Winter got colder and colder

The snow has been on the ground for nearly two weeks now and it has been so cold (-18 one night ) that it has turned to little ice flakes which shimmer and sparkle in the sun.  Very pretty but hopeless for snowballs as it just turns to powder.  So we played with the icicles instead!

We have been feeding the birds three times a day and putting out water too.  The blue tits, great tits, robins, goldfinches, nuthatches and occasionally the woodpecker all come flocking to the bird table as soon as the sunflower seed is put out.  If Mark is late they congregate in the lime tree and the plum trees by the side of the studio and wait to be fed and then as soon as the seed is on the table they are there!   The other day a pheasant came along too and pecked a few seeds from the snow around the table before being shooed away.  We still have a couple of baskets of apples left, which are starting to get soft and wrinkly, so we have been putting these out on the ground for the blackbirds, which have also demolished some squash, resulting in spectacularly orange droppings all around the front garden! On our walks around our grounds we have spotted feathers in the snow which are probably where the sparrowhawk has made a kill.  Goodness knows what has happened underground in all of the mouse holes and tunnels but I am hoping for the best, or worst, depending on your viewpoint.

In the greenhouse things are looking a bit bleak.  Despite wrapping the geraniums and other tender plants in fleece, old sacks, bubblewrap, carpet and anything else to hand the -18C that we had a few nights ago has left them all limp and soggy.  No doubt there will be a few casualties outdoors too so i'll be doing lots of cuttings and divisions of the things that have survived.

The thing that has been lovely though is the amount of sunshine we have been having, as you can see - lovely blue sky!

Hope all of you reading this have been keeping warm!

There are a few more photos of icicles and snow in the photostream on our blog page at www.chenevaux.blogspot.com

Hot air

At 6.30 this morning Mark spotted an air balloon in the distance - not that unusual as there is a flying centre at Chauvigny, about 15km from us.  They quite often go up in groups and are a lovely sight.  Today started very sunny and then clouded over, at which point the balloon started to lose height, not sure if there is a connection, maybe they just ran out of hot air ( no chance of that here ). I was still in bed at the time, having only had one cup of tea, but then Mark got all excited about said balloon going over the gite and getting lower and lower and I should come and have a look and bring the camera!  So being very obedient ( ha ha ) I rushed out in my pj's with the camera - by which time the balloon had landed in the field opposite our swimming pool.  Of course the batteries on the camera had gone flat again, so in I go to get the re-charged ones ( why don't they re-charge properly, we only bought new ones a few months ago ), holding my pj bottoms up with one hand as the elastic needs re-charging as well.  So here is a pic!  I think the guy pulling the piece of string thought it was a bit bizarre when I waved at him but he still waved back and luckily he was far enough away not to notice that I wasn't dressed!

Introducing Gorrie ,

Gorrie ( aka Le Gorrilla ) is the propreitor of the Cheval Blanc ( White Horse ) in our village - superhero of darts as you can see by the trophies.   Not so long ago the Cheval Blanc team " Les Malloises" reached the final in a national competition at La Rochelle. Now, when I say national - this is serious.  Literally thousands of teams from the whole of France. All in  local costume or carrying regional flags, and there's a lot at stake - not just the reputation of your village but a place for the winning team to play in an international tournament in Las Vegas!  So, no chance at all for Gorrie's team from the tiny population of 356 at St Pierre de Maille.  Until ... Gorrie the superhero is joined by a certain Mark Judson and .... off the team go to La Rochelle .. ( with a few others ) and there they are in this huge place with darts competitions going on hour after hour - I was expecting him back the next day but then the phone call came " we got through to the next round " and then the next day " we're in the quarter finals " and so on until they were through to the finals!!!  By this time the village was totally immersed in darts talk - especially Pascal - the propreitor of the 8 a 8 ( small supermarket open at all other times except 8 - 8 ), whose wife was away with the team.  Sadly ( though not for me, I couldn't imagine anything worse than a trip to Las Vegas for a darts competition - could have made a good raffle prize though - Guernsey WI perhaps !!) they were beaten in the final - next time perhaps! 

August 1st 2005, the day we arrived to live here at Chenevaux permanently.  The time has gone so quickly!  As you can see it hasn't all been hard work - lots of friends and family have been to visit, many more than once,  and we've had some great times, as well as working like mad to build up our gite business and Mark's art studio and classes.   Wonder what the next 6 years will bring?

Au secours! Help!

There's a nasty alligator in the pool!

Gummidge or Worzel?

