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Childhood hobbies

Raining just about all day and the kids were at a loose end. Caroline had an inspiration and thought of French Knitting. Remember that, the cotton reel with pins in the end ? The only slight hitch was the cotton reels, I don't think I've seen a wooden cotton reel for over 10 years. The only thing for it was to make two cotton reels out of some scrap wood. A trip to the workshop, a bit of drilling, sanding and hammering and voila, two French Knitting kits.

Neither of us could fathom out how to do it, so a quick search on Google and here are the instructions for French Knitting.

Brittany Ferries plans increased service to France

Brittany Ferries plans increased service to France
However BF may fill the void left by P&O, but I doubt prices will fall.

BBC NEWS | Business | P&O to slash workforce by 1,200

BBC NEWS | Business | P&O to slash workforce by 1,200
Not good news for those of us running a holiday business in France that caters for English tourists.

Mole shotgun

I have been having terrible problems getting rid of moles in the garden. I've tried gas, poison, traps but still they come back. A friend lent me Le Detaupeur, a mole 'shotgun',and it seem to be working. I've had three charges go off recently and another explosive charge went off this morning and the number of mole hills is reducing. There is a bit more certainty that you have scored, because the only way the charge fires is when one of the little blighters pushes up the plunger. Adds a bit more excitement to my day.

Mushrooms

Today we went armed with a wicker basket and the Edible Mushroom Guide and we all ventured out to some local woods mushroom picking. Unfortunately, not a very successful fungus foray, only bagging a couple of edible mushrooms. The most frequent find was the Common earthball (Scleroderma citrinum), also known in the U.S.A. as 'pigskin poison puffball', marked as poisonous in my book. The other specimens looked like Chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius) or Autumn chanterelle (Cantharellus tubiformis), both edible, but we couldn't make a positive id considering the number of lookalikes. We have been told that in France you can take a mushroom to the pharmacy and they will identify it for you.

Move to France, maybe ?

Just as an alternative to this site I found the web site Don't move to France. Life is not a bed of roses here, and here is an alternative view.

It's a bit ironic that after France Telecom phoned about ADSL last night our telephone line has gone on the blink. It's still useable for voice but it's so crackley that modem speeds are way down and we keep losing the connection. Caroline phone FT this morning and they arrived this afternoon to fix the problem after testing the line remotely. Unfortunately, Caroline was out and I was round the back and missed them. They are coming tomorrow morning to have another go. Pretty good service really.

Rural goes ADSL

Caroline took a phone call tonight from France Telecom trying to sell us ADSL. He didn't have to try very hard, we have been waiting to buy for two years. Yes, Yes send me an order form. Rural France is not well supported by Broadband so we hadn't held out much hope, but the great news is it's coming on the 2nd of December. Fantastic news, I'm getting a bit fed-up with dial-up now more and more sites expect high speed connections. Roll on December.

APE

Caroline is a member of the APE, parent and teachers association for the local school. They help to raise funds for additional school activites not paid for by the state. She went to a meeting of the APE last night and one of the items on the agenda was to elect a new President. Most of the comittee members had already been President at some time and so tried to get Caroline to stand for the job. Eventually she accepted Vice President if the new President would show her the ropes ready for next year. I think this is amazing considering we have only lived in France for two years and neither of us spoke French before arriving. Our integration is progressing at pace with the Jersey trip, newspaper article, competition win and now this.

Dodgy courtesy car

Got the car back after a service yesterday at the local garage. While it was there I was lent a courtesy car. It's a very old Peugeot 30something (the badge has fallen off) that rattles more than a milkfloat, the steering wheel seems to be only loosley connected to the front wheels, no power steering, no air conditioning, no central locking, a manual choke (remember those ?), a radio without push buttons (manual tuning), doors you can see daylight through round the edge, no hub caps, very very shabby paintwork, and a boot jammed shut. The speedo doesn't work at all and I suspect that most of the other dials only give the vaguest indication of the true reading. It does however have velour seats :-) a 5 speed gearbox and electric windows, that work (well the drivers door) ! It was fun for a day but I'm glad to have something a little more modern (and safer) back on the drive.

Egg production back up.

With the new chickens (10 in total) we have now almost at full egg production. One of the new point-of-lay chickens Caroline bought the other day laid it's first egg. Some days we have too many eggs, but friends enjoy free-range eggs for a change.

Bought 25 litres of woodworm treatment and cleared all the cobwebs and muck off the beams ready for spraying. Some beams are a little rotten in places where the rain got in before the new roof was put on, but nothing serious. All goggled and masked up, it's not going to be much fun spraying.

Mobile boulangerie

Living in the French countryside is very pleasant but it does mean you have to jump in the car for everything. Our nearest bread shop (which we visit nearly every day) is a couple of minutes drive away, however they have just started a new service, bread delivery dor-to-door. Currently it's only a Tue and Fri but we don't need to order and we just buy a loaf or two from the back of the van.

New chucks

Finished clearing upstairs in the barn in preparation for the builders who arrive at the beginning of October, and removed old steel sliding gate from the front ready for the builders. Some of the floorboards were a bit rotten and there was evidence of woodworm. I think I may have to get the garden spray out and dowse everything with woodworm treatment before the plasterboard and insulation gets fitted.

Caroline bought 6 new point of lay chickens this afternoon. Two brown, two black and two white. At the moment they are all sticking together like new children on the block with the 'old hands' probing the youngsters from the edge establishing the pecking order.

La Lohuas Gites

Whilst we were at school someone said they had seen us in the Ouest France paper this morning. This was due to a chat Caroline had with the journalist who covered the B17 Memorial on Wednesday.

 

Les Champs-Géraux

Caroline et Ian, des Anglais installés, depuis 2 ans

Arrivée depuis deux ans aux Champs-Géraux, la famille Haycox a voulu tout de suite s'impliquer dans la vie de sa nouvelle commune. Propriétaires de gîtes, ils ouvrent leurs portes aux touristes et les invitent à mieux connaître le Pays d'Évran.

Caroline et lan Haycox ont préféré la vie en France avec leurs deux enfants, Elizabeth et Hugh, après avoir découvert la possibilité de relancer des gîtes. Ils n'ont pas hésité à quitter leur région du sud-ouest de l'Angleterre et venir s'installer pour rénover l'ancienne ferme de la Lohuas, située entre Évran et Lanvallay.

"Nous avions l'habitude de venir en vacances en Bretagne, et nous apprécions à l'époque le rythme de la vie à la campagne, contrairement à ce que nous vivions en Angleterre. Alors, on s'est lancé le défi de venir s'installer ici, avec la volonté de s'intégrer au plus vite au mode de vie français. C'est important, même encore maintenant, malgré la difficulté de la langue ", raconte Caroline.

Dès leur arrivée, ils avaient organisé un pot d'accueil pour leur voisinage et pour continuer de s'impliquer dans la vie de leur commune, ils participent aujourd'hui à l'association des parents d'élèves de l'école, ce qui leur a aussi permis de se lier avec d'autres parents. " Je crois que c'est à nous de nous adapter à la vie française, si on fait, l'effort, la population saura le reconnaître et nous accueillir. " Les Haycox possèdent trois gîtes, et programment d'agrandir les hébergements cet hiver, la demande est, grande, et leurs clients viennent désormais de très loin comme d'Amérique, d'Australie et bien sûr d'Angleterre ou Irlande, grâce à leur site internet. " C'est aussi une manière de recevoir des étrangers et leur faire découvrir la région. "

Pratique. Ian et Caroline Haycox, gîte de la Lohuas aux Champs-Géraux. info@brittany-holiday-gites.com par e-mail.

