A very small concert

Yesterday evening we went to a concert in nearby Pontivy. It is not often that we have music here, and as it was an organ concert we were particularly interested.

(That isnt the organ in the photo)

Concerts in France can go either way. You arrive on time, or even early and there are queues of thousands. You arrive very early expecting the queue, and there is no one. The French turn up late for most things, so we weren't too worried when we got to the church and found....no one.

Except, of course, for the organist.

The concert was due to start at 8.45pm. This is normal , to give everyone the time to finish work (most shops stay open till 7pm), and to eat supper.

Gradually, over the next half hour people drifted in in ones and twos. By 9 pm there were around thirty people there, spread out through the church . Another ten wandered in after the concert had begun, also normal.

The young organist gave a fine concert for an hour or so, but it must have been depressing for him to look at such a sparse audience. We loved it though.

Letters

Please let me know if anyone has not received their partner.
Everyone has now been assigned, so....start writing!

Last try

This will be the last call for two people.

LINDA TUNELL
PLAINS GARDENER

Sadly, if I dont receive your e mail addresses by the end of today (Friday) I will have to assume that you are no longer interested in the swap.


I hope that everyone else has received their partners. You are all very different, in age, in interest, but I've done my best to match you. I didnt just put bits of paper into a hat. Age shouldnt matter at all. We all have different skills to teach, different regions to talk about. This may be the beginning of a long friendship across the world.
Do let us know when you receive your letter!


Any problems , let me know.

Partners

You should all be receiving your partner for the letter swap within the next few hours.
I am sending you the e mail address of your partner and you then contact her for the postal address. Sadly I still have no e mail addresses for LAEL and PLAINS GARDENER, so unless they contacy me soon will have to count them out.


Suggestions for the swap


Take a look at the other person's blog to get to know them a little.

Find a nice writing paper, not just a sheet of A4!

Write about yourself, where you live, your interests, family , whatever.....

Maybe send a photo, or a postcard of your region.

Send your letter out as soon as possible. Overseas mail can take quite a time. Don't forget to put the correct stamp on for the country to which you are writing.

If you know you cant do this swap for any reason, PLEASE let me know.

Otherwise...enjoy it!

(Note. I am sure that you are all genuine, nice people. However I have to cover myself by saying that I can take no responsibilty for anything in any letter that might upset anyone.)

CALLING.............!

THE LISTS ARE BEING PREPARED

BUT.....

I HAVE NO CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESSES FOR THESE PEOPLE;

PLAINS GARDENER

LINDA TUNNELL

LAEL

PLEASE E MAIL ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

STOP!

I'm sorry to say that I cant accept any more on the

letter swap list.

I know I said the closing date would be 31st.

I didnt expect so many entries. We are now up

to over 30, and that's enough for me to handle.

Over the next few days I will be

pairing you up with a partner

and sending you details by e mail.

I'm sorry if there are people who wanted to enter.

Maybe we will do another one later.

But we are now

CLOSED!

Walking the walk

It's a tent.

It's got a business-like look about it.

It looks as though it's being used for a purpose.

Let me tell you about 'LEJOG'

Malcolm is walking from Landsend in Cornwall

to John o Groats in Caithness, almost the length of the UK, and covering

around 25 miles per day. He is meeting so many

kind and thoughtful people en route.

He expects the walk to take around two months and the purpose is to raise funds for

Naomi's House Childrens Hospice.

Naomi's House is in Hampshire, S. England, and gives support

and respite care to children under 18

who have life-limiting illnesses.

There are two facilities in Hampshire, and they cost 4.5 million p.a to

run, serving seven counties. Of their funding

93% comes from charitable giving.

The money that Malcolm raises will go towards funding

for a life of dignity, of independence, of respite for families.

How desperately thankful I am that the worst

my children suffered were minor accidents.

How hard to know that your child may not see adulthood.

Why am I supporting this?

Because Malcolm's mum is a friend of mine.

Take a look at his blogsite.

Encourage him with a message of support.

GO, Malcolm!!

(By the way, it did take me a while to see what the acronym

meant...Lejog? Lands End John Of Groats! Good title.)

Such a cheerful little Rockrose.

It scampers all over the rockery, lighting up the stone walls. It does seem to seed itself, consequently I have rather more plants than I started with.

It's going to be another scorcher today, and I have friends coming for afternoon tea.

Big parasol, pretty tea table.........I'll take photos and show you tomorrow.

Re the letter swap........ there are a couple of e mail addresses that have not come in yet. Please do send me the contacts.

Even more about letters........

So far there are twenty two people signed up to

write letters. There are children too,

so if you wish your children or grandchilren to join in,

let me know.

You can use the button on the sidebar,

kindly made by Maria

of Me and Ma.

Closing date to sign up is May 31st.

Please dont forget to send me your e mail address, my e mail is on my

profile.

It might be nice to send your partner a post card

of your region with your letter, but this is not a gift swap

More about letters

What a good idea!