Yesterday was our anniversary so we exchanged cards as usual - when I say as usual it is because we have now exchanged the same cards for 3 years!  The one Mark gives me has a wheel with different numbers on it so he just turns it round and the one I give him gets the number re-written inside.  It saves all that hassle of having to choose and makes us laugh!!  Anyway, after all of the excitement that caused, we decided to escape for the day to a small town called Montmorillon, about 20 miles away.  I just want to point out here that it is Mont mor ill on, not Mont mor illi on as so many English people here keep calling it!  Maybe they are getting confused with a rock band in the 80s called Marillion!  Anyway here is Mark having a rest on the bridge - he kept his cap on as he needs to go and see Uncle Roy to be de-Gummidged.  (This is our latest talking point, Mark keeps saying why not de-Worzled but that doesn't sound nearly as good to me).  We had a wander round and came across a new art gallery where the owner specialises in Raku.  She might be interested in doing a joint exhibition with Mark at some point, or perhaps stock some of his ceramics, we will see.  Having booked a table for lunch at 1 we wanted to make sure we were in good time so arrived at 12.45, after all the morning had been strenuous.  The specials of the day sounded fab so we didn't even look at the menu.  Ecrevisse (crayfish) in a filo nest with a cream and mustard sauce topped off with a piece of smoked salmon - yum.  Then we had a sudden memory of a meal a few years ago when Mark ordered ecrevisse.  A very large bib was fastened round his neck and some alarming utensils that looked as though they belonged to a dentist were placed on the table.  Then the waitress appeared with a huge copper saucepan, plus lid, which were ceremoniously set in front of him.  This waitress loved the theatre of taking the lids off all of the dishes, waiting for the attention of all involved and raising them high above her head - a bit like an unveiling.  Several diners were heard clapping during the evening! So, lid duly removed Mark looked inside with relish.  His expression then changed from anticipation to consternation as the antennae of these supposed delicacies appeared to be moving.  Neither of us could work out how to use the utensils either so most of this dish went back to the kitchen.  

Our luck was in though, this time the crayfish were orderd with full assurance that there were no antennae or shells to deal with!  The main course was delish too and we eventually staggered out feeling very well fed.  This photo was taken from the restaurant - maybe the man is catching crayfish?    

Pots of gold

We haven't been able to get on-line for a few days as we've been out looking for the end of the rainbow. Anyway we found these lovely pots of gold and thought you would like to see them!

What's this wet stuff?

See the colour of the sky - grey - that's because its raining!! At last.  We put downpipes and water butts on the corners of the studio in April and since then we've had about two lots of rainfall and for the rest of the time they have remained empty.  The grass has gone brown and some of the leaves on the trees have turned red - and its only the beginning of July.  The two girls who are staying in the gite at the moment are in the studio having a pottery lesson with Mark so that's perfect timing!  We wouldn't mind if the rain continued all day but better not be greedy.  Yesterday a group of randonneurs came along to have a pottery demonstration and sample jam.  One little boy managed to get his hands on the clay as you can see!                   Puddles - hurrah!!

   

Some days aren't so sweet!

Plumbing isn't our thing - but its definitely our nightmare!  Luckily we discovered that we had a problem whilst we were in-between guests, although not for long, so reinforcements were called in, in the form of Roy, who is not only a plumber but also cuts Mark's hair.  In fact he used to have a chain of hairdressing salons in England and now he coiffs for most of the English people round here - not me though, I go to the village with my hair wet and have a chop now and again for the princley sum of 12 euros - Mark has to pay 15 but he does have the choice of a winter or summer cut and the benefit of Roy's wisdom.  Roy also plays golf, and his other half Jill looks after horses.  At the moment they can't get hold of any hay which is a bit of a worry.  Anyway the blockage has been unblocked and the hole will be filled in soon so when our next guests arrive tomorrow the air will be smelling of roses again.  Phew.

Well it's harvest time now

 This is a busy time for our local farmers as they have just started harvesting the wheat - a full two weeks earlier than normal.  The weather has been really warm and dry for ages, and for the past three weeks or so there has been a ban on irrigating the crops and using hoses in the garden.  Here at Chenevaux we have a well which hasn't been in use for many years and the other day Michel, who farms the land around our property, came along with a water tester thingy.  Its basically a probe on a long wire and it makes a sound when it touches water.  Anyway, after about 50m it sounded, ( we expected this from previous investigations ) and then the wire kept feeding out .... and more.     and more until it came to the end of the reel at 100m!  So we now know that we have a well with at least 50m of water in it ... the question is how to get it out!  To be continued ........

London .... Chenevaux ......



Somewhere in London

Many thanks to Mr & Mrs B Bong who sent this photo.  We were delighted to see that our idea for the name of a cafe is catching on and can't wait to find out if the trend is continuing in other cosmopolitan areas.  Photos below show the product in its authentic French style with state of the art catering facilities and extensive menu making this a must visit location!

The Cafe du Coin   

This was the original bread oven