Bye bye 2016

we are now in the last few days of 2016!  There has been good and bad this year but we have lots to look forward to in 2017. I have never been one for looking back. Preferring to look forward. What is done cannot be undone but the future is waiting to be made.
Today we finished Duckingham Palace and I have moved the ducks and geese in. The ducks made a big fuss about being caught and carried which made it hard work. I had to take them one at a time. The geese just waited in the barn and let me pick them up without a fuss. They were both very heavy but are so gentle I have no fear handling them. They seemed pleased to have their own house back and went in happily. The ducks made a bit of fuss because it was not their house but a new one! The smaller ducks had a swim in the tractor tyre pond. This will be much better for them as they have all become very muddy without a pond to wash in. The chickens will be happy to have their home to themselves again. We are now set up to cope with the lock down long term. Disabled duck is still in the chicken barn in the puppy cage as she still needs protecting. With this project done we can now go back to finishing the Gites.
One casualty of moving the ducks..I lost a lens from my rather expensive variofocal glasses. I searched the barn where I lost it  but no joy. I will hunt again tomorrow. One of the big ducks managed to get a wing free and knocked them off! I have a spare pair but they are not variofocal.
The weather is very cold with frosty mornings and iced up water containers. I very much hope this is our last winter living in a building site. We are talking a lot about plans for our house now. I have lived like this so long it is a case of believe it when I see it now!
It is exciting starting a new year. Who knows what it will bring? What will the curved balls be this year?

A full day of work....

Due to the problem with bird flu my birds are all crammed into the chicken run and barn. It is now over two weeks and they are getting rather stressed. My disabled duck has been picked on and has not  been able to get enough to eat and drink. So......
Disabled duck is in a puppy cage in the chicken barn. I have suspended two plastic tubs from the bars for food and water. She is able to use these without knocking them over. When I put all to bed this evening she was stood up feeding. I have been certain she was weak through lack of food. Hopefully she will recover being kept out of pecking distance of the others. The geesecare definetly the boss in the barn.
As it is looking like they will have to be in lock down until March next year, I have started building a covered run for the ducks and geese. We have moved the duck house into the orchard and will move the goose house to stand next to it. I have dug out a large hole within the compound and moved the tractor tyre pond into it. I managed to get it level with the ground which will make it easier for them to access the pond. We will tomorrow build the frame of the run. The walls will be chicken wire and we have a large fruit net to put over the top. It has been necessary to do this as cheaply as possible whilst complying with the order to protect them from wild birds. As soon as it is done I will move the ducks and geese in. That will make life easier for the chickens.
We have also started on the fencing for the new Gites. It is very cold now for working outside but it all needs doing.
Lots of crochet going on! I have finished the throw for the dogs bed and started the blanket for my new grandson due next April. A friend has given me loads more wool which will be made into throws. I love making them and like having them piled up around the house. They hide our scruffy sofa and armchairs and are washed regularly so I need loads! We also wrap ourselves in them during cold weather if the fire has not been lit!
This time of year can only be endured. People disappear and with fields emptying out it all feels very desolate. The good thing is the shortest day has past and we can look forward to seeing things improve. Before we know it there will be green buds on trees.
I took the decision after talking to the physio to remove the plaster from him indoors. With the order to lift nothing heavier than a cuppa his arm is now getting stronger. He tried driving this week but no go. We are now less than two weeks until we see the surgeon again. I very much hope the end is in sight.

Chickens and such

So my chickens, ducks and geese have been shut in over a week now! I have spoken to many others who have them about the rule to do this, both French and English. No one else is obeying this! I find this very frustrating. At least I know my birds are safe. The chickens are still laying eggs which means they are not stressed. I put together a big bowl of green veg each morning which they all enjoy. As they do not have access to grass and such I have to provide the green stuff they need. The geese seem to be the guardians of them all, herding the ducks and pecking the chickens if they fight! The white ducks are looking very muddy now without the pond to wash in!
We have moved the new duck house into the orchard with the geese and bees. I have yet to break up the old duck house. I have decided to plant leylandi along the fence between the pond area and the orchard . I will keep this as a hedge to stop the ducks flying over. There is temporary pond made from a tractor tyre and we plan to build a new pond that will have drainage. Lots of plans for the garden next year.
Him indoors is now without the plaster. He is also having longer periods with no sling too. I checked with the physio this was ok. He still has no strength in his arm but can now straighten it. Yesterday we put the new electric cables in the gain, all 22 meters of it! My mini needed a new brake light so he told me how to do it and I changed the bulb! Amazing what you can do when you have to!
Had the news yesterday our community doctor is retiring. We knew it was coming. He said the replacement is a Spanish man who speaks little French and no English. Could be fun. The older locals  will not put up with it. The Mairie appointed him! There is a problem here recruiting rural doctors. It is very unusual for France to employ someone who does not speak the language.
Work continues on the Gites although it is slow. Next week we will buy the flooring as we are ready to put it down.
The weather is very cold and foggy most days so I am not getting much done in the garden. I still need to sort out the veg patch ready for planting in the spring.
I am doing lots of crochet now...I have nearly finished a blanket for the dogs bed and have started a blanket for my new grandson due in April. Next month I will do the crochet along! I love the way the house is filling with colourful throws!
Next week is the shortest day after which things will improve. Winter is hard here being so isolated.

What a day.......

Today came the news that the French government says we have to isolate all poultry and water fowl from wild birds. This is because migrating wild birds are thought to be responsible for spreading bird flu! I have been watching the progress of this and had already moved the geese into the chicken barn. This barn has a large run attached. I had tried to move the ducks down but they would not play.
I put the geese and chickens in as soon as I heard then started on the ducks. I have two disabled ducks who have a seperate house and area to prevent them being trampled on. The other ten are in one house and free range during the day with access to the big pond. I herded them into their house which they are used to. I then took them one at a time and carried them down to the barn. They were very distressed and it was hard work managing the big ones. Eventually they were all in the barn and run. It was rather chaotic!  And I was covered in duck poo feeling rather battered.The chickens huddled in one corner, the ducks running around quacking and the geese trying to herd the ducks!
At bedtime when I went to shut the barn door I went in to see how it was going. The ducks were still running about quacking unsure what was happening. They are used to being together in an enclosed space. I went out the back just now to send a text message...no signal in our house and the ducks were still quacking. After today's physio we went into Mayenne and bought a very big net. This will cover the run as the chicken wire we used for the roof has holes big enough for wild birds to get in. It will be fun putting this in place! I will also set up the puppy cage in the barn to put the disabled ducks in. Then I need to rearrange things to give more floor space. I will put in big piles of straw for the ducks.
At the moment the message is to keep them in for a month. This could be extended! There has been lots of discussion about how to keep them entertained! It will be traumatic for them being used to free ranging and no doubt the eggs will stop. Better this though than having to cull my birds. They will need extra food too as they will not find any bugs or insects in such a confined space.
I will go to the Mairie tomorrow to check on all this.
I have wanted for some time to break up the old duck house as it needs replacing. This has at least been achieved. I will deal with that tomorrow. I will also be spending some time in with my birds.
You never know what is around the corner!

Brrrrrrrr....

Winter arrives

the pond was frozen this morning which always confuses the ducks! They slide across it in an alarmed manner coming to a stop at the end where they battle to scramble out! They do this every winter and never seem to learn!
The leaves have just about all fallen now and once again we can see across the fields. Today the sky is a brilliant blue and the sun is shining but there is no warmth. The wood burner is crackling to keep us warm! No central heating here!
I have moved the geese into cluckingham palace to share with the chickens. The chickens all sleep either on the beam ot on top of the walls so the floor is empty. I put down a thick blanket of straw in a corner where the geese snuggle down. It gives them more room. At this time of year the birds are shut in for a long time. I have tried to get the ducks in too but they will not move out of their area. I will leave them for now until the new duck house is built.
Him indoors is still in plaster but having twice weekly physio now. He is progressing but it is very slow and he is very bad tempered. So much to do and he cannot do anything. Work on the Gites is carrying on slowly but I think we will be ok to launch in Spring.
I apologise for the lack of photos. The site has changed how I find them and I am having trouble finding out how to do it. I will get there!
I have joined a crochet along run by Lucy at attic 24. It starts in January and I have the wool ready! Discovered something wonderful yesterday..Hobbycraft now deliver to France. I have ordered a set of easy grip crochet hooks! It is a shop I visit whenever I go to the U.K. There will be frequent parcels arriving from there! Nowadays it is the little things that make me happy!
Lots of crochet planned and underway, great for this cold weather. A big throw across my lap keeps me cosy.

Difficult time and big decision..

