Birthday party

 

 

Yesterday Harriet and Fred went to a birthday party of the eldest son of a family with five chidren and two mothers, let's call them M & S. They are lesbians, although I assume this has not always been the case as evidenced by the kids. And before you all start shouting, I have heard of the turkey baster method, among others, but I think, in this case there were actual fathers around. I'm no expert and I'm not sure how you define these things, or perhaps one shouldn't try for fear of being pejorative but I find this a fascinating subject - endless food for thought. They have had relationships with men and for one reason or another have ended up together. Anyway, I was just wondering about how the children (4 boys, one girl) might be affected by the absence of father. Reminds me of a line from a B B King song: 'I gave you 7 children and now you won't give them back';

In the late 80's and early 90's I used to work for Centrepoint Soho, housing the young homeless in London; an organisation which is (or was then)staffed almost entirely by gays and lesbians, which was fun, I enjoyed it and was educated. Here in rural France, never mind that 15 years have gone by, there is so much more prejudice that it's hard to broach the subject in a sensitive way, especially since my language skills are rather limited. So, I find myself waiting for information to be volunteered. Yesterday, M was saying that she doesn't know how to give mother's love having grown up in a foster home and never knew her mother. She only knew her father from the age of 12, and he died when she was 18! So I remind myself not to be judgemental and to count my giant heap of blessings.

Generally the French are not judgemental; they don't judge each other in a negative way like we do in England. Wait, this should be a new post. Please add your comments; it is nice to know that people are reading the blog. I was wrong in the beginning.

Two sick kids and a dead dog, including Harriet's blog

 

Terrible day yesterday. Anna had to be put down.

Here's the story: she and The Mean Dog from next door have had an ongoing battle for ever. He has taunted her mercilessly and they growl and bare their teeth a lot whenever they see each other. Well, it seems that on Sunday his heckling finally got too much for her and in frenzied attack she tore him to pieces leaving blood and flesh all over the road. Jean Jacques was understandably very distressed and even the vet was apparently quite taken aback by the amount of damage.

Toby and I knew at once that our only option was to have her put down. Once a dog has attacked you cannot keep it with a clear conscience - imagine if it had been a child! So Toby took her up to the vets and stroked her face while she had the injection. He said he felt treacherous as she trusted him and he betrayed her.

Since then we have all been feeling sad and empty. We all miss her.

So on to the sick kids bit. Harriet and Gus have both spent today in bed as they have really bad coughs. Here is Harriet's blog:

This is dedicated to me, myself and I

Okay, so I'm doing this because I am bored and it's something to do. I'm in bed, ill. I suppose I'm mad but if anyone reads this you can write your comments but I might not read them. I can't believe Anna (our dog) has been put down xx So only Elsa (Anna's daughter) and Lizzy(little yappy black dog); but my best friend's dog is pregnant so fingers crossed.

I like being in bed but my feet are getting a bit numb. Next step is pins and needles. My bedroom is quite (not very) tidy; it feels me. I know a boy who has a Wii, an xbox 360 mega and a laptop in his bedroom. oh yeah, and a telly. I wouldn't like all that. Just maybe a telly. And a PC. Sorry about the appalling handwriting, it's horrible but maybe next time it will be better.

Just 1 word is bothering me - school. I must have loads of work and catching up to do. I like school it's okay I suppose but I miss having fun with my family. Learning - another one of those words. Your parents are saying you need to try harder; Your teacher says you need to improve. Pressure. They put too much of it on you and you need a break. Weird :)

But right now I don't want to think about 1.school 2. learning or 3. pressure. No, I want to think about hmmm lunch. One for all and all for lunch. Funny saying that, I got it out of a book called Maggot Pie by Michael Lawrence. It's quite funny.

New Year's Resolutions

Make pigs fly (no, that one's silly)
Make my bed every morning (that's if I get out of it)
Write nicer (starting from...... NOW)
and others

Now, this may sound weird but it was weird: Daddy was asleep on the sofa and I was watching telly. Elsa came to me and licked me so I told her to do it to Daddy. She did. She never understands me, I mean come on, what kind of a dog without training knows what "don't lick me, go and lick daddy instead" means? You have to teach dogs everything.

