Gardening

Since we have been in France, the lawn in the front garden has been taken over by moss and definitely need an overhaul.

Earlier this summer I met Jackie Hamblen at a book swap and she mentioned that she designed gardens. She came to look at the project and then gave us a wide variety of ideas to select from.

This week, after 2 days of digging and moving stones, she finished the work and we are really pleased with it. I can't wait for the grasses and lavender to grow to show off the full effect.

Thank you Jackie.

Foire de la Pomme du Vin, du Riz

Aigues Vives should have held their Foire de la Pomme du Vin, du Riz last week, but due to the torrential rain that fell over the weekend it was postponed to this Sunday.

We went with the intention of buying apples for mincemeat for Christmas and seeing what was happening in our neighbouring village. As usual, there were lovely displays using the apples.

Unfortunately it didn’t seem as well attended as previous years, but this might be due to the change of date.

The Mole

The cats have spent the last 3 days mesmerised by the soil underneath the hedge. They would sniff it, dig with two paws even get their shoulders deep into the soil. On a closer look we could sometimes see the earth moving – it had to be a mole!

At last yesterday, Mimi managed to extract it from the ground. It was quite a large mole. Bruno, not the gentleman, managed to snatch it from her. I don’t like seeing cats playing with their prey, so we thought we could catch it and transfer it to the field opposite.

By the time Richard had got a spade to pick it up and a bucket to put the mole in, it had begun to dig into the ground.

Richard tried to dig into the ground to stop it getting away but to no avail.

How can a mole, no bigger than the size of a hand, manage to burrow into the soil when it is too hard to get a spade in?

Incroyable!

The Black Madonna

On 29th September 2007, Notre-Dame-de-Marceille in Limoux near Carcassonne was broken into and the famous Black Madonna, made of hard black wood, was decapitated and the cloak that covered her was stolen.

Until recently, visitors who came to the church could only see a photograph of the 12th Century Madonna and Child. Realising that the statue could not be repaired, the Communauté des Sœurs Bethléem near Pézenas appointed a sculpture to make an identical copy.

It is now possible to see the statue in the church, though for security reasons, is behind a heavy grille. The new Black Madonna has been made out of chestnut. Possibly the statue will be dressed in a replacement cloak at a later time.

Sporting Sunday

Sunday was quite a big sporting day with The Tour de France, the British Grand Prix and the World Cup Final, but that is nothing compared to a Pétanque tournament in Arzens.

The whole thing started at 9:30. Each team consisted of three players and there were four teams in each pool. We played our three matches before lunch in the searing heat and it was pleasant to get under the shade of the trees.


When all the matches were completed, the apéros were brought out. I really love the smell (and taste) of Pastis, it is so typical of French holidays but I have learnt from past experience not to drink too much of it. I stick to the wine.

Lunch consisted of a BBQ picnic of sausages, merguez, poitrine and a wide range of salads. It was lovely, but only lasted 3 hours!

L'Equipe Rouge

The finals were completed in the afternoon. Richard and his team of experts won the Plate Final. We arrived home at 19:30, hot and dusty. After a quick dip in the pool and a fast forward of the Grand Prix, we watched Spain beat Holland.

It must be easy being a World Cup footballer. They only have to play for 120 minutes in cool evening temperatures, whereas our Pétanque took 10 hours, in 35 degrees heat and we only had 3 hours for apéros and lunch!!

Bruno's Adventures

On Wednesday, by the time I usually give our cats their tea, there was no sign of Bruno. We hadn’t seen him since the morning but that was nothing new. As he still hadn’t arrived by bed time, I was getting a little concerned. I thought that he might come in during the night and jump on the bed as usual. As he still wasn’t there in the morning all sorts of ideas were going through my mind. We made some “Chat Perdu” flyers and stuck them on the bins, posted them in letter boxes on our road and put them in the boulangerie and tabac. We walked, cycled and drove around the lanes looking for him, with no success.

Our neighbour, Denis, came round just before dinner and said he thought he had heard something in his house. We went round armed with torch and cat biscuits but with no luck. We really thought that Bruno’s luck had run out.

Five o’clock this morning, Denis, rang our door bell. He had definitely seen him this time. After a further search, we found him hiding between a stack of boxes.

We brought him home and he trotted round the house unaware of the problem he had caused for the last two days.

That wasn’t enough for him. About 2 hours later, he had found a snake, (which had bitten his ear) and he and Mimi were playing with it on the grass. We hope that the snake wasn’t venomous. In spite of this he seems none the worse for his adventures.

Palm Trres

The winter hasn’t been very kind to our palm trees and by the beginning of May all the branches were brown and obviously dead. We had been debating whether to cut them all off but were unsure as we had heard conflicting advice. Gradually as the weather has got warmer (relatively) tell-tale signs of new grow was beginning to peep out of the top. So biting the bullet and machete in hand, Richard has cut all the unsightly growth off. After numerous trips to the déchetterie the task is complete.

They now look like enormous paint brushes with green bristles!

By the way, does anyone know when Summer is going to start?