April 2021

 

 

April started well with fine weather for an early Easter but I'm not daft enough to bank on it continuing. Once again we've been limited to a 10km radius from the house for at least a month. I had my first vaccination, Moderna, locally. Only side effect was a large red patch. Next one due in four weeks time. 

Went on a few walks locally, through the retreat grounds. It really is a walk that keeps on giving; always some new path or viewpoint to discover. With the advance of Spring, there were different wild flowers and trees to appreciate, not to mention tadpoles.

No coastal walks this month because of the travel restrictions; in exchange for the Mediterranean we came across donkeys, mountainan sides in flower, another decorated water tank and a dolmen.

One walk with Jacques brought an unexpected river crossing while trying another route back down to the village. Took what we presumed would be a more interesting route off piste and ooops ..... the path disappeared and we had to keep an on eye on where we were treading, follow our noses and keep our fingers crossed. A few ups and downs and we found ourselves at the river. With no fordable stepping stones, it was off with the boots and socks, roll up the trousers and over we went. With the sun on the water, it wasn't the shock to the system that I'd expected. Was pleasant, actually. Arrived back only 10 minutes late for our visit to Michel's to take tea in the sun. 

Of course there were meals, apéritis and tea with friends as usual and when I was on dessert, I tried out a couple of new recipes. Françoise's verdict was that the iced marmalade cake was better than the apple and rosemary one. Sunday lunch at Michel's ended with a he and Jacques entertaining us on guitar. Easter Sunday lunch up in the mountain part of the commune at the home of an artist with an international reputation, brought Michel and I roast chicken and travellers' tales.

I managed to return hospitality, too, also on a Sunday. Entertainment came in the form of lively conversation.

It wasn't all leisure and pleasure. Dominique came to paint the shutters on the small terrace while I beavered away with my gloved green fingers on the psychologically Herculean task of dealing with my outside space which had become horribly overgrown. Took a few days and even though at some point I'll need to get onto hands and knees to clean the terrace tiles. All looks much better and the conscience is no longer niggling. Talking of niggling, a trip to the dentist was need to deal with a tooth ache.

Sad news came out of the blue in the middle of the month. Hearing that Helen McCrory, the acctress,  had died aged 52 made me gasp out loud and husband Damien Lewis’s tribute brought a lump to my throat. 

"I'm heartbroken to announce that after a heroic battle with cancer, the beautiful and mighty woman that is Helen McCrory has died peacefully at home, surrounded by a wave of love from friends and family. She died as she lived. Fearlessly. God we love her and know how lucky we are to have had her in our lives. She blazed so brightly. Go now, Little One, into the air, and thank you."

Coffee at the little Saturday market with Françoise is still the only form of legal wider socialising and St Jordi's (George in Catalan) day was marked with books and roses as is traditional. Small pleasures and all that.

We've now heard that from Monday, 3rd May there will be no geographical limit to travel with no need for any documentation. Curfew still stands. 19th cafés and restaurants can open their terraces and the curfew moves back to 21h. Little by little.

Weather: All sorts. highest temperature 23°, lowest day time temperature 14°, sunshine, cloud, 6 continuous days of rain. 

Welcoming in 2020

Seven people for dinner at mine. I was on the main course and apéros while the others were dealing with the rest. You'd think that would be easy going especially as the venison casserole was already done but somehow it took hours. 

Austrian red cabbage and dauphinoise potatoes meant a lot of chopping and slow cooking though it was the apéros which took the most time. Sausage rolls, sesame straws, smoked salmon toasts, humous toasts, sausage and apricot balls, pigs in blankets. 

And a coctail of fizz (1 bottle) mixed with 300ml of triple sec and 300g of cranberry juice, well chilled.

For once the dining room was in commission so that too, needed organising. Didn't take long for me to realise why I've been avoiding entertaining.

