Sunshine and Showers

1:6.20 - 18.6.20
Only a couple of days into June and the weather changed. Rain, cooler followed by sunshine, cloud and showers. This meant that our walks were a bit hit and miss and the shorts were put away in favour of carrying a black plastic poncho reminiscent of a bin bag.
Had a creased brow and sleepless nights trying to get my tax sorted but with the support and patience of JJ, it finally went off on the 9th, 2 days before the deadline. Could then go back to a more carefree, relaxing time; photos to transfer, French to get to grips with and crosswords to build into the daily routine to shake up the little grey cells.
Luckily, having the Guardian to read online has been great. Covid, Government inefficiencies, Dominic Cummings's antics and "Black Lives Matter" demos have filled my mornings before getting up.
TV wise, we've been getting engrossed in the reruns of Foyle's War and a couple of European crime series.
One break from the routine came along on Sunday, 14th. The care home organised a cupcake sale.

Sold in batches of 4, we were first there to offer our support. Bought a couple of quids worth of raffle tickets and lo and behold, we won the huge gooey chocolate that was the prize. There was enough to divide between five households!

Weather continued with sunshine and cloud until yesterday when thunderstorms and heavy rain arrived. Luckily we timed our morning walk perfectly to get home before the heavens opened. More expected today so our walk could be compromised.

In commemoration of de Gaulle's call to the French to resist the Nazis, broadcast from London, Mr Macron is being received by Chas and Camilla  and then going on for talks with Boris today. A reciprocal lifting of the 14 day quarantine is on Manu's agenda. Brexit will be avoided by both! What an unlikely pair. Hey ho!

28.6.20

Another Sunday visit from Mel and Paul to eat goodies and have a drink in the garden.

1.7.20 - 6.7.20: Countdown

So, the last week in exile and life ticked over much as usual. Walking, reading, tv, another visit from Mel and Paul still in the garden; the shielding continues. Pubs and cafés were allowed to open on the 4th but we had no interest in rushing out to participate. A bottle of cava spread over a 4 day weekend suited me just fine.

A real change to our routine was a picnic lunch in the garden with, Mel, Alison and the girls who put on an impromptu show and brought me a card and gift that they'd made. Such are the delights of family that are missing from life, good as it is here.

Still, tomorrow I'm off to brave a Ryanair flight so as to get back home and pick up life à la française.

2 Bank Holidays, 2 Birthdays and a Funeral

8.5.20: For once, today is a public holiday in UK as it's the 75th anniversary of VE Day

celebrating the liberation of Europe (yes, sorry Brexiteers, 'of' not 'from'). All very low key even though there was some  bunting and flags out, tv nostalgia, the Queen giving a spirit of Dunkirk speech and folk sitting out in their gardens having tea or a drink in the sunshine. We contented ourselves with our regular walk. One highlight was that some of the local travellers were down by the river with 4 of their horses in the water and another one being shod on the roadside. Don't know what happened but just before getting home, there was a stabbing pain in my ankle which didn't last but left it twinging.

9.5.20: Only went about 150m when my foot twinged again so did an about turn and went home.

10.5.20: Managed a walk for an hour but only around the town as we didn't want to risk being out in the countryside. What a change: it was cold and very windy with a drop in temperature of 10 deg! Boris told us that we should be getting back to work if possible, staying alert and unlimited, non team, distance, exercise. Still lots of incoherence and mismanagement stories.

11.5.20:  Should have had an M and S delivery of some summer stuff but we missed it and spent 3 days believing the email that said "we'll endeavour to deliver next working day." Found out from the regular postie that you have to request the re-delivery on line, an extremely tiresome and time consuming exercise but hey ho, parcel should arrive in 2 days time. So much for paying £5 for next day delivery. 
Weather: What a change: it was cold and very windy with a drop in temperature of 10 deg between Saturday and Monday

12.5.20:

A lovely sunny spring day for us to say our final goodbye to Mum up at the undertaker's chapel of rest. Situated at 232m with views over 4 verdant counties. With Mum's parish priest presiding and 6 (Jill, her 4, and me) of us there, it was a relaxed, intimate affair with the Ave Maria (as stipulated!), garden flowers and a photo of Mum (plus a collage of Chris, Rosie and Sam who couldn't be there) on the coffin then roses placed on it to represent family and friends. I said a few words

 

Although we are only few in number to say "goodbye" to Mum, there are many more here with us in spirit.

Chris and Rosie in Wales, Sam and Beth in Australia, her grandchildren's partners, 7 grandchildren and her many friends and relations add their love and prayers to ours.Our thanks to Colin and his team for taking care of Mum and for making this lovely chapel of rest available for our farewells.

Mum will be at peace to know that Father David is here to guide her on her way to rest in God's everlasting light. Thank you, Father.

Rest in peace, Mum knowing that you were loved by us all.
 

