February 2021

February 2021

Well and truly into February, it's taken me until today, 21st, to pick up on Chitchat. Not that there's anything exciting to report. More of the same but in all honesty, I can't complain when there are invitations to see friends, a beautiful place in which to live and no children to home school!

The treadmill has been ditched for the time being in favour of getting out in the fresh air. I've done a few walks with Françoise. The first one  took us up above the ruined château of Montferrer. There were a few steep places that made me puff a bit and scenery to take your breath away.

Once again on the château trail, Françoise collected me and her grandson on the way to the Valmy Château, now an upmarket hotel, restaurant, winery; blurb says "It was built between 1888 and 1900 by the Danish architect Viggo Dorph Petersen. His glazed tiles, white walls and turrets give free rein to dreams and fairy tales ... the grounds belong to the commune of Argelès and are free to the public to enjoy. We walked  up to the dolmens de Cova de l’Alarb (157m climb) and on up to Dels Collets de Cotillure (a further climb of 65m). Rocky narrow paths, beautifully shaped cork oaks and panoramic views over the Med. A bit of effort has its rewards.

More routinely, she and I had a walk that took us out of the village, I went for another one with Nicole S which took us along the cycle path for a couple of hours and yet another one with Jacques and JJ. I can also proudly say that I've  motivated myself and walked the "back track" above the village on several occasions.

My other go to walk out of the village takes me by pastures, vines and orchards. At this time of the year, the air is filled with the scent of wild mimosa and cypress pines. Of course views are dominated by the majestic Canigou.

Social contact continues and I have at least one invitation a week. This month Jacques fed me two Saturday's running after the market and while his daughter and her family were staying laid on an early apéritif to which Michel, JJ and Daniel were the other invitees. Ann and Terry did an excellent roast lamb lunch one Friday for dani, Brian and yours truly. For dani and Brian, it was their first meal in someone else's since the New Year. Dalila came good with her proposition to go to hers for lunch. JJ, Jacques, Michel and a friend of her's, also called Michel, made up a jolly company. She’s a generous host and having been in the trade, set a good table. Pigs’ cheeks were on the menu and though not something I would ordinarily order in a restaurant, they were delicious. Slow cooked in wine they melted in the mouth. Another lunch that only broke up in time to make it home in time for lockdown.

Now before you start thinking that it's all take and no give, I did put on a pinny and give back some hospitality; not much I acknowledge but there you are, I'm lucky to have friends who don't keep tally. JJ, Michel and his cousin, Daniel came for tea. Something always go wrong and several things did but despite my misgivings, the scones (complete with butter, jam and cream), bram brack and lemon drizzle cake turned out fine so I hadn't really needed to make my pre-emptive excuses! 

And that's not all. I entertained Martine to lunch after the market before she set off for her second vaccination (how it jars to hear the regular usage of 'jab"). France has been slower off the mark than the UK and among the general public are still on the over 75's. They are, however, giving the second vaccination three weeks after the first and are not using the Astrazenica vacine on over 65's.

Having finished the knitting projet that had been keeping me occupied while watching tv, I did a "Penelope". If you know your Greek mythology, you'll know that she was Odysseus' wife, who when her husband didn't return after years away at war, delayed chosing a suitor by claiming that she needed to finish a tapestry first. Unbeknown to her suitors, she undid the day's work every night. A cardigan that I'd knitted and never worn is now on the way to becoming a sweater.  Can you imagine Rossetti's Penelope wearing my homespun efforts? !!!!

Otherwise, I've done some admin chores, watched more tv than is good for me. Enjoyed "The Dig", "Lupin" and "News of the World" on Netflix; caught up with "Jamestown" in English on French tv and "Spiral" elsewhere. Now, the end really was a surprise; it was a happy one!! Quite expected Gilou to end up in that grand old Police Station in the sky! Also enjoyed "Edie" a film with Sheila Hancock. That doesn't fill up whole evenings in front of the telly; I can hear your thoughts from here. Yes, there's also been a lot of box set binginging the details of which I'm too embarrassed to own up to!

I now know that my unwillingness to take myself to bed at a reasonable time is called "Revenge Procrastination". Such a strange experience to read an article written by Victoria Richards on 17th February about it in the Independent . It was like meeting yourself on the written page. You would have thought being armed with such insight, I'd manage to get to bed earlier so as to make more of the next day. Started well enough that night by being in bed by 11.30pm but my head was so busy with incredibly inconsequential stuff that I was still awake at 2am. So, what did I do? Yep, you've got it .... I did all those things on my phone that I would have done had I stayed up!

A bit of variety came with the last week of the month. There was a trip to Perpignan with Françoise which gave the opportunity to spend some money. 150€ was quickly spent on some walking gear and expensive hair productions in the hope of giving it a lift.

Invitations to friends for tea (chez Jacques, Ann & Terry), an apéro (again at Jacques’s and at JJ’s), lunch (chez Jean and Françoise) and a lunch time BBQ at Michel’s gave the opportunity to add a bit of extra weight but more importantly, some stimulating conversation and social contact. Imagine, warm enough to have a BBQ in February. Curfew still in place.

There were walks too. Two with Françoise; one around her neck of the woods and one down on the coast. Weather was sunny so no hardship involved. Blue sky above and blue sea below. The intense yellow of the mimosa is fading away and been replaced by white cherry and pink apricot blossom in the fields. On the stony slopes lucky (?) white heather, pale blue rosemary  and deep blue wild lavender flowers were out. The vines on the terraces were mere stumps marked by thin stakes after their winter pruning. Also walked a couple of times on my own. Well, wasn’t exactly on my own; Ian Rankin and Rebus accompanied me via a talking book. Now, that was a good idea . Can’t think why I hadn’t thought of it before. Well, I can. It falls into the same category as my keys lost somewhere between home and Ann& Terry’s!

 

Weather: Temperatures  were mostly between 16° to 20° at their highest though there were a couple of days with some rain when it was only 12°. The clear blue skies made it hard to believe that we were in February; the grey days provided a reminder not to get too complacent.