Yesterday we came back from England having gone over on Friday to visit an aunt. She is 101 and has lived at home with no problems and just a little paid help. A new GP arrived a few weeks ago and for some unknown reason gave our aunt anti depressants. Within days they had caused postural hypertension and she fell. She wears an emergency button which she was able to press alerting the paramedics. As her blood pressure was low and her heart rate fast she was taken into hospital. The paramedics found the anti depressants and worked out they had caused the problem. This all happened on the Wednesday. We were informed on Thursday she was in hospital. I immediately called the hospital and was told she was very agitated and for her own safety was sedated! Going into the weekend nothing else was done. During the next week I phoned the hospital a couple of times for updates and my brother in law told me he was worried. So we decided to go over.
Her son had seen her into hospital and then  he and his wife went off to Florida for a month. He is the power of attorney and had arranged for her to go into a nursing home should the hospital decide to discharge her. Her daughter lives nearby but failed to visit!
On our first visit she had a supper tray in front of her. Puréed food in a plastic bowl! I went and found the nurse in charge to ask why? The nurse barely spoke English! Apprently Elsie had gagged when eating. I challenged this saying it did not mean she needed puréed food. They need to tempt her to eat not put her off! I explained that at home she ate normal food and loved Chinese. She had a KitKat every day and crisps with her teatime sandwich! She also read the Telegraph and did the crossword. She was also always dressed and made up complete with jewelry! The nurse clearly did not believe me. A bit later on the nurse came back and asked me to confirm that Elsie came in from home! I told her it should be in the notes..admitted from home by ambulance.
I do not think Elsie will be with us much longer. She told me she loved me when I said goodbye and asked me to forgive her if she had ever upset me. It was all I could do not to cry in front of her.
We came home last night, exhausted emotionally and physically. There is no more I can do. I am not the Next of kin and she is my aunt through marriage not a blood relative.
It also settled my unrest over whether to stay in France. The treatment him indoors had, by French speaking nurses was faultless. I worked in the NHS for many years and was proud to wear my uniform. I was ashamed of it this time. It seemed to me the The England I knew no longer exists. I could not live there again willingly. Next year I will be 60 and applying for French citizenship is easier. That is what we will do.
The world is restless now and who knows exactly how the future will go! For me I will continue to live simply in a green way and do what little I can to protect the environment.

This 'n' that

Sorry to have been absent but life has been very busy! With the extra load of helping him indoors there is not much spare time!
Tomorrow is a big day as the staples and sutures are being removed. This will be the last time the plaster comes off until it is permanently removed. On Monday next week the physio starts. That will be pretty intense as it is three times a week for 12 weeks! Fortunetly our top up insurance covers it. Several of the drugs are now finished too which is good. He only has the strong painkiller morning and evening now too just needing paracetamol in between. We have settled into a pattern of I leave him to it unless he asks for help. We have agreed this strategy as I do not want to take over. He is growing a beard now as shaving is not possible. Although I have shaved many men whilst a nurse he is not comfortable to have me shave him!
I have settled into my vegan lifestyle very well. I am getting used to reading packaging in the supermarket. My next challenge is to give up sugar! Most biscuits, cakes and sweets are not vegan anyway! I have had a go at making stuff myself but am now at the point where I am happy to give it up. Even chocolate I am not bothered about! This means I have just about removed all factory made food from my diet! I am eating lots of pulses now and enjoying them. My challenge is sourcing different ones.
My effort to ditch the plastic is going well too. No more cling film or plastic freezer bags. I mostly use glass jars in the freezer. I bought a pack of chicken breasts for him indoors and wrapped each in greaseproof paper then put them in a large glass jar! My next mission is to make fabric bags to put fruit and veg in. It will cause a stir no doubt! That will be more plastic gone!
The evenings have really drawn in now. I am putting the birds away at 5.30. This seems to have snuck up on me. The wood burner is on most days now and we have ordered more wood. It will be me who stacks it.
Still unsure of how our future will be in terms of Brexit. We have been hit badly by the exchange rate and are down by around £200 a month just by converting our pensions into euros. Hopefully that will improve. The other part is lack of bookings for the Gite. The other two Gites are moving slowly forward. We should still have them done for the season next year. Just hope we get a good number of bookings.

Just about hanging on

Thought I would update you!
Him indoors came home on Wednesday. Very fragile and nervous. We have come a long way since but he is still very worried about knocking his arm or falling over. He can do very little so I have to help with washing and dressing. I also have to either cut up his food or give him something he can manage with one hand. I know he does not like this but it has to be. The plaster is uncomfortable and very heavy.
We are fairly relaxed about the delay in finishing the Gites. They will be ready for the next season which is all that matters. It just means I wait longer for my house to be done. We are still plodding forward doing what we can so it is not at a complete standstill.
Autumn is well and truly here. The trees are glorious. I am having trouble posting photos at the moment but will get on to it when I have time.
One of my ducks is having trouble walking. I have seperated her into her own pen and house to ensure she is getting enough food. I think this morning she looked a bit stronger. The chickens are still in various stages of moulting but I am now getting two eggs each day.
Garden work has taken a hit just now but I will do what I can. Especially with the veg patch.
Still lots of scaremongering regarding Brexit but am trying to ignore it. No one really knows how it will work. Just now a large part of me would be happy to go back to the U.K.

A difficult couple of days

We were up until gone midnight last night trying to remove the hairs on the arm of him indoors. We had been told on no account to shave the area. Three applications and an hour later his arm was sore and not all the hair had gone. Give up I said, let them deal with it tomorrow. He then had his disinfectant shower and we tried to get some sleep. He slept ok but I was awake worrying. We had to be up early as the hospital wanted him there by 9am. He had to starve from midnight. He was not a happy bunny when I drove him to the hospital.
Found the ward and were shown to a double room. I asked the person who took us where he was on the list..she didn't know as she was the cleaner! Oh well. We sat twiddling our thumbs for an hour then a young man and his mother came in. A room mate! A while later a woman came in and told us she worked in the hospital helping with translations for English patients. She found out where he was on the list...4pm. And that was not a definite time. He could have had a light breakfast. Eventually a nurse arrived to admit them both. She dealt with the young man first as he was earlier on the list...so how come we had to arrive so early?
The nurse could speak English but decided not to as she felt our French was good enough! There are days I could scream! I mentioned the problem with the hair removal cream and she went and found a razor and shaved his arm. Another grrrr! A pile of paperwork completed and we now knew he would be in over night.. I had to go home and get his earphones and book so he could listen to music if he had trouble sleeping. I also took him a few English tea bags so he can have a decent cuppa!
When I got back to the hospital it was clear I was in the way so I said I would go. I stopped to ask the nurse about visiting this evening...she said not to as he would not be back on the ward before 8pm. Ok, what time can I collect him in the morning?.....no cannot visit in the morning. I have left it that he will call when he is ready to be picked up. I do not like leaving him there. His French is pretty good but I know he will struggle in that situation. He has never had surgery or stayed in hospital before.
I also do not like being on my own.
It has made us think more about being here in old age. We do not think we want to manage any chronic illnesses in a foreign country. The healthcare here is excellent. The attitude of the staff is much harder and the language will always be a problem.
I will be happier tomorrow when he is home.

What a week so far

Monday I took him indoors for an echo gram. It showed what we already knew, one of the two tendons had snapped.
On Tuesday we saw the surgeon. It did not start well as the appointment the emergency Doctor made was not on the computer. Fortunetly they agreed to fit us in. We did not have long to wait. The surgeon was rude and brutal. We felt we should ask if his mother had died or did he just dislike us English. He launched into rapid French so we explained we were English and could he speak slowly. He said...well no one is perfect!....not a good start. We endured about half an hour then were ushered out with a pile of papers. On to see the anesthetist. A lovely man who spoke English and insisted on using it to ensure we understood. The surgeon also spoke English but was reluctant to help us.
So on Monday morning early I have to take him to the hospital and he will be operated on. He has to stay overnight.
Today we have spent ages in the chemist collecting stuff to take to hospital. I find this totally bizarre. The special sling had to be ordered and I will collect this Friday afternoon.
Tomotrrow morning I have to take him to the medical center in our village to have the stitches taken out of his back. We have a prescription for this too. We will give the nurse another prescription for dressings and the order for daily visits for five days after the surgery.Also to remove these stitches after 15 days.
We came out of the hospital yesterday with a great pile of papers. Today we came out of the chemist with a bag full of stuff!
I am exhausted with carrying the load. He will be in plaster and one armed for six weeks then it will be six months until he can fully use the arm!
I will be happier once the op is over.

Oh dear!

Just as we are settling down for winter....
Yesterday evening him indoors was trying to finish doing the electrics in the Gites. He lifted a piece of plaster board awkwardly and tore the tendon that attaches the bicep muscle to the bone. I thought he had dislocated it and he passed out with the pain. I managed to get him to our local hospital where an X-ray revealed the damage. As it was Friday evening we have come home with pain killers and his arm immobilized. On Monday early we have to call the X-ray department for an appointment for an echo. We have an appointment with a surgeon on Tuesday. It is likely he will need surgery to reattach the tendon, then be in plaster for a while to give it time to heal. It will not be a quick fix.
Fortunately when we took out our top up health insurance we included extra cover for him incase of an accident such as this. We will have to call the agent but I am hoping we will get a pay out to pay a builder to help with the Gites.
It is going to be difficult as he cannot drive or even put his own socks on!
Today I have put a sugar syrup tray on the bee hive to give them extra feed. I will check it in a couple of days to see if they are taking it.
Today we have lit the wood burner for the first time since last winter. I have also restarted on my crochet throw which will be finished before spring.
How true it is that you never know what is around the corner.

