C'est la vie

Summer over, time for Holiday Report

2011-11-01T13:02:00.002+01:00

It has been a hot summer, too hot for much action, but I have just returned from my holiday to Kenya and below is the link to the Safaritalk forum where you can read my full report.

http://safaritalk.net/index.php?showtopic=7591&st=0&gopid=57082&

Tour de France short

2011-07-19T19:28:00.000+02:00

Had a great day out at the Tour, it was amazing to see all the floats and advertising vehicles which drive through before the bikes. Unfortunately this was a much longer video but Youtube would only allow a maximum of 15 mins so I had to cut it short.

We have had really hot weather since my last entry and it has been too hot to sit in front of the computer. I would write more today but Eddie our old dog is not at all well and I am not really in the mood for being jovial, so enjoy the video and more news will follow eventually.

SPRING ROSES.wmv

2011-05-02T14:47:00.000+02:00

Just a short video of my Spring roses. I must admit to being very pleased with them this year so far. You cannot really see how big the bushes are without being here! Sadly I can never remember all the names. Alexander, however has to be my favorite and is at its peak today on the anniversary of my Father's death (John Alexander). C'est la vie

HAPPENINGS IN APRIL

2011-04-24T14:09:00.004+02:00

First of all the choir concerts went down very well and it was really interesting meeting the choir from Goring who seemed to enjoy their stay in France.

A couple of days after the last concert Dave's sister Cynthia and her family arrived. It was lovely to see them and thank goodness the weather was kind. They hired a car so spent quite a lot of time out and about and enjoyed the sights of Narbonne, Perpignan, Beziers and one or two other places. India was delighted to see her cousins for the first time and the three girls all got on well together.

I have almost got all my reservations settled for the great Safari in October, all that remains to be done is the visa and the anti mozzy pills!

We are experiencing warm weather and heavy rain at the moment - not good for the Easter Holiday but excellent for the garden and the roses are exceptional this year, so, sadly are the weeds! Ah well c'est la vie.

AFTER THE FLOOD

2011-03-27T14:20:00.004+02:00

The river is almost back to normal although you can see all the rocks which have been washed down with the flood. The centre part of the river bed used to be all sand. A large tree has been uprooted and rests on the walkway which is not yet clear of water.

Since the downpours the weather has improved considerably and we now have much warmer conditions and good sunshine most days. The garden looks more like a spring garden now with the tulips giving a good display. The peach tree and the apricot tree have flowered and the cherry is about to. So things are looking up at last although I have to say that we have had a much better winter than last year.

Lunch club is still going strong although, sadly, we have had to cancel our appearance at this weeks meeting as one of our neighbours died last week and we are attending the funeral on Wednesday.

The exciting news, for me anyway, is that I have booked another safari in Kenya for October. David was hoping to come with me but has decided that because of his health it would be too risky, so the lone intrepid adventurer is off again! Three days in the Samburu, four days in the Masai Mara with my "boys" from last year and a week in Mombasa at our old stomping ground, the Mombasa Serena Hotel. Arrangements are all confirmed and I have Tina to thank because she and Tony will be coming down to do the hen, dog and "baby" sitting.

The Lamont family are due to join us on the 12th April. David's sister, two nephews and their children are coming to Bize for a week. On the 9th and 10th the choir have concerts in local villages and we are being joined by a choir from the UK so that should be fun.

In the meantime I have vowed to cut down on the vino as I had to buy a size bigger trousers the other day ! ah well c'est la vie.

Day 3 of Flood.wmv

2011-03-17T18:10:00.000+01:00

After the last video we had a further 36 hours of rain and in the middle of the night the river invaded the village, it missed the family's house by a matter of centimetres but the local shop and the bar have been badly damaged as have many of the villagers houses. We photographed this at about 10 in the morning when the waters had receeded but the mess is obvious. Today, as I write, the river has gone down quite a lot but we have a gale blowing now which is knocking all the plants to bits, and my washing has been on and off the line now for days!!!!!

We are off to a local restaurant tomorrow for our lunch club so hopefully I will have more enjoyable matters to report.

C'est la vie

The Cesse in March 2011.wmv

2011-03-15T19:54:00.000+01:00

We have taken this film over a couple of days, yesterday when I went to choir practice the river was calming down but today after more than 24 hours of rain it is up again and more rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow.
The village has been put on alert and there has already been water seeping into houses in low lying areas. Cars owners have been advised not to park their cars on the promenade. This is not the worst inundation that Bize has seen as it reached record levels in 1999 but it is definately the worst we have seen.

