Big cupboards and a big birthday
Hello to you all from a very windy SW France
I wasn’t sure if this blog would get written. I joined Max in the séjour for a cup of tea and another slice of his delicious birthday cake (more on that in a moment), and he suggested I wrote my blog from the sofa! A change from the kitchen table where I have taken up residence until we sort out the top floor for my son to move to and we get our office back. This sounded like a great idea, especially if the fire was about to be lit (the wind is making the house very breezy to say the least – there is a lot of draught excluder potential here). I had just settled down when a flurry of cats appeared, each one intent on getting on my lap. In the end the two boys reluctantly shared the space, both vying to be my editorial assistant. Not ideal for typing, but so sweet. They eventually got bored, plus Bear came along which they find a bit off-putting, so here I am.
My update this week is a little late as my lovely husband celebrated his birthday last Wednesday. As it was his 60th we decided he should have a birthday week! Of course, I had work to do – there always seems to be a funding application to do just as I want a little time off. The joy of being self-employed! We went out for the day on his birthday to explore a new place – all will be revealed in the next ‘Places to visit’ post which will be out on 23rd (Wednesday), a week later than it should be but for good reason. As part of the celebrations, we have also enjoyed an online cheese and wine party with some friends in the UK, which was great fun, we have had our neighbour to tea – she loves cake so what better excuse to visit the patisserie! Some friends joined us for a birthday dinner at the weekend – a delightful evening, lovely company, great wines and the food wasn’t too bad either – especially the fabulous tarte aux fraises des bois birthday confection – yummy! I would usually make a cake but the patisserie here is just so amazing, I couldn’t begin to compete, nor do I want to! We still have birthday drinks with Max’s family next Wednesday, and caught up with my family on Sunday, a Zoom get-together spanning London, Manchester, Sydney and us here in France.
Sunday 20th was officially the first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and the temperatures have risen a little. However we have the windiest weather at the moment, the vent d’autan (the Autan wind) is in full flow (or blow), with gusts up to 65km/hr, better than the 110km/hr of a week or so ago, but still pretty breezy! I have been washing bedlinen, etc – great drying but it is so windy no matter how many pegs I use the laundry still escapes. I found one duvet cover wrapped around the railings at the end of the terrace having been wrenched from the washing line.
March’s full moon was on Friday and looked beautiful through the trees. I have become very interested in the names given to each month’s full moon and the background to this. This one is known as the Worm Moon. It gets this unusual name from the seasons changing and earthworms beginning to reappear as the weather warms after the cold of the winter. Given that we often have high winds and stormy weather in March, as my Mother says always when her Magnolia is in full flower, it is also known as the Storm Moon.
Aside from birthday celebrations the week has been busy, mainly for me with work. We went to see the huge old cupboards I mentioned last week and collected them with the help of 2 lovely friends and their trailer on Thursday morning. It took 2 trips as these armoires are 2.55 metres long and 2.3 metres high! Storage downstairs for coats, table linen and all manner of things is now sorted out. I just need to paint them as Max has cleared out the souillarde (utility room) where one of the cupboards will live. Number 2 giant cupboard is hopefully going to the second floor to store all our bedlinen. That is the plan. The reality of getting each bit upstairs is going to be a challenge, particularly the top and bottom parts as they don’t break in half (possibly not yet!) We are very pleased with them, a lick of paint will give them a new lease of life, and they cost less than half the storage from a certain well known store! I am so looking forward to being able to find things again and not having boxes of stuff all over the place, pillowcases here, duvet covers there and sheets somewhere in between!
The lone pine tree came down on Monday. There were not 5 or 6 nests of Pine Processionary Caterpillar as we thought, but about 15! The tree surgeon took them away to deal with them, so hopefully all is well and safe now. The monsieur did a fab job and whilst the pine coming down is sad, the tree was on its last legs (or roots) and the processionary caterpillars would only keep returning. Much better for the rescue population here that it is gone and we gain some additional firewood to season for winters in the future.
I am taking some time off from work between now and the end of March to try and catch up a bit in the house and in the garden. With the warmer temperatures the garden has leapt into life, lawns need mowing, pruning needs to be finished and there is now a lot of weeding to do. Painting of walls and furniture needs to get underway again as we attempt to make a bit of progress.
I had the loveliest surprise the other day. On returning from a walk, I spotted what looked like some flowers over on one of the composts heaps. On closer inspection I found a little group of pink Hyacinths nestling in the garden debris. Where they came from who knows. I guess at some stage they have been dumped there and given the rich leaf compost have fought their way to the surface. What a find! Once the flowers are over I will move them to one of the beds. There are lots of spring flowers in the garden now – so lovely to see. My favourite time of the year – well one of them anyway! Trees bursting in to bud, birds singing away and longer days.
Life continues to chuck its challenges at us, but as the saying goes ‘Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain’, and I do love to dance!
A bientôt
Ali xx
