My "Home alone for a week" List

Posted by Rosie

list

lɪst/

noun

a number of connected items or names written or printed consecutively, typically one below the other.

Simon and the boys are off skiing for the week and I am home alone ... something I actually quite look forward to.  You know, no need to fight over the remote or the duvet, eat what you want, when you want and have the chance to get caught up on lots of things.  And for that end I need a list.  Whilst they are risking life and limb on the ski slopes I shall be a busy bee back in Normandy:

1. Grand spring clean of the house

All rooms are to get a proper clean and maybe even some de-cluttering on the way.  I know then that for a few days at least, the house will stay tidier than normal.

2.  Sort the dreaded food cupboard

It's one of those awful corner cupboards where you can't really reach the back and I am sure there is stuff in there from when we moved to France over 7 years ago.  This week I will finally tackle it and then aim to eat up all those obscure things I find lurking there-in.

"That" food cupboard

3.  Gardening

The weather isn't looking too bad for the week so I need to get on with things that I have not been able to do earlier in the year.  This includes coming up with a way to stop those pesky mice stealing the beans I keep sowing.  Any ideas?

4.  Make some pickle and jam

I have some green tomatoes ready chopped in the freezer waiting to be made into chutney and plenty of fruit for jam.  On a recent rummage I also found some old rhubarb that will be perfect to make into cordial ready for the warmer weather.  I feel a morning of making preserves and listening to Radio 4 is called for.

Jam making

5.  Investigate using Hootsuite or Tweetdeck

I need to get more organised and using one of these might help.  Do use use either or which would you recommend?

6.  Sort the gite toys and games

Some are looking a bit tired but as a pre-requisite of the boys going skiing was to sort through their rooms and take out unwanted toys and games, I now have some new (second-hand) things that can go to the gite.

7.  Get some extra blogs written

It would be nice to get down in print some of the ideas that are swirling round my head.  

8. De-clutter my bookmarks

There are far too many and I reckon I don't need most of them.  They will go!

9.  Make a date and walnut cake

The boys and Simon aren't keen and this is one of my favourites.  It'll be mine, all mine ... although I may take some with me when I:

10.  Catch up with friends

It's not all work though and I intend catching up with lots of friends for gossip over a cuppa and maybe a slice of date and walnut cake.

I am also dog-sitting a couple of dogs, have promised Saari and Harry some extra long walks and have all the animals to do as normal.  Hmm, I reckon I might be busy this week.  

 

Word of the Week - Panic

Posted by Rosie

panic

ˈpanɪk/

noun

sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety.

You'd think by this stage in my life that I would know that Christmas falls on December 25th EVERY year.  It's not like Easter.  It does not change.  So why oh why does it always sneak up on me and I reach this late stage and suddenly realise I don't have the extra week I thought I have and panic sets in?

I have written a list to try and get organised but that has just caused more panic when I realised what I still have to do.  I am writing this blog a couple of days before actually posting it and so far all I have done is write cards ... which I had forgotten to even add to the list.  By the time you are reading this I hope I shall have posted them, decided what we are going to eat and written another list for shopping, which I shall do on Saturday when Ben is at rugby.  I should have stocked up on animal food on Thursday as well as visited a friend whose animals I am looking after over Christmas and maybe even wrapped some presents.  Final house cleaning should be done at some point (not actually sure when) and we'll decorate the tree on Sunday .... after ...

... you may want to bypass the next part if you are vegetarian ...

I have slaughtered and plucked the turkeys!  (I bet that's not on your list!)

Right, are you back with us?

So that leaves decorating the gite, logs and kindling in, icing the cake, making stollen and fudge and ... and ... and ... and .... so you can see why I am panicking a bit.

However on the plus side I do have wine in for mulling and at least I have done the present shopping!

Ho hum. Are you ready for Christmas then?  With luck we might get to this stage in time:

Word of the Week - Leftovers

Posted by Rosie

leftover

ˈlɛftəʊvə/

noun -

plural noun: leftovers

something, especially food, remaining after the rest has been used.