Bee news!

This week we harvested some honey! Helped by a friend as we had never done it before and do not yet have the equipment. We took 4 1/2 jars of beautiful golden honey made by our own bees. A truly wonderful experience. I have left the used frames near the hive and the bees are busy cleaning them up. They will take any remaining honey back to the brood box and are cleaning off the bits of wax. Once done I will bring them in to store for next year when we start again. As this is a new hive I will today put the feed box on with some sugar syrup. This is to ensure they have enough to store for winter. When we opened the hive I found the queen which was great. The brood box had some honey stored and was very busy.
We will need to invest in another hive ready for next year when my bees will swarm. I hope to catch the swarm to start another hive. I plan to keep it at two hives and hope that by the following year I will have more knowledge and experience to deal with excess queens and swarming!
I am now looking at replacing sugar with honey! I cannot go all out with that just now but want to be ready when the honey really flows! Our honey has come mostly from red clover and lavender so is rather yummy. I have given a jar to each of my daughters.
This week I have had a very dear friend staying. She has been interested in all my green initiatives and is taking home several ideas.
My other bit of news is my youngest daughter is having another baby, due in April. Very exciting stuff!
Weather has turned much colder now, won't be long until the wood burner is blazing again! I love cold winter evenings with the fire burning.
Harvesting has just about finished and the pantry is filled with jam, chutney and bottled fruits. There are a few more apples to process.
My mission over winter is to ditch the plastic...I am already freezing in glass jars!
Always another thing to change.

Autumn jobs

lots to do now. Really is harvest time! The pantry shelves are groaning with jars of Apple purée, Apple and blackberry, chutney, various jams and jellies. The freezer has a good stock of homemade passata made from boxes of tomatoes friends have given me. For the first time I have used glass jars in the freezer. This is in line with my bid to ditch plastic. As my Tupperware type things deteriorate I am replacing them with glass jars. I will no longer buy cling film or zip lock bags. Much like no longer using kitchen roll it will take a bit of getting used to.
I have been without kitchen roll for over a month now, using the pads I made. They work very well as do the cloths I have knitted.
Work will start soon on re organizing the veg plot. As part of this I hope to get the polytunnel finished! I would like to grow some winter veg to keep us going.
We need to cut down a tree that at this time of year blocks the sun from the bee hive. I had a visit from my mentor today who suggested it. The bees need to be warm! He is coming back next week on a sunny afternoon to help me remove the super and check the brood box. I want him to do this as I do not really know what I am looking for. He has said to store the frames of honey to put back on in Spring. I will put a syrup tray on for the winter. Over the winter I will have to sort out a second hive ready for when they swarm. I do not want to lose these bees as they are so gentle.
A general pruning is needed now. I have done the lavander bushes and the climbing roses and wisteria on the front of the house. My Hazel hedges need a good prune as they are too high. I do not want them to become trees. The walnut tree is too big too. I also have an apple tree and two pear trees that need a good prune. Then the raspberry canes need cutting back and moving. I am going to take them out of the veg patch as they take up too much room and spread so much.
Next year I mean to increase our food production so that we can buy less from the shops.
I have everything except the milk now for cheese making. The milk will come from our neighbour who is a dairy farmer. I just need a couple of days to make it!
I rather like this time of year, it feels gentle and I like all the making of things to enjoy over winter.
I have lit the Esse a few times bit it has not really been cold enough yet. The mornings are chilly but it is quite warm in the afternoons then cooler again once the sun goes down. We now have the heavy duvet on our bed again!
This will be a good winter as work will finally begin on my house. The other two Gites are progressing well and will be finished before long. We already have a booking of a week for all three Gites...three couples who are friends. We plan to promote this idea. I do hope we have a better year next year, we need to refill the coffers!
The new garage floor is great, making it easier for him indoors to work on the cars. My new brake discs came today so that will be the first job to be done. Along with my oil change!
So really all is good at the first and last house in Normandy.

Last guests for this year

Already our last guests arrive today. There is always a chance we will get another booking for the end of this year but we do not expect it. The couple coming today are from Guernsey so do not have to go anywhere near Calais.
The problems in Calais continue with regular attempts by migrants to go through the tunnel. The English side always say the delays are due to power failure which it is but that is not the whole story...the French side have no problem reporting the power was turned off due to people in the tunnel. I cannot understand how they get that far. There are barriers and checks at several places. There is also a high perimeter fence now. For the ferry there are customs people, French and English, checking lorries with trained dogs. Still migrants manage to climb into the back of the lorries. Now there is to be a big expensive wall built along the access road to the ferry to protect the queuing lorries. The so called jungle has been cleared several times but is rebuilt! I really feel for the residents of Calais who have had their town ruined. I do not have a solution to this problem but cannot understand why it continues. It has affected our bookings this year which has a direct impact on us. Along with the Brexit vote that has affected the exchange rate and reduced our pension payments.  I hope next year is better.
The garage floor is down and looking good. Should be able to put the car in there on Moonday. P plans to make frames to put on the walls and hang tools on. This will mean we will have all the car related tools in one place, creating space in the oldest barn. Once this barn is empty we will take the roof off, cap the walls and create a walled garden. I plan to move the bee hive into here and have it planted with loads of bee friendly flowers. We will also create a seating area. It will be a lovely project to work on.
I will soon start sorting out the veg patch getting it ready for next year. Just waiting for cooler weather. I will carefully plan what we grow based on past successes and failures.
For once I do not dread the thought of winter.

Autumn approaches

The evenings are starting to draw in and it gets light later in the morning. There are a number of foggy starts to the day too. There is just the maize left to harvest and by the look of it the combines will be busy soon. Fields are ploughed and fertilized, the scent of autumn! Winter wheat will be planted soon and the cycle begins again. Before long I will clear out the veg patch and do the changes to get it back to two big beds. The potager idea was pretty but not practical. I need to be growing larger amounts of fruit and veg. I have one whole bed devoted to raspberries which have not fruited well this year so think it is time to remove them and start again in the spring. I wanted to move them anyway.
I am now picking pears and apples and cooking them. The pantry is filling up nicely with bottled fruit. Ready for winter puddings! A few we keep to eat but they go over too quickly and are better made into bottled fruit. Due to the huge effort to remove brambles there are no blackberries this year but I have many jars of last years jam and bags of blackberries in the freezer. Think I will make them into bramble jelly. I do not really need jam this year as am well stocked.
One thing I do need to get on with is chutney. We all love the courgette and tomato one I have made in the past but sadly there is no glut of courgettes this year! I will have to buy them which rather defeats the object! Oh well, we cannot be without chutney!
Today I plan to buy the big pot for cheese making. My first batch of cheddar will be under way soon. I had to save up for the pot as it is €30.. A big chunk of my weekly budget. Will report when it is done.
De cluttering continues but the big difference will come when the other two Gites are finished. I am hanging on to lots of extra household stuff that will go into them.
On Thursday we have a large delivery of concrete coming. This will be the garage floor. It has been a long time coming but the end is in sight. At some point we will change the barn door for garage doors but that will have to wait a while.
Work is progressing well and we are on track to market all three Gites next spring. I just hope we get bookings.

So where has August gone?

seems to be disappearing very quickly in a haze of heat! We have never had it in the 30's here before, this is more like Spanish weather! Makes me feel I must up my efforts to go green!
Veg and fruit has been very disappointing this year, too much rain early on and not enough with excess heat now! Thin pickings this year but already starting to plan next year.
I am gradually putting together menu plans. Four weeks for each season taking into account what we provide for ourselves and what we can get elsewhere for the best price. It will all go on a spreadsheet for future reference. Nothing will be set in stone as I know there will be variables, like visiting friends, meals out and such.
My paperless household is going well. We are happily using the kitchen towels I made and they launder well. Same with washing up cloths. The other thing I have begun this month is making the dog and cat food. The dogs have meat with rice, potatoes and carrots. The cats have fish with pasta and a green veg, currently spinach! The cat food I loosely liquidize. At the moment they have kibble for breakfast and my meals for dinner. All are clearing the plate in one sitting! It will take me a while to build up meals in the freezer but eventually I will stop buying the kibble. I will need to invest in a meat grinder though as they will get calcium and other minerals from the bones. That is for the future now. I buy bones for the dogs as a treat and the cats eat mice. Sorry if that upsets anyone!
This came about as part of my bid to ditch chemicals. When I looked at what was in the kibble I was unhappy. I have read a few bits about how pet food is produced too. For my bird family we no longer buy the pellets, just wheat and maize and I top them up from the kitchen. Everyone is thriving!
The cheese project is about to begin, just getting the gear together! Hope to report first batch of farmhouse cheddar next month.
On the personal front I am now making my clothes. Two cotton skirts to make and two winter ones. Also am knitting a couple of cardigans too.
I am constantly amazed at how little I need to buy from the big guys, makes me happy!

