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?

Cherry-time

It's cherry time again!

There is something very satisfying than free food and today we picked a beautiful bowl of cherries from trees on our lane.

Snow in May

This time last week we were swimming and sitting by the pool with temperatures in the high 20's. Today the thermometer on the car read -1 degree and it is sleeting here and snow is sticking on the hills! We have the fire on and having a roast for dinner. Please can we have our Summer back!

And the Beginning of Another

As one season ends, another begins and Friday was the first night of the 2010 Pétanque season. We had succumbed to all the persuasion and joined this year. We provided the joining fee, Medical Certificates and photographs and duly turned up at 8:30. We handed over 4€ each and were given our number for the evening. Just like Fléchettes, at 9 o’clock we were allocated our teams.

Both Richard and I were with experienced players. It is all very well being told where to place the boule, but actually placing it there is quite different with divots, sand and stones to contend with!

During the course of the evening, we played 4 games. We hadn’t realised that there is prize money! For every game that one wins, you receive 2€, so it is possible to double your money in the evening. At half past twelve I took home 2€.

In spite of having a late night on Friday, I had to be up early Saturday morning as I was joining 10 other ladies to play in a boules competition. 1st May is Fête du Travail, or Labour Day, and the Comité Aude had organised a Journée de la Femme for ladies boules players.

My partner, Dany, and I were put with 4 other pairs and we began by having a skills test which were marked accordingly. Next we were asked questions on the rules of Pétanque. There was no way I was able answer these questions, so I left that to Dany. I only just knew the basic rudiments of the game not details of the rules.

Apéros and lunch was made and served by husbands and male committee members. After lunch we played 2 matches and the day finished by the prize giving to the winners Finally, everyone was given a sprig of Muget or Lily of the Valley, a flower that is given on 1st May and a small fridge magnet as a memento of the day.

The End of a Season

Saturday was the last day of the 2009-2010 season of Les Fléchettes de la Malepère and to celebrate this, there was a tournament in the afternoon and a meal in the evening. Le tournoi was open to everyone, not just club members, and 32 people with ages ranging from 10 to 90 competed!

Gradually as the games progressed, players were eliminated and a winner was found. Albane Montagné beat the othe 3 finalists with a fantastic 2 dart finish.

The evening began with the presentation of trophies. Finalists and semi-finalists of the afternoon's tournament, all received a trophy and so did the winners of the regular club-night
season.

Gérard Baidal received his trophy for winning the most points this season. Albane won the most points for the ladies this year.

The repas began with the usual apéritif with dancing to a wide range of music between the courses. It is lovely to see the older children looking after the little ones, all having a lovely time.

I would like to thank Thierry Strittmatter and his team for organgising a super day to finish the season.

Roll on the Petanque season......

Soggy Moggy

Just as we were going to bed last night, a very wet cat came in (and it wan't raining). Bruno had fallen in the pool! We don't know what happened but we could trace the evidence from the pool to the house.

I do hope he won't try it again once we put the pool cover on today.

Swimming Cats!

Ever since we have aquired our kittens, Bruno has been fascinated with water, dripping taps, puddles, in fact anything.

Today we have opened up the pool and this is going to create a whole new adventure for him. I wonder if he will ever become a swimming cat?

Around and About

The fourth covering of snow of the winter has finally gone. Let's hope that it was the last and spring can finally begin.

For those of you who do not know Arzens (and also for those of you who do), I have included a link from Google Maps which shows you around parts of our village. Click on the A and select "Street View". By clicking, dragging and moving along the line it is possible to see different views. If you want to see other parts of the village, click and drag the yellow "pegman" in the small map insert.


I hope that you enjoy looking around Arzens.

Snow in Arzens

Icicles hang from M. et Mme Gol's house.

Skiers in the vineyards

Bruno enjoying the snow


A very snowy garden

It doesn’t seem two weeks ago that it was impossible to drive along our road because of the snow. It was beautiful to see the countryside covered in a white blanket but it was treacherous to walk on. Our two kittens loved it, Bruno in particular. They chased the snowflakes and ploughed the snow into snowballs.

As our cats love climbing, we had a dilemma this year whether to buy a real Christmas tree or an artificial one. We opted for the latter and it was probably a good choice as we have had to retrieve Bruno from the top many times. He has even taken a liking to chewing the fairy lights!

Christmas has been busy with the usual Christmas preparations, parties and apéros. Our daughter Sally was able to join us for a few days at Christmas as Duncan was away with his regiment.

Carcassonne has again been holding La Magie de Noël. Since we have been here we have never ventured on the Grande Roue. As Sunday was such a glorious day, we decided to give it a go. It was absolutely fantastic. We could see the snow covered Pyrenees in the distance and the castle walls of the Cité.

2009 is finally coming to an end. We have had another lovely year in France. I hope that 2010 holds as much excitement, the highlight of which will be Sally and Duncan’s wedding in the summer.


I would like to wish everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year! May 2010 be a good one.

The Hand of Henry

You may find this amusing and addictive.

One Hundred and Eighty!

Friday night is Flechettes night!

Since la Rentrée, we have gathered in the bowels of the foyer at 8:30 ready for a 9 o’clock start. The evening consists of 4 games of 501. The winner gets 4 points, 2nd place gets 3 points , 3rd gets 2 points and 1 point for 4th place. (Fortunately we don’t have to finish with a double otherwise we would be there all night!) This season there have been prizes donated by members of the group. There have been a variety so far ranging from home-made sanglier pate, a pizza from the van that comes to the village on a Friday night and last night the prizes were a bottle of sparkling wine for the person who came second and a bag of escargots as first prize. The amusing thing was that we had seen the man who had given the snails, collecting them in the lanes earlier in the week. I enjoy the snails that I buy from the shops, though I am not so sure I would be quite so confident cooking and eating ones gathered from the hedgerows. Anyhow, we didn't win but I must look out for a recipe just in case.

St Bruno's Day

Today is St Bruno’s day and this gives me an very good excuse to show off our new kittens Bruno and Mimi.

Unfortunately we had to have our 12 year old cat put to sleep last month as she was suffering from a liver infection. Since then, the house had not been the same, so when the Carcassonne S.P.A. had an open day on Sunday, we decided to go and see if they had any kittens. We fell in love with them as soon as we saw them.

I had really forgoten how time-consuming (and adorable) kittens can be.

Wine Tasting

We have just returned from a very pleasant afternoon sampling wines at Château de Cointes - one of our local vineyards

As we tasted a wide range of wines under the large pine trees, we were entertained by Jeff’H, who played a variety of Rock, Blues and Country music. It was a lovely setting with views over the vineyards and the Malepère Hills. Needless to say, the wine we liked the best was the most expensive!