Life amongst the chestnut groves

Moving from Australia to Europe has really made me appreciate autumn. A lot of my European friends think I’m mad that I like autumn so much but I really do like the feel of it. There is such a definition of seasons here, it is so obvious when one season ends and the next begins. With autumn the leaves turning brown (and many a time of having the song California Dreamin’ running through my head) and the nights getting cold, but we are having such glorious days with warmth and sunshine. It is all so lovely.

We had an interesting visitor this week, on Friday I headed off to my art class, and as Pat was heading off to walk Siena, I shut our bedroom window. That evening when we went to bed, we discovered a little wren nestled in the join on our wooden beam, it was definitely settling in for the night. After a brief effort to try and get it to head out the window we gave up and decided that would be a job for the morning. So we were woken by the soft song of a bird in our bedroom. Thankfully after a little effort we were able to get it out the window in the morning.

Not a lot else to say, we’ve been enjoying the sunshine during the day while we still can. Our neighbour is harvesting the falling chestnuts, the cranes have started the migration south and the flowers are starting to fad in the garden. I do need to get my bulbs planted so that we will have a wonderful spring display – so that may be a job for this afternoon.
My photo’s below from our time at the beach.

So for now, à bientôt, from our wonderful part of France – Delia

I forget how lovely October here is. In the UK, as I remember, it’s usually damp and misty and getting cooler if not cold. But then what I am also remembering is the early morning commutes and darkening journeys suddenly becoming night when the clocks go back. Or perhaps even further back to living in Wales, where the rain is a constant companion. What happens in my life is a bit less frenetic now. I am rising and walking Siena soon after dawn at this time of year. This, of course, brings cooler temperatures and some mist, but it’s the light that is perfect; the “golden hour” beloved of photographers and artists but usually too early (in summer) or too cold (in winter).

October also brings the ripening chestnuts. I avoid the main groves as I lack a hard hat, but I can hear the regular thud as the large “chataignes griffé” (grafted chestnuts) fall. Last year I saw my neighbour actually doing the grafting onto young chestnut sapling rootstock. My regular morning walk takes me up a track lined with wild chestnuts whose fruit is much smaller (and safer!). Siena carefully avoids walking on the track since the chestnut casings are painfully prickly.

Last week I was on this same walk and encountered two hunters whom I had seen several times before and so they recognised me. One asked if I had insurance against being shot. I was still processing this and so hadn’t time to register alarm before he said he was joking. I carried on as if I knew this, but it is a concern, especially after the hunters enjoy a long and perhaps, inebriating lunchtime!

Perhaps this October is especially good for me is that I lost so much of the summer avoiding anything that might hurt my shingles affected torso. It’s only sensitive now, uncomfortable to wear a shirt but otherwise not affecting me. Phew! And it does mean that I savour the morning walk just that little bit more.

Autumn has arrived and I can also safely say that Pat is definitely on the mend, which is all good. We have had a wonderful summer and it is still warm enough during the day to not worry about a jumper, but it is cool in the mornings and the evenings, so much so that I’ve started the process of packing up my summer clothes and getting my winter ones out. It has been an interesting process as I’ve had to also get rid of clothes that no longer fit but some of them are ones that I like, but thankfully there isn’t that much that needs to be replaced.

I really enjoyed our trip to the seaside a couple of weeks back. It was fantastic and so relaxing. I really enjoy being beside the sea, especially when there is a white sandy beach. We were able to do some lovely walks, which Pat really hasn’t been able to do for a while so that was great. Siena loved it and it was great to actually exhaust her.

We went for a lovely walk today around a nearby lake as it was a wonderful day with the sunshine out and no breeze, very relaxing and something we really enjoyed. The rest of my week has been very busy though I have started back at art class. I will admit for the first time I really struggled to choose a picture to paint. I’ve ended up with an Australian wildflower which I didn’t know/recognise (a Spiked Andersonia if you are interested). I’m not sure how it will turn out, but I think this painting will take me some time.

Tomorrow’s plan is to get back into the garden to try and sort a few things before the autumn really hits, I did some transplanting of plants last weekend and so far they all seemed to have survived. I have however ripped up the courgette and squash plants that I had in the garden and I’ve only got 2 tomato plants left (though I didn’t have many and they didn’t go well this year) and after tomorrow – no tomato plants, but I will be putting my bulbs in so that I have a fantastic spring display – hopefully.

