November and Autumn

 

It's mid November with blue skies and a 20 degree temperature.  Ideal weather to work outside.

Nature

We have a black winged kite in residence and I think it will over winter around La Bastide. Being away I missed most of the autumn passage, however, I did see the odd wheatear pass through.  It's that odd time when I see lots of partridges, hare and deer, even though the hunting season is in full swing.  I walk the dog most days to Bald Hill where we watched migrating swallowtail butterflies.  I still need to head up at dusk to watch badgers.  Lilou chased a roe deer on one of our walks, but she was quickly outpaced. I found an incredible black and yellow salamander in a pool basket, Evie was thrilled.  Today Lilou flushed seven red legged partridge.

Lunch

I have a lunch for twelve on Sunday 20th, maybe even outside, otherwise in the Grange with the log burner going.  We will start with Minestrone soup and fabulous fresh baguette from the Boulangerie Le Pancossier  in Lautrec.  This will be followed by a cassoulet twist using chicken, rather than duck with tomatoes, chili and roast potatoes  (roasted with a parmesan cheese crust).  Pear crumble with custard and double cream, and to finish the obligatory cheese course with more baguette.  This will all be washed down with some nice red wine. We shall eat the English way with cheese after the dessert! P.S. Due to weather we enjoyed lunch in the Grange with the log burner producing a cosy environment.

Weather

It has been raining this week and so far no flood in the kitchen.  When it rains hard I sometimes get water in the kitchen because we are below ground!  The house is on a slope with the upper floor some three plus metres above the lower floor.  I plan to install a drain under the bedroom floor as both the kitchen and downstairs bedroom were once garages. 

The weather is very changeable with rain, sun, wind or a combination of all three in a day.  In the sun it can feel very warm, so outdoor work and walks with Lilou.

Holiday

Halloween

Porto Vecchio

After a long drive to Toulon, we caught the ferry to Corsica.  We had supper on board then slept overnight arriving in Ajaccio at 6:30am.  Ajaccio is the birthplace of Napoléon Bonaparte.  However at that time in the morning there was not much open, so we drove to Porto Vecchio (about 2.50hrs)  The way was mountainous and everywhere covered with dense scrub.  The views of the sea were spectacular and the kids slept most of the way.  I stopped for coffee and a croissant about halfway in a friendly café.  We went to the beach and had lunch before checking into our apartment.  We stayed at the excellent Residence Saint Cyprien plage.  It has a fabulous saltwater pool 6 x 16  kept at about 27degrees, when the kids were not in the sea, they swam in the pool.  With fibre WIFI, a great kitchen and two bedrooms and bathrooms, it was ideal for my family.

Evie horse riding

View from a bar

The beaches were sandy, clear warm water (even in November) and safe. The kids crabbed and swam with goggles to see the sea life that included fish and squid.  We went to a beach most days, ate great pizza at a family run restaurant "Le Figuier".  The café de la Marine by the marina in Porto Vecchio did fantastic sushi, Evie's favourite.

The highlight for Evie was a visit to the beach with A Staffa Poney club, and riding a horse in the sea at Plage de Santa Giulia.  We liked the beach so much we went back, the kids swam, made friends and I had a beer overlooking the jetty where they jumped in! 

After nine days our ferry home was delayed and we arrived in Toulon at 7:30PM and a seven hour drive in the dark, not fun but the kids slept.

Normality

Getting ready for Xmas, buying cards and presents for the kids.  Been to the doctor about my back still bad after a year,  blood test recommended,  now have an issue with my prostate. IRM (MRI) and check up with urologist!   I also have an IRM booked in December to check the progress or lack of progress of my ataxia. I have to say it feels that I have stabilised.  I have also been referred to a Rheumatologist.  I just want my back to get better, so I have started to run (on machine, low impact) and do yoga, a 21 day back program.  I will take twice as long as they recommend, so run and yoga every other day

There have been a number of supper dates with Ian and Mandy, Paul and Steve.  We went to a Chinese buffet and the food was very good, so we went for lunch a second time as Irish Iain was off to Portugal, then Ireland before Xmas,  There were eight of us and Iain had a great send off.  I also saw my friends Martin and Felicity, cooked a fresh Thai green chicken curry and enjoyed the afternoon .  I followed this up with lunch with Martin at the Halles restaurant in Castres complete with a glass of champagne for my birthday.

I feed the animals first thing and one of the non flying running ducks, flew over the fence.  A chase ensued and I eventually got Bob back in the orchard, so she could eat the duck and chicken food.  The ducks seem to like the rain, the chickens not so much and always look bedraggled.  Good news, I get the occasional chicken egg for breakfast.

This month I spoke to a number of friends and I called my sister for a chat.  Always great to catch up.

Well that's about it, I cannot believe it's nearly Christmas, next week I will get a tree so Evie can dress it, order a turkey, I have eight for Christmas lunch, nine if Neil flies over for the holiday.

Hopefully, finish the skirting and architrave next week with enough time to get the room ready for Xmas!

Corsican beach