Andrea50

Well, yet another week has gone by in our new home, and, if possible, they just get better and better.

Got the French plates on the car and they look great, so "ready to blend" and it's nice not to be gawped at as Brits or mistaken for tourists anymore. Course I'll never get rid of the wretched accent which is a dead giveaway but one more step towards assimilation Borg style aint bad.

Our love-hate relationship with the resident moles here took a weird turn in the week when I dug over a small strawberry bed and 2 came up overnight. Grrr, my usual "torn woman" tendancies as in wanting to Blow Them Up and Pete talking me down and the final resigned acceptance they are here to stay. Then, Friday night, wonder of wonders, NO NEW EARTHS! So I'm jumping up and down yelling the Hallelujah chorus and throwing clods of couch grass in the air to celebrate just as Michelle our old French neighbour goes by with his wheelbarrow. I just hear this chuckle from the other side of the hedge, I know he thinks we're nuts ........

But, this morning, a huge new earth slap bang in the middle of Pete's on-going model railway project. Can't wait to see his face, as I predicted at the beginning his tolerance would wear thin when they started coming up and derailing the 10.20 from the greenhouse to the satellite dish.

Blackberry and apple jam worked out a treat - 4 lovely pots, looking wondrous on the shelf, with their little gingham hats on, SO proud, but then picked another load yesterday and left them in soak to await jam making today and a load of maggots all floated up dead on the surface. Yikes! Those lovely little pots now look a bit different to me somehow .........

Oh and anyone any suggestions about where to buy peanuts for the birds? We have blue tits, great tits and greenfinches here all fighting like pteradactyls over our feeder and are about to run out. We got the last lot from Bricomarche but they were out of them when we went Friday, and the little fillet of them at Point Vert was over 2 euros which was scandalous. There don't seem to be pet shops here. Any suggestions?

At least I found some tahini in a shop in Huelgoat, so brought it home all excited to make hummus, one of Pete's favourites. Of course, nothing in the cooking front can ever go smoothly for me, so after blending the stuff within an inch of it's life to a "smooth paste", carefully adding oil and lemon juice alternately like the destructions said, I then found I couldn't get it all out of the blender and nearly cut my fingers to ribbons trying to scrape out the bits at the bottom round the cutter. After an hour cursing and swearing, His Nibbs appears and says "why not take the bottom off?". Hmph, had it 2 years, never knew the bottom came off, what a prat. And after all that, was it stunning, wonderful, and amazing? Nope, "too lemony" he said. Men! Luckily a friend has brought me some more tahini from England so going to have another go in the week, but has anyone got a recipe that isn't too lemony?

So, our peaceful Sunday begins with the cracked bell in the church ringing out goodwill to all men (and women) or whatever it means when it rings, and a cup of coffee in the garden waiting for the sun to appear through the folds of mist and a wander down the garden with a fag to inspect yesterday's handiwork in the strawberry plot. Then I think I'll make some more disastrous bread in the machine, throw out those blackberries complete with dead maggots and pick up the windfalls for some apple and grape chutney.

Hard life aint it?

Good day to all.

Ka Ora!

Im reporting that post, Its far to long and your not allowed to enjoy yourself in France

G-J-B

Have to agree with Ka Ora! Sounds like you're having way too much fun.

I think that's an arrestable offence. If you were that content in Paris, then men in white coats would come and take you away.

Cleri

Pleased things are going great Andy

Ewood

and a and a and and a

val50

so happy everything is working out well Andy


you do know you can buy hummus in E.leclerc don't you
have you looked in Lidl for nuts for the birds?

Ka Ora!

Hummus is fish food, Yuk.

Tweedpipe

Andy, I do hope you don't start singing 'Michelle my belle, sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble, tres bien ensemble,' when your neighbour next walks past with his wheelbarrow. Unless of course he's got his high-heeled gum boots on and is heavily made up underneath that beret!
I greatly suspect his name is Michel, if not, expect to be clobbered by his handbag......

Nibbler

Are you bored?......if i posted that no one would reply then agian no one ever does reply to my posts so there you go........

Ka Ora!

Im not replying to you, Just to avoid any confusion.


Thread Closed Because we dont want the good timers rubbing it in.
























































































Glad its fun Andy.............................................. .................................................. .................................................. ..................................... Honest

Cleri

What's up with you?...hate to see somebody happy for a change?...can't imagine why nobody would respond to your posts

val50

I reply - usually by reporting them

Andrea50

Aw, thanks guys! Tweedie, yep, you're right, my culturally endowed friend, he probably is Michel - the image of him in high heels made me chuckle, everytime I see him now I'll see Dame Edna instead I think.

Val, we've tried everywhere for bird nuts - Lidl have those bags of mixed shelled nuts but no peanuts for birds. We will probably get a whole sack from England when we go back for a week in October.

And couldn't bear to throw away the blackberries - all that picking and poor old Pete carrying the ladder down the road and clearing the stingers so I could pick the juicy high-up ones to the amusement of all passing. So have cooked them up with windfall apples and will strain them and make jelly.

Have a great week everyone - we sure will!!!!!!

G-J-B

If there's any surplus, you know there's a lot of hungry people in this forum in need of some freshly picked handmade yummy food.

My week has been one of endurance, made all the worse for the French mother-in-law staying over (and for the next week to follow) - can't cope! Help!

Glad you're enjoying the good life though; sounds like a dream come true. I'll find it myself one day, but I can't complain, things aren't really so bad here (apart from the mother-in-law!)

Nibbler

Probably want me to respond with somthing but.........no why bother....thanks for the response