I can't stop blowing my nose and it's really annoying. I'm going to ask Mummy if my lunch is ready yet. And I'm going to ask her by dun dun dun phone. Yep, phone easy and it doesn't cost a penny and I don't get my feet cold; WOW. Ok - be back in five. cough cough blow blow (I told you I'm ill)

Done. That was easy. I'll need to hide this while she's in here though. I am going to put Fantastic Mr Fox on so I have something to listen to. While she's up here I might ask her to change my hot water bottle. See how cheeky I am. Well at least she doesn't have to come back up here afterwards. I just heard from my tape 'Bean was a turkey and apple farmer' ok, thanks for letting me know

Ooh this soup is lovely; so creamy and yummy. slop. Got to go now as I am eating my soup (or drinking)

I love my room, it's lovely and it makes a lovely writing room. Now Mummy wants to read this for some reason and I think she will laugh. Bother, I forgot to ask mummy to fill up my hot water bottle. Oh well, I will ask her next time; I am so not bored so not. I wonder if Daddy's finished on the phone. He has; he just came in asking for my mug and bowl (soup and hot lemon squash mmm)so I would say he's finished. I'm sad I'm not at school but hey, if I want to get better I am going to have to stay in bed. Freddy will bring my school work home.

I wonder if 3 pages is enough maybe yes. Bye bye me, myself and I

Harriet or Hedgy

COMMENTS

If anyone bothers to read this please leave a comment please please please and say who it's from. I suppose I might know by the handwriting but that's unlikely. Thanks. Harriet.

I'm here. I know, I brighten the room.

I just read this on sleep talking man which incidentally I am really enjoying.

It reminded me of what people used to say about my grandfather (apparently - he died before I was born)which was that he was so loved, and so confident that everybody would always love him that he positively brightened a room when he entered! I would be proud if I could instill this sort of confidence in my children - what is the secret? I don't think positive affirmations are the answer - although they certainly help me. I wrote this six and a half years ago and I think Gus and Freddy both have this gift! What a joy - Gus suddenly emerged from being an incredibly shy little boy to being full of confidence, handsome, tall and funny and Freddy too, although he is still only 15 has an amazing confidence that makes everyone adore him.

sun days

Sunday morning - it's very damp outside, the children are making pancakes for breakfast and are in very high spirits; lots of whooping and making up crass jokes. Handsome husband has just brought me a lovely cup of tea, proving that he is kind and considerate as well as handsome. How lucky am I?

I am in the middle of negotiations for the clients I drove around with in the ice and the snow; you remember, the ones that had tea and coffee with the sellers; who have absolutely fallen in love with the house that they looked at purely for comparison purposes; it is on the market for 35k more than they wanted to spend. Bound to happen really, as it is about 35k nicer than the others! The wheeling and dealing has gone back and forth a few times so far and I am currently waiting for the sellers to get back to me on the most recent offer (only 5k less than the asking price) so fingers crossed.

It is now Sunday evening and Toby and I have been at the lemon drops (with chilli vodka; we didn't have any plain vodka in the house). Cor, quite a kick! Nice tho'.

Tomorrow morning we are due to take on a house with six owners, which can be tedious as it takes forever to get the mandate signed. But it's in a lovely village and is cheap!

I need to get some photos on this blog - anyone know how to do it?

Bedtimes

We didn't go to bed till three last night, so getting up this morning full of beans and ready for ten sun salutations or an fym workout just wasn't gonna happen. I crawled up at ten to seven,with sore eyes and no zest for life; Gus was still in bed so I had a little chat with him and offered him scrambled egg immediately. The big two got off in time for the bus and the little two were late for school which was entirely my fault for not being ready to take on house which is almost two hours drive from here. (Normally we wouldn't contemplate going that far but it is for a friend.) Anyway, apart from the strength and stamina thing going by the wayside we did manage to achieve what we were supposed to. Nice house too, but quite a schlepp from here if anyone ever wants to view it.

Fred rather pointedly asked me if we could get to school on time tomorrow! Just to be sure I'm off to bed now. It's ten to ten. This is almost unheard of!

Perception and reality

Aah, on Saturdays in the winter we always have soup for lunch, and thanks to the excess of courgettes in the summer there is a good supply of various courgette soups in the freezer. So long as I remember to take it out soon enough to defrost and warm it up in time for Gus and Toby to eat before they have to leave for football. I hope this show of affection in the form of hot food tempers, to a certain extent, the afternoon spent freezing at the edge of a football field, and my own very evident lack of enthusiasm for this assignment.

This evening was the Mayor's new year party at the salle des fetes, with more gallete de roi and champagne, and some rather protracted speeches about what happened in the village last year and what is going to happen this year. It was great to see everyone again - I do feel that what with christmas and then snow we've been hibernating for rather a long time. I especially love the fact that I am referred to as petite: Françoise from gym 'ma petite Didi' and Philippe, our mayor introduced me to the mayor of Lussac as 'la petite Anglaise' - they don't fool me and the diet starts Monday, but a nice boost nonetheless.

