Men who stare at sheep!
September 16, 2012
Nearly 4 weeks now. Unbelievably we have been French residents for almost 4 weeks here at La Godefrere and we are really enjoying settling into our new life. On the downside we are still waiting for our furniture to arrive from Britain. Apparently all the dynamism of the thrusting private sector is unable to to match my need to have furniture delivered. We contracted a local Wincanton firm to store our furniture and then to deliver it to France. Apparently the "idiosyncracies" of european delivery have caused a delay. A major row is on the horizon.
Tuesdays are rapidly becoming days of great excitement in the Parish household. On Tuesdays we get delivered,by "La Poste" , a whole host of brochures from supermarkets and DIY stores etc with all their latest special offers. It's amazing to find all the things that you did not knwo you needed and what crazy prices you can buy them from. Coming up next week is the "Foire aux vins" week where all the supermarket have great wine deals. This week in a pre foire offer I managed to buy 6 bottles of good Bordeaux for only 19 euros (about £16)!!!! This has also led us into the wonderful world of Monsieur Bricolage, a store a bit like B&Q which seems to sell everything you could possibly need for the house. we spent nearly 2 hours going round.
Men who stare at sheep! One of my many arduous tasks in the morning is to check on the sheep. We have 3 sheep in our paddock who we look after for a neighbour. In the mornings I have to check they are all there. It's just as well I don't have count them at night as I might fall asleep during counting! The sheep conspire to hide at some point in the field where it is difficult to see them. The field slopes down so they hide just below the slope. when you do spot them, the sheep then try to stare you out. Sheep have funny eyes and it becomes a morning battle of wills as to who will give in first. I think I am winning but you can never tell with sheep!
The barn owls in the field next to our gite have been putting in amazing displays this week. We have 2 barn owls who display and hunt right next to our gite. They float soundlessly across the field, really amazing. We also have buzzards regularly soaring above us. This week we had 6 flying together on one occasion.
Finally, great excitement as we have our first booking for the gite for next summer, hopefully the first of many. Also next week we have our first visitors, Kate's mum and dad arrive on Tuesday for 5 days and then on Friday our daughter Amy is coming to stay for a week. Not sure when we are going to finish the painting of the front of the house we have just started. Now to watch Downton Abbey!!
A bientot
Graham
Tuesdays are rapidly becoming days of great excitement in the Parish household. On Tuesdays we get delivered,by "La Poste" , a whole host of brochures from supermarkets and DIY stores etc with all their latest special offers. It's amazing to find all the things that you did not knwo you needed and what crazy prices you can buy them from. Coming up next week is the "Foire aux vins" week where all the supermarket have great wine deals. This week in a pre foire offer I managed to buy 6 bottles of good Bordeaux for only 19 euros (about £16)!!!! This has also led us into the wonderful world of Monsieur Bricolage, a store a bit like B&Q which seems to sell everything you could possibly need for the house. we spent nearly 2 hours going round.
Men who stare at sheep! One of my many arduous tasks in the morning is to check on the sheep. We have 3 sheep in our paddock who we look after for a neighbour. In the mornings I have to check they are all there. It's just as well I don't have count them at night as I might fall asleep during counting! The sheep conspire to hide at some point in the field where it is difficult to see them. The field slopes down so they hide just below the slope. when you do spot them, the sheep then try to stare you out. Sheep have funny eyes and it becomes a morning battle of wills as to who will give in first. I think I am winning but you can never tell with sheep!
The barn owls in the field next to our gite have been putting in amazing displays this week. We have 2 barn owls who display and hunt right next to our gite. They float soundlessly across the field, really amazing. We also have buzzards regularly soaring above us. This week we had 6 flying together on one occasion.
Finally, great excitement as we have our first booking for the gite for next summer, hopefully the first of many. Also next week we have our first visitors, Kate's mum and dad arrive on Tuesday for 5 days and then on Friday our daughter Amy is coming to stay for a week. Not sure when we are going to finish the painting of the front of the house we have just started. Now to watch Downton Abbey!!
A bientot
Graham
Posted by Graham Parish.
Graham Parish is a former UNISON Trade Union official who retired to France with Kate (a previous self employed gardener and now resident gardener here) to start a new life of wine, cheese, french bread and a vegetable garden on a large rural french farm with holiday gite, and associated animals.
