Life amongst the chestnut groves

Life’s a beach

Shingle and stones, unfortunately this week it’s been shingles and kidney stones.

As Delia blogged last week we had a fascinating visit to Aubusson with my language class. It was a two and a half hour drive in a school bus but it was worth it. The tapestry museum had been modernised since we visited some 12 years ago and was now a modern multi-media centre.  Here’s a few of my photos of the visit.

Delia mentioned we were going to a picnic on the Sunday. The weather was glorious and the location ideal. It was actually the grounds of one of my website clients (chezbrandy.com) and was a perfect shady spot. We all gathered and chatted, some new faces, some familiar, all very convivial. Until I started feeling a bit off. We went home and things got worse – pains in my back and side – until so bad we decided to go to the St Junien Urgences (Casualty or ER).

I was seen within a few minutes blood pressure taken and a cursory examination by nurse and a doctor (triage I guess). Hooked up to a line and administered a saline and a paracetomol drip which eased the pain somewhat. Though I found just staying still helped. Anyway eventually they brought Delia in and soon wheeled me off for an MRI where they found several tiny kidney stones (calcules renal).  Finally, armed with a prescription for 5 different medicines we left for home. I didn’t sleep much that night feeling like I’d been beaten up in an alley by steel-toe-capped boot wearing skinheads. The next morning we got the prescription and things were a bit better.

I had had what I thought was a row of bites from a busy mosquito on my back. I had also had an area of skin with a sensitivity to touch that I had attributed to the kidney pain, but it started to spread and pop up into blisters. A trip to the doctor and a return to the pharmacy to cash in my new prize – treatment for shingles. I won’t show any photos of this because it’s disgusting, and just looks like what it is… a pox.

So now I have so many different drugs to take that Delia drew up a table for each day. This shows when and how many of the 27 total pills I have to take. 8 different although one has paracetomol, caffine and opium. Yes opium, which whiles relieving the pain from the shingles, in the dose they suggested made me nauseous and I had to reduce it. Weirdly the doctor told me I had to take the painkiller for the shingles or else the nerves remember the pain and it can with you for years. Perhaps he’s just a drug pusher?

Anyway, the kidney pain is now just very uncomfortable and the shingles are scabbing over (lovely!). I am still indisposed and poor Delia is doing everything. At the moment she is waiting by a broken down car where she took the dog for a long walk and returning to the car it wouldn’t start. I have contacted the insurance rescue service and it should be there soon. But I’m getting hungry and my maid isn’t here to prepare my lunch! 

Delia has returned  2 hours later than expected but after I prepared my own lunch.

It is officially hot – which as far as I’m concerned is lovely, it is also not too humid so I’m quite happy at the moment. We have had blue skies now for over a week and it does make one feel so much better.

As I mentioned two weeks ago, I was painting my full length mirror – which previously belonged to my nana – here is the final product. I’m very happy with how it looks and I think my jarrah jewellery box (a gift from my sister many years ago) really looks good and stands out sitting on the base. So on to the next project – not sure what yet, but there will be something.

I also mentioned two weeks ago that my courgette and squash plants were doing well. And I’ve picked two squash so far and I’ve got courgettes on the way. So they are doing well. My tomatoes this year are not doing quite so well. I think next year I will buy plants rather than growing these from seed. At the moment I am having to water everything in the garden due to the lack of rain. But that isn’t a problem.

We have also finally bought an umbrella for our patio area, as in the morning and at lunch we haven’t really been able to sit outside due to the sun. It has been lovely to sit out for most of the day for our meals and look down our garden. Still a lot of work to happen with the garden but hopefully by the end of this year it will be at a stage that will mean a lot less work in the coming years.