So I was going to talk about this 'diet'. My January horoscope informed me at the beginning of the month that there would be a solar eclipse on January 15th which would "light the house of physical well being, so it would be an ideal time to make any big initiation for improving your strength and stamina." Hurray, so I can continue the chocolate-fest and laziness initiated by the christmas holidays for an extra two weeks. However, today is the 16th, so I should be making the changes now. As luck would have it, the horoscope follows up by saying "wait a few days to begin, beyond the eclipse for best luck, say, January 17 or 18". So, tomorrow I'll decide what to do and start doing it on Monday morning (perfect for initiating new beginnings I find) and hope that the after effects of the solar eclipse offer enough support. I know the main thing I have to do is stop eating chocolate at every hour of the day; also drink much more water - the water is delicious at the moment, so that should be okay. But improving strength and stamina? This is obviously going to involve some rigorous exercise routine, and I'll need to keep it up for more than a couple of weeks. I'll let you know...

Daddy's home

Yesterday's viewings went much more smoothly than I had anticipated. Don't know what I was so uneasy about. Despite the continuing snow and hazardous conditions which any sensible person would eschew, I met up with my, uh, victims (?)and we looked at all the houses on the list, finding time for coffee with the French ones and tea with the English ones. By the end of the day my toes were ready to drop off, but hey, it's the sort of thing us estate agents will tolerate happily if there is even the slightest hint that said punter might make an offer.

Today was much calmer - school bus didn't turn up at 7.15 so we celebrated no school, only to have our high spirits dashed by bus turning up at 8.45, having had a problem with frozen diesel, and having to wolf pancakes and leave with virtually no notice.

Picked handsome husband up from airport (happily Poitiers was back to normal today) and am so pleased to have him home that I really let go my usual reserve and have got completely Brilliant tonight. So now I must sleep.....

While the cat's away...

Bugger, I thought I had half a post saved here but in the two day break I've had from blogging, it seems to have been swallowed by the ether! Oh well!

Toby has gone to London for The France Show, although getting there wasn't without its own inconveniences. No hint on the website, but when we got to Poitiers airport it was closed. They said there was a flight out of La Rochelle that evening that might not be cancelled so he changed his ticket and off we trundled, leaving behind the moaners who weren't prepared to or just couldn't take the risk! As we approached la Rochelle, the sun was shining, the sky azure, no snow on the ground and it felt like a different country.

Friday, Harriet was off school with a tummy bug but everybody else went off to school and I went off to do my first sale with a lovely couple from Liverpool who after a false start last February have bought Madame Chevalier's house in Bouresse. The Notaire was very chatty and the signing took an hour and 40 mins when they can take as little as 20 mins!

Yesterday I got up late, hurried through my tasks and set off in the snow to pick up same clients from their B&B and take them to an appointment with the bank to open an account. Nothing exciting to report, as despite blizzard we got there on time and home again safely and I came home feeling good: "that was kind of me"! I really didn't want to go out in it, but once it was done I was so pleased with myself that when a vendor rang wanting to reduce the price of their property, I offered to go out again in the snow to take them an avenant. I am just too benevolent for my own good!


Since then we have been having such a lovely time. Shut all the shutters, throw another log on the fire, make camp! all the mattresses came downstairs and after supper (cassoulet, home-made from scratch - you can be impressed)we watched telly in bed, starting with Narnia, followed by Notting Hill and then eventually went to sleep at about 1am. Today is Sunday, still cold out so we are having a pyjama day and have had some fun with all the beds in the sitting room, played murder in the dark and Cranium Kabookii on the Wii; Roast chicken for food later and an early night methinks.

I was half hoping that my viewings tomorrow would be cancelled but no, so far so good so I need to do some work to get the day all sorted.

A rare treat and a galette

I stayed in bed all morning! I had got up initially at 7 to see the kids off on the bus (which didn't come due to the snow) and put the bins out (and the bin-men haven't come yet either), and at the same time turned on the dishwasher which had been overlooked last night, but by twenty to eight I was back in my bed where I stayed till 12.30. Oh the luxury, the debauchery, I feel so naughty.