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Schumacher cruises to title

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Schumacher cruises to title

It did turn out to be an exciting race, but not necessarily for the right reasons. The TF1 coverage showed the bits that ITV missed during the ad breaks.

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Trulli grabs Belgian pole

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Trulli grabs Belgian pole Bit of a lottery but it might spice up the race tomorrow.

On Wednesday night Caroline went out for the evening as part of the www.b17-29mai.com commitee and to welcome some people from America and the UK to show them the memorial and exhibition in the Mairies office. As with almost all events (fetes, school plays, sports, etc.) in each of the communes, they are covered by one of the local papers. Ouest France (daily paper for the west of France) and Le Petit Bleu (weekly paper for Cotes d'Armor) both covered the event.

Here is the Ouest France article published today.

Les Champs-Geraux

Une gerbe en memoire du crash du B 17

Mercredi, en fin d'apres-midi, le comite du 29 mai 2003 accueillait deux personnes etrangeres, qui comme eux, font des recherches sur; le « 94e Bomber Group » dont le B17 faisait partie.

Pascal Lhermitte et ses amis du comite du 29 mai etaient tres fiers de recevoir deux personnes etrangeres, qui comme eux sont des passionnes d'histoire, et plus particulierement d'aviation et des evenements qui se sont produits lors des raids aeriens pendant la seconde guerre mondiale. Graham Crabtree, president d'une association anglaise qui restaure la tour de controle de Rougham d'ou etait parti le 94e Bomber Group, et, John Adams, membre actif d'une association americaine qui fait des recherches sur le 94e Bomber Group, ont apporte des renseignements precieux et quelques documents supplementaires a I'exposition des Champs-Geraux qui a dure tout I'ete.

« Nous avons entendu parler du crash du B17 aux Champs-Geraux, alors, avec le nom de la commune, et grace a internet j'ai fait des recherches, et j'ai trouve le site du comite, c'est comme cela quel j'ai souhaite entrer en contact avec ses membres », explique John Adams. Le B17, qui s'est ecrase le 29 mai 1943, faisait parti d'une des trois escadrilles du 94e Bomber Group, base en Angleterre. Durant la guerre, le 94e a effectue 325 missions, les Champs-Geraux etaient la 8e. « Il y a des points d'histoire que nous pouvons maintenant mieux interpreter, grace a ces echanges de documents et d'informations, aussi pour leurs associations respectives. Ces gens sont des relais importants, avec qui il serait peut-etre interessant de creer un jumelage, en tout cas l'association le souhaiterait », rapporte Pascal Lhermitte.

Pratique. L'exposition du crash du B17 aux Champs-Geraux, se prolangera jusqu'a fin septembre, aux heures d'ouverture de la mairie.

Mole deterrent

Just the one small molehill this morning. Maybe the solar powered ultrasonic mole deterrent I bought from the Outiror mobile lorry shop on Wednesday is working. I have been gassing moles with smoke cartridges. Some days it's just one or two but the other day I used a marathon seven. I think my obsession has got so bad it is rubbing off on the children staying in the gites. The last few mornings they have come running up to me with cries of 'Ian, Ian we've found another mole hill. Can we kill it please, please'.

Priorite a droit

On the way home I encountered that slightly crazy French road system priorité a droit. When the priorite a droit applies you must give way to vehicles entering from the right, even though you are driving on the main through road. The yellow diamond sign means you have priority over people from the right and is usually displayed when leaving a built-up area. If there is a black diagonal stripe through the sign is means 'give way to the right', or 'be on your toes'. I obviously wasn't quite on the ball today and driving down the main road I had to slam on the anchors to let someone out of a side street. At first glance the rule seems like an accident waiting to happen, but I have heard it argued that it adds to road safety because traffic in towns is more cautious. Another little idiosyncrasity.

Barn clearance

A bit more clearing and tidying in the barn today. Removing the old 200 litre hot water boiler from the wall was a little hair raising. It was bolted to the wall right above the main water supply and meter for the house with nuts rusted solid. I had to angle grind the boiler supports and tops off the bolts but I really did not want this humungus chunk of metal falling on my rising main and flooding the place. Not to mention the embarrasing phone call that Caroline would have to make to the water board. Some demon grinding, fancy footwork and a carefully placed collection of breeze blocks and planks saw the monster slide gracefully down the wall and roll across the floor.

Flushed with success, it was time to tackle the big sliding door between the barn and the lean-to shed. A fairly standard runner and roller farm door needed dismantling. Some slightly less adept work and the door slid shut with a Norman Stanley Fletcher clunk I was trapped in my own little jail with a broken water heater and an angle grinder. I couldn't get to the door catch so I just hacked the end stop off the rail with the last few millimeters of the grinding wheel to escape.

At least I don't have to give my name and address to the man at the recycling depot now I'm a regular.

French hospital trip (again)

For the second time this week we have made a trip to the local hospital with one of our guests. Yesterday afternoon one of the mothers put her foot in a hole in the sand on the beach and badly twisted her ankle. She couldn't put any weight on the bad leg so had to spend the evening at our BBQ party laid up in the garden being fed and watered. We tried lots of wine as a remedy for the pain and suffering, but to no avail. This morning we all agreed a trip to the hospital was needed. I went on Wednesday with a guest with a suspected collar bone fracture, so this time it was Caroline's turn as translator and guide. Two hours later they returned, X-rayed, break confirmed, plastered, injections to prevent thrombosis and a pair of crutches. The French health system does provide superb service. It's arguably the best in the world.

No accidents for two years then two in one week.

Dechetterie

In preparation for the new gites I stayed at home and started clearing out the barn of all the old junk left lying around. It's taken me all day and several trips to the dechetterie to get rid of most of the rubbish. For the stuff I wanted to keep it meant cleaning a space in another outbuilding to put it. It's very nice having lots of space and outbuildings but it's easy to never throw anything anyway.

There is still a load of old dead pipework and wiring to be ripped out before the builders arrive at the beginning of October.

My trip to the dechetterie reminded me of our French lessons in England. We were told many times to be able to say, spell and remember our name, address and telephone number in French. You are constantly having to provide you name, address etc. and today at the dechetterie was no exception, Quelle commune, Quel nom, and because it is not a common French surname you need to be able to spell it out, ash ah eegreque say oh icks.

Petit Train, Dinan

Tourist day in Dinan for the family. Personal recommendations for the gite guests are much better than a leaflet from the tourist office so we have tried to visit most of the zoos, parcs, beaches, attractions and a fair few resturants. Today it was the turn of Le Petit Train de Dinan. It's about a thirty minute ride from the port by the canal in Dinan, round the old part of the town taking in the Jacobian theatre, the Basilique and Le Jardin Anglais. Enjoyed by all.

Finally finished the fireplace

The fireplace is finished. See the full story.

Monopoly book

The parents-in-law arrived yesterday and with them came our Amazon.co.uk order. You can get English books from Amazon.fr but the choice is smaller and the price slightly higher. Whilst I've been waiting I've been reading Country Doctor, Tales of a rural GP -- Dr Michael Sparrow. The cover says it's hilarious, but it only comes up to slightly amusing in my view. It's a bit James Herriot with people instead of animals.