I was going to post about our latest lunch experiences but this flood is far more important. Our poor chickens are paddling about like ducks, at least their next boxes are dry.

More news tomorrow if I can get to the computer. At least we are not suffering like the people of Japan. C'est la vie

My Mimosa Tree

2011-02-18T18:38:00.003+01:00

Just had to show you this, I wish you could smell it on a warm February day and we have had quite a few warm days this month. The perfume fills the garden. Must buy another!!

MAYORS PARTY 2011

2011-02-18T11:33:00.002+01:00

Once again we were treated to a four course lunch with wine and cabaret by the Mayor of Bize. It was a beautiful day outside with warm sunshine, ideal for the garden and also ideal for the choir, who were singing at the Capestang carnival. I wished I had been with the choir because although we were given a very good meal we felt that the cabaret was not up to its usual standard. Maybe we have been to this party once too often, so I think we will probably give it a miss next year.

Earlier in the week Dave was released from the Clinic at Perpignan after having another stent fitted in this artery. He is fine thank goodness, eating, drinking and smoking just as much as ever.

We had a lovely meal with our friends in the "lunch club" on Thursday and are looking forward to the next one, next week!!! I am also hoping to go to the lemon/orange/mimosa tree plant sale next week-end. The mimosa tree I bought there two years ago is about 15' tall and full of flower at the moment.

The chickens are much happier now Christopher has built a larger enclosure for them. Their feathers are slowly growing back which is a relief and we still get an average of 3 eggs a day.

C'est la vie

Another Good Lunch

2011-02-04T10:39:00.006+01:00

Since writing our Lunch Club has visited a couple of restaurants but yesterday's lunch was something very different. We drove down to the Canal du Midi and had our meal on a beautiful barge owned by a Dutch family who only cook for guests once a week.

It was freezing cold when we arrived although the sun was out and the canal looked beautiful. We had a short walk from where we parked the cars to the barge but we had to walk over the side of the old aquaduct which had no barrier between ourselves and the deep, choppy and no doubt very cold water. It was a rough path and my arthritic hip was not too happy, and I wondered what it would be like walking back across after a few wines!!!!!

There were 11 of us this time and we were warmly welcomed by the family. The first course was a beautiful hot soup which we thought was probably made from squash and coconut milk with coriander or something similar making it a real warmer. There were copious bottles of local wine which was delicious and the main dish was beef with various vegetables and rice. There was plenty for everyone and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. The hostess then gave us a lovely warm fresh fruit salad with cinammon and cream, followed by coffee. The meal including lots of wine cost us only 8E each. Well worth the visit.

Last week I had the honour of proposing a toast to the menfolk at a Burns Supper. That was another excellent meal, haggis of course!!! and a good fun evening, with whiskey and wine flowing well. Unfortunately my camera's batteries let me down so there is no photographic record of the event.

Then came the bad news (well just when you think it's safe to go back in the water!!) David went for his annual heart tests and they found something irregular. So off we go again, he is going into Perpignan clinic on Sunday for another Angiogram and possibly a further operation. A further update on this situation will follow in due course.

The chickens are sick as well so life is a bundle of laughs at the moment. The choir is keeping me sane although we are attempting some quite difficult music at the moment but I am sure if I didnt have the rehearsals to go to I would jump off the nearest bridge. Unfortunately the nearest bridge is over very shallow water ! C'est la vie

BIRD FORMATION OVER BIZE .wmv

2011-01-16T14:03:00.002+01:00

This was an amazing site which happens, I believe, at this time of the year all over Europe. We do'nt remember having seen it before, well certainly not in numbers like we did yesterday. The spectacle lasted for most of the morning and afternoon. Today is cloudy and the only birds we can see today are sparrows and my sickly chickens.

A few months ago the chickens started to lose feathers and we just thought they were moulting, but things have got steadily worse and now a couple of them have nasty sores which the others are pecking. I have moved the worst affected to a little cupboard I have on the terrace and things have quietened down. They are eating just the same and dont appear to be ill apart from the fact they looked plucked and ready for the oven!. We are still getting eggs although not as many. Everybody thinks they should be out in the garden all day but there is always so much cleaning up to do when they have finished scraping the earth and sh*****g all over the place. So we have decided to enlarge their enclosure yet again and in the meantime until the fencing arrives I will just have to put up with the mess.

The choir has resumed after the Christmas break and we have some new members. There will be a concert in April so we are learning some new pieces. An update on that will follow before long.

