CATASTROPHE II...............

One out of three ain't bad............After an absolutely terrible awful night I have never experience winds like it we lost the stables....little shed and house made it!!!

At 3 am I was woken with the electricity going on and off the television came on as did the lights then the phone kept going on and off so I got dressed and checked outside it was horrendous, the stables still in place I just sat with Molly and a cup of coffee listening to the storm. Sometime between 4.30 and 5am the stables went I could make out that they were crushed between the hedge and thought there is absolutely nothing I can do, I have no idea if Nookie was inside at the time but I don't think he was, every time I checked with the flashlight he was stood calm in fact I spooked him with keep flashing the torch then we kept hearing trees going down, by 6am it was light enough to see the damage apart from the fact that they are up in the air they don't look to bad. I managed to get the haynets and filled them, moved some bales and taped off the area as Nookie was trying to get back in his shelter bless him!

The rest of the day has been showers sun and wind, as soon as the weather eases I will try and get them sorted, I was so tired and have done nothing constructive today.

Bob is in Cardiff tonight so had supper at his sisters......... Rita has had horses all her life and has a grand daughter who is competing she has offered to have Nookie on loan and has left me to think about her offer and after this I am giving it some serious thought. This is not how I want to keep a horse and I am dreading the summer with all its problems.

DONT MENTION THE............

I am not going to mention the weather because I am sick to death of the bloody weather, lets just hope the stables, little tin shed and house are still here in the morning!!

Bob went home yesterday after a good 5 days....the pick up was fixed running like a gud un..... picked 50 bales of hay up.......the sit on has had new this that and the other, all working tickety boo.......went to limoges.......put two new shelves up in the kitchen.......and we nearly moved the stables but decided we would wait another month until the WEATHER improves..... Ha bloody Ha.....we shall put them in the far corner under the shade of the trees in preparation for the summer heat.....tee bloody hee...........the far corner is at the bottom of a slight incline and we decided against putting them there originally but it doesn't seem as wet so we shall see how it goes.

After dropping Bob and Vicky off at the airport I went over to Di's for the group meeting and tack sale, took a rug (which Di bought) a fleece cooler and some bits and pieces, which all came home unsold.

IS IT ROUND THE CORNER.....

will you be my friend
cranes flying over
this popped up today

SPRING........ I hope so it has been the most beautiful afternoon

FRENCH HOMEWORK (MY, YOUR, HIS, HER)

My, your, his, hers, its, our or their used with a noun to show that one person or thing belongs to another.


(m)
mon....................my
ton......................your
son......................his....her....its.....one's


(f)
ma............(mon)
ta..............(ton)
sa..............(son)

(p)
mes
tes
ses


You use mon, ton, and son with (f) singular nouns in front of words that begin with a vowel and most words with h this makes them easier to say.

mon assiette........................my plate
ton historie..........................your story
son erreur............................his/her mistake
mon autre soeur..................my other sister

It was a good lesson this week there was only Sandra and I in class and we seemed to get through a lot more, we also used our communication progressive du francais book which has lots of role play exercises, lucky for me I had done the second one with Di so I looked super clever and didn't struggle at all with any of it........I know I will be found out later but I don't care;-)


Mixed weather this week some lovely days but cold and some warmish springish type days, today it's grey and drizzling rain = mud.

Went to Limoges on Saturday took the sink back that turned out to be to small and got a refund, popped into a trashy type shop lots of crap but enjoyed browsing the shelves and bought absolutely nothing!! Stopped off at a Asian spice shop and got some spices for my new found desire to cook, I have made butter chicken and it was really good so I am going to try out a few more curry dishes.......not a jar in sight.

Bought a load of hay from someone I met at the Blazing Saddles meeting, I went to have a look at the hay which was very nice and in dinky little bales I got 5 in the back of our car which I took for Nookie to try, he seemed to enjoy the change and devoured it. I spent the afternoon chatting about Le Trec and drinking coffee.

Bob home on Sunday for six days so lots of jobs lined up, I think his time will be taken up with putting the alternator on the pickup a job that he insists will not take long.............that means it will.

ONE YEAR ON........

Today is our first year anniversary of our new life in France....... It is extremely cold with a north wind rattling the shutters, snow gently fluttering down and the sun peeping through the clouds, the fire is roaring, molly is curled up in her bed fast asleep so I have been thinking about our first year in France.

My first thought is...... I really don't know where the year has gone it has happened at lightening speed. I remember leaving a cold and snowy Cumbria and arriving to a cold but blue sky and sunny Bellecroix, rushing over to Debs to check on Nookie's arrival and seeing him calmly tucking into hay after having a trouble free trip and looking none the worse for his adventure, unpacking and fitting everything in to our tiny little holiday home, we had to downsize considerably but we still seemed to have brought too much, it took me two weeks to squash everything in. I remember Molly absolutely loved it and ran in that mad puppy way all around the fields and house. The first few months were so exciting, before I knew it spring had arrived, spring is my favorite season.

