Rob and Jan

Happy Birthday To Me!!

Published October 28, 2008 60th Birthday 0 Comments

Well, that’s it, I’m 60! All downhill from now on, mind you some people say I’ve been going downhill for a long, long time… Only 9 years till I reach my favourite number!

Poseur!

Marc arrived on the Sunday before my birthday, he flew to Toulouse and got the train to Tarbes. The train was quite cheap and made it much quicker to pick him up. Getting a connection with the flight times can be a problem, we had to take him to Toulouse for his return flight.
The day after Marc arrived we all went to Hautecam to go on the Luge. This is on a steel rail so relatively safe! Unfortunately when we got there it was closed, it only opens on Wednesdays and weekends outside school holidays. Marc was really annoyed, Jane and Chris were relieved! So, as it was a beautiful warm and sunny day we had a leisurely stroll around the area and a drink at the cafe perched on top of the hill.

Jane and Chris at Hautecam

Marc, Jan and I at Hautecam

Chris and I went to Bordeaux on the day before my Birthday to pick up Jan’s Dad and her sister, Fiona. On the way back we caught up with Ray and Trish en route with their caravan only a few miles from our house. So it was a mad half hour while we sorted out all the extra visitors!

Jane and Jan had spent a couple of days before my birthday getting a lot of the food prepared, salads etc. Trish and Fiona got roped in to helping as well. Marc, Chris, Jan’s dad and I helped enormously by keeping out of the way! Cheers to the ladies for all their help.

Birthday weather was hot and sunny so we didn’t have to pack 26 people into the house thank goodness. Many thanks to all who came for sparing the time for an old git, I really enjoyed the day and although I had quite a lot to drink (beer only, I can’t mix my drinks very well!) I managed to stay quite sober. I didn’t want to make a complete arse of myself on my Birthday, I’m quite good at doing that during the rest of the year! There were 7 French friends and neighbours who called in at various times during the day and evening, taxing my French language skills to the limit.
Chris was press-ganged into being the barbecue chef for the day, he did a wonderful job, no-one died, or even had to go to hospital, well done!

Please click here to see party pics and others (click on Rob’s 60th Birthday, then on Slideshow, you will need to increase the time for each slide to be able to read the captions (below picture)).

Many friends and relatives clubbed together to get me my (almost) ideal Birthday present, a Canon 450D Digital SLR camera (my ideal present was a week with Cameron Diaz but no-one took this seriously, can’t think why…). Anyway, thank you to all who contributed to the camera, it’s brilliant, I’ve already taken nearly 2000 pictures, mostly rubbish, just getting used to the dozens of options. Also thanks again for the numerous other presents I received, lots of wine, a beret, apron and wine from Lyn and Barry and also an axe from Ray and Trish. Jan was really excited when Ray and Trish said they had bought me a new chopper for my Birthday, but she wasn’t so impressed when I unwrapped it, I’m not sure what she was expecting….

Courgettes, lovely to eat (most people agree), hundreds of recipes, easy to grow, BUT, two plants are enough to feed the village, so WHY did we grow six? Then Marianne asked us if we wanted some courgettes/marrows as they had too many! My reply left her in no doubt as to our thoughts on that idea, part of which was “where the sun doesn’t shine”!
We got our revenge, Jane and Chris had bought Marianne a small present so we put it in a big box with a marrow, talk about ungrateful, all she said was “Bastards, you bastards!”.

Jane and Chris left for England 2 days after my Birthday, they were stopping over in St. Malo that night before catching an early ferry Saturday. Thanks again for all you help and of course the Red Cross parcel with tea bags, baked beans, etc. tea bags, etc . English tea bags are essential for our well being out here, the French ones are really crap (to us anyway!) and quite expensive. Jane managed her whole time with us without a migraine, so it’s either her work that makes her ill or having to be on her own with Chris all the time! She did develop a migraine on the journey back, so was she worrying about going back to work or was it being stuck in the car with Chris…….?

Marc had to return home on the Sunday after my Birthday, so on the Saturday we were determined to go on the luge. It was cool and cloudy when we left home, raining and 4 degrees when we got to Hautecam! Visibilty was down to about 25 metres but Marc and I would not be put off.
At first I thought the run was closed as there were no other idiots around, however a slightly bewildered lady in the office said it was open if we really wanted to go on it. So off we went, it was great fun, went down the run twice, we would have had more but 2 was enough to soak us and freeze our dangly bits. Jan said we sounded like a couple of kids the noise we were making coming down!
We’ll be back when the weather is better as it’s only 3 Euros per ride. I think the staff at the Luge thought we were mad, they could be right!

