Back again!

I cannot believe it is the best part of a year since my last blog post, where does the time go to? I am determined to start making regular posts again so I really would appreciate anybody who is reading this to comment which we give me that much more incentive 👍

This year has been the best ever in the garden in terms of produce, we have had a huge amount of beans, both runner and french beans and some superb potatoes, I have enough potatoes put away to last us all year. Unfortunately we had a very late and very hard frost one night that killed off all of the blossom on the apple trees with the result that we haven't got a single apple this year!

This is our pumpkin patch on our "Back to Eden" garden, a record amount of pumpkins this year, 30+ the biggest must be getting on for a 100 lbs in weight already!
Now that we are getting into Autumn I have an annual job in cutting back the vegetation on the bank on our driveway to the house, it must be nearly a 100 yards long so takes me quite a while and maybe up to 25 full wheelbarrow loads of grass/saplings/brambles/ferns etc

Some of the saplings growing out of the oak trees that have been cut down in the past have grown 4 feet since I cut them back last year, as you can see from the ladder propped against the bank it is quite high.

Well that's it for this update but hopefully not long before the next so please comment if you would to give me some encouragement.

Autumn is well and truly here

We have just been away on holiday for 18 days and the difference in the garden is amazing! The very last thing I did before leaving was to cut all the grass and pick up all the leaves that had fallen, take a look at it now.

There was hardly an inch of the ( large ) front lawn that wasn't totally covered in a thick blanket o leaves, up to now I have shifted around 20 wheelbarrow loads with the same amount yet to pick up.
Of course the upside to it is that I have a huge amount o beautiful leaf mulch for the fruit garden, I am putting it in a thick layer all around the blackcurrant and raspberry bushes.

At the back of the house there are even more leaves from our huge chestnut tree, in some places it is over 6 inches thick, all of this will be going on top of my "Back to Eden" garden.

Shaken not Stirred

Although I have felt very minor bumps from earthquakes before, I have just experienced first hand ,a pretty major one measuring 7.8 magnitude.

I was in Wellington, New Zealand when the earthquake struck just after midnight on Monday the 14th of November. The epicenter was at a town called Kaikoura northeast of Christchurch on the south Island.

This was pretty big and the largest in New Zealand for 10 years as I'm writing this the whole town is cut off from landslides and there is no water or sewage in the town with supplies of water etc being bought in by helicopter.

However what I wanted to touch on was my reaction to it which on reflection surprised me.

I was in bed and had been asleep for only about 20 minutes when it started so woke up very quickly it started with a bumping movement which intensified over a period o what seemed like about a minute.

As it intensified the chandelier on the ceiling started to sway  and move back and forth quite strongly and the whole house started to shake in addition there was a lot of noise that was getting louder and louder. It sounded like rocks grinding together but in reality was just the house straining and moving.

I knew straight away that it was an earthquake but during the whole time it was happening I just lay there on the bed watching it happen.

I never once thought about getting up or trying to take cover somewhere but was just thinking, so this is what an earthquake feels like

I'm still trying to puzzle out my reaction?

Further progress on the decking and some thoughts about communicating and friendships on the Internet

Even with the pretty awful wet weather we are getting here in Brittany at the moment I am still progressing nicely with the decking and Summer house project.
After getting most of the decking complete I have started on the Summer house. I have revised my original ideas and am making it quite a bit smaller as the times when we will be using it most will be on nice warm sunny days so we will want to be out on the decking not inside.
I am making it large enough to take two nice sized chairs that we used to have in a conservatory in our last house and with enough room to stack away the outside table and four chairs in the winter period.

I've now got most of the shiplap cladding put on the walls so the next job will be to board in the roof. I'm going to cover it in mineral felt so that it blends into the surroundings. After that I shall be making up the double doors to the front, these will swing back within the width of the side panels so will be out of the way but give a good open access to the front.

If anyone is interested I have a series of youtube videos showing the construction of this, here is a link to the latest one.

https://youtu.be/4GXGKulop-g

Actually this brings me on to the second part of the title, I recently had a comment from someone in Newfoundland in Canada, now I get lots of comment but this person took the trouble to give a bit more information about their life there and as a consequence I am now communicating with him by email on our different lives separated by several thousands of miles.

I am also in communication with people who live in Texas, Chicago, California, Oregon, the UK, France and Germany to name a few.

There are many reports on what awful things are on the Internet but to me it is a wonderful place to meet like minded people from all over the world. I have met, online, some wonderful people and had some great conversations who I would have never known existed without this medium.

