This weekend I found myself looking at the sun going down and thinking “Wow! I live in France!”

Our French friends (some of whom are also our neighbours) had invited us to lunch. Rich and I had no idea what to expect so we dressed up (a rare thing these days for two people who spend most of their time in old holey tracksuit bottoms covered in mud!) and off we went with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation.

In many ways France reminds me so much of Ireland; first we went to the home of  Martin and Nadine (privacy has been respected here) M and N invited us in and offered us a drink and aperitifs, even though really we were not staying at their house but going on to the home of Manu and Edith (privacy again respected.) But despite this out came the aperitif dish with nuts, small cheeses, and olives and out came the drink of whisky and a fruit flavoured drink for the ladies. (Always I am offered a sweet fruity alcoholic drink.) After that we were then whisked away to the home of M and E.

It was a beautiful hot sunny day, over twenty eight degrees, so we were invited to sit on the patio and out came the champagne and more aperitifs, of crab balls with cheese inside, melon, small square cheeses (the ones available in England, they are very popular in France), there were mussels, garlic, peanuts, and cherry tomatoes. After drinking two bottles of champagne it was into the the conservatory to sit at a beautifully laid table and out came various coleslaws, cous cous, and bread.  After that came  ice cream as a mouth cleanser (no not sorbet), it was in a glass with the deadly calva (home made apple brandy) pouted over it. I could not drink the calva, seriously I would have been on the floor!

Then on to the main course of beef steak cooked on the BBQ, a selection of vegetables consisting of green beans, thinly sliced potatoes, carrots and peas which had been cooked and then fried in butter (delicious), with a pepper sauce available as you wished; this was then followed by meringue, ice cream and macaroons in all different flavours (which are Richard’s favourite so he was in his element.)

They are really lovely our friends and thanks to my wonderful French teacher I could converse quite well with them (we took some of the printed leaflets from the French lessons to help Rich.) Due to this we got onto the subject of speaking French and much hilarity was had when I recalled the first time I had met Martin and told him that we had five cats and commented on the weather by telling him I was hot. This may sound innocent except chat (cat) is pronounced Cha, you do not pronounce the T. If you do pronounce the T you are actually talking about your fanny (vagina!!!) Also if you want to say you are hot you simply say it is hot, if you say I am hot you are actually saying that you are hot stuff and want sex!!! So when I first met my neighbour I told him that I had five fannies and wanted sex!!! Add to this he was wearing his “petit, petit shorts” (the ones we all rib him about) and God knows what he thought. Much hilarity was had about this and also at the fact they kept pumping Rich full of macaroons because he said he loved them!

After a wonderful afternoon it was all back to Martin’s house (in the small hamlet where we live) for a game of boules. It is the second time I have played and the second time I have been in the winning team. In fact Martin asked if I had played before because I was doing well and I really think it is because my Dad Paddy (bless him,I am sure he was looking down on me with pride) was very good at bowles.

As I sat on their veranda in the hot evening sun,  I looked across the rolling hills, whilst listening to our wonderful French friends chattering away with the family members who had now joined us and thought “Now I am truly living in France!”  It felt both wonderful and surreal.

A perfect day with the finishing touch of the  bright orange harvest moon that was hanging in the sky as the night drew in.

Moisy

Our dear friend has nagged Rich and I about not eating lunch, so much so she started to feed us, bless her. But she has got us into simple French food and more often than not we have,  cheeses, saucissons(dried sausage), bread, and more than anything olives.

We bought this little bowl for our olives, they are all mixed together with some additionsl olive oil, currently infused by my own fair hand with garlic and parsley, dipping our bread into the oil, thre is no need for butter.

We have been busy today, so we fell into old habits, and ate just now, in our garden in  the evening sun. We were,of course, joined by the cheese loving welshies and the toothless cat. All washed down with a good Bordeaux, costing less than two euro. Life does not get better than this; and what better start to the evening of bad music, nutcases, political voting, and over the top performances, all of which make the Eurovison so fantastic!! Cannot wait. We don’t care who wins,  it’s all about the music, and for Rich who has the biggest tits!!

Happy Eurovision everyone.

 

Moisy

 

 

 

Hi to all

In the last eight months my French teacher has been holding our French class at my house. Life never seems to amaze me that like minded people (like minded like me and a bit mad with no agenda) have radiated towards the class.

Before I go on with this post I need to be really clear that my French teacher Carole is absolutely  superb, in the way that she constructs the class and helps us all. She teaches us about French culture in the Pays de Loire (because it is a farrrrming community) and how to cut corners, because that is how people naturally speak. But more than that she has the patience of a saint!! She must have come to our class and thought Oh a class of adults, all women, should be an easy and lovely class to teach.

But no!!! We are aged from our thirties to our sixties (and trust me the one in her sixties is the naughtiest one of all. I love her!!) and you would think we would be well behaved, but we are like a group of teenage schoolgirls, and trust me I know I went to a convent!

