June 2021: A Milestone Reached!

 June 2021:  Yippee!

 The song goes "June is bustin out all over" and that's just how it feels. The weather is much warmer and on the 9th the curfew was pushed back to 23h. Enjoying a coffee in the square listening to the fountain, a saxophonist practicing in the Maison pour Tous and watching the world go by, c'est la vie. Some feeling of normality has returned. Of course, normal always includes the routine things of of life, too. I'll get those over first :

Had some IT issues which Nick helped sort out and Dominique came to paint another two sets of shutters.

The photo project continues ad infinitum but you know me 'I've started, so I'll finish' . . . . whenever that maybe.

Needed to do some shopping other than for food and Jacques was kind (not to mention patient) enough to chauffer me around. Found the planter tray at the 4th attempt, a cable found at the 3rd attempt but at 28€ was left on the shelf and a watering can found straight off. Took more time than we'd anticipated so on returning it was time for tea which we had at his place. We were later joined by Michel; the tea pot was put away and the bottles came out. 

Over the two weeks there were teas and coffees with Hortense, with Françoise, with 5 other Brits, with Nicole, with Martine and with Michel. In return, I had Michel around, Jacques too. Even made it as far as Céret one morning with Michel and on going our separate ways, me to the money machine and on a bit of walk to see what changes had taken place, I met up with Henri who I joined for a coffee. There was also an invitation for Martine, Carmen and myself to Nany's for tea. Sat around the table talking, drinking Earl Grey and eating fresh raspberry and cream cake. Pity that the apéro that I had with Dani and Ann at the bar one Sunday evening didn't cut it as far as 'raport 'qualité/prix' was concerned. 

Still we were on the countdown to the 9th and the opening of the village restaurant. A real treat on the horizon. Martine and JJ came for an apéro before we went to take up our places on the terrace of the restaurant. Meal was excellent from start to finish and didn't disappoint.

You'll perhaps be asking 'where are the walks?' Just hasn't worked out and the photos have been distracting me. Well, for distracting I'd be more honest if it read obssessing. Now it's too hot. All is not lost though; I can go back to using the treadmill and the gym sessions for 'oldies' will continue until end June.

Weather: 23° - 35° most days were sunny all day long
Despite being whiter than white, my shorts made an appearance from the back of the wardrobe as temperatures soared and the watering can earnt its keep given the pump in the well has stopped working. Hey ho, just another thing to sort one day or another.

In touch with Friends

27.12.20 - 30.12.20:

Luckily I was saved from spending too much time with my faithful friend the tv,  real friends came by either for coffee (Françoise then Nicole plus her son and his partner the next day) or for tea (the other Nicole, Ken and inevitably his dog) thus also saving me from feeling obliged to work my way through the Christmas cake. There's certainly a lot of eating in it! Perhaps that's why I make it every year. With just as many calories on offer, I also put on an apèritif for Nicole's birthday with Jacques joining us at the last minute. It wasn't all eating though; I also had a couple of good walks. One by myself and another with Françoise. Fine weather in which to breathe in the scenery, fresh air and scent of mimosa. Can't be too smug though. ; team calorie is way out in front of team physical effort. No! Redressing the balance won't figure on my New Year's resolution list 'cos I aint making one!

Weather: 12°, blue sky and light cloud

Ups and Downs of Daily Life

 28.9.20 - 30.9.20:

Monday I took the bus to the local clinic for my pre op visit with the anaethestist and the administration. As luck would have it, someone from the village was controlling entries so she let me in and saw me right so well that I was dealt with and out 10 minutes before my scheduled appointment! Enough time to scoot around the supermarket and get the bus back without delay. Oh, could it have been the same for my trip to Perpignan for a routine check up with a specialist. Bus times have changed and there are now only 3 buses direct to Perpignan. There is the possibility of  a seamless pick up about 4 miles out of the village but my bus was a little late; the connecting bus was still at the stop but blow me, didn't the driver pull off before my bus had come to a stop!!! Luckily I'd planned for such an eventuality and left earlier than need be and the sun was shining. Nothing else to do but find a rock to sit on and wait the hour out before the next bus came along. Thank goodness for a phone well stocked with reading material. Not sure that protest letters will make any difference but getting about without a car is going to be so much more difficult for me and others like me. The icing on the cake was that the specialist, who is new, wasn't up to speed with my file. During the 15 minute appointment I had to challenge him a couple of times. He'll maybe get another chance next year but if I hear that others don't rate him, I'll change to someone else.