Temperatures have gone from below 0 to 15 degrees and we sat outside yesterday evening with a glass or two of red. My copy of the new Somak Africa holiday brochure arrived last week but I havent dared open it yet. I am trying to convince D that he should risk another trip, so will it be us in 2011 or will it be me in 2011/12???? Who knows - c'est la vie..................

CHRISTMAS 2010

2010-12-27T15:00:00.002+01:00

Well it was a very white Christmas for some but we had a mixture of rain, frost, sun and wind. Some days have been quite warm others have been really cold.

The choir finished off their official performances in the seaside town of Marseillan where, like last year, we had a most appreciative audience. Several of us went to a local cafe for dinner afterwards which was very pleasant. The next day was our choir party, more food and wine (I need stronger elastic, everywhere now). David came along to the party and actually enjoyed it! The following morning we sang carols at the local supermarket.

Our lunch party returned to the Three Little Pigs restaurant in Ginestas last Thursday and had another memorable lunch (more wine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Then came Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, food, wine, food wine, food wine. Chris, Penny and India were away in England so there was only Dave and I eating and drinking! Talk about couch potatoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway that is the news up to date,, just waiting now for New Years Eve - yes you have guessed it - Wine Food Wine Food literally ad nauseum!!!!!!!!!! C'est la vie.

CHATEAU CASSAN CRACKER FAIR 2010

2010-12-05T14:27:00.007+01:00

The choir was invited to sing at the Cracker Fair in this beautiful chateau. The ancient Priory was hugely successful as the dramatic 11th century chapel attest - it was consercrated in the presence of 2 Archbishops and 16 Bishops!.

The magnificant chateau is 17th century and is said to have been built for the mistress of Prince Conti, but the Revolution put paid to such splendour. Over the years various owners including the French State have done little to preserve the building and much to damage it.

Ten years ago it was brought by a Paris property company who have slowly started to restore the building. The present plan is to turn it into a Corporate Wellness Cantre with accommodation in a new hotel to be built close by.

The choir sang a collection of Carols and Benjamin Britten's "Ceremony of Carols" in the splendid music room.

There were some amazing stalls filled with wonderful Christmas gifts which were all, sadly, too much for my pocket! Outside, although it was very cold, there were cafes serving hot and cold drinks and a great variety of food. It was a very interesting day out and a good "rehearsal" for the choir. We have two more concerts next week-end and then the choir party which should be another enjoyable occasion. Lets hope I can get all the right notes in the right order! C'est la vie.

REPAS NOVEMBER 2010.wmv

2010-11-24T15:10:00.001+01:00

This Saturday saw us once again enjoying a superb meal with the villagers of Bize. Gosh and do the French know how to enjoy themselves. We started with Appero's which consisted of what we would call a fortified wine accompanied by local olives, this was followed by pate and salad, a very boozey sorbet, then a pork dish with potatoes dauphinoise, then cheese plate and last but not least a scrumy pudding. All washed down of course by copious amounts of wine. The coffee was served accompanied by liquers. As you will see by the video we staggered around for about 6 hours before we finally went home. David actually managed to dance this time which made a nice change he usually chickens out! So its back to the choir this afternoon for a 3 hour rehearsal before our first Christmas concert on Saturday. We have lots of new things lined up to sing which is exciting. I am finding Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols hard work but interesting and we are looking forward to learning some Bach in the New Year. The weather has turned quite cold and wet although we still get sun during part of the day. I am missing the warm weather, the cold is definately not for me. Still its only another 12 months and I will be able to start planning for my trip back to Kenya with my friend Kate. We might even manage a trip to Paxos to see Kate and Terry in 2011 if I can convince D that he will be able to travel without mishap!. C'est la vie

Your comments

2010-11-10T17:50:00.003+01:00

Just to say thank you for all the comments I have had regarding my photos etc. The good news is that I will be going back to Kenya but maybe not until 2012. I can wait but it will be hard. I havent figured out if you can reply to comments so this is my best way of saying hello to those people I dont know. If anyone needs any ideas or help with going on safari to Kenya just let me know. I am not connected to any company I can only give advice from my experience.
C'est la vie

My Holiday in Kenya 2010

2010-11-07T16:45:00.003+01:00

I promised some more photos and at last I have been able to sort them out. I hope you enjoy looking as much as I enjoyed taking.

