My French Fancy

  "If I had my way, I’d remove January from the calendar altogether and have an extra July instead." Roald Dahl July is hot here but the mornings are wonderful. I wander out with the cat, a cup of tea and just enjoy the sounds and smells of a fresh, new day- don’t worry I am not going to burst into ‘Morning has broken’. I’m not an early bird, I struggle to start work at 9am and I only have to walk to my study.                                                                                                                  Early bird    This morning however I had to be up early, as I needed to go to the market in Argentan.  French markets (Marchés) are delightful, you can find the obvious ...

"Mademoiselle où est Decathlon?? " It is truly glorious here - the roses and the rhododendrons are in full bloom (picture on my home page), the birds are singing and everything is looking very lovely. Tim and I are labouring in the garden before it gets too hot to do anything. It has been very dry here though, I can’t remember the last time we had any rain! I think I've got tennis elbow and I haven’t even been near a tennis racket. Did not help that I not only fell of my bike (I was being chased by my friend's dog), but I also slipped on the stairs (I know, I should not have been wearing flip flops in the house!). I’ve also had a riding lesson (didn’t fall off that though) and I’ve been using our local outdoor pool in Bagnoles de l’Orne which is heated. It is well worth a visit if you are in the area. Piscine (Bagnoles-de-l’Orne) | Bagnoles de l'Orne (bagnolesdelorne.com) Top Tip  Don't forget that the French are very strict about what men wear in a p...

                                                                                           Leaky waders- not helpful!   What are we doing at the moment? Tim has spent a lot of time in his waders this week- not a good look it has to be said but they are very effective even if they do have a small leak. We are replacing the decking by the lake and as ever, everything turns into a much bigger job than you expect. The concrete supports that hold the whole thing up had come loose so straps were attached to the car to pull them level again.  What are the French doing? Although the French get a lot of bank holidays (14 days per year) if they fall on a weekend then that is 'tant pis!' (too bad) whereas the UK has only 7(1 extra for the Coronation th...

  It's that time of year again!   Guess what we've been doing- We have had a few lovely days here so Tim and I attacked the garden like people possessed. It does look much better but there's still a lot to do. Some people (often men, it has to be said) become a bit obsessed about cutting the grass. Unfortunately, that is not the case with my dear Husband so I normally decide to go and do it myself whilst mumbling ‘who needs a bloody man anyway’ under my breathe -but I need Tim to start the mower as I can’t, which rather takes the wind out of my sails. I read a great article by Emma Pearson, Editor at the local France (www. the local.fr) entitled  " 6 things that are surprisingly cheap in France (and 5 that are shockingly expensive)".  They are the following and I have put them in order of importance to me: Surprisingly cheap- Wine- as it is made here there are no import costs - it’s cheaper than petro...

  Exciting times here in Basse-Normandie! We are working on the final room to be decorated. When I say decorated I  mean stripping fabric off of the walls and ceilings that has at least three layers (including a foam layer) and then sanding off glue that should have been used on the Titanic.  Overall it has been two and a half years of graft - Mainly stripping walls and using gallons of white emulsion (very good deal in Action btw) admittedly the main building work has been completed by others for the simple reason that we could not have done it.  I am always fascinated by the Escape to the Chateau/DIY as the people are so capable. We are no Dick and Angel that is for sure! but not even Dick and Angel are real, are they? I think they are aliens- who can make sloe gin and plumb in a toilet? but not at the same time- obviously!!  As I have mentioned before, Tim was in Print and I was an English Teacher and all I remember from physics is that Mr Brown is a liv...

  The weather has been so lovely here. Tim and I visited Bayeux last week to see the David Hockney exhibition at the Bayeux Tapestry. Walking through Bayeux (which is such a lovely place, I strongly recommend it), it was 14 degrees and it was so lovely to feel the sun and to be outside!.  Tim commented on the condition of parts of the tapestry that had been patched, I don't know what he expects from something that's over 1000 years old- perhaps I should be worried as I am 59 in October.   The exhibition which is called A Year In Normandy was lovely and if an 85 year old can teach himself how to paint on an Ipad, then why can't I get my Airpods to pair with my phone! www.bayeuxmuseum.com Last week Tim jumped out of bed in the middle of the night and ran to the window, I woke up and asked him what he was doing and he said that the light over the garage had suddenly come on. He had a quick look out of the window and as he did not see someone wearing a black and...

Wise words from the Bard  Shakespeare wrote a poem about youth (allegedly) called " Crabbed Age and Youth" which  is about the sharp contrast between the young and the old. In it he says " Youth is full of pleasance while age is full of care". Now as we all know Shakespeare only lived until he was 52 (pretty old for those days) so he did not totally reach the grumpy old man stage. Senior  adults are often heard saying " I wouldn't want to be young in this day and age" my Grandfather included. This was brought home to me last week when my daughter Ellie and niece Lauren came to visit, they are both in their mid twenties and are a pure joy to be around.  And Gladys! As Gladys Knight  says in her rendition of The Way We Were /try to remember" "Hey, you know, everybody's talkin' about the good old days, right Everybody, the good old days, the good old days Well, let's talk about the good old days Come to think of it as, as bad as we t...