Now we’re back, I can tell you we’ve been away. My sister booked this place for all 21 of my family in Scarborough. More news when I’ve done the washing.
Hollibobs
Month: July 2022
Look what we grew!
Our food growing has been a disaster in the past few years, as slugs ate every plant we planted – beans, courgette, butternut squash – every plant was nibbled away to nothing. Only the tomato plants on the balcony escaped their munchy, slimy little mouths. I don’t want to use pellets, although Mr FD would wage any kind of chemical warfare against them!
This year I planted one courgette plant, one butternut squash plant and three tomato plants on the balcony. There is a squash developing nicely, and some other courgettes starting to form. But these were the fruits of my labours last week:
Well, it’s a start!! And there are loads more tomatoes coming. No doubt everything will become ripe when we’re away on holiday, but that’s gardening for you. We’ll come home to GIANT courgettes.
Jim, being cute.
It’s not often he falls asleep out of his playpen. Normally he is racing around playing, and only sleeps when he’s back in “the cage”. We’ll let him have the run of the house soon, but not quite yet. We want him to still be used to going in the playpen when he goes to stay with friends when we’re on holiday.
He is a truly gorgeous kitten!
Making cards
I haven’t made any cards for quite a while – I have quite a lot to use that I bought in Noz, because I liked them, and they were only 75cents. However, for Guy and Vicki’s wedding (mentioned in this post ) I thought I should make a card. This is what I came up with
I’m not sure how much I like it, but it’s gone off to the happy couple now. I used a die cutter and lots of scrap paper and an old clothes catalogue for the leaves. The butterfly was also die cut from the same clothes catalogue. Ribbon, raffia, button, and ladybird all from Noz, at various times. The background paper looks black, but is dark green with gold flecks. I think it’s a bit too dark for a wedding card, but, hey ho. Nothing to be done now.
I also sent them a Lend With Care voucher – this is my go-to gift for all couples getting married.I like the idea of the newly married couple setting someone else off on a new adventure too. I will usually give something else too (often a couple of champagne flutes & a bottle of fizzies) but they had said they didn’t want gifts.
The other card is for a colleague of Mr FD who has recently had a baby. The child’s name is, as you can probably guess, Anais:
Everything used on this card (including the cardstock) comes from Noz, purchased at various times I am happier with this card, than with the wedding card.
I really should make more cards, as I have so much stuff to use up in my stash. Just a thought though – we are planning on holding a silent auction to raise money for church funds, at our thanksgiving supper. Maybe I could make up some packs of items to “Make Your Own Cards”
I could put in stickers, washi tape, cardstock, backing paper, embellishments etc… Hmm, that’s a thought….
Jim vs Jasper
Jasper is not a small cat. He is too heavy – he has lost weight, but still needs to lose more. We used to have cat biscuits à volonté but he ate too many. The vet has said he should have 40g a day, and no more. That is sad. He loves his biskits. Here is a poem for Jasper
BIGGER CAT
I’m not fat, I’m big boned
I’m not fat, I’m a bigger breed
I’m not fat, it’s just more hair
I’m not fat, it’s just more muscle
I’m not fat,it’s only winter weight
I’m not fat, it’s only a trick of the eye
I’m not the reason you threw out your back
But the next time you lift me,
do so with your knees.
Another poem from “I could pee on this”
CLOSED DOOR
LET ME IN LET ME IN LET ME IN
LET ME IN LET ME IN LET ME IN
LET ME IN LET ME IN LET ME IN
LET ME IN LET ME IN LET ME IN
LET ME IN LET ME I-
Oh hello
I did not expect an answer
I did not expect an entrance
I did not expect this room to be
so unbelievably dull
So, uh, goodbye.
Simon’s Cat…
For all of those who are preparing to go on holiday….
