Foraging at the tip

Did a few tip runs yesterday and on the last trip came home with a large oak barrel (very decorative for the garden) and a plastic garden table (only needs a bit of a clean).  Very chuffed!

Getting sorted

Right.  Time to get my backside in gear.  Need a job and need to do work on this place and need to cheer myself up a bit.  I think January and February are really quite miserable months, wet, cold and dreary and all the bad things loom over you, etc, etc. 

Tomorrow hubby and I are going to go around the gites and the garden and make a list of all the must-do jobs and then split that into the can-do and can't-do jobs (ie ones that require money spent and ones that don't).  I think mostly this year it will be painting (we've got a fair bit of paint) and tree-felling (the Willow HAS to go.  I like them, but this one is far too close to the house and is also blocking out the light from my veggie plot).

Next week I have an interview at the job centre.  So I have to get my cv in order.  In french.  Although they will apparently help me with that, but got to have something as a starting point.  I can't for the life of me remember anything much of my work history, so that will take a bit of preparing.  After that, I've found a couple of temping agencies in town, so I'll see if I can register with them, (once I've got a proper french cv).  I've been spreading the word a bit that I'm looking for work, but most people look at me as though I've said something in a completely different language - as in 'what are you talking about?'  And than I get words along the line of 'There's no way that's going to happen, can't get a job myself' etc etc.  Can but try.

Haven't got anything even remotely smart to wear though - and I'm not even talking about going down the 'suit' road, I'm just talking something that fits without bulging, not stained, not stretched out of shape, not torn and no threads hanging down.  So I'll also be off to the sales to try and find myself at least one top and one pair of trousers that fit and look reasonably smart.  But not too smart.  If I get any interviews at all, it could be factory work or similar, so not point going overboard.  And then there's footwear.  I used to have a smart pair of boots, but now they are not smart anymore.  I've got 25€ left in this weeks budget and I also have to buy stamps tomorrow and pay for me and the girls to go to the dentist on Wednesday, so it'll be very tight (like my current clothes).  Wish me luck.

Foraging at the bins.

Did a bit of unexpected foraging today.  Took the rubbish up to the bins (God knows they couldn't possibly collect it from the house) and found a load of things dumped beside the recycling bins.  This happens quite often and is very annoying, especially as it's usually rubbish that should be taken to the tip.  Not normally from the folk in our hamlet, but this time I think it was from our neighbours who moved away at the week-end.  Anyway, brought home: crate of beers (30), two trays of coke cans, six bottles of tonic water, six bottles of perrier,12 small bottles of iced-tea and one large one (....).  All except the beer was a bit out of date, but I opened one of the coke cans and it was still fizzy and the 'waters' will be fine.  Not bad, but won't pay for the 4000,00€ bill we have to cough up by mid-feb in the way of social charges which we were assured were up to date, but apparantly not.

Bargains!

I have a new addiction in the form of the 'small ads' on the internet (french).  I sell stuff on there and now I buy stuff on there.  At the beginning of winter I bought a winter coat off a someone for 10€!  My old one was falling apart but I couldn't afford a new one, but this one is almost down-to-the-ground length, as-new condition, very warm and looks as if it was quite pricey.  It isn't a style I would necessarily have chosen if I was buying new from a shop, but beggars can't be choosers and I've got used to it now and I'm very pleased. 

Anyway, this woman was advertising some girls clothes this week - a job lot for girls aged 5,6, 8 & 10.  72 items in total for 15€!  So today, Isabella and I went off to see her and we bought them!  Only put 4 to go to the charity collection (not that nice, but someone could use them, they weren't falling apart or filthy).  So in all 68 items for about 22centimes each.  There's a few things that fit the girls now, but most of it will be good for next summer and next winter, which is what they need, as they have plenty of stuff for this winter.  So am feeling a bit smug now.  And it was like Christmas had come early when I got back, what with the opening of the bags and the trying-on and the girls being so excited about it!