This week we have eaten well but we have eaten primarily on leftovers from our own Sunday roast and on food left in the gite by guests.

On Sunday Simon cooked a leg of roast mutton and being mutton rather than lamb there was a lot of meat (even more than carnivore Ben could eat) and it gave us plenty more meals:

Monday - Moroccan lamb with rice
Tuesday - Moroccan shepherd's pie based on this recipe by Janie at Hedgecomers
(we like Moroccan flavours!)
Several sandwiches and wraps

Image from Janie at Hedgecomers

Gite guests had left some sausages after deciding to eat out on the last night so on Wednesday we had sausage casserole, complete with veg they had also left and the the remaining chickpeas from one of the lamb meals.

Lurking in the freezer was some leftover pumpkin from a while ago so this got defrosted.  Half was made into a spiced pumpkin cake and the other half mixed with leftover potato and veg for a pumpkinny bubble and squeak.  Was that a case of using up left over leftovers I wonder?

In the fruit bowl there were 3 apples, also left by guests, that were a bit the worse for wear having been to England and back with the boys and me (the apples, not the guests, they were from Holland) and a bunch of overripe bananas.  How come when I buy lots of bananas no-one eats them and then when I only buy a few they get wolfed down and more are demanded?  Anyway, not wanting to waste any of this fruit I:

Cooked the apples up with some frozen blackberries which have been lovely on my breakfast porridge;
Made a banana and berry loaf;
Made banana ice cream.

After all that lot the fridge is looking pretty bare but our tummies are nice and full.   

In the UK we waste 7 million tonnes of food per year and half of this could have been eaten.  That is a frightening statistic and are more facts and figures here.

I actually enjoy cooking with leftovers.  It saves time and energy and I often come up with some new and interesting meals, although rarely manage to recreate them!  Do you have a favourite way to use up leftovers?

Word of the Week - Friends

Posted by Rosie

friend

frɛnd/

noun - a person with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically one exclusive of sexual or family relations. 

 

 

This last week has definitely been a week of catching up with friends and is one of the things I love about our trips back to the UK.  My Mum lives on Exmoor but I had already left home when she and Dad moved so I have never lived there, yet I have many friends in the area .... thanks to the Internet.  People who I have met via the Downsizer forum and Facebook and who became friends after staying in the gite, all live relatively close to Mum and the boys and I got to meet up with loads of them whilst we were there.  We gossiped, we visited places together and we ate cake and crumble and cake and maybe even a lot more cake (boy is my waistline suffering now!).  

 

Friends!

 

Sorry for those of you who I didn't manage to meet up with this time.  I will do my best to fit you in next visit. (Nicky - I was thinking maybe a visit to Killington or Rosemoor Gardens when I am next over?!).

Oh and today I am off to meet another friend who I met through Facebook.  She owns Lou Messugo, a gite in Provence and is up visiting Normandy, so we are meeting up for the first time this morning.

How did you meet some of your friends?  Was it through school or work, do you live in the same place or did the Internet play a part?  Do let us know in a comment.

 

Word of the Week - Lost

Posted by Rosie

lost

lɒst/

adjective - unable to be found

This has been the week of the lost things. 

1. Car Keys

On Monday I went to take the boys up to the bus stop only to find that neither car key was on the key hooks.  Frantic searching drew a blank.  Time to get them to the bus stop on time came and went. Time to get them to school on time, if I drove there like the clappers, came and went.  More frantic searching was not fruitful.  Panic levels began to rise especially as Simon was in the UK and I was basically stuck here at Eco-Gites with no transport.  Eventually, after a couple of frantic (I know - over-use of the word frantic but needs must) phone calls another Mum kindly drove the boys to school and I set about wondering where on earth they could be.  