Still, we (Nicole P, Nicole K, Anna and Gérard, Alvaro and Mercedes from Barcelona) had a good evening; foie gras, a splendid cheese board, turron (a Catalan sweetmeat speciality), dessert etc. We also followed the Catalan tradition of eating a grape on each stroke of midnight. Impossible to do unless you've had plenty of practice. 

I finally made it to bed for 3h15 having stacked the dishwasher and abandoned the rest. There's nothing planned for tomorrow and I'm in danger of spending the day watching a boxset and eating chocolate so at least this chore will give me something more useful to do once I make it downstairs.

Weather:

14°, sun and blue sky

Uninspiring Start to the Week

31.3.18: Returning Hospitality

No market this morning. Was so busy organising this evening's meal for Mags, Jim, Terry, Ann, Nicole and JJ that I forgot to go and listen to the "goigs", Easter songs sung "carol" style in the streets.
Being Easter, I did a roast leg of lamb à la Jamie. https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/lamb-recipes/best-roast-leg-of-lamb/ It was very easy and tasty, so give it a go. Ann, bless her, brought a seriously delicious raspberry and chocolate tart. The Anglo/French mix worked well too.
Weather:
17°, sun, blue sky, wind


30.3.18:
Went into Céret with Margaret, Kelvin and Irene. Had a pleasant leisurely time and then Margaret and I came back for an omelette lunch at the bar. Jacques came in the afternoon to take apart a wardrobe for me which rather than take to the dump, he's decided to treat the wordworm and keep it himself.
Weather:
19°, sun in morning, cloud latter.

29.3.18:
Went to the market in Figueres with Michel. It was also his birthday but sadly we couldn't go to the restaurant he'd thought of as it was closed. Ended up in the one by the market which was hardly worthy of a celebration.
Back home I played "matchmaker" between JJ and a new member of the association as they are both interested in philosophy. Even though it was apéritif time, I just drank tea. Tea drunk and after a polite period of time in conversation, I went home to watch tv which was more to my style.
Weather:
17°, sun

28.3.18:
Pottered and then prepared supper for Margaret, Kelvin and Irene who are over on holiday. It was a simple affair of apéros, soup, cheese and dessert. The soup was actually ace. It was a minestrone livened up with "putanesca" flavours of finely chopped olives, anchovies, capers and chillis.
Weather:
21°, sun, cloud later

27.3.18:

Did some work and then went for a walk to crank up the step counter. Took this photo on my way around. Makes me wonder why I don't get myself out more to take advantage of all this gorgeous scenery. Came home and did some more work on the website. Tv and a long chat with Jen and then ended with even more tv.
Weather:
18°, sun, cloud

26.3.18: Busy Day, Lazy Evening
Committee meeting, coffee with Nicole, lunch at home. GP appointment this afternoon, a visit to the painting group but to busy to have tea with them. Gave Kevin's "live aid" meeting to organise a benefit concert for those effected by the "tornado" a miss this evening in favour of staying infront the TV.
Weather:
16°, sun and cloud

Surprise, Surprise!

We made such a good job of the small patio that today we tackled the bigger onr upstairs. A
quick shower and then back to the bar for a coffee. Another routine in the process of being established. This time there were fresh faces; Jacques, Yaneth and Lisa are in the village for a few days. Nancy, too, has her wee habits as she came by soon afterwards. The table was completed by JJ, so it was a a latish lunch in our respective homes for us all.
Went over to Maggie's towards the end of the afternoon for a swim and then in the evening Jacques walked with us up to Nicole S's for the evening in honour of the Scots who'd helped with the trip in April. Apéros on the terrace. Jill was much taken by the "pain surprise". Here's a recipe from Jamie's website if you're tempted to know what the "surprise" is http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/member-recipes/recipe-detail/671/
Paella, cheese including a "Rambol", a new one on me, made from cow's cheese and decorated with walnuts and dessert followed. If you see the cheese on your travels, give it a go; mmmm a great mix of tastes and textures. The walk home was just what we needed to make up for having indulged in too many lovely, tempting tastes.
Weather:
32°, hot, sunny, a bit less wind