A frugal christmas

Well, as you all no doubt know, Chtristmas is coming and it's got to be frugal.  Especially as the folk who take our money in the name of social contributions, the ones who promised faithfully earlier this year that we were up to date with our payments, have now decided to send us a seasonal greeting in the form of a bill for over 4000,00€ (no, that's not a typo.  There's really that many noughts).

Anyway, I digress.  I know you're desperate to know about my frugal ways this year so here they are:

Presents:

Bike and helmet in excellent condition for eldest daughter bought at car boot for less than half the price of a new one (I might have mentioned this already somewhere on here).
Game for her to use on my nintendo bought at car boot for good price.
Youngest saw something she desperately wanted in local french toy shop retailing at 50,00€.  Found same thing on Amazon for £15.00 so bought that one instead.
Bought off small ads for petit prix and all in good condition (things for me and the girls): Lego house, Pokemon cards, Hello Kitty cards, two handbags, board game.
Little wooden desk and chair for 8€ bought in local charity shop for youngest.

And so, onto decorations:

Every year the girls and I do some christmas crafts and decorate the house.  My top tip for this:  If it's things for their rooms, let them chose the colours.  If it's for the house in general, ie, kitchen, lounge, chose the colour scheme yourself and then you've got cute little things that your kids have made and yet still go with everything else.  So there's the usual gingerbread biscuits to hang on the tree (already onto the second batch of those, no idea where they disappear to...).  And then after I've washed up the cookie cutters, they get used for drawing around onto card and then the shapes are cut out and painted and covered in glitter to be hung up on ribbon around the kitchen.

And then there's this years crafty decoration made by me:  A jigsaw puzzle piece wreath.  Saw some in a little crafty shop a while back, being sold for a nice price and I thought, I could do that myself, so I did.  (Actually, it's turns out that it's not an original idea, I've found a few on the internet since).  We've got some old jigsaws we have for the guests, but some of them are really not nice, so I used one to make the wreath. 

Instructions:

Select an unwanted jigsaw.
Cut a ring shape out of some thin card.
Stick on a layer of puzzles pieces, overlapping edges of card.
Stick on second layer, slighty 'in' from edge of first layer.
Stick on final layer.
Send husband off to rummage through paint supplies in cellar to find green paint.
Rejoice that on this occasion he comes back with something useful - can of green spray paint for old car.
Get husband to spray wreath outside (well it is below freezing out there).
When dry, tie red ribbon around it and hang up.
Actually, I've been trying to find something like small red balls to stick on for berries, but in the meantime, I'm leaving it blank.  It was completely free and looks very good, even though I say so myself.  If you want to see it, you'll have to come back in a few days as I haven't taken a picture of it yet.

Anyway, I then got a bit carried away and thought, 'I bet you could make christmas trees like this'.  So I did.  Unfortunately, had no more green spray left, so had to make some green with the girls poster paints and apply with brush, luckily I found a can of clear car laquer spray, so even though the colour's not so good, it's still got a shiny finish.  I stuck little sequins on as tree decorations and the red pot I painted with nail polish.  They don't look too bad either, but for the time being, you'll just have to take my word for it.

Food:

Went to the supermarket today and spent points accumulated on loyalty card on food and drink for christmas (total 65,00€ so not bad).

I'm sure there's some other stuff, I'm always thinking of things to say when I'm nowhere near the computer, and then when I get here, I can't remember what it was.

peaches!

Went to a 'sale' of sorts in someones house on Sunday.  They've set up a little business selling other people's homemade stuff.  Good idea and some of the things were very nice and quite professionally made and presented.  (And some of the English sellers really ought to have learnt a bit of French first if they want to sell to the local folk, or at least learnt how to use 'google translate'.)  I bought a second hand jigsaw for us all to do (Where's Wally?!).  Well, nice though everything was, there wasn't really anything that I either needed or couldn't do myself.  My mother bought a nice pottery cheesboard though, so we did contribute. 

However, that is not why I'm telling you about it.  The bargain of the day for me was a large load of free home-grown peaches!  They were sitting by the door when we arrived, two buckets full, with a 'help-yourself' notice on, although for some reason I didn't really like to, but the woman running it was quite insistant that they must go, so I took a whole bucket-full in the end!  Well, I wasn't sure how much I'd need for jam, although you'd think I could tell having made so bloody much this year. 