Marc looking cool, I look like a demented idiot!

Jan’s Dad and Fiona went home on the 21st September, they had a great holiday, or at least they said they did, otherwise they wouldn’t be welcome next time they wanted to come over! Fiona even braved the coolish swimming pool, nowhere near as warm as September a couple of years ago. They helped out in the garden and other bits and pieces, thanks to them for that, especially dad for weeding the flower bed and Fiona for trimming my hair, at least I can see where I’m going now!
While they were here, Jan’s Dad’s dog Charlie was ill and had lost a lot of weight, on his return he took him to the vet, a scan showed he was riddled with cancer. The kindest thing was to have him put down as there was nothing that could be done.
Also, Amy, our friends Bruce and Polly’s dog had to be put down as she had cancer as well. Not a good time for poor doggies…

We’ve now settled back into ‘normal’ life, gardening has taken a fair amount of time. I was cutting some very long grass at the top of the garden when the blade fell off the mower, the securing bolt had sheared! Perhaps I shouldn’t have attempted grass that long… Anyway, I managed to get a new bolt, which made it a lawn mower again instead of an engine with wheels! Now there’s an idea, an engine with wheels, could call it a car perhaps, I expect some clever sod has already thought of it though, hey ho, no fame and fortune there then.
We tried strimming the long grass with our old electric strimmer but that went tits up so we’re waiting new parts for that. I next thought about using the scythe but couldn’t find the bloody thing. Not to be defeated by a few blades of grass I borrowed Bob’s petrol strimmer, this hadn’t been used for about 7 years so obviously wouldn’t start. I stripped down the carburettor and cleaned all it’s orifices, it now runs fine. So finally I managed to cut the damn grass, quite a struggle, but I was determined not to give up.
I found the scythe a few days later when looking for something else, the way I usually find missing things, the other method is to buy a new one, guaranteed to make the missing item re-appear…

The weather over the last few weeks had generally been excellent, very warm in the day (well, hot by UK standards!) but sometimes quite chilly at night. There have been 3 falls of snow on the mountains already this autumn, the most recent was last week.
Most of the veggies have been and gone, varying degrees of success but still a good crop in general. We’ve still got strawberries ripening, we had strawberries and cream for pud 2 days ago, lovely!

Recently Lascazeres had the most excitement they’ve had in a long time (except behind closed doors maybe). Jan was in the garden when she called me to see what was make a ‘popping’ noise. Turned out it was coming from Bruno’s electricity meter box, then smoke started coming from it as well. Ah, I thought (I can think sometimes), that’s not right! I went to Bruno’s house, Sylvie knew the electric had gone off but didn’t know about the smoke. She said she would call EDF, I suggested it might be an idea to call the fire brigade as well, especially as the smoke was getting thicker.

They arrived in less than 20 minutes, they had to come from Maubourguet, about 8 miles away, so not too bad. When they got here they just stood and looked at the (by now) blazing box. I asked a fireman what was happening, he said they had to wait for EDF to disconnect the electricity supply as the cables were alight. EDF turned up five minutes later, cut the wires at the pole behind our house and the Pompiers put the fire out in about 2 minutes, end of excitement!
EDF came back about an hour later and had Bruno’s electricty all restored within 3 hours of the fire, excellent service. They had to return a few days later to renew the cable under the road as it had also been damaged when the fire spread into the duct.

The duck farm is nearly complete now, not sure if the picture shows a feeder hopper or the Lascazeres Intercontinental Ballistic Missile facility! The picture was taken with a telephoto lens, it’s not really that close to us!

Next project is to construct the chimney for the woodburner, I know, it’s been in place nearly a year and I still haven’t finished it! These things take time and you can’t hurry a true professional, or a lazy git like me. This of course means the weather will change and Lascazeres will have the wettest and windiest winter in 200 years so I won’t be able to take the roof tiles off to get the chimney through, oh well, there’s always next year…….

Best news of all, Jan is going to make a big effort to give up smoking, not only will it be good for her health but we’ll be able to afford little luxury items like food and drink, bonus!

