Children and Trouspinette

We have had our middle daughter and her eldest son to stay with us.

Middle daughter is going through a bad patch at the moment and needed a well earned break.

Her son, our 1st grandchild, is in the pre-teen stage. He is a lovely boy, very bright and is into Greek, Roman and Egyptian history/mythology. Good with computers and also very keep on Astronomy. But, whilst here his favourite phrase was "I'm boooored." He was forbidden to go on the computer as the weather was absolutely superb so we arranged many trips out for him, and his mum. My hubby could just about keep up with all that was going on.

There is a 'Forest of Adventure' fairly close to us. You are harnessed and can make your way through the tree tops on fine rope ladders and also slide down ropes etc... The boy loved it, his mum avoided it at all costs and Granddad did half the course... I didn't go to that one. They also did a visit to the local Ostrich Farm where they have also created a maze out of maize!

We also did Puy du Fou - still my favourite - it is a long time since they had been there and they absolutely loved it. At last they boy forgot his boredom. We also managed to fit time for the beach and also a day with some friends... I know that our daughter went home feeling chilled out and relaxed and that our Grandson had a good time with us. He hopes that he can now come out to stay on his own in the future and stay all summer. He is learning French at school but says he is only learning 'words' at the moment. Hmm - I wonder. We now Skype each other all the time... Love it!!

We also celebrated our friends 75th birthday. He is amazing for his age. His family were there, of course, as well as many of his friends. We had a lovely evening in a beautiful setting by the river that runs past their mill.

The new owner of our local restaurant has been to visit for afternoon tea and we had a wonderful 'getting to know each other' chat. She is an absolute treasure and we got on very well. She is a devotee of 'Ginger Nut' biscuits which she loves to dunk! She also partook of some of my 'Coing' Aperitif. She called it Trouspinette. This sent me on a websearch. It seems that originally Trouspinette was a Vendeen aperitif 'fait a la maison'. The recipe, it seems, could include any fruit or nut, so the delicious stuff that we have been making under various names is all Trouspinette.

Spelling

At school I was not only encouraged to spell correctly but to also apply a proper grammatical construction to my sentences. This I did, reluctantly, but my teachers persisted until I got it right.

When I left school I became a secretary. I needed to pull on the knowledge that I had gained from my English teachers especially when my boss dictated a letter and then asked me to “Pad it out a bit.”. I thank them wholeheartedly.

Not long before having my first child I worked for a publisher, typesetting with a Olympia Golf-Ball typewriter, and also proof-reading, which I do automatically nowadays. It has become a most annoying habit as I find errors in newspapers, magazines and books and feel that whoever proofs should be moved to another department!

Why am I writing about spelling and grammar? Simply because I see so many absolutely appalling mistakes written by my countrymen and women on various forums etc. (or is it ‘ect’ as so often used?) Am I wrong with my spellings?

There are so many examples, I recently saw someone advertising an antique chesterdrawers for sale ‘hmmm’ what can that be?

I have seen the word definitely often spelled with an ‘a’ for the second ‘i’ – could it be to do with regional accents? No, I don’t think so, another word I spotted today was religion spelt with an ‘e’ for the second ‘i’ in a response to an article in a national daily newspaper.

I know that there is ‘text’ speak which is being used a lot nowadays – a modern shorthand that is not a lot different to a system used many years ago.

And so it goes on. I encouraged my own children to pay attention to their written work at school and I hope that they are doing the same for their children.

Oh yes, there is always spell-check on the computer but it is usually ‘American’ English spell-check so I have to add words for the correct ‘English’ English spelling. I wonder if the children in English schools who do their homework on computers submit their work to their teachers with ‘American’ English spellings and whether their teachers correct the work to ‘English’ English. Food for thought methinks.

I remember a company I worked for had an employee with the surname of Murray – spell-check always changed him to Murky!!

Acer and Internet

We have a Maple in the garden, sorry, not just one but three Maples. I do not know the names of them, just that they are Acer ‘something’. Two are absolutely stunning with dark red leaves. At the moment they are housing the families of Wood Pigeons – I don’t really have a problem with that at all but they do leave some ‘cr*p’ on the car…..

The other Maple has pale green leaves (see picture), not exactly Maple shaped, but we have been told by a superb French tree surgeon out here that it is an 'Acer’.

I think that this particular ‘Acer’ is causing me some problems….

I remember reading some time ago that anyone out here in ‘La Belle France’ has a responsibility to maintain trees that could interfere with either overhead Electrical or Telephone lines. The maintenance being keeping the branches and foliage clear of the cables….

Well, this particular tree has not been ‘maintained’ for around 3 years and as you can imagine the branches are very well developed. I did suggest to my ‘other half’ the beginning of this year that maybe the branches should be cut back… What was the response? “No, it is OK for now!”. (Also, looking at the tree it had been severely cut back prior to our purchase of the property so that tells a tale!!!!)