Well, when we got home I weighed them and it was 10lbs!!!!  Blimey, I'd been a bit greedy I think!  Looking up recipes I found one for peaches in Brandy and having found half a bottle of brandy in the back of the cupboard I made up two jars of that.  The rest of them I've chopped up and are currently sitting in sugar and lemon juice and ginger waiting to be made into jam tomorrow (ran out of time today).  And in the end I didn't take too many as I've used about 4lbs for the jam, but the rest of it has unfortunately been ditched because they were too bruised for eating.  Which is why I ran out of time to cook the jam - took ages to chop up the peaches and chop off the bad bits and re-weigh and replace and all that faff.

Car booty!

Been to four car boots in the past month and managed to pick up a few bargains.  Two of the car boots were big (one apparently had about 700 stalls and I can believe it, we certainly didn't get to see them all) and two were very small, one barely had 20 stalls!  I know that you're desperate to find out what we got, so here's a little list of what I can remember:

1. Winter clothes for the girls at 1€ each (which, even though second hand, tend to be better quality than the cheap crap that I can afford in the shops over here which just fall apart after a few days.  After sifting through the unwashed stuff at the car boots (seriously!) when I find good stuff for sale it tends to be properly good stuff).
2. A winter coat for Isabella, long and pink and suede effect for 3€.
3. Adults and kids board/boxed games for the guests (although the kids ones seem to be in our house at the moment) for 2€ each.  Monopoly, Triominos and Connect Four, all in 'as new' condition.  I'm sure there was another one, but I can't remember what it was now...
4. An electronic keyboard for 2€ for Georgia for her birthday.  Got one for Isabella's birthday at an earlier car boot for the same price and they both love it.  Hence they needed one each for the sanity of their parents.
5. A couple of cheap books for the girls.
6. A bike for Isabella for Christmas, not just from us, but from her grandparents as well.  She has started to grow out of her current bike, we'd raised the seat and the handlebars and it was better for her, but it has no gears and she was struggling a bit when she was coming out riding with me on our 'flat, but not flat' roads.  She also can't get up much speed on the flat roads....  Anyway, had a look at some of the bikes in the shops and the prices are horrific and the gears are often very stiff, even I struggled to change them.  This bike in the car boot was in excellent condition, a nice dark pink colour, has five gears which are easy to change and came with a good adjustable helmet, all for 60€!  Still a lot of money for us, and probably more than you'd pay in the uk, but we could never afford a new one, so we took the opportunity whilst it was there.  The new version of the same bike is currently selling for 150€ in the shop, plus the helmet at 17€, so all in all a bit of a bargain.  Had fun trying to get it in the car though, just about managed!

Foraging

Went for a walk with the girls this afternoon to a nearby lake, it's only about 2.5kms around, but today we were gone nearly two and a half hours!  The girls each took a little book of 'things to spot in the countryside' type of thing and so I think we examined every plant and bug that we came across.  Anyway, seems we went at a very good time as we discovered all sorts of lovely edible things beginning to ripen up (or even already ready) - Bay, Brambles, Hazelnuts, Sloes, Rosehips, Elderberries, Hawthorns and possibly some horseradish, although it might have been dock leaves, I'm not too sure but I took some photos and I'll try to identify it.

Anyway, I have informed my dear hubby that once the girls are back at school, we'll be back down there gathering the elderberries, I think they'll be ripe first.  Then it'll be back again for the rosehips, the hawthorns and then the sloes.  Most of what we gather will go to making jellies, which hopefully I will sell a bit more of next year (to the guests) and of course are also good for pressies.  (And yes, we eat them too, incase you're wondering).  I would take the girls with me, but after a short while of gathering the wild harvest they get bored and start complaining about spiky things and stingy things and what have you, so it's not worth it - best to stick to the walks discovering it all and then moving swiftly on to keep their interest.

