Exercise and the whys and wherefores

We've had C and K with us this week and I think they are trying to kill us off. I've been running twice this week, which is two times more than the last ten years and have swam (much more acceptable) every other day. We've also discovered a sort of fitness/ obstacle/ assult course around the lake which K and I partook of last night with a lot of giggling and falling off monkey bars.

I'm exhausted, mind you, I have so far  have managed to avoid the threatened "pyramid of pain"... we do know how to have fun in these parts....

Jean-Jean Le Gendarme

I'm exhausted, I spent a large part of yesterday making madeleines for the Moto-fete and set off at, what can only be described, as sparrow-fart this morning.

I've spent all day hoping no one asked me anything more taxing than "Un verre de vin Rouge" and instead got embroiled in a long and some what convaluted conversation with a 6ft 7 Gendarme whose name for reasons which escaped me, is, Jean-Jean.

The high point of the day though, at the extremely matcho bike-fair, was watching the same said policeman, complete with firearm, persuade the owner of a ridicuolusly small Papillon dog, to pose it on the petrol tank of his enormous Police bike, so he could take a photo of it!

Its astonishing to me now how much I took being able to understand and converse without concentrating for granted... roll on that stage in French, which is sadly still a long way off.

Someone's been stealing my mushrooms

I don't even know why I care as I  detest the things, but I do.

We were told when we brought the place that we had Cep mushrooms in our woods, we were also told that the problem was that everyone knew we had them.

Yesterday when off for a walk J spotted people in our woods, when asked what they were doing they looked shifty but carried on helping themselves!

I went into the woods later and gathered a variety of different sorts and sauntered off to the pharmacy where Serge and his Big Book of Mushrooms reliably informed me they were all "pas bon, pas commestible." Excellent, someone else has run off with all our highly prized mushrooms which are currently  €7/ kilo in the market. That's rather dependent on my being able to find them mind you..

Maybe I'll let P have a shotgun after all....

It's that time again!

Melon... yes really!

Its Vendage Time again.

I cant believe where this year has gone, the vendage has arrived again (the earliest for 12 years or so) and the air is filled with the sound of harvest machines and tractors.

P and I went to the vendage meeting on our own, without translator, and came away feeling like we understood very little and we're both finding it quite frustrating. I feel like I'm back at school and "must try harder".

We've had a never ending stream of visitors which has been lovely but has also meant that we've been easily distracted and are not as far along with things as we should be! Again must try harder.

Having said that James helped/ showed P how to make one of the four lovely new barn doors...and he's going to have to come back as I cant lift it!

I'm also feeling pleased as we are edging ever closer to sorting out the ceiling beams in the gite. I've been to see the wood man who is going to give us a quote or two and has said that he'll come and have a look, with someone who might be able to collect our wood if we cut some of our trees down, and he cut them to shape for us. However he's not ultra reliable in that department so we'll wait and see!

I want the vendage finished, the new vines planted and the ones that are not looking too brilliant to not have anything terminal... those are my three wishes for the end of this year....!

Everyone keep your fingers crossed.

x