Posted by Simon
This weekend Sally came over to see us and we ended up at an event in the heart of Suisse Normande which I don't think any of us realised would be so good and we would send
most of the weekend there.
The event was the
Week-end de la Randonnée et des Sports and on Saturday evening we went to see a band called Normandingue playing African Drums. The lady singing and dancing soon had everyone up dancing which Tom, Ben and Sally joined in fully. It was a great and fun evening with a very good band.
Then on Sunday we went back to the Route des Crêtes over looking Clécy to look at the other events. There were lots of things going on from organised walks, all terrain biking, kayaking and orienteering but we were not set up to do these but we did try our hand at
archery (Tom's favourite), rock climbing and both boys had ago being pulled along by a team of Husky dogs.
There was also a display of ,and have a go at, various circus tricks including juggling and diabolo. This kept Rosie and Sally amused for quite a while and both were getting on quite well learning some of the diabolo tricks. I seemed quite good at the most difficult of tricks - twist it, drop it and start again!
There was also information on fungi, the
countryside, tourist information, including (for sale) packs/maps of walks and cycle routes, and of course all the clubs for the various events had stands and membership information.
One small problem this event has solved for us is that Tom has just joined the local athletics club this year (as well as rugby) and of course Ben thinks he is missing out. So Ben and I are off soon to join the local climbing club,
Club Alpin Français du Pays de Flers, which has a lovely climbing wall to play on. Hopefully that will keep the peace!
ock this morning as it's Wednesday so I don't have to be up to get the boys to school. No worries, the cockerels usually wake me up anyway. Not today though as yesterday Simon and I slaughtered 4 of the biggest boys and that obviously included Mr Noisy, our natural alarm clock. No cock-doodle-do this morning or seeing as they are here in France no "Coco-Riiiico" to wake us up. I am sure the others will find their voices soon enough but in the meantime it's back to the alarm clock.
some of the ducks having decided that however much we like duck, eating 21 through a year may be just a bit much!! Despite the lack of summer grass for them to graze on (Muscovies prefer grazing to grain), they had grown well but with the year now advancing I would soon have to start feeding them more grain. Recently wheat prices have risen by 30% and I suspect that may not be the last price hike either. So yesterday was a day to reduce the animal numbers and swell the freezer/purse a little.
One of the outbuildings has been a little bit of a worry for us, as the gable end had a lean which did not look too healthy. Then a delivery lorry just caught it and maybe it was our imagination but this unhealthy lean took on the appearance of a Pisa Tower in the making. So we decided to prop it up and cordon the area off until repairs could be made.
would die for - rotting cardboard, old plastic bags, chunks of woods, a dustbin lid, an old garden fork and a plastic flower pot and of course a few handfuls of straw. Something John Noakes would have been proud of.
think it is time to bring it in to the 21st century and needs to be rebuilt. The roof is on it's last supports, the ceiling is beyond belief (as my leg can testify as it disappeared through the floorboards) and as Rosie said 'it's had one botch too many' (not my leg the building). Anyway apart from all that everything is fine! Except we had to find somewhere for all the stuff stored in this building.
most of the weekend there.
archery (Tom's favourite), rock climbing and both boys had ago being pulled along by a team of Husky dogs.
countryside, tourist information, including (for sale) packs/maps of walks and cycle routes, and of course all the clubs for the various events had stands and membership information.
ur lovely Kune Kune pigs we did not enquire any further. The pig seemed fairly content to be pushed round the busy streets (he had food although no water) and he certainly got noticed. I just hope he wasn't stolen from somewhere but that we will never know.
I had promised the boys a few nights camping over the summer holidays and eventually, last week, we got around to it. Having planned where to go an old friend, Nick, of mine emailed me and said he and his family were camping for a week in 
Brittany, St-Cast-le Guildo, near St Malo. So we joined them.
Over the next three days we went Go Karting - Tom's highlight, a trip to Le Fort la Latte, plus walks along the coast line and climbing over the rocks and looking in rock pools.
for this little entrepreneur.