There are a couple of play areas around the lake so we stopped each time we got to them so that the girls could have a play and at the end, we reached the little man-made beach where you can swim in the summer, but the weather wasn't great, so I let them roll up their trousers and have a paddle.  Although they might as well have had a swim considering how wet they were when they came out. Had to get them to strip off before they got into the car.  When we got home, Georgie said to me, quite spontaneously 'we had a great time, Mummy' which was so lovely, because we really did have a great time.

Harvest

Been busy in the kitchen lately, cooking up all the fruit and veg that's ready.  So far:

One batch of plum and cinnamon jam (tastes nice, but didn't set properly, even though I tested it.  I call it 'soft set, also ideal for using as a sauce on ice-cream').
One batch of greengage jam (going to make batch two today).
One batch of blackcurrant jelly (a new recipe which I will be doing again, much better than the blackcurrant jam).
One batch of blackberry jelly (from our local hedgerows, although Adrian fell in the ditch when we were collecting them and I had to pull him out.  Was going to make jelly, crumble and alcohol from our hoard but managed to collect exactly 1kg so only made jelly).
Two batches of blackcurrant vodka (well a fair bit seems to have disappeared of late....).
One batch of blackberry vodka (an excuse to go out collecting again).
Several portions of stewed apples (in freezer).
Several batches of tomato sauce/tomato and veg sauce/other variants (in portions in freezer).
Two courgette cakes (first one the expensive version with home-made lime curd filling and cream cheese topping; second one cheap version in loaf tin, no icings/fillings).
Lots of veggie dishes.

Can't think of anything else at the mo, but things are still maturing, so I'll be back.

Bloody hell!  Sometimes I am such an eejit.  Cooked some chook for lunch and boiled up a bit extra to have cold in a salad the following day.  Had a few scrappy bits of chook left over that we wouldn't eat, so I also boiled them up as a treat for the cat.  Drained chook, but too hot to put into fridge, so I covered it with a bit of kitchen paper to keep off flies whilst it cooled.  Returned to kitchen later to find peice of kitchen roll on the floor, one entire piece of chicken breast missing, the other two nibbled at and the little bits I cooked for the cat - entirely untouched.  So she's had some expensive meals of late finishing it up.  My own fault.  But now she wants more and keeps pestering me whenever I go in the kitchen. 

The estate agents are coming in tomorrow and Friday so I have been trying to tidy up the house.  Just got the kitchen and the lounge left to do.  I can barely even get into the garage at the mo, so I'm not even going to bother with that.  One of them (estate agents) rang and cancelled today because they have gone bust.  (Didn't really know what to say to the obviously emotional young guy who called who had presumably just been informed that he had lost his job.  Don't think I'd have bloody called if it was me!!!).  They were due to come tomorrow morning so at least that gives me a bit more time to finish cleaning.  Not sure what they'll make of the beehive currently perched precariously above our front door.  Someone is trying to collect the bees that have set up home under the eaves above our kitchen window.  All it seems to be doing is providing a free meal for the bees who land on the edge of it, eat the honey and then bugger off.  Also the honey is dripping onto the ground in front of the door so we'll probably have an ant infestation by the morning.  But hey, that's living in the countryside for you!

The veggies. Or lack of.

Things are not going so well on the veggie plot this year.  Three-quarters of my carrot seed sthat I diligently sowed one row per week over eight weeks, have not come up.  I think it's because the beds are too shaded.  There is an enormous weeping willow tree casting a great deal of shade over the plot.  We have been meaning to cut it down for a few years now (I like them, but this one is too near the house and would also provide some wood to burn) but we've still not got around to it, and now my seeds are suffering.  I've re-sown some more rows, and some in a different part of the beds, so fingers crossed, bu I'm not hopeful.  It's a shame because the home-grown carrots were one of my favourite things from the garden last year and lasted us into the new year.  Also, the moles haven't been so active because of the very wet and cold winter we had, so I've only got two of the four new raised beds full and now I'm desperately searching for mole hills everyday (never thought I'd say that) in order to earth up the potatoes.  The leeks I had from a friend haven't done so well in the greenhouses so I've planted them, although they weren't really big enough to be planted out, but I'm hoping they'll be happier there.  Then there's the sweetcorn.  Not had good crops the last couple of years, so this year I've planted the seeds in cardboard tubes and kept them in the greenhouse.  Now, these guys have been doing very well and are more thatn ready to be planted out.  Unfortunately, however, I have not yet had time to prepare the bed for them - that'll be in a week or two's time, in the meantime I'm just hoping that they don't expire before I can get them there.