Next homemade project...is.....

Finally I am going to start making a farmhouse cheddar. I can get small pieces of cheddar here but it is factory made and expensive. I spend a fair bit on French cheese each week that again is factory made. As you all know I am on a mission to ditch factory made food.
We have a small Apple press that can be used as a cheese press with a little alteration. I have ordered cheesecloth and am currently searching for starter and vegetable rennet. I have a big stock pot I can heat the milk in and my farmer neighbour will sell me raw milk. 8 litres of milk will give me 1kg cheddar. This will reduce cost once all the gear is assembled. The idea is to make several so that some can be left to mature to improve the taste. When my kitchen is finally built I will include an area for long term storage of my cheese. I am very excited about this as this is a large part of our diet. Simplifying our diet means something like cheese is a treat.
I have greatly reduced the meat intake too. I rarely give him indoors red meat now and do a chicken for our family Sunday dinner. Yesterday's chicken carcass is currently cooking with potatoes, carrots and rice topped up with water that will be dinner for the dogs for a couple of days. They love this. I like them to have it because I know it is chemical free.
I feel I am winning with making most of our food now!
I will put up a photo of my first cheese but do not expect it too soon!

Summer seems to be staying

weather is weird at the moment. Very foggy early mornings like Autumn with a cool start. It heats up as the day progresses peaking around 4pm. From 8pm as the sun starts going down it cools down. We sat out late last night and lit the chiminea which was lovely. There is something comforting about sitting by an open fire.
The apples look as if they are ready but are still a bit small. It is about a month too early to harvest. Runner beans are available daily now and all the red onions are in. The squash does not look as though I will get any this year. Generally it has been a bad year for veg.
Spent a day sorting out my pantry. The mice have been active again so had to clean up. I have rearranged things and it is now organised. I have also rehomed the tins and bits stored on the floor so it feels more open. I want to get some white gloss paint to redo the shelves. This will make them easier to wipe down. Am gradually getting everything into glass jars and metal tins.
I have now made the bags to hold the dirty cloths and have knitted a good stock of them. I have plenty more cotton to make more. I have also started on my paperless kitchen towels. I have made several and the rest are cut ready to be sewn. I plan to keep these in a basket. I have one more paper roll to use but will no longer buy it.
My next campaign is to ditch plastic. The plastic containers I have I will continue to use but will not replace when needed. I will look for glass containers. The challenge will be the freezer. From next year our supermarkets will no longer give plastic bags for fruit and veg which I am pleased about.
On the chemical front I now use homemade makeup wipes as well as my face cream. I use real natural soap for washing me and am looking at other ideas for removing chemicals from our lives.
All of this I saving me money too which cannot be bad!

Apologies

Life has been difficult for a few weeks now. Am beginning to turn the corner but it is hard work.
Our latest guest arrived on Saturday. She is on her own with two cats and a dog and drove from Germany. Her car broke down not far from us! The garage she was taken to ( which we know) kindly brought her, the animals and all her gear here! Yesterday they brought back her car fixed! She is with us three weeks and is a lovely lady who speaks a little English. I had prepared a few German phrases for her arrival which made her smile!
Him indoors went back to the UK last weekend for a reunion come birthday bash. It gave me space to think about things.
My sil who lives next door with our daughter has for sometime suffered from severe depression. They have now been here for nine months and there is light at the end of the tunnel. Much like with all of us who have experienced a complete breakdown, depression is never far from the door. It is the peace here and the relative isolation that has helped.  This means I cannot force the sale of this property. I am now making a conscious decision to bury my negative thoughts and re engage with life here. I very much hope that things will be easier when work begins on my house.
The finishing touches are being done to our roof as I type this. It has been a long haul but at last we are just about there. The last two days we have at last emptied out the duck pond and cleaned it. I cleaned out the pump and filter and today the waterfall and filtration is working again. Another thing that cheers me up. For some time now, whenever I have wanted help with anything it has always been the Gites must come first. This has added to my unhappiness. I am not very good at putting myself first! This morning I have cleaned out and refilled the goose pond. I used our new pump which is very effective but due to my mismanagement was sprayed with the contents of the goose pond! Have now showered and my clothes are in the washing machine.
The latest in my green projects is going well. I have bought a lot of inexpensive crochet cotton and am knitting cleaning cloths. Colored for general cleaning and white for washing up. I have also bought some flannel and terry fabrics to make paperless kitchen towels. An idea I found on Pinterest. I also have oilskin cloth to make a bag to put the dirty cloths in whilst they wait to be washed.
Small sponges are used here but they do not last long. It also occurred to me that there was a time when things like kitchen roll did not exist.
My dream always was to be as self sufficient as possible and rid us of as many chemicals as possible. I am now back on track with that. I am pleased with how far I have come.

Update on chicks

These are two of the six chicks born this year. They are almost full size. They are very healthy and happy in the flock. The others keep asking if they are ready for the pot and I keep saying they are not big enough. I cannot face them going in the freezer.
It seems to me there is too much horror in the world now and I desperately want to keep my little world peaceful. I feel there is no place for killing animals. We do not need meat so let them live.
I have started emptying the duck pond again as there is another leak. I am having trouble finding this one. It is an enormous task but is a good chance to clean out the pond. I have found a system for filtering the pond but need help to put it in place. As the others are all focused on finishing the Gites I am on my own with what I want done.
Finally cut the grass in the orchard as the clover had finished and the bees are busy with the lavender now. The geese can see where they are going now.
The perimeter of our land is nearly all fenced now and clear of brambles. There is a clear view of the surrounding fields. This means there is no cover for a fox and it will be more difficult to get in. This is good but I do rather miss the wild tumbled garden. I have managed to keep an area of nettles near the duck pond and the wildflower area in my veg patch. I think I need assertiveness lessons!
I have taken the decision to try to eat fish and give up most dairy. I will probably keep having butter as I will not eat plastic spreads.
I have also found some inexpensive crochet cotton and am busy making floor and washing up cloths. I no longer want to use anything disposable and proper cloths are not available here.
I continue to make progress with my chemical free and green life.
My plan for next year is to get loads of flowers into the grounds. Shrubs and bedding. If I can get my polytunnel finished I can grow things from seed which is more affordable.
I am putting in a lot of work to enjoy living here but it is hard to do.

Summer has finally arrived

 The last two weeks it has been summer. Late starting but here at last. Still not normal though...temperatures have ranged between 25 and 38. I have been spraying the dogs and chickens with cold water.
It has meant work has been slow as it is often too hot to be outside. This has also meant our roof is still not finished. I begin to feel like it will never be done.
Last weekend we were in England. I finally picked up my fathers ashes. We took them to a country park he loved and scattered them in the undergrowth in the woods. A couple of rain showers will wash them into the ground. I found it very traumatic but that is the last thing to do for him!
I still feel very unsettled with no clear idea where my life is going. In my heart I really want to be in England. It has many problems but it is my home. The other three all are happy here. So as always I keep quiet.

Created for my bees

This is a section of a small wildflower garden I created for our bees and other wildlife. I would like to create more areas the same as I love wild flowers. The poppies self seed each year and spread without any help. The other flowers seem to sort themselves out too!
The next patch I will create will be in the orchard where the geese and bees live.
The lavender is now in flower and the beautiful humming bird moths are already visiting. I have seen my bees on it too.
The Hazel trees are covered in nuts so I hope I can beat the squirrels to them this year. They are still green at the moment. Apples and pears are in abundance too. Lots of chutney making before long.
We are slowly getting our land the way I want it!

Holiday time

We are on a road trip with friends from our UK car club. On Tuesday we drove up to Belgium and spent the night in a lovely hotel in the countryside. I was very impressed by Belgium, many speak English and no one made us feel unwelcome. I had forgotten what customer service was!
On Wednesday our friends from the UK came over using the tunnel and drove up to where we were. We managed to meet on the motorway. 12 Corvettes of different ages caused quite a stir on the motorway. Somehow we managed to keep together driving up to Holland. We spent two nights in Raalte. We visited a Harley Davidson museum which was amazing. He had bikes going back to early last century. We then drove along a dike road which was lovely to a town where we had arranged to park in the town square whilst we had lunch. In the afternoon we visited a Corvette museum that had almost every car since they began. His latest find is an immaculate 1953 model!
The next morning we did a boat trip around a beautiful residential area where cars are not allowed. Even the post is delivered by boat!
Then we drove a long way to Valkenburg for the Corvette Fame event.
Today we left early to park the cars at the event. Today and tomorrow we stay with the show. We leave the cars overnight and security guards have been organized to watch them overnight.
This afternoon some good friends arrived unexpectadly. We saw the car and said it was familiar but could not place it. They are joining our group for dinner tonight.
On Monday morning we start out for home. We plan to go through Luxembourg and a corner of Germany then under Paris and on to our place. We will stop just inside France Monday night.
We are both really enjoying this road trip. It is so far from our normal life. It has been great to have our daughter and son in law to look after things for us. Visiting other European countries makes me realize how wrong France is in trying to stay totally French!
Still no idea what we will do long term.

