Today I shall be Mainly...

[Sue]

Sue, are you taking it in easy stages?

Of course Stanley, do I ever do anything else

We have been told by our hosts of a spot with magnificent views to Mont Blanc and Switzerland, plus a good restaurant for lunch. Tomorrow we start our two day trek across country through some lovely parts of France, back to our house in Brittany. We so love this region of France, high tree lined mountains, quaint villages and isolated houses, vineyards on slopes, beautiful waterfalls but still not as good as our own Lake District.

[Tizer]

One of my young relatives starts out on a school trip tomorrow to Ardeche where she'll take part in all sorts of outdoor activities in beautiful surroundings. She's very sporty and won't be put off by hard physical activity - she'll rise to the challenge. She's only 14 but she's already telling mum & dad she intends to go to university, take a gap year abroad and then work in a foreign country! She's getting some work experience as a waitress in a cafe run by two entrepreneurial young women in the local town park. Her older sister is home from university but leaves with mum & dad today for a holiday walking part of the Coast Path on the Jurassic Coast. And the dog (Merlin) goes to his usual holiday home too - which he loves!

[Stanley]

The young today are amazing. One of my Aussie grand daughters is in Sweden at the moment........ Thinking of living there for a while.
I shall be pottering in the shed. The lack of energy is a consequence of the new pills to lower BP and protect my kidneys I think..... I might have to live with it! Old age isn't for cissies.

[Sue]

[quote=Stanley post_id=120172 time=1532316950 user_id=68 The lack of energy is a consequence of the new pills to lower BP and protect my kidneys I think..... I might have to live with it! Old age isn't for cissies.
[/quote]

Highly probable Stanley. Yesterdays trip out was good but those hairpin bends made Bob very sick both going and returning. Off to near Dijon for tonights stop on our way to the house in Brittany. Its a long drive and we have to change our plans if Bob isn’t well. I have never driven Bobs car or indeed in France and these roads are not the ones to start on. Think Tour de France hill climbs

[Stanley]

I sympathise with Bob. At one time when I was driving all the time I was a bad car passenger, especially if I tried to read. It doesn't seem to bother me now thank God. Give him my best please.

[Sue]

I sympathise with Bob. At one time when I was driving all the time I was a bad car passenger, especially if I tried to read. It doesn't seem to bother me now thank God. Give him my best please.

Will do Stanley. We reached our destination on nearly all very good quality peage or similar. No sickness today although very warm indeed. Thank goodness for car air conditioning. Staying at a lovely little village in the Creuse region of France. Its a Chambre d’hote run by an English man. On arrival we were offered a pot of tea in the garden. The others staying here are all french. Plenty of language practice on this holiday.

[Stanley]

It was very warm here as well Sue and will be even warmer tomorrow and Thursday. It makes me smile listening to people talking about 1976 as if it was a long time ago.... only yesterday!
No real shed work yesterday, too warm, I'm just pottering. Almost finished 'A Perfect Spy'. Reading that is hard enough work. It must be bad having to work in this, especially inside, we are so bad with air conditioning here.

[Sue]

Well what a lovely meal we had last night. It transpires that our host is a trained chef who used to work on the cruise ships. He has alsp worked in hotels. The meal was one of the best we have eaten in France. Matthew, set up his business in France because his parents retired here. He has converted and knocked through two little cottages and done all the renovations himself. Very nice indeed.

Well it is the last leg of our drive to the house today, then I will have a mountain of washing from our weeks travelling and also a fair bit of garden tidying over the next few days. Bobs cousin arrives on the 6 th for 8 days or so.

[Stanley]

Don't try to do everything as soon as you get there Sue!

[Sue]

Don't try to do everything as soon as you get there Sue!

I won’t be able to, forecast is 31-33 for the next few days. We shall have to shop as well. We have a freezer full of fruit and veg but no meat!

[Stanley]

[Stanley]

No way I can put it off! I shall have to start crankshaft designing......

[Sue]

Arrived yesterday afternoon. Everything is ok, not too overgrown but rather untidy. The house is full of spiders webs, who would have thought it after only 3 weeks so there shall have to be some cleaning and sweeping after shopping. The veggies look a bit sick so we gave them a good watering last night. However I have some great pumpkins, squashes courgettes and a few cucumber , also some beautiful ripe tomatoes but the plants have collapsed again. I shall try and resue those this morning whilst it is still cool before we go shopping.

Las night just as we were turning the light out a hornet flew into the bedroom agh. Did we run, sprayed it with insecticide and shot into the master bedroom and shut the door. We slept in there even though there was no bedding on the bed! That little horror is still twitching this morning. We have put a jam jar over it until we can move it. We shall have to contact the nest removal people. We think the nest is in the eaves above our bedroom window. This job has priority as we daren’t open the wi dow till it has been removed.