Food to Share

16.6.17: La Vie en Rose

Started the day with Maggie on shopping duty for this evening's soirée tapas, the theme for which, was "rose". As you can see from the photo, the colour and the flower were in abundance.
Participants bring something sweet or savoury to put on the table to share while the Association provides the apéritfs, wine, juices and nibbles.
My humble offering was smoked mackerel pâté and crusty baguette which always goes down well. I tend to use peppered smoked mackerel rather than the horseradish in this recipe and some chopped walnuts
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/may/24/how-perfect-smoked-mackerel-pate
 The summer tapas evening is the time when all the workshop leaders receive a bottle of champagne for all their efforts. I was given one for the trip to Scotland. Martine, the President fought a valiant battle against all those who were too busy drinking, nibbling and chatting to listen.  Have to say that this kind of behaviour really annoys me but I've observed that there's little that get's between folk and an apéritif.
There was a lot of the food that either had too much sugar or gluten so my choice was somewhat limited. As a consequence, I spent the evening working behind the scenes and feeling a bit out of sorts with the whole thing, I didn't bother to take more than a couple of snaps. Needless to say the President, as usual, left before the rest of us. However, this time, as Maggie (and therefore her van)  wasn't with us, she had to load a lot of stuff into her 4x4 so didn't get off scot free. Sorry, if I sound grumpy!
On the way home I realised that I'd left my bag somewhere complete with money, keys, cards, etc. Rather than panic, I made my way over to the bar where Terry and Anne were having a drink and they helped me think through where it might be. Remembered that I'd left it on my chair when I went into the kitchen to wash up and that it had been cleared away by the time I left. I sped off back to the recreation ground with Terry in hot pursuit. It was dark by this time but thankfully, I was able to make out a small heap and there it was. Someone had taken it off the chair and left it on the ground. Phew!
Back at the bar, I had a welcome cup of tea though I would have preferred something a bit stronger.
Weather:
33°, sunny

Life in the Crawler Lane

8.12.16: Nowt Much Going On
Language exchange, hot chocolate at the bar, leftovers for lunch, blog catch up and the latest episode of the Dr Blake Mysteries was the sum total of a not-in-the-least-bit-exciting-day.
Weather:
16°, sun, blue skies and cloud later.

7.12.16: Cullinary Challenge

Spent a couple of hours this morning with Maggie and Marguerite sorting out the leftovers from the Téléthon and organising the stuff that we'll be selling at the Xmas market in the village. Another long day in view but that's Sunday and there were more pressing things to do for this evening's dinner guests: Nick and Lizzie, Roger, Margaret and Ken. Ken is allergic to chocolate and citrus fruit and doesn't eat meat from 4 legged animals. Not being great at cooking fish, I fell back on Moroccan Red Harissa Chicken http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/moroccan-red-harissa-chicken.html
Have to say that I didn't bother grilling and skinning the red peppers, used a jar instead. There's even enough of it left to do a lunch for me and there's also some apple cake too for tomorrow afternoon's tea time. Was a pleasant evening and I only switched off when they started talking "dogs". Ah well. Not everyone is up for the cut and thrust of political discussion.
Still having to get used to entertaining on my own; feels strange and what's more there's all the clearing up to do single handedly!
Weather:
13°, sun and blue skies
 

6.12.16: Musings, Mayors and Music

Kathy, who does from "Ou own Correspondent" for BBC radio from time to time came for coffee. Here's her report about French Mayors featuring her thoughts on ours. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02rzb8q
If you've been here or if you've followed "Chitchat" for a while, you'll know that André did indeed stand again and won another 6 year term in office. What you won't know is that the shopkeeper split from her husband and moved away and he became more and more offhand not giving much incentive to shop there. He too, has now gone and we have a small modern supermarket where there's a warm welcome and courteous service run by someone else more suited to the job. Now, that's more like it.
After that little detour, I'll explain that she came to talk over what we might do about the intermediate English workshop that is losing its leader who's returning to UK. As an experienced TEFL teacher and the person who headed up the BBC's language learning output in China, she has a good brain to pick.
You'll know that today being the 1st Tuesday in the month, there was a "Soirée Guitares" in the bar. I didn't go over until about 9ish and didn't stay too late. Caught Vincent who sings the most dismal reggae I've ever heard so thank goodness for Gadjololo who livened things up afterwards.
Weather:
16°, sun and blue skies

