wool and then found that I have left the pattern in France!!!! Catastrophy!! I went to the shop where I had originally bought the book with the blanket patterns in and found the book. It is £6, so I really didn't want to buy another one, especially as I wouldn't be knitting any more blankets. I told the lady in the shop my problem and showed her the little pattern of the teddy and asked if she had anything similar. The answer of course was no, they were far more sophisticated and she was very apologetic that she couldn't photo copy it for me. I quite understood and then started planning the next plan of action. While I was deliberating, this lovely lady came and handed me a piece of paper and a pen and said, " I didn't just do that" and walked away. How cool was that? The next few minutes was spent busily scribbling down the pattern and I came away a very happy bunny.

When I arrived back home, I showed William the red wool and he was so excited and he wanted me to start it now!! Of course I couldn't because I hadn't got any needles with me so I needed to get to my mums and do it there. All he could say was, "Please Nannie, please, can't you do it with your fingers?" You could try. Now I am at my mums and it is time to knit the little Og-Pogs. As you can see, I am getting rather carried away now and have done a couple for the girls.

Mum, Dad, Richard and I have just enjoyed a lovely meal at Clare's. Mum always says she loves coming here because, with Clare and Kenny being trained chefs, the food is always superb.

While staying at mums, in the evenings, they put food out for the fox, (not very popular with the neighbours I expect) but oh how fascinating to watch them. A couple of them arrive at about 9.15pm and we watch them for about 15 minutes. They are very nervous which surprises me because you would think they would know they are on to a good thing. Here are these two people who go out and buy tins of dog food and put it out for them every night and welcome them into their garden, what is there to be nervous about? Mum and dad sit in darkness in their dining room just waiting for them to arrive and are thrilled to bits when they trot in. We are sure they have babies at the moment, so let's hope they won't be too disappointed while mum and dad are in France with us. Mum is busy planning what to pack and we are now counting the days off the calendar to when we leave. All Richard and I can think about is the height of the grass and weeds!! The neighbours did say they would mow it for us, let's hope they do.

Well, back off to mums again now, I will post again when I get near a computer.

Back in the UK again

Sometimes it's a job to know where we are, we travel back and forth so many times. We are here in the UK for 3 weeks now, until the 26th June as we have some celebrations to go to. Also I heard today that I have my re-scan on the 25th June, so fingers crossed on that. Although I have had the all clear once, I am still really worried about it. Richard and I are staying at my mum and dad's after a short stay with Vicki and the grandchildren which was wonderful. We will be doing various little jobs that mum and dad want doing and planning their trip back to France with us.

You will notice that there won't be many posts from me because I can't use my laptop at my parent's house, I am doing this at Clare's, but I will be catching up as soon as I can. My mum has said that she would like to be able to use a computer and we have a spare laptop, so while we are over in France, I am going to try and teach her, and if she gets on OK, she can have that one. The thing that really excited her was looking at my blog, she had no idea I was doing one and she couldn't quite get her head around the fact that you can put "pictures and diary" on there so your family and friends can read it. She particularly laughed at the photo I had posted of her and me in bed one morning. Bless her, 88 in October and wanting to blog, how cool is that??

I will post again when I can. Take care everyone, I'm now off to catch up on all your goings on.

Countdown to parent's arrival

Richard and I are now on countdown before we go back to the UK for a couple of weeks. We are going for various reasons, 1 - Richard has some dental work that needs to be completed, 2 - It is our daughter's birthday on the 14th and 3 - Our best friend's son's wedding on the 21st. After that we are back here and bringing my mum and dad with us and I am SO looking forward to it. At the moment we are trying to clear up and make it look presentable for them for when they arrive, because when you live in a "building site" for a long time, you don't tend to notice the plaster dust and bits and pieces until you know your mother is coming to visit!!!! All hell is let loose around here at the moment, and anything that stands still for just a while gets a dust, look out Richard. Having said that, it looks exactly the same again the next day and to be honest, my mum isn't going to say anything anyway. I just want it to look the best it can and I hope and pray she doesn't worry about the holes in the stairs and the plaster coming off the wall. Ooops, perhaps I should tell her about that?? No, she'll be fine. Dad has wanted to come out here for such a long time because he loves helping Richard and pottering about. He is 90 in August so we don't expect any heavy work from him, but he just likes to feel part of it and they work so well together. It gives dad a purpose. Mum called me the other day and asked if she needed to bring anything, like the porridge oats that dad has every morning. Bless her, I think even she is looking forward to it now and we didn't think we would EVER get my mum out here. Oohh I'm so excited.