Do have a look at the below blogs, Pat has still been blogging over the past couple of months and there are some good photos.

So for now, à bientôt, from our wonderful part of France – Delia

Here I sit listening to ABC Jazz at the breakfast table (every other meal table too, but it is still morning…) gazing over the top of my laptop at the view (Delia doing her blog). We have missed a few blogs what with breaks, visitors and illness. I am getting better every day now, just still very sensitive around the midriff but shirt-wearing is bearable. Shirt-wise thats a real boon because it’s got chilly indoors. These houses with metre thick walls are wonderful in the heat but need warming up as the days shorten. I actually need a fleece on the morning dog walk but not on the afternoon one when its in the mid twenties and nicely sunny.

Our 10th Anniversary weekend away was a wonderful break. We did almost nothing but walk barefoot on the beach. We had been to the same gite last year too, which, being about 5kms from the beach was not overpriced and, more importantly, was dog-friendly. Only Saturday was overcast with rain squalls visible out to sea, otherwise the weather was glorious. As usual, I had forgotten my hat, so we bought yet another one to protect my scantily covered pate. I think that’ll be 4 I have now (plus another I left in a café only two hours after having bought it, a few years back). We found a spot that, because of being over a kilometre walk through woodland, leads to an almost deserted stretch of beach. Siena was in seventh heaven, loving the sand between her pads as much as we did between our toes. We did some (other) touristy things too, such as climbing 183 steps to the top of the only lighthouse on that stretch of coast. A lovely view with the pyrenees just faintly visible 70kms to the south especially notable in Landes which is very flat. We also drank too much and ate too many chips.

Sorry the posts have been a bit erratic, and Delia’s fit and fab posts too.  Delia’s been busy lookig after me, though I am much better, albeit still clutching my midriff on bumpy roads to “hold myself together” neuralgia-wise.

This is a filler until next week, not too sure who will do that, me I expect, and delia will do a fit and fab post.

We went to the beach for a tenth anniversary treat, here’s a taster

Firstly let me apologise for the erratic posting of the past few weeks. With me being ill neither of us seemed to have spare time. Once Delia’s mum arrived other priorities also intervened and, once her Aunty Barb had arrived we left for our Corsican holiday.

At that time I was still needing the numbing patches and painkillers for the shingles. The road to Bordeaux was mostly smooth so I was relatively comfortable in the car. The transfer to the airport and the flight went uneventfully too. Volotea is a Spanish budget airline – like ryanair our seat choices seemed to separate us intentionally though legroom was better and I did have a window seat and a good view of the footpaths and precipitous roads on our approach to Bastia flying over the Corsican mountains.

We got into our house rental quite late and our first encounter with the hazardous driveway entry to our parking. Our hire car had something called Active city braking that meant poor Delia found it difficult to rev the engine high enough to get up the 40° slope and the small final step. To her credit, by the time the holiday was over she was whizzing up the slope like a Corsican taxi driver!

A lift from the owner into town and a recommended restaurant venue gave us a leisurely introduction to the city traffic. The marina-side restaurant, like many in Bastia served a wonderful seafood menu (spider crab risotto for me).

A taxi from the main city square was an easy ride home (later in the week we were to find that this taxi rank wasn’t always as useful a spot to find a cab). That night, up in the hills above Bastia, though the windows of our vast first floor bedroom we gazed as the moon rose over the sea and gave us a wonderful view of Bastia and its ferry harbour below. This same view at dawn afforded a beautiful if drowsy view of sunrise later that week. We explored the hills in which our house was situated later in the week by car and on foot. On foot was less successful as paths were not where the map claimed and my shingles meant I flagged somewhat. We weren’t able to fully enjoy the rugged mountain trails with two septagenarians and me recovering.

The tour of the Cap de Corse was our main encounter with the precipitous roads we had observed on our flight in. Delia drove bravely around the hairy roads and her mum scarcely gasped at all at the sheer drops beside her.

