Rentrée Roll-call

As it's la Rentrée (back to school), I thought I'd just give you the run-down of the current residents of our home!

Youngest first: Wilson the kitten arrived approximately four hours before we left on our Spanish holiday. He mewed and mewed in our neighbours' empty garden (they were already on holiday) until we took pity on him and presented him to our house/garden/animal sitters, who took the adoption of an untrained kitten in their stride! He must have been over 2 months when this photo was taken by them, but we all thought he was younger - he must have been rather malnourished. Lots of kittens get abandoned around here, but young Wilson has landed on his feet - we've already had him vaccinated and chipped, and Raja has adopted him as a playmate! We are all in love with him...

So next up for age must be Son 2's guinea pigs - if I get more time, I will add more photos. His piggies are called Lysandra, Catrina and Hester (well, what else do you call guinea pigs?) and he loves them very much.

The three big hens are next in age - we are getting three eggs a day from them at the moment! Wilson is wary of them...

Then come the two ornamental hens, who were adopted when a friend returned to the USA. One is just a smaller version of our big ones, but China, the white silky bantam, is a sight to behold... they also lay fairly well, but less than the biggies. We eat a lot of omlettes, here!

Chanel the adult cat comes next. He is at least 9 years old and is theoretically an invalid, as he has broken his hip twice. He has calmed down a bit, and we keep him inside a lot, but he still slopes off to visit neighbours, and, I am sure, gets fed by them... Six Dinner Sid! He was most unimpressed when Wilson arrived, particularly as Wilson was missing his mum and tried to get some milk from Chanel!

Raja is a few years older than Chanel. She is Son 1's adopted cocker spaniel, and has changed his life for the better in so many ways. I mentioned 'hen therapy' to Lola Nova a while ago (she agreed it exists) but dog therapy is wonderful, too...

Then comes Son 2 - at 14 he is two years older than Raja! He is in his exam year, the final year of collège. It's all a bit much for a kid who is juggling an enthusiasm for Pokemon with spots and adolescence, but we're confident he'll get through it.

Son 1 is 16 now, and in his second year of lycée. It's a better place than collège. He's specialising in science, with as much history as he can do on the side, but sadly, from his point of view, he still has to read French literature!

There's a really big gap now until you get to the adults in the household. Probably the youngest adult is Achilles the tortoise. I've roughly counted the rings on his shell and he seems to be in his 30s. He's got the wisdom of age, certainly - he gets out of his enclosure and goes for wanders, so now we've written my mobile number on his shell, and we get the occasional phone call from an excited family who've found him chomping through their garden...

And now we come to me, vintage-loving English teacher. You know me!

And finally Ben, who has an adventure of his own starting next week. His work is funding him to do further studies - he'll be off in Lyon during the week for the next nine months, coming home at the weekend to see how his family and other animals are getting on! We're all very pleased that he's got this opportunity (it's to do an MBA) and hope to be reporting on a little bit of life in Lyon, as well as in the Toulouse area, over the coming year.

Bank Holidays in France

In France, Bank Holidays don't move around to the nearest Monday like they do in the UK. Sometimes, this means they all fall at the weekend, and we get no extra days off.

But sometimes, they fall in the week and we get crazy amounts of time off - hurray! This last week we had VE day (Wednesday 8th May) and Ascension Day (Thursday 9th) - it was a weekend in the middle of the week, and we enjoyed it to the full, despite a bit of rain.

Son 2 and Ben worked together to construct a small hutch for the new guinea pigs. They came with all their accommodation, but we think that the garden they were in before was more sheltered, and we feel happier now that they have a proper bit of 'indoors' to go into at night, when they are in their run on the lawn. They love the new home, and Son 2 is so happy that his work has been appreciated... and it's fantastic for Ben to have shared projects with the boys.

A trip to the Vide Grenier... a Fabric History of France!

I got back from the massive school Vide Grenier this afternoon and unloaded my finds:

There seems to have been a theme to today's haul! I'll take you on a mini-tour of French fabric history, thanks to today's stall-holders. Let's go backwards in time...

So, it won't surprise you to know that in the 1970s, French women were crocheting granny squares with the rest of us! 3€ with a matching cot blanket thrown in...

They were also buying repro floral fabric rather like the Laura Ashley trend in the UK - I thought this fabric was original early 20th century, but the woman who made the curtains sold them to me, and she should remember when she bought the fabric! She was using it as a tablecloth today... another 3€.

We leap back to the 1950s, and find the origin of the fabrics that Cath Kidston has made so popular today... 50c.

