🇫🇷France avec ma belle-mere🇫🇷

Nous avon besoin d’un parapluie☔️☔️☔️

 

We arrived on Friday afternoon 12th February having left the UK on Thursday afternoon. A long, long drive with an overnight stop in Tours.

Nothing to report on the extension. The weather appears to have put paid to any roofing work being done. The water table in the garden means that many of the plants are sat in water. The cherry tree has rotted and I just pushed it over. The two fig trees that I planted the year before last are ankle deep in water. Not sure if they’ll survive. The only plants that are thriving in the wet environment are the willow trees.

Saturday it rained most of the day but there was some light relief in the evening as we went with our neighbour to a Salsa class.👣👣👣.  Well actually it was just me feeling like I had 2 left feet and grandma the observer.  I’m sorry, I can cope with Metafit and Pilates but there was too much spinning around in Salsa for my liking. Yes I know, in the picture below I look like a complete lump of wood but this was taken just before I got my moves on👣👣👣 Surprised how many men were attending the class.

Sunday, it rained again, get the theme, went to see our friend who lives near Monsegur. Then we decided to have a trip through to Bergerac to the cinema to see “45 Ans” starring Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtney.

 

It had been given rave reviews by the papers but we agreed it was probably  one of the dullest films we’d ever seen. Not only that, it was on the tiniest cinema screen we’d ever seen too.   There were only 17 seats. It wasn’t a problem, rather cosy really.  It took forever for the film to start, we thought they’d forgotten about us.  I had to get a photo, this is grandma with her three new French friends and the seventeen seats.

I had to spend some time constructing a response to the Director of Finances, having received a letter regarding the completion of the extension, which should have been done at the beginning of last summer in the first instance but has been subject to numerous delays. Also popped in to the Mairies to let them know the situation too.  All seemed well with my letter, having shown it to the Maire’s assistant, who seemed to understand what I’d said.

On Monday (yesterday) we drove to IKEA in Bordeaux, we had planned to take the train but driving seemed so much easier.  Actually we found our way pretty well despite being left high and dry by Grandma’s Sat-Nav on the top of the bridge into Bordeaux.

I wish I could do more gardening🌳🌿🍀 but it would be more like taking a swim🏊🏽🏊🏽🏊🏽

We haven’t seen our builder and the extension is still very much a work in progress.

 

I had a paddle around the garden, tying up a couple of conifers that were lying horizontal and attempting to mend the gate which keeps falling off its hinges.  I also had another go at getting a viable cutting from the  fig tree that is now just outside our boundary.  When we first bought the house this fig tree was huge and had large branches that overhung our garden.  The fruit was to die for.  Since then it has been seriously cut back and I only just managed to reach a couple of branches and clip them off.

Up early tomorrow for the 9 hour drive back to Calais.  Wish us luck!

We’re both tired but had a good short break.

Until Easter😜😜😜