More buzz buzz

So, today I did my first hive inspection. I used smoke as instructed but to be honest the bees were not bothered. I had a good look at the brood chamber which now has lots of filled cells. The syrup has hardly been taken which I expected. From observing them I knew they were bringing in lots of pollen. I have now removed the feed tray and put a framed super on instead. Hopefully the bees will move up into this to store the honey.
My nucleus is growing into a colony very quickly.
P helped me to alter the hive but was very nervous and insisted on being a helper letting me do the main bit. Very few bees landed on us.
I have also put the hive up on wooden blocks sitting in pots of old engine oil. This stops ants getting into the hive.
I am really enjoying bee keeping and look forward to next year when I can harvest honey.
I remembered this time to pin back my hair as last time it fell across my face. Nothing you can do when suited and gloved! It is a big learning curve but I feel like I am getting there.
If one day we do move back to the UK I will continue to keep bees.

Mrs goose

She is properly sitting on her nest which is lined with her feathers. Mr Goose stays close and hisses at  anyone approaching the house. Now all animals and birds are fenced into their own areas I think she is happier to sit. She has pushed out a couple of eggs which I guess were not viable. I have lost track of how many eggs she is sitting on so it is a case of wait and see.
Yesterday we received a booking for next April which has cheered us all up. Seems English people do still want to holiday in France!
Picking raspberries daily now and putting in the freezer ready to make jam once I have enough. Veg doing well and apple and pear trees full of fruit.
The bees are collecting lots of pollen from the clover and blackberry flowers. Hoping the wind drops today so that I can inspect the hive.
The back of my roof is now finished and I have made a start clearing up that bit of garden which is now the chicken area. The chicks are now over 7 weeks and I am sure we have two boys which will go in the freezer after 13 weeks. We will wait for them to get bigger. The current broody hen is sitting on about 10 eggs. Will have to see how many hatch.
Very much focusing on what is going on here and trying to ignore the world!

Buzz buzzz

Yesterday evening we collected our bees! This has been an ambition for years and I cannot believe we have finally done it. We had to go late in the day to ensure as many as possible were back in the hive. Our mentor put a travelling screen on top of the brood box and we put everything in the boot of our 4x4. A few stragglers followed the hive into the boot and sat on the screen for the journey home. They did not enter the car! Once home I put on my suit to sort the hive out. I had to put in the feed tray and reconstruct the hive. When I took the screen off loads of bees flew out and landed on me. They are small and very gentle and at no point did I feel threatened. I managed to get most back in the hive and left them to settle in.
This morning I had a look when I let everyone out and all was still. After taking this photo I sat for a bit as the sun was coming round. Slowly bees started to come out and fly off. Two landed on me. One on my bare hand but they just had a look. I chatted to them as you are meant to and eventually they flew off. I plan to spend lots of time watching for now. On Friday I will open the hive again to check the status of the sugar syrup and to see how the building work is doing. Hopefully there be lots of fertilized cells. I have no chance of finding the queen but as long as I can see activity I will know she is there.
I feel very calm around my bees but know at some point I will be stung. All bee keepers are. I will always put on my bee keepers suit when doing anything with the hive as I am still very much a novice.
I am now looking forward to next year when hopefully I can harvest some honey.
I think it can be safely said that my old work colleagues would not recognize me now! My son in law who lives with us calls me a belated hippy! I guess I am!

On a lighter note...my latest finished project

This is the old bed I bought for €25 and restored. I have never done anything like this before but really enjoyed doing it. It was very dirty with mucky fabric. I had to go to Caen to buy the tool and the upholstery pins but it was worth doing. The fabric I bought from an English company as France does not have the sort of fabric I like! I found the chalk paint in a new shop we have here that has lots of craft things at sensible prices.
We found some dormer window rods that sit above each window. You need a double sided curtain as the curtain swings open against the cheeks of the window so when the curtains are closed I used the same spotty fabric. For when they are open I used a blue and white star fabric.
The room is very much home made but that is how I like it. It fits in with my new way of life.
This has given me a big boost as it shows what our home will be like once finished.
On a completely different note...we are collecting our bees Tuesday evening. They are settled in our hive and our mentor says they are very gentle..no stinging! Long may that last! I have not cut the grass in the orchard for weeks due to all the clover. My lavender is just starting to flower too! I will have to put some fondant in the hive to feed the bees until they have established their food source but the clover and lavender will start them off. I have also moved the bird bath into the orchard to provide water for the bees. This is a very exciting development.

So what happens now?

been a busy week with brother in law and his wife staying and 24 hour Le Mans in the middle. All overshadowed by the referendum.
I love the race, the atmosphere and all the wonderful cars people bring. Even Brad Pitt could not resist this year. It seems to me corruption for the sake of monetary gain is everywhere. This year was an anniversary for Ford and they were heavily promoted. The rules for the GT pro class say the car that races must have a road car too. Ford brought out a new car for the race with a road car due next year. Rules bent for no doubt a large donation the the FIA and ACO. At the practice Ferrari, Aston Martin and Corvette were all faster. Turned out Ford sand bagged! Deliberately went slower. The other cars were penalized! For the whole race up until the last hour Ferrari were second. Ford complained their race lights were incorrect in the final hour. After the awards Ferrari were disqualified giving Ford 1, 2 and 3. They had to hand over the cup! As much as I enjoy the event I will not support corruption so will never go again.
So, England want to leave Europe. Fine but what does it mean for us? We have invested a lifetime of savings in this property and cannot afford to go back. Life at least could become very uncomfortable here. Already we get less for our pounds so will have to tighten our belts for the foreseeable future.
We thought about applying for French citizenship but doing that will mean we will not get our pension due in 6 years. We have not worked in France long enough to qualify for their pension. We have worked hard since moving here but now face the prospect of having to walk away. Will England help us? No way!

Update

sorty it has been a while...busy, busy. By the end of each day I just fall into bed exhausted. My brain works overtime thinking through everything which wakes me up after a couple of hours. I usually come downstairs and read for a couple of hours. This means I start the day tired but have so much to do.
The back roof is nearly done. It has taken longer due to heavy rain. This has caused leaks into the house that has been very hard to deal with. We now have felt on the roof for the first time which has already made a difference. I hope for the first time this winter we will not be so cold indoors.
We have P's brother and wife arriving next Tuesday for 10 days. This made us decide to sort out the spare bedroom. What a task! We had to build a wall and incorporate a wardrobe into it. If Insay so myself it does look good. We had an old armoire that had good doors but a damaged body. We have used the doors. I will put pictures up when it is finished. We then had to stain the beams and pain the walls that were bare plaster. We bought an old French bed with a padded fabric head and foot. It needed restoring. I have painted the frame with white chalk paint. It took ages to remove the upholstery pins but it is now ready for the new fabric which I plan to do tomorrow. I then have to make the curtain for the dormer window. P has started laying the laminate floor after which he has to attach the skirting boards. We should be ready in time.
Today we took the brood box to our mentor who is collecting our bees next week. He will keep them a few days to settle them in our brood box. Within two weeks we will become bee keepers. I am entirely comfortable around the bees now. My next smallholder meeting is at the end of the month and is about bee keeping. By then we will have had the bees for about a week. All good stuff.
My six chicks are now out and about and mixing happily with the flock. The plan is that the boys will be for the freezer! We all want to be self sufficient with meat. We plan to take on two lambs next spring and keep them until around November then have them slaughtered. We will use a barn and set it up as a store room. We will put a big chest freezer in there and shelving for all the jams, chutneys and bottled fruit. Slowly we are becoming a proper smallholding.
I still do not know what the referendum will bring but am trying to ignore it until I have to do something. Hopefully nothing will change.

As France kicks off ...again

so, life is being made difficult at the moment. France has a very large book called Loi de travaille, it is red and was started by the cause of most of the problems..Napoleon! It protects the employee and has been greatly added to over the decades. The government has decided it needs reforming but did not ask the opinion of the people. So we are now suffering lots of strikes. The law cripples small business and prevents competition. For example a doctor cannot advertise he speaks English! A supermarket cannot sell paracetamol as it would compete with pharmacies. There are many things like this.
The refineries were being blockaded so it has been difficult to get fuel. The police broke the blockade yesterday so now the refinery workers are on strike. There is virtually no diesel available and petrol is limited to €20. We are not allowed to fill up jerry cans so cannot use our petrol lawn mower. We are having to limit using the car.
Tomorrow we start power cuts and ferries, trains and planes are on strike too. It does not make me love living here!
We are doing well with getting the spare room done and I am winning with the veg patch. It is all hard work and my energy levels are not what they used to be!
Tomorrow our daughter and husband will set up as auto entrepreneurs. This will give them access to the French health care system and make them resident here. They are nervous about this which I understand as it is a big commitment. They are detremined to make living here work.
Meanwhile I am feeling very down and thinking more often I want to go back to the UK. I am hoping this is just a phase that I will get over as it is getting harder to hide how I feel.

