Henry

Posted by Rosie


Just for Sian on Life on a Small Island, here's a recent picture of Henry, our cat. As I said, he's not the most photogenic moggy and this was the only shot I got of him with his eyes open!!



Now he is trying to walk across the keyboard .....

Boris is a dad, a dad, a dad......

Posted by Simon

....a dad, a dad, a dad, a dad. This afternoon I was suppose to be helping our friend Ian to get 2 lambs ready for the freezer, but to my surprise I was told that Isadora had gone into labour and Jane was with her.

Two piglets had already been born by the time I arrived but I watched the next four come into the world. It was great. We kept them away from mum for a while whilst she was in labour because of the risk of mum rolling on the piglets, then we got them feeding from mum.

We were not sure if all the the piglets had been born but as the placenta had not been pushed out the was a chance of more to come. And sure enough one more little piglet popped out - and looked very much like dad. Now she has the name of 'Boris Minor'.

That's France for you

Posted by Rosie

When you have a new Septic Tank (Fosse Septique) in France, you first need a soil study to ascertain what system you can have then when the pipework is all in, you need an inspection to check everything is as it should be, then you can close it all up and use your new Fosse. Well, that was what we were told.

So we had our soil survey, ordered the relevant materials and started to install the system - with a considerable amount of difficulty because it was necessary to leave all the trenches open for inspection. Once Simon finally got to the point we could call in SPANC (the Fosse checking body) I tried to phone up to arrange for an inspection.

Phone call Number 1 - after fumbling to explain what I needed the lady eventually cottoned on and said I needed a different number. She did however very kindly give me the words I needed (Un certificat de conformité sur les traveaux de notre maison)

Phone call Number 2 - ah yes she said - right office but we don't cover your commune so she gave me the number she thought I needed.

Phone call Number 3 - well I should have realised this would be the wrong number as it was not a local code - it was in fact in the Loire Valley! I explained I needed a Calvados number and she said ring another number.

Phone call Number 4 - "Sorry" a very nice lady answered, she couldn't help and I should go to my Mayor's Office.

Next day - trip to Mayor's Office. "No" said the secretary, "I can't give you the number because there is no SPANC to cover Lénault." She thought we didn't need an inspection but I should ring the planning authority to check.

Phone call Number 5 - "I'm sorry" said the lady at reception but the person you need has gone home. "Can you ring back tomorrow please."

Phone call Number 6 - I FINALLY got through to some-one who gave me a concrete answer to my request for a Certificat de Conformité. "You don't need one" she said, somewhat surprised that I had even asked.

Ahhhhhhhhh. If only we had know this earlier Simon would have been able to progress so much faster and the system would now be in place rather than a mass of gaping holes, that can't be back-filled because the digger has once again broken down. I repeat - Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Bed Time

Posted by Simon

We have another 'helpex'er' arriving tomorrow and it was with a sudden realisation that we did not have enough beds. Sleeping on the floor is okay for a while but for a few weeks is not so nice. Also one of the beds is Ben's old toddler bed and he is now too long for it. So I decided to make a new bed for Ben.

Over the last couple of evening I have been working away in the workshop and last night it was finished. Ben was bought in, with eyes closed, to the workshop and when he opened them and saw the bed his face was a picture. Then he saw that I had routed his name in the headboard - he was over the moon. He then spent the next hour helping us sand it down.

This morning we moved beds and furniture around, as we'll have both Tom and Ben in our room for the next couple of weeks. Dragos (helpex'er) and I got the new bed into Ben's bedroom- through the window and tonight Ben gets to sleep in his new bed. But only for one night as our other helpex arrives tomorrow. Ben is back in the toddler bed.

And I'm sure you can guess - yes, I'll be making a bed for Tom next.

Protect the Tooth Mouse

Posted by Rosie

A friend popped in this morning and whilst chatting over coffee she recounted this lovely little story which I wanted to share.

Recently, her son lost his first tooth (kicked out accidentally by his friend but that is neither here nor there!). Now in England, America and I'm sure many countries, lost teeth are placed under the pillow and the Tooth Fairy takes them in exchange for some money. In France and other European countries the Fairy is replaced by the Tooth Mouse. Young Raphael places his tooth under his pillow. So far so good. Then the panic sets in. Mice have many enemies. So to ensure the safest possible passage for this money-carrying rodent all the mousetraps in the house had to be unset and the cat had to spend the night outside!!

Much to Raphael's relief, the Mouse took the tooth and delivered his money. He was happy but I'm not sure what the cat thought about all of this!

Works Update

Posted by Simon

The beginning of this week we have been organising and ordering materials for future works plus we went to Caen to get the doors and windows for the gites (see previous post). Yesterday I managed to get the windows installed but I hadn't chosen the best of days as the wind was howling. I now have to do some finishing work but otherwise I'm really pleased they are in and the difference is noticeable. Well I suppose it would be considering what was there before!

