Going to the movies!

We're going to the Movies tonight!

This is our little local cinema, to which I've never yet been.Apparently it is comfortable, but......
the film operator puts the film on....and goes home.
So I'm told! I hope he returns later.
It will be an interesting experience.
And of course, we are going to see
The Kings Speech!
(photos from the cinema's website)

Tax returns

It's that time of year again.
French tax forms have to be filled in.
Much hammering of calculator.
Much furrowed brows and chewing of pen.


Every little detail of any money we happen to have, either here or in UK, has to be declared.
Not that we would, but one cant hide anything, as there are inter-country contacts now. The French authorities can be very strict if they feel there is a loophole....and why not?

We have found all the necessary paperwork.
We have filled in what needs filling in.
It's done........for another year!

google images

Version Originale

We get very excited when we see the abbreviation, V.O.

That's Version Originale, or in other words...

a film in English (or Spanish , or Italian, depending

on the original version of the film.)At last, the film of 'The King's Speech' is coming to our

little town. For one night only it will be in English, and

we plan to go on Monday night.

Films here begin at a very late hour, 9pm,

but I think it will be worth it to see this.

Sadness in our village

I looked out of my window this morning to see two of our neighbours coming up the path. I knew it would be either bad or good news.

Sadly they came to tell us, knowing we dont read the local French paper, that Jean Claude had passed away yesterday. Jean Claude and his wife, a charming lady, live in Paris, but have had a cottage here for years. They always arrived for holidays, and we have spent many happy hours chatting, eating, BBQing and generally enjoying their company.

We knew that JC had not been well for some time. Now he has left us, and this little village will miss his 'larger than life' persona.

Our little village decreases.

Mrs Mop lives.....

My job today....helping my friend do the last

clean before she leaves the house for ever.

French law says that you have to leave the house empty.

It doesnt say anything about clean.

However, I have a friend whose house has always been immaculate.

So if I happened to find a smidgeon of dust

I had to tease her.

The furniture has all gone now and they are staying with a friend

until Friday, the day of the signing.

We hoovered. We dusted.

We cleaned windows. We cleaned bathrooms.

The house smelt so fresh and lovely when we'd finished.

I have to say that I'm glad she only has a little house!
I was never the most brilliant Mrs Mop.

Goodbye gifts

We met today for our Sewing group.

It was a day of goodbye gifts to our dear friend who is leaving

to live back in England. She and I founded the group together

some years ago, and we shall miss her quiet encouragement.

This is the quilt that emerged from fifteen blocks,

all from different people, all without any consultation

as to colour. The only stipulation was that our block

should try to represent something about us. My Ohio star on the left has a centre of Cross stitch,

which is known to be my passion.

Others are easily recognisable by their favourite blocks or colours.

I think it is amazing how well it has worked out,

and our friend was overwhelmed.

We had a little tea party for her too, and

English scones rubbed shoulders with French Tarte aux pommes!

Below is my personal gift to them,

a little cross stitch picture representing
their house.

I shall give it to them next week on the day they leave for the

ferry back to England.

Weekend bits and pieces

We went to a lovely 60th birthday party on Saturday evening, held in our church hall..but looking quite unlike its normal self.

Tables were laid with bright pink candles and napkins. Butterfly decorations and ribbons hung around the walls. Long tables were laid with hot and cold food.

Here you can see the birthday cake, which was a delicious sponge.

One of our church musicians, a guitarist, has his own little group who played for dancing, mostly 1960's music, which was familiar and easy. Some of the old rock'nroll numbers took me back to my twenties! Oh what it was to be young and to be able to do the twist!

Sunday followed, with the first visit of our new Locum priest who will be with us for three months whilst we are in Interregnum. He has been working in Ypres and is going to be a great asset to our church, I think.

Shared lunch was about 40 strong, and there was plenty of party food left over for all.

Then we came slowly home, sat comfortably in arm chairs, read the papers, and were very quiet for a while.

Alphabet sampler

The French call this an 'Abecedaire', an Alphabet sampler.

This is for a friend who has a very elegant black and white sitting room, with accents (Martha Stewart) of red. Tomorrow is a special birthday, and this will be my gift to her.

You might remember that the chart for this design came minus the letter 't'!

Broccoli anyone?

This is Purple Sprouting Broccoli.

We grow it every year in the vegetable garden,

and every year we battle with the pigeons to see who will

have it to eat. A net works well. I was so surprised to read this morning that up to 50% of the

crops have been lost because of sub zero temperatures

when Britain was under snow.

Lately Purple sprouting broccoli has become popular

as a 'superfood', giving large amounts of iron, folic acid and vitamins.