I knew both sets were in the car when I moved it off the gite parking area a couple of hours before gite guests were due to arrive and shortly before TAKING THE DOGS FOR A WALK. My only thought was they must have dropped out of my pocket on the walk .... and whilst it was not a long walk it was far enough and also through some areas of long grass.  Finding a couple of keys, one on a black loop and the other a brown leather key fob would prove exceedingly difficult.  I donned my boots and was just toying with the idea of searching out the metal detector when I had a light bulb moment.  When I moved the car I had just finished baking the cake to go in the welcome box for gite guests.  And there the keys were.  No - not in the cake but in the pocket of my apron!

** PHEW **

Having read this article on the cost of replacement keys I am VERY glad I found them but unlike for this cow, Google was absolutely no help at all in this crisis!

 

2.  Important Paperwork

Simon asked if I would make an important phone call for him with regard to his business.  Of course I would if only I could find the sheet of paper he had given me that had all the important information, phone number and codes I needed for said phone call.  Several more frantic (sorry) hours of searching and I did eventually find the the missing sheet, paper-clipped between 2 bills I had paid earlier and filed neatly on Simon's desk.

** PHEW **

3.  The dog

It's OK - don't panic, she's back ... and in big trouble.  TWICE this week Saari has waited for me to turn my back and then headed off into the maize fields. She goes in to pinch a maize cob which she finds very tasty, only I think that as soon as she gets into the maize she gets sidetracked with interesting smells etc etc and "forgets" to come back out for a couple of hours.  Thank goodness she did come back both times (she will be on the lead tomorrow) and I have to be grateful, I suppose, that this was not the reason for the lost car keys on Monday ...

Definitely a week of lost things ... although in a way maybe I should also be grateful to Saari, being the third thing I lost this week.  Otherwise who knows what else I might have lost?  Weight would have been good but I suspect my mind might have been more likely!!

What's the worst thing you've lost recently?

Word of the Week - Computing

Posted by Rosie

computing

kəmˈpjuːtɪŋ/

noun - the use or operation of computers.

Simon and I have spent virtually all these week stuck in front of computer screens, often 2 at a time! 

1.  I have uploaded an advert on to a new advertising site.  Our current main site is not bringing in so many enquiries and is looking to change how it charges advertisers to the detriment of smaller places such as Eco-Gites of Lenault.  So, I have spent time looking elsewhere and then placing a new advert with Brittany Ferries.  For guests, this has the added advantage that if you book through their site before Oct 31st you will get a ferry discount voucher worth 25% off your crossing. 
 
2.  I have also be looking at all the sites we advertise on and have been updating them.  I have uploaded some new photos, tweaked text, detailed prices for 2015 and added special offers.

3.  We have been working virtually non-stop on designing a new website.  Ours is currently looking a bit dated and so a new look was needed.  Simon has been the main designer and I have been writing text, finding photos, collating links etc etc.  Hopefully it will be live very soon!

Website designing

4.  We have been having issues with Wordpress and/or Akismet (spam protection) that is marking all comments I write on Wordpress blogs as spam.  I have no idea how long this has been going on and it was only when I popped back to see if Jocelyn from the Reading Residence (who runs this this Word of the Week Linky) had replied to my comment that I realised something was up.  Wordpress say they can't help and I am waiting to hear back from Akismet.  In the meantime I am not writing too many comments as I do not have the time to tweet or email everyone to check where my comment is festering.  But if I do normally comment on your blog and you see nothing, could you be so kind as to look in spam and if needs be fish me out and mark me as Not Spam.  Merci!

Oh and all this in a week of fabulous weather.  That's not fair!!

Have you got a word that sums up your week? Let us know in the comments.

Word of the Week - Expensive

Posted by Rosie

expensive

ɪkˈspɛnsɪv,ɛk-/

adjective - costing a lot of money

This has been an expensive week and with each passing day we have got to hear the ching ching of the proverbial cash till and there is still more to spend out on.

• We have had an intermittent electric fault so needed to call out the electrician ... although in fairness this was cheaper than having to buy a new washing machine which was what we thought was at fault - ching ching!