We have to go back a bit further in time to discover that France was importing, or even making, paisley shawls in the 1840s - I am going to have to research this a bit further. It's a fine woollen weave, and in pretty good condition - much like the fragment of Scottish paisley shawl that I've treasured since I found it in the 1980s. This one is whole, with one hole on the fold and a rather fragmenting fringe. 3€.

It seems we have to go even further back for this embroidered bag!

OK, so the bag itself is a little damaged, but the fine embroidered roses and the swags, ribbons and chains are in great condition.

"Oh, around the time of the Revolution..." opined the stall-holder, selling it to me for 3€! What do you think? Which one would you choose?

In other news, Son 2 has adopted not one, but three guinea pigs! I will be asking Seranata for advice... He was very, very keen to care for some rodents, and the owner of these three is ill and has returned to the UK for immediated treatment (please pray for her - we are very moved by her story) so we stepped into the breach! Son 2 didn't really sleep last night, because he kept imagining that he was a guinea pig, and he had a nap with them in their substantial run on the sunny lawn this afternoon. It's going to be hard to get him back to school tomorrow!







An ABC of my life in France, right here, right now!

A is for animals – I have been thinking a lot about hares recently - I love them. I spotted one in February, went looking in March but didn’t see any, and then sadly found a dead one on the road this weekend. They are all around us here, but almost completely hidden from us. Wonderful, reclusive, animals.

 

B is for birds – they are singing again, and the hoopoes are back. Last week they were hoo-hoo-ing from the top of tall posts as they looked for their mates. Now they are quieter, so I think they found them!

C is for crutches – Son 2 ended up on them last week, just as Son 1 is reaching a complete recovery after his knee operation…

D is for Downton Abbey – we borrowed the first DVD from work, bought the rest at Christmas, and I have now even made a new local friend (American) as we unite in search of someone in the area who has a copy of the 2012 Christmas special. No spoilers, please (I’ve seen enough on my friends’ blogs, anyway…)

E is for eggs – we have plenty, and the boys seem to be capable of eating as many as the hens produce! I find that I’m buying less meat now that so much of our protein is provided by eggs.

 

F is for Facebook, which is proving a very convenient way for English speakers in the Toulouse area to keep in touch – my last four pupils have all found me through Facebook!

G is for the garden, which is water-logged but blooming!

H is for the Hunger Games books, which Son 1 talked me into reading over the Easter period – very impressive, and addictive too!

I is for ironing – I taught Son 2 to iron shirts a few weeks ago, as he’s looking for extra pocket money! This is going to be very convenient…

 

J is for jaune – a yellow packet of licorice sweets which a trainee gave me this morning, because they are traditional to Toulouse!

K is for keeping a record of all the good things that happen – however busy I am, I am glad that I have my gratitude journal for a daily record of the good times, and my blog for a chance to share and keep photos and stories of our life here together in France.

L is for lessons – I am enjoying work with pupils and trainees aged between 4 and 54, so there’s never a dull moment!

M is for Marriage – we’re going to a good friend’s wedding soon, and are so excited for her – more to follow…

N is for nest box – China the funny hen has been shut out of hers, as she is broody again! She goes broody so often that it’s tempting to get her some eggs to hatch one of these days… but then what?

O is for ordinary. This is just ordinary life – same old, same old, you could think – but how pleasant it is to think about all the interesting things that happen in an ordinary life.

 

P is for blog posts– I really don’t seem to manage many at the moment, but still enjoy reading those of my friends, and even meeting some new blogging friends - hello to my newer followers!

Q is for Queen Elizabeth II – I have a jubilee tin or two on display in the living room, and realised how very British it all seemed when my new American friend came to visit…

R is for really muddy – that’s our front garden, including the path! It’s forced us to act on something we’ve considered for ages, so we should soon be getting some work done to have a driveway and path put in to the front garden.

S is for the Simnel Cake I made on Easter Day, with the British marzipan left over from Christmas!

 

T is for Achilles the tortoise, who is out of hibernation but still seems to think that the days are made for hiding indoors – no summer-time rambles round his enclosure yet!

U is for growing Up! Our boys are growing up like wildfire – even little Son 2 is approaching my height now, and losing some of the puppy fat that has ‘dogged’ him (did you see that, Ang, did you notice it?) for the past few years. And Ben and I are appreciating getting more mature in the good ways, whilst holding on to the fun side of youth, obviously… no point in being TOO grown up!

 V is for Vide Greniers, of course! They are starting up again now that the weather is, in theory, more spring-like. We have a lot of weekend projects and not much spare money, but I shall visit a few and shall share my finds with you, friends!