Progress report on the chicks

So here they are. Feathers are growing fast now. Today I have taken away the heat lamp as they have enough feathers to keep them warm. I will cover the cage at night to keep them warm. If they are ok and the weather stays warm I will put the cage in the chicken barn. This gives them a chance to get used to the others birds and gore others to accept the chicks. There is always a bit of a fight in the early days as the pecking order is sorted but they eventually all settle down. The plan is that any cockerels will go in the freezer once big enough. As you know saying it and doing it are two different things.
It has been a difficult week. A man took a photo of me talking to a French friend. I was speaking in French. We challenge him as it is wrong to take a photo without permission. He said he was a politician with Le Front Nationale and he wanted the photo for his campaign to get people like me out of France. This upset me very much. What more can I do? I pay tax here and speak the language when needed. This has led to me feeling once more desperate to go back to the UK. I do not like being a foreigner. All our money is in this property which would have to be sold. Family are trying to calm me down and I hope to get over this latest crisis.
I have started renovating an old bed. It has a wooden frame and padded head and foot boards. I am planning to paint the frame and recover the head and foot. It is taking me ages to remove the old upholstery tacks. I will put up a photo of the finished bed.
Hubby is away in England for the footie! He managed to get a cup final ticket. Not a good time for me to be on my own!

Lots to do as always

For some reason I cannot load a picture today.
The back of our roof is coming on well and is nearly stripped. It means we just have roofing felt and battening between us and the weather. This has meant a few leaks one of which occurred over our bed! I keep being told you cannot make an omlette without breaking eggs but this does not really help me. There are a lot of patches where plaster has fallen off up stairs due to the hammering. At least today lots of the old tiles that were scattered over the back garden have been removed. It will be much harder when the front is done as the mess will be visible. Also the dogs like to be out the front which will not be possible with the tiles being thrown down! I will be very pleased when the job is done.
The spare room is coming on well. The new wall is built along with the cupboard. Just the filling to finish then I can paint and stain the beams. We found a beautiful old bed that I will need to upholster. The frame needs a new coat of paint so I have decided to shabby chic it. I need to get some chalk paint to do this. I have ordered fabric from eBay to do the re upholstery and make the curtains. It will all be pale blue and white.
I have started sorting out the paths between the veg beds. I have squirted white vinegar over the weeds, put down cardboard then scalpings on top. I hope this will control the weeds. I have done two sections and have quite a bit more to do. I will not use any chemicals due to the bees arriving soon.
The chicks are much bigger and all have lots of feathers now. Another couple of weeks and they can go out. They all look very healthy. Broody hen has lost several eggs I think due to the rat problem we have in the chicken barn. We have caught several but they live in the walls. I tried taking Frank into the barn but he did not really know what to do.
The sunshine helps to improve life here, I love being able to get into the garden most days. I think this will be a good year for fruit.

The roof work begins

So, Monday saw the start of re roofing our house. This is how it looked yesterday. The capping tiles are off as are many of the clay tiles. Our builder is sorting out the dips in the roof as he goes. He is fixing chunks of wood to the buckled beams. Our roof will never be totally straight as we cannot afford to have the roof beams replaced. The mess inside has been bad enough doing it this way!
The mice have been evicted at last and this is the first time the roof has had felt!
We will be having grey slate for our new roof to match the Gite barn.
I am looking forward to the pallets of slates arriving and daughter and I plan to turn them into planters. By lining them with black plastic and painting the wood they will look great planted out. It will put more flowers into our garden for our bees.
Lots of clearance work is going on too and it is so lovely to see a garden emerging. It will never be a fancy garden but we can now see across the fields on all sides.
We have friends of daughter and sil staying for nearly two weeks. We have given them use of the Gite    in return for help. They have worked really hard the first two days. It is great to have help like this. It makes sense given we have so few bookings this year.
I am hoping that once the referendum is over more bookings will come in.
Lots of work as always but it feels good to be moving forward.

Six slightly bigger chicks

They are all doing really well. Full of life and great fun to watch. They are starting to grow wing feathers now at only three days old. I am having to clean them out three times a day now. I am very tempted to put some duck eggs in the incubator but I am the only one here who wants to have ducks. I will not be beaten down on this, they are staying. The ducks have a new pile of eggs in their house so maybe one of the girls will sit now the weather has warmed up.
We took the dogs for a woodland walk this afternoon, it did us all good! Little Frank hates going in the car but enjoys the walk. Bruno loves car rides and will jump in the back as soon as the door is opened without being told.
Tomorrow I hope work will start on the roof. It will improve the look of our house and will make us warmer next winter. We currently have no roofing felt or insulation under the tiles.
Bit weird today, it is a bank holiday here...international labour day. Most places are shut on Sunday's anyway!
Today is the first evening we have not lit the wood burner. Hope this warmer weather is here to stay.

Update on chicks

six out of seven hatched and are doing well. Running about, eating, drinking and pooing well! Another couple of days and the first feathers will start coming through. Will take photos as they grow. No idea yet of the sex!
Went to a fabric sale today and bought something to recover the footstool. Also some green and white gingham to go with some pink and white gingham I have. This will make the curtains for our spare room.
Have rearranged our main room to put the dining table nearer the kitchen. Really like how it looks. Also tidied and cleaned the two dressers. I might live on a building site but it is important to me that it is organized and clean!

First chicks

These are the first two to hatch in my incubator. There are now four in the broody box and two more drying out and fluffing up in the incubator. There is still one egg to go. It may be the last one won't hatch but I will  give it until tomorrow.
I love watching them hatch, it is a miracle each time. I am looking forward to my broody hen hatching her clutch too. It is great watching her bring out the fluff balls for the first time. She will be very protective and will sit with them under her wings if threatened. Chickens are fantastic mothers.
This is the first year for ages I have used the incubator. I only did so because none of the girls looked like they were going to become broody. The day after I set seven eggs she fluffed herself up, gathered all the eggs for the day and sat on them! Amazingly she is in the broody house. My chickens are in a small barn and they roost up on the ledges. They have a ladder to get up there. There are also six nest boxes on the floor that they use to lay eggs in. I put in a small broody house, raised off the ground with a ladder to enter, as they like to be tucked away when sitting. I close the door at night as we have a problem with rats living in the thick walls and they would steal her eggs from under her.
Hopefully all six chicks will survive. Maybe tomorrow it will be seven!

Busy time

sorty I have been absent a few days. So much to do just now.
Have cleared the spare bedroom ready to renovate. Today I will stain the beams. We have decided to build in a cupboard on the end wall as it is rough granite stone and has half the chimney breast on it. We will insulate and plaster board the whole wall then build a cupboard across it. The walls are wonky so this is the easiest way to deal with it. Once I have done the beams P will start the framing out.
We found a beautiful old second hand bed for £45 that has an almost new good mattress. It has a tapestry head and foot. The colours are pink and green which will dictate the cloud of the room. The bed frame is wood. We want to get the room done for P's brother and wife who are coming over in June for a week. Once the cupboard is done we will put down a laminate floor. Then need to make a windowsill and paint the whole room. I think I will do it white as this goes well with the dark oak beams. I will make curtains for the dormer window. I am very excited about doing this.
Meanwhile in the garden...we are going to fence an area for the dogs. This means I need to move my two muck heaps. That has been started and I want to get it finished today. Seeds are sprouting now so a small daily weed is needed. The red onions are sprouting too.
I have 7 eggs in an incubator having thought there would be no chicks this year. They are due to hatch this week and on Monday a hen went broody! I do not know how many eggs she is sitting on. Mrs Goose spent all yesterday sitting on her eggs but got off again this morning. I am leaving her to it.
Weather is all over the place so it is upsetting the nesting.
Am off to start work!

The clearing work continues

This is part of the back of our garden. This morning the larger tree at the front of the picture was hidden by brambles. Some of the brambles are so thick they are like small tree trunks. The brambles also grow through the branches and are difficult to remove. As always there are chickens in the picture. It is one of the joys of gardening for me the way the chickens help me. They have dug up lots of bramble roots. You can just see the fields behind our land. When our place was a working farm the surrounding fields were part of the farm. When the family sold they kept the fields which are now rented to neighboring farmers. We bought the buildings with an acre of land.
When we first bought this place it had not been lived in for some time. The land was overgrown with brambles and ivy. Slowly I am reclaiming the land and revealing lots of trees. Some of the trees have self seeded and have to be removed. Over crowding. Once the brambles have gone I will refence the perimeter of our land.
We have done the front of our property and as well as fencing have planted Hazel bushes, for the wildlife and for privacy. There are fields on both sides of our drive that often have cows in them.
It has taken a long time to gain control of our land but I now feel I am winning.

A couple of hours in the veg patch and.....

