Most of the terrace plants are doing really well – we haven’t been at the house this long in past years so they’re getting tended and watered more.  The jasmine especially is very lush, and the two tomato plants have sprouted up like crazy.

Colin’s hernia operation went well – he has a follow-up appointment soon to make sure all is ok.  I convinced him to use my upstairs bedroom for a week while I used the spare bedroom/office/library.  Thus he didn’t have to go up and downstairs as much and all he had to do was move into the lounge to get to the couch and watch tv while he recuperated.

The ‘honey man’ is at the market every Friday morning – I’ve tried several of his products and all are delicious.  We also get what we can from the veggie people, and have tried scallops from the fish guy.

We took a drive to Confolens one day for fish and chips – it ended up being a bit of an ‘adventure’.  First of all we went in the campervan as the fish and chip shop is quite small and in case there wasn’t room we’d be able to park somewhere nice and eat inside the campervan.

There were roadworks on the way and the main diversion included going under a bridge with fairly low clearance.  We couldn’t fit under so turned around and ended up following another campervan that seemed to know where they were going, eventually getting across the river and into the town.  To top it all off the cafe was closed due to ‘it being too hot to open’!  

We’ve been to the little restaurant at Villognon several times now and always enjoy what we get, although I must say that the duck confit I had the first time was my favourite.

We helped out at the annual ‘kids’ races in Saint Angeau, parking the campervan at a side road near the finish line to marshall any traffic and prevent them from turning in either direction.  Luckily there was a french lady on the other side of the main road doing the same thing and she took care of most of the interactions with the drivers.  There was only one driver that was somewhat ornery, but at least he did as directed and didn’t try to run us over.

The following weekend we helped again at another race – the Paul Poux, which has about 300 entrants and covers three different routes of varying lengths.  This time Colin and I were at different places – he was right in Goue and I was just down the road at another spot.  I was very nervous about being alone and not being understood so I printed up four papers in french with phrases on them such as ‘there is a cycling race on’ and ‘you may only turn left when I tell you it’s safe’.

There ended up being many more cars than I expected entering and leaving my little side road, but every driver was extremely nice and co-operative and several laughed at my phrase pages.  Luckily the races had started early as it was getting very hot by the time we left around 10:30.

On our way to Aigre one day we saw that the restaurant in Villejesus had re-opened.  We were very happy to see that and stopped on the way home for a drink.  There’s a nice war memorial across the road…

…we went back several days later to have lunch but they wouldn’t let the dog inside and we didn’t want to sit on the outside area as it’s right on the road so ended up getting pizza from one of the places in Aigre.

The next weekend we helped out at yet another local race – this time the regional gravel championships.

There are many ‘white roads’ around here and it was a sunny and hot day.  We were assisting at the water table, handing out bottles as the riders passed.  I ended up taking over the opening of the bottles and setting them out on the table for the others to ‘hand’ to the riders as they pass – not as easy as it might sound in some cases.

Colin got a new car!  He’d been looking online for a Porsche Panamera but decided that the potential maintenance costs could get pretty high so we ended up at the BMW dealership in Angouleme.  He’s dealt with them for many years and ended up getting a lovely sporty coupe.

I wouldn’t want to be getting in and out of the back seat as a passenger but the dog likes it, and the hatch/storage area is huge.  Apparently it’s really nice to drive but I haven’t tried it out yet – I’m fairly comfortable with the ‘old’ blue one (which we have kept) but will eventually have a go with the new one.

We made another trip up to Confolens and had success this time with the ‘english’ fish and chips.  The shop is quite small and there’s only sitting outside with space for about 20 people.  We were lucky as we hadn’t made reservations and it was the best fish and chips I’ve had in a long time.  Having delicious local french cuisine at one of the many restaurants we now frequent is one thing, but fish and chips brings fond memories from childhood.

We took delivery of firewood for next winter – the pile seemed so large when we started…

…but it only took about 90 minutes – with a small break – to stack it neatly on the lower terrace.

Colin had a follow-up appointment with the hernia surgeon and she was quite pleased with his recovery.  He also had an initial appointment with a urologist – he was one of the rudest professional people I’ve ever encountered.  First of all, when we were in the waiting area a woman came out one door and muttered ‘that was very rude!’.  When we’d gone in we realized why – the doctor was constantly saying very nasty things under his breath in french because Colin’s french isn’t perfect, especially when it comes to medical terms.  Part of the problem was that I understood much of what the doctor was saying and it took all of my self-control not to reach out and slap him, then dramatically storm out.  I really hope that Colin doesn’t need surgery as that doctor was horrible.

On a nicer note we got a small bird-bath for our feathered friends – it has a solar-powered pump that makes a little fountain so now they have a fat-ball feeder, a lovely seed feeder (made by Claire) and now a water source.

• Cycling
• Flowers
• France
• Landscapes/scenery
• Photography
• Travel