The rainy season

Well at last we have rain,it was needed for the crops on the farm .In the high winds of Friday one of our plum tree split and is now lying on the ground; we still hope to be able to gather the fruit. All of our other crops are still growing well.

We have fitted a log burner in the lounge, it makes such a difference to the comfort of the house.

As it was with no access to the chimney, we still have to locate that and then connect into it.

Maureen helps out.

It is really well built.

Fitting a cowl to the chimney stack, its quite high up here.

 

In the warmth, with our own wood.

How time flies

Wow, almost too busy living the dream to find the time to chronicle it. But now I'm back.
Busy, busy weeks, no stress, just lots to do.

We enjoyed the branch Main serviable (helping hands).We cleared the beach of  dechete (rubbish) in a bay at St Brieuc, the weather was beautiful and we had a picnic before we started.I found an old tyre and used it to drag our rubbish bag


We enjoyed having the missionaries visit,I think they enjoyed the change, working in the garden, collecting the eggs, cycling, catching up with their e mails (it was p day)

Last week we attended a District Activity held in Vannes, it began with the societe de secours (Relief Society) meeting to collect all the baby quilts we had made, there were as many sisters there as we would have in most of our Wards.Such sweet and friendly sisters.

We then had a buffet with our families, une petite promenade (stroll) a very long stroll beside the Golfe de Morbihan and 2 crazy soeurs anglais sneaked a quick swim (no photo!!). We then returned to the chapel (a small unit in a business park)  to hear Pres. Stahli the mission president speak. He had been Pres.Hinckley's secretary for 15 years and so had wonderful experiences to share.

We made our first 'brew' of elderflower cordial last week, very easy, very delicious. Although citric acide over here has to be ordered from the pharmacie and cost E10 !!

Drama last night! In the small barn next to us there are 3 bays. With 2 of them having the new calves in maman chat gave bith to her 3 beautiful chatons 2 weeks ago, we have enjoyed watching them grow but when John went to visit last night 1 of the calves had escaped from his bay and only 1 kitten was still there. We called the farmer, and his wife and children arrived, we had great fun trying to get the calf back into the stall.Jonlan aged 13 drives the tractor like a pro and brought in a huge hay bale to keep the calves in while we searched for the kittens. We think maman had moved the 2 and by this morning the third one had also gone. Sylvan 12 and Alban 9 came over for a chat yesterday, we all had fun trying out the others language I thanked them for helping me and we laughed when Alban said she had been riding a chicken!! We agreed that we ride horses and leave the chickens to lay eggs. They are delightful children.

The cows are often brought in for milking right beside our house and last week one thought that she would take a 'deviation' through our garden, they are big that close up.

The vegetables continue to grow rapidly, I took my eye off the courgettes for a couple of days and now I have a marrow! Our beans are the only crop which aren't doing so well. Everything looks so green and lush. We have been so blessed, Mark (the farmer) said we could use the water from the farm for our veggies, we have to pay for our water he doesn't.

My efforts to lose weight continue, I've now even published my weight on our family site hoping it will shame me into trying harder, I have to get used to the fact that there will always be bbq's, picnics, munch & mingles & temptation.

Amy and my mum are arriving on Saturday, I am so excited, it was announced in church today that there is a District day out next Monday so that will be fun.

We have started on 2 new projects a wood burner and new gates. John has been so brave climbing up to the chimney, it's a long way. We decided to do it ourselves, we bought the stove on e bay, had it deliverd here, and now it's almost installed we think by tomorrow night we may have a log fire burning - how exciting.The gates were an unexpected project.When we saw a very large crate which had put on the bonfire pile we asked if we could have it and Sylavan delivered it on the tractor and we realised it was the width of our drive, one day later John, never one to leave things for too long had built a very smart new gate. 

We are looking forward to more visitors this summer, Andrew and Sue Mason in July, some friends from Crawley at the end of July, Isaac and Jacob mid August, Eveymartine and Naeem (date to be confirmed) and Evey and Tony in Sept. We love having visitors and we love being here on our own so we win both ways.
We hope you are all keeping well.

Next time, hammocks,gates, log burners and veg! I bet you can hardly wait, can your lives get more exciting than reading our blog!?!?