The Wedding post

The weather yesterday morning was perfect for a wedding, sunny without a cloud in the sky. By the time our train arrived in Poitiers it was raining. Dom and JM met us at the station and drove us round to their apartment. It was our first visit to out apartment so JM showed us around. I’m pleased to report that their corridor is wide enough to accept bookcases. They’ve got a lovely flat with room for an office.

The wedding meal was before the ceremony and we all went to an organic restaurant. ‘We all’ consisted of families and witnesses. Dom and JM’s friends made an effort to speak English from time to time – though they were all so good I don’t think they needed to struggle. I sat next to JM’s brother who is a younger version of JM and I was pleased to discover that he really is interested in vintage postcards, especially from WWI. The meal was surprisingly filling considering I chose a salad. The cake was delicious, chocolate pear!

 After we finished our meal the happy couple and witnesses went back to change, so we wondered around the Christmas market and shopping center and then to the town hall to wait for a few minutes. There we got to know Nadia – Dom’s colleague and witness – who was in charge of the flowers. She’s researching reading problems and dyslexia.

A civil wedding in France is really short; basically reading the law and declaring the happy couple man and wife. After which we went into a magnificent room at the side for photographs. We walked back to their flat in the rain and had just time for speeches and a glass of champagne before the train home. The youngsters were off out once the oldies were out of the way.

It was lovely to see that they have such good friends. And JM’s family is very fond of Dom we know, as we are fond of him. So now I am Officially a Mother-in-law.

The official bride with her official mother

An embarrassing moment
Dom and JM took us to the station in their Twingo which is a small car. I’ve always had trouble getting out of the back of the car and my foot slipped as I got out of the car so my weight went down onto my left knee. I was stuck half in and half out as I couldn’t push myself up. Dom and JM had to lift me up out of the car. I did feel such a fool; it was painful at the time, but once I was on my feet I was okay. No swelling today fortunately

Stained glass window in the town hall, Poitiers

 *Photos by Rob

The Christmas post

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Rob’s computer died on him, so as we were sharing I didn’t have time to wish everyone a Happy Christmas. I even had a postcard ready to scan to illustrate my post. It will keep now until next year.

We had a lovely Christmas, Olivier, Dom and J-M were here with us and I spoke to Christian on the phone. Dom and J-M left on Boxing Day to finish preparations for their wedding.

As the blogging world works upside down, if you are reading this you’ve already read the wedding post!

Has the World Ended yet?

I thought I might as well climb onto the band wagon.(Google it and see)

I phoned my Mum this morning as it’s her birthday. She’s 77! She was hoping that her hairdresser would arrive in time to have her hair done for the end of the world. She was also saving opening her presents for later – it appears that she must have had the time to do all that she wanted in the end.

When is the next End of the World due?

Dream time

Rob’s computer died on him last weekend, so we’ve been sharing – he’s also had a few days holiday, so I haven’t had the time on my computer at all. Our postcard business has to come first. We have managed to have some fun just the same. Christmas shopping, going to see the lights in town one evening, walks between downfalls and generally getting ready for Christmas. The presents are all bought and now need wrapping up.

I thought I’d better post as I had a rather strange dream about blogging last night: I was reading a cookery blog, which came by post in the form of a magazine. The problem was that the pictures were taking a long time to download. When they did they were like videos. The blogger was making whipped egg white with canned peach slices. The slices were very small and fragile and a lovely orange which went well with the egg white.

Funnily enough, I knew exactly why I’d had this dream as soon as I woke up. The Saturday supplement which comes with our newspaper was running a feature on a French blogger who writes a cookery blog and takes lots of photographs of everything she makes. The white whipped egg white came from some eye shadow I received in my latest Glossy Box. It was described as mousse and is white, when applied to the skin it gives a golden sparkle. (Will go very nicely with my little black dress on New Year’s Eve – not).

I wonder what peaches and egg white would be like…

Ping-ish

It’s been an odd week, sometimes cold sometimes mild, lots of rain then sunshine. The east of France is covered in snow. Rob has been on holiday for a few days then he went back to work for one day for stock taking.

I’ve just been plodding on by in neutral mode. I finished watching The Pillars of the Earth and really enjoyed it. J-M bought me a book of short stories he found somewhere, so I started to read that. Has anyone ever managed to get their head around ‘Ping’ by Samuel Beckett? He wrote it in French first and I must admit that version makes a little more sense. I read that the point was to illustrate that language only makes sense in a cultural context. Discuss….

The decorations are up!

I managed to find something to wear for the wedding last Friday. I was so glad to get it done. I was surprised at how much it was starting to worry me.

This morning I put the finishing touches to the Christmas decorations. My poor crib seems to have lost all of the moss from its roof. Well, it is over 25 years old now No pics I’m afraid, as my computer doesn’t want to recognize my phone at the moment. I know what we’ll be eating on Christmas day, of course, but what about the other days, especially Christmas Eve, any suggestions?

This afternoon we had a hail storm, it lasted quite a while. When I went outside later there was quite a snow - I mean hail drift.

These are pictures from last Christmas :

Yes, we have a fire place but it is not in use. We don't have room for a big tree anymore and this one fits snugly.

God Jul is a "Norwegian" teddy. he comes out at Christmas, but sulks (even though he's been given some chocolates) because he's put away for the rest of the year. 

Stockings at the ready...