Here’s something to think about, it’s a question my Dad used to ask when I was small, I’ve tried Googling it but there is no definite answer, maybe you’ll know…
If it takes a week to walk a fortnight, how many apples in a barrel of grapes?
I think the answer is Tuesday but I could be wrong.

Interesting view of the house and gardens (courtesy of Marc and some clever software)..

Planet Rob and Jan

Well that’s all I can think about to write at the moment, actually that’s all I can be bothered to write about at the moment!

Love and kisses to all (the ladies that is, the men can make their own arrangements…)

Free Car Wash Time!

Published September 3, 2008 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Blah blah blah, usual apologies for slow update. I think we’re in a parallel universe as I’m sure it’s only 3 weeks since my last update but the rest of the world has moved on nearly 4 months!

At this time of year the farmers are watering the maize almost continually, which means if you need your car washed, just drive along the road until you find a place where the sprinklers are soaking the road as well. Mind you, I’ve not tried stopping and shampooing the car, perhaps that would be a little too eccentric for the French!

Through the Car Wash

In early May we went to stay with friends Rob and June for a few days. There is some beautiful countryside in that area (Bergerac), we had a couple of days out driving around the local villages, very picturesque. The dogs generally behaved themselves, except when we went for a meal at a small restaurant. We parked the car in view of the restaurant so that the dogs could see us but that didn’t stop Daisy howling. I just pretended they were nothing to do with us and suggested their owners should be ashamed about leaving dogs in the car unattended!
Rob and June were going to come to stay with us for a couple of days but Jan had a tummy bug so we thought it best to postpone their visit. Luckily I didn’t catch whatever it was that Jan had, as I’m a man I’m obviously immune to such mundane ailments. Well until August, when I had a bad case of dysentery with E.coli complications. That was my initial diagnosis but it turned out to just be a bad case of diarrear direear direhere the shits.

Continue reading ‘Free Car Wash Time!’

Me Again

Published May 4, 2008 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Another 3 months have whizzed by since the last update, time seems to go quicker as you get older (miserable excuse number 42 for being late with an update)!

February was a wonderfully warm month, we got a lot of gardening done and we thought that summer had arrived early, unfortunately it hadn’t, March was a lot colder and wetter, bugger…….

Marc, Matthew, Debs and others went skiing to Lake Tahoe (in California) in February, their regular winter sports destination. While they were there, we got a phone call from Matt and Marc asking me to log onto a live webcam where we could see them all waving to us from a cafe at the start of one of the ski lifts. The wonders of modern technology!

Part of the reason for the crap weather in March was due to David and Pauline flying down to spend a few days with us, the sun shone for a few hours after they arrived and then stayed away until after they had left. It’s a job convincing people from the UK that Lascazeres is much sunnier than England!

Jan and Pauline

This picture of Jan and Pauline by a well was taken at Bassoues. I thought it was a wishing well but when I threw some money in and made a wish, Jan didn’t turn into Cameron Diaz, so that was a waste of 5 cents, perhaps 10 cents would have been more effective!

Despite the weather we had a great time when David and Pauline were here, we went out and about around the local area and they treated us to a meal in Maubourguet one lunchtime. We played Ludo a couple of times in the evening, bloody hectic lives we live down here, we were going to play snakes and ladders as well but I thought the excitement would be too much for me! Anyway, Pauline cheats, or was it me, I can’t remember…….

David got tickets to see Portsmouth win through to something, FA cup final I think. Not sure who they are playing as football is not my favourite sport, poor David; he was confusing me with someone who gives a shit when he was talking enthusiastically about the final.

Continue reading ‘Me Again’

Happy New(ish) Year!

Published January 23, 2008 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Finally a long awaited update, although I expect most people have died through boredom waiting for me to get round to this! Anyway, to those who are still out there welcome to this literary mastermess masterpiece.
To start, let me be the last to wish you all a Happy New 2008, may all your dreams come true and fame and fortune bless you all. If you are that lucky, remember the plonker who wrote this and whose dreams have not all come true, especially the one about Cameron Diaz! Hey ho, back to reality….

Our first visit back to the UK for a year has long been and gone, it was a mad rush as usual. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see all the people we wanted to, even after extending our stay by a couple of days. It was good to catch up with family and friends and to have a few (more than a few!) Chinese and Indian take-aways.