5.12.16: Chores
Respite over, another early start to take advantage of a lift to the supermarket with Nick. Apart from that there was nothing other than Spanish homework and some ironing.
Weather:
15°, low cloud and heavy rain

Almost there!

25.11.16: Stirfry, Salt and Spinsters

Getting towards the end of the blog catch up; thank goodness. Had a good go this morning before preparing lunch for Rowena who was whizzing through the village between appointments. Hadn't seen her since before the summer. Duck stirfry and a replay of Lone's prunes in red wine. More computer this afternoon before going to Linde's for an apéro.
You may remember that Linde started an Association in the village that sponsored young women in the Democratic Republic of Congo to go to secondary school. Some of them have now left and she's settig up a scheme to buy sacks of salt that can be sold by them in smaller quantities. Well, I think that's the idea but to be quite honest, I don't want to get drawn in as I've neither time nor energy to be involved though I'll probably give her the 25€ needed for a sack.
Jean, Françoise, Christine and Kathy were there too and we talked about anarchists, films, the selection of the republican candidate for the presidential election next year, renovations and nonsense.
Called in at the bar on the way home where the quiz that I'd avoided (had been asked to join 3 different teams) was in full swing. The place was full to bursting with over 60 participants. Too busy and noisy to do other than say my hellos.
Just in case you're interested today is St Catherine's day when it was customary in France for unmarried women to pray for husbands. Those unmarried women over 25 would wear elaborate bonnets; wonder if that was the origin of the millinary extravaganza I wore for the fashion parade! It's said that before a girl reaches 25, she prays: "Donnez-moi, Seigneur, un mari de bon lieu! Qu'il soit doux, opulent, libéral et agréable!" (Lord, give me a well-situated husband. Let him be gentle, rich, generous, and pleasant!") After 25, she prays: "Seigneur, un qui soit supportable, ou qui, parmi le monde, au moins puisse passer!" (Lord, one who's bearable, or who can at least pass as bearable in the world!") And when she's pushing 30: "Un tel qu'il te plaira Seigneur, je m'en contente!" ("Send whatever you want, Lord; I'll take it!"). An English version goes, St Catherine, St Catherine, O lend me thine aid, And grant that I never may die an old maid.
Oh, how things have changed!!!
Weather:
14°, sun

24.11.16: No Way Out
I do wish I'd had my camera with me when I went across the square which is being dug up at the moment as pipework is being replaced. Jacques was standing marooned on a tiny patch of ground, obviously ready to go out, surrounded on all sides by wide trenches!
Otherwise, it was the language exchange that was assailed by the smell of over 800 jars of jam being made downstairs, lunch at the bar with Nicole P, the blog and a good dose of telly. I guess you'll be thinking that I watch a fair bit of tv. Well, I do but I do read too, though in all honesty, nothing too earnest.
Weather:
16°, sun

23.11.16: Remembering Christian
Went into town to the lab to have my nail scrapped for analysis, the woman came to complete my file for the grant, helped sort out the jewellery and accessories that the Association is selling for the Téléthon next week and prepared the apéritif for the new members' welcome drink. Once again we were in Christian's room and I was so pleased when Philippe, the Vice-President, (the President is in hospital) made reference to him and to the appropriateness of the venue when he introduced me. Forgot to take my camera so there's no photo of the 20 or so folk who turned up.
Weather:
18°, rain