I said I would take a photo of my basket so here goes, promise not to laugh. I know it has a "sticky out" handle, but I quite like that crooked bit and it gives it a bit of quirkiness and character. Now that it has dried out I need to give it a coat of linseed oil tomorrow and that should bring the colour out a bit more. As you can see, it holds our eggs without falling over!! I am going to pull some bullrushes from our pond tomorrow and hang them out to dry, then I can have another go at a basket with my mum when she is here, she will love that.

All we seem to be doing at the moment is mowing the lawn because the weather is warm and wet, and the weeds!!!!!...... What it will be like when we get back I haven't a clue. I could do with my friend Debra popping over to look after it for us! I know, a bit too far.. :-)

I have planted up some pots and tubs today and we are taking them round to a friend's house in the next village and they are going to water them for me, then when I give them a call to let them know we are on our way, they will bring them round and arrange them in the drive to greet mum and dad. How cool is that?

Well, I suppose I had better get on with some more clearing up and putting away and to be honest, I need to listen to the Archers, lots of catching up to do. Thank you to everyone who came by and commented on my last post, it is so good to have you all back again, I was worried I had lost everyone forever. Night night, talk again soon.

To Hell and Back

Gosh, how long has it been since I last posted?? As you can see by the title of the post, it hasn't been a particularly good time, lots of things going on and I couldn't get my head around the blogging. I had a horrid health scare which involved doctors, mammograms, ultra-sounds with those horrid words "Oh I don't like the look of that, do we have your permission to do a biopsy now while you're here". All this was back in the UK and we were coming back to France with my youngest daughter for her 2 week holiday on the Sunday and the biopsy was on the Wednesday. It was going to take a week to get the results!!! Do we go on holiday or not?? I decided yes, what the hell I was desperate for Clare to see our house, she has only had a flying visit of one night and that was soon after we bought it, so she hasn't seen any of the renovations yet.

Anyway, I had a call from the hospital on Monday evening and ALL IS WELL!!! I have to go back to be re-scanned in 6 weeks, but they say it is a cyst that had burst and they want to make sure all the "rubbish" has been absorbed. Now we can enjoy having our daughter to stay at our house. As it happened though, her husband wasn't too good and wanted to go home, so they only stayed for one week. I was very upset, but understood the reasoning behind him wanting to go home and at least I had Clare here for a short while.


When we turned up at the house in France I was amazed at how much Richard and our friends had done while I had been in the UK. It looks fantastic and they have made huge progress on the room. Still a lot to do, but we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. Also, while I was in the UK, my mum and dad have said they are coming back with us next time, so it will be so good to have them here for a while. Hopefully they will stay for the whole of July, I can't wait, we have so much we want to do with them and introduce them to our friends. I think also, it is going to be their 67th wedding anniversary while they are here, so we will have to have a party for them. That certainly is something to celebrate isn't it?



Before and after pictures!












Last Friday I went on a course for basket making. Not your usual kind of wicker basket, but all stuff you gather in the hedgerows and your garden. We spent the first hour of the class just walking around in woods looking for lovely shaped pieces of wood for handles etc and the actual weaving was done with bull rushes that had been dried over winter. You then soak them and use them. I ended up with a basket, I haven't taken a photo of it yet, but perhaps I will if you promise not to laugh!! After all, it is a first attempt. It was a really good fun day, a bring and share lunch with wine and the weaving after that seemed a piece of cake! Since this has been the first time I have posted for ages, I just hope I have some old friends popping back to see if I'm still around. I have to say a HUGE apology as well because I was given an award before all my troubles began and I haven't done anything about that, so I am really sorry, please forgive me, I was very honoured to receive it. I am now going to catch up on all my blogging friends and wish you all well. After reading one of my friends blogs, Big Blue Barn, my "Hell and Back" is NOTHING, so now is the time to forget and move on. Take care everyone and talk again soon.