In true Mum style, she rested in state in the chapel before going to the local crematorium first thing tomorrow. Came home and drank a toast to Mum in Baileys, her favourite tipple. 
Weather: 12°, sunny

18.5.20: Nothing of any note since the last post apart from a real improvement in the  weather but today we had a new occupation. it was time to take away Mum's goods and chattels from the care home. Didn't take too long especially as Mel and Paul came to take a couple of bits and pieces of furniture to be stored at Alison's. Jill and I dealt with the rest by quarantining it in her shed once sorted. 
Weather: 19°, Sunny

19.5.20: Temperatures rose to 25 degrees over the last few days but then dropped with Tramontane strength winds. Oh, and yes, the M and S delivery came, the day before it should have, had I not paid for rapid delivery. So, the shorts soon made an appearance in the outside world.

26.5.20: So, same ol', same ol' even though the 25th was a Spring Bank Holiday Monday. 
Weather: Temperature range from 20 - 27 deg, sunny and so it continued through the week.

27.5.20: Passed by Alison's to wish her a happy birthday. We allowed ourselves a glass of flavoured beer and a scone with cream and jam. 

 Weather: Still warm and sunny

29.5.20: Warm and sunny weather continues; just as well as Alison had organised to celebrate Dan's big birthday on the drive. We took our own gin and tonic, glasses, plates and cutlery. There were some pastries and of course cake.

31.5.20: It's been a bit of a struggle coping with the heat only having winter clothes, so decided to order some more shorts and sleeveless tee shirts for next day delivery and . . .  the order arrived when it was supposed to. Result!

Farewell to Mum

24.4.20 - 27.4.20: 
Mum's taken to her bed which only confirms what we've been seeing from the window; she's tired and fading.
Staff in the home supportrd by district nursing staff saw her through her end of life care, keeping us informed every step of the way.
Mum died on the evening of 27th. As it happened Mel and Alison had walked down (2m apart) to see how things were so were with us to watch her leave for the Chapel of Rest. It was so moving, all the staff came out and lined up outside the home to see her off. The undertaker slowed down when he passed us. So lucky to be closer than many people are able to be and it helps. It's been a relief that old age took her and not a struggle against covid.
Slowly things are getting organised for a simple ceremony to be conducted by the priest at the Chapel of Rest. Rosie is dealing with all the official notifications and us with distant family and friends. Then all that's left is clearing her room when staff are free to do so.

Photos

Go on! See the snail, whet your appetite and soak up the scenery!

If you're interested in seeing the photos, please send me an email or leave a request in comments.

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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

Chugging Along

1.2.20 - 8.2.20:

Woke up on the 1st no longer a member of the European Union and disenfranchised in both France and UK. We've a year without any other change and then it will depend on whether a deal can be made.

 Brexit was on everyone's lips when I spoke to them at the Association's couscous lunch on the first day of Britian "taking back control again!" the meal for 120 of us was copious and being able to leave without staying to clear up added to the pleasure.

There was lots of the usual stuff during the week;
Florence around for tea on Sunday, Jeanne on Monday and Nicole on Tuesday.
I left the house for a refreshment on Sunday, Wednesday (in Céret with Ann and Lynne),Thursday and Saturday with Françoise at the market followed by an apéritif back in the village with Jacques and Nicole.

Flower making, tv watching, a bit of French study and a fruitless wait for Sauveur who still hasn't been to fix the bathroom fan, liberally sprinkled with too many squares of chocolate, were among my mundane activities this week. 

This week's  cinéclub offering was "Sir", an Indian film about, culture, class, expectations, attitudes to women, dreams and a lot more. Worth watching if ever you come across it and want to nourish your sensitive side. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sir_2018  Ended the evening back at Nicole's for a group debrief and a cuppa.

Friday (7th) there was the opening of an touring exhibition in Christian's room. Educative panels about forestry augmented by some artworks and photos from the village museum. It was well attended especially by the electorial candidates. The Mayor gave a interesting introduction and then at the end invited the assembly to partake of the "pot d'amitié". 

Familywise, Mum is back in hospital and it looks more and more that she will have to go into care. Jill's holding the fort aided by her family until we know whats what.

Oh yes, I even had a bit of exercise. A session on the treadmill and a lovely walk for 2½ hours up in the mountains with Françoise. It did me no end of good. A stretch of the legs and super views in the fresh air and sunshine. Came back energised and in good form for dinner at Jacques'. The sole man with 4 women around the table, he was in his element.  Cooked for, waited on and never without an empty glass, so were we!
Weather:
14° - 25°, sun and blue skies, a day with very strong wind and only one cloudy day

Hi! It's me again

9.2.20:
What a long time it's been since I last sat in front of the computer to update Chitchat. Energised by a good long walk with Françoise yesterday and a message from Liz saying that she misses hearing about life here, I've been motivated to rectify things! Sorry it's in list form but here goes ......
Here's another "sorry", haven't been able to change the font size or spacing. Stumped so am giving up

January 2020:
Looking back on what I've been up to in January has been a surprise. I've been convinced that I've been lethargic and not out and about much but I've done more than I thought I had. Admittedly, a lot of time has been spent foutering, trying to sort out computer problems, watching tv and eating chocolate interspered with coffees and electoral chat at the café, trips to the market and flower making for the carnival float.  There are only 17,000 to do.