Anyway tossed that aside and I'm now got Do Not Pass Go: From the Old Kent Road to Mayfair -- Tim Moore, to read. I started it last night and it is far far funnier. I think I can relate to some of the Monopoly game tactics, tantrums and anecdotes from my youth which makes it much more enjoyable. It details a grand tour around the real streets of a English Monopoly board with loads of wit and trivia.

Koi Carp Fry

Caroline spotted some baby Koi Carp in the fish pond this afternoon. Well we think they are baby Koi. They were about 3 or 4 all 2-3cm long, brown (translucent ?) and very difficult to spot against the bottom of the pond. I did see the big Koi thrashing and splashing about in the shallows when is was very warm at the end of June this year, so I'm hoping that they were spawning and this is the result. It would be fantastic to have a pondful because I'm sure there must be more we haven't spotted yet.

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Schumacher eases to triumph

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Schumacher eases to triumph

I bit of a dull race, summed up the the ITV commentator saying the most exciting part was watching Ross Brawn eating a banana

Fireplace back in position

Fireplace is almost finished. Caroline has done all the pointing and this morning I installed the wood burning insert, refitting all the bits back together and connecting up the flue and hot air feed. The silver pipe to the left with the kink is a hot air feed from the fireplace right up to the top floor of the house. Above the 'fire box' there is a separate heating box which generates huge volumes of hot air out of two vents on top of the fire. One is capped off but the other is ducted up through the house to pipe hot air round the house. There is a fan to blow extra hot air, but we have never used it and often have to close the vent upstairs because it can get too hot. The fire is rated at 11 KW, and there is another identical unit the other end of the house that feeds hot air to the second floor. Thats all the heating we have for the whole house, and only when it gets very cold for prolonged periods do we keep both fires running 24 hours a day.

The last bit of work is to clean up the stonework to the left (so it's the same as the right hand side) and build a simple sheet metal shroud (hood?) to cover the outside of the fire and the pipework. Normally these fires are encased in a brick clad 'fake' fireplace but hopefully it should look a bit better with a black tall housing. A slightly simpler version than this.

Farmers know weather

The last day or so has seen better weather here in Brittany and the farmers have been collecting in all the straw today as it's had a chance to dry out. In fact it's just going dark at 22:00 and a Combine Harvester has gone past. I'm not sure if that is good or bad weatherwise. At least we are not getting battered by hurricanes like in Florida.
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Fifteen die in Florida hurricane

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Schumacher cruises to pole

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Schumacher cruises to pole

Looks like another win on the cards. You really got to admire the sheer quality of the man.

Wallpaper removal

Caroline finish off the fireplace this morning by brushing the excess off the stonework to leave a nice clean finish. I think if there had been cement in the mix it would have set onto the stones and looked messy.

I've been stuck scraping the remains of wallpaper off the stairwell in our house. When I say wallpaper it was actually a pink carpet-like material that must have been stuck on with evo-stick. It's been a nightmare to clean and fill ready for painting. A coat of white emulsion late last night and it doesn't look too bad. Mind you decorating always looks OK in artificial light. Let us see in the morning.

As you can tell the focus shifts from the gites to our own house during the summer. Whilst the gites are occupied we concentrate on the gardens and general DIY in our own home. However the weather has been very showery for the last week keeping us out of the garden and off the beach.

Lime mortar

To help the the barn renovation into two gites I ordered La Plomberie and L'installation électrique from Amazon which arrived today. They are both in French, surprise surprise, but do provide the rules and regulations and best practice and lots of pictures :-)

Finished chipping out the loose and small pieces of cement that were proud between the stones of the fireplace and hearth ready for Caroline to point with chaux et sable. Whilst I was working inside the fireplace I put an uplighter on the hearth so I could see what I was doing. Caroline suggested a couple of downlights hidden above the mantelpiece inside the chimney because the light showed off the stones beautifully. It did look very good, so that's another job on the list.

Caroline finished pointing the fireplace by late evening and it makes a huge improvement. She experimented with a few different mixes of lime, sand and cement and ended up with a 5 parts sand (sable) and 2 parts lime (chaux). Using even a small quantity of cement made the mix too grey.

We did lots of surfing for the correct lime mortar mix, but there were so many different variations. The best resource we found was Dry walls using lime mortar

Lunch and a trim

Had lunch with some friends at La Vielle Auberge in Trefumel today. I can thoroughly recommend the restaurant. The menu du jour was just 9€ for feta cheese salad, veal and rice, cheese, dessert and wine. It was obviously a local favourite, as parked outside were tractor and trailer combos, a La Poste van, several white vans and various local cars. It gave the place a nice authentic local village atmosphere.

Full of wine in the afternoon meant it was an ideal opportunity to play with my new power tool whilst standing up a ladder. If I did have an accident at least I'd be half anaesthetised already. Because lunch took so long I only managed to clip one of the hedges. The hedge trimmer (a Bosch AHS 6000 PRO-T) scythed through the bits I could reach but becomes very heavy when you are stretching to reach the top and middle. The slight advantage the electric trimmers have over the petrol ones sf the weight. Even stood on top of a picnic table balanced on the trailer attached to the mower I still couldn't get to the top properly. The hedge is about 3m high but also 3m wide. Note to self, never ignore a leylandii hedge, keep it short and thin.

Leylandii hedging.

Finished cementing in the stone around the fireplace, ready for pointing. Caroline has volunteered to do the pointing with a lime and sand mortar.

The two big leylandii hedges at the front need a bit of a haircut so whilst buying half-a-tonne of sand for the pointing we also bought a hedge trimmer. Twenty-four inches (600mm) of pure German cutting power.

The oil drum BBQ made another appearance this evening. We have got three families staying in the gites this week that all know each other so everything swung along very well indeed and all the kids behaved superbly. One of the advantages of living on-site with the gites is that our evening entertainment is close at hand and we don't need baby sitters.

Fete du Ble

Took a trip to the Fête du Blé et des Vieux Métiers in Pleudihen-sur-Rance, Brittany today. In very stereotypical fashion Elizabeth liked the animals and Hugh liked the parade of old tractors and farm machines. I think we have overdone the festivals a bit this year, this is the forth one. They are all very enjoyable, and if you have never been to a fête then it is definitely worth the trip. Personally I like starting with the trestle table lunch and wine. Inexpensive, basic food which sets me up for the afternoon.

Click on the thumbnails for larger images, about 20K each.

English plumber in Brittany

Had a good curry evening the other night with an English friend from the the next village who is a CORGI registered plumber now living in France. He's thinking of setting up a business as a Brittany Plumber, so if you need a good English speaking plumber in the Dinan area mail me.

All the animals profit from a gite changeover day, especially when we have all three gites to change, like today. The guests leave bread, vegetables and salad stuff which makes great chicken, goose and duck food. The goat is partial to the odd carrot or apple as well. I'm partial to the odd beer, but we don't get left many of those.

Maybe it's all the food scraps, but the ducklings have really grown much larger. They are almost too fat to get through the fencing. When they were small they used to wander out of the enclosure through the squares in the fencing, Lucy the goose gave a quick honk, and back they would waddle. Now they are larger they seem to spend much more time in the pond catching flying insects.