We crossed the channel back to the UK with P&O, returning with Sea France. This might seem a strange way to do it but it was cheaper than booking a return trip with either company!
Speedferries would have been much cheaper but our trailer is too long for their ferry. One third of the cost was for the dogs, bloody cheek when they don’t even check them on the way back!

Continue reading ‘Happy New(ish) Year!’

Stop Press! Snake With Legs! Picture!

Published September 28, 2007 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Snake with legs

Well, not quite, more like a grass snake eating a toad, isn?t nature wonderful?

Jan was in the garden with the dogs and couldn?t quite make out what they were barking at, so called me to look.

The snake spat the toad out just after the picture was taken; I think the dogs frightened it as it slid away very quickly, leaving the dead toad behind.

I?ve had a couple of complaints about too much swearing on the blog, bloody (what a) cheek, I never bloody (ever) swear! For those of you with a sensitive nature, please ignore all words that are crossed through and read the words in brackets after it?..

Continue reading ‘Stop Press! Snake With Legs! Picture!’

Massive update… best get a cup of tea.

Published August 6, 2007 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Nearly 3 month since the last update, three months! Sorry (as usual). We?ve had crap weather and good weather, unfortunately the crap seems to have outweighed the good until the last 3 weeks. It has not been particularly cold but unseasonably wet, with more overcast days than clear days. The vegetable plot is not doing very well, not sure why but probably need a few trailer loads of cow poo dug in this winter to improve things next year. More bloody digging!
The only things that are really flourishing are the weeds, if I could sell them I?d be a rich man! The grass is pretty rampant as well, it has to be cut at least once a week, but to keep it really looking good, twice a week would be better.
The fruit trees have turned out to be a huge disappointment this year, after a promising start a late cold snap buggered everything up, so whereas last year we had about 10 wheelbarrow loads of fallers, this year we?ll be lucky to get 10 apples. There were 3 pears but the bugs have eaten 2 of them. If we were dependant on the garden for self sufficiency in fruit and veg we would be bloody starving by now!

We were a little upset to find out that a new house was to be built opposite us on the other side of the road, but having met our new neighbour to be (Bruno) and seen where the house will be etc we are looking forward to him moving in. I?m sure my French will improve once he has taken up residence. He is 35, and will be building the house himself for his wife and stepdaughter. He hopes to have it completed by early next year?.

Our hover mower (well, Pats old one) had been playing silly buggers for a while, I?d bought a few new bits, made a few bits in true Bodgit and Buggerit style and generally nursed it along each time I?ve used it but it finally went tits up when the exhaust bolts sheared. We are now the proud owners of a new Macillister mower. Hope it lasts as long as the old one!

Jan?s Dad and her 2 sisters (Fiona and Mary) came out for 2 weeks in May; they all helped with the gardening, which was much appreciated. We had a few days out as well, when the weather permitted, which wasn?t as often as we had hoped. Mary was really taken with the area and would love to move here if she could, another convert to the French way of life!

We had hoped to get the pool up before Jan?s Dad arrived but I hadn?t levelled the earth in time (it?s in a different position to last year). Anyway, up until the last couple of weeks it hasn?t been pool weather. It?s all finished now, filled up and lovely to relax in on a hot day.

Rokxy has become a little sod when we go out leaving her and Daisy behind. We always caged Daisy as she will chew up anything but Rokxy had been fine until recently. She now seems to want to eat everything when we?re out, so, I have made another cage, large enough for both of them when we?re not home or to take when we stay with friends.

Jan?s niece Samantha came out for a visit in June, she had just finished University and while she was here found out he had passed and is now a qualified Pharmacist, well apart from a year of on-the-job training and a final exam next year! We all celebrated with a glass or two of champagne.

Continue reading ‘Massive update… best get a cup of tea.’

Lots Of Sun, Then Rain, Rain And More Rain And Then Some More Rain!

Published May 3, 2007 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Although it has been very difficult to get over losing JJ, the arrival of Daisy has helped to take our minds off our loss. She is 12 months old and belonged to Polly?s Dad, he is returning to England and couldn?t take both his dogs with him.
Daisy is a Labrador-Whippet cross, mostly whippet in build though. She can run faster than Rokxy, much to Rokxy?s annoyance! When she can?t catch Daisy she yaps and barks at her, presumably telling her to slow down!
She is much more genteel than Rokxy, I call them Beauty and the Beast or Lady and the Tramp, you can guess who is who?.

