What happened next

 The newly-weds headed off into the sunset and continued their lives until December.  Olivier's best man was married just before Christmas.  Olivier and his new wife came over to France for the wedding.  We collected them the day after and we all went to lunch.  The restaurant was rather crowded so close to Christmas, but we managed to enjoy ourselves. 

There was some very special news:  They were expecting a baby, due in the summer!!!  We were so happy with their news; we were going to be grandparents again.

Baby James was born on 14^th July.  He was early and very, very small.  He’s a beautiful baby and very considerate towards his parents.  He’s even started to smile.  We haven’t been to see him yet.  Hopefully it will be soon.

No pictures yet, they don’t want his image on social media, but I can assure you he is as handsome as his papa.

A special September

 

I even got to have my hair done on the day

At the beginning of September Olivier, our youngest, was married.  As his new wife is Czech they were married in Czechia.  The took over a hotel in the middle of the Forest.  It was a magical place for a magical occasion.  Everything about the hotel was lovely; we could have stayed there a lot longer than the two nights for the wedding.  The weather on the day was good too; sunny but not too hot.

When we returned to France we arrived at Bordeaux  airport to temperatures in the mid-30s.  What a contrast!

Life goes on

 Rob is now retired.  It's taking a bit of getting used to as I like to do things at my own pace and he is always on the go.  It's nice not to have to have weekends free to do things.  Shopping is done on Thursday lunch times.  He even has his share of the list to do.  He always finishes his part first.

We've got a new printer with wifi, it makes me jump when it starts printing on its own.

At the beginning of September Olivier will be getting married in the Czech republic.  Eva comes from the Eastern part of the country.  We'll be staying two nights.  I wonder what a Czech wedding will be like.

2022 continued

 In my last post I wrote about Olivier's birthday being on 22nd February.  I thought that it would be a special year for him.  This week he moved to Zurich. He starts a new job on Friday ist July.

I will miss visiting him in Prague.  I love Prague, hopefully we'll get back there one day.  For the present we have a new country to explore!  I love visiting my children.

Moving on

We moved house on my birthday in September. We were sad to leave the village where we had been living for the last 7 years, but it was time to move on. The stairs were more and more difficult for me.
We have changed village, department and region as we now live in the Vendée department.

A new garden

Christian helped us with the decorating, he is a slave driver, but has such a good eye and lots of ideas. After cleaning up and decorating the new house, packing up to move and cleaning up the old house I was exhausted. I lost a bit of weight too The new house is not your typical house, I call it quirky. There are some steps and stairs but they are in small groups and not as deep, so I manage them quite easily.

The bathroom needed a change of colour! 

That's better.

Kitchen now comes with matching husband

I'm really pleased with what Christian helped us to do with the mezzanine, which doubles as a spare bedroom

Cosy living room

The corridor is wide enough to take a sofa bed.  This is now the grand-children's area with games and books (for when they are old enough).  It's really cosy and I like to snuggle up there with a book myself.

 We have a slightly bigger garden and a terrace facing south which is closed in on 3 sides so we have plenty of privacy. I have a cherry tree and a fig tree. Our new village is lovely, although very different. We are close to two rivers and canals and on a slope which used to be a vineyard. There is a vine in the garden so I’ve been reading up on how to prune it properly. We’ve been told that the grapes aren’t very good to eat, so who knows, we might make some wine!

Prague at the end of September

This year my birthday started early as we had trains and planes to catch. We went off to Prague to spend a few days with Oliver.

Petrin Hill

 There was so much to see. We spent a lot of time out of doors – the weather was really good to us. There are a lot of parks to visit that are not only beautiful but give you wonderful views of the town. We are walkers in our family so we spent a lot of time walking. We tried to avoid the very touristy areas – you wouldn’t believe how many people can squash onto the Charles bridge. We went early in the morning when there were fewer people.

Charles Bridge

Olivier also took us to the shopping centres; there are several and well worth a visit, though clothes are often the same price as the rest of Europe. Food is important of course when you visit a foreign country. Restaurants are cheaper, but the quality and quantity of food served it very, very good. We also drank locally brewed beer which was excellent.

John Lennon Wall

The dancing House

The Time Machine!