Finished the carrelage round the fireplace this afternoon. The hole was skimmed yesterday and the tiles laid in the evening and then this afternoon finished off with grout. Just the stonework under the hearth and I can re-fit the wood burner.

BTW, For the summer evening what better than a cruise in a convertible. I happen to have another friend selling a LHD 2003 Peugeot 206 Cabriolet 2.0 in Silver for 16,000€. A topless pocket rocket.

Fire, Electricity and Gas

Fitted the granite slabs for the new fireplace hearth and concreted around the side to build up the level ready for the floor tiles. It took a couple of big wheel barrow loads of concrete to get it almost level. I'll finish off with some self-levelling skim before laying the tiles.

Chopped three small trees down (about 15cm across) that were just touching the overhead power lines. EDF came last winter and topped a load of trees under the power line, but these grew into the light 'corridor' under the lines and would most probably caused the power to trip if they had been left. A bit more firewood for next year.

The Butagaz man came in his lorry to re-fill our underground gas tank. Another 900 Kg of butane ? to run the hot water system. It was only filled about 15 months ago, but I suppose it does supply all the hot water for our house all year, and the three gites during the holiday periods.

Went to fit the new magnesium anode in the hot water boiler (it's meant to reduce hard-water scale build up), but the old one was not that badly corroded. Cleaned it up and re-fitted, at least I've got a spare now.

Marathon mowing and strimming session. We had a fantastic thunderstorm a few nights ago and the grass has only really just got dry enough this afternoon to cut. It was still a bit too damp and clogged the mower several times, but it just seems to grow so fast at the moment.

Hugh has got the surfing bug. Caroline took the kids to the beach this afternoon and she couldn't keep him out of the water. He's only 4 and just messes about with the body board in the waves but has a wail of a time.

Finished reading The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency -- Alexander McCall Smith, and found it most enjoyable. It's an easy read with some interesting characters and storylines. In fact we both enjoyed the book we have ordered the sequels.

All shopped out

We went shopping today primarily for some more picnic tables for the gites and some slabs of granite for the fireplace hearth I'm renovating. It turned into a bit of a marathon shopping day.

Caroline's friend recommended a garden furniture and fencing place in Chateauneuf Ille-et-Villaine, close to St Malo. It was stacked full of pressure treated wooden fencing panels of every shape, size and style; wooden swings and slides; seats, tables, decking, sheds, trellis, etc.We've already got a couple of wooden picnic tables, but we wanted something a bit larger and more rustic for the garden. We bought two large picnic bench tables for less than 200€. Bargain.

We had already been to a quarry yesterday to get a quote for a single piece of granite 1.8m by 0.7m for the new hearth, but neither of us was sure it was quite right. Today, therefore, was to find an alternative. We managed to find somewhere that did granite paving slabs of various sizes with a rough finish, rather than slices sawn from a large block. We picked up 3 pieces 60cm by 70cm to make up the full width of the fireplace. The finish on them is superb, light grey with a slight shimmering finish (a bit like fish scales).

Next stop, to buy a van. In order to renovate the barn in October we are going to need a van to collect supplies etc. The idea is to buy a second-hand van and then sell it a year later once the work is complete. A stroll around the lot soon makes to realise there are quite a few decisions to make made, size, height, width etc. The only easy decision is the colour, they are all white. Based on kicking a few tyres and poking around the inside with a tape measure, and keeping an eye on re-sale, I think we are most probably going to get a Peugeot Boxer or a Citroen Jumper. Basically they are the same van but age and price (approx 10,000€) will swing it.

While we were in the swing of it we bought the kids some new clothes in the sales, we also tried to buy ourselves some new clothes, but we are still stuggling to cope with the different size conversions from the UK. I did have a surf for conversion tables, but many of them contradict each other. For me all the size numbers for shoes, shirts, trousers, etc. are very similar, (40, 44, 48 etc.), plus various sizes S, M, L and 2, 3, 4, 5 for other clothes gets very confusing. I think I'm going to have to find things that fit them make up a laminated personal size chart for my wallet.

A few bits and bobs ready for 'back to school', and home. Phew.

All in all a fairly successful day, neither of us like shopping, so it's some of jobs we dislike over with.

Stone search

I've been driving around today visting quarries looking for a new hearth for the fireplace in our lounge. A slight delay partly because of my tonsils and lack of enthusiasm. It's been too hot (high 30's), and what makes it worse is air conditioning in the car. You keep moving from hot to cold and back again and I not sure it's good for you. I used to work in an air conditioned office 8 hours a day and it messes up your ability to cope with the heat. I'm sure you get used to heat if you just live with it for a while.

Anyway, no luck with the quarries. All I want is some bits of 'york stone paving' to place on a faced-up surround.

Fete du Pain

This afternoon we all went to Plage de Pen Guen in Saint Cast Le Guido. It's a great beach for small children because it is all sand and is almost level. We arrived about an hour or so before low tide and it took it a good 5 mins walk from the top of the beach to the sea. But once in the sea you could wade out for a very long way before even going over your waist. Once the tide turned it came back in fairly quickly, but that was part of the fun. At a slow walk you could remain in the sea and get most of the way back to your towels. The sea always seemed to be shallow, and consequently warmer. Hugh got his first taste of surfing (well gentle body boarding) and I couldn't drag him out.

Just to round of the day we visited the Fête du Pain at Plédéliac on the way home. Another small fun 'French country fair'. Obviously the central theme was bread (harvesting, milling, making, cooking) but there was plenty else to see, Charcol production, clog making, honey bees, old tractors and farm machines, oxen, ornamental chickens, etc. etc.

Happy couple

Met up with an old friend and Caroline's ex-landlord from many years ago in Reading. Keith (owner of Tiger Computing and The Linux Consultancy) worked at Digital (then Compaq and now HP) at the same time as Caroline and myself. Keith married Cecilia last Saturday and we picked them up from Dinard Airport (Hugh loved the Aurigny aircraft (G-JOEY) with the faced painted on the front) during their honeymoon for a quick tour of St Malo, Les Champs Geraux and our House and a very pleasant BBQ. Congratulations and good luck for the future.

Gite renovation progressing

We just had a meeting with the builders regarding the renovation and conversion of the barn into two new gites. Because of the high price of the work and the withdrawl of most of the grants, I'm am going to do a large proportion of the internal works to save money. The builder wasn't that happy, but c'est la vie. We signed the devi for the major works and he will be starting at the beginning of October 2004, once we are empty. In order to live off just gite income we need five gites, rather than the current three, so the two new gites are important to our future. It is a big capital investment, but it should make us self-sufficient.

Grass cutting the old way

To save a bit of time on the mowing we decided this year to leave a couple of areas and let the grass grow long. The goats field and the area around the old bread oven down by the stream. With hindsight this was most probably a mistake. We now have waist high grass, too long for the mower and using a strimmer is hard work because you are always cutting grass you have already cut. So, with my medieval hat on from yesterday I went and bought a snath for a scythe blade today to try out. It's not easy, but with a bit more practise and technique it should prove useful. The one good side effect is that we now should have a supply of hay for the goat in the winter. After the yesterdays medieval fete Hugh just had to have a sword. A bit of plywood, a bandsaw and a sander, and a few minutes later, one very happy four year old.