• Poppy, our lovely Black Labrador, had to have an operation to have 2 lumps removed and the lumps analysed - ching ching!

• The lid fell off the medicine Henry the cat has to have and we lost a good chunk of the 28€ liquid that was inside it - ching ching!

• We have had to pay for the boys' after school activities - athletics, music theory, saxophone and rugby - ching ching!

• There have been more school supplies to buy - ching ching!

• Ben needs new rugby boots and Tom needs new running shoes - ching ching!

• Both our gas bottle and the one in the gite ran out - ching ching!

•  The mower is playing up and will need to go to the mower repairman - ching ching!

Yes - this week has been expensive!

-ching ching!

Word of the Week - Scam

Posted by Rosie

scam

noun - a dishonest scheme; a fraud

verb - to swindle



This week it seems the press, radio and social media have been full on stories about holidaymakers being scammed out of large sums of money when booking a holiday.  They think they are booking a genuine holiday property but in fact the email account of the owner has been hacked and all their emails and money transfers are with the fraudster not the owner.

The reporting has all been very  much focused on the scammed families but there has been little thought given to the owners who have also been scammed and the knock on effect this is having. Genuine owners have lost bookings and thus valuable income.  There is also a general feeling that an increasing number of people feel nervous booking a holiday direct with an owner.  Much of the advice given to holiday makers has been to either book through an ABTA protected site (not direct with the owner) and if booking direct use a credit card.  In reality that means holidays makers might move away from small privately owned properties such as ours. We are currently looking to use a system where we can take credit cards which will mean an extra cost for us to bear.  However there are also many other simple steps that holiday makers can take to protect themselves as I blogged about here.

As owners we have to stay constantly vigilant to not fall victim to all sorts of scams ourselves.  This week we were contacted by a legitimate sounding company which was anything but legitimate.  The lady told us that we would be advertised on a site specifically available NHS and public sector workers who could get discounts when booking through them. We would also be on a site that the public can book through whose Twitter account purports to attract millions of visitors.  She assured us we would get on average 8-13 booking a year and the only cost to us would be a £99 annual admin fee (refundable in full if we were to get no bookings). 

Hmmmm - it all sounded a bit too good to be true so I did a bit of delving.  It took me less than a minute to find a whole raft of forums and other pages warning of this scam.  Whilst the public website does exist it has so few hits and is so unknown that no-one is likely to book through it and the NHS connection does not exist at all.  Anyone who has paid up has received no bookings and their admin fee is, of course, never returned. 

Oh yes and we are also getting exceedingly fed up with emails from the likes of Julie Love with her apparently lovely picture and some so called solicitor's firm in America who insist we have to go to court and please click on the attachment to find details.  Thanks but no thanks.

Be aware and protect your money

What word would sum up your last 7 days? Something much more positive I hope. 

Word of the Week - Blackberrying

Posted by Rosie

blackberrying

ˈblækbəriɪŋ

noun

the act of picking blackberries



With most of the soft fruit in the garden now picked and a gap before the autumn raspberries are ready, it is to the hedgerows I have been looking for my fruit this week.  The paths and field edges around Eco-Gites of Lenault are now laden with blackberries and the early ones are already ripe. 

Ripe Blackberries

Last year I didn't pick many as the cultivated blackberry plant I have in the garden cropped magnificently ... and it has the added advantage that the fruits are huge and the stems are thorn-less.  This year however it is having much smaller crop, possibly due to the heavy pruning I gave it but which will hopefully see it back to it's cropping glory next year, so I am out and about looking for wild fruits.   

Now it is a case that with every dog walk, not only do I head out with dogs and leads in hand but also a pot to harvest these luscious fruits.  Harvests are still fairly small but here are simply loads of immature fruit waiting to ripen ... possibly to the annoyance of the dogs.  Leads mean walks and they are not impressed that I stop at regular intervals for what seems to them a complete waste of time.  I mean why would you pick the fruit and place it in a pot?  Surely such gems are for eating straight off the plant (both dogs do this with the lower fruits) and then it's on with the walk?!  All this putting them in a pot (and NOT allowing us to eat them) is just wrong!