And so the branches have grown and are well populated with leaves, sparrows etc… I do not mind the leaves or the birds but I do mind the fact that the telephone line runs through the tree and we keep getting problems with the internet…. Lots of problems with the internet!

My theory is that if there is slight movement (via the wind maybe) it will interrupt the signal we are getting (bearing in mind we are the end of the line!) and knock out the internet (briefly) through the modem in spite of the fact that the modem’s lights are all on. Once the signal is 'upset' then we lose internet connection. And I do not want to get France Telecom involved in this!!!!

I am having the devils own job of getting an 'instant' connection at the moment. I have to constantly ‘refresh’ to get a page up – and this is on not only Google Chrome but also Internet Explorer and through Mozilla Firefox… And it is happening on not only the main computer but also the laptop and my iPod.

I am not an unintelligent woman, I do read up on things and keep up to date and don’t like it when ‘he’ sighs and looks at me with the though of “what the ‘f’ does she know, she is a woman after all!” And no, he does not think it is anything to do with the tree……

He has agreed to lop some of the branches from the tree… fingers crossed!!

And I am amazed that I am able to post this................

Mid July 2010

An eventful week, well for me it was!

Brilliant visitors last weekend, that is what it makes it all worth while. I am glad that I have done what I have, it has broadened my horizons so very much. Would love to continue with this but changes must be made.

Saw a young stag in the lane, absolutely incredible. He had two tines on his antlers so he was still a young beast, and drat, I did not have my camera with me. Also saw a mum partridge with ten youngsters in tow. My man saw two mum partridges last week with twenty babies... It is superb to know that in spite of problems that are happening in the UK that the wildlife is thriving out here - in spite of Chasseurs!!! Our department are making all sorts of laws protecting the flora as well as the fauna here... heavy fines if you do not comply!!

Thursday we made a visit to some friends that we have not seen for a few weeks, had a lovely lunch and caught up with so many things. He celebrates his 75th birthday next month and I look at him and think he does no way look his age. Maybe it is because he is a Buddhist and has a very laid back attitude to life. We are really looking forward to his birthday party!!

Friday we had a Ladies Lunch. One that I had organised, first time for me I must add. One of our local village restaurants has new owners. Previous owners had been there for 30 years and were desperate to sell up and retire! Under their ownership he was the chef and created superb meals, traditional for the area, such as anguilles et ortie (eels with nettles) etc. But after all that time things were getting a bit 'tired', especially the decor.

The new owners have re-decorated and introduced an incredible menu. They have an English chef for lunch menu and he is an absolute darling! We had been in for lunch one day and had a long chat with the Patron and Madame. She is very much the Anglophile and said that yes she would love to have the Ladies for lunch one Friday. She also has plans for an English evening with, maybe, Roast Beef & Yorkshire puddings or Fish and Chips... and an English musician (of which there are many!)

And so the 'Lunch of the Month' was organised. At first it seemed that there would only be around 6 of us, then the numbers increased and by Thursday it was up to eighteen! I was absolutely delighted that so many girls would attend. All arrived but one dropped out, 17 though was not too bad! Madame created a menu to suit not only fish lovers but meat eaters as well, and she threw in an extra cheese course!

All the ladies were very impressed with the ambiance and meal. For me success!! My local restaurant is now on the list of preferred places to eat... The Patron and Madame are delighted that they have been introduced to other diners from further afield.

We were invited to a Barbecue to celebrate the retirement of a French friend. He is a chasseur that has hunted in our locality for many, many years. We have known him and his wife since we moved here in 2001. We have never, ever, done a French version Barbecue before.... hmmm how do they do it? They have been to many of ours....

Comments were made about my bruising! We did say that my Man did not 'clock me' and that it was due to a fall... Whether we were believed or not I don't know - they saw the bruises on my forearm and shoulder as well as my face (they have almost faded). I did say that if he had then he would have had a knife in the chest, hmmm they laughed not sure if I meant it!

(I must admit though that I still get a lot of neurological pain from my cheek - I think it will persist for some time as the cheek bone is bruised as well as the flesh!)

We left with our neighbour and proceeded to another friends for aperitifs.. 1st drink of the night! We sat and chatted, as best we could, they do not make allowances for us being English! We then left in convoy to the Barbecue site. The chasseur has a lake and land a few kilometres from us. It was a stunning area with has a vegetable patch, poultry and geese, fruit trees, a mobile home and ancient BBQ overlooking his lake with fish for catching and eating!!

There were more Aperitifs (fait a la maison) with nibbles, followed by many salads then a course of barbecued meat and beans (from the potager) and then dessert. There were also discussions about the Asian Hornets, various masculine 'things' which were an embarrassment to some ladies, politics, food, holidays etc..... My head was hurting from too much French!!! But it was a brilliant evening. Himself, though, did not cope too well. He began to flag quite early and we left before he passed out!!!! (Not through alcohol - he just was not too good!)