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Schumacher wins German GP

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Schumacher wins German GP Had to watch the race on tape, but Schumacher does it again. Good drive by Jenson Button.

Fete des Remparts, Dinan, France

We had the most fabulous day today at the Fete Des Remparts. It's a medieval festival/fayre held over two days in Dinan, with markets, sword fighting, jousting, and much more besides. Intimate and involving, fantastic.

Most of the center of Dinan was closed off and had straw thrown down on the streets, a huge medieval market and four different 'worlds' showing different viewpoints, with the big attraction of jousting.

The whole medieval pageant is set in and around the castle and the walled city of Dinan giving it a real authentic flavour. One of the most refreshing things was the lack of political correctness and nanny state health and safety regulations. If you slipped in donkey muck, or walked into a camp fire with a pot of boilng soup on it, tough luck. I think this alone made it such an involving festival, you really got the feel of 'The Olden Days'.

Dressage and falconery display. The horsemanship was superb and much of the falconery was performed from horseback with the birds flying over the crowds and onto the surrounding castle walls.

Click on the thumbnails for larger images (about 20K)

Part of an medieval encampment, with various trades displayed, such as butchery, calligraphy, cooking, etc.

Click on the thumbnails for larger images (about 20K)

Part of the 'weapons world' was a great sword and hatchet battle, displays of various weapons and the oppertunity to have a go.

Click on the thumbnails for larger images (about 20K)

Jousting Tournament. The big spectacular. More of a staged show than the rest, but fantastic. Displays of skill with the lance and sword then a face to face jousting battle with lances breaking and finally the 'good guy (in blue)' facing off to the 'bad guy (in black)'.

Click on the thumbnails for larger images (about 20K)

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Schumacher takes pole

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula One | Schumacher takes pole Unfortunately I'm going to miss watching the race live tomorrow for the first time in about 6 years.

Chateau Le Guildo

We had a very pleasant day out with a picnic a trip to Chateau Le Guildo and then a short walk along the GR34 coastal path. Just a short trek from the castle along the GR34 following the red and white stripes on the trees we found a deserted sandy beach for the kids to play on. A nice relaxing day out.

A strategic geographical position

Le Guildo Castle is situated on a rocky outcrop surrounded on the north-east side by the Arguenon river and a swampy valley where a brook flows on the east side. The castle stands about twenty metres above the estuary of the river, where a harbour is mentioned since the 13^th century. A ford, situated near the present bridge enables one to cross the river at low tide. The castle, built on an easily defendable site, controlled both the trade on the Arguenon river, navigable at high tide up to Plancoët and a stretch of land, between the estuary of the Rance river and the Penthievre coast.

The origin of the caste is unknown. Le Guildo seigniory appeared very late in the Middle Ages, around 1300. It was bound to the family of Dinan-Montafilant. Today, very little sanding masonry remain from the first fortifications. The general form given to the rock when this castle was built can still be seen in spite of numerous transformations.

An eventful history

At the end of the 14^th century, the castle belonged to Charles de Dinan, a powerful Lord allied with the Duke Jean IV who was fighting against the Penthievre. A large proportion of the building seen today dates from this period. You enter by a drawbridge and portcullis flanked by two towers forming a gate house. A large main building including a great hall, kitchen and private apartments is located on the North side of the castle. The other out buildings are placed around the courtyard or ward.

In the middle of the 15^th century, Guildo Castle was at it's peak. It belonged to Françoise de Dinan, married to Gilles de Bretagne, brother of François I, the Duke of Brittany.

At the end of the 15^th century, it decline began. An open clash broke out between France and Brittany. Le Guildo castle was taken by the royal armies and burnt down in 1488/1489. When Françoise died in 1499, the Dinan family had no more descendants and the castle was left to deteriorate.

Besieged several times during the religious wars at the end of the 16^th century, the castle fell completely into ruins. In the beginning of the 17^th century, repairs were made but the castle was yet again abandoned in the middle of the 18^th century. The ruined builds were used as a quarry and the courtyard used for agriculture until the Conseil Général des Côtes d'Armor acquired the site in 1981.

Moles in Brittany

Brittany has a real problem with moles. We've had a bout of showers over the last two weeks and the moles must have multiplied 10 fold. There are mole hills everywhere, I reckon about 50 hills scattered around. In the past I have just scattered the tops of the hills so as not to kill the grass, but now they are getting to be a real pest and damaging the lawns and flower beds. To my untrained pest control eye, I think there must be about 5 colonies, each occupying their own area. One of the guests staying in the gites is helping with the mole hunt by mapping out the hills and then guessing where the tunnels run. I've lent him a spade and he is often out there just standing, waiting, spade poised. No luck as yet.

This afternoon I dug down between two active mole hills and located the tunnel and placed a Duffus tunnel type trap (one I bought in England and never used) in the run. Fingers crosssed. I have had limited success with gassing and poison worms so I hope I have more luck with the trap. Mike, (our guest), is determined to catch one mano-a-mano.

Good weather, good food

Lovley sunny weather today, so we all went into Cancale for lunch at down at the port by the oyster beds. Suprise, suprise, but all the resturants served Oysters, lobsters, mussels and specialised in seafood. If you like seafood, I would recommend it, as there is lots of choice. We ate at 'La Mere Champlain' which was very good.

Afterwards we all went to the beach with me still reading The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. I've only read a few chapters, but it seems to be OK so far and is an easy read with some funny bits.

Both ducklings alive and well. One is mostly black with some yellow stripes, and the other mostly yellow with some black. They have both been sitting on Lucy's back. Caroline is the only person allowed near Lucy. She can handle the ducklings, but anyone else gets hissed at and generally warned off.

Ducklings and swings

Lucy the goose has been sat on some duck eggs for the last 35 days, and this morning they hatched. Caroline went to feed the chickens and one of the ducklings was already out and still wet, with another pecking away from inside the shell. A little later and we now have two muscovy ducklings and one very proud 'parent' goose.

A word of warning. We left the unfertilized goose eggs under Lucy, and this afternoon there was the most awful smell coming from the chicken pen. Lucy had pecked and broken the shell on her bad goose egg. We assume to help out a chick that wasn't there.

Caroline and I installed the new swing today. A huge improvement over the old swing, which is now on it's way to the recycling depot. The kids like the twin face-to-face swing the best.

This afternoon I have been catching up on the mowing. The weather has been very showery and today was the first real dry day suitable for the mower. The warm, damp weather is great growing weather for the local farmers, but an extra headache for me, as there are too many grass clippings to be left without collecting.

Caroline got the short straw as she has been stuck with the accounts and a reluctant French accounting package to try and do our TVA (VAT) return. Error messages and telephone support lines are very, very difficult in another language.

Go slow

One of our guests is reading In Praise of Slow by Carl Honore about how slowing down is good for you. The books description says:
Across the western world more and more people are slowing down. Slower is better: better work, better productivity, better exercise, better sex, better food.

I have to say that after living in France for 2 years, I wholeheartly agree. Things sometimes take a little longer, but everyone seems to benefit in the long run

Fetes and Festivals

It's fête time in Brittany. At this time of year we seem to have a local fête every weekend. Today was the Fête de Megalithes in Plesin-Trigavou. Next week it's the Fête des Remparts in Dinan, then next week the Fête du Pain and then the following weekend the Fête du Blé in Pleudihen sur Rance and I think the week after the Comice de Agricole at Saint Judoce. They are all excellent events with side shows, main attractions, and usually a midday or evening meal of sorts.