Carol likes to start the class by asking us all what we have done in the last week and we have to reply in French. We are now banned from saying we took the dog for a walk, mentioning the Queen, or tyres (pneu), because it is all we kept saying! Also, due to the nature of the question, since we started we have learnt the French for b******s, because someone had their donkey castrated and they were left all over the field! For arsehole, because I had the hump with Rich and wanted to tell them exactly how I felt! Slapper because that is what someone thought of someone in their village, during that conversation we also learnt the words for whore, arse, sod off, disgusting, go f**k yourself and f**k off, and shut your mouth.

Poor Carole, she tries hard to keep the lesson on track, but we pay for her to teach us and so she obliges!! With all of us giggling all the time. But I have to say we do learn.

One week we had to say what we would pack to go to various places, and Carole gave us a realistic list. Jan took her lipstick and high heels everywhere, even to the jungle, because as she said she may have to charm the natives! Y took a condom everywhere even on a walk, and I wore my bobble hat everywhere even to the spa. Poor Carole she looks at us with despair as we all sit there giggling uncontrollably.

So this week it looked as if Carole was on to a winner.  We all sat there being good, Jan and I in the easy chairs which seem to be becoming the naughty corner. The task was to use the French word for so, for example I broke my arm so I called…. I went to…. I asked etc. We were doing well when Y got “I dirtied my trousers…..” That was it, poor Carole, Jan went pooh I though I could smell something, your not getting in my car not without putting something on the seat!Y was in tears and could not finish the sentence, I was sobbing with laughter. as was everyone else. In fact Y and I could not look at each other throughout the rest of the lesson without starting to giggle. So we did learn j’ai la lourir – I have the giggles. (I hope I have spelt that right because i was laughing so much. )

I love our French class, I have made some wonderful friends from it, and we all support each other, and the French teacher, who is also our friend, she is second to none.

Hope this made you laugh!

Moisy

Hi

A few weeks ago my dear friend who was also my neighbour in England contacted me to say that my old, beautiful house is now being let out as a holiday let. It made me feel really really sad.

I have said many times before in my posts that one of the hardest things I did was leave my house, I loved it. I put my heart and soul into it, it was a lovely family home.

I was surprised about how upset I was, and it brought me quite down. I looked it up on air b&b, and although I liked some of the changes that had been made it no longer flowed or looked loved. The only good thing was that all of the people that stayed there loved it as well.

So as Rich and i sat there on that Sunday afternoon, I realised that part of the adventure was learning to let go. I could not go back, much as I love my friend next door and my friend Mary who also lives in Herne Bay, I could never be so crowded in again. I loved that house but not having people in front of me, behind me and either side of me. So I had to let go, life is about moving forward and the here and now.

Taking on this adventure I now see life as chapters, and chapters have to come to an end to enable you to move on to the next. Closing that chapter may be poignant and difficult but who knows what the next one will hold.

So here is to my new house, and who knows I might manage to get started on that bedroom soon!

 

 

Happy Friday

Moisy

 

 

This is now our second summer of living here and I am starting to realise that life comes “back to life”in France when the weather warms up, believe me,it really does, in every way! The shrubbery and grass grow like mad things, more and more people need help with their gardens and maintenance projects in the gardens, and time just runs away with you. (Add to that the odd glass of wine in the garden in the evening!)

I could not believe that I have not written my blog for so long, or, indeed, responded to any of the comments that people have made. My apologies to all and thank you so much for your lovely feedback; I love that you love my blog, even with all of its irreverence at times;  I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to welcome all of my readers, new ones and faithful followers, I feel that I have let you down to have left it for so long.

I know that some of the people following my blog are considering taking the plunge, opening the gate and living their life as an adventure, you are all welcome, and I will always try to tell you a true story, not rose tinted, but real;  sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes inspiring.  I also know that others are on the adventure, be it in France, Spain or other places in the world, and I hope that my blog will make you laugh, cause you to empathise and even, sometimes, to stand up  and think “do you know what? I did not go on this adventure to mix with arseholes and all their crap, so I am going to leave them behind, and sometimes even address their bad behaviour and tell them to “sod off.” (Other swear words are available!)

So on to an update…………..

Good news, Richard’s business is finally gaining some ground; not only is he getting more work, we have sorted out various other things, and, most importantly of all, we have lovely, friendly clients who give wonderful feedback and appreciate what he does. Finally! (See previous posts about some of the awful people we have worked for since moving here, “it’s time someone said something”).

I have been helping Rich in planning, and sometimes in what he is doing, and I also have the role of  the unpaid secretary of the house. We are knackered but it is all good, and we look forward to developing the business further as the time goes on, to pay into French taxes (no I am not mad!) and really live in France.

But, there is a but…. I don’t know whether it is an English thing, or just that people who are hard workers feel awful if they turn work down and allow time for themselves,  and those of you who have read my blog  know after my post recently (see for some people I know, a little bit more about me) I of all people should know better, and not push myself too hard, or Rich. It is a hard habit to break and I have had to remind myself of a quote from the 9^th verse of the Tao

“To keep on filling

Is not as good as stopping.