My eldest sister came out from SA in early June it was great to see her and hope she comes back for another visit, no sooner had she left it was the turn of sister and brother in law also from SA for Tour de France the weather was idyllic and a great time was had and so much easier than I expected;-)

I decked the house out with lots of flowers this first year and had a small but productive veggie patch, little tomatoes french green beans, and peppers, I need to plan for this year where my veggie plot is going. Nearly the end of summer and I was looking forward to Nookie coming home, he arrived and although it didn't work out with Isla he seems none the worse for being on his own. Looking after Nookie with very basic facility's has made me question do I really want a horse at this moment in time I am sure my question will be answered and I am in no rush. Winter arrived and it has been very hard lots of snow more than I have ever seen, the first snow brought on a bit of a wobble but I soon got over it and now into our fourth lot of snow I am coping so much better. Another hard thing has been taking Bob back to the airport after his visits home, it so different to him just hopping into his wagon and saying see you later but I guess that's just the price you have to pay for living overseas.

I have started french lessons in this first year and although I am finding it very hard....I think I am just to old.... I am determined to stick at it even if I stay in beginners class for ever!!

I have enjoyed making new friends and have met more people in this first year then I ever expected.....Debs & Chris.....Marty & Patrice...Katy....Vicky & Chris....Anja & Risa.....Cindy & Victor....Trudi....Ivan & Val......Dreen & Brian.....Mick & Ann.....Sandra & Richard..... I will check back in another year and see who's been crossed off the list tee hee. Di & Jim don't count I knew them in the UK lol

All in all I think I have had an extremely good first year and I hope many more to come I want to do a lot more with the garden area, we would like to put up a pergola at the back, tile the front and back patios , re vamp the bathroom Pheeew another year gone..... it will be interesting to look back at this blog entry.

Je ne suis pas à ma leçon de français d'aujourd'hui

I did go to my lesson today, the exercise was to turn a positive sentence into a negative one by using ne..... pas either side of the verb. I am going to put segments of my lesson on my blog one reason being I look at my blog more than my french homework file and typing it all out might help or peut-etre pas.

Je prends mon echarpe
Je ne prends pas mon echarpe

Ils ont beaucoup de chance
Ils n'ont pas beaucoup de chance......n' when the verb starts with a vowel

This/That
ce (m)
cette (f)
ces (p)

We played a French version of countdown.....it made my head really hurt but it was good fun and I annoyed everyone by doing the clock tee hee.

It was very cold today with a sprinkling of snow it has been forecast so I must do some shopping tomorrow. I changed Nookie's rugs and let him have a couple of hours in the front paddock.

BLAZING SADDLES.......

Is the new horse group that has been set up and today I went to the first meeting along with Di and Trudie, there was a good turnout and its surprising how many Brits with horses are in this little area, there was a couple of token knobheads! A stroppy IT person, a couple of blokes, then the wrinkly brigade......... ageing women who have lost their nerve and just want to hack, A Natural Horsemanship Bod, a Classical Dressage Diva, a senora with two Spanish pones and the lady that seems to be organizing the group is a Paddock Paradise guru....she also rings bells as a pastime....very odd!!! A good morning and my desire to be nosey and being the only "normal" person there will keep me attending!!!

A lovely sunny spring day today after pottering around and doing horsey jobs my new neighbours who are down on a flying visit and are slowly moving things from the UK...... they still don't have a moving in date invited me over for a sherry......God I am turning into my Auntie Barbara she "loves a sherry"

GARDENING......

veg plot at Bluebell house
Apple tree
lavender hedge


We have had a beautiful spring evening and my thoughts turned to gardening, walking round playing with Molly I spied some daffodils poking though the grass and it was quite exciting! every year I plant loads of bulbs and completely forget where and what I have planted. One of my terracotta pots that had survived all the cold weather in Cumbria has been blown to bits with the frost here......... I really liked that pot. Next I studied our garden at the side of the house trying to decide what trees to plant, I want to get four decent size, two of which will be apples not sure about the other two. I like gardening and had a beautiful one in Penrith which was already established and I just added to, so starting with a blank canvass is a bit daunting.

Nookie had a bit of a scare today....... A predator arrived in the guise of a man struggling with an umbrella sign, the workmen at the new house opposite were doing some work in the road and put the sign near our gates, I was filling hay nets and heard the snorting, as I looked up he was in full show off mode (dressage in the nude) it was great to watch then the knob head hit the electric fence so we had an encore.

WHAT DO I DO ALL DAY.......

I often get asked by people in the UK and here in France "what do you do all day"? I don't know why but I am busier here than I ever was in the UK apart from when I worked full time.

Today I quickly fed Nookie put two haynets up one outside for alfresco eating one in his shelter, went to get my hair done, as I was sat with foils in my hair having a coffee and trying on some very trendy boots I realised it was nearly 1pm off I shot to french lesson arriving 20mins late Chris whom I give a lift to had walked down to class, luckily for me the first part of the lesson had been très difficile by 3.30 I was having a cuppa at Vicky's arriving home by 4pm, molly wanted all my attention with the tennis racket for 20mins then it was clean and fill all the water buckets, fill hay nets, do feeds, attack the molehills, Nookies rug, gave him a quick groom, more ball throwing, walk around the fields, by the time I got in fed Molly and started to put tea on It was 6.30 I really don't know how people with a family cope, how do they fit everything in and what do they do all day?