Family Life

The children are in bed, the parents are out and I am here on my own, so wish me luck!! While all are safely tucked up I thought I would take the opportunity to post a few words, that is, as long as I can keep my eyes open. We have had a couple of bad nights with the children, poor Bubbs had croup and he really suffers trying to breathe, so that was one night up, because it had also woken the girls and they were screaming just for the hell of it. That was my first night back here, the second night, poor Bubbs had bad dreams so was up again. He is usually so good at sleeping as well, I'm beginning to think it is me. I would hate to think I am upsetting the system by being here.

Today, the weather improved in the afternoon and the children played outside in the sunshine for a little while. So good to be able to let them free in the fresh air, and hopefully it will help them sleep tonight. I spoke to Richard again this evening and he is busy starting to clear up ready to come back to the UK. I can't wait to have him back again, but also, I can't wait to see what he has been doing. It sounds as though he has got on very well, the bathroom was going in today and the electrics are in. I am amazed how quickly he has done it all with the help of a very good friend and his wife. When I was chatting to him earlier, they were sitting outside, having a drink after they had finished their dinner which Richard had BBQ'd. I was very pleased to hear that our swallows are still on their nests, so all the upheaval hasn't upset them. I would have been devastated if they had gone. It's quite amusing because when he is talking to me from outside, you can hear the frogs singing in the background.

Well I am going to go now and catch up with all the blogs I have been missing for the last few days. Take care everyone and I will talk to you again soon.

Quality Time

Well here I am back at Clare's after spending 4 days with my mum and dad. It was really good to catch up with them and while I was there we spent a day with my sister for her birthday. We had a lovely meal with her and all her children and grandchildren came round to give her gifts and good wishes, so it turned out to be a lovely family party. While at mums, we did a bit of knitting because my grandchildren are needing some dolls clothes, so after we had sorted out some patterns from my sister, we came home and started. The knitting needles started clicking and the little clothes started growing and it was a contented time sitting with my mum sharing our hobbies. While we were knitting, dad was busy in his work room making a box for Clare's knitting needles. He is so happy when he is doing "stuff" and when he has any of his family there, quite different to when they are on their own, but then, I suppose we are all a bit like that. One of the things that was fun was the mornings, dad would get up and make us a cup of tea and I would hop into bed with mum and we would chat and read, just like the old days.

Today, being back at Clare's she gave me a real treat and we went in search of bluebells in a village close to where I used to live. We found them and they were fantastic, this carpet of blue especially with the contrast of the new green of beech leaves. To me, there is nothing in the world like english beech woods with bluebells and cowslips. Once we had been there, we went for a bit of shopping and some lunch. All this was done in quite a short space of time but oh! so worth it. Thank you Clare, I loved every moment. Tomorrow I am spending time with my oldest friend, we have known each other for 52 years, oh my goodness, that is frightening when I see it in black and white. We used to live next door to each other so really she is more like a sister, so I am looking forward to that; then it is back to my other daughter's and the grandchildren. Sometimes, when I am over in the UK, I wonder where I am and whose bed I am sleeping in but it is all fun. Now it is looking forward to spending time with my beautiful grandchildren again. I hope Bubbs likes the little vest I knitted for his teddy. Well actually, it is Vicki's old teddy and he is very threadbare, hence the vest.

R and R in abundance

I haven't posted for a while again because I just feel whatever I write is going to be so boring, so I am even more grateful for the award I was given from Deborah of From Here to Eternity. Thank you very much, I feel honoured.

