It's Wednesday morning, the fair one lies dormant upstairs, the enfants terribles are gently squabbling next door, nothing changes.
Well that is not quite strictly true. If you happened to be a tired old sweetchestnut tree you wouldn't be feeling so smug this morning.As you lie in a crumpled mass of rotting stump in the detritus of your fallen leaves.It was dead already, a health hazard and it was asking for it.
Yesterday my new petrol driven chainsaw went hunting. No longer the apron strings of electricity to tie me to plugs of the maison. This thing has teeth and it was hungry. The branches and stumps which previously mocked me with their immunity to the chainsaw soon fell to the awesome power that is my Stihl M250 BC-S. I need to get out more!! ....And so I did.
Back to our front of house. For those of you ignorant of what I am a wittering, at the front we have a stone wall topped with a nice french grille with intermittent pillars. Previously enshrouded in ivy, brambles, and wild honeysuckle. But no more. The snip, snip of our seccateurs and lopers have ensured the demise of the aforementioned shroud. And Sonia armed with her roller and paintbrushes have turned this in to a wonder to behold. Certainly our voisins appreciate what we are up to, and frequently pop over to cheer us on with such rousing phrases as : 'Bon courage' and Beaucoup travaille'. However we get the feeling it is a good thing as we are also informed the house can now breathe and it looks fantastique.
Sunday night was memorable. As a special treat we decided to have a nice relaxing fire ( this time indoors) and have toasted marsmallows ( personally I can't stand them, but I am too old). Felix and I set the fire, and soon a real blaze ensued.. Unfortunately the blaze went up the stack and soon we had embers flying out the top of the chimney and falling back down and spilling on to our wooden floorboards.A stack fire : not good. First throw loads of water on your fire to put it out. Second get sodden blanket and seal off fire place ( cuts off oxygen supply and puts out fire).Three remain anxious, stay up late regularily checking that the temperature of your stack in the attic is coming down and that the fire has not reignited. We are now going to get it swept before we have toasted marshmallows again.
But frrom adversity often comes a bonus ball. Having spent a fair amount of time in the attic groping my stack. I happened to stumble across a rather fetching 60's retro three globbed light,which, with a bit of TLC looks F**cking fab. At the same time a collection of old lead fish hooks. life is so rich in the attic of adversity.
Sonia's quest for beautiful shutters is continuing at pace and now the gite has two sets in a beautiful bluey/grey. The shutters have proved a source for disharmony. The sleeping one wanted to replace the lot, the tight arsed one wanted to repair them as best as possible. However ACAS was in the area and the shutters are bodged and we will will get new windows.
Ellie is missing her friends but despite this seems happy. Rosie her rabbit regularly empties her bladder on both Ellie and Felix which is a source of much amusement and laundry. Today Ellie is going to her Folkloric dancing class. Today it is tres exciting coz she is being measured up for her costume. Both Felix and Ellie are slowly picking the lingo up and have friends at school.
Last weekend they had a sleepover. An english boy called Franklin came over and they played camps up by the wood. Never have I heard such peace in the back garden, or was it just that they were too far away?
Question: What do you do with your left over bagettes the morning after?
Answer: Make your French version of fried bread this time in freshly made duck fat.
You can buy kilos of duck fatty off cuts then heat them over a low heat for 2-3 hours and siphon off the melted fat and voila.
Anyway here ends today's written version of la verbal diarrhea
A Bientot
Well that is not quite strictly true. If you happened to be a tired old sweetchestnut tree you wouldn't be feeling so smug this morning.As you lie in a crumpled mass of rotting stump in the detritus of your fallen leaves.It was dead already, a health hazard and it was asking for it.
Yesterday my new petrol driven chainsaw went hunting. No longer the apron strings of electricity to tie me to plugs of the maison. This thing has teeth and it was hungry. The branches and stumps which previously mocked me with their immunity to the chainsaw soon fell to the awesome power that is my Stihl M250 BC-S. I need to get out more!! ....And so I did.
Back to our front of house. For those of you ignorant of what I am a wittering, at the front we have a stone wall topped with a nice french grille with intermittent pillars. Previously enshrouded in ivy, brambles, and wild honeysuckle. But no more. The snip, snip of our seccateurs and lopers have ensured the demise of the aforementioned shroud. And Sonia armed with her roller and paintbrushes have turned this in to a wonder to behold. Certainly our voisins appreciate what we are up to, and frequently pop over to cheer us on with such rousing phrases as : 'Bon courage' and Beaucoup travaille'. However we get the feeling it is a good thing as we are also informed the house can now breathe and it looks fantastique.
Sunday night was memorable. As a special treat we decided to have a nice relaxing fire ( this time indoors) and have toasted marsmallows ( personally I can't stand them, but I am too old). Felix and I set the fire, and soon a real blaze ensued.. Unfortunately the blaze went up the stack and soon we had embers flying out the top of the chimney and falling back down and spilling on to our wooden floorboards.A stack fire : not good. First throw loads of water on your fire to put it out. Second get sodden blanket and seal off fire place ( cuts off oxygen supply and puts out fire).Three remain anxious, stay up late regularily checking that the temperature of your stack in the attic is coming down and that the fire has not reignited. We are now going to get it swept before we have toasted marshmallows again.
But frrom adversity often comes a bonus ball. Having spent a fair amount of time in the attic groping my stack. I happened to stumble across a rather fetching 60's retro three globbed light,which, with a bit of TLC looks F**cking fab. At the same time a collection of old lead fish hooks. life is so rich in the attic of adversity.
Sonia's quest for beautiful shutters is continuing at pace and now the gite has two sets in a beautiful bluey/grey. The shutters have proved a source for disharmony. The sleeping one wanted to replace the lot, the tight arsed one wanted to repair them as best as possible. However ACAS was in the area and the shutters are bodged and we will will get new windows.
Ellie is missing her friends but despite this seems happy. Rosie her rabbit regularly empties her bladder on both Ellie and Felix which is a source of much amusement and laundry. Today Ellie is going to her Folkloric dancing class. Today it is tres exciting coz she is being measured up for her costume. Both Felix and Ellie are slowly picking the lingo up and have friends at school.
Last weekend they had a sleepover. An english boy called Franklin came over and they played camps up by the wood. Never have I heard such peace in the back garden, or was it just that they were too far away?
Question: What do you do with your left over bagettes the morning after?
Answer: Make your French version of fried bread this time in freshly made duck fat.
You can buy kilos of duck fatty off cuts then heat them over a low heat for 2-3 hours and siphon off the melted fat and voila.
Anyway here ends today's written version of la verbal diarrhea
A Bientot