Kate and Terry's visit

2010-11-07T15:21:00.000+01:00

Kate and Terry were amazed by the choice of produce and the size of our supermarkets. They have to go by ferry to Corfu in order to do any substantial shopping so we spent quite a lot of the holiday looking in the shops, drinking the odd glass and playing lots of cards. The weather was better than expected which was a relief. We ate out on a couple of occasions once in the steak house in Narbonne and again at our local restaurant La Salette which they prefered. Meals in Greece are more expensive now than they are in France and Kate and Terry were pleasantly surprised but the cost of the menu's.

It is very quite now they have left but I will be off to choir again tomorrow and I have managed quite a few jobs in the garden this week. The mimosa tree is full of buds and should look great this winter.

I hear regularly now from my friends at the Ashnil Camp in the Maasai Mara and there is a chance that I will be going back, hopefully with Kate towards the end of next year, sooner if we win the Euro Millions - c'est la vie!

French Strikes

2010-11-07T15:00:00.002+01:00

This little video proves that not all demonstrations are violent or threatening. This was the scene in Narbonne during the Pension strikes. It was a carnival atmosphere which everyone enjoyed. Our friends from Paxos were with us and they thoroughly enjoyed their trip to Narbonne.

2010-10-25T11:38:00.001+02:00

http://youtu.be/XW1_jFbelpA

Tried to put these photos properly but no luck so the above is a link to Utube.

Next photographic safari will be following our friends Kate and Terry who will hopefully be hear on Tuesday from Greece.

C'est la vie.

CHEETAH WITH KILL

2010-10-12T22:13:00.000+02:00

LION EATING WILDEBEAST

2010-10-12T22:07:00.000+02:00

MY SAFARI

2010-10-06T19:42:00.006+02:00

This is a long report written for the Safaritalk forum, I have not edited it because it would take too long. I will add photos at the end as I am becoming bogged down with computing at the moment. It has been a fabulous holiday and one I will never forget. I met my work colleague and friend Sue at Heathrow and we had lunch together and a good old natter the day before I flew to Nairobi, that was a great start to the holiday. Now for the rest, read on.............
I have never written a report like this before and certainly not one to be read by people who know more about the subject than I do and certainly not with photography which people who are experts are likely to see but here goes. It was another wonderful outing in Kenya and I just wish I was back there.
straight into their jaws! The scene was too far ahead of us to photograph but I I was uneasy about travelling on my own but I can honestly say that I never felt lonely once. At both destinations, Sweetwaters and (dare I say it) the Ashnil Mara Camp I was welcomed with open arms and felt more at home than I do at home!
After overcoming the mind boggling security which Nairobi airport now offers, finger printing and photographing passengers, I was met by my friend and guide Peter from Somak who I have known for about 10 years. It was great to see him again and he drove me through the horrendous Nairobi traffic to The Serena where I was to stay one night. It was a lovely day and so after a short nap I spent the afternoon by the pool indulging in a couple of Tuskers.
I flew to Nanyuki on a Cessna caravan and, after a short drive during which we spotted lions mating, arrived just in time for lunch. When I entered my tent, which was large and well fitted I found to my great delight a complimentary bottle of wine, there was electric lighting too and so no problem for charging cameras and phones .After leaving my luggage in the tent I immediately met a beautiful waterbuck eating the hedging around my tent and looking very happy to be amongst humans!
I was fortunate to have my own guide for the drives at Sweetwaters and we certainly saw plenty of wildlife that afternoon. Being a big cat fan our first encounter was with lion, followed by elephant, Zebra’s both Grevy’s and Hybrids, a fabulous Fish Eagle, reticulated giraffes, rhino both black and white and the lovely little dik dik’s. I was taken to the Rhino Conservancy and there I met Baraka the blind rhino. Baraka (the name means blessing) has been given his own enclosure and considering his problems he seems a very happy rhino. I was able to feed him suger cane and scratch his nose which was quite an experience.

