Fit for a King!

30th - 31st January Sunday night 7 of us gathered to eat this 6kg leg of wild boar that Maggie had given us. Juste and Joséphine, Michel, Sylviane and Daniel tackled the beast with great gusto. Slow roasted, studded with garlic and cloves it was delicious; very tender and without an ounce of fat. I was really pleased to get it to the table with such good results. Henry VIII would have been proud of me and so was Christian.
Of course we couldn't finish it all, so Monday I had to set to and deal with the left overs. There is now enough meat in the freezer to generously feed at least 10 more people and three lots of stock for soup. those of you who know me well, know that I don't like waste so I offered the leg bone to Maggie for her dogs but apparently she only gives them marrow bones. Now why do I think that you should be interested to know that?
Otherwise Christian found his way back to the Mairie and I played with my "Dropbox", a magic new programme I've installed on my computer which shares files between different apparatus. We did have tea together, a ritual that is sancrosact, so you'll be glad to know that we are sometimes in the same place at the same time.

Walking Wounded

28th -29th January
The pair of us have just stayed in which has been made all the more easier as it's been raining pretty constantly. Thursday was brightened by the arrival of my new upgraded ipod (anyone want to buy the old one?)and Saturday by a flying visit from Jean complete with bandaged head. What's more, I've been able to bring the blog right up to date so things are looking up.

In Stitches!

Christian is understandably feeling tired and has to be careful not to raise his bruised right arm; not so easy when you wet shave. I left him in peace and went to my committee meeting this morning and then went with Maggie to do some supermarket shopping ... and then went to the local clinic to get three stitches! A tin of chestnuts fell on my head as I was trying to get them down off the top shelf. I knew it wasn't a good idea but still went ahead; how daft is that? Fortunately I didn't get a headache. A bit of a hard nut to crack, wouldn't you say? The worst thing is that I can't wash my hair for the next 10 days so looking at myself in the mirror isn't going to be much fun!.

Coming Home

Patrick and I went to pick up Christian and his pacemaker this afternoon. It's good to have him home and now there is one les thing to worry about. Heart rate has gone up to 60. What an amazing little gadget he has tucked away inside hime.

No Haggis for Him

Nice way to spend Burn's day.I've just heard that Christian will be going to theatre at 10.30am. Fingers crossed.
Went on the bus to Perpignan, passing through the brand new TGV station, and found no sign of Christian in his room. Apparently the theatre list was running late. Tried to study some basic Spanish grammar but nothing much was sinking in. So, what's new? Eventually, Christian appeared at 3pm and though tired was in pretty good shape and of course, not having eaten since 6.30pm the night before, he was very hungry. 3 times we asked for him to have a snack and it eventually arrived at 5.45pm about half an hour before dinner arrived which, by the way was another anaemic chicken leg. Maggie came to pick me up later on and once home, I spent the evening watching tv and wondering how Christian was doing.

Clean Shaven!

Well, I've made a start on the catch up but for the next couple of days I'll be telling you what is actually happening in the here and now as I know that you'll want to know about Christian.
He went off this afternoon with his bag packed, a smile on his face and the admission process to the clinic ran pretty smoothly .. forgive the pun .. he was clerked, xrayed, had his blood taken and his chest was shaved of every last hair. The highlight was supper which consisted of dry rice and an anaemic looking chicken leg. When I left with Michel we didn't know at what time he would be going to theatre but as it's a light anaesthetic, I'll be visiting tomorrow afternoon and will update the blog on my return.

Taking it Easy

A quiet day in was the sensible answer to the bitter cold outside. Lit the fire and enjoyed Jean and Françoise's company over an apéritif.

Lucky in Love?

22nd January:
A cold but lovely sunny day for our trip to the market not that we saw much of it; we were late leaving the house as I was doing stuff on the computer for the Association and then we went to a short concert in the library. Delivered Association messages in the afternoon and went to an apéritf organised by the local shopkeepers and tradespeople's Association. The Christmas tombola (we are in the South of France where most things run behind time) was drawn but we didn't win anything. Maybe we'll have better luck next time.

