I have said before how much we enjoy the wildlife around us here. We are literally surrounded by birds and beasts of all variety and we love it.

However, there are some new creatures in the neighbourhood who are causing a bit of a stir….two owls.

At first we thought there was just one, but last night we saw both of them together. They fly around the square of our hamlet hopping from the telegraph pole to the fence-post to the roof and back again.

We viewed them with a certain fascination and wonder at first. How lucky we are to have such beautiful birds living so close. But it seems the new neighbours are getting quite settled and are claiming the territory as their own….much to the annoyance of Charlie and Lola (our cats)!

The owls are now taking to sitting on their loft perch and screeching at the top of their voices at the cats below. And the poor kitties, being such soft creatures, are scared out of their wits and come running inside!

Here’s a video of one of the hoodlums. Its a little shaky as I didn’t have time to grab the tripod.

Anyone know what kind of owl it is? And how to persuade it to make friends with Charlie and Lola?

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju_a4nboYjw

So the water-less day came and went without any problems. We filled every available jug, bottle, pan and bowl with water first thing in the morning to keep us going through the day. but as it turned out, the water came back on just after lunch, so we didn’t really need it in the end. Quite remarkable that something like that actually finished ahead of schedule!

Family but no fish

This week has been a bit hectic as both my parents and my sister and her two boys are visiting. We’re having a lovely time catching up – something that there wasn’t much time for at Christmas – and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for some decent weather at the weekend so we can get out and about. We were going to head to La Rochelle aquarium but unfortunately it is closed this month.  Still, a visit to La Rochelle may well be on the cards, and a coffee with the Dixies perhaps…

It’s a snip!

Charlie and Lola (our kittens) have now been “done”   They were very well behaved for the vet and coped admirably with the operation. Poor Lola was very wobbly when she came round and was clearly in some pain as the anaesthetic wore off, but after a big sleep that night she was much brighter in the morning. They are both now back to normal and up to their usual tricks!

Plotting our veg

Michel our soon-to-be-permanent neighbour called us over earlier today with some good news. he has a JCB at the moment which he is using to level a lot of his land off as part of his renovation project next=door. He is very kindly going to also level off our little patch of land at the back of the house which we have earmarked as a future vegetable plot. Wahoo! In a couple of weeks we should be able to get planting our own veg, so look out for some posts all about that coming soon. Anyone with any tips in this area, feel free to leave a comment.

And finally…

Next week I have to endure a trip back to England for a big company meeting over 2 days at the Center parcs in Longleat. Sounds nice, but I’d really rather be here with my family, drinking Pineau round the fire. Ah well, one day…

Firstly, like the rest of the region, we are shivering under the grip of the current arctic conditions. Normally we would be happy to have a cold snap, knowing we were warm and cosy inside, but this week the coldest temperatures for months also coincided with us running out of oil for our boiler.  And of course, because it is so bloomin cold, everyone needs oil so we have to wait until Friday before we can get any more. Not great timing. The trouble is that the level indicator on our oil tank doesn’t work, so it’s all a bit of a lottery as to when it will run out.

So we find ourselves living like it was 1950, all huddled round the log fire at night, kids sleeping in one room with a tiny radiator to keep warm, putting more clothes on as we go to bed than we have been wearing all day… Even the hot water pipe in the kitchen has, we assume, frozen up, as it doesn’t seem to be working, when all the other hot taps do (I think the pipe runs out the back of the kitchen wall and into next-door’s garage, which obviously is rather cold).

Luckily the kids have not been at school for the last 2 days due the the snowy conditions forcing the school buses off the roads, so we have not yet had to endure a 6.30am start. But tomorrow it’s back to normal, so I’ll be lighting a fire before the sun comes up in the morning. Oh joy!

Still, it’s apparently good for killing off all the bugs in the air and just imagine how warm and toasty we’ll feel when we can finally crank up the boiler again!

Meanwhile, medical issues have been on the agenda. Today the kids went for their second set of vaccinations at the doctor.  To be honest, we really didn’t follow quite what sort of vaccination it was or why they needed it. Each time we go he tells us, and we seem to understand, then as soon as we walk out the door we are confused and just know that we must come back for more. So they had another one each today and once again we walked out with more prescriptions and another appointment for February. I wonder if we’ll leave next month requiring more, or if the end is finally in sight?

The poor cats also have an appointment tomorrow. The time has come for the local vet to do his thing and sterilise Charlie and Lola. They have not  been able to eat this evening, and won’t be able to have breakfast tomorrow. Wow, are they going to be grumpy?! It was bad enough tonight, having to keep them in to stop them eating anything unsavoury outside. They were going wild, chasing each other round like they used to when we first got them. Tomorrow morning will be hell. Luckily we have to be up early with the girls, as I think there will be much whining and moaning over the lack of food and fresh air. And we are stealing ourselves for the bill at the end of it. A hefty one is expected…

And after the winter break, Chateau Barley is once again taking bookings for friends and family visits. Next week my parents and and sister come to stay. We then have Lisa’s mum and sister coming in March, with her other sisters pencilled in to do the same at regular intervals through the year. The summer is quickly filling up, with several friends looking to combine a week on the coast with a week at our place. Luckily the schools in France break up at the end of June, so we will have chance for a week away before we start entertaining. It will be nice to have visitors again, especially now we have been here a year, as  we have now experienced so much and seen the area in each season. Suggestions for good, easy recipes to fill lots of visitors will be gratefully recieved!