We then drove to the Chimp conservancy and spent some time viewing the chimps in the trees and on the ground. They also have a vast enclosure and it is wonderful to see how well these orphans are and how caring the staff are.
On the way back to the lodge we saw a pair of steppe eagle – what a bird – unfortunately he was too far away to get a good shot, how I wished I had cameras like my ST friends. There were lots of vultures of course, lilac breasted rollers, and a helmet shrike another bird I had not seen before. Apart from the gazelles, water buck, eland, tommies and giraffe I was surprised to see so many warthogs with young. I dont know what the collective noun for warthogs is but there were certainly hoards of them.
Had an early dinner and sat outside my tent with a glass of wine watching giraffe and rhino at the water hole It was an extremely cold night but the two hot water bottles made the bed beautifully warm.
DAY 2 SWEETWATERS
Up at 5.15am for tea and 6.30am drive. Set off hoping to see more cats but it was not to be. Saw a pair of Steppe eagles on the nest. Fabulous birds with an enormous wing span. Its such a shame I havent got a big lense. Animals were a little sparse on this day but the sunrise over Mount Kenya was stunning. Returned to camp to a huge breakfast and stole some bread to feed to the birds outside the tent.
Lots of activity around the waterhole with elephant, zebra, various gazelle and impala, waterbuck dozens of warthogs, giraffe and later on a lone rhino.
Tea at 3.30pm Drive at 4 but hakuna simba leo. However we watched a herd of Elephants with babies for quite some time in a beautifully green marsh area. We also spotted white and black rhino. We returned to camp around 7pm and it was so cold I could not enjoy my G & T ice and slice so had a hot shower and a lovely glass of red wine.
I was given a new swahili name at dinner, my guide Sam told the staff that I was to be called Mama Simba and it stuck with me throughout the holiday.

Day 3
The weather was decidedly cool on the third day. Of course I had forgotten that Ol Pejeta is nearly 7,000’ up and I could really have done with a bit more in the way of warm clothing.
Saw a Kori Bustard, Tawny Eagle and Lilac Breasted Roller, lots of Grants Gazelles and Eland not to mention herds of Tommies, several elephants and hippos.
As a I have mentioned before I have been to Kenya quite a few times but have never seen a kill. Well this time I did but not quite the kill I had imagined. As we were driving up a hill we disturbed two warthog piglets. They raced up the hill in front of us and break-neck speed only to be met at the top by two jackals – could see everything clearly with my binos. The jackals played with the two piglets for what seemed like hours. One jackal thought he had killed his victim and lay it down on the road so he could help his mate dispatch the other We could not believe our eyes, when after the second piglet had finally succumbed, the first got up and started to run away! The poor little chap didnt get very far of course and soon we watched the two Jackals trotting of with their prize. Exhausting viewing and not particularly pleasant to watch.

The best part of day three came in the late afternoon when, after watching spotted hyena, and buffalo we came across a pride of 18 lions. What a fantastic sight. We spent almost two hours watching until they moved on. The rangers told us that the male was a huge black maned lion which I would have loved to have seen but no luck there.

Day 4.
Woke up with a nasty cough and a cold. I intended to have a light breakfast but they say feed a cold, so that is precisely what I did. Bacon, eggs, sausage, tomatoes toast and coffee.
Today was the day of the cheetah and we saw several and spent a lot of time with them. Naturally we saw all of the rest of the inhabitants of Ol Pejeta as well but two new additions for me were the Coypu and some Bush Pigs.

Day 5
Arrived at Nanyuki airport for my flight to the Mara. Spoke to the pilot of the Cessna Caravan and was invited to join him in the jump seat. That was really exciting. I met my guide Francis and we waited for two other passengers, a young German couple on honeymoon. Standing beside our vehicle I noticed this tall handsome Maasai. Big Cat Diary followers will know who I mean, it was Jackson and I was introduced to him and had a photo taken.
Immediately we left the air strip we saw a pair of lions doing what comes naturally (there seemed to be a lot of that going on on this trip!) The temperature in the Mara was perfect it was the first time I had been warm in four days!
I really must say at this point that the Ashnil Mara Camp was by far the best camp I have ever been to. The facilities, service, accommodation and food were second to none. There is no visible high fence as some people have reported and the camp cannot even be seen from beyond its boundary. Having read all the damning reports I must say that in my opinion they are unfounded. If this was a rhino breeding area then I agree it is a shame they were disturbed but they have found another spot and so no harm has been done. I will probably be unpopular with the anti Ashnil party but I would not hesitate to recommend this camp to my friends. There now I’ve got that off my chest – back to safari

On our afternoon drive we went down to the river to see if we could view a wildebeast crossing. There were lots of gnus around but none were taking the plunge. We did see however lots of hippos and dead wildebeast along with a large croc and several storks. On the riverbank we watched a lioness with two year old cubs. After leaving the river we came upon a beautiful cheetah with a tommie kill. She stood guard whilst her cub had his fill and we realised that the tommie had been pregnant and the cheetah cub was eating the baby. Immediately after leaving the cheetah we spotted a leopard high in a tree. Here again with limited photographic skills I was unable to photograph this gorgeous cat because the sun was right behind the tree. Through the binos it was a lovely sight and as I had photographed leopard before on both still and video I was not too upset about being unable to do so this time
Day 6
This would be the second morning that my German companions would arrive at the landrover late, this time by half an hour!
Today we saw a cheetah with 6 beautiful cubs, elephant, vultures on a kill, warthogs, giraffe and various gazelle and impala. The range wardens allowed us permission to go off track to photograph three fantastic male lions, asleep of course. After the drive I had a drink with my guide who told me about his 16 years in the business and his family life.