The days are passing very quickly even though they are not jam packed with building, gardening housework etc, except via the telephone with Richard. Bless him, he is doing so well and it sounds as though the room is coming along nicely. The windows are in and the electrics are now going in, so there is going to be such a change when I get back. He will be coming back here to the UK in the first week of May and then I will be going back with him, with our daughter and her husband and I can't wait to show Clare what we have been doing. She has only seen the house once and that was quite a while ago and she was only there for a night, so we are going to have lots of fun during their visit. I can't wait :-) It will be good to hear the sound of the toads and frogs again, and the cuckoo which we don't seem to hear in this part of the UK. I think I have probably missed the tamarisk in bloom but hopefully there will be lots of other shrubs and trees out. We have a couple of acacias, which, when they are in blossom, the perfume fills the garden.

I have nearly finished the book Divas Don't Knit by Gil McNeil, and it really is a very good read. Very light and I can relate to so much of it, as I'm sure a lot of mums will. I know it has taken me a long time, but I am a slow reader and to be honest, I feel too guilty to sit and read for the whole day. Why, I have no idea but there you go, it's in-built.

It's my sister's birthday tomorrow so I am hoping to go and see her and take her present. As you know I have this brilliant book called 25 bags to knit, well, I have found this lovely book by a different author, called 25 cushions to knit and it has some very attractive cushions in there. Would you believe they are using Rowan wool again, but I will tell my sister that perhaps she should use an alternative. Good advice from aims, I should have listened the first time!! By the way, I did hear back from Rowan and they say their rule is 2-3 knots per ball of wool, and although that doesn't help me with my beading project, I'm pleased they replied. No parcel of wool arriving though!!!!

Well I think it is time I made my children a cup of tea and get my book out. Actually it is Clare's book and she is itching to read it now, so I better get a move on. Talk to you all again soon.

Time on my Hands

I feel very guilty having this time on my hands. It's strange isn't it, it's what we all would like and then when you get it you feel guilty and don't know what to do with it. I have had a wonderful time sitting up in Clare's office while she is working and I have been reading a book. It's called Divas don't Knit and so far, it's a very good read. A few naughty words, but then it's quite difficult to find books without those nowadays.

Also I have been knitting but not getting on as well as I should have done. The trouble is, I bought some very expensive wool that the pattern for my bag asked for, Rowan, and I started the bag with beads. I did the back which was plain and then I started the front. I have never knitted with beads before so after looking at the instructions I threaded the beads onto my yarn and started knitting. How disappointed I was to get 12 rows in and finding a huge knot in the yarn. I am using Rowan Big Wool so there is NO WAY I can push the beads over the knot. What do you do then?? You are completely stuck. I sent an email to Rowan but have received no reply and I went back to the lovely wool shop today and asked if she would give the feedback to Rowan for me. She was brilliant and very helpful, which is more than can be said for Rowan because she said they wouldn't bother replying, they don't even reply to her. How bad is that? The answer they give is, in the UK, it is acceptable in the industry to have 5 knots in a 100g ball of wool. Personally, I think that stinks. I am so discouraged by this because the bag is lovely and it was going to look very good with the beads.

Meanwhile I fiddled about making a little flower. This will be needed for my new bag as you can see in the photo. Clare wanted to try various small projects that can be finished quickly so I tried it out first. It's very quick and can be used as a brooch. While I was knitting Bilbo came up and of course was giving me a helping hand. Cats always like to be in on everything don't they, the thing here is, not to have the wool draping over your leg. Ouch!! After I had made that I sorted out the other wool for another bag, this one is really pretty and let's hope the wool hasn't got too many joins in it. I hope that when I am ready to post again, there may be something nearly finished to show you.

I have spoken to Richard today and he is getting on very well with the house though he wishes I was there to make some of the decisions about where to put electrics and things like that. We did discuss it when I was there, but you know what it's like, and he hates working without me there. I did offer to go back now, but he says no, so Richard, when you read this, I know you will make all the right decisions and I love you for staying there and getting the room ready for our family.