Maria, of Me and Ma left a comment on my

post about 'Scribbling', suggesting we did a letter swap.

And as today is National Letter writing day, it seems very

appropriate to announce it.

The idea will be that anyone who wishes to join in leaves a comment

here, and sends me their e mail address privately.

I will sort out names, and pair you off with someone, sending you their e mail.

Then you contact them, exchange addresses, and

wait for a lovely real letter to pop through your post box!

You will need to let me know whether you are happy to send

abroad or whether you prefer to stay in your own country.

This isnt a gift swap, merely a way of developing friendship through letters.

Closing date for entries......31st May.

Letter writing day is promoted by World Vision,

and sponsored by Hayley Mills.

It is mainly to encourage adults to write to the children

whom they sponsor through World vision.

Did you know that one in five children in the UK have never received

a handwritten letter?

First rose

Just a little photo today of the first rose to flower in the garden..

This morning, which is when I should have taken the photo, it was only a bud. This evening it is a slightly shaggy flower.

It doesnt have a name, as it is one raised by my brother in law in England. He calls it 'M yellow', because he pollinated it from a friend's rose, whose surname begins with M. You really needed to know that, Im sure.

Oh, and we have a 'M red' also.

My brother in law is so imaginative in his choice of names ....non?

May I say thank you to so many lovely people who left comments on my scribbler post. It's so encouraging.

Just a scribbler

I like to read people's blog posts. I sometimes find it difficult to write my own. I think , at heart, I'm just a scribbler. I write my tumbled thoughts in a diary. I keep a garden diary with abstruse notes that say 'Helleb. flwring Ap 09', and other helpful things.

There is no way I could commit myself to some of the special weekly posts that so many people join. There are Pink Saturdays, Tuesday tea tables, Foto Fridays and even the oddly named Woo hoo Wednesday. I havent discovered what that's about yet! I just know I could never think up enough original thoughts to be part of it all.

At school, the art of letter writing was taught, formally. I loved writing letters, and still do to certain friends who live many miles away. But of course, it's almost too easy to do it the quick way with e mail. I'm trying not to lose the art of letter writing.

I am a scribbler at heart.

What a very beautiful garden it was. It reminded me of a small

National Trust place. Lovingly developed

by an English couple over the last ten years,

the main feature was the pond.

Lying in the lower area of the garden, this had once been the

Village Lavoir, where the communal washing took place.

As we sat by the water, an odd sort of woofing noise was heard, and

I looked around for a small dog. It came again, and again, and we suddenly

realised that it was from the frogs, all with deep bass voices.

The stalls did well, plants and books (English, what a treat!)

were snapped up, and.........


of course, this was the most popular item.
Proper Cornish cream teas, scones, jam and cream.
What bliss!
Added to all this, the tea party raised 500 euros for charities.

Such a social whirl

We are going to a Garden Party this afternoon.

It promises not to rain, though the sky is grey.

we look forward to seeing someone elses garden.

Cake stall, book stall, plants......what more could anyone want? I'll let you know.

Little airport

You remember that sinking feeling when the word 'airport' is mentioned? Those memories of pushing, shoving crowds, queues for duty free, queues for boarding, queues for the loo.....?

Try Rennes airport. Like one or two of our local airports in Brittany, Rennes is small, quiet and best of all , you can see from one end to the other.

Parking is easy, just across the road. Although there are two entry doors, one for Arrivals and one for Departures, they both open into the same hall, kind of surprising on the first visit.

Waiting for family, we watch the little plane come in, see it land, and then stand by the window watching the passengers wander up to the Customs area. We see them get their bags off the little carousel, and then meander through to the arrival lounge. All very easy, slow and measured.

There is a little bar/restaurant, a Presse shop, Loos.....and that's it. No duty free. No souvenir shops.

I like Rennes Airport. So do my family, who simply couldnt believe how easy it was.

Frappez?

" Frappez, Madame" said the stall holder to my daughter in law.

The market was full of the most gorgeous flowers this week,

purple Stocks, Alstromerias, and these beautiful roses

which were bought for me......with the query,

"What's Frappez?"

All it means is that you bash the stems, hard

to let the poor things drink. These were

roses from someone's garden as opposed to the forced sort.

The stems were full of prickles, but the perfume was unbelievable.

They are in the sitting room, and as I go by there is a waft of scent.

What's better than roses? Well frappeed, of course!

Edit; several people have asked me why we bash the stems.

Roses have very woody stems. They need to be cut or hammered so that

they can drink enough water to keep them alive.

Rhinestone cowboys?

So, there we were, with visitors, driving through a deserted town.

France doesn't do Sunday opening, but we wanted to show them the Castle

and the River walks.

Suddenly heard the thump of microphones, the howl of music

and .....there we were, confronted by a Western Cowboy Music event!

On a Sunday? With an American band? Texans, even.

Accordion, fiddle, guitar, all being played with verve.

