SPRING ROSES.wmv

Just a short video of my Spring roses. I must admit to being very pleased with them this year so far. You cannot really see how big the bushes are without being here! Sadly I can never remember all the names. Alexander, however has to be my favorite and is at its peak today on the anniversary of my Father's death (John Alexander). C'est la vie

HAPPENINGS IN APRIL

First of all the choir concerts went down very well and it was really interesting meeting the choir from Goring who seemed to enjoy their stay in France.

A couple of days after the last concert Dave's sister Cynthia and her family arrived. It was lovely to see them and thank goodness the weather was kind. They hired a car so spent quite a lot of time out and about and enjoyed the sights of Narbonne, Perpignan, Beziers and one or two other places. India was delighted to see her cousins for the first time and the three girls all got on well together.

I have almost got all my reservations settled for the great Safari in October, all that remains to be done is the visa and the anti mozzy pills!

We are experiencing warm weather and heavy rain at the moment - not good for the Easter Holiday but excellent for the garden and the roses are exceptional this year, so, sadly are the weeds! Ah well c'est la vie.

AFTER THE FLOOD

The river is almost back to normal although you can see all the rocks which have been washed down with the flood. The centre part of the river bed used to be all sand. A large tree has been uprooted and rests on the walkway which is not yet clear of water.

Since the downpours the weather has improved considerably and we now have much warmer conditions and good sunshine most days. The garden looks more like a spring garden now with the tulips giving a good display. The peach tree and the apricot tree have flowered and the cherry is about to. So things are looking up at last although I have to say that we have had a much better winter than last year.

Lunch club is still going strong although, sadly, we have had to cancel our appearance at this weeks meeting as one of our neighbours died last week and we are attending the funeral on Wednesday.

The exciting news, for me anyway, is that I have booked another safari in Kenya for October. David was hoping to come with me but has decided that because of his health it would be too risky, so the lone intrepid adventurer is off again! Three days in the Samburu, four days in the Masai Mara with my "boys" from last year and a week in Mombasa at our old stomping ground, the Mombasa Serena Hotel. Arrangements are all confirmed and I have Tina to thank because she and Tony will be coming down to do the hen, dog and "baby" sitting.

The Lamont family are due to join us on the 12th April. David's sister, two nephews and their children are coming to Bize for a week. On the 9th and 10th the choir have concerts in local villages and we are being joined by a choir from the UK so that should be fun.

In the meantime I have vowed to cut down on the vino as I had to buy a size bigger trousers the other day ! ah well c'est la vie.

Day 3 of Flood.wmv

After the last video we had a further 36 hours of rain and in the middle of the night the river invaded the village, it missed the family's house by a matter of centimetres but the local shop and the bar have been badly damaged as have many of the villagers houses. We photographed this at about 10 in the morning when the waters had receeded but the mess is obvious. Today, as I write, the river has gone down quite a lot but we have a gale blowing now which is knocking all the plants to bits, and my washing has been on and off the line now for days!!!!!

We are off to a local restaurant tomorrow for our lunch club so hopefully I will have more enjoyable matters to report.

C'est la vie

The Cesse in March 2011.wmv

We have taken this film over a couple of days, yesterday when I went to choir practice the river was calming down but today after more than 24 hours of rain it is up again and more rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow.
The village has been put on alert and there has already been water seeping into houses in low lying areas. Cars owners have been advised not to park their cars on the promenade. This is not the worst inundation that Bize has seen as it reached record levels in 1999 but it is definately the worst we have seen.

I was going to post about our latest lunch experiences but this flood is far more important. Our poor chickens are paddling about like ducks, at least their next boxes are dry.

More news tomorrow if I can get to the computer. At least we are not suffering like the people of Japan. C'est la vie

My Mimosa Tree

Just had to show you this, I wish you could smell it on a warm February day and we have had quite a few warm days this month. The perfume fills the garden. Must buy another!!

MAYORS PARTY 2011

Once again we were treated to a four course lunch with wine and cabaret by the Mayor of Bize. It was a beautiful day outside with warm sunshine, ideal for the garden and also ideal for the choir, who were singing at the Capestang carnival. I wished I had been with the choir because although we were given a very good meal we felt that the cabaret was not up to its usual standard. Maybe we have been to this party once too often, so I think we will probably give it a miss next year.

Earlier in the week Dave was released from the Clinic at Perpignan after having another stent fitted in this artery. He is fine thank goodness, eating, drinking and smoking just as much as ever.

We had a lovely meal with our friends in the "lunch club" on Thursday and are looking forward to the next one, next week!!! I am also hoping to go to the lemon/orange/mimosa tree plant sale next week-end. The mimosa tree I bought there two years ago is about 15' tall and full of flower at the moment.

The chickens are much happier now Christopher has built a larger enclosure for them. Their feathers are slowly growing back which is a relief and we still get an average of 3 eggs a day.

C'est la vie