Getting Ready - Part 1

Yesterday was the last bank holiday of the term. We have so many that they don't give us a half term holiday, which seems a shame, but now we are straight through for a month and then it will be the summer holidays! We'd intended to go camping but the dog was having a horrid reaction to an injection, and we couldn't take her anywhere, poor thing (she's OK again now). I used the time at home to do the first batch of baking for my Garden Party. Most supermarkets aren't open in France on bank holidays, so I had to look at my dwindling supply of flour and work out a recipe I could make, in bulk, using the ingredients I had! I settled on these lovely Spicy Pepper Biscuits, which I've made before. They are sweet and dry and airy - they melt in your mouth. I also love the part of the recipe which says: 'roll into balls and place on an UNGREASED baking tray'! My kind of low-maintenance baking.

The plans are going on apace, and this map with lists is now on the fridge, along with the artwork:In the afternoon Ben and I took the boys out to the African Safari (note the non-French name!). It's nearby and it is a very pleasant place to go, with the animals well cared-for and the surroundings shady and beautiful. Some new babies were in evidence...For a few years now they've run a bird show in the summer. This is well worth the wait. In France they let the birds fly down really low, so that their wings and tails almost (or actually) brush the heads of the taller people sitting below.For once, the small Nile Crocodile was looking real. And to end the day, we saw some peaceful flamingos.

Today, in the garden, the grapevine over Ben's pergola has come into bloom. The flowers are tiny, but full of promise. When we moved in we found the vine creeping over the ground, and Ben built up a pergola specifically to support it. We can now sit under it on the rustic stools made out of our poor, fallen acacia tree.The tree came down in January's storms. We managed to prop up the younger tree which was growing beside it, but clearly there had been too much damage to its roots, and after a faint attempt to flower and produce leaves this spring, it too has died.It's in the nature of accacias to plan for the future, though, and our 'lawn' is sprouting baby accacias from the roots of the old ones. We are going to choose one to nurture and mow the rest!

It does mean that the pergola now provides the only shade in the entire back garden, so we are going to have to think about awnings for the garden party, and for eating out throughout the summer. More plans...

The Moated Village

Yesterday was Ascension Day, a national holiday in France. Because Ascension is always a Thursday, people often work the Thursday and take the Friday off instead, but the children had Wednesday in school in order to take both Thursday and Friday off - a very long weekend! Today is called the 'pont d'Ascension' - the 'Ascension bridge', taking us to the weekend. Ben worked yesterday and has the day off today, so yesterday it was just me and the boys, following some directions off the internet to a small village nearby which was having a bank holiday Vide Greniers. We parked the car here: Yes, this village is one of the ones which has its own moat!

The boys and I had never been there before, but we loved it, and took loads of photos. The houses are built linked together, inside the moat and encircling the church and the village green. It would have been quite an effective defence - maybe against the English!Circling up past the end of the moat, we found the Vide Greniers on the defended and tree-lined village green. Very picturesque.Son 1 bought some additions to his domino toppling kit. Son 2 found absolutely nothing to interest him, so asked to play the 2 Euro Challenge.He bought this marbled, pressed glass vase. I don't particularly go for this kind of style, but I think it's rather a good buy, all the same.We're going to do some internet research together to find out more about its origins (and to find out if 2 euros was a good price).I found relatively little - this blue and white china clip-top jar for the kitchen,

and a sweet little vintage tin for my cloth buttons.This is the current display of button tins and boxes.

They're on a little vintage lace and embroidery runner I bought in Veti Relais a few months ago.
Out in the garden, things got a bit crazy as Son 2's shoes (bought for my sister's wedding last summer) were retired, broken, but I couldn't bear to throw them out...This footwear-as-planter thing is getting out of hand, methinks. The plants should live, Olga - the big boots on the left were planted up a year ago and the sempervivums are thriving. The clue is in the name - most plants wouldn't like to live like this, but sempervivums ('always alives') love to grow in stony, exposed places - the only thing they can't stand is poor drainage. The boots and shoes will rot and fall apart in the end, but it's good to give them a bit more use before they do.The sempervivums which were on the window ledge have made way for some summer bulbs, which are just coming into beautiful flower.
Now, have you noticed that a number of great bloggers are called Sarah? I am going to have to differentiate between my numerous Sarah friends somehow. So, NZ Sarah, of Red Gingham, has involved me in the game she says is: "called 'Desafio'. It's a Spanish word and means 'Challenge' in English. This game is about getting to know each other better. In order to this we must share 7 things about ourselves and then we must send the game to 7 other bloggers. "

Well, in French, this game would be called 'Défi', which shows the close links between French and Spanish, I think! Thanks for the 'défi', Sarah! Here goes on 7 things about me:

I spent my childhood moving around; living in at least three English counties, the United States, and Scotland. My dad was in the Navy!

Ben and I got married when I was 21 and he was 22. Some people wondered if we were too young, but we were sure it was the right thing to do and 19 years on and two sons later we are still sure.

I love chili con carne but almost never cook it any more - somehow our French lifestyle doesn't seem to include it!

I studied Archaeology at University, but am now a trained dyselxia teacher.

I tried knitting a blanket square at Guides once and it turned into a hexagonal doughnut. I think knitting has too much to do with maths for me.