I lost my blogging mojo a little toward the end of the year and ended up somewhat neglecting you, my faithful readers. But fear not, for I am back and ready to update you all on our comings and goings over the last few weeks.

We have been busy preparing for Christmas…

Joe had his concert (“Arbre de Noel”)…

we trecked back to Grimsby in the car for Christmas…

spent some great times with our family…

and friends…

returned home to Foussais to some very happy cats,

enjoyed a fun (and very long) new year party with our great friends The Dixies…

And to top it all, today saw our first proper snowfall

So that’s brought you all up to date. Now lets get on with enjoying what 2009 has to offer!

We love ours.

We love the way they come and sit on your knee at night for a sleep.

We love the way they are pleased to see us when we come home after a day out.

We even love the way they wait outside our bedroom door in a morning to say hello.

But one thing we certainly don’t love is the constant stream of mostly-dead animals they insist on bringing in to play with!

It started with just one lizard. “That’s okay”, we thought, “we can cope with that”.

Then one day we returned from a day at the beach to find the living room full of feathers. Yes, they had brought in a starling to play with and stashed it under the settee when they heard us come back home.

Lola then started coming home with what looked very much like pieces of another cat’s tail. Quite how she got those we do not know.

Then came the first mouse. I was on the phone when the cats in the other room suddenly went quiet. Worrying. A quick investigation revealed Charlie tossing the poor creature around the room. I managed to wrestle the mouse from his mouth and fling it over the fence, much to his annoyance. It was only later in the day, when the cats were sniffing around the bottom of the settee, that we realised that the mouse had actually left it’s head behind! Argh!

A series of lizards were next in line for the treatment, inlcuding one live one who really didn’t want to be picked up and rescued!

Then, while I was away in England, I had a call from Lisa. Charlie had brought in the biggest prize yet – a rat! She was shaking. Luckily the rat was dead and she managed to scoop it up with the dust-pan and dump it outside, though Charlie put up a good fight for it. I was impressed with Lisa’s bravery, but not impressed with Charlie’s increasing appetite.

And so it continues. Today saw another dead lizard and a dead mouse join the list of casualties. What are we to do? I know it’s great that they catch rats and mice, but does anyone have a suggestion about how to stop them bringing the corpses into the house? All ideas gratefully received!

I tell you, it’s a good job they’re cute…

More fun with friends and families

Last weekend was another throroughly enjoyable one.

Saturday was spent entertaining some friends who have a holiday home near Cognac. It was a beautiful day so we erected our big old makeshift table alongside the normal one to make a long surface for Lisa to fill with a wonderful French-style feast.  When we discovered the old wooden door we envisaged it being used as a table for such an occasion and it was nice to finally make the most of it.

We had a really excellent day with great company, lovely food and brilliant Vendéen sunshine.

Then on Sunday we took my parents, who were staying for the week, across to Ile de Re for the first time. As chance would have it the Dixies were also entertaining parents at the time and we ended up meeting them on the beach and having a great day together. The respective grandparents got on just as well as the parents and children do, which was really good to see. The kids were especially impressed with Kevin’s dad, who showed great creative flair in building a landspeeder and a pony out of sand. Very impressive and far more than Kevin or I could be bothered to do could hope to achieve

Our favourite felines…

Charlie and Lola continue to entertain us. In the last week or so they have been exploring the great outdoors, having finally had their injections (thus leaving us another €100 worse off!). They are thoroughly enjoying themselves chasing around the garden, climbing the trees and hiding under the cars. We do really need to get a cat-flap though. The days are still pretty sunny but the autumn winds are getting chillier and having the door open half the day is making the house feel like an ice-box! I feel a trip to the pet shop coming on.

A room with a view

This week I decided to rearrange my “office” (I like to call it that but really its nothing quite so grand). Some friends very kindly gave us a corner desk that they no longer needed and very nice it is too. However, this has meant that I have spent the last 6 months facing the corner of the room, which is not particuarly interesting or inspiring and made me feel rather like a naughty schoolboy! So now I have taken command of the room by rearranging things so my desk looks out of the window and I have the whole room in front of me. A much nicer arrangement which allows me the chance to appreciate the fine view out of the window and down the lane to the lake.

The only downside is that now I look rather like a receptionist. Not physically of course, but the arrangement of the desk is such that Lisa feels like she has come to make an appointment when she comes in the room!

Preparing for Paella

Tomorrow night is paella night – a big social event in the village organised by the school. Everyone will gather in the salle polyvalente for paella (or chicken if you prefer) and a disco afterwards. This marks quite an occasion for us as it was on the eve of the paella night last year that we first came over to see the house with the kids. We met Marion, our estate agent, the morning after and it sounds like it was a pretty wild affair. This will be 2 new firsts for us – our first French disco and our first taste of paella.  Fear not, I will be posting a full account of the evening in due course!

Get in touch

Finally, you may have noticed I have added a “Contact Us” tab to the top of the site. Here you will find details of the various ways in which you can get in touch with us. Feel free to connect with us using any of these methods and say bonjour!