I have planted...peas, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts and leeks. All seeds for the first time so hope they work. I always find it very hard to thin out and usually end up keeping all the young plants and putting them elsewhere in the garden! I still have butternut squash and spaghetti squash to go in. Once the polytunnel is done I will plant tomatoes, chillis, peppers and cucumbers.
Humbug cat decided to pester me which was tricky as she walks over the bits I have prepared for the seed. I hope she will not dig up my seeds.
I use no chemicals in my garden, all weeding is done by hand. It means what grows is as near to organic as I can get it. It makes for a lot of work but I enjoy spending an hour out there after the day's work is done looking after my veg patch. It is a great feeling to pick fresh veg for dinner.
The fruit trees are showing signs of blossom, I hope there are still plenty of flowers when the bees arrive in June. We have several large lavender bushes along the front path that I hope they will find. Many other bees find it. There is also a humming bird moth that frequents it. An amazing little thing and a joy to watch.
I have been reading lately about people whose parents embraced self sufficiency in the 1970's. The majority did not follow in their parents footsteps as they found the life too isolated and hard. It surprised me. There is a now another trend towards it. It is hard work but enjoyable. I get so much pleasure being out with the chickens, ducks and geese. I am still hoping to add some animals at some point.
A very busy time is coming up with everything growing. Lots of time in the garden....and a very happy me!

The cleared barn

This is the back of our oldest barn. You can just see the lounge chimney of our house behind.
Two days ago you could not see this wall. There is still ivy on the roof which has to be removed very gradually. It will pull off some of the old clay roof tiles. The dark patch on the right of the roof is a hole. The roof beams are suspect too. Lots of the pointing has been dug out by birds and insects. It is probably a long way down the list but it will be repaired. You can see a chimney on the far left of the barn...this was the smithy for the farm.
You can just see a door on the left behind the bush. My plan is to open up this door and section off that end of the barn as a stable for animals..probably goats as they can access the orchard from here.
The various dark shapes on the ground are some of my chickens who love to scratch about in newly uncovered areas.
When our house is re roofed soon we plan to keep the tiles to repair the roof of this barn.
We are very fortunate to have several barns of different sizes. A total of  five. The other big long one is for the Gites.
I will add photos of the others.

Bit of a weird week

last Sunday we had a mighty storm that knocked out our internet. We heard it blow! My poor roof has taken a battering but thankfully we now have the builder booked to do it. It will make such a difference.
Thursday of last week we were contacted by a couple wanting to come to our Gite on the Saturday. We had not put the Gite back together and needed to do some painting, change the bathroom blinds and put everything back in place. The grass also needed cutting. The four of us set to and as expected it was all ready in time. The couple leave again tomorrow.
Monday morning phoned orange and they confirmed our live box was dead. I was given a code and told to go to the orange shop in Mayenne and change the box! Problem was there are two shops in Mayenne. P had a heavy cold bit insisted on coming as he didn't think I could vote on my own. We waited a good half hour in the shop waiting to talk to the assistant only to be told she did not have the boxes go to the other shop! P was grumbling constantly by now. We walked down to the other shop and five minutes later came out with a new box! So by lunchtime we were back online. And I did all the talking, in French! Monday another storm started but this time we managed to unplug the phone. We have had some spectacular skies, really weird. The rest of the week has been very windy, again not good for our roof.
We have made great progress in the garden despite the weather. Lots more overgrown areas have been cleared. The chickens love scratching about in the newly uncovered areas. They have been so interested in it they have not left the garden.
I now have one of my big Aylesbury ducks who seems to be sitting on eggs. This makes me very happy, I love having ducklings around. The others all say we should get rid of the ducks as they are messy but they make me happy! So they are staying.
I currently have chickens laying eggs in the goose nest! Mrs Goose has built a lovely nest but still shows no sign of sitting. No broody chickens either so have currently 7 eggs in an incubator. Another 13 days to go!
I have moved the raspberry canes in the veg patch and planted the red onions. Hoping to plant more veg tomorrow. My polytunnel is still not ready which is very frustrating.
Then finally younger daughter had to put her car into the garage and her hubby's car was dying too. He had arranged to exchange it today but meanwhile had no car. So, they have borrowed my mini. I will be pleased to get it back tomorrow.
Made another batch of marmalade today. Breakfast toast is not the same without it.

What a lovely day

I have loved Alpacas for ages but never met one. Through my smallholder group I had a wonderful day surrounded by them! Such beautiful animals. If I had more land I would have some!
When we arrived at the smallholding which is next to a large farm there was a new calf wandering in the road. The umbilical cord was still attached. She was staying close to a barn that had Bulls in it. I didn't think she was safe so encouraged her to come down to the farm house. Found a lady who said she was the cleaner but would call the farmer! Meant I spent time with the beautiful little girl. At least she was a girl so will grow up to give milk. I have to keep blinkers on a lot living here, I always put it down to being raised on Disney while the French had Asterix!
Have done lots of bramble clearance in the garden and it is looking good. Polytunnel is coming on, it is quite involved getting it done. Had a bonfire going too to get rid of the garden stuff. Bit of dry weather makes all the difference!

Big achievement in the veg patch

So, this is the bottom end of the veg patch. We all spent Friday sorting it out. You can see the frame of the new polytunnel. At the start of the day this area was covered in brambles and ivy and sloped. The trees on the boundary were over hanging and you could not see the field beyond. The chickens and geese enjoyed picking over what we dug up!
You can see two of the beds in the picture that currently have raspberry canes in them. These are to be moved to the perimeter to make room for more veg. There are three more beds the same that we have dug over ready for planting.
When the cows are in the field they hang their heads over the fence and watch me!
Once I have started planting the chickens will be shut out as they dig up everything I plant. I have a thornless blackberry growing along one fence.
This year I will try to grow...peas, beans, red onions, spring onions, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. Also squash and courgettes. In the polytunnel will be tomatoes, cucumbers, chillies and peppers.
I look forward to getting going. Weather has stopped play in the garden for the next few days but there is still plenty of time to get going.
I always feel very happy when working in the garden.

Big step forward

so, daughter and husband are now in their new home. They moved in yesterday to a new house. This used to be a small cow barn attached to our house. It had an earth floor and was very dark. It is now a bright and sunny one bedroomed house. We still have the outside decking to do to give safe access to the front door and the garden needs lots of work to get it looking good. It will all get done eventually.
This morning we are meeting at their house for coffee and a discussion to plan our next project. This has to be to finish the other two Gites. A lot of the work is done so we need careful planning to be sure of the order of things and that we have the necessary materials on site.
We have also now created pathways around the place having had 13 ton of scalpings delivered. Things are shaping up well.
P took the corvette for the CT (mot) yesterday and it passed. So we now have all the paperwork to apply for French license plates. Means another trip to the prefecture. I hope that is the last thing with officialdom for a while.
My French driving license has still not turned up. I obviously misunderstood the phone conversation! Not hard to do! My piece of paper to show the police runs out 4th April so I very much hope it arrives before then. I dread dealing with the prefecture again.
My polytunnel has arrived and I hope we will assemble it tomorrow. I have lots of vegetable seeds waiting to be planted.
Sadly I lost a duck this week. They have been roaming ever further from our property and I knew it was only a matter of time before a fox arrived. She was always the last to come home and was often in the field alone. I was always hunting for them and herding them back. P saw the fox take her.
I have now refenced around the duck area with chicken wire which has stopped them getting through the fence. I have also closed the gate between them and the geese as Mr Goose is aggressive just now due to Mrs Goose laying eggs. Very much hoping for Goslings this year.
So, the busy time is fast approaching with lots to do in the veg patch. Need extra veg this year to supply daughter and sil!

Plodding onwards

the world seems to be going crazy just now. I dread seeing the news each morning. I am always first up and never put the tv on, trying to delay bad news.
So, a full week done of the blood sugar diet and I have lost 6lbs. Not bad. I never thought I could cope with drastically reducing my carb and sugar intake but I have done it and so far do not miss it. My portions have greatly reduced too but that may be because I am unwell. I have been unwell for a few days and have pushed myself to keep going. Today I went to see the doc. I have a chest infection!   On antibiotics for six days. I have been told to stay in the warm as there is a risk it could become pneumonia. I was also checked out for Zika as there have been two cases in Paris. All clear on that front thank goodness. Something else I discovered is my blood pressure was a little low where before doing this eating regime it was a little high. For now I feel very rough.
We have reduced our prices for the Gite in the hope it will bring some bookings. We are all worried at the lack of them. Probably due to the referendum and the illegal immigrants problem.
Daughter is now moving into the cave! Curtains are up and most of the furniture is in. It looks really good. Hubby dealt with the last bit of plumbing today. Next we have to do a few bits in the Gite before it goes out for rental on 12th March. Then we will crack on with finishing the other two Gites.
As always plenty to do here.