W is for washing machine- ours has broken down again! Fortunately, Intermarché is only 2 minutes away and has a launderette, while we wait for someone to come and sort out the machine for us…

 

X is for X ray – Son 1 has what might just be a final check-up in June, so hopefully all will be quiet on the leg-bones saga from now on.

Y is for yellow – the daffodils were severely hit by our late snow (not as late as the UK’s I know!) but the yellow tulips are just fantastic this year!

Z is for our local zoo/safari park – just a wonderful place to visit whenever the boys and I are looking for a wander. How nice to have a local tiger family…

Staycation in the south of France

We started our staycation yesterday - it's a whole lot easier than going away on holiday, I have to say! We had a family trip to our local Safari Park planned, and we ended up taking Son 2's friend along too (spot the French head next to the British head watching the macaw!)
Son 2 and Friend had a great time doing the holiday quiz around the animal park. Do you want to try your French out on two of the clues they photographed? The one above is factual. The one below is a rebus!
When we got home the boys threw themselves in the pool (yes, Son 1 can walk, swim and run again after his op - hurray!) and Ben carried on fitting the shutters we've made. I used up the cherry tomato glut making Onion and Cherry Tomato Chutney. Smells great...
Today the weather is less sunny, and we're planning a local bike ride and some boardgames. What about you?

Worth crossing bridges for...

In case you were wondering why the boys and I took a train ride yesterday, it was to visit the excellent Deep Sea World at North Queensferry. When the boys were little my mother drove us out there several times, althoug Son 2 was too young to have any memories of it. It turns out to be even better by public transport, because you get the Forth Rail Bridge journey as part of the package!

They were wonderful about getting a wheelchair for Son 1, who had gamely hobbled between buses, trains and the centre on crutches, but was very grateful for an easier way to view the aquarium itself.

If you don't like sharks, how do you feel about snakes?

We had a brilliant time - not only is it a good visit, but the staff are particularly cheerful and helpful. What is this nonsense about the Scots being dour?

j

And while we're at it, the Parisians we met at the airport on our journey out this week were smiling and kind. We're on a stereotype-busting visit here!

Minibeasts in the Ariege - with Son 2

Son 2 is our real mini-beast fan. Here he is introducing a little French neighbour to the wildlife of our campsite stream. This ice cream tub came in really handy for housing a temporay collection of creatures to be observed. There were lots of tadpoles.

Son 2 gave them lots of stones to hide under, kept them in the shade, and let them out at the end of the day.

One morning he shouted excitedly that he'd found a newt! "Is it tiny?" enquired Ben. Son 2 agreed that it was pretty small.

"Then you can call it my-newt!" concluded Ben, cheerfully. After some reflection on the source of the hilarity, Son 2 got the joke, and indeed called this young newtpole 'my-newt' for the rest of the day.

On another morning, Ben found this snail as I was hanging out the washing. Ordinary looking snail?

Not when you see it up against Son 2's hand - this one's a whopper! It's a common enough species, apparantly, although we'd never seen one before. We had to work quite hard to talk Son 2 out of bringing this one home to join his snail collection...

... but in the end the snail successfully ensured its own (surprisingly speedy) escape.

Ben found these amazingly sparkly blue chafer beetles too.

The males live near streams, and we never found a female - they are much duller in colour, apparantly.

Son 2 snapped a photo of this moth with a face-like profile in the toilets! Now, if you're a bit squeamish about flying beasties, steel yourselves for the final few photos...

This is Ben's man-size hand, so you realise that this curious fly on our tent is really quite big (more than an inch long). It turns out to be a stonefly. Its larvae live only in very unpolluted rivers - what a good sign! Son 2 and his little friend found several of its transparent, scorpion-like larvae in the stream.

Then on a visit to the bigger river down in the valley, the boys found these curious 'shells' on the rocks. If you weren't spooked by the last photo, you might be by the next...

The boys left the monstrous skins they'd found on our picnic table. It helps to have a strong stomach...

So it's goodbye from me and Son 2,

and goodbye from the alien-stonefly-larva!

j

Pop by tomorrow for a camping photo-quiz prepared by Son 1. He's offering a prize!

Be Safe, Be Seen!

It's now a legal requirement in France for night-time cyclists, on country roads, to wear a reflective waistcoat as well as having decent lights. This is one of those laws that the French are sticking to, as it's a good idea and also because it's strongly enforced, I suspect. Thus Ben has reflective wear all year round, for late returns from work, and the boys and I get ours out when the shorter days arrive. Even the dog has her own reflective 'super dog cape', which she wears on walks after school at the moment. We add a flashing red light to her collar too, so that we can let her go for runs...