All it takes is a little bit of effort in starting a conversation. I would encourage anyone to explore this either as I do through my youtube channel or here on my blog to engage in some conversation with someone that interests you.

Of course it goes without saying that you need to take precautions about giving out too much information about yourself until you get to know someone but that applies when you meet someone face to face as well.

For me the internet has opened up a whole new world and hopefully will continue to do so.

I try to respond to all messages, and have many interests..........so............. 

What to do on a wet Sunday morning?

It was a wet and miserable morning so we did what loads do over here on a Sunday morning and took ourselves out for a drive to a Vide Grenier otherwise known as a car boot sale in the UK or a Flea market in the USA.

In the Summer these are mostly held outdoors

but of course this time of year mostly in sports halls etc. The one nice thing I like about them is that nearly everything is being sold by private individuals not traders and as such there are always some bargains to be had.

This morning Avril bought a very nice brand new ovenware dish for 50 cents! What a bargain.

Me? Well I spent a little more :) A full set of golf clubs ( 13 ) in a golf bag complete with a cover for 25 euros.

I don't play golf that often and could never justify buying a new set but this will do me just fine for the 5 or 6 times I do go and play in the Summer.

I don't know a lot about golf but included in the set was a 10 degree Callaway "Big Bertha" Titanium War Bird driver that must have been worth the 25 euros on it's own so I'm very happy.

The ease of doing things

I went out fairly early today to pick up some of the decking boards from a builders merchant. Before I went I spent at least an hour the night before looking online as to where I could buy them, which brings me on to pretty much the only thing I miss about not living in the UK.

The ease of doing things

Back in the UK I could have gone to anyone of maybe up to 20 different places within a 20 minute drive to pick them up, here in France it is a lot different. None of the outlets in our nearest town had what I wanted in stock and eventually I found them in a merchant some 40 minute drive away.
Back in the UK I would have just picked up the phone and had them delivered, here, even though the builders merchant is a large outlet they don't deliver at all. They will hire you a truck at maybe 80-100 euros if it is available but other than that you have to collect.
Anyway it was a nice morning drive and one of the advantages of living here is the lack of traffic, in forty minutes of driving there I doubt that I saw more than a dozen vehicles!

My little Citroen C1 is maybe not the ideal vehicle for transporting lengths of decking boards but all at home now ready to be laid.

On reflection it was a pleasant drive through some lovely countryside with hardly any traffic to speak of,  so which would I prefer living here or back in the UK? ...........................................I think you all know the answer to that.

A bit more progress

We have had a couple of days of dry weather which has enabled me to get on with the decking, I have decided that the octagonal end section will be stepped up from the other decking to give it more prominence.

The first job was to construct the framing which I did on a level piece of ground outside of my garage.

What I hadn't bargained on was how big and unwieldy it would be when it was finished, at one point I considered rolling it like a giant wheel down to the bottom of my field but decided that it would have all probably fallen to pieces by the time I got it there, so i Improvised some supports on a wheelbarrow and managed after about 20 minutes to get it in place.

  

It wasn't easy being on my own to either get it down there and put it into position but it all ended up well.
Here is a link to my Youtube video of it.

Once I got it in position and held with a couple of temporary cramps I could start screwing it to the existing  decking and then make a start on putting in the supports.
Standing on top of it gives a really lovely view over the stream and the trees around it and I can already imagine myself relaxing there with a glass or two of wine on a warm summer evening

Making a start

I have had enough of cutting trees and clearing undergrowth for a while so have made start on the decking area at the top of the slope down to the stream.

Although the structure was pretty stable I have added cross braces in both directions to make sure there is no movement. The bases at the bottom of the posts are made of heavy duty plastic and are in two pieces with a screwed insert allowing adjustment of height.

I have now decided to modify the decking, originally I had it in mind to encircle the group of trees directly in front of the end but I now realise this will probably make it all to large. In addition I would have to attach the decking to the trees. I noticed in heavy winds there is some movement in the trees which would have put a strain on the decking structure.

I am going to extend the end with an octagonal section and stop it just short of the trees. After coming up with this idea I had a look online to see if there was anything similar and came up with a couple of photos nearly exactly what I have in mind.

photos cpopyright http://simplicitydecks.com/

A new project for the New Year

I always like to have some project or another underway at any one time and now we are into 2016 here is the start of my latest one.

I have a lovely area at the bottom of my field below my garden that drops away to a lovely stream

It is my intention to form a decking area/viewing platform that will run horizontal from the top of the bank on the right hand side to a point around 2-3 foot above the stump in the middle of the picture and encircling the trees with a summer house at the top right.