Facing the unknown 🙄

So as the UK goes to referendum over whether to leave the European Union we are in limbo. There is lots of talk amongst expats here and we are all worried. None of the politicians are saying what it means for us. This is something totally out of my control which I find very hard.
We have owned this house for 8 years now and lived here for 6. It has not always been easy and there have been times when I have been desperate to go back to the UK. We have now made a life for ourselves and accepted staying here. If England leaves Europe it could be difficult to live here. We are fortunate where we are in that we are accepted. I don't know if that would remain so.
For now we will carry on and wait until we are told something definite but just now I feel if someone wanted to buy our place I would sell it.

A good day in the garden

Some of my chickens and the geese enjoying some sun!
Today I have cleared lots of debris that had accumulated over the winter. I have established a hard wood compost heap. Also one for veg peelings and weeds that the chickens can dig over which will make it compost quicker. They will also manure it as they go. Good organic practice.
I have worked out where my polytunnel is going too and put plastic down to kill the weeds. Hubby has said he will buy me one and I am so excited about it. I used to get excited about clothes, bags and shoes but how times have changed! I am sitting having a mug of herbal tea in muddy jeans with a dog on my lap asleep. It doesn't get any better!
My big greenhouse frame that is on concrete and had been a problem to find glass and putty for will be boarded. I will put a green tin roof on it and it will become a potting shed and place to keep all the garden tools. Another exciting project. I plan to put guttering on this and a water butt as this will help with watering the veg patch. I am looking forward to planting the seeds I have collected over the winter.
The geese now have two eggs tucked away in their house. I am hoping she will sit this year. I think she will wait until she has around nine eggs before sitting. The ducks also have a pile of eggs in their house. Hoping for some babies from them all this year.
The chickens are laying eight eggs every day and my egg mountain keeps growing. I use lots, give loads away and still have eggs to spare!
I will also clear nine young trees that have self seeded against the oldest barn wall. This will open it out and enable me to clear the ivy. There is a door into the garden side and my plan is to convert the inside to house goats! It will have stalls for them and a milking stand so when it rains I can milk them in the dry. I must put the bee hive together and decide where it will go in my garden.
The barn renovation that will be a house for my eldest daughter and hubby is nearly done. They will be in by the end of the month. It is looking really good.
I love days like today, I feel like anything is possible and love being outside.

And here it is

Our beautiful C5 parked outside our house. Just been washed after driving up our muddy road!
P has been out today digging out the grass mound that has grown in the middle of our road. With the tractors that use our road to access fields around us it is impossible to keep our cars clean.
This car is the same as the one we had when living in the UK. We bought that one from Amercan eBay and imported it from New York. There is a problem importing an American spec car into France so we sold it before moving here. We have always missed it. We are complete Corvette fans. We have re joined the Classic Corvette club UK and it is lovely to catch up with old friends. We plan to get involved with American car clubs here but being such a big country there are long distances to travel.
Now begins the import process. We have applied for the certificate of conformity and have the European head lights ready to install. P wants to put American style plates on it but not sure if that is allowed.
So begins a new chapter of life here. I think our carbon footprint just went back up!

A new car

so we arrived in the UK Monday evening after an awful crossing during storm Imogene! We were the only ferry still running as it turned out. We travelled as foot passengers as we were to collect the car hubby bought. Our daughter took us to Caen ferry port. It was strange not having a car and meant we had to limit what we took. I still managed to take some crochet with me though! The ferry took an extra hour to get to Portsmouth but we found a taxi to take us to the hotel! Wish we hadn't! The hotel was awful but we were so tired by then we did not feel able to look for somewhere else. Not a good start.
In the morning we decided not to stay for breakfast but to walk to the station looking for somewhere to eat on our way. The station was not far and we found a very pleasant place for breakfast. The hotel offered breakfast for £7.95 each, a bit steep and given the state of the hotel I doubted the quality of the food. Hubby had a much missed bacon sandwich and I had pain au raisin bizarrely! With coffee it cost us £8!
On to the station and we had a short wait for our train to East Croydon. Helped an older lady with her case and she told me her lifestyle! That happens a lot to me. At East Croydon we bought sandwiches to take on the next train to Milton Keynes. Changed at Milton Keynes for the final leg to Atherstone! All that for £12 each. Bargain. Wandered into the village to find coffee whilst we waited to be picked up.
Once at the house we were able to transfer ownership and buy car tax on line. Hopefully the V5 will arrive soon. The car did not have much fuel so we went to a petrol station five minutes away! Parked up with hubby filling up and two unmarked police cars blocked us in! They had checked with DVLA and we came up as no tax or insurance! Showed him my French insurance papers and said we had taxed it. There was a delay for it to show. Had a nice chat about the car once he knew we were legal!
Then drove down to Daventry to stay in a lovely environmentally responsible hotel. Hubby was stressed getting used to the car and worrying about all the traffic.
The next day we drove on down to visit a friend in Caterham who is interested in the car. Then on to Crawley to the wheels place. Now hubby was really twitchy, leaving the car there overnight. The chap mentioned they had a Lamborgini and Maclaren in last week so he calmed down a bit.
Then it was off to find a bus to the town center. Then another bus for 1 1/2 hours to get to bil.
Made it! An epic journey on public transport, survived!
The wheels will be ready later today so back to Crawley. It will be good to have the car back.
Tomorrow we will use the tunnel to take our yellow C5 Corvette home!
The last one we owned we bought from American eBay, went to Connecticut to see it then had it shipped over. We loved it but could not import it to France so sold it before moving over.
It feels good to have one again.

Another victory with bureaucracy

This week we had to sort out the importation of daughter's car. The headlights were changed a couple of weeks ago so the next stage was the CT (mot in England). As it is a newer car it has the type approval number on the V5 so should not need a certificate of conformity. We went to our usual place for the CT who said we had to have the certificate for him to do the test. Came home and contacted Citroen to find out the cost. Meanwhile we were told of another test place who would do it without the certificate. This one is in our department and it is not unusual here for policies to be different in other departments. So we obtained the CT. Next stage to go to the tax office for the quitas fiscal, this is a check to ensure there are no outstanding loans on the car. Daughter and sil live on our property so all uitlity bills are in our name. All they have are mobile phone bills and car insurance. The tax office would not give us the paper without a justification of domicile. Had to go back to our village to the Marie to get an attestation..they love those here. It was issued with no problem so back to the tax office and this time success.
Today was the big one...we had to go to the main prefecture for the next stage. Last year I had tried to change my driving license for a French one by post and twice it was returned to me. I wanted to do this at the same time. Daughter sailed through her bit, paid her money and came away with the document needed to get the French number plates. Hers was done quickly. I had to wait longer for my turn and when I finally was at the window was told there were two more forms I had to complete. The other problem was once more the justification of domicile..proof of address. We had the usual utility bills but they are only in the name of P so we took a tax demand that was In both names to prove we lived at the same address. She had to consult someone else but finally it was agreed I had the right paperwork! 3 completed forms, 3 photos, copy of utility bill, copy of passport, copy of birth certificate and plastic and paper parts of my English license. Then another problem...if I wanted to retain grandfather rights I had to have an attestation from my doctor! No way was I doing all this again so I agreed to being covered for cars only. I have never driven a van, lorry or caravan and never will. I now have a document to show the police if needed to say my new license is in progress! I did it!
One of the problems with dealing with officialdom here is the goalposts keep changing and it is hard to find out what the changes are. Usually you turn up at a government office with what you think is the right paperwork only to be told no!
The department we were in today had a lot of migrants waiting. At least my license was a European one, most of them are non European. Ten times harder to sort out! I felt very sorry for them.
My French is far from perfect but I am managing much better now.
I am feeling good this evening!

Another attempt to gain control of the biscuit tin

what I mean is self control and not opening the biscuit tin.
Since retiring from the world the pounds, or should it be kilos, have padded me out. When in work I was a size 10 ( UK). To be honest I did not eat much, lived on black, sugarless coffee and sugarless polo mints! Not healthy!
Since retiring and opting out I have discovered I actually like eating so have. The weight has piled on. With two siblings who have type 1 diabetes I am being very foolish. So, the hunt for a healthy eating plan. In the past I have done weight watchers and went from 15 stone to 10 by eating weight watchers products. Three problems with that now..I cannot get the products here....they are too expensive to buy from the company and have delivered here......they do not fit my clean eating way of life. They do classes here but in French!
I have tried the fasting...I can go all day without eating for two days a week but then I over eat on the feed days. It is not for me.
GI diet...too much work to understand how to do it.
I am currently waiting for the book on the blood sugar diet to arrive. I have read up on this and am not convinced it will work for me.
So....looking at slimming world. Cannot afford to join the on line club as having just paid off one mortgage I am not going to take out another to pay for a slimming club.
I have done a bit of googling and have a sort of slimming world that I think will work for me. I will have a measured amount of porridge with milk and honey for breakfast. I will have a bowl of homemade soup for lunch and then a home cooked meal in the evening. The key will be ditching the snacks, no cake or chocolate!
The biggest challenge I have is being vegetarian. There is little out there to keep me filled up and interested in what I am eating.
I will give it a go though.