Watch this space as they say!

[Stanley]

Nasty things hornets! I would have run as well Sue!
I shall be in the shed but nothing strenuous, we are going to have a hot day......



Almost ready for some serious sculpture......

[Sue]

The technician to remove the hornets nest comes this morning at 10.30, we have a new fuel oil delivery this morning too. I shall do a little more garden tidying. Even half an hour is making a tremendous difference. Then I think it is indoor activities for most of the day. I have some sewing with me and an art project for my thursday art class. We are putting on an exhibition about Rawtenstall in October. I may even do half an hour yogs.

We need to go and buy some metal stakes for my tomatoes which are so laden that the canes keep breaking trying to support their weight.

[Stanley]

That's the penalty of being too good at rearing them Sue. I always used strings suspended from above, all you needed was more string.....

[Sue]

Ah but i need something to suspend them to but you have give me an idea

[Marilyn]

I would be terrified of hornets. When I was in UK I seemed to attract bumble bees...one chased me around a car park. Hubby found it quite amusing, but I am scared of them. I was practically paralysed when one buzzed through a window in our rental cottage, made its lazy buzzy way across the bed and exited through the window on the other side of the room. ( uhhggh!)
I've had to pack away all my busy bits today ( first time I have seen the tablecloth in a fortnight). Expecting weekend visitors tomorrow so all has to be tidy. All shoved in the third bedroom, door shut, and they will never know I have been on a creative bender. Almost finished my latest sewing and art projects but don't want to rush the finish, so won't be revealing them yet.

[Tizer]

When I was in UK I seemed to attract bumble bees...one chased me around a car park.

But Maz, it probably just liked you and wanted to be your friend!

[PanBiker]

I had a bumble bee take a liking to me up by the river at Burnsall today, so much so it settled on my leg for a bit of a breather. Hot work for a non aerodynamic creature to defy the laws of physics, probably just needed a rest.

[Marilyn]

And aren't they heavy when they land on you!

[Stanley]

Sue, I was designing a stout post at each end of the row with a guy wire to take the pull and a piece of thin wire rope or thick fencing wire between for the anchor point for the strings. At the end of the season cut the strings and burn the lot. I used to use baler twine and just twist it round the stems. As the plants grow all you do is wind the growing point round the string. To anchor the string at the bottom just stretch a piece of string across between the posts, no weight on it. Added benefit is that nothing is re-used so no disease transmitted from last year.
I haven't seen any wasps or bees this year but lots of butterflies which is nice. They seem to like the mint and the Lilac bush.

[Sue]

Sue, I was designing a stout post at each end of the row with a guy wire to take the pull and a piece of thin wire rope or thick fencing wire between for the anchor point for the strings. At the end of the season cut the strings and burn the lot. I used to use baler twine and just twist it round the stems. As the plants grow all you do is wind the growing point round the string. To anchor the string at the bottom just stretch a piece of string across between the posts, no weight on it. Added benefit is that nothing is re-used so no disease transmitted from last year.
I haven't seen any wasps or bees this year but lots of butterflies which is nice. They seem to like the mint and the Lilac bush.

Great minds think alike, that is what we have come up with but we ran out of time yesterday. We set off for the shop for the posts(we have the wire) and got a puncture 200 yards down the road. By the time we ( the royal we ie Bob) had changed the wheel we just had time to buy the posts and return before our neighbour arrived for a chat.

The hornets nest was disposed of early morning, there were in fact two joined together in the eaves. The fuel oil came mid afternoon. I did a bit of gardening...mainly done now and set to wash the volie curtains which act as a flytrap in the fine mesh. I have many pairs through out the house and they dry almost immediately they are put on the line. Just two pairs left to wash

Today promises to be a cool 26 degrees after days of 31 in the shade and much much hotter in the sun.

[Stanley]

And fools seldom differ Sue..... I think you have a good plan and it will solve the problem for good.
Sounds as though Hayter and Co are functioning well!

[PanBiker]

I haven't seen any wasps or bees this year but lots of butterflies which is nice. They seem to like the mint and the Lilac bush.

Saw my first wasp yesterday in the yard but we have loads of bumble bees, from at least five different nests and three honey bee varieties. All regular visitors to our back yard, your absence of flowery plants will explain why you only see butterflies whereas we have a mix of flowers and vegetables. It's a pleasure to watch them about their work. We were honoured with a regal visitor yesterday in the shape of a Queen Bumble Bee she was so big she could hardly get inside some of the flowers, the jumbo jet of the bee world. She would be gathering for the genus of a new nest.