?She has settled in without any troube, she just seemed to be at home straight way. Just before we got Daisy, we looked after Bruce and Polly’s dogs (Meg and Amy), while they were in England. Rokxy gets on fine with both of them, even though they put her in her place when they have had enough of her wanting to play all the time!

The downstairs bathroom is coming along slowly, got to step up a gear now as Jan?s dad and her 2 sisters (Mary and Fiona) are arriving in just over a weeks time. Main reason I haven?t finished it yet is the amount of work needed to be done in the garden, that’s my story anyway! The veggie plot is nearly finished now, lots of different vegetables planted, it will be interesting to see what flourishes and what fails. The fruit garden is doing well, most of the bushes seem to be shooting up, looking forward to raspberries and gooseberries etc. as long as the birds, slugs or dogs don?t get them first..

We have had a few evenings of thunder storms over the past week or so, including one horrendous downpour with high winds and hailstones, over 1 inch of rain in an hour! The plants in the garden and some still in pots ready for planting took quite a battering, hopefully they will recover over the next few days.

Jan planted some lettuce about 2 weeks ago, so far the slugs have eaten about half, they should finish the rest off fairly soon, would be nice if they left us a few. We have tried the beer trap with partial success, next is the copper wire and the ash from the bonfire to try to deter the little bastards.

Since the last blog update the weather was initially very good but then the rainy season started so we may just grow rice as the garden is doing a fair impression of a paddy field!

I already have a reasonable tan from working in the garden so much, apart from where I have been wearing socks and heavy boots, white ankles and feet look a bit silly, still, it gives Jan something else to laugh at when I take my clothes off!

The apple and pear trees are fine despite hard pruning over winter, there is lots of blossom and the fruit is already appearing on the pear trees.

We lost a few trees and shrubs over the winter, the only one I can remember is the fig tree, the others Jan can name but the only clue I can give is they are now all brown and very brittle, even I know that this means they are suffering from a condition technically known as ?buggered?.

Our nearest neighbour, who has returned from spending the winter in Paris, invited us in for a coffee the other day. She speaks good English, so between her English and my crap French, we get along fine. She has invited us to accompany her to the village Fete in June, it?s like being summoned by the lady of the manor!

Last weekend we went to not one, but two, flower markets, whoopee!! (with our friends Lynn and Barry) On Saturday, we went to Fourcҳ, a beautiful Bastide town about an hours drive north of us. The whole town centre is closed off for 2 days, with flower stalls everywhere, Jan was in her element, just glad I?ve got deep pockets and short arms otherwise we would have needed a bigger car!
See pic below of some of the flowers at the Saturday market.

Then on Sunday it was our village ?Marchՠau Plantes?, not on the scale of Saturday?s market but still plenty of plants to buy. It?s all locals supplying the plants, with profits going to charity, much cheaper than yesterday, definitely my kind of market (apart from the fact it?s all plants and flowers, so not my kind of market at all really!).

I?ve just started the process of registering the car here in France, already fallen at the first hurdle, sent off a cheque to Renault for a certificate to prove it is at EU standard, this was returned as it was not for the correct amount, the fee went up recently! Let?s hope the rest of the procedure is smoother.

A couple of friends have recently had problems with their PCs which I have sorted out. Just keeping my hand in, never know when I might run out of things to do in the house and garden!

Usual apologies for not updating this blog more frequently, must try harder.
I must update this blog more often; I must update this blog more often; I must update this blog more often; I must update this blog more often; I must update this blog more often; I must update this blog more often; I must update this blog more often; I must update this blog more often; I must update this blog more often; I must update this blog more often; I must update this blog more often; I must update this blog more often;

Bye for now, look out for another update soon (but don’t hold your breath!).

Au Revoir JJ

Published March 20, 2007 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Jayjay

Sadly JJ died last Saturday, he had been ill for a few days, very listless and running a high temperature. The vet tried several treatments including anti-biotics but he wouldn?t eat at all after Wednesday evening. An ultrasound scan revealed cancer in his liver and a blood test also showed liver problems. They kept him in on Friday night to put him on a drip and although his temperature came down for a short time but he died in his sleep on Saturday night. Floods of tears all round, we just couldn?t believe how quickly he had gone downhill. Poor old JJ, he really was a lovely dog apart from his habit of greeting people by sticking his nose into their most intimate regions! He will be sorely missed. He would have been 12 this July so not too bad in doggy years?.