Maybe I should invite them to come to our garden where we are picking

earlier than ever before.

When it is new it tastes a little like the finest asparagus,

served with a touch of butter, or hollandaise sauce.

I think I'll have to go out with my scissors

and cut some for supper......

Coffee mugs.

A friend dropped by for Coffee this morning,

unexpectedly, but very welcome.

I have a preference for coffee in pretty mugs, and

they have to be Bone China.

I had enough of big thick mugs in the school Staffroom. I love these two, found in Sainsbury's.

They are called 'Sorilla Blue'

(which I did read as Gorilla blue to begin with)

I use them when a friend comes by,

and somehow the coffee tastes even better!

Hellebore season.

I love this time of year when my Hellebores

begin to flower. It seems to say that Spring can't be that far away.

Unlike England, we don't have banks of Primroses and Bluebells here in Brittany,

so these and the Daffodils I have planted are

our heralds of Spring.

I find that the Hellebores do much better when I take all the old leaves from last year away, even if they look green and healthy. I think they like their breathing space!


These creamy ones are my favourite. They came from Hampshire from my brother in law, and have been with us for around ten years, getting better each year.


I treated myself to a beautiful double flowered Hellebore last year, and she is just beginning to flower.....pale pink and fluffy!


The best way to display them is in a shallow bowl, floating the flower heads. Then you can see their little faces.

Valentines of yesterday

Aren't these cards so much prettier than the

cards produced today?

Well, I think they are!

I can remember buying one or two similar ones

when I was about ten or eleven.

Not to send to a boy...oh no!

I sent them to my Mother, whom I loved dearly.
She thought it was sweet!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cruising on the Seine?

What are you doing on St Valentine's night?

You could be going for a cruise on the River Seine

in Paris!

You embark at 8 pm and return at 11.15 pm.

With a four course dinner,

violin and harp duo,

and Pink Champagne,

it costs 295 euros.

Per person! (prepaid, naturally)

We will be dining chez nous!
(and not on Foie gras, Scallops and Lobster)

Friends for Supper.

Friends for supper, how nice.
It gave me a chance to use china and linen that don't come out often enough.
Although we have simple suppers, the setting had to be a bit special last night, as we are saying good bye
to dear friends who are returning permanently to the UK soon.

So, out came my grandmother's exquisite lace cloth.

The Wedgwood service is nearly thirty years old, and every piece is perfect still.

The guests of honour brought flowers. The other friends brought wine and dessert.

And I made one of my favourite Gary Rhodes recipes, Lemony roast chicken. Cheeses from the Fromagerie were well received.

My Hellebores have just started to come out, so a bowl graced the table.

I love having simple suppers with friends.

Fromagerie

I found a new shop this morning, in Pontivy, a small town

about ten minutes away from us.

Naturally I hadn't brought my camera, so am using a stock photo,

which is very similar to the Fromagerie that I discovered. This little cheese shop has only been open for 2 months

and is in a side street where I don't always go.

As we are having some friends for dinner this week, I thought

it would be good to see what there was.

Lots of good advice and a fair amount of tasting later,

I bought three cheeses.

The heart shaped one is a sheep's cheese, very light, and with a different taste

to that of cow or goat.

The St Nectaire, made in the Auvergne, with the grey crust, is delicious,

creamy and not too strong.

And the Monts D'or is a little like Camembert. It is made in the Jura

mountains, but only between August and March.

So different from the average supermarket shrink-wrapped cheese!

Quilting Bee

Our Tuesday sewing group has grown over the last few years.
A friend and I started the group with just the two of us
doing our patchwork and quilting together.
Gradually one or two ladies, absolute beginners, heard about it,
and came to ask for tuition.
These same ladies are now on their third or fourth
full size quilts, and have learned all sorts of techniques.
We do have a French lady who is a lacemaker,
and who comes with her lace making cushion each week.


It is so nice that we have French as well as English ladies

in the group, and that we can use a room in the Village Hall.

With eight or nine of us meeting weekly we ran out of space at home.

.
(The quilting bee, by Grandma moses)

One of our members will be leaving us to return to UK next month.
The rest of the group wanted to give her a reminder of us all,
so we have all done a patchwork block that shows something of who we are.
They are being sewn into a quilt right now!
My block has some cross stitching in it. Another lady is
very fond of batik, so her block is brightly coloured.
One has done a Log Cabin, another a Wonky star.
And one of our French ladies has embroidered all our
names on a block. It looks so attractive.


We shall be sad to lose our friend,
but hope that she will think of us every time she looks at the quilt.

Arctic warmth.

We haven't watched any of the series made by the explorer Bruce Parry until last night.