Yesterday Pat and I went off for a day trip to Aubusson with his French group. It is an interesting mix of Brits, Dutch and an American. We were going to the new Tapestry museum. Pat and I had been to the old tapestry museum years ago on one of our holiday’s, and surprisingly really enjoyed it, which is why we were happy to go back to see the new one. It was well worth the trip, we had a guided tour which explained the history of tapestry in the area and was great. We will return. Afterwards we went to have lunch – we originally had had a choice on the courses but as our numbers grew it became a set meal. Which was ok – I enjoyed the main course, but I didn’t eat the starter of pork terrine (I tried it) and the dessert was a local speciality which was with lentils in a sweet chestnut syrup and served with a type of yogurt/cream. While it tasted lovely, because of my stomach I just can’t eat many lentils and after having garlic in my main I did have to skip the dessert.

After desert we headed off to a local chateau which also has some very old tapestries and discovered when we arrived that we had been due an hour earlier. Now since the French teacher organised this and she is French (though in her 80’s), we are not quite sure what happened but we joined the tour – we had only missed a small amount, it was interesting but the guide was speaking in French, very, very quickly, our wonderful bus driver spoke to the guide and asked him to slow down as a lot of us were English speakers. Thankfully not long after that we had the English language information sheets (and dutch language information sheets) in our hands. What I found interesting was how much I could follow of the French, partly because I had the context of what was being talked about, partly because I had the information in front of me in English, but mostly because of what I had learnt in the morning at the museum. I did enjoy the tour.

Tomorrow we’re off to a picnic which should be fun. This again is with one of the groups we belong to and we do know a good number of people that are going so this should be a fun day. Pat will tell you all about it in his blog next week.

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

Summer seems to have really kicked in now, though it’s breezy today, long hot days with the occasional hail and thunderstorm to punish us. Things start happening, village fêtes and other things to do. The morning dog walk is a touchstone for passing time too. It was only a couple of month ago that the fields were short pasture that Siena would race across chasing the crows and occasional bird of prey that she never caught (thankfully). The morning walk has two particular fields that are evolving. From pasture to ploughed – tough going for Siena and only worth a romp when its something even more interesting like deer (again no chance of her catching any). Seedlings sprouting then slowly growing until almost too long to race through – the fine art of porpoising is hard work. It was at this stage that, looking out for Siena I saw a hare bounding through the wheat – I realised it wasn’t Siena at about the same time as it realised I wasn’t a tree and veered off at right angles.

I had been watching the pasture in the large field opposite our house grow into hay to suddenly be cut and baled leaving hay bales scattered over a newly shorn field that Siena could race across with glee. I decided it needed some photos, so last evening in the golden hour at sunset (about 9pm to 10pm) I was out with Siena and Delia. Siena couldn’t believe her luck and raced around like a lunatic until Delia decided to take her back since I was occupied with tripod and camera. Just as dusk started to fall I went across to the lake near us and disturbed a deer who dashed off just feet away.

Chalus, some of you may know, isn’t the tourist destination it could be. Yes there is the tower from which Richard the Lionheart was shot but which is seldom open to the public. There is a bare 17th century church. There are the ruins of the 12th century chateau but little is made of them. There is little else of interest apart from a rusting (intentionally I think) large copper sculpture of a chestnut and a fading high street bypassed by the main road racing past toward the Dordogne. However, recently there has been a lot of work renovating the central square by the Hotel du Centre. Scarcely a centre before, no seems to be showing promise, with more area for pedestrians and two new artisan/artist workshops. A porcelain worker showing his beautifully decorated Limoges porcelain and a wood worker with his varied sculptures and also welcoming guest crafts in his window. So whilst the well-thought-of butchers has closed and with him much visiting custom for the (again appreciated) Le Sax’o bar who is selling up – changes are afoot and the centre of Chalus may well be worth more than just a fleeting visit for fresh croissants.

No the title is not referring to myself or Pat :-). It is in reference to my full length mirror (see picture) this piece of furniture was my nana’s (on my mother’s side).

