Flowers

A pictorial entry to show some of the flowers in and around our property.

does anyone know what this is?

and this one?

geraniums and herbs

irises in one of my (many) vases

irises in garden

more irises in another part of the garden

lilac bushes are everywhere and smell heavenly

we have lots of these pretty orchids

one of the four vines we planted for table grapes

planting tomatoes - note the braod bean plants behind the tomato bed....

a spring vine

quite a spectacle in rows

sweet smelling wild broom

Anzac Day

The 25th April is the commemoration of the ANZACs (Australia New Zealand Army Corps). In both countries the day is a national holiday. There are dawn services, followed by parades and commemoration marches, which pay tribute to the forces in Gallipoli in World War I who lost their lives. Winston Churchill had a plan to capture the Gallipoli Peninsula to open the way to the Black Sea to make way for the allied forces.

When I was at school we used to have a special assembly to remember this event. At that time it did not make a huge impression on me but now I fully understand and appreciate the reasons to have such services or traditions and remember the past. Being in France is an extra reminder now as all around us where there are wild flowers, we see poppies growing. So it is a fitting flower as a tribute to those who lost their lives in the great war.

Curry, Car, Computer and Clothes

Have you ever had one of those days or weeks where everything seems to go wrong? Sometimes there are too many frustrating things happening which shouldn't happen, or just seem to happen at the wrong time. I fear I may have tempted fate - Wouter has a beret which reminds me of the one Frank Spencer used to wear in 'Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'. I found some clips on you tube and he watched them the other night. You remember Frank - everything he touched fell apart or everything he made fell to bits or landed on something else and broke it.

It started last week when we went out for a lunch with our friends up the road. It was a curry place which looked as though it would be good - uses fresh ingredients and so on. We were really looking forward to it as we hadn't been 'out' since leaving NZ. So we got there and it was not quite Fawlty Towers, but almost. The people were a little weird, the place was a little weird (holes in the ceiling, silver insulation on the ceiling, several unfinished bits and colours in the loo, a small screen to separate the kitchen and dining with the kitchen looking like something out of a 1970s camping grounds, the people sitting behind us while we ate....) Anyway, the company was great and we laughed all the way home as we tried to think what were the fresh ingredients in the meal. We joked that the only thing missing was the funny walk.

Then Wouter tried to start the car but it wouldn't go - earlier in the day he tried it and it wouldn't work then, but he thought it was because of all the rain we'd had on the weekend - which, by the way, was average by NZ standards! So he hopped on the bike and cycled down to the local garage. They arrived 10 minutes later with a huge tow vehicle. "Bit drastic", I thought, but no - our little baby was taken away for a check-up with the main suspect being the fuel pump. However, on further inspection it turned out to be water in the electronic box. Blast! (actually a stronger word was used) So it was taken to Limoux Citroen garage and we would be without a car until last Friday or so, and it would cost 500 euro to fix..... Well, we can't be without a car, and without having it fixed the car won't go, so it's hardly a choice. On Friday we were told Tuesday.

So on Tuesday this week the lady from the garage called around. Happy to see her, I said "the car...." (in French), but she said - no.... long story, but it appears there are more problems - oh really? - yes, it looks like the car has been driven into a river. At this point I was startled as I thought she told me someone HAD driven the car into a river. But she was saying there are 3 electrical boxes, and 2 of them are so full of water they are shot. So double trouble, but triple the cost. And it will take - possibly - another 3 days to fix..... So maybe we will have the car back by the weekend. I said to Wouter that we didn't buy a Citroen but a Citron (lemon)! Our kind village neighbours up the road took me food shopping on Friday as we were having other people over for dinner so I had to get some food in.

OK, having that out of the way left room for more things to happen. Wouter has been trying to work with some masonry and of course is unfamiliar with it having worked with only wood for years. So the mix went everywhere, the batons wouldn't sit where he put them, some Dutch swearing.... But he thinks now he has the hang of it, so perhaps this is one good thing.

While he was busy yesterday I was working on the computer when an antivirus window popped up telling me that there was an upgrade and we shouldn't be without it as otherwise we are unprotected. So, thinking this was a normal upgrade I clicked download, then forgot about it as I was busy with other things. Normally Wouter takes care of such matters. This morning he tried to run a scan which didn't work. So I told him what happened yesterday. Makes sense. But do you think we could get the application to run, install, or give us any useful information with which we could email for help?????

So after spending a long time searching their site, logging a query then checking the faqs as recommended, I lost my query, which I think ended up somewhere in deepest, darkest Czechoslovakia. No problem, I thought, I will email them. Wouter took time away from his own frustrating masonry and found a contact address but not the current key. Blast! Anyway, I thought still no problem, we will just provide the old key, an explanation and surely it will be fine. I took some screen shots which would be helpful to show what happens when you try to run the application, composed the email, uploaded the attachments, and when the screen refreshed, all the text was missing from the email. Tried clicking the back button, but that takes you completely out of the email you are writing, so completely frustrated by this point, I re-wrote the whole email. Bad enough to write about this experience once, never mind having to remember what you wrote and say it all again.

To top off the day - well, it wouldn't be complete without another story, would it? - it's quite windy but sunny, and because it has been a little unsettled over the last week and the plumbers have been here fixing pipes and drainage I didn't do much laundry. So I thought I'd catch up on that while I did work in the garden. Having hung it all out and nicely blowing in the breeze, or rather, almost blowing sideways, it dried in no time and I promptly brought it in only to find that some of the things had been so blown about by the wind that they are now badly out of shape - Murphy's Law says that these will be the items you like best or are the most expensive or are irreplaceable. So we will be happy if, by the end of the week, the car is back and working properly and we can just get on with our work without any funny business and we can pick up another supply of wine to replace our soon-to-be-depleted stocks after a few frustrating days!