A Touch of Spring

Finally made it to the Spanish class where I did what I could and spent the afternoon preparing dinner for Paul, Maggie, Tery and Anne. Fed them the Pernod Pork and plied them with wine. Luckily for our guests I'm a better cook than I am a linguist. Maggie brought a bit of Spring into the house with these daffs and they really lift the spirits with their promise of warmer weather and longer days to come.

Too Much Association

15th January:
Another Saturday and another trip to the market where we met up with Bridget and Hortense to talk about enlisting Hortense's help at the English workshop. Then decided to support our local bar by having lunch there.
16th January:
Sunday we were invited to have tea (which ran into apéritifs)at Nicole and patrick's where the main topic of conversation was the Association trip to Scotland later this year.
17th January:
Today is meant to be the unhappiest day of the year so perhaps that explains why I've been feeling a bit glum; well that and I suppose niggling worries about Christian's underactive heart. A meeting with Carmen to talk about the Association's need for storage space was cancelled but Nancy did call in for tea and a catch up before she heads back to the States.
Given all that has kicked off in Tunisia and the spat of young people setting fire to themselves, it's time to resurrect some positive thinking.
18th January:
Visit to the aneathestist in preparation for Christian's admission.
19th January:
Met with Nick about the Association website which we've decided to radically overhaul.
20th January:
Committee meeting, drink at the bar and a meeting with another association about a variety show that we hope to jointly organise for Europe Day in May.
Sorry, there's not even an image to cheer up this catalogue of daily doings!

Update

Hi!
We're both alive, well and very busy. Ok, the time has finally arrived to give you the update that you've all been waiting for, starting from 12.11.10

Skivving

Unusually for me, I was feeling pretty flat this morning and just couldn't face looking a dummy at the Spanish class. Not that the others aren't anything but supportive but I don't catch on very quickly. Instead I just stayed in and spent most of the day catching up with the blog which you will know was way, way behind.

Cullen What?

Went to the weekly Association committee meeeting this morning but instead of staying on for the language exchange, I went home to prepare lunch. Well, it's such a novelty to have things in the fridge! Christian and I went back to the bar later to meet up with the others and have a glass of wine. Quite like old times especially as Nancy dropped by. Continued cooking in the afternoon and made some Cullen Skink, a creamy Scottish soup made from smoked haddock and potatoes. It was my contribution to dinner at Michel's. Jeanine, the mayor's wife, brought a huge amount of foie gras for an apéritif and Michel 's main course was a dish of cold rabbit, chicken and I think pork, surrounded by jelly and served with chips. Despite the sound of it and its unpronouncible name, it was very tasty. Thank goodness the dessert was light and there was no cheese as we'd already had at least a week's worth of calories.

Vœux du Maire

We arrived to music for the annual ritual of the Maire's New Year greetings this evening at the village hall. surrounded by his trusty team (take a bow, Christian), this provided an opportunity for him to talk about what's been achieved over the last year and what he hopes to achieve over the next 12 months. There was standing room only in the hall so I was quite pleased to have to leave to go and take my turn to lead the association's English Workshop. We worked on a text about the Loch Ness monster which the French are fascinated by. There were still people in the hall when I'd finished so I nipped in and had a small glass of wine and a couple of peanuts.
Oh yes, and I also translated a piece to go on the Mairie's campsite website as the its designers had obviously used an automatic translator that just churned out rubbish.

Short Lived

Took a trip into Perpignan to take Christian's watch which is supposed to have a battery that lasts for 10 years back to where we bought it. The first one gave up the ghost after 8 years and its replacement after only one. I guess you don't always get what you pay for after all.

Sunday Lunch

You'll be glad to know that since coming home I'm feeling much better and was able to do justice to the meal in the village hall organised by the twinning committee. A film had been made of last June's visit to Normandy and gave us a taste of what we had missed. Don't ask me why Christian was pointing his finger but as you can see, he was in good form too and enjoying sitting next to Monique and Simone.