I’ve now had it for over 20 years and it has travelled with me around the world, but I’ve finally decided that it really did need a re-paint; partly because the paint on it was chipped and scratched but also because the yellowish colour doesn’t match my other bedroom furniture. I spent yesterday sanding it down and much to my surprise discovered that there used to be other parts to this item. My mum had mentioned that she felt it was part of a bigger piece of furniture, and I think she might be right. I’ve found marks on the uprights that hold the mirror which suggest that it may have had 2 side attachments – my guess would be mirrors. I’ve also discovered the trim on the base is a different wood so assuming that was added at a later stage. So to any of my mother’s family out there; do any of you remember this item before it was modified? I doubt anyone would have photos. I unfortunately only remember this item from the Mt Hawthorn house I don’t remember it from the Darlington one (who’s got the lollie jar?) – an aside for my non-Australian readers – lollies are a catch-all term for boiled sweets/candy/bon bon’s. Anyway if anyone remembers it, I would be grateful to know more about it – one thing it definitely was a brown colour at one stage of its life.

As you know I tried a new art class last week. While I enjoyed painting in Acrylics again, I didn’t like the teacher so have decided not to continue with the classes. Which is a shame but as I’ve been striving to get more art into my week else where it may not be necessary to do the classes.

I’ve also been working in the garden, and will be doing more today (after a first coat of paint for the mirror). However both Pat and I are discovering the issues of working in the garden, I have a very itchy bite on my neck from something unknown and Pat has a tick bite – something we are keeping an eye on.

I am pleased to say that my courgette plants and squash plants are doing well – they now all have flowers on them and with hot weather forecast this week it should be good. I will also be able to move a couple of my tomato plants out of the green house this week as the weather will help. I’m still working on the patio area of the garden, but it is slowly looking better as weeds are removed and things tidied up.

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

It certainly looks like ‘the season’ has started. It’s a social whirl this month, already there’s been a quiz (with a meal) and my Franco Britannique Rencontre group had another meal (in the same restaurant) this week. The former is an exclusively British group with everything in English (although our French teacher did join us). The latter is a nicely mixed group and we all speak (or try to) French together. This works out well because the 5 or so French natives are trying to learn English and together we can usually communicate pretty well. That was how the meal went too, even Delia managed well with French speaking. There is another quiz in a week or so as well as an outing by my French language group. This is a group which has various levels of French abilities and are separated into 5 classes on different days. Once a year they try to organise a day trip, last year failed to materialise but this year we are going to the new Tapestry exhibition in Aubusson, then a meal, then a chateau. We had thought that Aubusson would be a nice place to go with Delia’s mum and aunt when they visit this August.

Strictly the first meal was last month, it being on 31st may but 4 meals out in the space of 30 days is more than we can afford to keep doing.

When Delia’s aunt moved back to Aus, she gave use her teak garden bench. It moved with us through various houses and finally to France. It became very “weathered” and broke in a few places on the seat and on the arm. It had been teak oiled but Yorkshire winters and English rain did it in. For the past year it had sat in the garden more or less as a “feature” that had to be moved during lawn-mowing but otherwise was not much use. So I have now totally replaced the horizontal “seat” part with new lengths of wood. Also repaired the broken side piece with metal plates. So far its only primed but it still looks good.

I know this looks pretty finished but it is only primed. My next blog I’ll hopefully have a shot of the finished article.

Delia next week and don’t forget Delia’s Fit and Fab blog.

We’ve had a busy week. After my journey on Monday(see http://delia-fitandfab.patbell.co.uk/ ), I was back to work on Tuesday and in the evening we headed off for a quiz. We did know it was a music quiz so we didn’t hold out much chance of winning and that was a good thing. We failed miserably but didn’t come in last – we did try hard but another team tried harder (and they had 4 team members to our 3)! The rest of the week was a normal week – I had my French class on Friday and was introduced to a new game – mille bornes – a classic French game which is easy to follow. Planning to find one to buy and those of you who visit will get to join us in a game. Friday afternoon was art class where I’ve started a new picture. Below is my previous painting – I do want to tweak it a little, but I’m very happy with it.

Today was spent mostly in the garden. After buying my jasmine and bottle brush last week I did think it might be time to get them out and into the garden. The jasmine is in a big blue pot on the patio in front of the fence which I hope it will climb up and add to the lovely scent we can have in that part of the garden – along with the lavender and honeysuckle it should be wonderful as the evenings warm up. The bottle brush is still in its pot as I decided that weeding was a better use of my time this afternoon.