We visited the Fete de Megalithes today and had a really enjoyable time.

Pictured is a demonstration of raising an ancient stone, a.la. Stonehenge, but on a slightly smaller scale.

Excellent Breton country fair with loads to do for the children (arts, crafts, face painting, horse rides), along with Breton dancing, an evening repas and Grand Fest Noz.

Harvest time

Yesterday after lunch two combine harvesters started harvesting wheat in the field at the front of the house with huge tractors and trailers racing around to collect the grain. I tried to find a simple diagram of how they worked but the best I could find was here. Last week we had pretty bad weather, with rain and strong winds. Some parts of the field have been knocked flat, and are lost. Now the weather has improved I think they must be taking advantage of the dry spell. I hope this isn't a signal of more wet weather to come. The farmers do seem to be very good at finding the correct weather window to do their work, and once they start, they go at it 100%. Last year they harvested for 3 days solid from 10'o'clock in the morning (I assume after the dew has dried) to about 3'o'clock the following morning. Two hours after finishing the heavens opened and we had a thunderstorm.

This evening the farmers were out baling the straw from yesterdays wheat harvest. Caroline said that she helped at baling time on a farm when she was younger. Back when they had square bales, not these huge round things nowadays. She did remember tho' that the baling machine was always breaking down, so maybe the round balers are preferred just for this reason.

Bastille Day

Fête Nationale Française, or Bastille Day today and is a public holiday. Last night there was a huge fireworks display in Dinan and tonight another one in St Malo over the sea, above one of the fortifications in the channel.

Another BBQ at a friends house this afternoon and evening, and again accordion players coming of the wookwork between courses. I've been to so many BBQ's recently I'm starting to feel like an Australian. Good fun tho' and I enjoyed it, even if I was limited to softer food stuffs with my sore tonsils.

The French Revolution

The Fête Nationale Française is the day the French commemorate the storming of the Bastille on 14^th July 1789, the start of the French Revolution and the end of the monarchy.

In essence the revolution started due the huge gap between rich and poor. The country was ruled by King Louis XVI and his queen, Marie Antoinette who ignored the poor and starving masses as long as there was food on the banqueting tables. The country was nearly bankrupt and the bourgeoise had no political influence or power. Those that protested were imprisoned in the Bastille.
Marie Antoinette is reported to have said «Let them eat cake» when the peasants complained that there was no bread.

The masses banded together and stormed the Bastille prison. The storming of the prison was a symbol of liberty and the fight against the oppression of the monarchy for all French citizens.

The revolution lead to the creation of the First Republic and the tricolore of blue, red, and white. Blue and red are the colours of Paris and white is the colour of royalty.

Bastille Day was declared the French national holiday on 6^th July 1880 and in 1848 the motto "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" was reinstated.

The twelve regimes since 1789 taken from 'Sixty Million Frenchmen can't be Wrong' by Jean-Benoît Nadeau & Julie Barlow

Constitutional Monarchy: 1791-92. The legislature is created. The king, legally a citizen like all others, is recognised as the symbol of the State.

1^st Republic: 1792-1804. Parliament tries to run the country without a king. Anarchy follows. Napoleon heads a coup d'état and is appointed Consul in 1799.

1^st Empire: 1804-15. Napoleon crowns himself emperor in 1804 and rules by decree. Rule ends in military defeat and Napoleon is in exile by 1814.

Restauration: 1815-30. Foreign powers install Louis XVIII on the French throne. The two chambers are more Royalist than the king is. The regime veers towards absolutism and end in a revolution.

Monarchy of July: 1830-48. Constitutional monarchy. Louis-Phillipe I, though liberal at first, becomes more authoritarian. Ends in a revolution.

2^nd Republic: 1848-52. No more king. The legislature has strong powers. The president, Louis-Napoleon, is appointed president-price becomes Emperor Napoleon III. Rules by decree. His reign ends with defeat by the Prussians.

3^rd Republic: 1871-1940. This long lived Republic starts as a quasi-monarchy, but the Republic is finally proclaimed in 1875 by a majority of one vote. The new constitution gives no power to the president, and no-one has authority to arbitrate conflict between the legislature and the cabinet. The cabinet resigns each time the legislature votes against them for the smallest matter. Instability becomes the norm, and the government changes 120 times times during this period.

État Français: 1940-44. Fascist dictatorship. As a result of military defeat by the German army, Parliament abolishes itself and hands all power to Maréchal Philippe Pétain. He runs the southern half of the country from the city of Vichy, hence the name Vichy Government.

Provisional government of the French Republic: 1944-46. Created by decree and headed by Charles de Gaulle. Partly succeeded in renewing institutions, but failed to bring forward a new constitution.

4^th Republic: 1946-58. Similar constitution as the 3^rd Republic, and it works no better, with twenty different governments in twelve years. Ends with threats of a military coup.

5^th Republic: Since 1959. De Gaulle bullies the National Assembly into giving him full powers to re-establish order. He redrafts a new constitution. The president becomes the effective head of state, with special powers over the Parliament and the constitution.

BBQ and Croquet

One of the families staying in our gites little girl had her 4th birthday today. So we all had a party with the cake and the big oil drum BBQ and sung her happy birthday. The other kids played pass the parcel and various other party games and ate party food. We stuck to the BBQ & Beer. Afterwards myself, Caroline, Garry and Mike had a really good game of croquet. We have not quite got the lawn space for a full size court but after a few glasses it really doesn't matter. Great fun.

You mean you can read in French ?

I went to the library with the children on Friday. Caroline reads the children French and English books before bedtime. Elizabeth came up to me with a book I recognised from England called La chenille qui fait des trous, known as The very hungry caterpillar - by Eric Carle, and just sat down next to me and started reading it in French. I was gob-smacked, and very impressed. She told me they are reading it at school, so I expect alot of it was from memory, but still very impressive. So tonight we found the English version of the book. Same pictures and almost identical story, just a different title, and she read a fair bit in English. The kids are bi-lingual !!!!

Schumacher supreme at Silverstone.. It was a dominant Michael Schumacher today at Silverstone in a frantic paced British Grand Prix, taking a dominant victory. [Crash.Net FORMULA ONE Newsfeed]
The master does it again.

School fireworks

Caroline and the children went to a school lamb roast and fireworks party last night as part of the school end of term. I dipped out cos I am feeling bad still. Caroline said there was 4 lamb roasts and loads of people. Really good event but nobody got to bed before midnight so the kids are a little 'playful' today. It was a typical French evening, tressle tables, loads of courses, wine and a late finish. All the kids eat separately on their own tables and have their own party without bothering the adults. It was tough for us all the get the hang of it, but now we all know the form and it works really well. Children are not the centre of attention, as in some cultures.

I can relate this this

I just read Blogging burden? and quite understand the pressure to submit a post. I'm glad no-one read me! :-(

Tour de France 2004 - Evran

Tour de France 2004

We got held up at home missed the start of the caravane but managed to catch the tail end. It consists of a high speed carnival float with cars and small lorries decked out as water bottles, coffee cups, watches, cleaning products, all beeping and playing music etc.. You name it, there is a mobile version of it racing down the street with the roadside packed with people. Most of them are chucking free samples of the products, advertising hats, sweets etc. out the back. It's quite a sight and goes on for about half and hour. The kids were happy as they got some free sweets and liked the silly cars.