I'm a Christian and my heroes are those who live their faith more than they talk about it.

I am half Welsh, quarter English, and quarter Irish, and my parents now live in Scotland. 'So Breetish' as the French would say.

That's enough about me - these are the 7 people to whom I pass on the 'Challenge':

Josie-Mary

Ashley

Juanita

Fleur

Lululiz

Jackie

Glenda

Have fun, ladies! If you happen to have done the challenge before, just give us a link to your previous answers if you don't want to think up another seven.

Tomorrow: more of the 'cute guy in the apron' and his jam-making!

Saturday Vide Greniers - the warm-up

Son 2 and I popped off to the Vide Greniers in the town next door today. I discovered button tubs!This Vide Greniers is in a more modern part of the town, near a supermarket, but there are still some beautiful sights amongst the stands.We bought a very big bundle of Bionicle parts (these are Lego robot-type creatures, for the uninitiated) which was good value for at least 24 different characters, as far as we can see. From the vintage point of view, I found this sweet jug (it's quite small) for a euro, and these buttons from two stalls (total 1 euro 20).

Have a look at the buttons - these were strung together, but of course they're quite different. I like both types, though. The flowery one will go very well with the collection I brought over from my mum's. I still don't know how I'm going to display them...Snazzy, almost hat-shaped buttons. 1950s, perhaps? 1930s? What do you think? And some MOP, of course...Here's the base of that jug.

And here's the other side. Unfortunately, our wild roses have gone over now, because they'd look great in this jug!

And finally, I got some shabby patchwork seat cushions for our outdoor chairs. Comfortable bottoms all round at lunch time!Meanwhile, Son 1 and Ben have been extremely active, firstly planting out four tomato plants, which Son 1 must water, which he can then eat from any time he wants! (He tends to graze on our tomato plants, so we're protecting our own harvest by doing this.)

They then went on to lay out our exciting second hand swimming pool, and prepare the gravelled area for the pool to be set up. They're currently out buying sand to make the area properly flat, and they THINK they may have the pool up by tomorrow evening! That depends on how long we all spend at our own town's Vide Greniers tomorrow, perhaps...

Long Weekend 2 and a wonderful swap parcel!

The advent of reasonable weather here hopefully means the end of the ludicrous wellie boot situation we have found ourselves in this winter.See the problem? What crazy mother thought that identical boots in sizes 35, 36 and 37 would make for easy gardening and dog walking? I cannot WAIT for the day that the boys' feet are bigger than mine, which will mean that they stop walking off in MY boots!Henry the hedgehog, who has been guarding wellies for longer than the boys have been part of the family, is still doing a great job, though. He could do with a brush-around, though, poor chap.
Other weekend events - Son 2 played rugby At Home for once, rather than in some far-flung town on the other side of Toulouse. It was a huge and very successful tournament - well done to the Ecole de Rugby.

The strawberries were successfully transplanted out of Raja's reach - now we just have to think about what to do to protect the raspberries! Son 2 decorated a third pot to complete our pot family. Mr and Mrs Pot (much admired - thanks for your comments) came with us from the UK years ago. This year 'Pappie Pot', which means Grandpa Pot, has joined the family. The boys have some wonderful all-surface pens which can write/draw on glass, stone, pots etc - fantastic!

The fence you saw being planted up has finally removed the 'sitting in a goldfish bowl' nature of our patio. We celebrated by setting up the table there and enjoying an evening meal without being watched by everyone passing the gates. The flowers are from Ben's 'meadow' and the little greenish vase was a troc shop find by me and Son 1 this weekend.This is just a close-up of the little broken teapot I showed you in the last post - very cute, and a good planter for the Lily of the Valley, I thought.

It just got better and better, because my swap parcel from Sharon the Crafty Trundler from Clover Cottage arrived!

It was a free-style swap and she spent a lot of time researching the things I like, including the colour blue. Look at the fantastic bag, which is going to come on a first outing with me tomorrow to my French lesson! And two happy little hearts, in my favourite colours and fabrics...

I knew just the place for the hearts... We have our very own loving couple: Great, Great Aunt Selina, who I think has a bit of a Mona Lisa smile, and the rather gloomy Great, Great Uncle Joshua.I think that the love-hearts are just what they need to cheer them up!

Thanks so much, Sharon - I am overwhelmed by the lovely things I've been given!

This is post number 93, I think. I am planning an 'Auld Alliance' Franco-Scottish 100th Post Giveaway, so do look out for that!

Long Weekend Part 1

In France the bank holiday weekend is over - we had Friday, Saturday and Sunday (although Son 2, below, had longer, as his teacher was off school on Thursday and President Sarcozy's done away with supply teachers - here is Son 2 having a picnic with me between my lessons).

So, over the weekend, Son 1 and I did a spot of troc shopping:

And he also invented a theory about Mayans being the first astronauts, flying to the moon in their pyramids: Son 2 and Ben were planting up the new fence in the front garden: And la Famille Pot got a new member and became hosts to the strawberry plants, to keep them away from the dog this year!There's plenty more to tell, and hopefully more time for me to tell it over the next few days, but for now, enjoy your long weekend if you're still having it!