... without losing track of her completely!

We quite enjoy our walks in the dark.

Three Animal Tales and Half a Cat's Tail

Tale 1 - Kitty Goes for a Walk

Son 1 and I met this young cat named Minou coming up a steep cliff path from a rocky Mediterranean beach last week. The little cat was running through the maquis scrubland much as our dog had done, with occasional calls from his owners to check he was on the right track. Arriving at the rough carpark at the top of the cliff, Minou was greeted by some girls from a vine-painted Camper Van - all very baba-cool, which means hippy in French... We do wonder how much he enjoyed the beach - perhaps more than Raja did!
Tale 2 - The Hounds from Hell

I took Raja for a walk one evening this week, an unusual event, as her owner Son 1 normally takes her out. Shortly after leaving our gate, we discovered we were being followed by not one, but two, of the animals pictured below. Actually, our two were a bit more handsome, but the large size, black coats, red eyes and wet muzzles were spot on for this picture. They were not agressive, but carried on following us, sometimes splitting up to come in on either side of us, reminding me either of sheep dogs or a pack of hunting wolves. I decided to head for the supermarket, which was just closing, but which has a good-sized carpark with a number of people in it - the safety in numbers thing. The Hellhounds followed, perfectly nicely, but relentlessly...
The patron of the supermarket was standing in his doorway, in the process of lowering the shutter to indicate the closing time was coming. 'Are you being persued?' he asked, politely. He offered us refuge in the entrance area, and gave Raja a bucket of water, which she was too unnerved to drink. He was obviously a dog-lover, and made a big fuss of Raja as she calmed down, and told me that the two Hellhounds, whilst probably not mechants, were hunting dogs, and it would be best to stay inside until they had long gone... We did.

Ben thinks he saw the hounds near his work yesterday evening, meaning that they are still at loose, and have travelled on to the next village. We wonder if their owner has gone on holiday, but we cannot really work out how these two very fine dogs, with collars, are still wandering round the area.

Tale 3 - The Puppy at the Monument

The heros of this story have asked to remain annonymous, so sorry for the lack of detail...

One day on our camping trip, Son 1 and I laboured up a steep, blazing hillside, to reach a minor historical monument we'd seen on top (not the one pictured, for reasons of annonymity). We reached the top, ready to collapse, and found that the fitter members of the party had already made some friends - Son 2 and Raja with a huge, bouncing puppy, and Ben with a craftsman who was in the process of renovating the monument.
Puppy, dog and boy were chasing round and rolling on the grass, and Ben was being offered a tour of the monument! After a few desparate gulps of water, we felt ready to join them. The man explained that he had been allowed, through friends at the local town hall, to renovate the monument, live in it, and use it to develop his very specialised craft business. Oh, I wish I could give you more detail...

He lived in a vaulted series of rooms furnished in wonderfully quirky, simple, vintage style. I presume it was the puppy who slept in the antique iron cot...

We looked round the monument (he had a table and chair poised in a windy spot which gave him an incredible 360 degree view from the hilltop) and had a quick look in his workshop, where he made very exclusive, expensive and well-crafted items from extraordinary materials.

Sadly, as we were leaving, he asked us not to give details of his location, as his friendship with the local Mairie was the only reason he was allowed there, and there might be complaints... It seems a shame, as he'd done such a good job of renovating the monument, and I am sure that no one else in the area would ever consider living there!

Tale 4 - Half a Tail!

This seems the right time to tell you the long-promised story of our cat, Chanel. We first met him when he was a youngster, not fully grown. We even snapped a photo of him when we were given a tour around prospective rental houses in November 2004, before we moved out here - can you spot him?
We loved the house anyway, but the fact that it came with an over-friendly young cat sealed the deal! When we moved in the following January we discovered that he was an outdoor cat, adopted by our French neighbours who took pity on him as a kitten, but not allowed indoors as their older cat refused to have him in the house. At some point in his kittenhood he had jumped into a car engine at the hamlet where we lived, and the first that the driver knew of it was when he reached the next town, parked and heard the miaows! It's a miracle that he survived, but his tail was badly damaged.
As you can see from the photo, his crumpled tail is now about half-length, and rather sensitive. You can also see that he adopted us, and then was given to us by the neighbours, who felt he would be happier as an indoor/outdoor cat chez nous.

I am not sure he agrees now that Son 1 has a dog, but he is still a much-loved member of our household, and held in high regard next door, too! Some things never change - have you read the book Six Dinner Sid?...