Away from home

Merv has been in the Pyrénées for two weeks helping run a RAID cycle trip with Marmot Tours. Followed by a week's walking trip based in Ax-les-Thermes. Jane's been in London for a week catching up with friends and work colleagues and generally having a frantic city socialising time. Spent a morning doing a walk to see the Olympic Park venues. The athletic stadium and other arena's look great, especially the aquatic centre, and it was interesting to get all the background to the development. 

Now back and busy with renovating another room for family and friends to stay in some comfort. We've got a steady stream of visitors coming from now until the end of October so the pressure is on to get it finished. Will post further updates as we get the time between painting the ceiling, putting up lining paper, painting and sorting out furniture before friends arrive on 3 October. During which time we'll already have had two lots of family to stay and Merv will be in Italy leading a walking trip in Tuscany. C'est la vie.

Le jardin

The garden has a fantastic 120 year old magnolia tree in the middle. Around this are a mixure of evergreens and fruit trees. It has taken a season to know what they are; a yellow plum and two types of pear trees. There is also a laurel, several grape vines, hibiscus, wisteria, oleanders and one common, but still unidentified, tree. In spring the flowering of the japonica and forsythia was stunning. They have had to be moved for the pool terrace but we're hopeful they will successfully transplant to other parts of the garden. We've got seven fantastic roses, surprisingly this is a great area for growing roses despite the high average temperatures. So far they have been prolifically flowering for six months. Again we've had to move a couple of them for the pool work, but they should go back into place soon. Looking foward to the earth moving and messy work to finish so we can really sort the garden out. At least things grow quickly and easily here. 

It's often the simplest of things ...

yet also incredibly effective, was to put some opaque transfers on the bathroom windows. We got them while in the UK and they've really make the bathroom seem more of, well, a bathroom. The toilet is right beside the windows which overlook our neighbours garden and swimming pool. So, while a nice view from our side, it probably wouldn't be if looking up from a deck chair from their side! We still have a great view up to the hills behind the village and the, almost always, blue sky.

The digger is back

The August holiday break is truly over and work progressing well. The digger was back over the wall to move soil into the gaps round by the pool and dig holes & move fill for the terracing. It's all really taking shape now and we're pleased with it in relation to the whole garden. The solidly constructed brick kennel / niche de chien (complete with fake cave doors) has also been demolished and will be replaced by a shed for the pool equipment.

Back to the Piscine

The national August holiday break is now over so work has recommenced on the pool. The  walls are up and concrete poured first thing this morning. It is really taking shape.

Blast of Bikers

On Saturday we went to Villeneuve-les-Beziers to see the arrival of the Brescoudos motorbike 'club'. Every year at Cap D'Agde around 3,000 bikers, mostly with Harley Davidson's, gather for a week of touring round the region and whatever else bikers do when they get together. It is an amazing sight seeing that number of motorbikes arriving into the main street in all shapes and sizes - both bikes and people. The main square is taken over with live bands, food and drink stalls plus other stalls selling any amount of HD accessories and other bike paraphernalia. We noticed this year there were more women riding their own bikes rather than being a passenger. They were also noticeably younger than the average age of the men, being mostly middle-aged (and that's generous). We stopped for lunch at a little square in the cool of the back streets away from the black-clad crowds and heat. However, as this is France, we were still surrounded by bikers having their plat de jour and pichet of rosé - not the usual image of hardened bikers ...

Research II

Lunch yesterday with neighbours from the hamlet where we rented for eight months before buying our house. J&M are lovely American's who retired to France about eight years ago. They are avid tennis fans, J actually was a 'rocket scientist' and we have lively and wide-ranging conversations. We went to a nearby village, Cessenon-sur-Orb, to L'Epicerie Restaurant. It opened last year but we'd yet to go there for a meal. Very good food by the charming chef, Stanley, with wide choice of crepes as well as the usual French menu options - goat's cheese salad, entrecote and a range of things done with duck. Will be returning now that we've discovered it, as the quality of the food was great and it has a nice ambience. In the morning we did a 30km bike ride to Murviel, Cazoul, Cessenon and back home. Definately deserved a decent lunch after that.