It's a bit difficult to describe exactly and to be honest I don't know what the final job will look like until it gets under way but first things first and I have to clear a few of the trees away first.

I'm actually doing in effect several jobs at once, all the wood I am logging and splitting for the wood burner I already have enough put by until the winter of 2017/18 so this lot will be used for the winter after that. All of the twiggy bits behind will be shredded for mulch for my back to Eden garden

Stay tuned for updates!

I'm back!

I cannot believe how long ago it was that I posted on here, I really don't know what the problem was but I seemed to be running out of ideas and once you have to force yourself to write it's no fun anymore.

Well it's Jan 2016 and I'm going to resurrect this blog and see if I can't keep it going this time, I used to have followers on here, I don't blame any of you if you have just disappeared but any who are out there, a word of encouragement would certainly be helpful.

This is short as it is just something to start me off.

How about this that I found in the garden today!

Can you believe it? Asparagus in January, whatever is happening to our weather.

It feels good to be back :)

Spring at last

Spring at last! Well it's still early March but what a difference a couple of weeks make. I only seems like yesterday that we were all obsessing about the continual incessant rain that we seemed to have day after day and now we are out eating our lunch out in the sunshine on the decking area.

We have been out in the garden most days and it is beginning to show. The ground had a real "wintery" look about it.

Unfortunately as the area was close to a strawberry patch and also has a huge rock just under the surface in one place I had to hand dig it. However it is now all done and have already put in two rows of early potatoes and sown a row of parsnips. There is also room for a couple of rows of carrots which will go in during the next few days.

I have also cleared the main planting area and ploughed and rotavated it all as you can see from the next few pictures.

Avril has also been as busy as me in the fruit plot weeding out the raspberry canes and strawberry plants and mulching them with old leaf compost.

So we are all set up and ready for the planting season in the weeks to come, I'm going to concentrate on the things that I know grow well in the soil which unfortunately is quite acidic.

Writing out a cheque in France

I have come across a number of people living here in France who have never made out a French cheque as they are afraid of either making a mistake, getting it wrong or just not sure where to fill things in.

French cheques are laid out differently than in the UK in that the position for writing the name and amount in words are in different positions, also it is necessary to fill in the actual location of where you had written the cheque ie: town or city.

It is all fairly simple once you know so to this end I have provided a sample below that should help anyone in this situation.

Going to the cinema in France

Perhaps, one of the few things I have missed about the UK since moving here to Brittany is the fact that we used to visit the cinema on a fairly regular basis. This is something we haven't done at all since moving here, the thought of watching a film all in French is just one step too far!

That has all changed now though, the key is to look for the French abbreviation VOST as in the photo below.

The actual French for the abbreviation, VOST, is "version originale sous titree" or Original version with subtitles.

On Monday night we went to our local cinema which is actually walking distance from our house ( although we didn't walk due to the weather ) we are very lucky indeed to have a cinema in a village of under 1600 people and so close. It is not your average "Odeon" or "Vue" as you can see from the photo. And certainly no Popcorn and Cola at inflated prices!

We watched "The wolf of Wall Street the latest Martin Scorsese film with Leonardo DiCaprio which premiered on Christmas day.

The cost of a seat at the cinema was 5 euros or a little over £4 so a real bargain, in addition we were given a loyalty card which means that every tenth ticket is free, making it even more of a bargain. The cinema, although small ( around 80 or so seats ) was a lot more modern than I had expected with comfortable seating and a good view of the screen from everywhere.

Happy Christmas

A very Happy Christmas and all our best wishes for 2014 to everyone

Christmas Update

I can't believe how much time has gone by since I made my last post on here but we have been away on an extended holiday to the UK to visit all of our sons and families and New Zealand to visit our daughter and her family. In addition we have spent a total of 7 days in Penang in Malaysia.
We had a fantastic time with just a couple of little hiccups. We had to get an internal domestic flight from Penang to Kuala Lumpa ready to catch an international flight to Auckland in New Zealand, the transfer time was quite tight at just over an hour, as we had to transfer between the domestic and International terminals but when the plane was 35 minutes late arriving it was nearly impossible, we had to clear passport control and pretty much ran all the way arriving after the takeoff time with everyone else boarded. The staff had to phone the plane for permission for us to board but we got there.
However when we arrived in Auckland there was an announcement asking me to go to the desk.......Our luggage hadn't made it!
The baggage handling company a toilet bag and tee shirt each and $153 ( around £75 ) New Zealand dollars as compensation and delivered our luggage to our Daughter's house in Wellington the next day.
Whilst on holiday there I was using my debit card in ATMs to withdraw cash about halfway through the holiday one of the machine's kept our card! I went to the nearest branch of the bank that owned it only to be told it would have been destroyed by the machine as a security measure. It wasn't a problem to us as I had several other cards with me to use but it is a warning to others that If you rely on only one card you could be in a bit of trouble If this happened ( there was plenty of money in the account so there was obviously a problem with that machine )