Just as a side note, I can’t quite work out what the Russian subtitles are translating. OK, there’s the moment when Simon says “Down” to the cat, but other than that, doesn’t the sound of a squeaky toy or a cat saying “myyup” transcend language barriers…? Any Russian speakers out there? (I assume it’s Russian. It could be another Cyrrilic alphabet using language, of course)
People say / do the daftest things
I mentioned we met up with friends for a pizza on Friday.
Friend H is a hairdresser and told us about her clients…
One of whom was talking about gardens she had visited. She was very proud to have heard about the famous landscape gardener Inability Jones. Er…are you sure you mean that?
The other story was, in fact, about her husband, D, who had been tasked with cooking the tea. He read the instructions “Place the fish fingers on a baking tray with an edge” and so carefully laid all the fish fingers on their edges, while wondering “Why do I have to do this…?”
Weekly Catch Up continued
After Saturday’s exertions, Sunday was a quietish day. Mr FD did quite a lot of cleaning. I did a bit, trying not to complain too much about my legs still hurting! As we are now on our “Summer programme” at church – evening services, every other week, there was no church, so I footled in my study in the afternoon, painted some pebbles, and generally relaxed during the afternoon.
Monday was good – I had a lesson first thing, and then prepared for the rest of the week. I also made some scones to take with me on a visit this afternoon.After lunch, I picked up Friend Cathy and we drove to Renaison. The idea had been that I would take the car to the bodyshop for an expert to assess the damage from the hailstorm a couple of weeks back, for the insurance claim. However, the appointment was cancelled at the last moment. As I’d already arranged for us to visit a friend, we went to Renaison anyway. We haven’t seen Friend Sylvie for so long, so it was good to sit with her, drink an infusion made with fresh mint and verveine from the garden and eat scones. She was complimentary about my French, which was pleasing.
On Tuesday morning I did my ironing and then had a lesson at lunchtime. After that I drove down to Clermont as Bonjour World was having a summer drinks get together in the evening. I called in to see Friend Pippa from church. They live quite a way out of Clermont, so I rarely see them outside of church. It was good to see their house, to chat and enjoy the sunshine in their garden. After I drove to Clermont to mooch around the shops, and to find the wine bar where we were meeting. It was an enjoyable evening, with some delicious sharing platters – cheese, meat, paté, smoked salmon…yummy!
Wednesday saw me at the kiné, doing stretches for my sciatica, and then doing the shopping for the week. All lessons cancelled meant I was home for a late lunch. In the afternoon I played with Lucky Jim for most of the time…an enjoyable but not very productive afternoon!
On Thursday morning I had a lesson, and then arranged to meet Friend Cathy for a drink next door. Thursday is market day, so the café was quite busy. Mr Fd was working from home, so he took a half hour break to sit in the sunshine with us and drink a lemonade. In the afternoon I had admin work and another lesson. The evening was spent in the usual way – dinner and TV. I think it was cycling and football mostly ( England were playing) so I wasn’t very interested.
On Friday I had to take Lucky Jim to the Vet for his first vaccinations. He was very good: he didn’t bite anyone, and he took his worming tablet beautifully. An exemplary patient! When we got back I made a cup of coffee, and he came and settled on me, so I couldn’t move!
In the afternoon, I had my sermon to write for Sunday. Happily I had various ideas bubbling away, thanks to a piece written by Bishop Mark Edington ( which you can read here, should you wish to. I recommend it) so it was a relatively painless procedure. In the evening we met up with friends to have a pizza in the restaurant next door. Our social life always improves vastly when Cathy arrives back in France!
Saturday was cleaning (again!! It’s never ending!) and preparing the service for today. My knee has started hurting – I’ve had problems with it since forever – so I didn’t go for a walk, as I should have. Instead snoozing, pebble painting and footling was the order of the afternoon.