View from the top of the Czech Monument

I didn’t want to come home. We saw a lot more than if we’d have gone there on our own. Olivier was a good guide and of course knows the kind of places we like to visit and see. There’s still lots left over for next time!

Even drain covers can be interesting!

Staircase

The famous clock

Visiting our children

Last week we flew to the UK and visited two of our children. First were Christian and partner. They’ve not long moved into a lovely house in a tiny village. Think Agatha Raisin or Midsomer Murders, a really charming place. I’m hoping that they don’t get murdered.

We also visited a super shopping centre in Sheffield and the city of York while we were at that end of the country. After being used to the French country side around here, everything seemed to be so green and the trees so big!

Moving further south into the Midlands we took my mum out to lunch and I presented her with a signed copy of my book! After that we spend a day visiting Hay-on –Wye via Ross-on-Wye, Christian joined us on this trip. Hay-on-Wye is very, very famous for books. We visited back in 2004 when the children were small. Funnily enough, I am the book lover and was the only one who didn’t buy a book on this trip.

We finished the day eating at a restaurant which is special to our family. Rob ate there with his parents when he was a child. The first time I met his mother and step father we had a meal there and the last time Christian took his grandma out was to eat there too. It’s a very special place for us all.

On the last day we spent the afternoon with Dom. It was nice to catch up with her. We went to visit the Beth Chatto Gardens near Colchester. Well worth a visit; you must look at the lovely pictures on the website. Topped off with a cream tea! To walk the tea off Dom wanted to show us Brightlingsea Beach and all of the lovely bathing huts. The tide was out, but it was a very interesting walk.

Next week we’ll be in Prague. I’m looking forward to seeing Olivier of course and there is that beautiful City to see and explore.

Violets and a special cat

Yet another month goes by without me posting anything here. It seems to have been an ongoing theme here for a while.

Olivier is still in Prague – I think that all is well with him. He’s sent me pictures of impressive views, An Ice Hockey match and a ski slope. Oh yes; and he visited the British Embassy. He’s a real networker, I have a picture of him with the ex minister of education from a couple of years ago.

This week we’ve had some real spring sunshine. I spent around 45 minutes in the garden this afternoon, weeding. Everything is growing at a fast rate now, the birds are singing, it is lovely. We go for a walk when Rob arrives home in the evening and it is still light when we get back!

These violets appeared in February and now the lawn is sprinkled with them too. 

This ball of fluff is the cat that lives at a local café. He/she appeared there a year or so ago, thin and bedraggled and in need of a good home. Guess who always bags the best seat in the warm sunshine!

January ends...

Last week we were in the UK. I’d forgotten how cold it could be. Our stay started with Dom’s confirmation in her village church. We met the Bishop who knew the village where Rob grew up, so if was very easy to chat with him.

Photobombed by the Bishop!

 It was very sad to have to attend a funeral, but we met up with some of Rob’s family that we haven’t seen in years. I’m sure that Rob’s mother would have been pleased to see us all together.

 We also got to stay with our two children in the UK. It’s always lovely to spend time with them. The week went very quickly.

 We were met at the airport by Olivier who also prepared lunch for us! I think he was preparing me for the shock of all of the  things he’s storing in the loft. He’s finished his banking job and last Sunday set off for Prague where he has a new Job. Yesterday was his first day of work; I sent him a text asking him how it went , the reply came back ‘great’. That’s all I need to know. Perhaps this year we will be off to Prague for a few days – fingers crossed.

2017 seems to be seeping in too

Christmas and New Year sort of slipped by a little too quickly – they get faster every year. Happy New Year to anyone who reads this; I hope that 2017 is a good one for you.

We had a quiet Christmas: Olivier came home for a few days and then went off to spend New Year with friends.

The good news is that Olivier will be starting a new job in February – in Prague! As his mum I am a little sad that he is moving so far away, though I’m really looking forward to going to visit him in his new country! All of this has brought back lots of memories of when Rob and I gave up our banking jobs and moved to France, 32 years ago.

We had sad news at the beginning of the year; Rob’s mother died at the age of 94. She had been more or less asleep since mid December, so it didn’t come as a shock, it’s still upsetting just the same.

I only wrote 21 new posts for this blog last year. Hopefully I’ll do better this year. The best year was 2005 with 336 posts – almost 1 a day!

