OLD STUFF AND LOGS

 All of the usual brocantes / vide greniers (flea markets) have taken place this year in spite of the tremendous heat.  Several of them are now very big events.  We have had five heatwaves, one after the other and haven't felt like going to all the brocantes that we usually do.  We have however, managed a few and acquired a few bits and pieces of old stuff.

In reality, very little of it is very old, just stuff that other people don't want.

We did very well at our own village brocante in Paulmy early this month.

I couldn't resist this chicken to add to my growing collection of chickens.

This one cost just 1€.

My little collection of French chickens.

No fresh eggs, just fun.

See also the little pile of serviettes.

Fourteen beautiful yellow serviettes in cotton, 4€.

Note also in the background some martini glasses.

A set of seven (!) from the brocante at Yzeures-sur-Creuse.

If ever we need to serve cocktails, we now have the right glasses.

Also from Paulmy, a rather pretty cake stand.

I need another cake stand like I need a hole in the head.

For 2€ I couldn't resist this one.

I found a space for it somewhere.

A friend had a stall at Paulmy and did rather well selling her old stuff.

I admired this classic cookbook by Arabella Boxer and she gave it to me for nothing.

She had family staying and her grandson made lots of objects using 3D printing.

I absolutely don't understand how that works but am prepared to accept that it does.

Rather like I don't know how a television works but am happy to watch it.

He did REALLY well with his 3D objects and I bought a key ring, 2€. 

The beads were, I think, meant to be two bracelets.  2€.

I shall restring them into a necklace.

The pretty green mug came from the brocante at Lesigny.

It's massive event, taking over the whole village but on a very hot day we gave up and left early.

The mug was the only thing I felt like hanging around to ask the price for.  1€.

The china cups and saucers came from the most recent brocante, a huge event, at Cussay.

You may wonder about the loaves of bread.....

At Cussay they fire up the old village bread oven.

They make and sell the most delicious bread.

We ate the white loaf, called a "boule" and froze the brown loaf, called a "complet" which means wholemeal.

There was a stall selling haberdashery and craft items which looked like they had all come from a shop that had closed down.

These gorgeous Gütermann beads were 1.20€ a tube.

I have it in mind to add some of them to the pretty bracelet beads to create a necklace.

We didn't stay long at the Cussay brocante.

There were acres of stalls but we needed to get back home to our logs.

On Friday we had had our delivery of logs.  It is, strictly speaking, a bit early in the year to be having logs but I heard where there were some for sale and decided to put in an order.  In previous years we have had trouble getting them and at one point were close to running out completely.  Hence last year we ended up paying well over the odds for the wood and a huge amount for delivery.

This time I turned up at the log man's house just before lunchtime in the hope that I would catch him in.  He never answers the phone.  We combined our order with that for a friend to make the delivery worthwhile.  The wood was a sensible price and he didn't charge at all to deliver.  It looks like excellent well seasoned wood.  The proof of the wood is in the burning.

Our friends collected their share on Saturday and we spent some of Saturday and all of Sunday afternoon sorting, splitting and stacking the logs in our woodshed.  I was on splitting using an electric log splitter, Nick was on barrowing and stacking.

It was blooming hard work but it's all done and we have wood that is ready to go all winter.

AUGUST - A DIFFERENT KIND OF LOCKDOWN

It has been incredibly hot here in the middle of France for most of July and August.

We have just had our fifth heatwave of the summer.

When the forecast says it's going to be 37°C it often turns out to be 39° or 40°.

That's very hard to live with.

We have learned to adjust.

Up early to get dog walking and other jobs done then stay indoors in the afternoon.

A friend described it as a different kind of lockdown.

Unlike 2020 we have been able to get out and about with a bit of careful planning.

The Paulmy brocante was early in the month.  It was buzzing.

I did buy a few things........more about them another time.

August is a time when a lot goes on and we have to find crafty ways of enjoying it in spite of the  baking hot weather.

At the beginning of the month we lashed out on a couple of extra outdoor tables so we could entertain a good number of our friends all at once, especially as we had been out of action for so long and me literally out of the country for over a month.  A lot of our friends are part timers - people who have second homes here and are only around for a few months of the year.  We didn't want to miss them.

It all began when a friend gave me a stack of matching plates that she no longer wanted.  There were twelve each of dinner plates, salad/dessert dishes and side plates.  I also spotted outdoor table cloths at less than half price (5€ each) in Centrakor.  Perfect for a large group.

We invited the crowd over one not so roastingly hot day.  Apéros were possible under the shade of our lime tree before moving over to the table for lunch.  The French for lime tree  or linden tree is tilleul.

Later that evening we went over to the next village, Barrou, for a very special concert.

