REMEMBRANCE DAY IN BIZE

I was going to add my video of this but Debs our Aussie friend has taken a better one than mine which you can see if you follow this link
http://bize-bytes.blogspot.com/2009/11/remembrance-day-2009.html


India was chosen along with two of her French friends to participate in the parade. She read the names of the fallen of Bize and we were very proud to see her, a little English girl speaking excellent French.

As is usual we, along with all the villagers present, were invited to the village hall for, yes you have guessed it, wine and nibbles. Nothing new there then!

A SAMPLE OF THE CONCERT LAST WEEK

Dont strain your eyes looking for me, I am well hidden behind the curtain!

LONG TIME NO POST !

Well, for us gardeners it has been the busy season.  The long hot days have gone although only just. We now have long awaited rain and cooler weather.  I have done some more planting and taken loads of cuttings. Whether the cuttings will survive through the winter remains to be seen.  The garden looks quite good still and we have visitors tomorrow who havent seen it since it was "landscaped" so lets hope they are impressed. 

Dave sleeps most of the day so I am on my own and as the eye specialist hasnt  prescribed any glasses yet I am still unable to drive, so the garden is my "thing" and my other "thing" which gets me out of the house once a week is the choir, which I am really enjoying.  We had a concert last Saturday in the village hall at Capestang in front of a crowd of about 200 . It went down really well and we made quite a lot of money on the retiring collection.  We are now rehearsing for Christmas which is really up my street because I have experience with church choirs and know a lot of carols.  About 50 years ago, yes 50, I learnt a French carol at school and would you believe it we are singing it this Christmas and I still remember the tune, and most of the words (in French!).

Short update but any update is better than none. Dark mornings, dark nights, but not too cold and we are in November so we cant complain.

C'est la vie

Choir

My first performance with the choir in the square at Capestang. Debbie kindly took this video for me as David had problems operating the camera. Pity about the wind but it is always a problem in this part of the world.

TONY AND TINA VISIT AND THE FIRST CHOIR EXPERIENCE

Tony and Tina came down from the Alps for a couple of weeks and brought with them lots of delicious
home made pork pies which Tony had made in their
little kitchen. They were all beautifully wrapped and
and absolutely yummy. They hope to make a business
out of freshly prepared pies and pasties and have managed to sell quite a few to bars in the area wherethey are living. Our friend Miki kindly offered to invite a few expats around for a taste and a good number turned up. It was a very pleasant get together and nearly everyone bought a pie or two.      They are hoping
to make Cornish-style pasties during the winter months and I reckon these will be very very welcome on
the slopes or apres ski. They really need a full sized

kitchen but no doubt this will come in time

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I had my first "outing" with the choir I joined a couple of weeks ago.
We sang in the village square in

Capestang where we were received very well by the local community.

Even Dave said it sounded very good,praise indeed! I gave him strict instructions on how to use the video but unfortunately being a man it was all too technical for him. My Aussie mate Debs took her camera so maybe she will send me a copy. If so I will bore you dear readersat a later date. Or you could view here blog Bize Bytes.

Meanwhile back to the gardening and the waist line trimming exercises which have become necessary after a summer of mindless drinking. Wearing larger clothes is just not acceptable so cutting down is imperative, and sobering.

Had the eyes checked again this week and the surgeon seems quite pleased. I have to go back in a couple of months and maybe I will be able to get some glasses after that. Nevertheless I plucked up enough courage to drive back from the local supermarket with Tina as navigator and found it really quite emotional, but I managed to avoid cyclists, well I think I did, and remembered to drive the RIGHT way round the roundabout.

Tomorrow India (granddaughter) is riding in her first competition so we will be down at the riding school to see the thrills and spills! I would love to ride again but at my age some things are better left alone - c'est la vie

We took these pictures last Saturday in the village. We had heard that there would be a big wedding in Bize and never having seen a French wedding before we thought we would go down and have a look. It was a civil ceremony held at the town hall and there were lots of guests in a variety of outfits. The bride looked gorgeous and the groom wasnt bad either. They left for the reception in the same horse drawn cart they arrived in and travelled to the nearby Chateau Cabazac for what I am sure must have been a very grand reception.

On Thursday evening Dave and I went to the local eating place and treated outselves to 12 Oysters au gratin and a litre of local plonk - 12 oysters each that is! It is the most gorgeous meal and if it was not so high in salt content we would have it a couple of times a week ! As it is we limit ourselves to about once a month.

Monday was the day of my eye op. It was a seriously traumatic session but painless and only took about 20 mins. I am seeing much better than I did before but I dont want to get too excited in case the blurring re-appears. The only bad side of the clearer vision is the fact I can see my face in the bathroom mirror - NOT GOOD. I go back to see the specialist in a couple of weeks time so fingers crossed, who knows I may get behind the wheel again soon.

We have had a couple of days of heavy rain and so I must get on with pulling up the weeds in the garden as it is only possible when the soil is wet. Lunch first though and then wellies on - C'est la vie.

THE TENNIS CLUB PARTY

We went to the tennis club party on Saturday night. It was a great evening with an excellent four course meal and all for only 15 Euros a head!. It was hot as it has been for several weeks now, in fact last night at 11.30 it was still in the 80's and today threatens to be the hottest day and it was over 103 yesterday at lunchtime. There is very little we can do in this heat, any gardening has to be done very early in the morning or after dark and its so humid. We have fans running all night so heaven knows what the electric bill will be!

More news when things cool down a bit because sitting in front of a computer is not an ideal way to keep cool.