However, on the positive side, the potatoes seem to be coming on well, the garlic is looking good, the tomatoes and strawbs seem to be ok and so do the peas and mangetout.  Oh yes, that reminds me, the french beans have failed.  Twice.  I have replanted again and also tried a few seeds in cardboard tubes in the greenhouse.  If they still don't come to anything, then well do more peas and mangetout.  Mind you, I am using last year's seeds, so that might be the problem, but I'm not spending a lot of money on a new packet this year, just to use a few beans.  Bought three pepper plants and an aubergine on Saturday.  Have got some pepper seedlings on the go, but they're a bit slow, so I thought I'd get some small plants in case the seedlings don't come to anything, and if they do, all well and good - we eat lots of peppers.  The courgettes seem to be ok as well, they're in the garden under plastic bottles, although come to think of it, it's been so hot of late, I should have removed them.  They could all be dead from heat exhaustion for all I know.  I'll check tomorrow.

Car Boot. Kitchen. France Telecom.

Did a car boot yesterday and it went quite well, took just over €100,00, so am very pleased and of course, managed to clear out a bit of unwanted stuff. After taking off what we spent there, left with €94,00, gave two euros each to the girls (they were very good), so €90,00 in the pot. Made €64,00 so far selling stuff on the free ads site on the internet as well, so looks like we'll be able to buy birthday and christmas presents this year! Still got some other stuff to sell on the free ads as well, and possibly another car boot in September, so maybe a bit more cash to earn yet. The weather was hot yesterday and I have distinctive tan lines today - a 'healthy glow' I like to call it after a winter looking white and haggared. Now I'm just tanned and haggared. Anyway, after a full day at the car boot and three weeks of hard work in the garden, was exhausted last night and was in bed by 9.45pm.

There was only one slight downside to the day - I had a shopping bag full of all those little plastic bags to give to customers if necessary; anyway, someone asked for one and it wasn't until I reached in for it that I discovered that the cat had been sick in it overnight. Thank God for wet-wipes. There were three that were sick-free, the rest went in the bin. Talking of bins, my eldest daughter took it upon herself to go around collecting rubbish that people had dropped and find a bin to put it in! How responsible is that?! Wombling fun!

Finally though, some more good news - I'm sure you'll all be pleased to hear that we now have the cupboard for the kitchen. And the guy in the shop was very helpful and put it together for us before we got there to pick it up. Fortunately we have an estate car and we could get it home, because they weren't offering free delivery (he hadn't checked this with us beforehand!).

However, because I was no longer having issues with the DIY shop, I then had to find someone else to have a run-in with. Luckily, I did not have to wait too long (24hrs in fact) before another issue with French incomptency presented itself to me. We have always been with France Telecom for our phone/internet service ever since we have been here (Oct 2005) and we have always, always paid our bills automatically through the bank. Well, you may recall that I changed our package with them a while back. And even though they already had our bank details and our authority to take money from our bank, they insisted that I re-sign the paperwork authorising them to take the money and give them another copy of my RIB (piece of paper, that quite frankly, anyone with a PC could forge, giving details of bank account and which they already have). I duly did so and then to my surprise (well, not really, come to think of it), a few days later I had a letter in the post, asking me to sign more documents, including another document authorising them to take money from our account and a request for yet another RIB. Did as requested and sent it all off.

This week a bill arrived for France telecom. They had not set up the auto-payments, they were asking me to pay by cheque, or 'to make life easier for me as the customer' it suggested that I send them a copy of my RIB or go onto my client area in the internet and set up auto-payments from my bank account. No option to pay by bank card over the phone. And due to be paid by the following day, with charges applied for late payments, (no doubt even if it's not the clients fault). I was a little annoyed. Went into my client area on the internet to re-set up the auto-payments. There in front of me, on screen were details of my RIB. Clicked on the button to set up auto-payments. 'Please print off and complete this form and send it to us together with a copy of your RIB'. Ha fucking ha.