I would have liked to post while we were away but didn't want to advertise the fact that we were away from home. Here in France where we live it is even more pertinent as under French law if we did get a squatter in the house while we were away we could not legally evict them during the winter period. It is against the law to evict anyone from November the 1st until the middle of March.

We had a terrific holiday but as always were pleased to be home when we got back, the traffic in the UK particually seems to get worse and worse, I think when you live in it you get to accept it more but the difference to the roads around where we live is difficult to describe. Driving here is a pleasure.

Even though I was expecting it the amount of leaves that had fallen from our lovely line of lime trees and the big acer's on the front lawn still came as a bit of a shock.

It took me five days to clear them all with well over 100 barrow loads of compressed leaves, they are all being composted and eventually will be incorporated into the soil in the vegetable plot. We have established that our soil is acidic and needs the PH levels raised. It won't happen overnight but hopefully year on year it should improve. We are adding as much compost as we can plus a liberal spreading of lime pellets which should all help.

Since getting back home our social life has taken off again, we are very lucky to have a wide and varied set of good friends and there is rarely more than a day or two before we are meeting up with someone or another for a drink/chat/coffee/meal etc. I don't know how I ever had the time to work.

With the winter starting to set in we are starting to make good use of the fir trees I cut down and logged. The wood we are putting into the wood burner now is over 2 years old and fully dried, an essential thing if you don't want to tar up the flue. It also burns a lot hotter with little ash, the ash by the way also goes onto the vegetable plot and helps raise the PH levels.

I am hoping that I have around 3 winters worth of logs in stock now.

It is nice to be looking forward to a New Year arriving once again and already have a few projects in mind including painting the exterior of the house in the spring.

A very happy Christmas and a great New Year to everyone.

Commana Horse Fair in Brittany

Last Saturday ( 21st Sept ) we went to the annual Commana horse fair, the whole of the centre of the village is closed off for this annual event which has been held here since 1798.
The fair has developed during the last 20 years to encompass not only trading and showing of horses but the selling of small animals, a large amount of retail trade stands plus a Vide Grenier ( equivalent to the UKs car boot sale.)
It is very well supported with a large attendance and a good place to catch up and chat with friends.

Here is an old photo from the Commana web site   showing the horses:

For anyone visiting or living near here i can thoroughly recommend  this as a good day out.

Property taxes

It's that time of year again when the property tax bills start dropping through the post, the first of them the "Tax Fonciere"  which is a property ownership tax and is imposed on the owner of the property whether it is used by them or rented out, this is due now or within a few days and is payable in October. 

The second bill the "Tax D'habitation" which is payable by the occupier of the property which they were resident in on the 1st of January and should arrive in October and is payable in November.

However for anyone over the age of 60 and on a lower income which for a couple in 2013 is €15684 or €10224 for a single person, both are net amounts after allowances, the Tax D'habitation is free. Please note the only for of proof accepted is for you to have submitted a French tax return
I have put some help files up on my web site, www.living-in-brittany.co.uk which should help anyone submitting these for the first time.

For anyone over 65 and meeting the financial allowances as above there is a minimum €100 reduction from the Tax Foncieres and for anyone over 75 this is free.

Please note it only needs one person in the house to meet the age requirements

It is quite important to check the bills though as although these deductions should be automatically applied they are sometimes missed off ( Ours was last year ) and you will need to go to the tax office to sort it out

Autumn

We have had some lovely weather here over the last few Summer Months but bang on time Autumn has arrived. Mornings and Evenings are definitely cooler and it won't be long before the wood burner is put on again.

The biggest indication for me is the leaves starting to fall. We have a couple of huge Acer trees in our front garden and a lovely line of Lime trees down the side of the drive, however the downside is the amount of leaves that come off of them all of which I shall need to rake and clear over the next couple of Months.

As you can see from the photo above they have only just started falling but even the few seen here on the driveway and under the Lime trees resulted in two full barrow loads of leaves, I estimate by the time they are all down I will have collected between 100-200 barrow loads.

At least it will all help for compost for the ground which we need!