Sorry dogs - blackberrying may be my word of the week but expect many more walks over the next month or so waiting for me to put blackberries in that pot!  And if it is any consolation, just look at the state of my hands. Not perhaps the best way to greet new gite guests :)

Blackberry Hand!

Word of the Week - Preparation

Posted by Rosie

 

preparation

ˌprɛpəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/

noun

The action or process of preparing or being prepared for use or consideration.

As we move towards the second half of August the return to school known in France as La Rentrée draws ever closer.  And with La Rentrée comes preparations for school.  In France pupils have to supply their own exercise books and many other things including art materials, pens etc, file paper, folders, plastic pockets ... and so the list goes on.  At the end of the summer term a list is sent home and parents are giving the onerous task of gathering together all the supplies.  Yes, I can see anyone with school-age children in France quivering slightly at this point and fully understanding what this involves!

It is something I absolutely dread because there are so many variations on each item yet each teacher seems to ask for a specific thing, slightly different from the next.  Take A4 exercise books.  The lists that Ben and Tom have asks for 4 different types:

• A4, 96 pages, small squares, not spiral bound
• A4, 96 pages, large squares, not spiral bound
• 24/32, 96 pages, small squares, not spiral bound*
• 24/32, 96 pages, large squares, not spiral bound*

* These are slightly larger than standard A4 and are apparently preferred by teachers who get their pupils to stick lots of A4 sheets into their books.

The shops however also supply exercise books with different numbers of pages and spiral bound and A5 and  plain .... and we poor parents have to trawl through them all to find the right ones.  Oh and then you have to try and work out if it is cheaper to buy multipacks or a different make and not forget that you need to buy the right number of protective covers to fit the number of different sized books you are asked to buy!!!

Oh and don't get me going on file paper (Feuilles).  The boys have been asked to get:

• Feuilles simples A4 large squares
• Feuilles simples A4 small squares
• Feuilles doubles A4 large squares
• Feuilles doubles A4 small squares
• Feuilles simples A5 large squares

Ahhhhhhh!!!

So this week I have been trying to pin down the boys to go through what they have left over from last year before bravely heading to the shops to stock up on everything new they need.  I may have been making preparations for La Rentrée but I reckon my word of the week could just have easily have been stressed or exasperated or confused or broke!

Translation:

Mum - "There we go!  I don't think we've forgotten anything!"

Boy  - "Yes! A giant school bag to store this lot in!"

If you are you in the midst of preparations for the return to the school, how's it going?

Butterfly Boy!

Posted by Rosie

Butterfly

ˈbʌtəflʌɪ/

noun

a nectar-feeding insect with two pairs of large, typically brightly coloured wings that are covered with microscopic scales.

I have mentioned on the blog a couple of times recently how good the butterflies are this year in Normandy. A mild winter obviously benefited them and we have been witness to their dainty beauty all Spring and Summer.  At the moment the greatest magnate for our winged friends at Eco-Gites of Lenault is the herb garden where the mint and marjoram are both in full flower.  Not a day passes when I don't find 5 minutes just to sit down there and watch their antics.

Tom is also very fond of butterflies and moths and a couple of years ago successfully hatched  an Oak Eggar Moth from a caterpillar which he blogged about here.  So when he saw all the butterflies in the herb garden he was fascinated ... and then announced he wanted to catch one.  I have to say I felt his chances were slim but I had obviously not accounted for his calm approach, patience and sheer determination.  
 

Calmly does it ...

Several flew off long before his had got anywhere near them, others nearly landed and then suddenly one brave butterfly alighted gently on his finger and stayed long enough for Tom to get a real close up view of it and for me to snap this photo.  