People dressed in full gear, Stetsons, hand tooled boots,

men in Western shirts, women in a somewhat dubious selection

of Dolly Parton-type finery. And these were all French!

There were stalls of the most incredible clothes, boots,

belts, leather, Stetsons

by the hundred.

My grandaughter really really wanted a Broderie Anglaise top,

but I had to gently say that if she bent down it might be

considered to be a bit, um, too revealing!

These ladies are line dancing in the marquee.
I had no idea that Western culture had such a following here.
In the hall nearby was a full blown 'concert', another band
to which fifty or more people were line-dancing.
I've never seen anything quite like it here! We have
our Breton dance festivals, but they are tame compared to this.


The accordionist chatted to me later, and I asked how long they were here for.
'Oh, a week', he said, 'then we have other dates in France'
Then he drawled, 'Say, ma am, you sure speak good English'.
Mmmm, that's maybe because I am English?

Tea party at Cielo's.

Cielo at The House in the Roses is having a Victorian Tea Party today.

She asked me if I would take part, and to bring my

favourite tea cup and saucer.

I'm being a little different and making this a small tribute to

my Mother who died fifteen years ago this week.

My mother often came to stay with us, especially latterly,

when her health wasn't so good.

She loved being 'spoiled' with a tray of afternoon tea.

One day I was browsing in an antique shop, and found this pretty

set of Paragon china.

It is Paragon 'Florabelle' , and I knew my mother would love to have it

as her own set when she stayed with us.

It has tiny, dainty flowers in shades of blues, mauves and pink,
and suited her delicacy. Sadly the pattern is now disconinued.
In fact, looking at some of the websites, I found that it is much in demand.




A silver tray, flowers, a slice of very English fruit cake,
and afternoon tea is served, with my Mother.

Very welcome visitors.

Tomorrow, if volcanic ash permits, my family are flying over to visit. Fortunately they fly from the South coast, not Scotland.

So we shall be busy for a few days, showing off the delights of Breton markets, museums, shops, canal walks, et al.

Unwelcome visitor.

From my kitchen window I can watch the many little birds that come to feed at our feeders...Bluetits, great tits, Coal tits, chaffinches, sparrows and more.

Yesterday I thought I saw one of the Ring doves amongst the plants in the bed by the feeders...a grey shape shuffling. I wondered if it was hurt, as they dont usually hide in the plants. Then it emerged, with a beady look in its eye.

Not a Ring Dove, but a Sparrow Hawk, one of the worst predators, always looking for a tasty dinner of small bird. It hopped up to a post, glanced down to the feeders, and was just ready to attack when I burst out of the door yelling! It flew, fast.

A couple more houses...

These little stone cottages cling together in a small hamlet.

What the photo doesn't show is the collection

of new build houses that has grown up around them.

Poor little cottages. They are such a reminder of times past.

I see that the front one has a glass conservatory added, which doesnt

do much for it, architecturally.

Built about a year ago, this house has none of

the traditional features. Roll-down shutters have become more popular

than the old wooden type which used to look so lovely.

Look at the doorways into this little cottage.

Stone surrounds are so typical of the Breton tradition.

I'm not sure that I could get through the door without bending.

Cottages like this are very dark inside, you can see

how small the windows are.

But cosy too, maybe?

Geraniums

It is at last safe to put the geraniums outside. I wanted to do it earlier but there were so many morning frosts that it wasnt worth it.

It's almost obligatory to have geraniums in France. They are in pots, or suspended in baskets, or in window boxes...or just about anywhere in fact.

About ten years ago a new enterprise started nearby, a nursery run by one lady and her husband. They grew all their own plants at that time, and didnt have plastic tunnels then. I bought from her, wonderful strong plants , and continued every year.

She laughed the other day, saying 'You were one of my first English customers. I didnt know if the business was going to work that year!'.

As you can see above, it worked extremely well. Now she doesn't grow everything herself, some are delivered in. But her plants are just as strong and healthy, and if you dont get there early in the season they have very quickly sold out.

1st May

I'm not sure that you can see this photo at all clearly. It is our Greater spotted Woodpecker, who arrives every year at about this time
He flies straight on to the peanuts as if he knows they are there just for him. One year we had mother and baby woodpecker, baby being fed by Mother.
I tried zooming in on him but just got a very blurred image.


As it's the 1st May we gather our Lily of the Valley to give to friends and neighbours. It's a tradition, and in all the towns there will be people selling sprays. Often the Scouts and the Guides are there selling for their funds. I'm lucky to have some in the garden, so we strolled down to an old neighbour with a bunch, had a lunchtime drink with him, and reminisced.

We also took a branch of Beech. When we first came here all the houses were garlanded with Beech on 1st May to signify the coming of Spring. Our neighbour was mourning the fact that the tradition seems to be dying out, and that no one has Beech trees now.
I didnt tell him that I had been to the woods yesterday and 'stolen' two small branches!