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.

THUNDER STORM

This storm started around midnight. What a show it was, but would you believe some of the folk in the village slept through it!!

BEASTIE

This should have appeared with my other post but it vanished when I added text so here it is again.

BEASTIE 002

Sorry it is a little out of focus but this was a rare chance to get a picture of the cicada (will check spelling later). This is just one making a racket we have thousands all around us at the moment. There is a mixed chorus daily of grasshoppers BIG ones and these noisy little charmers.

We have been sweltering in 30 plus degrees for quite some time now and no rain apart from the odd six spots now and again. Today though we have strong winds and they are forecast to get stronger. This can be soul destroying when you see all your lovely flowers and trees getting bashed to bits.

It has been very lively around the village this month. On my birthday, which as usual Dave forgot, Penny and Christopher took us to a new restaurant nearby which has a superb swimming pool. they also invited Debs and her sister Nik and the two girls, Indigo and Sage. The food was excellent and the swimming was superb, it is the first real swim I have had since we were last in Africa. We had the 14th July celebrations on Tuesday where we attended a very boozey supper party and then came home to watch the fireworks. Yesterday I went on a shopping trip to Narbonne with friends Debs (the mad Aussie) and Sandra. We had a lovely lunch at a steak restaurant and brought a good lump of leftovers back for Eddie, there is still a good amount left in the fridge so he will have a smile on his face for some time to come!

On Saturday a crowd of us are going to La Caunette for Moules et Frites, muscles and chips to you! and on Sunday there is the Olive Festival in the village where there are loads of stalls selling exciting artifacts and lots more food and wine tasting. It should quieten down a bit after that but who knows. We are expecting Chris and Penny round tonight for a drink, so look out liver here it comes again - ah well c'est la vie -

LAST PICNIC OF THE SEASON FOR THE BIZE OLDIES AND ME!

It was back to the Montagne Noir for our last walk and picnic of the season. It was quite chilly up in the mountains and a good job too because we had to walk 10 k's which is quite an achievement at any age! India came with us and we think she enjoyed it although you never know with 10 year olds. We had to walk a bit slower because of her little legs and the strain began to tell on Dave towards the end but we got back in one piece and joined the gang for the magic green champagne, made from champers, lemon juice, suger, ice and a large bottle of Curacao (sorry peeps not sure about that spelling) It is a fantastic drink, India had a taste and thought it wonderful. To accompany the champers they serve little nibbles and then we all go back to our tables and open up the chilled wines which we have in our cool boxes. The only things we have to supply on this occasion is bread, wine, knives, forks, spoons, tables and chairs, everything else if supplied by the club and the whole day only costs us 15E a head and no charge for the kids.

The first course consists of a tasty green salad, followed by enormous king prawns, as many as you can eat. They then serve pork ribs and sausages. Puddings are also on tap but I never bother, I would rather have another prawn!! Then of course comes what the French call Digestives, liquors to you and me. The best one is a home made from pure lemon juice and 100% alcohol. Mmmmmmmmmm.

Well we thought the "old folks club" had had enough walking for a season, particularly as the weather is hotting up by the day, but no - 10K was not enough for them! They tried to involve us in a 7K walk the following Tuesday, culminating in Lunch in the lovely medieval village of Minerve. We said a big NO to the walk but we joined them for lunch, good job too because the temperatures on Tuesday reached 36.

So you see the reason this post is a bit late is all down to the weather. Who in their right mind wants to sit at a computer in this sort of heat. I would rather be outside tending my grapes, or inside in front of the fan, drinking wine!

I had my six monthly visit to the Opthalmologist on Friday and he has deceided to use laser surgery on my right eye to try and improve the sight which has been very cloudy ever since my cataract operation at Moorfields. So we will see (or not) what happens and maybe just maybe I will be able to drive again. Its in the lap of the gods as they say but as you know, avid readers, c'est la vie.

ROSE L'AIMANT

This is just one of the roses in our garden. I have called the rose bed "The Family Bed" because the roses in it all have names similar or the same as the family names. L'Aimant is the closest to our name, Westerland is the same as Penny's maiden name and Alexander is my maiden name.

The good news since the last post is regarding Bra sizes! Silly me, senior moment, ordered the wrong size, no wonder it didnt fit.

Christopher has been speeding up my computer but unfortunately things seem to be going wrong since he changed the settings, so this post is just to see how things go blog wise. There is not a lot of news at the moment, we are still laying water pipes in the garden and this has to be done at 6am as it is too hot to do anything after about 8am! Ah well, c'est la vie!

THE LATEST WALK WITH THE OLDIES CLUB

We went up to the Black Mountains for our latest walk and picnic. It was a beautiful day and this year the poppies have been amazing and the vines are growing bigger than we have ever seen before. I have found a white poppy which I am told is quite rare, there is always a surprise waiting round the corner on these walks. The picnic was boozy with too much food as usual. Our French friends always come armed with extra food which they pass round and you cant say no! I think they must feel we don't eat enough, although after looking in the mirror today I think a strict diet is called for.

At the moment we are slowly laying irrigation pipes around the garden to assist with the watering. Water bills can be very expensive here and at the moment it can take me at least 2 hours to water my desert. The plants are, however, growing like mad and the roses which I put in last year are doing exceptionally well.

I am off to lunch tomorrow with some friends (ladies who lunch!) so the diet will have to start probably on Monday - well a week-end is never a good time to go without. We had a parcel delivered today from M & S and the two nice new white bras I ordered are too small! First time ever I have needed a different bra size. Anyway enough information I'm off to check the temperature, it was 100F when I came in from the terrace, just too hot to sit outside- ah well c'est la vie.