Tom with a Tortoiseshell Butterfly

Then it was up and away and back to the more nutritious flowers for the Tortoiseshell butterfly that had briefly made friends with Tom.  It may only have been a fleeting moment but it was very special and one Tom will not forget.

For other butterfly related posts you may want to read:

A Prickly Problem
Silent Sunday - July 27th
Butterflies Galore but no Ladybirds
Swallowtail Butterfly 

Have you ever caught a butterfly or have you a butterfly story you would like to share?

Word of the Week - Food

Posted by Rosie

Food

fuːd/

noun

any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink in order to maintain life and growth.

Without actually planning it the blog developed a foodie theme this week - from pizza vending machines, via pavlova, through energy saving cooking utensils and on to ratatouille every post had a food related theme.  Food has also taken up much of my time this week - produce is coming in thick and fast from the garden now so as well as freezing the excess I have been busy cooking.  

This week I have made the following for the first time:

• Berry swirl ice-cream (my own made up recipe)
• Elderflower and Cucumber Lollies 
• Red cabbage coleslaw 

I have also made for later: passata (bottled), jam and baked red cabbage (frozen).

How fabulous is the colour of this red cabbage?

I prepared first night supper for guests - lasagne, salad and pavlova and fed a steady stream of visiting children with iced buns.

And if that wasn't enough I have been busy adding new ideas to my "Food of the Future" board - recipes I want to try pretty soon.  Oh and I worked out you can make a passable gravy from scratch in the microwave when the gas runs out.

Yes, definitely a food week!

Have you cooked something new this week? Or can you recommend something else I can do with red cabbage as I still have several more in the garden!

Pizza from the Wall?

Posted by Rosie

I am quite happy getting money from a "hole in the wall" and (except for the price), sweets vending machine are great when you need an instant snack when travelling or after swimming.  However THIS is something I am not at all sure about:

Pizza from the Wall?

Situated in Vassy, a small town near us, it is a cross between a cash dispenser and a vending machine that promises you a traditional pizza in 3 minutes.  Now call me a cynic, but as far as I am aware a traditional pizza take ever so slightly longer than 3 minutes to prepare and does not arrive via a metallic box that bears more than a passing resemblance to a municipal toilet.

In Normandy the take-away culture is not big.  We do have a very nice Cambodian/Asian take-away in Vire and most towns have a kebab shop and maybe a "proper" pizza take-away.  Perhaps the larger towns like Caen have a better selection but around here you will need to look very hard for a Chinese, Indian or Thai take-away.  

I have never seen anyone get a pizza from the wall but I asked in the bakery opposite and the lady there said it was quite popular, especially in the evenings.  Me?  I think I'd rather get a pizza take-away from our favourite pizzeria, Les Trois Ecus, in Condé-sur-Noireau or maybe make my own with our own fresh tomatoes that we are now harvesting. 

With no take-aways close to Eco-Gites of Lenault we therefore offer a couple of "eat in without cooking options" to our guests:

• Simple supper prepared for you such as lasagne (meat or veggie), salad and pavlova or crumble.  This is a popular choice for the first night that guests arrive.
• BBQ pack - you chose the meats you want and cook them on the BBQ and I'll prepare salads of your choice and a pudding.

Supper at Eco-Gites of Lenault

Have you ever eaten a pizza from a vending machine or would you give it a go?  Do let us know.

Word of the Week - Smallholding

Posted by Rosie

Smallholding

ˈsmɔːlhəʊldɪŋ/

noun 

an agricultural holding smaller than a farm.
the practice of farming smallholdings.

With friends visiting last week, I have to say that getting things done on our smallholding here at Eco-Gites of Lenault did rather take a back seat.  After all there was wine to be drunk, gossip to be caught up on and dinners to be shared!  So this week we have definitely being playing catch up.

In the veg patch, after periods of both rain and warm weather things have really leapt forwards.  I have been picking red cabbage, onions, tomatoes, courgettes, lettuces, beetroot, carrots and weeds!!  Yup, the weeds have grown at triffid like speed so I have also spent a lot of this week weeding!