The first of our two 'Helpex'ers, Dragos, arrived yesterday and was put to work first thing this morning. He has done a lovely job back filling round one of the septic tanks - one down one to go - and another job can be crossed off the list. He did well but jet lag and lack of sleep finally got to him this afternoon. And I didn't slave drive him, honest - he volunteered.

I continued work on the filter beds and finished laying the pipes in the third trench and got the final two trenches dug. These went much better. I decided to leave digging them until today as the forecast had promised dryer weather, which was the case today, and with the wind as well the soil had dried out. Also I did dig them further apart which meant I was not pushing soil, or sliding, into the other trenches - maybe all the practise I've had - but to me it looks a neater job.

Tomorrow I'll get the gravel and pipes in and hopefully it can then be inspected before being filled it - a lot of work just to go to the toilet though!

Well, if you don't ask

Posted by Rosie

..... you don't get.

Simon and I went to collect the last of the gite windows and it's new doors today. We had just paid when Simon looked down and saw that there was a promotion on for all exterior products. He remembered that the salesman had said that he would honour any such offers that came up between our ordering and collecting the windows. "I'll ask" said Simon. He asked. The salesgirl made a quick phone call to her manager and hey presto, they knocked 200€ off the price. Result.

Earlier we had bought a mattress and when the price came up at the till, eagled-eyed Simon noticed it was 30€ more than the marked price. He scooted off to check and found out that the price was now the higher one but as the mattress was marked at the lower price we could have it for that amount. "In that case," I said, "We'll have two!!"

I Spoke Too Soon

Posted by Simon

"Rosie get a photo for the blog- my idea of reversing the grading bucket on the mini digger and filling the far trench with the gravel just abouts works"

So it's camera and action. The arm of the digger at, full stretch, just about reaches the far trench and this will save me ages in having to wheelbarrow the gravel round. Not the best of jobs especially in wet muddy ground.

Photo taken I happily continue my task. Phut,phut phut goes the digger and the engine dies. What now - I cannot believe this! "Rosie you're not going to believe it but that very naughty digger has stop running again" (well, words close to that).

It sounded like a fuel problem or dirt in the system. So for the next hour I clean it out and tried to get it going again. Unfortunately, although I had not ran out of diesel, there was not enough in the tank to push it through to the engine. Off to the local(ish) petrol station. And after a couple of false starts I get it going again, although one of the filters had to be bypassed. I cleaned this filter and the digger worked for a few minutes with the filter in-line before dying again - so as this seems to be causing the problem whence I have bypassed it again. I'll get a new one as soon as I can because at the end of the day it is doing it's job.

And I did get the trench filled but talk about 'don't speak too soon'! Plus another job that took three times longer as planned.

Our Lawn!

Posted by Simon

I am slowly digging forward with the fosse filter beds. The ground is very wet and this is not helping matters as the sides of the trenches keep caving in. This was made worse by a very stony patch which meant the digger was continual pressing down on the same spot and the adjacent trench fell in. Fortunately not followed by the digger. The only way to clear it out again is by hand digging which I am fast becoming allergic too. I am now on method number three and this is the best so far. I dig out the trenches in 4 to 6 metres sections and take levels as I go along. Method two was to fill in the trench with the gravel to the required level and lay the pipes in. This worked reasonably well but proved slow. I will increase the spacing between the next two trenches which should stop the caving in happening (fingers crossed).

Apart from the weather slowing me up I have had other jobs as well. This included making inside animal pens as we needed to separate two lambs to keep inside before slaughtering. These are to be used for lambing pens, later, (if the ram has performed!) so being a permanent feature I decided that I may as well make them properly. Therefore, this took longer than planned - what's new there then!

As I'm sure you can guess from the above, we have now increased our freezer stock (or reduced our livestock) by two lambs and three turkeys. The lambs averaged around 15 kilos (33lbs) each and the turkeys about 8 kilos each (17.6lbs). Me and the boys spent a couple of hours making 6kgs of mince (3kgs lamb & 3kgs turkey), which they enjoyed doing.

Also we should be getting two more 'Helpex's' later this week so we have been planning and getting materials organised for their arrival. More about them at a later date. But I'm looking forward to the help, although it does mean both the boys coming into our room for a few weeks.

And the other reason for part of the slow work on the fosse is that it is one of those times of year when Rosie becomes a television widow - Rugby Internationals. Just finished enjoying the Ireland v Australia game this afternoon. Only one more weekend to go, Rosie.

Reasons to visit Lénault in November

Posted by Rosie

Fungi

Whilst the boys were playing rugby this afternoon I took the dogs for a walk in some nearby woods and found loads of fungi. The footpaths round here are also full of these magnificent creatures as it seems the warm October followed by the wet November has brought them out en masse.

I had rather hoped I might find chanterelles on my walk (I am no expert but these are one I can recognise). No such luck although I did come back with a bagful of unidentified fungi - but as I type they are still unidentified as none look like any of the pictures in any of my books. I think I need an expert to help me out! I was at least in the right location for chanterelles; on my return to the car I met two locals who were on the same hunt, but agreed it may now be a bit cold.

