Saturday, 27th September 2014

Hello Readers,

Here in France it was the first day of autumn on Tuesday and my goodness it felt like it!  The cool weather has moved in; though the days are clear and still quite warm the nights are feeling cold, so it is nice to be outside during the afternoon, but the duvet is now on the bed for the nights.  I’ve also got 2 capsicum’s growing (please note the only 2 I’ve had) after the glorious end to summer that we had so I’ve currently got them protected to see if I can get them to a decent size before it gets too cold.  My courgette plant is also having “one last hurrah” which is good as most things will be coming out of the ground this weekend.  Still need to figure out what to do with my cucamelons plants as apparently I can dig up the tubers and over-winter them, which means I can get them in early next year. The veggie patch is all new to me and a bit of an experiment so we shall see.

So what else is happening, well the house is once again filled with dust as we are having the side of the house re-pointed (the joys of a stone house).  Pat and I are planning on doing the back part of the house, but because the side of the house is quite high and on a road we have had our builder do this.  Because some of the old mortar needs to be removed (not a difficult job as it is so old it has been falling out) before you put in the new mortar, there is dust coming into the house.  Which is not pleasant, but it will all be finished by the middle of this week (we hope) so that will be good, especially as my auntie arrives on Tuesday.

Last Saturday was Pat and my 6^th wedding anniversary!  Six years ago on a Welsh hillside on a glorious sunny day we got married.  To celebrate we headed out for lunch to a local restaurant (lunches are cheaper here than dinners as most restaurants have a menu du jour).  It was a nice lunch, but we did opt to eat inside as we couldn’t get a place in the shade on the terrace and I wasn’t in the mood for getting sunburnt on my anniversary.  I did have to laugh however as Pat and I gave each other very similar gifts – Pat bought me a bottle of Chanel No. 5 (my fav) and I got him a bottle of Cool Water aftershave.  Perhaps we both think that the other doesn’t smell all that good?

Puppy training is continuing and she has learnt that the cat will not play with her, though Siena does keep trying, she gets the occasional clout from Wallis but for the most part they are becoming accustomed to one another.  Siena has also learnt quite a few commands but when she gets excited it does all seem to go out the window.  Thankfully we are slowly getting it into her head that she can’t bite us, it however it taking more time than I thought it would.

My walking every day is going well I’m averaging around 8,000 steps a day, so not quite the 10,000 but it is getting better and hopefully when Siena can join us that will increase.  I’ve been slack on doing my Tai Chi, but after going for a sport massage (deep tissue massage) this week and realising how tight my upper leg and buttock muscles are (this comes from sitting too much – which is a slight necessity when one works at a computer) I realised that I really do need to get more stretching into my exercise routine.  However I would like to say that my back and shoulders were really good and there were only a few tight spots, but nothing painful.  That was just bliss.

So that is my exciting week. And on that note (with the wonderful sound of gunshots in the background – I hate hunting season) I shall wish you all Adieu.

Before

Half Way

Cute sleeping puppy