Thank goodness there were some pleasurable moments along the way. Some music ♫ ♫ at the café on Monday evening, coffee with Nicole and Françoise on Tuesday morning and on my way home Jacques invited me in for an impromptu lunch. Then on Wednesday night JJ and I went over to Jean and Françoise's for take-away pizza.

Weather:

After the cold weekend, temperatures rose steadily, reaching a very pleasnt 25° on Wednesday

.

Still Warm and Sunny

 24 - 31 August: The last week of August was much like any other.

Coffee at the bar with Nicole catching up with the news; in other words going over her latest plans for her life. Saturday, Françoise came over for the market inspite of on/off rain showers and on Sunday with the usual crowd this time augmented by Michel and Jacques.

Of course there was the usual sprinkling of invitations to friends. Dinner at JJ's along with Jean and Françoise, Thérèse and Joan. Dinner at Michel's on the terrace once it was cool enough. David and Laura were there, too. I was there again the next day for an apéritif dinatoire with his visitors from the North of France and friends François and Babette from the village. Michel has boundless energy and loves company so is very generous with his invitations for food. Aren't I the lucky one to be on the list of invitees.

As you'll have realised, none of this has rubbed off on yours truly. My invitations tend to come from guilty conscience rather than spontaneous generosity and the love of cooking. The only person to benefit this week was Jacques who came for dinner; well, a cold buffet that fed me, too, for the rest of the week.

I did escape from the village, too. Monday for a routine appointment with the dermatologist in
Perpignan, one of the specialists for whom you don't need a Dr's referral and still be covered by the Health Service. All well. Had a couple of hours to wander masked around the town before taking the bus back to the village. Quite pleasant and not having been able to fire up the treadmill, I made my 10,000+ steps. The following Sunday, Jean and Françoise took me down to Argelès to see the annual outdoor exhibition. There was also a birthday to celebrate so what better way than to install ourselves overlooking the marina with its mountainous backdrop. A little bit of normality was just so welcome.

Weather: Temperatures dipped to 22° on Saturday with the rain but otherwise they hovered between 27° and 30°

And the Socialising Continued!

19.7.20: Made a late arrival for Sunday morning coffee and turned down an invitation to join Philippe and Françoise for lunch. With a heavy day yesterday and dinner at Martine's on the cards tonight, it was the most reasonable course of (in) action. 

Walked over to Martine's with JJ for a very pleasant evening on her terrace with it's beautiful views. David and Laura were came to so not only did we have the pleasure of their company but also got to enjoy a berry fruit pavlova, Laura's speciality. Walking back went a little way to dealing with a few of the excess calories.

The next few days were quiet with just a couple of coffees with Nicole and a trip to the supermarket with Ann.

23.7.20: Joined the "rump" of the language exchange group for a chat and a cuppa. Dined out this evening at Jean-Jacques's where the chat was much more politically orientated. Well, it would be. He'd invited two of his colleagues who'd stood with Antoine in the municipal elections and their partners. One also works at the Mairie in Perpignan where she's having to get used to the new right wing++ Maire. JJ excelled himsalf with a veal and olive dish and I was on dessert.

Before the end of the month, there were invites for tea chez Monette with Nick and Lizzie on 24th. Monette (80) runs a painting club in the village and despite being ill is a larger than life character with a huge heart who has a soft spot for the English. We did actually start off with tea and biscuits (that I'd made as gift) but soon moved onto quiche, red wine and lemon mousse. Followed on 27th by coffee at Anne and Ian's in their garden served with every precaution as they're shielding . On the 28th it was tea at Nicole S's and didn't I deserve it after a walk up to her place under a sun that was beating down even at 4.30pm and the next day tea at Josettes's. Josette is an elderly woman (90) who looks on me as her "go to person" should she want to know something about village or association activities. She'd made a lovely, gooey chocolate cake, some of which came home with me. And of course there were meals to eat!

25.7.20: After the Saturday market in the village where the local "banda" was playing and an apéritif at the bar, six of us (David, Laura, Jacques, Nicole, Martine and moi) went to the restaurant for tapas and wine. Had just enough time to digest that before heading to Jeanie and Daniel's for a pool, cheese, wine and honey  party. Jeanie, an American had been to Italy recently where she discovered cheese being paired with honey, wanted to initiate us to it's delights. We were able to tell her that mel y mató is a popular Catalan dessert! Columbus "discovering" America springs to mind. Still, despite not going in the pool, it was a pleasant late afternoon sitting in the shade chatting and gently supping chilled rosé.