Filling the Internal Treasure Chest

As I sit here at Clare's with the very rare luxury of "time on my hands" it gives me time to just think of where I am and what I'm doing here while my lovely husband Richard is slaving away in France trying to get our room somewhere near finished. Basically I came back because I miss my family, my two daughters, my grandchildren and my wonderful parents. I feel so lucky that I still have my parents and that I can have so much fun with them. My father is 90 in August and my mum will be 88 in October, and in June they celebrate their 67th wedding anniversary!! How cool is that? I have to say, hand on heart, that they are as happy now as they were when they were married, so much love they share with themselves and with us, so a great example to all our family. Also while I'm here I want to catch up with my sister and my friends.

As you know the first few days were spent with Vicki and the grandchildren. Wow, what a whirlwind few days that was. They are adorable and Bubbs the grandson is talking so well now and some of the things he comes out with are classic. I will share a couple of them with you. Firstly he wanted to sleep in the room I was sleeping in, so when he asked me it was "Excuse me nannie, please could I sleep with you?" I looked at his mummy whose eyebrows were raised and I said, yes if mummy says it's OK. he replies "Mummy said it's OK but please nannie will you not snore this time, it wakes me up" Ho hum, out of the mouths of babes. The other one was, in the mornings, he comes into my room and we read stories or play pass the parcel, but on the first morning, he handed me my glasses and said "Could you put your glasses on so you look like my normal nannie" The twin girls are just as adorable, just 19 months so not so vocal, but like the word "No". Why are boys and girls so different at that age, boys are so much more placid, little girls give this high pitch scream which boys don't seem to do and they are much more independant. I love it when their little arms are lifted up to be carried or cuddled and I did a lot of that while I was there. The three of them love having stories read to them and they have lots of books, so I found myself many times with the three of them on or around my lap listening to a story or making the sounds of the animals we were picking out of the book. Oh what very special times they are.

Also while I was there it was time to take my cat to the vet for his annual injections. Gizmo is very good with this, so no trouble and when we got home we gave him a bit of a cuddle and fuss and then when Vicki and I came back into the room this is what we found. One of the girls thought it was great fun, getting into the cat's travelling cage. I thought it was bad enough getting Gizmo in and out of there, but when I tried to pull a little girl out of there who was quite content to stay in and play, Gizmo was a doddle. Not quite the healthiest environment to play in, but hey, you have to be exposed to germs of all kinds to survive. That's my story anyway. I felt really bad leaving my cat behind when we went to France and the reason we did, was because we inherited an old cat with the house we bought, and I didn't want to upset both of them with us coming and going, and Vicki said she was quite prepared for Gizmo to stay with them. Coming back this time was lovely because he looks a lot more settled now and gets on with the children so much better. He adores them and lies down each morning for them to give him a cuddle and give him treats. He will be 12 in May, so perhaps he will be living out the rest of his years in the UK.

I am going to spend the day with my parents on Wednesday, we are going out for lunch and again a day I will treasure. I am thinking that the days I spend over here in the UK, I am filling up my internal treasure chest (hence the title of my post) so that when I'm back in France, I can pull out the memories one at a time when I need them and savour the moment. Don't get me wrong, I love being in France and doing what we are doing there, but I wouldn't be normal if I didn't miss my family and friends, and we are all very close, thanks to my parents who bind us all together with the invisible bonds of love.

Talking of time on my hands, I think I may go and do a spot of knitting, I have just noticed the cats are out of the room, so I will go for it while I have a chance :-)

Shopping and Knitting

I had a lovely day today being out with Clare and doing some shopping, just doing "girlie" things together. We went to a lovely market town and found the most amazing wool shop and managed to buy some wool, two lots, for two of the bags in my book. Clare also managed to get some wool so she is having a go at her first project, a cushion cover and she is getting on very well. I could have stayed in that wool shop for hours, it had the most fantastic yarns in there and the owner was brilliant, very helpful and a knitter herself which always helps, so gave good advice. We also managed to have lunch out, which again was fantastic, we sat in this little old fashioned restaurant, in a window seat and people watched while eating a lovely meal.

After we got home, Clare was eager to start her project and anyone with cats will realise what happened next. Oh what fun!! for the cats that is. This is Bilbo and he turned out to be a very good knitter :-) As I am typing this, Clare is knitting away and all I can say is, it's brilliant, very even and she still has the right amount of stitches. Her cushion cover will be finished in no time, but the funny thing is, she wants to make herself a pair of socks, now for someone who has never increased or decreased and only knitted stocking stitch so far, she aims high. "That's my girl" I have no doubt that the socks will soon be on her feet.