And so, my last week has been good for me at least....

Next week builder arrives to start doing the repairs to the storm damages from February storm, what fun!!

Photo is taken at the top of the lane.... Sunflowers again this year - stunning!

Picasa

It was suggested by a friend that I use Picasa for my photos so I am now trying it out.

It looks to be a wonderful tool I must say and will happily put some of my photos on-line. There are of course those that will be only available to friends and family.

A brilliant application with all sorts of things to improve or change your pictures. I like the 'soften focus' effect which can highlight the subject of the photo... it is very easy to use!!

See attached ..... it works very well as it cuts out the dodgy bits of the picture!!

Bruises

I fell out of bed last Sunday night! Oooh er, silly thing to do.

Some ex-work colleagues stopped by on their way further south. We last saw them around 8 years ago in the UK, such a long time, so we had plenty of news to catch up on. They arrived late afternoon and we had planned a barbecue, eating out of doors in the summer is so much nicer than being indoors - not only that but himself does the cooking!

We wined, chatted, wined then dined and chatted more and then, I think wined some more..... Bad move!

I think we were all a bit 'squiffy' by bedtime, I know I was. I had cut right back on alcohol and this 'party' went straight to my head.

I think I must have been wanting to get out of bed and pushed myself up with my left hand. Trouble is the hand was on the edge of the mattress and down I went... I have a beautiful bruise on my forearm, another on my shoulder and a stunning one on the side of my face. What a mess!

My doctor suggested I have an x-ray to check that my cheekbone wasn't fractured. Fortunately it is OK....

Because I was feeling so rough we missed the celebrations for the Fete Nationale in our local town but heard them here, miles away, the fireworks are usually absolutely spectacular.

So 5 days later here I am sporting a multicoloured cheek, shoulder and forearm. Should last for another couple of weeks, and I am definitely going to be more careful in the future with what I am drinking.

I have eventually taken some pics of the boy with his new haircut, but would he pose for me, no, not until today!

10th July 2010

No modem, again!!

The dog had his first appointment at the Boite a Toutou – his first professional shampoo and haircut. What a difference it has made! He is Top Hat and Bow Tie and now looks absolutely fantastic, but also smaller and totally different. Beatrice has cut his coat short, about 3/4 inch in length. She has trimmed the hair on his ears, beard and muzzle to the same length. His eyebrows are now neat and tidy, so facially, he looks a bit like a trimmed 'terrier'. She has also trimmed his tail so it looks really neat. Such a difference!!

The weather has been far too hot at the moment and he was suffering with the heat, not only that but picking up all sorts of nasty things in his coat. I would spend hours combing him out and then having to do it all again after he had been out of doors. We took a visit to Toutou yesterday (9th) and had a little chat with the owner. She was absolutely lovely and booked the boy in for this morning (8.00 am – early for my man!). She was absolutely delighted with him and he was as good as gold. When he was collected Mme was working on another pooch and our boy was just resting on the floor waiting for his Papa.

Another canine milestone, it is amazing how good he is. He loves people, young and old and is very social with other canine species. We cannot believe how lucky we have been.

The weather is still very warm but on Thursday 8th we had the most horrendous storm arrive in the evening. It started, I suppose, around 6.30 pm. The clouds had started to gather and there were a lot of rumbles going on in the sky. That was the day that I was looking forward to as there would be an opportunity to see the International Space Station overhead later on. I was a bit put out by the pending storm to say the least.

I decided to unplug the modem – just in case! And sat, and read, and waited – the night arrived along with lots of clouds and more thunder and lots of lightning. I kept taking a peek outside and around 10.30 spied a gap in the clouds with stars. Hmmm maybe I would be lucky!

The thunder and lightning continued and I kept a check on the sky. Just after 11.00 pm the ISS passed overhead heading in the direction of WNW to ESE…. Absolutely perfect. The window in the clouds stayed open long enough for me to witness this wonderful thing.

We went to bed not long after and the storm continued throughout the night. I think it eventually blew itself out around 6.30 am…. It was the most ghastly of nights, there was a couple of times I thought that we would be shaken out of our bed. The power was knocked out briefly at 2.00 am when the storm was overhead. The noise was horrendous…

Friday morning woke nice and clear but the air was still very heavy. There was no damage done, well at least not in our neck of the woods.

Plugged the modem in, went online during the day. No problems at all. Then in the evening a little – just a couple of drops – of liquid was spilt on it….. Drat!!!! No modem again…. Don’t know what my internet providers will say about it.. Oh well will see.

Did another trip to Puy du Fou on Thursday. Brilliant as usual. The shows that we have been to see before have been updated to include other things, absolutely fabulous. I still find it an absolutely amazing place to visit.