On the animal side of things we have had a bit of pig rearranging.  Coco Chanel was put in with Boris Johnson with a view to having piglets in November.  That sounds as though it was an easy thing to do but nothing is ever easy, it seems, when Coco is involved.  When she is in season she will do anything to get to Boris, breaking through fencing to reach her amour.  However when she is NOT in season she can see no good reason to head in with a man many years her senior, especially when there is lush grass and fallen cherries between her and Boris.  1/2 hour later and lots of running round we ended up moving Boris nearer to her and finally got them together!

Coco trying to hide behind a duck!

I also discovered that Hilda the duck is laying eggs in the top of an almost inaccessible building resulting in a bit of climbing though upstairs windows to retrieve eggs for me ... Thanks Hilda, NOT.

Then there has been grass mowing, hedge trimming, thistle chopping, fruit picking, vegetable processing/cooking, fence mending and catching the odd escaped chicken.  Definitely a week where the smallholding has kept us busy.

Have you got a word that sums up your week?  Why not blog about it and join in with the linky over at The Reading Residence.

Word of the Week - Paperwork

Posted by Rosie

Paperwork

ˈpāpərˌwərk

noun

written documents such as forms, records, or letters



We have a new car.

Do not ask about the old car - that is a long and as yet unresolved story that I will save for another day.

The new car is a Kia Cee'd (no I had never heard of it either) which we bought in the UK but from a Romanian man so all the paperwork is in Romanian.


Hmmmm.  Then let the fun begin.  This is France and a country obsessed with paperwork and form filling.  In order to import a car and get French number plates you need a Carte Grise and believe you me, they do make this easy.  At least they supply you with an envelope listing all the forms etc you need but it is still a bit of a nightmare, not least because every time you go to yet another office to fill in yet another form or get the car checked they insist on filling in loads of paperwork.  They spend ages huffing and puffing because they cannot find the right figure on the Romanian papers we have!!  Surely we cannot be the first people to have imported a Romanian car can we?  

We finally got everything gathered together and took the envelope into the Sous Préfecture who deal with Carte Grise allocation.  Did it go smoothly?  Well, not quite.  The lady there shuffled papers, huffed and puffed, spoke French at us at 90 miles an hour and finally seemed to think all the paperwork was all there ... but there was a problem.  For some reason she was unable to tell us how much the Carte Grise would cost because she did not know what type of vehicle it was despite everything being there on the paperwork.  She said we could send everything off with a cheque with no amount written on it and the main Préfecture who allocate the Carte Grises would write in the correct amount.  

Gulp.  OK.  Oh but she could not send it as it was holiday season and there was no courier!!  We would have to post it ourselves although she did kindly write the address out for us.  So we went to the Post Office and sent it recorded delivery and now we are waiting to see if we have sent all the correct paperwork.

Anyone care to place a bet as to whether we'll get a letter back saying we need something else or will we get our Carte Grise?

Word of The Week - Holidays

Posted by Rosie

Holidays

ˈhäliˌdā/

noun

plural noun: holidays

a day of festivity or recreation when no work is done

Both boys are finally on holiday.  Tom broke up earlier than Ben but now they have both now bid farewell to lessons and homework for what is an 8 week break here in France.  But before you think it is unfair that they have longer holidays than back in the UK do bear this in mind:

For secondary schools the hours are 7.50am to 4.35pm 
and for primary 8.45am to 4.15pm.  

Those are very long days and both boys are now enjoying a well earned rest.

We do not have anything particular planned for the holidays - it is nigh on impossible to get away as a family when you have a gite and animals on a smallholding.  Simon will however probably take the boys camping for a while (yay - I get the WHOLE bed to myself!) and we will fit in various day trips as and when.  We are only about an hour from the beach so I am sure we'll be up having some beach days and there are a few WWII museums I would like to visit up along the coast.