Since today is Epiphany it is the traditional day in France for eating 'galette des Rois' This is a kind of cake made from brioche or sometimes a rather delicious wet pastry, with a fève, which used to be a bean but nowadays is more usually a porcelain figurine hidden inside. The person who gets the piece of cake with the fève wears the golden crown (sold with the cake) and becomes 'king' for a day apparently. Luckily the children had Galette des Rois at school yesterday as I had conveniently forgotten to buy one and today we were snowed in. I like the fèves which in our house usually emerge in the washing machine by about the 12th January, and I keep them in my pocket as a lucky charm until they get lost again.

Time for a little spring cleaning? It's -7°C so you have to do something to keep warm

 Today we bought an extraordinary SEBO K3 vacuum cleaner and it is just the business.

Since I inherited my grandmother's old Panasonic when she died in 1995, we have bought a few vacuum cleaners, but not being a terribly house-proud type, I have always felt that large wads of currency could be better spent elsewhere; the upshot is that we have had a series of crapulent hoovers that can't suck, including the Dyson. 

Dysons were such a fashion item; I distinctly remember the girls night out when we lived in the suburbs of Manchester circa 1997 when the 'girls' spent the best part of the evening discussing (with demonstrations à la Stepford wives) how marvellous their Dysons were and what a joy it is to do the hoovering when you have in your possession one of these superb appliances. And god, I totally fell for it, and when I was given the all clear to buy one...oh joy unbounded! Sadly, it didn't have the desired effect and our house remained almost as dirty as before, and then we were burgled and the Dyson went!

Last year we bought a cheap supermarket cylinder type thing, which turned out to be worse than useless and we went back to using the old faithful Panasonic, by this time bits of the tube breaking off every time you took it out, and the suck is so feeble that you have to supplement the hoovering with vigorous brushing by hand to get the dog hair and pine needles up to the mouth of the tube.

SEBOs come highly recommended and now I too can vouch for the fact that they are the Mercedes of hoovers; fanbloodytastic.

And yes, I am a saddo who’s getting on a bit.

Today I stepped out of my comfort zone

A married couple who live near us have two houses for sale, which we mandated in August the year before last, but once we had spent half the day with them and the other half of the day writing lovely descriptions of their houses, they told us that they would not be making use of our services after all. Well, at the time we were angry and offended as they would not tell us why they had suddenly taken against us but they obviously had.

His house is unlikely to be snapped up, even by a blind person, but hers is gorgeous and just what the majority of our clients are looking for. However 17 months later and both their houses are still on the market so this morning I rang her to see if I could get it back on our books. Particularly scary phone call to make, especially as he answered and I had to get past him to her without him realising who I was. The trepidation turned to excitement as I realised I was succeeding, but I shook for a good ten minutes afterwards.

It just so happens I have a client looking for just such a house next Monday, so with a bit of luck I'll sell it within a week of taking it on and make them feel rather silly. And even if the husband comes on bended knee, the answer will be no. He evidently had a bee in his bonnet and was incredibly rude to me when I asked him in a reasonable way why he had wasted our valuable time.

In case you're wondering, the title (^^my mum is gorgeous isn't she :D) is a direct quote from a young person -  sadly not one of my young people, nor about me, I hasten to add,  but about a friend of mine who really is gorgeous. I'd be tickled pink if my teenage offspring said that about me..hey ho, I can dream.

A beginning

I wish I had started this blog two, no three years ago, but now that I have made the decision and begun, I am finding the whole thing quite terrifying. Firstly, I  have been reading I love Lucy, and I do, and her blog is so beautifully written with wonderful concepts, but I have to remember, it's not a comptetition and secondly, I am hoping that nobody will find it, so why, you may ask, am I writing it? It's for me, and especially for my older self as already my memory isn't working as it used to. So why publish on the www then? well, purely because it is more convenient than having a book and finding a pen and also, I think I might just modify my behaviour for the better if I write about it in public and can feel (or at any rate imagine) the tangible disapproval of the world.

Since chrsitmas I have been completely unable to stop myself eating chocolate; I am compulsive and secretive about my chocolate consumption, and gobble quickly whatever I can find before other people come into the room.  There, caught out...now I must share. One of these days I will be so utterly horrified by my shape that I will give it, and all my other fattening vices, up immediately and start running and keep fit and retrieve an excellent figure and good health!

So that's it..I'm going to leave it for the moment as I have to mend Harriet's jeans - she needs them for tomorrow morning, and I should have gone to bed half an hour ago if I want to come close to fulfilling any one of my new year's resolutions.

Does this thing automatically put in the date and time? let's see shall we.

BTW, if you do come across this blog, please don't comment, and don't whatever you do 'Follow'. I'd like to carry on thinking that it will be my secret confessional.