UPDATE

Well, after several more hospital visits poor Dave has been called back to Perpignan for what we thought was another Angioplasty but since arriving there he has been told that tomorrows op is exploratory which could of course mean that he may have to have a bi-pass. Because of my inability to drive thanks to crap eyesight I have to rely on Christopher to take me to the hospital, so we are going on Friday all being well, provided he is not down for a further operation in which case we may have to wait another day. He is understandably frightened and so am I.

To change the subject somewhat and to get out of this depression, the garden is improving greatly but the weather although sunny and bright has turned really cold with strong winds.

For those readers who do not know me, I apologise for the last two morbid posts, but blogging is easier than writing a diary and it helps me combat the forces of doom!!!.

Hopefully more happy news and pictures in days to come

SHOCK, HORROR

Dave had a couple of nasty shocks from his defibulator (not sure of the spelling, will check later) on Friday. Since then he has been almost like a zombie. He is in panic mode and has been in bed. Nobody told us at the hospital when it was fitted that this was likely to happen all we got was a pamphlet in French which we have since translated. It looks to me as though he shouldnt really be driving which makes life almost impossible as the main shops are about 4 miles away and the main city a lot further. Of course, because of my eyes I cant drive either so the situation, excuse my French is SHIT. Thank goodness for blogs at least you can say what you feel without anybody too close to you knowing. At the moment with this stress situation going on he doesnt want me out of his sight, for example I have been stuck on a chair outside the back door today becauses I dare not even move a little way down the garden in case he shouts for me. This can not go on, I think I said before that not being able to drive was like being in an open prison but this situation is closing the open prison doors. I am convinced that he is having panic attacks which may well be causing the increase in heart rate, which in turn is causing the defib to shock him, which is causing further trauma and panic. It is difficult to explain this in French even although the specialists here do speak some English.

A good friend in the village, Debbie the aussie, asked me out on Wednesday but I cant think about going, it is difficult even to do the shopping as there are limited supplies in the village and I have to leave the house in order to shop.

Tomorrow we will have to see the doctor and something will have to be done but I do hope that this is not the end of his driving days because if it is we might as well jump off the nearest bridge. If there is anybody out there who can talk to Him upstairs, ask Him to do us a favour because we really need it at the moment.

Sorry to be a crashing bore, but I just needed to get this off my chest. Thank you Diary!!!!

Garden transformation

The garden has been transformed by 30 tons of gravel which has made a tremendous difference. It looks a bit bare at the moment but by the time the trees come out and I have put some large pots around it should look much better. At least we are not walking around in mud anymore.

I went to a plant sale yesterday as you can see from the other post and bought a lemon tree, another eucalyptus and a Grevillea Robusta, an Australian tree which my aussie friend Debbie assures me will grow to an enormous height well we will see.

PLANT SALE AT LA CAUNETTE

LUNCH IN AID OF A NEW BAKERY

The village bakery burned down on Christmas Eve and all the equipment was lost and the flat upstairs in which the baker and his family lived was ruined, all their Christmas presents went up in smoke. The village decided to hold a lunch party to raise funds for a new bakery so we were asked to pay 15 euros a head and the local restauranteurs provided the food and the wine producers donated the wine.

We had butternut and carrot soup, casserole duck with vegetables, cheese and chocolate mousse, as usual washed down with copious amounts of plonk.

The donations came to around 7,000euros which will go towards setting up a new bakery. Ee by gum they know how to put on a good "do" in France.

CARNIVAL 2009

Struggling here a bit with photos. I added some text to the end of the pics of the carnival but goodness knows where that has gone. Suffice to say it was a fabulous day for weather, bright sunshine and no wind but VERY cold and the parade, well we are in France, was an hour late. Still all the more time for another glass!!!

Next Saturday is a lunch laid on by the village to help the baker re-fit his bakery after the fire. He was not insured for his ovens etc so the village will club together to help pay for a new bakery. Should be another boozey do! Roll on Lent, I WILL give it up for a few weeks, I will honestly

Bize Carnival 2009