Sea food predominated (except Delia who hates all things marine, but nevertheless had not shortage of delicious meals). I especially enjoyed, in another harbourside restaurant, a pair of dorade fillets with cockles and mussels accompaniment. We did try a “Corsican” pizza with figarolle (a particularly Corsican sausage hailed by the Hairy Bikers in a show we caught before leaving for Corsica). Delia and I were disappointed as it was mostly made from boar’s blood with some boar meat, a bit strongly flavoured for us. However, the main enjoyment of the holiday, for me at least, was definitely the lovely food, especially the gourmet restaurant for our last meal on the day we departed.

Back in Haute Vienne now things seem a lot quieter. Corsica was surprisingly touristy – I had expected the placidity of Crete but, instead, everywhere bustled and, as tourists, we were well-catered for, though I would have preferred more authentic Corsica I think.

The summer has certainly hit with force now. Its been heading to 40°C and at least in the 30’s for a fortnight or so now. It set to break with temperature in the 20s and rain, just when Delia’s mum arrives.

Not a lot to report from me these last 3 weeks, Delia missed a week and took my place last week. But I’m still incapacitated by shingles though these last few days it does seem to be improving so perhaps I do not have what the doctor called “postherpetic neuralgia” which apparently happens to 1 in 5 after shingles. The rash is still there though fading. Its good to know that it is just pain though, and not a progressive illness or a symptom of something more serious. The doc’s been trying things out on me to find something that will work for the pain… various antispasmodics, anti depressants and anti epileptics. Currently its ketoprofene, a cocktail pill of paracetamol caffeine and opium, lidocaine patches and amitryptiline at night. Travelling as a passenger on bumpy roads is the worst, apart from being very painful, with all these pills I rattle a bit too. I went into Chalus with Delia and her mum yesterday and it was merely uncomfortable.

I’m fine if I just sit still which means poor Delia has to do everything from cooking and cleaning to dog walking and nursing, a lot of pressure on her I’m sorry to say. At least I can do my work, I’ve been doing a shop site weebaglady.co.uk for someone we met on a dog walk and who it transpires lives between the wilds of north west Scotland and Lageyrat whose church spire can be seen from our upstairs windows. I have had to endure the wearing of a shirt though when they have visited me to discuss the site.

I haven’t been able to make my last couple of photo club meetings so I invited them to our place last Sunday so I didn’t have to travel. With the photo club we got some varied photos of Beaulieu perhaps to do a photobook. I’ve already got many of my own from all seasons but other photographers, some much more expert than me, could give a different perspective.

Firstly the apology, with this blog being so late. Unfortunately life has caught up with me over the past 4 weeks. Work has been very busy and with Pat being ill a lot has had to fall off my to-do list. My blog writing was one of these items. I could also do with some sleep, the combination of the heat and a very restless Pat has meant that I’ve not had many a good night sleep.

We seem to have finally come to a combination of medicine that seems to be working for Pat so finally he might have some relief? He has the camera club here today (he couldn’t do the drive to them) so I’m upstairs out of the way. I have however made some courgette muffins for them (I’ve got so many courgettes and yellow squash this year) which are surprisingly yummy and healthy (one always has to taste test before giving them to others)! I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting on what can be made with courgettes this year, along with giving some away.

Yes it is hot hear in France and in our part of France very hot. It’s not the heat that is so unusual hear, but the lack of rain. We are in the Perigord vert, which means the green Periogord and summers are usually hot and humid – with the humidity building up until we have a thunderstorm and then the cycle starts again. This year however it has been dry and the rain has not come, so my grass is dead and there is lots of watering of the garden to be had. I will be honest for me it actually feels like a true summer this year which I’m grateful for.

I will admit I had to do house cleaning yesterday, a combination of the camera group coming today and my mum arriving at the end of the week, I really did feel it was necessary to do – house cleaning really isn’t fun in 35 degree heat, but the tiled floor dried really quickly as did my counterpane. For those of you who don’t know what a counterpane is, it’s a type of bedspread. So I decided yesterday that it was in desperate need of a wash – it states dry clean only – but that is just not going to happen – so I took it downstairs, too big for the washing machine. I remembered a friend used to have to wash her duvet in the bathtub, so upstairs we go. 1 bathtub, some washing powder one counterpane, and just add water and my feet – I was stomping up and down the bath on top of my counterpane – the water was filthy. You don’t see the water in your washing machine which I think I am now eternally grateful for. A change of water and a second stomping and things were looking much better. I then rinsed it, not an easy task as with all the water added it was very heavy. A final stomping, to get the water out and then the joy of carrying it down stairs and out to the washing line.