Comings and goings

I have my “smart” phone back again. Everything is in perfect order and working well.I didn't think that I would miss it so much.

Olivier came home for a few days. He seems well and happy and will be starting work properly in the first few days of June. He will be doing the job that he has been doing for some time anyway. I think he’ll enjoy it more knowing that it really is his job and he will be paid properly for it.

Olivier left and it was Rob’s turn to have a few days off. We didn’t do much really – caught up on sleep mainly and went for walks. Yesterday was strange; I was all on my own, all day long for the first time in a while.

This morning I went to see the Rheumatologist about my knee. It was very swollen and painful at the end of March. Fortunately it is much better now, but I will have to have gel injected into it during the month of July . I’ve coped with the pain etc. much better this time, I think. I meditate everyday when I can which I find helpful. My Doctor also told me to try to keep the leg straight when sitting for long periods. That has been a gold nugget of advice for me, as I work using the computer almost all day. I only took 4 out of the painkillers my doctor gave; me two of which were for a headache and back ache. Would you believe I put my back out one morning when I was putting eye drops into my eyes?

Not much fun getting old sometimes.

All grown up

I found this post about Olivier when he was 12 years old (he’s a lot taller than me nowadays and I don’t wear spiky hair). He’s 25 now – how time flies. Today he starts his final exams for a Masters degree.

Not much I can do but wish him good luck and hope that he gets questions on the subjects he’s passionate about.

Earthquakes and strikes!

Christian & J were here for a week, though that was not their intention. Their flight home was cancelled on Thursday because of strikes. They managed to extend the car hire and get places on the Saturday flight.

There was also an earthquake and we were quite close to the centre of it. One loud bang and a wobble and it was over; no damage done and nothing fell off the shelves. The sun shone for most of their visit, though there was (and still is) quite a cold wind.

Christian very kindly brought some Victoria Wood  DVDs with him.  I was very pleased to be able to watch them, she was such a funny lady.

 I do enjoy having time with my children, despite unplanned events.

To Rennes and back

A couple of weeks ago we went off to Rennes for the day to collect Olivier’s belongings from his apartment there. The weather was good and there wasn’t too much traffic both ways so we had a stress less day.

He had everything packed and ready, so we only had to load the car up after a cup of coffee and he’d been out to fetch us croissants! The apartment is on the 6th floor and in an old window box right next to the little balcony where the residents of the apt go out to smoke, was a pigeon’s nest, complete with mother and three chicks. She didn’t bat an eyelid when we went right up to the window to look!

Olivier treated us to lunch and took us for a walk around the old part of Rennes. There is a beautiful park which is worth a visit. After using that walk to stretch out legs we headed for home.

Visiting my grown up children is one of my favourite occupations!

Nearly there!

Olivier phoned this afternoon. He had to give a presentation at the regional office of the bank he works in. It went very, very well. He didn’t use notes. He loves his subject and work. I’m so pleased for him. He’s almost at the end of his apprenticeship and will normally be taking his finals for his master degree in the spring. Rob and I are very proud parents.

2016 seeps in

Christmas and New Year came and went as quickly as it usually does. Rob had a stomach bug on Christmas day. I felt ill too – it was like having a hangover without the fun.

Olivier was home for Christmas this year and stayed for several days and then went off with his friends for New Year. He became ill just after that and had to miss his exams. The re-sits aren’t until October. Dom and J-M seem to have enjoyed their first Christmas in the UK.

The weather here has been very wet and windy and tomorrow I have to go into town for blood tests before breakfast. I’ll be starving by the time I get home. We have buses to the next village every half hour, but they pass by the scenic route, so the home journey will be slow.

Thank you to everyone who either bought my book or took advantage of the free offer. I really appreciate your interest.

Insecting times

Grumpy neighbour told neighbour at the back’s sister off because a pine tree that is in our garden has nests of Pine Processionary. Because of the mild weather the caterpillars are descending for the next stage of their life. Unfortunately their hairs are very irritating and at certain stages they can release their hairs into the air. This can be dangerous for animals and humans. Our neighbour’s wife was having problems after dealing with caterpillars in their garden. Mrs. neighbour at the back came to see me last night and explained the situation.