I will admit there is a part of the garden that I’ve just let run riot this year – and the poppies are loving it. I have my wonderful pink poppy back in amongst the red poppies and the weeds. My pink rose bush also loves the weather – So far I’ve had 2 vases full of roses and the bush is just dripping with more.

Next Saturday I’m planning on trying a new art class – one where I can go back and do different types of art – so oils, acrylics, pastels drawing – whatever I like. I’ve already decided I’m going to do a painting in acrylics because it has been awhile. We shall see how it goes.

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

The weather has been a bit unpredictable (though for me still T-shirts every day, Delia less so). Delia touched on our trip to Angouleme last week and I’ve inserted some of my photos. A centre for cartoons, graffiti is an art form there. Not your standard tagging… some real intriguing ideas, trompe l’oeil and in your face stuff. Some of you who have visited us will have come out of Angouleme station and seen the illustrated tower block over toward the hilltop on which old Angouleme sits. The streets are replete with so much art that “genuine” graffiti (ie  the product of “vandals”) is hard to separate from that which is art. In fact one of my French courses had a case study of graffiti as an art form and the different forms it manifests – I guess the core fact is that it is in the street.

Few of you can have avoided the deluge of emails asking you to consent to new privacy policies. As for my last fortnight of work, I’ve been up to the eyeballs in Privacy Policies. Glad its over for now. GDPR is a four letter word!

This morning was a lovely walk with Siena before breakfast. Here’s a barn door and roses.

Today, after breakfast we went over to our nearby village, Lageyrat where Châlus holds its annual fête. Yes fête season, begins, probably every village and town will be having one over the next few months. Châlus has few roads it can close without disrupting most of South West France so it chooses Lageyrat which is otherwise a sleepy hamlet the rest of the year. It is local to us and our neighbours are heavily involved in the operation of the fête. Giselle was preparing beaucoup de carottes yesterday for the lunchtime communal meal of some 300 guests. Jean Claude was running about at the fête carrying pancake batter, beer barrels and all sorts. Giselle served us our crepes and replied “jamais” (never) when I asked when she was going to get a chance to eat. Delia went specifically to look at plants and we have now finally spent all the money that her mum gifted us (two years ago) on the garden. Today we bought a bottle brush and a jasmine. The plan for the jasmine is to climb up the fence posts of the newly painted fence panels we have just put up.

Sorry this is a day late but yesterday we had a lovely day trip to Angoulême with Pat’s camera club. This was the 3rd attempt at getting there as the other two days had been rained out. Thankfully this weekend we are having glorious weather. The sun is shining and while not hot in the sun it can be warm. I did forget my jumper yesterday and did have to buy myself a light jumper (the price was reduced) as I was cold in just a t-shirt.

You do know you live in the country when a farmer is prepared to stop traffic on a relatively main road to allow his cows to cross from one field to another. That was the start of our journey.

For those of you who don’t know Angoulême (or have only visited the train station) the town is built on top of a plateau above the river Charente, it was a paper town. Previously during the 100 year war it had been considered part of England! As it sits on a plateau you can get some amazing views out over the Charente landscape. It the present day it has the tour de ramparts, which is a vintage car race around the ramparts, and various painted walls in the city (cartoons) some are absolutely amazing. I’ve got a few photos below as we did walk around the city looking for these cartoons and paintings to photograph, we did also walk around some of the ramparts. All in all it was a great day.
One of my first photos is actually of a painter, painting a control post (these are used where cars are restricted in access).

Today is also looking fabulous and I think it is time to do some gardening. The job I just love (not) but it will be nice to have a freshly cut lawn and to do some weeding where it is seriously needed. It is also time for me to de-pot my tulips and daffodils. I’ve decided some pots will be used for tomatoes, some for dahlias and others just for some fun colourful flowers such as petunia’s. However as garden centre’s are not open on Sunday’s a lot of the planting will just have to wait until next week.