Heartbeat

Saw the cardiologist this morning and Christian will be admitted to the clinic in Perpignan on the 24th to have a pacemaker fitted. His heart rate is far too low.
On the domestic front, Antoine finally came (2 years later) to measure up the chimney in the kitchen to make a trap. Well, that's got to be better than the old pillow that's stuffed up it at the moment.

As usual we made a trip to the market and bumped into loads of people. Resisted the temptation to eat out settling for what we could find in the fridge at home. In the afternoon we went along to the art exhibition of a guy who has also had a couple of shows in the village. You may even recognise him if you're a regular follower. There was a first class violinist playing who had also composed a piece especially for the artist; there was food and drink and three women (Macbeth springs to mind) who took it upon themselves to prance around in imitation of the three muses and it was really hard to keep a straight face!

Duty Calls

6th - 7th January
Association committee meeting Thursday morning and a meeting in the afternoon with another association about a variety show that we are hoping to put on for Europe Day in May.
Friday morning I went back to the Spanish class and my lack of work on the subject is starting to tell. In the afternoon I turned my attention to domestic stuff and tackled the ironing. Christian meantime was at the Mairie doing his bit.

Vœux de la Présidente

Cider, wine, frangipani tarts and best of all, a short speech which left us plenty of time to chat with other members of the Association made up the agenda for the President's New Year wishes. This is no doubt,the first of the many galettes des Rois which will be at every social event until the end of January. Naughty but nice!

No Place Like Home

It was no trouble to breakfast at 7am and hot-foot it to the airport for our flight that left early. Stopped off in Figueres to buy some warm boots for Christian's cold wee feet and had lunch in a Chinese restaurant .... and there was not a chip in sight. It was so good to be home; lit the fire, watched some telly while Christian went to a meeting at the Mairie after which Michel came back with him for a drink and a catch up on the news.
As for Malta ... if you're into church architecture or mass tourism, this is the place for you. All those years ago I said "never again" and this time Christian agrees with me and I don't believe in "third time lucky". Not sure why I thought that it would be any different.

Unwelcome Surprise

Left the car at the hotel and took the bus into Valetta. This is really cheap travel and a 'must do'in Malta; Sadly, little by little these old buses are being replaced by new modern models. Wandered around pretty aimlessly; as I said we weren't into visiting churches. Dodged the rain and once agin had a pretty mediocre meal; by the way, by this point I was managing to eat a bit although, not with a lot of enthusiasm and I still had aches which had moved down to my legs. Took this photo near the hotel and it's pretty typical of the architecture in the old part of the towns. Checked on the car to find that we had a parking ticket which fortunately we could pay by internet. What did I say about this not being a very successful trip?

Longing for a Salad!

Relaxed in the sun which burned through my jeans, and set the Gps (one of the advantages of a mobile one)and went to Mosta, famous for its huge dome - 4th largest in the world; When i visited about 30 years ago, I was really impressed by it and was happy to go back énd have another look. However, even though it was Sunday, the church was closed until 3pm and it was only about 12.30pm so Christian who's pretty half-hearted when it comes to looking around churches, was not for hanging around. instead, we drove around the coast to St Paul's bay and had lunch, more chips with an unmemorable something else. as I've already said the Brit influence is there for all to see, so I was really amused to see "Chicken Tikka Marsala" on the menu and as we all know , it has surpassed Fish 'n' Chips as the UK's national dish. Again all very noisy. Heaven help anyone that goes in the summer.

Bonne Année!

A lazy start followed by a drive out to Marsxallok where we admired the colourfully painted fishing boats and strolled along the prom tutting at the rubbish in the harbour and trying to photograph the jelly fish. Had lunch in a very noisy restaurant. The Britsh cuilinary influence is very strong here with just about everything, apart from the pizza, being fried or even worse deep fried. Christian loved the excuse to tuck into chips and I didn't have the energy to moan at him, well not on New Year's Day.
From here we went onto Marasala where we had quite heavy rain so didn't hang about for more than a cup of hot chocolate.