He has had a six month journey through some of the coldest parts of the world, through Russia, Norway and islands in the Arctic sea.

I'm not going to describe the whole thing, as only one moment stays in my mind. He visited a remote village deep in a Russian forest, where little has changed for many years. The villagers still hark back to the 'good old days' of the Soviet Union, when 'we all had work'. The forest provides them with so much. Their firewood is cut from the forest. They gather mushrooms from the forest to treat illnesses....that's how it has always been done. Why change?

Bruce spent some time with an elderly lady who lived in a wooden house. Her heating is only from firewood, which has to be paid for, taking a third of her monthly pension. The boards of her house had shrunk. The heat was seeping out, and Bruce spent time with her, pushing moss in between the cracks. That was her insulation.

I think of my well insulated, warm and cosy house, and wonder if I am grateful enough.

Passport photos, or.......

.....or, how to look ten years older without really trying.

I can't believe it is ten years since I renewed my last passport,

but it is. And of course, a new photo is needed.

So off I went to the kiosk-y thing in the supermarket, clutching my 5 euros.

The photo below shows a calm and well prepared woman.

Unlike me.

First all the wrappings, coat, scarf etc, had to come off.

Where do you put them? On the floor of course. Together with gloves, and,

oooooops, purse. Upside down, so that all the money rolls all over the floor.

Then comes the translation moment which isnt easy when you are flustered

and a voice is telling you, very fast, in French , what choices you can make.

So, having nearly picked a family group photo, I finally managed to

find the passport bit (hidden in 'other options')

No, I'm not going to show you. Suffice it to say that I

gave it two tries because I was so horrified at the images.

No smile, stare forward, hair well back.

Oh my. It's my grandmother.

A woodpecker visits.

For several days we have been watching this lovely bird as he wanders around our garden.

The Green Woodpecker (Pivert in French) is a very timid bird, and I have had to use a stock photo as I can't get close enough to him. They are big birds, measuring around 12 ins, but will fly at the slightest disturbance.

Both he and his mate visit and spend hours combing the lawn for insects.

Today we saw a smaller one, we think possibly a younger woodpecker. He perched for a while on the trunk of a Cherry tree, and seemed to be just thinking about what to do next. He tried a few half hearted pecks at the trunk, but then got bored, and flew off. I think he'd been told to 'go out and find something to do' by his parents.

Living near an area of woodland, we have many and varied bird visitors to the garden, and I love to see both varieties of Woodpecker, the Green and the Greater Spotted, both of which visit us. Listening carefully, we can sometimes hear them tapping away on the trees behind us.

Sarah's giveaway.

Isn't she sweet!

Sarah, at As Lilies Sewing is offering her as a giveaway

to celebrate her new Etsy shop, where she has even more of these

delightful dolls on sale.

I have a friend with a new grandaughter who would love her!Sarah's blog is one that I have followed for a long time,

and I'm always interested in all she writes. It is a mixture

of family, spiritual thoughts, sewing, crafting...

and more!

What I would really like to do is to fly

on my magic carpet, and just visit with Sarah and her family.

just for a while!

Chandeleur

Today, 2nd February, is the day called

La Chandeleur, a Catholic festival in France.

In Roman times it was held to honour the god Pan, but in 472 AD

the then Pope decided to make it a Christian festival, 40 days after Christmas,

and it celebrates the presentation of Jesus in the Temple

and the Purification of the Virgin Mary.

There will be processions of candles. Candles will be taken to the Church to be blessed,

and then taken home to light other candles, thus spreading

the blessing.

However, as the text above shows, the festival is

best known throughout France as the

Jour des Crepes, the day of Pancakes.

Families will be either buying ready made crepes,

or making them at home. Brittany is THE region for crepes.

A saying for La Chandeleur,

"A la Chandeleur, l'hiver cesse,

ou reprend vigueur"

(On Chandeleur, Winter ends or strengthens)

Oh well, looking out at the mist and rain, I think

it's decided to strengthen.

So let's eat Crepes!

World Traveller

I am a world traveller.....from my armchair.

I love travelling, seeing new countries, learning bits of a new language,

meeting people, immersing myself into a new culture.

Over the years we have been very fortunate

to do quite an amount of travelling.

Having children in Canada and Australia has helped!

Now we are a bit more limited.

But I can spend hours planning a holiday.

We may never take it, but the fun of browsing through

guidebooks, researching on the internet, discussing places....it never ends.

I have all the guide books I will ever need!

Yesterday I 'went' to Crete. I picked a flight,

I found several hotels. I went back to the hotel we had once stayed in, by the beach.

It was called 'Bali'!

Tomorrow.....who knows?

A train journey to Switzerland?

A drive to Provence?

We'll see!