22.11.16: Market Mooch
Went with Michel to the food market in Figueres. All followed the usual pattern. Split up to do our shopping and met up for lunch in the café right by the market. Even our main course was the same as usual but being cooler we opted for a squash soup rather than gazpacho. Apart from that nothing out of the ordinary.
Weather:
17° rain but sun in Figueres

21.11.16: Entertaining Friends
Spent a lot of time in front of the computer interspersed with preparing dinner for Lone and Jesper, my Danish friends, Jacques and JJ. Michel had been invited too but didn't make it back from Montpellier in time.
On the menu:
Apéritif with Tapas (so no need to do a starter)
Chicken and Chorizo with 3 grain rice and salad https://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/chicken-chorizo-and-potato-stew.html made with red beans rather than potatoes
Cheese
Marmalade Cake with cream augmented by the prunes in red wine brought by Lone
A pleasant evening during which as all was ready to go, I could relax and enjoy the company of my guests.
Weather:
16°, wind and rain all day.

A Lotta Scots

7.10.16: Happy Wanders and Fine Hosts

Suzanne, who has boundless energy, was desperate for a hike this morning and May who had real sniffles gallantly agreed to join us on or uphill forest walk. She made it to where there was a good view of the village and called it a day while we strode on for an 1h30. So glad that yesterday's was cancelled, she'd have hated it. Have to say that it was invigorating and I enjoyed it. Sun was shining, the birds were singing and the air was clear.  Suzanne is obviouly feeling at home among the heather on this photo and at least she and May got to wear their boots that they carted with them.
Recuperated a recurerated May and had a well deserved coffee at the bar before getting the bus into Céret where we were having lunch with Eamon and Liz who Suzanne is good friends with.
A raucous time was had by all and off course we were well fed by Liz and well watered by Eamon, inspite of which I managed to get them to the bus on time.
Once we'd drawn breath, Suzanne who's a keen gardener wanted to see the garden that I no longer work so I took advantage of two more pairs of hands to take down some sacks of garden greenery for the compost bins. Don't I know just how to give my visitors a good time?
They did get a reward though by way of a couple of glasses of wine at the bar where we fell in with Lone and a friend. A light supper and early to bed finished the day.
Weather:
22°, sun and light cloud

6.10.16: Dodging the Rain

May and Suzanne went off to explore the coast while I went as promised with Ann to a hospital appointment. The storms didn't appear as predicted but they did have a downpour. We, in Perpignan had no rain so were able to window shop and lunch without getting wet. Lunch was in a really nice restaurant with the accent heavily on beef. There were lighter options though and we both enjoyed the menu du jour along with a glass of wine.
http://www.restaurant-le-divil-66.com/ The dining room has lots of character set as it is in weaving/spinning shop dating back to the Middle Ages.
Jean-Jacques stopped by in the evening to help me set up monthly payments for my rates bill as Christian and I had previously but apparently it wasn't possible for this first year. Gulp, whole lot needs paying in one go; and me a poor widder woman!!! Before you reach for your hankies, i hasten to add that I won't be starving as a result.
The least I could do was invite JJ to join us for dinner; so passed another agreeable evening.
Weather:
20°, sun cloud with late afternoon rain

5.10.16: Best Laid Plans
Treadmill again and food preparation for my Scottish visitors. This is the 3rd day that I haven't been out in the village for a coffee and no one's sent out a search party. May and Suzanne arrived from the airport in Carcassonne with time to have a cuppa before this evening's vernissage. They mixed and mingled with the village's finest, including the Maire and some of their compatriots who have holiday homes here. Sorry, forgot to take my camera so no photo.
Françoise came along as we'd planned she'd take Suzanne and May on a hike but sadly the forecast wasn't good tomorrow so it's off. She came back to mine and called up Jean to join us and we drank and had tapas (sounds better and more substantial than nibbles, doesn't it?). Luckily, the refreshments at the expo were relatively substantial too for these kind of affairs. Jean was his usual lively self and the lack of French and English didn't get in the way of us having a load of laughs. When they finally went, it was too late for the cooked meal I'd prepared and offered earlier to all, so we made do with bread and cheese. Hardly the welcome I'd planned.
Weather:
25° sun, cloud later

4.10.16: That's More Like It!