We are having him cremated and will scatter his ashes in the garden he loved so much.
Rokxy doesn’t seem to miss JJ although she frequently looks at passing cars, perhaps wondering if he is in one of them. I think she will need to have a new playmate soon, she did enjoy playing with JJ despite his advanced years they had a lot of fun together. The daffodils are out, many of the trees are now in flower (cherry, plum etc) so I guess we can call it Springtime, although it snowed yesterday (Monday 19th).
The grass has decided to put on a spurt, which would be good if the mower wasn?t in bits on the bench in the garage. Must get round to fixing it soon, otherwise Jan will have to cut it with shears or we?ll have to borrow a couple of sheep, still we can always freeze them afterwards!

Marc has been over for a few days and we made a determined effort to get the downstairs bathroom sorted. We have put in the shower tray, put in a false (insulated) ceiling, and insulated the 2 outside walls, so all I have to do is the tiling and a few dozen little bits and pieces??

One of the local farmers has offered to take away the roots of the trees we have chopped down. He bought his tractor round the other day to remove them but I still haven?t cut the trees up yet. He probably thinks I do nothing all day, if only that were true.

Rokxy was a bit subdued after she was spayed, see picture above, she was only at the vets for 2? hours. That lasted all of one day, then she carried on as if nothing had happened, it was hard work trying to stop her rushing around as she normally does. She was not bothered by the bandage around her middle (thank goodness), but it got very dirty in the 2 weeks she had it on. It took the vet quite a while to remove it as it was very sticky, a lot of fur came away with it, she was not impressed!
It?s been a busy (and expensive) time this month with many visits to the vet. Rokxy was inoculated against rabies the week before spaying, this entails two visits to the vet, the second to have a blood test, one month after the rabies jab, to ensure the vaccination has worked.
We took Rokxy for her blood test last week, she was a little bugger, even with Jan and I holding her she would not let the vet stick the needle in her leg! Eventually the vet had to drag her out of the surgery, literally! We didn?t see how they got the sample, which is probably just as well!

Marc flew home on the 13th (not literally, he got Easyjet to do all the hard work), he went by train to and from Gatwick (from Portsmouth), it was much cheaper than leaving his car in a long term car park.

I had to clean the car the other day, it was so dirty even the birds refused to crap on it! It is now restored to (almost) pristine condition considering it is 5 years old with nearly 90,000 miles on the clock.

Our (best) friend Pat has been staying for a nearly a week, he goes back today (Tuesday). He?s experienced a couple of really warm days and then snow, talk about changeable weather! We had intended to get out and about while Pat was here but with JJ passing away it has been a fairly quiet time.

Rokxy using Pat as a bed, he’s her new best friend as he always plays with her when she brings him a toy, unlike us, who frequently tell her to “bugger off, we’re busy”.

Comments:

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Hi, remember me/us ?
we got your xmas card s’il vous plait (yes, Ive still got some French o-level in me), and noticed the blog address and asking for news. Well, news is we sent your Xmas card to your old address so we’ll have to call this an e-card ! Funny thing is on the same day as yours arrived from France Jans arrived, and my brother Daves arrived without any writing in it (we only managed to associate it to Dave by his handwriting on the card and the post code) - yes, we’re all getting older and more forgetful including Dave ! new address noted.
I see Daves sent a comment separately so I might be reiterating news hes already commented on but here goes:
Sis Heather is nearing 50 in March, and works in Milton Keynes in the Library for about 20 years at a guess, bruv Paul married 1 kid Daniel about 7 works for BT in suffolk, bald - Paul that is !
Mum as you probably know died 80 years young a couple of years ago
Dad, still going strong mid 80’s
Me, married to Sue just gone 22 years (bugger sorry oh bless me, I just clicked “submit comment” accidentally when the mouse slipped so you might get this twice !! - my “Victor Mildrew” is that button is too close to the narrative section), I work near Dad in High Wycombe for a company that predicts bus arrivals to a bus stop, as a management accountant having gone through a transition from computing some years ago - too busy !!
We too lost “Misty” our nearing 16 years old Golden Retriever in September (she would have been 16 on Xmas day), always a puppy until she turned 15 she survived a couple of fits and a bad forecast from the vet in January, but contracted shoulder cancer around March when the (different) vet gave her around a month, she went on to survive another 6 with a limp until she stopped eating when the decision had to be made. We lost Kyrie (another goldie) about 8 years ago. Plan is to get another couple of goldies from January - note the association with goldies as yours with “labbies” - I seem to remember Jan & Muriel always had labs when I was but a boy, by the way I think Rokxy is a great name and with the obvious association.
Strangely enough I was just asking Dad about the Rokxs, and from your blog I think I just about managed to make out Janice, Fiona, Mary & Jan from the picture but it must be about 30 years since we last met ?
Hope you’re having a great time in France, and its a bloody (sorry good) sight warmer then the UK at the moment
Have a great Xmas and New Year
Rob & Sue