We were situated at the end of the main street through Evran just before a 90 degree sharp turn so the caravane and the peloton slowed right down and we had a chance to see some of the riders close up. There was actually a break away group of two riders 8 minutes ahead of the peloton below. It was actually difficult to spot the two cyclists in amongst the gendarmes, TV motorbikes and course cars.

They rush past but it's over in a few seconds and they are gone.

and then comes a stream of backup and ancillary vehicles. The number of spare bikes was unbelievable.

It is quite a sight and there is a real party atmosphere. Well worth a visit.

McLaren pole at Silverstone.. Kimi Raikkonen has been consistently quick at Silverstone these past two days and he confirmed that he could be quick when it matters, setting the fastest time in qualifying and starting tomorrow's British Grand Prix from pole. [Crash.Net FORMULA ONE Newsfeed]
It's about time they pulled their finger out. I wonder if the engine will last the distance.

MRSA Superbug

After my recent trip in a French hospital I 'phoned a relative in the UK to give them a progress report (they don't blog) and they told me about that two different friends went into different hospitals and caught the MRSA Superbug. Both were due to stay for a few days and ended up staying for weeks after catching MRSA.

This isn't the first people I've know of first hand. Caroline's friend and a friend of her Mother's also caught the bug. By the sounds of things everyone was lucky to survive. Reports on the web, MRSA superbug has done this to me and MRSA superbug hits more children show that's it a very serious threat and increasing alarmingly. It's not something that seems to have hit the media over her in France.

It may be just a matter of cleanliness. Both of my trips into a French hospital required that I showered all over with a anti-bacterial wash (the yellow iodine-like stuff you see surgeons use on TV) before being admitted. On the several times I been into hospital in the UK I wasn't even asked to wash my hands, let alone surgically scrub up.

Fortunately the MRSA genome has been decoded which should provide science with the breakthrough it needs so people don't need to wash any more.

Tour de France in Evran tomorrow

Finished Lovely Bones today whilst convalencing. Really enjoyed the book and made me wonder if people are watching me all the time. Who knows, but I did like the bit about a child's imaginary friends. Well worth reading.

I think I may join the band wagon and read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I keep getting sucked into reading reviews about it by Amazon (other people who bought...) and All Consuming (V. popular book). I guess I will just have to relent.

Tour de France in Evran tomorrow and it passes though Calorguen (the home of Bernand Hinault) and Dinan. Caroline and I will have to work hard to do three gite change overs and get out by 14:00 to see the bikes.

Gites Permis de Construire

The French anaesthetist had a sense of humour, just as I was going under, he said in English, Have a good trip. Back from hospital this afternoon still feeling a bit groggy. I finished the Girl with a Pearl Earring and did not really enjoy it at all. I don't know why I struggled to the end; the most exciting thing that happened was when the maid moved a tablecloth without permission

Started Lovely Bones by Alice Seebold, this morning and I should be finished by tonight. A real page turner.

The Permis De Construire arrived yesterday with go ahead for the new gites which is great news. We can now start thinking about planning the work for after September.

Caroline found this Tour de France web page that details the route via Evran, which is within 5 minutes of the gites, at about 14:00 on Saturday.

French plumbing

Got the sacrificial magnesium anode that I ordered ready to fit to the hot water boiler. At the beginning of this year we had a real problem with the hot water flow rate. It started slowing down then the rate of decline really accelerated over about 1 month until the flow rate was almost down to a trickle. A plumbing friend fixed the problem by clearing out the internal pipes in the boiler that were completely clogged up with hard water deposits. In Les Champs Géraux we seem to have very hard water. The new magnesium anode (which is about 2 foot long) is meant to stop the build up as it 'erodes' away. I wonder how long the old one is ?

Anyway, I dare not change the anode today because I'm off to hospital to have my tonsils out tomorrow, and if I have a problem with the boiler I doubt Caroline will want to be lumbered with fixing it. She will be busy painting the windows whilst I'm recuperating :-) I should only be in a couple of nights but I taking the following books, because there is only so much French television one can watch. I've nearly finished

• Girl with a Pearl Earring -- Tracy Chevalier, Nearly finished, and finally the pace is picking up a now the maid has got more involved in Johannes Vermeer's paintings.
• Lovely Bones -- Alice Seebold, Caroline has read it and recommends it.
• Behind the Scenes at the Museum -- Kate Atkinson, No idea, recommended by one of Caroline's friends. This is my backup emergency book.

Finished sanding all the windows at the front of the house. On one of the windows, part of the window sill and some of the frame in the corner had all rotted away. I bought this 'synthetic wood' (mastic polyester pour bois), brown quick setting polyester resin, to patch it up. Good as new and much cheaper than a new window.

 

Found an excellent page by the French road safety department, giving good practical basic driving advice, in English, for UK drivers coming to France.

Schumi takes stunning win. Michael Schumacher wins a tactical battle with Fernando Alonso at the French GP. [BBC Sport | Motorsport | UK Edition]

Gite change over day

Gite changeover, fix door hook, fix shower rail, empty grease trap, clean pond filter, clean, clean, clean, watch Formula One qualifying
Alonso grabs French pole. Fernando Alonso beats Michael Schumacher in qualifying at the French GP. [BBC Sport | Motorsport | UK Edition]
, strimming, mowing, sand window, play football, watch football, drink beer, sleep, c'est tout

Translation error

A minor translational error caused us some slight, but amusing, embarrassment this evening.

At school in Les Champs Géraux some of the classes have been painting murales on the playground walls depicting various scenes to brighten up the school. We received in Hugh's cahier the following note:

Vous invitent au vernissage de leurs peintures murales

A quick scan of the dictionary and we translated it as 'You are invited to varnish the wall paintings'. It was obviously a coummunity varnishing party for the kids murals. So I turned up in my painting clothes after school and everyone else was dressed normally and Monsieur Le Maire was there to inaugurate the paintings. Rechecking the dictionary showed that vernissage also means 'preview' when applied to an exhibition. The dangers of literal translation are all too obvious. Never mind we still toasted the paintings.

I'm forever blowing...

I had an amusing episode with the mower. After each mowing session it pays to get the hose out and clean the mowing deck to remove all the clogged up grass and mud. It cuts better and does throw out 'clods' on the lawn. I normally use the hose, but this time I decided to use the water collected in rain water butts from the bath. All our bathwater is collected and used to water the plants via a pump and hose to save money. Water is about 1€ per m³, but there are no sewage charges because of the septic tank.

I started the blades turning as usual and squirted the water under the deck into the blades to dislodge all the muck, but this time I got covered in soap suds. Bubbles everywhere, I'd forgotten the kids had a bubble bath a few nights ago and so the action of the blades really stirred it up. At least the mower was clean!