Day 7
German couple had now left so only myself and Francis
! We watched 7 balloons take off from the Mara Serena area and spent a while watching 3 cheetah. We then followed a single lioness who was obviously looking for the rest of her pride. Further on we found another lioness
We went down to the river hoping to see a crossing but most of the wildebeast had been and gone and we saw lots of bodies being devoured by storks and crocs. Not too pleasant a smell around the river so we moved on. More lions .

Day 8
we found another lioness eating a wildebeast and watched this for about an hour. On the way back to camp we met a large herd of wildebeast. Of course this was not all we saw but most of the animals I have mentioned before. They were all there everyday, but it is impossible to mention them all by name on every page. On my last drive we again went down to the river, and watched the hippos and the crocs and storks feasting on the bodies of those that had gone before. We had a thunderstorm that afternoon so we picked up lion tracks easily and found three femals asleep, I had never heard lions purr before but purr they did.
On our return to camp I was approached by the manager Richard who told me that the staff had all said what an entertaining guest I had been and how much they had enjoyed my stay. I had another superb dinner, finished the bottle of red wine which the lodge had given me and got up to leave. My waiter said “please sit down Mama Simba we have something for you” This turned on the alarm bells! And I heard in the distance a “choir” warming up. The doors opened and the entire staff of kitchen and lodge appeared singing the welcome song of Kenya “Jambo”, with flaming torches and drums. They went twice round the restaurant and stopped at my table where they presented me with a beautiful cake. Well this is where the tears started! We cut the cake and shared it amongst the rest of the guests – it was wonderful.
After all that I had to retire to the bar for a quick red wine, emotional or what! One of the barmen then presented me with a hand made Maasai club which is now one of my treasured possessions.
One the morning I left the Manager, Richard, carried my bags to the vehicle and just about the entire staff turned out to say goodbye. It wont be goodbye if I have anything to do with it, just au revoir. - C'est la vie

GRAPE HARVEST 2010

2010-09-16T11:59:00.001+02:00

The start of the grape picking season. Gone are the days when the grapes were picked by hand although you can still some hand picking in areas where the machines cannot reach., This machine is only half the size of the ones which we see working the big vineyards but it is quite amazing to watch and non of the vines are damaged.

We are still basking in hot sunshine, too hot some days, and I have just looked at the weather forcast for my holiday in Kenya next week. Rain and temperatures on only 26!!!!! Gosh its going to be a big change from here, but a welcome change from the baking sun. I am off on Saturday, spend a night in London and off to Nairobi on Sunday. I am looking forward to seeing my work mate Sue at Heathrow. She is joining me for lunch and we havent seen each other for over 4 years.

On my return we are having entertaining (I hope) Terry and Kate who are flying over from Greece so that should be an exciting week. Prior to that of course is the Ryder Cup which I will be home just in time for.

So I will sign off until after the big adventure - C'est la vie.

RAIN

2010-09-08T22:01:00.001+02:00

After almost 4 months we have had a good downpour of rain. The plants are rejoicing as you can imagine.

Tomorrow is our 43rd wedding anniversary and we are going with our Lunch Club for a meal not far from here so I will tell you all about the menu when I get back.

Only 9 days to my holiday in Kenya, I am very excited about the prospect of travelling long haul on my own. Lets hope it is worth the effort and the cost, I am sure it will be. And if a lion gets me well.............You've guessed it C'est la vie.

WE HAD SOME RAIN!!

2010-09-08T11:58:00.002+02:00

Bit of a wobble by the camera operator but I just had to show you, or let you hear, the rain we had last night at long last. I was even able to dig a small hole for a plant this morning. After taking this film the weather got darker and darker, there was some thunder and lightening and then after the rain had stopped we just had lots of lightening on the top of the hill. It was quite spectacular. We could do with lots more but I suppose it will come eventually and I just hope not too many plants have suffered from the extremely hot and dry summer. Only 10 days to go until the big adventure. Just hoping the French workers dont go on strike again, otherwise I will be walking. C'est la vie.