Les poissons en France

Monday, February 24, 2014

Hive of Industry

We've had a very busy day today. Up with the lark, usual chores completed by 9 o'clock and the rest of the morning was spent tiling and grouting. John has laid about two thirds of the tiles and I have done about a third of the grouting.
It may look like we are tileing the village hall, it certainly feels like it!! However the weather was good yesterday and today (rain forecast for the foreseeable future) so we had a quick lunch and out into the garden. John managed to carry out the first grass cut of the season and I pruned the roses. Fortified with a glass of wine we then set off to walk the dog. Cooked tea and now writing the Blog. Fruitful and satisfying day. Not sure that we can maintain this pace indefinitely although we have no trouble sleeping.
I have heard the odd comment from some quarters that the plant production doesn't seem so much as usual. That is because I employed a different strategy and germinated a lot of seeds last Autumn.  I have successfully over wintered them in the porcherie (no doubt because we have had such a mild winter) and between the grouting have been pricking them out. The usual 350 petunias are due to arrive at the end of the week so there is no time for complacency.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Slowly Covering Ground

Just to let you all know that life is moving on in Mas de Bouye ... slowly.  As our weather remains wet, we're continuing to tile in the salon.
 I'm laying the tiles ...
and my assistant is grouting the joints.

Only another month to go!!!

Saturday, February 08, 2014

Campaign 2014

When we lived in Lincolnshire, each winter was marked by the 'Sugar Beet Campaign' when the beet was lifted and processed into sugar.  We don't have that here ... but we do have the annual 'Seed Campaign' which starts when the Head Gardener decrees that the time, temperature, phase of the Moon and state of the tides is propitious for sowing the first seeds for the flowers of summer.
2014's campaign has started and the first seed trays have appeared in the bedroom/plant nursery!

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Finishing Off

.... the walls at least!  Sue has been busy finishing the walls, rectifying my filling and directing where I needed to do more filling.  I have been doing some of the cutting-in around the top of the windows where Sue can't reach but then she's been moaning that she would have done it better than me!!!!
Meanwhile I've been trying to clear out the clutter from the room; tools, rubbish, ladders etc.  So now we begin to get a sense of the space in the room.
All that I've got to do now is acres of tiling!

Sunday, February 02, 2014

Change of Allegiances

If you are not a football fan do not bother to read this post - you will not understand the passion.

From time immemorial (even before we met) we have both been Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs) fans and like true fans we have supported our team through thick and thin. Unfortunately in the last 18 months there has been a lot of "thin". For those of you who go back that far John is an archetypal Alf Garnet football fan, ardent supporter but he could play better than that defence, why did they buy him, we was robbed etc.etc.

For many years I have been treated to John's version of the match report. "We've done this and would you believe it he missed a penalty in the 90th minute". Like a dutiful wife I have commiserated or rejoiced as appropriate. Well now I have a problem, when he talks about "We" I'm not sure who he is referring to because he is also following Boston United. I might add that when we lived just down the road he never took any interest in Boston United but now we live over a thousand miles away he is their number one fan. Whilst he can get the final score straight away (the wonders of modern technology) there is a delay in receiving the match and managers reports, we assume they adjourn to the bar and can't remember what happened until the next day. However John is most impressed with the prose in the match report "it would have been 7 nil but for the spectacular save by the custodian of the opposition goal"!!!!

You to can follow the exploits of Boston United, they play in the Skrill Northern League?? Should you wish to do so, you will join  the one man and his dog plus John. You can tell that I am enjoying his latest passion.

I do wonder what the Google translation service will make of this post!!