Here are our menus for last week (shouldyou wish to know…)
| Saturday | We’d had a big lunch out so it was a “picky tea” |
| Sunday | Creamy steak fettucine |
| Monday | Vegetable pasta bake |
| Tuesday | I was out. Mr FD had brochettes |
| Wednesday | Merguez, spicy rice with vegetables (left over from Monday) |
| Thursday | Veggie chilli, with tortilla chips & guacamole |
| Friday | Pizza out |
| Saturday | Sweet potato & chickpea curry, HM flat breads |
| Sunday (today) | Confit de canard, potato gratin and green bean salad. |
Lucky Jim continues to thrive. He syays in his play pen when we’re not in the room, so gets rather excited and bitey when he’s let out because he wants to play with us. We will give him the run of the house when we’re back from holiday, but as friends are looking after him and want him to stay in his playpen, we don’t want him to get too accustomed to being out.
He is a sweetie pie. Although the other cats don’t like him, it must be said!
Weekly catch up – Saturday
I’m even late with my weekly catch up now!! Though, in my defence, my Friday, when I usually do these catch ups, was a bit busy…as you will see further down the page.
SATURDAY saw Mr FD and I tackling a walk on the Chemin de St Jacques. You may remember this was / is a project of ours, to walk the Chemin, from Cluny to Le Puy en Velay. We started with a section out of Cluny in April, but then ground to a halt with shingles, Covid, various aches and pains, including a flare-up of Mr FD’s gout and a mysterious foot infection. We decided to tackle a part that is near us, which didn’t necessitate an overnight stay or long drive. 12 km from Lentigny to Bully. Reasonably easy walking (so I was informed)
We set off, and all was well – relatively cool, with a nice breeze. IOn walks like this, where we don’t need to carry backpacks, I have a “utility belt” which I bought very cheaply in Noz. Unfortunately the pockets on it are too small for my phone (I suspect that’s why it was cheap – mobile phones have grown!) so I sewed a bigger pocket on the back for my phone. It’s relatively secure if I push the phone well in. However…after taking a few photos, I obviously hadn’t pushed it in far enough, and had dropped it somewhere en route. Happily, a car drew up next to us and the driver asked if we’d lost a mobile phone…
“No…Er, yes…”I said as I checked. He had seen my phone on the road, guessed it might belong to the walkers up ahead and had chased after us. The kindness of strangers. After that, Mr FD kept coming up to me and pushing the phone well into the pocket!
A little further on, we met a real live pilgrim, with a cockle shell attached to her rucksack, on the way. I would have liked to have walked alongside her for a while, but Mr FD wanted to walk a little faster than she was. We were able to help her with some queries though which was good.
The way was relatively easy – a short climb up one rise, but no problems with that, and soon the church tower of StJean-St Maurice was in view, which is where we planned to stop for lunch. A beer was very welcome, as was a salad with chips…and an ice cream. We set off again, and took the Pilgrim route down to the lower part of the town, St Maurice. Here there is a church with a wall painting of St Jacques…
It was after St Maurice that things started to get a bit tough! First we descended into the river valley, where the branch of the Villerest resevoir was. The descent was quite tricky, with lots of loose stones, which I hate as I will often turn my ankle on them. Then an ascent out of that valley. Some pleasant walking through a wood, and then another descent into a river valley…ascent out of that one. I am starting to feel quite tired now. And hot.
“One more descent, not too tricky” says Mr FD, looking at the map” then up and we’re there. Look, there’s Bully, over there. The climb doesn’t look too steep…well…” he trails off. That sounds ominous, I thought. And I was right.
The last ascent was long. And steep. And the worst of them all! In fact, somewhere going up I paused to have a little cry because I really felt I couldn’t continue. Of course, I had no choice, and I have to say Mr FD was remarkably unsympathetic! In the end, once we got to a road, I told him that I was going to sit down here in the shade and not move. He could get the car. Which he did. I was knackered, but didn’t sleep too well that night because my legs hurt! I know I need to get fitter! In my defence, I could have managed 12 km on the flat, or the ascents/descents without 12 km; it was the combination of the two that wore me out!
View from the Teapot 