With the house now being somewhat cleaner and things seem to be slowly returning to normal – we hope I wish you à bientôt, from our wonderful part of France – Delia

As I sit here typing, the dogs a few houses are barking, as usual, it’s annoying but at least they’re quiet when their owner’s home. Also at the moment is a squawking magpie because Wallace is terrorising its fledgling. Otherwise it’s a quiet hamlet or “Lieue Dit” which translates as “place said”.  Delia has a constant battle to stop Siena running down the bottom of the garden to bark at ramblers, dogs barking in the distance, or what ever it is that Siena thinks she has heard!  Delia’s never had a dog that barked much. Me? All of them.

Just some photos from a sunset foray a few weeks ago

The cherries have passed now, I actually asked my neighbour if he would mind me taking some from his tree. They’re small but juicy. I have a cherry stoner I bought when we lived in Leicester where the house was built on an old cherry orchard. Delia can’t eat cherries she has discovered to her regret, but not me, my porridge was even tastier. Then came the blueberries. Our blueberry bush is protected (mostly) by the fact that the nearby cherry tree fruits slightly earlier giving plenty of distraction for the birds. Not a huge crop this year but still very satisfying for us both to grow our own.

I had hoped to talk of my health woes in the past tense but unfortunately my shingles continues. The disgusting rash is healing well but it doesn’t reflect the extreme sensitivity and pain of the nerves still affected. The best way I can describe it is like very bad sunburn, I can’t wear a shirt and the pain only lessens when I sit still, slight jarring (like walking) has to be done carefully or the pain is excruciating. The plate-sized affected area seems to be moving back towards where the shingles first showed as a line of, what seemed to be, insect bites;  my theory (hope?) is that it’s going vanish where it started.  In addition, the kidneys flare up when I am lying down and the pain killers wear off during the night it wakes me up. At least Delia recovered from her tummy bug fairly quickly and is back to slaving away doing everything around the house (and out.. she mowed the lawn last week for the first time ever!). She’s been great, I feel guilty about all she has had to be doing without my help.

What an interesting couple of weeks! As you will all know Pat has unfortunately been ill. Thankfully the pain from the kidney stones has lessened and his medication is down to pain-killers and 1 tablet a day for the shingles pain. You do realise how much your partner does when they are ill and you have to do everything. One thing I did do was cooking 2 meals in one which this week I was very, very thankful for as I got ill. Yep, on Tuesday after lunch I started to feel slightly off and it appears I had some type of stomach bug. Thankfully it didn’t last too long – but I did have to stop eating for over 24 hours (which is where those extra meals came in handy for Pat’s dinner, he just had to reheat), but on Friday I had some toast (with vegemite of course) for breakfast and had no ill effects, however this was after a trip to the chemist for some drugs of my own.

I was glad that I was feeling much better as I had my student exhibition opening on Friday evening, and event I do look forward to each year and I loved the pictures I had in this year. See the photos below. Pat did come with me, which was nice as I wasn’t sure he would be up to it, but he took some pain killers and survived the hour, with a couple of drinks of orange juice. We also invited some new friends to come, which was great as they ran into some people they knew and really enjoyed themselves.

This morning I’ve been out into the garden, mowing the lawn. Usually one of Pat’s jobs, but he really isn’t up to it, and because of the glorious weather we’ve been having (with the occasional rain shower) the grass has gone berserk. So I was out there with the new lawn mower (I did have to get Pat to fill it with oil and petrol and explain how to start it), unfortunately the rain started (it wasn’t due to tomorrow) so I’ve only got it half done. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow. Hopefully the rain will clear this afternoon as it is Bastille day and there will be lots of firework displays happening this evening. If we are up to it, we may go to one, but they don’t start until late – generally around 11:00 pm – due to it not getting dark to around 10:30 pm.

So for now, à bientôt, from our wonderful part of France – Delia