Of course, January means partaking of a "Galette des Rois" at every turn and more especially at the Maire's New Year's wishes, (during which both Christian and I got a mention) and those of the President of the Association. https://frenchfoodintheus.org/1059

Of more interest, after much administrative wrangling, the cinéclub started up again on the 9th with “The Fall of the American Empire”. Enjoyable but hard work as the French with a Canadian accents was difficult to follow; and not just for me. The evening finished with a drink, a piece of “galette” and a discussion of the film at Gérard and Anna's.
Other films this month were: * Almodovar’s “Pain and Glory” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain_and_Glory. I invited our wee group back to mine for a drink and the last of the Christmas cake. 
* "Who killed Lady Winsley", a film that despite being quirky and funny with a Turkish/Kurdish cultural overlay, I managed to fall asleep for a chunk of it! We ended the evening back at Jacques to eat the pancakes that Gérard had made.

* The Spanish film "El Reino" subtitled in French, took serious rapid reading skills as the dialogue raced along. The storyline was every bit as complicated. Only Jack and I ended the evening with a cuppa and wind down. 

In my “must- be - more – hospitable” mode, I invited

* Martine to talk about creating closer links with Comrie in Scotland over lunch. 

* Ken and Nicole, Nick and Lizzie for dinner. Guest preferences/restrictions included, chocolate, citrus fruit, fish, meat that comes from animals with 4 legs, so I ended up doing Chicken, Fig and Apricot Tray Bake with green beans and wild rice, followed by Bavarian apple cake. 

* Jean, Françoise and Jacques to finish up the rest of New Year's Eve's venison

*  Michel, Nicole S, Nicole P and Dani  for tête à têtes over afternoon tea and Jean-Jacques over an apéritif.

Needless to say there were invitations "chez mes amis"

* An impromptu lunch at Jacques. He's still feeling sorry for me with my empty fridge!

* Afternoon tea at Nicole S's along with Nick and Lizzie, Jacques and Joyce and Brian. A sedate affair.

* There are several women with birthdays around this time so there was a coffee morning to celebrate at Jo's. Walked over with Raymonde under clear blue skies and sunshine.

* We neighbours were invited for a “Pot au Feu” at Gérard and Anna’s     https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/pot-au-feu-367768 

* A full on lunch at Daniel and Jeanie's to celebrate his birthday. Chris and Jo and the resident dogs were also there! Thank goodness I was able to walk home afterwards; a fish course and a meat course was all a bit much.

* Michel’s for another “Pot au Feu”. The French are nothing if not loyal to seasonal eating traditions. Maud, who’s standing for the Council in another town, and Daniel were there so inevitably there was loads of political talk and chit chat. And Maud brought the most creamy calorific lemon dessert.

To counteract all the good food, I got myself back on the treadmill to walk off all that had been on offer.

Then of course there were some restaurant meals.

* Lunch at the bar with Nicole and two days later with Pat and Penny. The frequency is a measure of  expediency rather than appreciation. The other restaurant being closed until the beginning of February.

* 9 Supreme for lunch after a morning at Figueres market with Michel.

* With the amber alert lifted and the rain off. the plan had been that Ann, Lynn and I should go to Perpignan on the bus. We only realised that morning that all servises had been cancelled due to a strike so Ann drove.

Started with coffee at the Café de la Paix, https://www.tripadvisor.fr/Restaurant_Review-g187156-d2669310-Reviews-Le_Grand_Cafe_La_Paix-Perpignan_Pyrenees_Orientales_Occitanie.html wandered the shops and had lunch at Chez Sébastien, a simple, local place off the tourist track dishing up tasty food. https://fr-fr.facebook.com/pages/category/Restaurant/Chez-S%C3%A9bastien-410766956018314/

More shopping followed and I found the exact boots that I've been looking for. 

* Went as Michel's +1 for the last supper of the Council. A good meal despite the presence of future electoral opposing sides. On a very personal level, it felt good to be included as Christian's representative in something that he worked so hard for.

January wasn't all eating drinking and being lazy. Health issues have been to the fore, too.

Mum fell and ended up in hospital, Maggie has had a knee replacement and JJ ended up in A and E suffering a period of amnesia. Lucky for him people were alerted when he didn't appear for a meeting. Sped with Antoine to the hospital and then spent 8 hours waiting before he was discharged. Nicole P arrived after a couple of hours bringing us a most welcome picnic.

The monotony of the wait was further livened up when 20 or so gypsies of all ages came in accompanying a family member. The women were all in slippers but that is normal for anytime of the day; some were in dressing gowns as we're the children.

Eventually we were reunited with JJ and apart from a gap in his memory of about 4 hours it was good to see him back to his usual self. Finally arrived home at 4.15am.

Oh yes, and there was a vernissage of a photographic exhibition.

Weather:

On the whole the weather has been good. Clear blue skies with temperatures mostly between 14° - 17°. At one extreme there were a couple of days of sunshine when temperatures rose to 25° and five days when we were on an orange alert for heavy rain, wind and flooding. Temperatures dropped to 7°. Even made the national news