Treadmill then Spanish! You may well gulp! Though from there on in, it was all pleasure. Met Eamon and Liz who are over on holiday, at the Pablo for an apéro and then moved on to Al Catala for lunch in the garden. Went back to the place that they were renting that had views over the mountains supposedly for coffee; it turned out to be champagne (the real stuff, I might add) but who was I to argue! Eamon looks as if he could have come out of a Marcel Pagnol book with that hat.
Even managed to get myself to the bus on time to get back to the village.
What a surprise I had. I bumped into Joséphine who I haven't seen for over a year. Did a bit of catching up and we both expressed intentions of making contact again. Remains to be seen.
Finished the day with a trip to the guitar evening at the bar. Was a bit chilly sitting outside but it did look pretty with all the little lights on the tables.
Weather:
23°, blue skies

3.10.16: Nowt Much Doin'

Took bus to the supermarket to get stuff in for Suzanne and May who are arriving for a couple of days. Pottered in the afternoon before having a cup of tea in Céret with Nicole. None of which is of any interest but if I don't record it, I'll think I've lost a day such is the state of my mental processing at the moment! Though I suppose this tree trunk covered in knitted squares is quite fun.
Weather:
22°, sun and some cloud

2.10.16: Wetting the Baby's Head
Happy news this morning, Jean and Françoise have a granddaughter; their first after 3 boys. Had coffee with the usual Sunday morning suspects and Jean-Jacques joined those of us who stayed for an apéritif. Pushed the boat out with a bottle of cava. Appropraiate really as Gilles who was at the next table to us while we were having lunch treated me to an "affogado" , an Italian dessert of ice cream and hot coffee" which means "drowned". http://www.jamieoliver.com/news-and-features/features/affogato-the-ultimate-simple-dessert/ Mmm, simple but tickles all the taste buds.Back home, I did a bit of this and a bit of that crossing things off my list as I went.
Weather:
23°sun, clouding over to give a light rain shower at the end of the afternoon.

1.10.16: Al Fresco

Went off to the market with Jacques, this morning's chauffeur. Had coffee with Françoise and an impromptu BBQ lunch with Henri and Michèle. A quiet evening but a restless night. Didn't get to sleep until after 3am
Weather:
25°, sun

Having Our Cake

It had been our plan to go to the Haricot Bean Festival in Santa Pau, Catalunya South with Jean and Françoise as we had last year but the weather was dull and it was damp underfoot. The unanimous decision was to give it a miss. Spent most of the day in front of either the telly or the computer. Bought a new duvet after quite a lot of searching.
We met up with Jean and Françoise this evening, however, at Juste and Joséphine's for an apéritif dinatoire and a homemade "galette des rois". Yes, another one. Michel and Sylvie were also invited. I took Delia's coffee cake as it's Joséphine's favourite and it was pleasing to see people coming back for seconds. It's light, fluffy and very tasty. Give it ago, why don't you.
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/type-of-dish/party-food/austrian-coffee-and-walnut-cake-with-coffee-cream.html
Weather: 13° cloudy
News: Serious floods in the South of France especially in the Var

More Daily Doings

18.1.14:
Finally made it to bed last night sometime after 2.30am. Can't do really late nights any more so a trip to the market was a no go. did absolutely nothing of note.
Weather: 14° Bright enough start with heavy rain in the afternoon.
News: The last Pope defrocked 400 priests in two years. No comment, I'd be here all day.
PS. Father Brown wasn't one of them!