Belated Joyeux Noel and Bonne Anne to All

Published January 14, 2007 Uncategorized 0 Comments

Firstly:- Congratulations to Bruce and Polly, baby Jasmine arrived on November 25th at 19:45, she?s absolutely beautiful. Luckily she takes after Mum and not Dad, although she has got Bruce?s hairstyle but hers will grow, unlike his! In the absence of Grandchildren of our own, we have ?adopted? Jasmine as our honorary grandchild, I have to keep reminding Jan that this doesn?t mean we can take her home with us!

Well, our first Christmas and New Year in France has been and gone?. Not quite the celebrations we had planned however.
Jan was ill for a couple of days before her Dad and Marc arrived on the 21st December, she was continually sick and stayed in bed most of the time. I eventually persuaded her she had to see the doctor, he gave her an injection and some tablets which sorted her out within a few days. Jan?s Dad had been feeling under the weather when he arrived, then developed a really bad cough. So? eventually persuaded him he had to see the doctor (do you see an ?I don?t need a doctor? pattern here?), the doctor diagnosed bronchitis and prescribed antibiotics among other things.
The day I went to Bordeaux airport to pick them up it was bitterly cold with freezing fog, temperature dropped to -7 during the morning. The fog lasted for 4 days, we could hardly see the end of the garden, the house was freezing and so were we. The central heating boiler can?t cope with really cold weather so next summer we are going to install a wood burner instead. The boiler also burns oil at an alarming rate and it?s quite expensive here, so wood it is from next winter onwards..

After the cold weather over Christmas the temperatures rose and we managed to get into the garden to continue the massive task of making it presentable.
Marc went back to the UK on 30th December as he had a New Year?s Eve party to go to.

We saw in the New Year, just Jan?s Dad, Jan and I, there were a few fireworks going off in the village but very quiet really. I let off some rockets and bangers that Marc had bought, they didn?t amount to much but then they were about 3 euros for 10!!!

Jan?s Dad was feeling much better by 2nd January and was out in the garden pruning the fruit trees for us. I pruned some of the larger trees (under his expert guidance), as his tree climbing days are over, at least when we?re watching! He went home on the 5th January, travelling on his own was a new experience for him but he managed to get on the right plane and get off at the right stop, not bad for an old bugger!!

The weather has been unseasonably warm so far this year, we sat outside to eat our lunch the other day, it was 26? in the sun, T shirt weather! On the down side there is very little snow in the Pyrծեs, with some resorts not open and most of the others relying on snow cannon to keep them going.

Matthew arrived on the 8th January (with his mate Jed) to go snowboarding. They drove down as Matt had bought a cheap LHD car in England to keep here for when he visits us. It?s a VW Polo, 100,000+ miles and ran perfectly all the way here.
Another friend of Matt?s (Chris) stayed with us for a few days to go skiing while they were snowboarding, Chris lives in the Lot-et-Garonne, a couple of hours drive North of us.

To earn their keep, the 3 of them spent an energetic morning digging out 9 old tree stumps along the fence by the road, so that Jan could plant some bushes. These should add a welcome splash of colour to what is currently a very plain part of the garden. There?s some green ones, yellow ones and reddy/green ones, with white, yellow and blue flowers. My knowledge of plant names is very limited (?no shit? I hear you say!) so they get called by their colours, Jan is the one to ask if you actually need to know what a plant/flower/bush/tree is called.

After 11 months of only seeing TV programmes that I (or Marc) had downloaded, Marc and I finally set up the satellite dish I had bought about 2 months ago. We can get UK freeview channels and were looking forward to seeing the latest news but I have to say the novelty soon wore off, same old crap, different year!!