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

It’s mostly still T-shirt wearing morning walks (when it’s not raining, which has only been today). Unfortunately we had postponed a photo-club field trip to Angouleme a few weeks back due to rain too and once again today due to the rain. However; yesterday was lovely, so much so that when friends came for dinner last night we sat out and ate. Here’s a couple of shots from my walks this week, La Garenne de Beaulieu and also Siena pretending to be a cow, she does love to eat grass!

 

The meal was interesting in that we put the diet on hold whilst still choosing a main from the diet “book”. So I prepared a strawberry balsamic salad with halloumi. Strawberries marinated in balsamic vinegar with ground black pepper and extra virgin olive oil with rocket and watercress on a bed of grilled halloumi cheese. Delia’s main was chicken breast stuffed with feta and olives with a salad of green beans, cucumber and baby spinach (except we couldnt get baby spinach so a reprise of rocket and water cress). Dessert was brought by our friends and was a gorgeous strawberry tart (which, to help with the diet and to my disappointment was sent back with our friends only half eaten). By the way, although I don’t yet pass Jamie Oliviers “string test” (waist measurement of half my height) I am down to 72.2kg from 83kg just after Xmas. I still have what can be affectionately called “pat’s paunch” though shrinking. As a diet it doesn’t feel so strict, I can easily imagine it as a lifestyle change rather than just to lose weight. Lots more vegetables and salad, nice chunks of meat, just less carbs.

So last week was my birthday. I’m still accepting gifts so hurry, but then I’ll accept gifts 365 days of the year! Anyway, Delia won’t argue that she hasn’t been the most successful at organising things for my birthday. She’s told me what she had tried to do or what she had thought about but this time she hit the nail right on the head. She gave me headphones that I could use to block out her tv whilst I’m watching my stuff (ok that also means she can’t overhear the “leakage” from my ear buds). And she organised the whole day. A late breakfast and off to Ambazac for lunch, I got to choose between two restaurants and the food was excellent. Then we went to “La Musée de Mineralogie et Petrologie” Certainly not something for her though she did a good job of seeming interested, even in the “Uranium” room. A great birthday, well done Delia!

Our hedgehog is back and very active, enjoying the food I’ve been putting out for it and getting stuck into the snail and slugs in our backyard – and whatever else they eat. So the other night when I took Siena out for her final toilet break of the night before going to bed (she goes out on lead now that we have the active hedgehog), the hedgehog was unfortunately on the gravel patio which meant I couldn’t really get Siena out and on to the grass. My solution was to take Siena out the front and let her wee on the little bit of grass opposite our house – but guess what there was another hedgehog snuffling about. So Siena was just put to bed, and a second lot of food was put out for the new hedgehog. It is nice to have them around, Pat just needs to be careful when he gets out and mow’s the lawn this afternoon.

Two weeks ago I mentioned that I had been painting my cupboard, well here are some photos of the completed item. Unfortunately I didn’t get a proper before shot, but in the photo to the left you can see the cupboard to the right of the wardrobe – where I’m testing out paints on the door – but it does give a good idea of the colour.

This week was also Pat’s birthday, so I took Thursday and Friday off work and we had ourselves a nice day out on Thursday. After a leisurely breakfast we took Siena for a nice long walk, before driving north of Limoges to Ambazac – a large village with a couple of restaurants and a museum. We decided where we wanted to go for lunch – a nice restaurant as part of the hotel in the village – where the service was very good and our lunch superb. After lunch we wandered up to the museum (via the church which had a relic in an amazingly decorated box). So what was so special about the museum, well it was the “Musée Minéralogie et Pétrographie” which translates as Mineralogy and Petrography Museum which for an ex geologist was an interesting place to spend some time. There was also an interesting photographic exhibition from a photographer who hid, and was hidden, in the village during WW2.

All in all it was a lovely day out.

This weekend, will be spent with time in the garden and for me finishing a drawing assignment which I have taken way too much time to complete.

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