Pete'n'Nel

Dinner last night with Peter and Nel at their new palace, with Jutta and Bernt - here are Nel and Jutta before dinner and the other photo is us at table. The nosh was brill!! I'd never had an egg cooked inside an avocado before, still slightly baffled as to how it was done.

 There was a celebrative air about the evening as Bob has just heard officially that he is to be made a Freeman of the Royal Borough of Greenwich; lovely that he should be honoured for all his years of dedicated hard work.

Apero chez Fiona

Lovely apero at Fiona's beautiful home - 

Max made it in time! Here he is fresh from a boring and loopy  trip of delayed flights, glad to be back.

Here is Bob next to Ann, opposite an hazy Simon (who knocks up mean nibbles BTW) who is next to Janet - also seen below with John.

some camera crisis has lost or perverted some of the guests... sorry...but for all the blurriness, this of Roy has to go in :)

Quillan on Weds

 Quillan on Weds is an occasional tradition - Sue the English book exchange lady is there then and of course the English library is open. On such a beautiful day who would not bunk off, given the chance... mixed quality photos but this moody Quillan backstreet speaks volumes. Quietly.
The blossom in the market is glorious.
Just heard from Max; his flight had been delayed, he's only just arrived at Barcelona and will probably miss tonights' shenanigans. Domage.

not full spate quite

The river calming down yesterday... and calmer today though still high. All well. Nothing to report. Though much is brewing :)

Magheads ahoy

The many fans of Mary Magdalene - known locally as Magheads - will be beating a path to the Beaux Arts in Carcassonne where a jolly entertaining expo is running, entry free.

And the winner is.... the modern face of catholicism, in 1891 anyway. By Jean Beraud and totally fab. See
http://fr.muzeo.com/reproduction-oeuvre/la-madeleine-chez-le-pharisien/beraud-jean
for a decent look at the image. Makes a change from men's paintings of semi-naked ladies clutching skulls and is beautifully painted.

Margaret drove me and Kat there and we were good, we didn't stop in any art stores and squander our resources on things we think might help but don't. We went instead to Alet-les-Bains to draw the racing Aude; the heavy rains of last night had swollen it big time.

Bob  is back with us and the weather will be good for tomorrows market. 

Unnatural practices

Get back to Esperaza to find that the rabbit has moved in with the tortoise. It is pouring with rain, mind you - it may have some sense, though not sure that Oswald has granted permission.
Tango is chatty and happy, Lily fat. Saw various friends at the airport. All is well, it seems.

Outings

 Phil had been out pic-nicing by the camargue all day so we had a quiet super at the Creperie - wanted him to try the burgers at  l'Authentique but it was inexplicably closed -  thence to an early night :) Bumped into Pete and Nel who are loving their new home up the hill. Invited ourselves over soon... which reminds me, off to Isle de Brexit on Saturday so all will be quiet for a few days.

PS Can't resist adding this photo from this mornings' coffee - mine host deciding to wear some kind of curtain :)

Remboursement de la taxes des ordures, 2014

Local residents will remember when the shit tax started, in 2014. Turned out it WAS illegal since the service provided was already paid for in the taxe d'hab. It's now possible to claim a rebate. (Only for 2014, after that the position was regularised). Clever Hilary discovered this from her neighbour who was with the post office, who gave her a pro forma letter by which to claim a reimbursement. I have copies.
You have fill that in and give them the number of the cheque you paid it with and attaching a RIB.
This rebate isn't being advertised and only the info is being passed person to person. When I was in the bank getting the RIB the staff chuckled and said that the Quillan treasury was suffering. The newsagents (Linares, by the new butcher) said to pass the word... let me know if you want a copy of the letter.

Here's a picture of Jess having a wash. Beautiful weather here. Phil away on a pic-nic.

speed update

This morning;

the trimming of the trees by the station. Rather good news as the magpies will have to nest elsewhere, thereby not being so close to nesting birds, maybe. They are as bad as cats in the destruction of young songbirds plus they take unhatched eggs. Grr.
This was snapped en route to Quillan for the market there. Bought a new chess set :) Its handmade and the two teams are Rasta and Douanes. Or spiritual and capitalist, perhaps. Saw many friends and got up to speed with all the news which is either too innocuous to bother with or too libelous to print.

Last night; yeah, Phil is here :) Aileen, Ole-Bendick and Gracie joined the celebration. Fig and cheese tarts, fish pie and tarte tatin lots of which (not the fish) was home grown. I'm trying to eat up the freezer before the new crops arrive.

 A morning moon, yesterday? Day before? And a nice band of young men at the market on Sunday who everyone agreed were terribly good.

REMINDER* Today is the day the town hall recommend for putting out the traps for the Asian hornets. Ours is up. You can get yours FREE from the hotel de ville. Help protect our honey bees (who are eaten and used as incubators by the invaders.)

Ax- les- Thermes

Young Holly - daughter of very old friends - is visiting Ax- les- Thermes so we went to visit her :) 

Wonderful day in hot sun, above the (melting) snowline. 

Great to see Holz whom I've known all her life. We are hoping her next port of call will be Esperaza.

Beautiful morning

Misty, but its lifting...

last night the Captain and I hoofed it to Quillan to go to the cinema there. The film was Jackie.

At the cinema they wouldn't take our 4 euro entry fee until at least 4 people arrived :) In the event there were a dozen so the film could roll... it was an interesting film, demonstrating that without the widows insistence on the funeral JFK may have been relegated to an historical footnote. 

Tardy me

Forgot, again, to take snaps - notably of Pete and Clares apero and the farewell supper that Bob cooked for them. They'll be back soon. 

The rain is abating and the river is up; the trees that flank it are down. This is on account of triage by the riverbank authorities who run the hydo-electric plant upstream. Nesting birds are homeless. Sigh.

 This bird, however, is very much homed. Here is Tango discovering a taste for mimosa.

Art a gogo

Work has started on the new arts centre!!!!

snow

Yes I know it isn't snow :) Petes pud at l'authentique last night might have been though. There was snow in the hills - here's a car that arrived in Esperaza proving the point.

We had a good night celebrating the return of Captain Harris to the fold. One thing about dieting is that NOT dieting is a blast.

My photos of Clare and Bob ain't too clear. Haven't got the hang of the mobile yet but I keep practicing.

new friends

Kat made a loverly dinner last night for Mike and Hilary and new French friends Pat and Joel. They moved here last week and are getting well entrenched :) Pat being an artist, an established network of weirdos awaits her and as they are ex-neighbours of Roland they are already family.

Yesterday I moved across the courtyard to the summer house. This morning there is snow on Rennes-le-chateau. Sigh.

Lots of wind and rain here. Power cuts all morning. Bob due back tonight...

Rue des Jardins

 Forgot to take any snaps of a lovely evening at Pete and Clares but you'll see them again, soon - in the meantime, photos from yesterdays work avoidance walk down Rue des Jardins. Love this time of year.

Take up thy bed...

It is the custom in Esperaza to put out unwanted stuff on the first Weds of the month to be collected by what is unblinkingly referred to as Le Monstre. It's a Good Thing; on the Tuesday evening it's possible to wander about and furnish a house. Much of my furniture here arrived in this fashion. 

This morning I was alarmed to note the number of beds that are on the streets. Have people restocked with new beds? Is it a spring rite? Is the death toll rising??