 17.1.14:
Deprived of lunch out yesterday, Christian was game for eating at the bar. You'll know by now that the food isn't in the same league as the restaurant but as they say "use it or lose it". In the evening We went to Maurice and Lucienne's as they were hosting a neighbourhood meeting for people to meet André and ask questions. An apéritif followed. On the way home we ran across Jacques and his son Pierre who's here for the weekend and were hijacked to the bar. rounded off the evening with Pierre rustling up some scramled eggs and chorizo to the sounds of jazz and salsa music. You can share Pierre's favourite song by clicking on this link. La Flaca can be translated as the skinny one. He sang it to me ...... tongue in cheek, no doubt!
http://learningbysingingspanish.blogspot.fr/2008/07/la-flaca-por-jarabe-de-palo-spain.html
Weather:
13° Sunny spells with a cold evening wind

16.1.14:

Oh woe is me! The restaurant being closed is throwing us out of kilter so home we just went for lunch after the language exchange. Giggled at a couple of épisodes of "Father Brown" in the afternoon over tea and macarons; not the almond biscuits that we all know but those lovely coloured delicacies that the French do so well. Click on
http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/multicoloured-macaroons you'll get an image and the recipe as well.
Anecdote: At the language exchange, we leant why "x" symbolises a kiss. When people couldn't write, deals were sealed with a kiss. Later a "x" replaced the kiss on documents. Interestingly, the French have no idea why we put a row of xxxx at the end of correspondence. Any one remember Brian Hyland's "Sealed with a Kiss"? A couple of us tried to sing it but the rest of the group weren't too impressed! Click the link if your curiosity is aroused and you've no idea what I'm talking about
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbl90s__X4Q
Weather: 13° Sunny spells
News: Britain has the highest rate of gout in Europe. It's not just port that's implicated but other fortified wines and beer.

15.1.14:
Went out in search of a new matress, well, two in fact and managed to strike a deal. Even so, we were into 1,400 euros. Now there's just a new duvet and some sheets and we're set.
The evening was rather more fun with a get - together at Jean and Françoise's. Juste and Joséphine, Thérèse and Joan were there too.
Weather: 12° Cloudy

14.1.14:
Christian went off to the Mairie for a short while before we treated ourselves to a day out in

Figueres. I really wanted to find some trousers but I ended up buying a black trilby and a load of veg. Christian bought a matching hat so the village mafioso had better watch out. Had a late lunch in Roses overlooking the marina. Came back in time to see the cardiologist as Christian's latest blood test showed a thyroid deficiency and seemingly one of his tablets causes this. Luckily, he hadn't followed his GP's advice to stop it as he really needs it . Upshot of the visit is that there's to be another blood test to make sure that it wasn't a blip. Hey ho.
Weather: 14.5° and warm sunshine in Spain which was better than th 11.5° and showers here.

Funeral, Friends and Food

There was a funeral to go to at 10h30 this morning, the mother of a friend. The church was freezing cold but at least it wasn't a requiem mass which with communion etc would have taken much longer. After that Christian wrent off to try and get an appointment with his cardiologist who's been off sick and I went to visit Geoff who's undergoing chemo. He was in good spirits but the cardiologist is still off sick. While Christian was waiting for me he went for a coffee and bumped into Henri who invited us for an apéro.
We saw him and Michelle again in the evening at the association's get-together for the Président's New Year wishes, galettes de rois and cider or red wine. Poor Christian had his surgery with Michel to keep him company and needless to say, no clients.
To finish off the evening, Henri and Michelle came back to ours where we cracked open a bottle  of champagne to toast 2014 before coming back to earth with soup, bread  and cheese. As a dessert I made up a recipe for a chocolate fridge cake mixing together cereal, raisins and mixed peel soaked in rum, chocolate, mincemeat and golden syrup. Gulp ..... a seismic number of calories!
Weather: 16° Blue skies, sun and light cloud
News: David Cameron's hairdresser receives MBE!
Stop Press: There are problems with the site and I can't insert any images. Apparently, I'm not the only one but that's little comfort. In the meantime, I hope it won't be too dull. Sorry.