Overfilled, the cupped hands drip,

Better to stop pouring.”

From the book “Change your thoughts change your life.” By Dr Wayne. W. Dyer

So many people have got in touch recently saying how they are sick of living in the “rat race”, feeling as if they are stuck “in a rut” and I think it is important to remember to let old habits go if you take on an adventure, it is after all about seeing where life takes you, and not just moving to another country and living the same life as you were before.

So instead of worrying we both practice not worrying and we believe that things will come our way, if we just let go and let them sometimes. Although we need work to live, we have learnt that we have not come over here to work for people who are rude, and we choose if we want to work for some people depending on their behaviour. We believed that nice people would be sent our way and they have been.

Another quote that comes to mind is “Yes, others might judge you as unmotivated and call you an ignoramus, but your reward will be the strong sense of inner peace that comes from a direct knowing that you’re here as a guest who’s always being provided for. Yes, you may seem to be missing something, but the something is really only an illusion. You’re no longer living inside of yourself with a desire to be someone else or to gain something that seems to be omnipresent in all of those around you – you’ve traded in striving for arriving.”

From the book “Change your thoughts change your life.” By Dr Wayne. W. Dyer

When I look at the things that surround me that cost me nothing, but are priceless, I know I have arrived.

 

 

I have also been busy for myself because I am in  the process of setting up an Etsy shop, I will let you know when it is open.  I am busy researching the items that catch my eye at brocantes and vide greniers, and the season for both is now firmly underway with a vide grenier somewhere every Sunday. I love it, love old things and love that others love them too; I have the ability to source little French things out  for people who may never get the chance to come to France and I will find it rewarding that by sending them a little piece of France that they can have in their homes, they will get joy from it.

 

We have finished the chicken coop, and collected the chickens. They have half of the goats shed as their coop and I think that they are thinking that they live in the chicken equivalent of the Paris Hilton Hotel, because they don’t just have a bedroom they have the equivalent (in chicken terms) of a whole floor!

We have bought them hay and put in cardboard boxes (so that we can throw them away and replace) there is sawdust on the floor and straw, and they are rewarding us with eggs every day and have been since day one. They love the grass and their coop being under the trees, and even lay in the sun sunbathing.

They love me and respond to my voice (probably because I was always feeding them something! )My neighbours think I am mad because I walk towards them going “hear chook, chook, chook, chook” and then proceed to talk to them in chicken (I know no shame!) when they talk to me.

But sadly the fly in the ointment is called Wiglet the Welsh terrier. She is a murderess of small things    (as you know in the nineteen months we have had her she has had a pigeon, a rat, numerous mice, a rabbit and tried to murder two of the cats.!)

 

She is like a thing possessed and just spends hours and hours running round and round the coop trying to get in. She has kept us busy, dug a hole under the goats shed and managed to get her head in with them, has pulled up the wire so we have had to tether it down, and double it up and Rich is just about to get some chicken wire, and we also have to put on her on a long lead sometimes when she works herself into a frenzy.

Harley is bored with them now and the only times he barks at them is when the chickens front him out!! Seriously! They front the Welshies, and Harley then looks at them like “You what? Your f*****g fronting me out chicken?! Seriously! I am a f*****g Welshie and now I am going to murder you!”

Wiglet then encourages him and here they are trying to get in the gate.

But the chickens fight back, and have now started to peck Wiglet when she gets her nose to close and jump up and scratch her with their claws if she sticks her nose in the fence. We have ninja chickens! It could only happen to us!

 

The good life is still trying to get off the ground, (see my posts Ooh Matron we have gone all Tom and Barbara and Oh No! It’s gone Pete Tong.”) But still difficult as I bought some tomato, cucumber and pepper plants; then the frost came back and attacked one of the tomato plants, killed the cucumber plants before I had even planted them, and then the one surviving tomato plants, that had not been touched by the frost, got broken by Wiglet with the lead we are using to tie her up. (I swear she did it on purpose!) But I am not giving up especially with the cucumbers. In fact I might do a whole series of posts called the Cucumber Saga!! I have bought a huge one now,(cucumber that is!)  with established cucumbers already growing so look out for future posts. All of the plants will be potted in pots, as you know the potager turned into Armageddon and has now been put back to grass!

But more than anything in the past few weeks we have spent time with new friends (yes we have found the nice ones!) Last weekend we went to our small local bar and met some real characters, French and English, and had fun with our mad, and much loved, friend Jan. On Sunday we went to a BBQ at my friend Louise’s house and met more really nice people, and on Monday we were invited to dinner at our friend’s house. We can’t keep up!! We were knackered at the end of it.

We both feel that the adventure really is going now….. so look out for more posts, summer is on it’s way, twenty four degrees yesterday, raining today!

I would love it if you could share my blog with others, and also if you would use the star rating at the top of each post to tell me what you think…… but comments? Please comment, I love comments and so do the other readers.

Thank you

 

Moisy