For the boys though, living here at Eco-Gites of Lenault has some huge advantages:  

• There is a steady stream of children coming to stay in the gite with whom friendships are usually quickly forged.
• We have space - lots of space.  The boys have oodles of space to do all the things that boys should be doing - running, cycling, den building, playing etc.
• We have the play area - swings, towers, slide, climbing wall - all perfect for creating the sort of adventures 11 and 12 year old boys love to act out. 
• Friends - the boys are old enough now to head off by bike to meet with nearby friends - we might be out in the sticks but they have plenty of friends locally.
• With just a little imagination there is plenty to occupy their time - they may be a little old for a few of the ideas here but I am sure they will be doing some of these things over the next few weeks.

8 weeks holidays may seem like a very long time but I know it will pass all too quickly. Now though I am sure it feels like an eternity to the boys, a time of everlasting play and just the odd nagging from Mum and Dad to practice the saxophone, do a bit of catching up on French grammar or TIDY UP YOUR BEDROOM NOW please!!

Are your children on holiday yet or does holidays mean something different to you?  Please do let us know in a comment.
 

Word of the Week - Final

Posted by Rosie

final

ˈfīnl

 adjective

coming at the end of a series

This week has been Ben's final week at primary school and in September he will move to Collège.  Collège is the French equivalent of secondary or high school. 

It has been his final week of getting the school bus from Lenault at 8.20am - he'll have to get used to getting it at 7.10am from September.

I has been his final week of no school on Wednesdays - from September he will do Wednesday mornings but he will still have the afternoon free.

It has been his final week of learning "Le mod du jour" - learning a new word a day first thing in the morning.

He has learnt his final primary school poem (he has had to learn and recite a poem every 2 weeks).

It has been his final week of calling his teacher by her first name and saying "tu" instead of "vous" to all teaching and school staff.

It has been his final week of taking  a wheeled bag to school - all the children at collège carry rucksacks and as parents we cringe at the potential damage their backs could suffer due to the weight of them.

It has been his final week of having "playtime" - I must remember to call it "break time" or "récréation" next term as he'll be too grown up to play ;)

Seven years ago we sent this young lad off to school unable to speak French (swollen face thanks to a wasp sting).  On Sunday he was one of the 2 narrators in the school play and the only bilingual child on stage!

Have you got a word that sums up your week?  If so why not blog about it and join in the Word of the Week linky over at The reading Residence.  Or you could just drop us a comment with what your word would be for this week.

Word of the Week - Performance

Posted by Rosie

performance

pərˈfôrməns

noun

an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment.

With the school and sports years drawing to a close here in France, Simon and I have been party to a whole host of performances of one sort or another over the last week or so.

A serious and rather nervous Tom

First there was Tom's school choir and theatre show in the local cinema. Being English and trying to understand a somewhat odd story rather mumbled by young actors did make this a bit of a non-event for us. The singing was however a lot better ... if only Tom had smiled!  He said he was nervous, poor lad, this being the first time he has sung in front of so many people.

Sunday again saw Tom in the limelight.  He had qualified to represent Normandy in the 50m hurdles at Vire.  There were 3 heats and he won his in his best time to date.  Well run that lad!  However under the French system it is the fastest 7 who qualify for the final and despite winning he was 8th in speed so missed the final.  But winning in his best time was a brilliant performance!

Tom, second from right, about to win his heat

Both Monday and Thursday saw Tom performing again.  Monday was his music theory show where he sang (looking serious!) and Thursday his saxophone show ... where again he looked serious!  In fairness though, I think you always look a bit serious when playing a saxophone!  Despite the seriousness he did well at both and proved you do not need musical parents to be able to sing and play an instrument.

Tom, right, playing saxophone

The week is however not without a performance from Ben as he will be acting in the show his school is putting on for the school fête on Sunday.  He's really looking forward to it.  We rather think we may not understand much of it!

Have you been to any performances this week?   Or have you performed in any?  Please do let us know in a comment.