Meanwhile we have been watched by a religious lady on the hill. A couple of weeks ago she wasn't there, but because some flowers were lost, it gave this appearance. In a couple of weeks time she will be gone.

look carefully above the roof

Lagrasse

Four weeks ago we took a day off when the sun was shining brightly and made a trip to Lagrasse. The village is officially one of the most beautiful in France and the Abbey had caught our interest as a place to visit. It is in the Corbieres region of the Aude department and about 30 minutes east of Carcassonne. We felt we had not seen enough of our close neighbour on a couple of previous trips and wanted to see a bit more.

We took a secondary road via St Hilaire and through army territory with an interesting note that it reminded us very much of the Desert Road in NZ, an area also used by the army. Otherwise there was not much of a view until we were close by, but that was quite stunning.

Lagrasse street

We made a small walk around the village and found it to be very picturesque - lots of photo opportunities here. The river Orbieu runs through the village and the streets are from the 12th century and have attracted many artists, sculptors and potters from around the world.

covered market

There is a covered market where you can imagine the dealings of traders in times gone by. It reminds me a little of the village in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

medieval bridge

The Abbey is in two parts - one which is still used by monks today and is not open to visitors, the other part we visited. In its youth the monastery became rich very quickly and its lands spread as far south as Spain the in 9th and 10th centuries. These days there is ongoing reconstruction and repair work without interrupting a fascinating visit. The nearby cemetry is also an attraction.

Abbey across the river

altar

ruins

inscription

Travelling home we took another route and passed a few small villages which would be lovely to visit again for more photos as they reminded us of Mid-Wales. But no more trips for a while as we buckle down to do the last work to get our B&B running. There is dust and rubble everywhere, a big pile of debris on the driveway, hoses and pipes galore and lots of work still to do.

someone's former home

old wine stock

Caterpillars on the March

This morning our routine was disrupted somewhat. I was looking out of the window while doing dishes and saw that a tree recently planted by the council was bending a bit too much in the wind. It seemed a pity to let it break so I asked Wouter if he would go and fix the support. At the same time I was aware of a lot of bird activity, which seemed more than usual. I thought that they had found something interesting to eat.

So as Wouter headed off to do the tree, he suddenly ran back - I knew straight away why. Chenilles. Wouter asked me to put the kettle on for boiling water while he grabbed his camera and went out again. I put on some water to boil and then followed in my dressing gown.

We were faced with a long procession of caterpillars, which we knew behaved this way but had never seen it. It was quite amazing to see them all nose to tail, moving quite slowly. The weather conditions seemed perfect as we had a soft south easterly wind blowing, and for the last couple of nights warmer temperatures. Also the next couple of days are supposed to rain, which would nicely loosen the soil so they can burrow their way in and become a larva until the next stage of development.

130 critters at our neighbours gate

The first procession we found had around 130 of the little blighters. Some had already been run over by passing cars. After watering them and a few other smaller processions, Wouter decided that more powerful action was required and got the blow torch. After a few hours there were some still wriggling and attempting to escape. He figures that with all the lines we found today there were about 800 of them! All capable of eventually making another 300 - imagine that.

This morning we saw that walking through the grass they are difficult to see, so it's a great disguise. Needless to say Cassy will be confined to quarters and will only go out with us over the next while until we are satisfied the ones in our area have gone.

Anyway, here are more pics of the event which you may also find fascinating.

from the rear

walking in Indian file

close-up

hot-watered - fried later

Candied Peel

So far I have been unable to find mixed candied peel for my baking. This has not been such a big issue up to now as the main recipe I make using peel is Cumberland Plate Pie - which also requires currants. I have found currants here in the supermarket, but at a cost of around nz$6.00 for 100 grams. Say no more - no CPP.

The other recipe I use with mixed peel is Hot Cross Buns (having found yeast quite easily and a kind visitor brought me the appropriate mixed spices!) With Easter fast approaching I thought I should do some experimenting.

The internet is so good for finding answers, so searching found a few recipes for mixed peel. Most of them seemed a little too much work, or needed too much time over lots of days, but I narrowed it down to two recipes which I though might work. I also didn't want hard candied peel as I wanted the sort you can use in cakes etc, which is kind of sticky.

drying, cooling and waiting to be tossed in sugar

So I had a go - it's surprisingly easy, as the recipe promised, and as I removed some of the peels after session one I now have the cake candied peel as well as the firmer "candy" peel which is great for snacking. Needless to say I am already saving up orange skins for the next batch. We will not be throwing our peels on the compost any more.

So far the people who have tried my peels love them - and no, there are not many left from the first batch....

first batch of candied peel

I am still on the tofu trail - my experiment with turning soya flour into tofu was not a complete success, but I think I will have to try again and cook it for longer next time. If it works I will be able to have tofu at one sixth of the cost of bought tofu.

And on the coffee front, we decided to have our own coffee experiment, which so far, has brought good results. I have tried a few variations and the ones we like are (mixed in with the ground coffee in the filter) :
with citrus peel, with cocoa powder and sometimes orange flavouring, with cinnamon and cocoa, with cinnamon and ginger. Any suggestions for other combinations welcome!