Irritating, very irritating

The last two days I've been tiling and grouting a bathroom and shower. Caroline did all the bathrooms in the gites and never complained once. She just got on with it whilst I did other things. This time I thought I would have a go. As a first time tiler I asked Caroline's advice and (being a bloke) obviously ignored it. Mistake number 1. The job took me all day and made me ache everywhere. I tried various techniques and eventually settled on the one suggested by Caroline. As a first time grouter I again asked Caroline's advice and (still a bloke) ignored it again. Big mistake number 2. I tried grouting with a big rubber squidger thingy, but reverted (as advised) to a Marks & Spencer store charge card. The perfect implement. I also omitted to wear the rubber gloves, and now I'm typing in agony, with no fingerprints and large sections of skin missing from my fingers covered in band-aid.

The packet of grout said it was an irritant, and they were right, it's very irritating.

Tonsillectomy

Spent 23€ today for a visit to the hospital in Dinan today for a consultation with the anaesthetist in preparation for having my tonsils removed next week. George Washington died of a quinsy. That is the reason for my tonsillectomy, several quinsies (hospitalised) and bad throat infections.

Apparently it's going to be very painful, the doctor said I may be sent home with a morphine pump thingy, and I was to rest with no work for 10 days. Thats lots of time on the beach. Get well cards are welcome.

In France you have to pay for all your health care (the doctor costs 20€ in cash) but then you can reclaim up to 100% depending on your insurance covers. Americans may be used to this kind of thing, but as a ex-pat from the United Kingdom, I used to EVERYTHING being free courtesy of the National Health Service. As it happens my experience of the French system is far more favourable than the UK system, but you mileage may vary (as they say).

A small break in blogging but at least it will give me a chance to catch up on some reading and watch some French television in hospital.

A man of many hats

I've been wearing lots of hats today.

Started with vet's hat to help Caroline treat an egg bound chicken. It got poorly yesterday. We asked local chicken keepers and and we tried the remedies here, including sitting it in a bowl of warm soapy water, but unfortunately she didn't make it.

Spent a while on the mower (gardening hat) cutting the grass on the croquet lawn and front field. The lawns are looking good, apart from a few persistent moles, which is when I put on my pest control hat. I made a hole in the molehill to find the tunnel and just as I was lighting the smoke cartridge to stuff in the run, the hole filled up with earth from the mole digging. A quick poke with a stick and in goes the smoke. With luck he didn't manage to crawl away fast enough and should be an ex-mole. A bit ironic, trying to save an animal one minute and then kill another.

The fish still have white spot but at least none have died recently, so now (with vet's hat) I mixed in the medicine to the pond. The trouble with white spot is that you can only kill the parasites when they are free swimming from one fish host to the next. So repeated doses are required.

Gardening hat back on to scrape all the little weeds and grass from between the paviers on the patios in front of the gites. It's one of those jobs that sneaks up and by the time you notice all the greenery it's a major cleaning exercise. I have not finished but made a good start, because I got distracted by (painting hat) sanding down another window, and replacing the (glazing hat) putty at the bottom of some of the panes of glass. Caroline is doing the painting tomorrow so I wanted to get as many windows prepared as possible. Being south facing the windows take the full sun which seems to attack the wood stain and putty quite badly.

Whilst Caroline was at the shops getting some putty she got into a parisian parking situation. The car in front left a tiny gap, and the car behind was touching the towbar of our car. So, the only thing for it was to nudge backwardsa and forwards gently to make the gap big enough to escape. About 5 shuffles, she said

Wormery

After we got back from a nice day at La Fosse aux Vaults beach at St Lunaire our friends Linda and Ian turned up unexpectedly with a present for the children. A home-made wormery. So after tea we went worm hunting, and popped a couple of juicy specimens in the mud. We will have to wait and see what happens.

Driving in France

I got asked directions to Dinard today whilst walking to the boulangerie by a French lady in her car. I explained the way in my best French and advised her to follow the placards to St Brieuc and then Dinard after turning around. She seemed a bit confused so I asked again in French if she understood and she replied 'Yes' in English and drove off.

I recounted the story to Caroline, quite proud of myself, until she told me that the French for sign is panneau and a placard is a cupboard.

Maybe I should read some tips on Driving in France here and here before buying bread next time.

Moles

Whilst reading the Google Blog about the largest palindrome a reference was made to the movie Caddy Shack which reminded me about the gofers and the similarity to my mole problem. I'm currently waging war against moles in the garden which are wrecking the lawn. They are rife in Brittany and are a real pest. Almost everyday there is at least one new molehill which I stick a smoke cartridge down to try to kill it. Just when I think it's gone, up pops another mole, sometimes within hours. It's just like the movie and it's driving me nuts.

People occasionally say to me that the French are crazy drivers and drive too fast, but it's not something I've really noticed, but then today I think I've figured it out. They only drive fast at lunchtime. Certainly around Dinan, 12'o'clock strikes and they all drive flat out to get home for lunch. The rest of the time, there's no real hurry, but lunch is VERY important, and when you've only got a 2 hour lunch it's best to make to most of it :-)

Mother goose

Lucy (our Toulouse Goose) now has a pond that holds water for more than a day after I fixed the leak. She came out this evening to have a quick feed before returning to incubating the Muscovy duck eggs. She has lost quite a bit of weight using up her fat reserves.

Titre de propriete

We received a letter from the Notaire with our titre de propriété (title deeds) for the house and gites. I suppose the titre is the last piece of paperwork issued by the notaire after the Compromis de Vente and Acte de Vente. A good demonstration on the speed of bureaucracy in France, as we had bought the house over 18 months ago. The problem was that the titre was not ours, it was another English couples' house. The covering letter and breakdown of the account, with the amounts paid for the house, the agents fees, the notary fees etc. was ours, but the actual deeds belonged to someone else. Caroline went to visit the notaire to explain, who was extremely embarrassed and appologetic, and assumed, like us, that the various bits of paperwork had accidentally swapped envelopes during collation. Because he did not speak any English he then asked if Caroline could phone the other English couple and explain to problem and ensure everything was returned to it's rightful owners. Hopefully everything should sort itself out.

Back to work on the gites

Back to work after a day off yesterday. We had a fair amount of rain yesterday which highlighted a few thin patches in the gravel drive, so I shifted a couple of trailer loads to spread over the problem areas.

De-stoned 3kg of cherries so Caroline could make some Jam. I can smell it at the moment. Delicious. The rest of the vegtable patch is coming along nicely with tomatoes, red and yellow onions, potatoes, lettuce, haricot vert, and of course garlic.

The leak in Lucy's concrete pond has slowly been getting worse, so I've taken advantage of the fact that she spends all her time on her nest incubating the duck eggs to fix the problem. It turns out that the crack run right across and feels like it's been caused by soil movement under the pond. I chiselled out the crack to enlarge it then put in a strong cement and fine sand mix to plug the gap. We will find out tomorrow.

School show

Fête des Pères

Father's day, and the children's school show. Well to be technically correct the children's schools show because they both go to different village schools. In order to keep the village schools open the school in Les Champs Geraux shares classes with the school in the neighbouring village Plesder. The children are bussed back and forth at the end of each day. It keeps two schools open with half the number of teachers.

The school show, therefore, is both schools performing together with each class performing short songs, dances and sketches. Elizabeth and her class did some dances and Hugh was meant to be an acrobat in a circus, but got stage fright. I tried to take a few photos but the I failed to get a decent shot because the light levels were too low and/or the kids moved too fast and where blurred. I never had much luck with digital cameras, I only seem to get a decent shot outside and with a static subject.

First crop of Caroline's home grown potatoes harvested and eaten for Sunday roast.