Local singer/songwriter and musician Polo with his children and friends performed French and English songs under the shade of the linden trees at the restaurant called "Les Tilleuls".

It was a truly magical evening, rounding off a wonderful day.

Nick has managed to play golf a few times by going early in the morning.

That means I'm on dog walking that day, a joy in the cool of the morning at the lake at La Çelle-Guenand.

12th August was a very special day.

Never mind it being the "glorious twelfth", the start of the grouse shooting season, it was Eclipse Day.

We had invited a few friends round for dinner and a bit of an eclipse party.

It was so hot that we decided to eat indoors.

It was a cold menu, gazpacho soup, quiche, salads and raspberry trifle.

Armed with a few pairs of special eclipse glasses and a couple of colanders we braved the tremendous heat and stepped outside to enjoy the view.

We had set up an "observatory" for six people in the garden in the ideal spot to view the spectacle at the right moment.

To our complete amazement the colander trick worked.

To our disappointment at the critical moment the sun went behind not just the moon but a very inconvenient tree.

So we retired indoors to the cool of the house to continue with our dinner.

Two days later we were out again for a "moules et frites" evening.

We have been to a few of these over the years.

Trestle tables are set up outdoors to serves moules and chips to a large number of people.

On this occasion the music was provided by the rock band "Hot Doctors".

A very apt name considering the weather!

The moules were great, the music brilliant.

The dessert was delicious.  Apple tart.

And so the fun continues.

At the weekend we went to Montrésor for an art festival.

In theory the weather was cooling down a bit.

In reality, down by the river in all those little tents it was baking hot yet again.

Our pets are coping with the heat in their own way.

Yvonne has barely been into the house for weeks, preferring to find her own cool spots around the garden.

I gave Hugo a shower to fluff up his fur a bit and make him feel better.

He wasn't especially dirty but very gritty and full of seeds.

He's getting a haircut later today.

With Nick off to the golf course early yesterday morning I took Hugo to La Çelle-Guenand for his walk.

We were disappointed.  The gypsies had arrived en masse and taken up residence around the lake.

So we went a little further to the plan d'eau at Le Petit-Pressigny.

The hazy sunshine was much cooler and more comfortable, if a little weird.

It has been a difficult summer but, as my mum used to say,

"where there's a will, there's a way".

We have not missed out on much, in spite of the ridiculous heat.

DAD'S STORY

Dad in his favourite spot in his favourite pub, October 2017.

Just before his 89th birthday.

My previous post about Dad produced some interest and comments, some from people struggling with the same broken Social Care System, some from people who had no idea that things are how they are.  I have therefore republished an old post and added his story.  It makes harrowing reading and highlights how bad the situation is.  The story is by no means complete, much more along the same lines happened but there is enough to make my point.   Read here if you are interested.

A BIRTHDAY AND A NICE LUNCH

It was Hugo's birthday last week.

He is nine years old and still such a handsome boy.

This time last year there were four places to eat in the village.  

Chez Grandma closed at the end of last year.  The owners are hoping to sell it.

La Cabane was a short lived venture.

It was a bar come tapas style restaurant.  They held music evenings and served good food.

They closed last autumn when the owners moved on to other things.

Rumour has it that it has been sold to someone opening some kind of tearoom but there is no sign of any activity yet.

Brody's was immensely successful restaurant.

It closed in mid June and the new owners plan to re-open in September, I believe.

And so now we have just one place to eat in the village.  When we first came here it was called the Hotel Savoie-Villars.  We stayed there for a few nights when we very first moved here and have eaten there frequently over the years.  It has been through several owners with different styles and now it is called L'Auberge.

The owners post a lunchtime menu which changes every day and I check their Facebook page every so often to see if it's something we could fancy.  The evening menu is a-la-carte and sometimes a little too out of the ordinary for our taste but their lunchtime menus are excellent.  Hence we found ourselves eating there one day last week. 

Because they are now the only act in town, the tourist season in full swing and the weather good, they were very busy.  We made a last minute decision to go for lunch and arrived to find it already buzzing.  The waiter/co owner asked if we had reserved and when we said no he sucked in his cheeks, ummed and ahhed and found us a table in the courtyard.  He said we would have a bit of a wait.

He was true to his word and we waited twenty minutes to have our order taken but we were in no rush.  He offered us extra alternatives to the set menu du jour for starter and dessert.

My starter was a delicious gazpacho chilled soup served with anchovies.

Nick had tarama on toasts with a cabbage slaw.

We both had the main course of poached chicken in a curry sauce.

For dessert Nick had apricots roasted with honey and a boule of pistachio ice cream.

My dessert was a pear and apricot clafoutis with ice cream.

 All followed by a delicious espresso coffee.

Total bill for lunch including aperitifs and wine, 65€.