Then I had a bright idea. There is a France Telecom shop in town, the one where we recently changed our package with them. 'I'm sure they'll be able to help and I can pay the bill at the same time' I thought. Alas, no. They couldn't help. 'I am in the France Telecom shop aren't I?'
'Yes you are madame, but we only do sales' 'Well, you can take money, you have a till, can't you at least take my payment for the bill?' 'No'.

Came home and rang the 'helpline'. 'The problem is Madame, that we appear to have lost your RIB' 'Don't be ridiculous, I've given it to you three times, you haven't lost three copies of it. And I know you haven't lost it, because I can see it on my account details on the internet'. 'Ah, but it's not on my system and mine is connected to the bills system. Anyway, Madame, you can pay by bank card over the phone if you like'. So I duly paid by bank card, gave her my RIB details over the phone (perfickly ok apparantly) and she has supposedly set up auto-payments for me.....

Failing at frugality

We recently changed our phone and internet package, which provided hours of fun in french and I believe I may have mentioned it in passing already. Anyway, four reasons for changing it: to be able to provide Wi-Fi for our guests (they want it all these days - whatever happened to going on holiday to get away from it all?), to have faster internet access, to have free phone calls abroad and mainly, of course, to save money.

With this new package we are supposedly saving ourselves approx €15,00 per month. However, setting it all up proved not to be straightforward and involved several long phone calls to the helpline, on our mobile, which is pay-as-you-go (as we hardly ever use it, so normally this is cheaper for us, except when making long calls to helplines). The phone calls cost us approx €30,00. It also involved buying a long length of ethernet cable to use purely to set it all up, because it wouldn't set up on Wi-Fi. The cable cost us €15,00. We've also had to buy a range expander in order to boost the signal around the grounds (it seems that Wi-Fi does not like three foot thick stone walls and large trees) at a cost of approx €60,00. It will therefore be 7 months before we actually see any savings on the new package. Nothing like being frugal.

Spring! Well, almost anyway.

These pictures are supposed to be further down, but I can't figure out how to do it, I just keep deleting them, so I've given up!

Well, spring seems to be on it's way, the daffs are starting to come out and all the bulbs and the seeds and what have you are out in the shops. I've put the potatoes out to chit (I think that's the term) and bought a few seeds that I don't have (mostly I'm going to use what ever's left over from last year, I think you're supposed to by new each year, but what a waste of money when I've already got some.) I was looking back through this blog the other day when I noticed that I started planting out the carrots on 14 March last year (a year ago today), but I think I'll wait a bit this year, it's been very cold and damp.

I did eventually manage to find some sweet pea seeds the other day and Georgia and I planted a few up in some toilet rolls to start them off. She was quite disappointed the next morning when she found they hadn't grown yet. I'd like a bit more colour in the garden this year. When we were in the UK we had a lovely flowery front garden, really nice to come home to at the end of the day and I do miss that, so hopefully the sweet peas will add a bit of colour and attract a few butterflies and bees maybe.

We also had a couple of old ceramic belfast sinks lying around the place (see photos). Unfortunately they are very shallow and not easy to plant. They used to have alpines in but they don't do it for me; I tried salads, but they didn't work, so we splashed out (€5,00) on some violas, hopefully they will be happy there and again, provide a bit of colour.

Although we've added an extra raised bed for this year, I don't think we're going to fill it. The winter has been very wet and it seems to drive the moles away, so no mole hills to provide soil for my veggies. They will be back at some time, (they never seem to go far, perhaps it's the top facilities that we offer here) so the beds will get filled eventually, but I've had to re-think the plans for this year a bit at not grow as much as I would have liked; but whatever, it will be more than last year.