 28.7.20: Dinner chez Anna and Gérard on their roof terrace with some of the neighbours. It was a late night but so what. Don't think that we disturbed the neighbours.

 

31.7.20: The hottest day of the week and I took it into my head to give the "pub" a good clean. Dust and cobwebs are no more. It's once again a pleasant, cool space in which to take an apéritif. As you'll probably have realised, it was done with precisely that aim in mind. JJ, Jean and Françoise came for an apéritif, dinatoire before we went over to the bar to listen to music. JL is laying on music twice /week and is able to take advantage of putting tables on the square in order to cope with social distancing and were happy to park ourselves there. The baby swallows already sleeping were even farther away.

And so, the month has slipped by as quickly as ever, it's been very hot and sticky. Temperatures up to the 30°s and there have been interesting skies, too.....

Elections, Eating but no Exercise !

17.2.20 - 23.2.20:
The first couple of days were just frittered away with nothing to report other than a trip to the dustbins and only marginally better, a trip to the supermarket and a bit of French revision which of course did not linger very long in the part of my brain marked "foreign languages"! You won't be surprised to hear that there's been a fair bit of telly watching.
There wasn't anything cultural either; the rest of the week was about eating and drinking. No surprise there  either.
Wednesday:
Coffee in Céret with Jacques before meeting Penny and Pauline for lunch at "La Galerie" Excellent meal and chatting to the chef, I leant that he's moving to the village next week and is likely to be
looking for somewhere to open up when he and his associate go their seperate ways at the end of the year. Not that I can call myself an influencer but my preference would be for a wine and tapas bar. Room for seeds to be sown and words in the right ears, methinks.

In the evening Jacques catered for 7 of us; in addition to Jacques and I, Evelyn and her sister, Dominique, Ida and Georges  were there. Good food, wide ranging conversation and lots of laughs were enjoyed by all.
Thursday:
Nicole came for coffee; Angela and Paul, Roland, Ann and Terry came for an apéritif before we went for an excellent meal at the restaurant. Once again I'd given the language exchange a miss.
Friday:
Was a long day with little respite; some cleaning as well making dinner took ages. There were a variety of canapés and a fish pie to prepare and for some reason or another, I decided to make two marmalade cakes for the freezer. Really didn't need to pile on extra work/pressure. I'd just finished when Linde, her Canadian friend, Eleanora, Kathy, Jean and Françoise arrived.
Still it was worth it and everyone enjoyed what was on offer  ..... even better, that's another returned invitation off the list.
Saturday:
Market in the morning where as usual I met Françoise for coffee and chatted my way between the car

park and the café and back again. Rather than eat left overs, I said "yes" to an invitation to join Antoine's electoral team for lunch up in the mountains. Took me back to the good times that Christian and I used to have there.
Sunday:
Morning coffee with women friends at the other bar and in the afternoon I zipped my way through a lot of paperwork on the computer.
This evening 11 of us squeezed into Linde's for an Austro-Hungarian meal of goulash and knödel (dumplings), a lot of red wine and some chaotic singing in French, Catalan, Hungarian and English.
Oh dear, Linde needs to go back on my "need to return the invitation" list!
Weather:
Started off the week with a cloudy day and temperatures of 15°; by Thursday there was blue sky and 18° and today a very warm 22.5°.

Ps The snail in this month's photo album is part of the carnival float and very impressive it will be too when it all comes together.

Elections, Eating and Exercise

9.2.20 - 16.2.20:

Nothing wildly exciting this week, so I won't blame you if you don't read on.
When I managed to drag myself away from the tv and the computer frustrations that came along, I did some domestic chores, including dealing with the weeds that have been making themselves at home. Michel, a neighbour happened by and immediately set off home in search of a saw to prune the lemon tree and other vegetation. A most welcome offer, especially as he took away the rubbish as well. sad, what passes for noteworthy chez moi!
There was my neighbour's funeral . Marie (aged 84), was a simple, modest woman of Spanish origin with an accent and French (of sorts) difficult to understand. Sigh, I suppose that will be another house that will end up as appartments.
There weren't any cultural outings but I did attenend the public  presentation of Antoine's electoral list and a neighbourhood get together organised by my neighbour who is on his list. These "tupperware meetings" as Antoine calls them, are a tradition here as a way of having more direct contact with candidates. Both events involved an apéritif.
Wednesday, the 3 widows met for lunch at the village restaurant pleased that they are back from their winter break. Duck breast, my favourite.
Coffee at the other bar with the exchangers, an impromptu apéro at mine with Jacques and Nicole's weekly political debrief over coffee also helped to keep me in touch without having to make any effort.
Can't say the same of the apéritif dinatoire at mine. Spent all afternoon allowing my culinary juices to stutter forth in the prepartion of an evening with JJ, Jacques, Jean and Françoise. Took our time working our way through it all and drinking fizz over wide ranging conversation and even better, I was saved from another ridiculously late night in front of the tv.
For once, I didn't go for the usual Sunday morning coffee; I was up late for reasons that aren't difficult to work out. 
As there aren't any buses that come through here on a Sunday, Henri came and picked me up for lunch. Dining on guinea fowl with peaches was a real treat. Mmm! Jean, he, who gives me seville oranges every year, joined us for coffee after which he took pity on Henri who was nodding off, and offered to drive me home.
If you've made it this far, you'll be thinking, what an unchalleging, self indulgent week it's been so now's the time for me to let you know with some pride that I had two long walks with Francoise. One to St Luc's chapel accessed by the battlefields  of the Franco/Spanish war in the 18th century  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Boulou (2h15) and the other one from the uninhabited Château d'Aubiry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_d%27Aubiry
to St Jean via Vivès (3h45). Both gave great views over Canigou and the perfumes of burgeoning vegetation. Your still battling Winter storms while we're enjoing an early Spring time but as we all know, the weather is more and more capricious so believe me, there is no smug look on my face as I write.

Weather:
13° - 25°, mostly sunny

Gateway to Summer

1.6.19.

Took the bus to the market, bumped into Bridget and joined her for a coffee. Then met Jim and Mags with the Brits at another bar.

This afternoon I had a meeting with Béatrice about lodging our bagpipers and caught up with the blog.

Once more on my own, the evening followed the usual pattern of TV watching.

Weather:

27°, sunny

2.6.19:

The light morning woke me earlier than needed but no matter. I utilised the extra time to do some work on the computer before going for a coffee. Worked on the blog and photos after lunch when really I should have been out enjoying the fine weather.
Wandered over to see people dancing the Sardane in front of the Mairie, then wandered back again and did nothing in particular.
Weather:
26°, Sun, cloudy later

3.6.19:
Coffee with Nicole after a long lay off due to our various commitments. Rest of the day was spent on the bagpipe visit ending up with a meeting with the host families and then with Jacques to bring him up to speed.
Weather:
26°, sun, cloud later

4.6.19:

An early coffee with Françoise then hair in the morning, apéro at the bar with JJ and Nicole, dentist in the afternoon, tagine with les Anglaises this evening in Brian and Dani's pretty garden. Life promises to continue in busy mode so don't be surprised if I'm not checking in much.
Weather:
30°, sunny and blue skies

Family Visit N°1

24.10.18:

All too soon it was time for my visitors to take to the road again to visit other family members in Limoux and Toulouse. Still, it was great to see them and I really appreciate the effort  that make to come.
Wasn't alone for too long though as Nicole came around to let off steam. Didn't bother with coffee, something stronger was needed. We went straight for a couple of glasses of cava making lunch somewhat later than usual.
Weather:
23° sun and cloud

23.10.18:

Joined the family for a day out in Roses over the border. A pleasant walk along the prom to have a coffee overlooking the sea, then continued to the marina where we had a beer. Turned around and walked back again in search of lunch. Many places were closed and we finally settled on the "Restaurant Panaoramic" which was well situated. The food though was the usual tourist stuff.
https://www.tripadvisor.fr/ShowUserReviews-g262060-d7722687-r599501167-Restaurant_panoramic-Roses_Costa_Brava_Province_of_Girona_Catalonia.html
Tanguy was the only one brave enough to get in the water; Christophe and Valérie had a short siesta and I read in the shade.
Stopped off at the shopping mall on the way back where once again I found a comfy place to read while the others parted with their cash.
Weather:
25°, sun

22.10.18:
The kids went off and I pottered around and tried out a Jaimie recipe that I'd never done before. Changed the tapenade for pesto but still felt it needed a bit more of a "kick".
https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/one-pan-fabulous-fish/
Weather:
22°, sun

21.10.18:

Coninued preparations for the the arrival of my Norman family. Did find time, however, to have a coffee at the bar. Once their bags were unloaded and we'd had a cuppa and catch up, Christophe and Valérie were itching to stretch their legs. We ended up doing a 7km walk up into the hills outside the village. Gorgeous views though by the time we made it back, the clocks having changesd last night, it was already dark. Stopped off at the bar for an apéro then it was back home to prise the boys away from their tablets.
Weather:
26°, sunny