August is a Wicked Month!

Half way through August already, the sun keeps shining and I am reminding myself to enjoy this glorious weather. We have been to the sea to swim and have lunch, there has been free music in the local villages plus a Folk Festival and visits to friends for BBQ's and generally having a good time. And on Saturday we had a party to celebrate our wedding anniversary. All good fun. Summer is a busy time in the south of France and we are doing our best to fit in as much as possible.

And just to prove that we are still fitting in a bit of DIY the photo is our new dining room. This is part of one of the two extensions we have had built. The furniture and contents have been in store since we moved here more than two years ago, so it was good fun to open some more boxes. We are still working on the kitchen with the floor tiles due to be delivered at the end of August, then we can really make progress. We are also working on the study[old kitchen] which will mean that I can finally get all my books out.

The title of this post refers to a book by Edna O'Brian. I have been re-reading an assortment of books out of neccessity, although last week we cycled to Quillan to our friends book stall and I found two books I wanted to read: Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits her first novel which for some reason I had not read, it's an amazing book. She is a real story teller with a remarquable style, I could barely put it down. The other book was by Margaret Forster: The Diary of an Ordinary Woman. If you get the chance to read this book do not make my mistake which was to read the Authors Note at the end of the book as it rather coloured my enjoyment. Nevertheless another excellent book from this Author. We shall cycle to Quillan again tomorrow so I can change my books, hopefully I can find some more gems. And I am beginning to feel like picking up my pen again after rather a long break when I just could not feel inspired. Sometimes you just have to accept that. Now I think it's time to sit in the sun and see if I can come up with some ideas for the wip. Oh it's a hard life sometimes but someone's got to do it.

Holiday snaps

Oh no I hear you groan, not someone elses holiday photos, can there be anything more boring? Well probably not but you are going to get them anyway. Just to prove that we actually went. It seems like an age ago, a month actually and we have been busy with diy since our return, but more of that another day.

I have to say the photos are not as good as I had hoped and I have decided that I need to upgrade my camera. I know that old excuse, but this time it's true. Anyway for what they are worth, starting in Verazza Italy, then Sienna, the Piazza del Campo and the Duomo, then Pisa, lunch overlooking the Med, Volterra where we stayed for 4 nights then Saint Maxime [opposite Saint Tropez] in France and a rather angry sea. It was very windy and I couldn't keep the camera still.

We had a wonderful week, the weather was fabulous, sunny and hot so I was able to swim every day. We adore Italy, it's even more laid back than France, with good wine, gorgeous food and amazing architecture everywhere you go. Somehow it's good for the soul and we definitely recharged our batteries.

On the return leg of our trip we stayed two nights in the Var region exactly one week before the area was devestated by floods, with considerable loss of life. We felt very lucky indeed that we had not been involved and very saddened by the tragedy.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

Holiday whoopee!!

We are off to Italy today for a weeks rest from DIY. We are going to the Ligurian coast and are so looking forward to seeing the wonderful rugged coastline and the beautiful fortified towns. The food and wine is not bad either!!!
See you when we get back.

Late snow and central heating!!!

We are probably one of the few people to have central heating installed just as the winter finally bows out. Although I have to say that the snow we had at the beginning of May was a surprise to say the least and we thought we might ask the plumber to get a move on as we needed the heating now!!! It has been hectic and chaotic with seemingly every room taken over by the plumber and even more mess than usual. And just as the plumber left the gas board started digging up the road to bring our gas supply. However all the work going on in the house meant that the OH had some time on his hands so he set to and built a Hen house and we are now the proud owners of 4 hens that are currently laying 2/3 eggs a day. It is so good to have our own supply of fresh eggs again.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to concentrate or find a quiet corner to write or blog. But i shall try and get back into some sort of routine again. I am so easily distracted, any excuse will do. Now I need to give myself a talking to especially as the sun is shining and it is finally getting warmer, and I always feel more energetic when the sun shines so a photo of our new hens and then !!!!! Back to digging the trench across our front garden to take the gas pipe, we thought about getting in a man with a mini digger but decided it would make too much mess so we are playing at 'navvies' for a few days. It's hard work but probably good for the muscles, although I'm not sure about the hairs on my chest!!!!

Back to the wip tomorrow or maybe the day after ..........!

March 2010

It's very nearly the end of March omg where has the month gone? Sorry I haven't been round to other blogs much but I will try and catch up with everyone soon.

Well it started with more snow in one day then I have ever seen. The scenes are taken from our house and are what we woke up to on March the 8th! We had to drive to Carcassonne that day[about 45mins normally] as we wanted to order our new kitchen while it was on offer. With 30% off we couldn't afford not to go and it was the last day of the promotion. Luckily we have a four wheel drive car and got there no problem. Ordered the kitchen, delivery end of April, not that we will be ready for it then, and then left for home. The return journey took us 90 mins mainly due to very slow moving cars in front of us[not 4 wheel drive] but we made it. And apparently we were lucky because not much more than half an hour after we had travelled there were cars and lorries littered all over the road and friends took 3 hours to get home. We had a week of freezing weather and then the wind changed and we now have lovely sunny days and temps of around 20degrees. It's such a transformation. We have the doors and windows wide open and my spirits have lifted. I do love the sunshine, it gives me energy and enthusiasm hence the new addition to the sidebar. I have started Novel 2. Admittedly only a couple of pages but I have ideas floating about that want to get on the page.

All I have to do now is keep up with the second draft of Novel 1!!!!!

We have also made progress on the home front. The utility room [in the extension] is finished and we are now using it as a temporary kitchen. It is decidedly better than the old kitchen even though it is quite small. A definite improvement and we are getting on with the new kitchen, although this is being delayed by a problem with our four wheel drive car, we can't get to the wood yard with the trailor, but we'll sort that out soon.

So although March is nearly over we are making progress. And tomorrow there is a big wine event in a nearby village which should be very enjoyable. And we can walk there so no problems with over indulging not that we would!!!!!

Now it's time for a run, and that's going well too. Always easier running in the sunshine.

Blogsplash

This should be the first page of Fiona Robyn's new novel but I haven't managed to copy it so I will just give you the link to her blog. You can read THAW here .

Please do go and read the first entry of Ruth's diary[Thaw] and then follow events as they unfold daily over the next three months. Take advantage of this amazing opportunity.

There once was an Ugly Duckling!

Well a duck actually. As you can see he/she is different from the other wild ducks. They are on the River Aude where I often go running/cycling and just before Christmas this unusual duck appeared. I have tried looking in my bird book but cannot find the species so if anyone out there recognises it do leave a comment. I have named the duck Dab Dab after the duck in Doctor Dolittle and have taken to feeding them when I cycle along the river.

The locals probably think I'm mad as the only reason they would feed the ducks would be to fatten them up ready for the pot!!!

At last the weather here seems to be warming up, we have already had two lots of snow this year and it has been really cold, down to -8 deg C overnight and not much warmer during the day. Not what we expected when we moved south!!!!! However over the weekend the temp reached 16 deg C with lovely warm sun so fingers crossed that it stays like this. I always have more energy and enthusiasm when the sun shines so am intending to start on the second draft this week before I forget what the novel is about.