Tomorrow we are going to see my mum and dad and Clare will take her knitting with her to show her Nan how well she is doing, because it was my mum who taught her a few weeks ago. Mum will be so pleased, she said to me it was so good to be able to teach Clare something, she just loved it.

Very Tired and Very Happy

Here I am once again. I am in the UK staying with my eldest daughter and my grandchildren and I am absolutely worn out. The girls were up most of the night on my first night here and the trouble is, I am so tired now, I can't get to sleep!! Ho hum.... Having said that, I love being here with them and I didn't realise how much I missed them until I had them all in my arms. I haven't got any photos because, would you believe it, my camera needs new batteries which I will have to go and buy tomorrow.

I am here until the weekend then I will be going to stay with my other daughter and I can't wait for that either. I am so lucky that I have two such beautiful and loving children and they don't seem to mind me staying with them. Whether that's what they tell their husbands at bedtime, who knows? :-) Anyway, I am on a mission when I go to Clare's because I need to buy some wool so we can have a go at knitting various things. Clare has just started knitting and she would like to try to create something so it is going to be a fun time trying our crafts together, something I haven't done with her since she was at school and we used to do lacemaking together. She made some beautiful bobbin lace.

While I am at Clare's I will be visiting my mum and dad. They know I am back and they are very excited as you can imagine. It is going to be a busy time while I am here and I am going to love every moment. If I can prop my eyes open I will post again soon.

Hello to all my blogging friends, I now have some catching up to do reading everyone elses posts.

Redstart Village

Wow! What a day we have had today, you will have to humour me because there will be rather a lot of photos. We have been very fortunate that our new neighbour came round to give us a hand because he can't do anything at his place because the ground is too wet. How lucky are we? It's difficult to explain where the wall and window was going but I will post this photo and see if it shows you how big a project we have. You see we have a massive open space in the front which is the next project and the one at the back of this photo is where they have been working today. This is the place that takes all the weather so the sooner we get this wall and window in the better and would you believe, the wall is in and the window will go in tomorrow. What a difference having an expert on the job makes, he made it look so easy and Richard was as pleased as punch knocking up the cement and keeping him supplied. As you can see it's all finished and setting ready for tomorrow and then once the window is in, we will "crepe" the outside to match the rest of it, that will be with mud and stones. I just can't believe that this has been done in a day, we were really worrying about it and then this wonderful man comes along and helps us. We feed him and let him use the shower and then when the weather is good, Richard is going to help him get his footings in for his house. Richard will once again keep him supplied with cement etc. I love this bartering, especially for time, such a help.

Now the reason for the heading of this post........ While the men were building this wall, they called me to come and have a look. First of all our swallows were starting to build in one of the old nests which would end up right in the middle of the bedroom and would be sealed in by the ceiling, so we managed to take that one down before they got started. That was bad enough, but then they said, come and have a look at these. There they are, a little street of Redstart nests, 3 of them, I don't know if you can see them in the photo, but there are 2 this side and one the other. What on earth do we do? Richard said we could possible leave the window out this side and let them have 1 brood then we will have to take the nests down. These little redstarts are adorable with their little wagging tails. We also have a black redstart at the other end of the barn, but that's quite safe there.

Lastly I planted up 4 more of my herb pots so I now only have one space to fill. I would like some basil for this one but I will have to wait a little while just to make sure the frosts have gone because I don't want to lose it. Hopefully it will look a little more established soon. I now have mint, thyme, sage, rosemary and the garlic chives. It was good to be outside again because the weather has been so awful, the pond is overflowing and you can see the frogs swimming on the lawn!!! Mind you, it is supposed to be dry for the next few days so it will soon go down, the ground dries very quickly here. Gosh I seem to have rambled on a bit, sorry about that, I better go now and see if anyone else has rambled the same as me. I love this blogging. :-) Goodnight my new blogging family.