Birthday

Happy birthday me! 48 years on this planet... another busy day draws to it's close although I am not quite finished yet as I am waiting for Sam to call re picking him up. Getting a bit late but I suspect he is on a bus/train heading this way...

Will be good to see him and have his help(!) as I have a few projects on that need finishing, one in particular being the two internal walls I decided to knock out of one of the gites and the need for it all to look neat and tidy for the people are coming!

I have started the French lessons and quietly surprised myself both with my receptiveness and ability to learn (one feeding the other)... I now feel quite excited at the prospect... just heard from Sam, he is stuck in Rennes for the night as there is no train this evening, I remember such times, a bummer at the time but character building and the basis of a travel story! So shall have to wait until the morning to catch up.

Charlie and Lola started school (four mornings only) this week, this is a chance for us to have more time yet each day goes so quickly and my list of things I need to attend to grows! Doesn't help when both Landrovers decide to die the same day, clutch in one and alternator in the other... all sorted now (those old skills from college coming back from the depths...)

C&L loved their first day. Were a bit surprised having to go again the next day. Wednesdays is a day off. A very nasty surprise this morning for Charlie who totally didn't realise this school business was going to be an ongoing affair! Tomato red head screaming little boy was taken by Cécile, the teacher. He was alright soon after, the teachers said, but I am not sure how we are going to tell the kids that tomorrow (YET AGAIN) is another school day...

Has been a few months now since heading out from NZ, I am feeling increasingly settled here in Brittany and once I have conversational French I will be away. I certainly miss friends and the cost of living but that is about it, I feel ongoingly relieved to have hung up my chair, I feel I would have developed an increasingly dictator style of therapy, perhaps an interesting angle! No, I am happy to leave it to those who feel the pull...

France is a curious place, I call it the land of small victories in so much as..when I go out with a few things to do I have learnt to be happy achieving 2/3 out of 4. Unlike NZ where most things are both available and fairly straight forward here there seems layers of reason and situation that prevent immediacy... so long as I surrender to this it allows me to slow down, if not the frustration is huge...

The over riding feature that continues to both fascinate and satisfy is that of the people, both local and immigrant alike we have met some lovely people. Welcoming, interested/interesting and with common interests... a sense of community in a very real sense, why so is an interesting question, maybe the commonality of lifestyle and goals and perhaps the spirit of the land itself. I had a chap come up to me in the market today, shaking my hand whilst animatedly talking, he soon could see the lack of comprehension, apologised and then explained I looked so local (same line of celts) he assumed I was from the town.. so won't it be nice when I can complete the conversation...

All shooting in the garden, currently enjoying lovely purple sprouting brocoli and asparagus, need to get in the carrots and salads yet all is so dry so we are waiting for some rain. Have planted a couple of fig trees although the chap assured me they will not fruit here... time will tell (south facing here, very warm and sheltered)...
so that is it for me, time for bed, a light drizzle is falling outside so all will be watered as I sleep...lovely :))