 I went round to the town hall (neighbor on the other side!) this morning to talk about what to do and by amazing coincidence there was a man there whose job it is to get rid of pests. The tree can be treated next September. This year is a bad year in the village for these caterpillars, so the town hall is probably going to do something about them too. I then went to explain what was happening to neighbor at the back’s sister and the wife of grumpy neighbour (fortunately). I will have to make sure nothing is growing near or over the wall that divides us, so hopefully the caterpillars will stay our side.

When I went to make a cup of tea this morning there was a European House Centipede in the sink. They go looking for water and can’t get back up the slippery sides of the sink. I dampened some kitchen roll and hung it over the side of the sink so that he could climb out, which he did. He then kindly dropped down onto the floor so that I could pop a Tupperware container over him, slide some cardboard underneath and let him go outside.

My charming absent minded husband went off to work with my keys (as well as his own). I didn’t realize before today how much I need my keys, especially for going in and out of the garage and opening our postbox.

Dom has been back to Poitiers to catch up with her contacts at the university and see her old buddies. We're picking her up from the station this evening as she’s coming to stay for a couple of nights and goes home on Sunday morning. We’re really looking forward to seeing her again.

Olivier will be home late in the day on Christmas Eve. We haven’t seen him since the summer.

Time passes so quickly when...

It’s just over a week since we got home from a visit to the UK. We had a great time, but it was very tiring as we now have Dom and J-M to visit too. They only live around an hour from Stansted but we took about three hours to get to their house. It was a very rainy night and the vital road to take us into Colchester was closed that very evening. Anyway we finally arrived and refreshed and were shown around their new home and it was time for bed. Dom was supposed to be working, but she had a heavy cold and spent the morning in bed so J-M showed us around their new home town; it’s a really lovely place.

Then we popped to see Christian and J. Unfortunately it was my turn to be ill. Stomach upset, but no pain. I spent half a day in bed. Fortunately It was a day when no great travels were scheduled.

Then we were off to visit our mothers. We had a lovely afternoon with Rob’s mother and took her out in the wheelchair and sat in the beautiful grounds of the care home; Christian came too, so she was especially pleased. My mum is fine though we didn't have much time to see her..

Very soon it was time to go back to Dom and J-M for the final evening. Why do holidays always go so quickly?

September

Well, what have I been up to.? Both Olivier and then Dom and J-M came to visit. Dom and J-M are now living in the UK and Dom has started work. She also went off to a conference in Malta at the beginning of the month. She said that the weather was very hot over there.

Olivier popped home for a weekend as there is a holiday mid-August. He seems to be happy and this year his sessions at university will be 4 weeks long alternated with work for 4 weeks.

Christian, who I’m unsuccessfully trying to call Chris, helped me to install Windows 10. He used team viewer to take over my computer. I’m used to Window’s 10 now – it’s not much different to Windows 7. Mahjong and Spider Solitaire aren’t there anymore. All my scores over the last 4 years have been lost. There is Spider Solitaire, but it’s not the same. I’ve managed to find the original Shanghai Dynasty Mahjong that I used to play. I need a bigger version nowadays so that I can see the pattern on the tiles.

All of a sudden the weather has turned Septemberish. We still have lovely sunny days, but with very cold mornings. The washing doesn’t dry in a couple of hours outside anymore.

 Some blue sky for you, taken in the last week of August. Even the leaves aren’t as green now…

Catching up with the children

Olivier returned to his bank town just a week ago. He enjoyed two weeks holiday and the weather was good. We didn’t see too much of him as he was out with friends or in their swimming pools. What we did see was good, he’s got the first year of his Master’s degree under his belt and he enjoys where he’s working. He went to his first wedding this summer – yes, even his friends are starting to get married. He also showed me pictures of babies: two of his friends are now proud fathers.

 It doesn’t seem 5 minutes since I met up for an afternoon with two of my ex bank colleagues. We all had our first babies within a month of each other and managed to get together when they were around 6 months old. They were all 28 this year!

Dom and J-M are coming over to see us tomorrow. They will be moving to the UK in a week or so as Dom will be starting a post as lecturer at Essex University in September. They will be living near to Colchester and I’m really looking forward to exploring the banks of the River Colne, as I’ve already looked on Google Earth. We’ll be visiting them in September, as well as Christian & J.