A day at the beach

After far too much rain of late, we finally had a day of sunshine an little while back (although the wind blew), so we took the girls to the coast for the day. We had a lovely lunch of galettes (savoury pancakes) and crepes at Le Croisic, a lovely little harbour town, and then went to the beach for the afternoon. Managed to find a fairly sheltered little beach and off we went rock pooling and collecting shells. It was great to get away for the day, have a change of scene and spend some time with the girls. Then Adrian, who just happened to have brought a large bucket with him, went off collecting mussels (and I found a clam). We took them home in our new and spacious estate car (what a joy to have a car with room to move inside and space in the boot to put loads of unecessary stuff in). Then the following evening Adrian cooked them up and we ate them with a bit of french bread. Am pleased to report that they were very nice, very sweet and I think all better for having been free!

Went back down to Nantes to the 'mall' to get some more stuff for the gites as we couldn't fit it all on the car last time we were there. We were without children as they were at school, so I was expecting an easier day, certainly an easier journey; I think I forgot to mention that the last trip didn't get off to a good start. Had set up the dvd players for the girls before we set off, but I refuse to play them until we are on the other side of town and on the main road. Unfortunately, because of this, it wasn't until we were on the other side of town that I realised that we had no dvd's in the car, so we had to go back home, all in all, adding another half hour to the journey (normally about an hour an a quarter). Lately, the heating on the car has been getting worse and where it once used to be putting out a bit of heat by the time we were approaching school, now it doesn't even start heating up until I am almost home again. Well, today we had dropped the girls off and were way beyond our house and on the road into town when I was complaining to Adrian that still there was no heat coming into the car. Seconds later he is swerving off the road and we come to a fairly swift halt. Seems my complaint prompted him to check the temp guage and it was definately in the high fever range. Fortunately had a bottle of water in the boot so Adrian poured what was left of it into the car (well, that bit in the engine where it's supposed to go) and eventually drove to supermarket to stock up on more water, anti-freeze and other multi-coloured liquids that are apparently good for the car, before we could at last set off again for Nantes, again a half hour delay to the journey and several euros down before we've even got anywhere. (I must mention at this point that there is a leak in the engine, it's not a total lack of competence on our (well, Adrian's) part for not having checked water level for ages and ages).

Anyway, did get one bargain at the mall - Claire's accessories still had their sale on, so I bought ten things for €10,00, as I had done last time we were there. A couple of things I gave to the girls, but the rest I've kept for birthday presents for friends (not my friends, the girls friends) and relies. Worked out the total original value of what I bought - approx €90,00! So twenty things for €20,00, worth €90,00! I am made up! (Downside is that if Isabella gives these things to her friends, their parents might think that I've spent loads of money and that we're wealthy!) Other bargain of the week - four summer tops for the girls for €20,00 total, (buy one, get three free) original prices - €75,00 total!

Also, decided to spend some of my supermarket points at last. I thought I'd like a bread machine, Adrian wanted a coffee machine, (one of those fancy ones that takes coffee teabag type things, fortunately the supermarket does their own almost reasonably priced version). Ended up with a rice cooker. Well, I checked out the catalogue, no coffee machine and the bread machine was too many points and I then I saw the rice cooker and thought 'what a good idea', I can put the rice on and bung something to go with it in the oven before I go on the school run at lunch time (it even steams veggies on top), and hey presto, dinner will be ready for when we get back! (Yes, of course I'll make sure hubby is in the house and not leave unattended food cooking, but no, I don't expect him to actually cook it these days; although he is still not quite fully converse in the french language, he has embraced the french male cultural ideal that the kitchen/general domestic duties are the domain of the wife and he wouldn't want to get in the way. I wonder if the table will be set though....) Unfortunately, there are three booklets with the machine and not one of them has proper instructions. One is a safety manual, one is publicity and the other is a recipe booklet (for fancy stuff, not plain old rice). What I can't figure out is after I've measured the rice in the measuring cup provided, do I put it in the cooker and then top up the water to the required level, or do I put the water in first to the required level and then put the rice in. Answers on a postcard please.

Tresspassers will be shot!

We had a tresspasser in the garden this afternoon so Adrian shot him:







































My hubby the pheasant plucker.












Look away now if you're squimish....



That'll be a good meal for us all. I'll let you know what it's like.

I had a bright idea this week; like all my ideas there has turned out to be a downside to it, not properly thought out as usual.