Rokxy and JJ are both fine, Rokxy is now nearly 7 months old and extremely fit. She would chase her Frisbee or football around all day if I had the energy to throw them for that long! JJ will play for a while but then gets tired or bored and walks away from her.
This picture was taken about a month ago after we had a day of rain. She was like a child, digging holes in the garden and then splashing around in them when they filled with muddy water.

Rokxy with one of her favourite toys (a baby bath), it was whole when she first had it but after weeks of pushing it round the garden and chewing lumps off it, it?s a bit worse for wear.

Matt and Jed went back today (14th) after digging out another 3 tree roots this morning, the last of which required the use a rope tied to my car to assist in it?s removal. We have also cut the willow tree right back to the main trunk, it looks very bare now but will soon sprout new shoots. If we didn’t need all this wood for the wood burner I think we have enough to build a log cabin in the garden.

I really will try to update this blog more frequently, honestly I really will try (Jan is always saying I’m very trying!)

Late again with another update, I really am crap at this!

Published November 21, 2006 Uncategorized 0 Comments

We have spent a lot of time in the garden lately, there is a lot to do at this time of the year, especially as the leaves are now falling in large numbers. It?s very nice to have the trees in the garden but not so good when we have to rake all the leaves up.There is quite a lot of snow on the Pyrenees now, especially on areas above 2500 metres so I guess winter is well and truly on it?s way.

Matt and his friend Marcus came out for 3 days last month, it?s the first time we have met Marcus but he fitted in well at the madhouse, we all had a really good time. Marcus?s wife works at Virgin Atlantic (as does Matt?s wife Debs),

We went back to the UK for a quick visit at the end of October as it was my Brother?s 50th birthday, and only 10 years since his 40th, unlike many women who take anything from 15 to 25 years to get from 40 to 50!! Please Note: this does not include any women I know!

We had a great time at the party, spent ages chatting to my cousin Marianne and her husband Ian. They have just bought a house in France and hope to move over permanently in the not too distant future, we?ll soon have the whole family moved out of the UK!
The picture is Birthday Boy (Boy, Ha!!) David, pity about the Pompey shirt but someone has to support them. He looks a bit pissed but in fact he was really pissed!

This picture is of my Sister?s eldest son Stephen, taken at my Brother?s birthday party, I understand he is available on Halloween nights to frighten the life out of Trick or Treaters? and give them nightmares for weeks. That?ll stop the little buggers coming round next year!

Apologies to all those friends and family we didn?t get a chance to see, we will try to get round to see everyone next time, better still, come out and see us!

Many thanks to Ray and Trish for looking after JJ and Rokxy while we were in the UK, Rokxy got on fine with Ray and Trish?s dog Ugo, which upset JJ as he was the odd one out, he just couldn’t keep up with all the running around they did.

Rokxy proving there was plenty of room for her in Jan’s case for the trip back to England and therefore no need to leave her with Ray and Trish!

While we were at Rays we picked up all the remaining garage bits and plants we had left with them before we moved to France, so we had a trailer load of junk to bring home from Nomandie. The garage here is now full to overflowing, I?m not sure where I am going to put everything as it is all obviously essential as I might need it some time in the next 25 years!

Matt is over again at the moment, going back today(Wednesday). He has been helping me cut down some more trees that were either rotten or in the wrong place for the great master plan for the garden.

We all went to a local vineyard last Saturday to taste the wine and have a meal, we met up with our friends Lynn and Barry who live in Marciac , plus Bob who lives close to us in Lascazeres. Unfortunately (or more probably, fortunately) I was driving, so my tasting was somewhat limited. I could always taste it and spit it out like the ?connoisseurs? but that always seems a complete waste to me!

Matt and I spent last Sunday walking in the mountains with Bruce, Ollie and David (not my brother David), we covered about 20km, walking up to Cagire (height 1900m). The weather was beautiful in the morning but after lunch the clouds came down and we finished the walk in the pouring rain. Hat?s off to David as he had never done a walk like that but he got all the way round without us having to call for Mountain Rescue!
This was the view North on Sunday from just below the summit of Cagire, Bruce and Polly’s nearest mountain, about 1 hour later the clouds had cut visibility to less than 100 metres

The weather in October was mostly very warm (picture below taken late October at sunrise in our garden), we had the first frost in the early part of this month, but it can still be warm during the day, no need for a coat. Having said that, it pissed with rain all day yesterday! With any luck Matt will take the bad weather back to the UK with him.