And cold it was. Luckily for me I spent about 15 minutes between dropping off the boys and getting to the woods buying a local map. Just as well, because as I pulled into the woodland car park the heavens opened. Not rain however, but very hefty hailstones; most were about 5mm across with some up to 10mm. They would really have hurt had I been outside.

Post Script - I have just done some Googling and I'm fairly sure one of my haul was a Destroying Angel. Just as well I didn't add that to our lamb stew tonight then!

Bed Time........

Not me Dad, I'm not tired

On and on and on and on and on

Posted by Simon

I'm still struggling on with the sewage system. After what seems like an age and a few false starts the tanks are in and the outlet pipes are now in place to the filter beds. And we carried out a water test and it seems all the levels are correct and there are no leaks. Pete (Helpex) and I worked hard getting the pipes through the gite. We had to cut through two stone walls and dig a 6 metre trench in between. It went really well. I had visions of taking at least a day cutting the holes into the walls.

Now I have started the filter beds and this is incredibly slow work and much harder than I thought it would be. The sheep are definitely learning some new words - not just the usual baa! The pipes have to descend at less than 0.5% - in other words less than 0.5 of a centimetre per metre - all on a bed of gravel. Not as easy as it sounds and very frustrating. I'm going to try an alternative method, tomorrow, for the second of 5 trenches.

But I have been kept rather amused by Saari who has taken to mothering the ducklings. She gently checks on them and makes sure they are together. If they get split up Saari rounds them up again. Also, if she's a little bored she divides the poor ducklings up, only to herd them back together again. We're not sure if that is what the ducks really want but it keeps Saari happy for hours. Although we were a little concerned the other evening as we thought two of the ducklings were not very well - actually we think they were just so exhausted from the constant doggy attention. Now we keep Saari away to give the ducklings a rest.

And to add to Rosie's earlier blog - a special thanks to Pete and Tash for their help and hard work. It was very welcome and much needed. Now I'm off to taste the roast pork dinner with fresh vegetables (all home produced) which has been playing havoc with my nostrils for the last hour or so. And Pete I'm also enjoying a glass of 'Speckled Hen'.

And talking of sheep - why did the sheep cross the road?

To go to the baabers - of course!!!!!!

Farewell Tomatoes

Posted by Rosie

I have just finished clearing all the tomatoes out of the polytunnel. Blight is really setting in now and there is little to be gained leaving them any longer to try and ripen on the plant. Red ones have been roasted and frozen for future pizza topping, pasta sauce etc, slightly red ones are ripening in the front room and green ones will be turned into chutney. The polytunnel now looks rather bare but tomorrow I'll fill in some of the gaps with spring cabbages and overwintering lettuces. And having just cast a look at my seed sowing library, last year I sowed my first tomato seeds on February 11th so in a short 3 months time, the whole cycle will start again.

In the meantime the boys and I have been busy planting something - crocus filled old wellies and slippers.

Thank You Pete and Tash

Posted by Rosie

Sorry about the lack of posts recently - we have been busy getting on with all sorts of work much assisted by our first HelpX volunteers, Pete and Tash.

From New Zealand they have been travelling round Europe and needed a place to fill a gap between other HelpX stays - and they chose us! They have worked so hard, helping in the gite, the garden, the house and with the animals. The boys loved them and after a lot of hotels and hostels they said they really enjoyed living en famille once again. Thanks to all their efforts, the Fosse Septiques are almost in, the polytunnel is cleared and dug, the kindling is chopped, the dogs have had some extra walks, the washing up got done before bedtime, Fabulous Hallowe'en costumes were made, the sheep have been moved .........

It wasn't all work though: they came to the Food Fair, we had a day at Cité de la Mer up at Cherbourg and last night we had a farewell pizza at our favourite Pizza Restaurant, Les Trois Ecus, in Condé-sur-Noireau.

Thank you very much Pete and Tash.

Hallowe'en

Posted by Rosie

No trick or treats here - just a decorated house, spooky meal and lots of dressing up. Much more fun!!

The Menu:

Starter - Blood Soup (beetroot and tomato)

Main - Witch's Special (pumpkin pasties, baked spuds with ratatouille "gunge" and hard boiled egg "eyes")

Dessert - Chocolate spiders.

Scary!!

Reasons to visit to Lénault - October

Posted by Rosie

La Foire a l'Andouille

OK - I know it's November but we've been busy and it took us until today to visit this food festival that started at the end of October.

We had seen the Festival advertised before but had never gone as we thought it was purely about andouille, a local smoked tripe sausage and not something we are particularly fond of. However, it was actually a festival of all regional food producers and had stalls as varied as chocolate, cider, cakes, snails, sausages etc etc. There were plenty of things to taste although I have to admit some were nicer than others. Generally we thought the prices were quite high but it was a great way of seeing the variety of local and sometimes unusual produce. One that stuck in my mind sold a range of products (edible and toiletries) based on violets. They were definitely very purple! I also quite fancied chocolates that were made to look like andouille sausages - but at 40€ each I declined to buy one.