We have been trying to think of something to get Isabella for christmas, but not really getting anywhere (although she wants everything she sees, of course). Then I had an inspired thought that she might like a cd player for her room. Had an optimistic look around the shops, prices starting at €60,00 for 'girl's' (ie pink) cd players (in the kiddies sections). After picking myself up off the floor, tried to regain my dignity and staggered off to the proper electrical departments. Ugly old things for sale and not much cheaper. I thought perhaps she could have it as a joint present from a few people, not much to open on the day, but what else to do?

Then I had my brain wave. We have little stereos in all of the gites. To be quite honest they are French and most of them a bit crap. This year we are putting dvd players in all the gites so we are going to be removing the stereos as people can get radio through the tv and play their cds on the dvd players. So I thought, why not let her have one of the stereos that we already have and will only be sitting around gathering dust? Wouldn't matter so much if she broke it and no money wasted if she never used it. First one I got out of the gite didn't actually work (told you they're crap) and has gone in the bin. Good start. Went into another gite, I think the stereo in there must be quite new, it's small and has a little blue lcd display and really easy to use buttons and she loves it.

And there in lies the flaw in my plan. She loves it so much she keeps playing cds on it. She gets up, she puts it on. She comes home from school for lunch, she puts it on. She comes home in the evening, she puts it on. Not just the constant playing, but she has discovered Boyzone (Adrian's, not mine I hasten to add. Keith Moon will be turning in his grave). She's also learnt how to use the 'repeat' button. Repeatedly. I'm also listening to Mary Poppins, Mama Mia (Georgia's favourite) and 'Junior Choice - fun songs for kids' on a frequent basis these days.

Actually, it's quite nice really, I'm pleased that she's using it and enjoying it (plus it's saved a fair bit of money) although I am going to have to try to give her a proper musical education and get some decent stuff into her collection. And I shouldn't complain really, in a few years time, it'll be French pop and there's nothing worse than that! Did you know they use it to torture British citizens in France? It's true, they play it on the radio all day and night. British folk are warned at immigration not to tune in or they'll go mad.

Halloween and Georgia's birthday

Our home-made Halloween!!!

I forgot to put this one in the other day, so they're a bit out of order now, but I couldn't leave out Georgie!

The witches!

We made broomsticks in the garden (from the garden), outfits out of clothes we had already (luckily Georgia was given a black top and tights for her birthday just a few days beforehand), green makeup on our faces and homemade hats. The only thing I bought was a packet of black crepe paper for the skirts, 75 centimes. Bargain!






Green Monster drink










For dinner:

Witches fingers, gone-off green worms and blood sauce. Made it all myself too - a rare domestic goddess moment.

Georgia's pink birthday - new duvet cover, new lamp, new rug.

My Peppa Pig cake and number '3' biscuits for Georgia's birthday.

Don't they realise how hungry we are?

Quite often when our guests go home, they leave yummy and useful foodstuffs behind that they can't be bothered to take home with them, or are unable to. Such as jars of pasta sauce, pasta, tins of toms, rice, sugar, oil, ice creams, chocolaty cereals, fresh fruit and veg, plus enough foil and cling film to last me to next year and plenty of toilet roll too.

Well this year we've had a right bunch of tight wotsits in and so far most of them have left nothing, and what slim pickings have been left include: 2 rolls of recycled toilet roll (defintately NOT soft, not strong, but unfortunately extremely long), half a small packet of whole wheat pasta, half a box of ready brek, half a box of bran flakes, a jar of sweetcorn, a tin of chickpeas, a tin of lentils and a marrow not far off half a metre in length. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for anything, and we'll eat what there is, but it's not exactly a christmas hamper of goodies is it? And what's a girl supposed to do with 19 inches of fat marrow I ask you?

Post script, a week or so later: Some more guests have just left, and I found in their fridge, oh joy of joys, half a bar of chocolate! (Although I'm having trouble with the concept of leaving half a bar of chocolate behind. Why?). And then I went upstairs - oh horror of horrors - more recycled toilet paper. Some kind of cruel joke I think.