April 2008

The A Team are here!

Right there, where she can pluck cherries from the hammock

Happy Birthday Caroline!

The weather allowed us to celebrate Caroline's birthday
with dinner outside. Jacques and Ina were party to
the proceedings

Our first dinner 'al fresco' this year

Janine, our bookkeeper, has another plan for all the snails
she finds in her garden. We received a tray full, ready to eat.

The Pic de Midi sometimes feels so close, especially in the
cooler months. Yet it is over 50 kms away!

Just hanging around all day
Caroline had said on several occasions that she wanted to be able to hang in a hammock, but we have no two trees close enough to each other to be of use. Secretly, Perry started searching the web for hammock stand designs and finally came up with the perfect solutions. Sneaking round to our retired carpenter neighbour, Ernest. Showing the drawings he had made from a few photos and the two of them set about making it. Buying the bolts and hooks while in Trie to buy bread, Perry managed to get the accessories required without arousing any suspicions. Each time Caroline said she would pass by Ernest, Perry would quickly phone to warn him so he could move the wooden sections into the barn and out of sight. Then Perry couldn't find the hammock itself. It had to be somewhere. We needed it to measure the length of the two arms and without it the stand wasn't much use. After days of fruitless scrambling through all the cardboard moving boxes we still have in the barn each time Caroline went out, Perry finally found a bag marked 'Hangmat' and the fine tuning could be made.

But how to get the stand onto our land without Caroline seeing it? It was decided that Ernest would call to ask if Perry could come with the trailer to help get some beams from a woodyard. Caroline thought it was a bit much, it being her birthday and all. Still, she'd already received a DVD of Jamie Oliver in his market garden and breakfast in the sun. Arriving at Ernests's we loaded the stand into the trailer with inches to spare. Driving up the lane to house, Damien (Ernest's grandson) hit the horn wildly, until Caroline came out and saw the weird cargo and three beaming faces. All tears, laughter and hugs, we placed it under the cherry tree and sat for a celebratory cup of coffee. I love it when a plan comes together.

Walk this way
Our friends Hindri and Cathy have a house in Lustar, about 6 kms away. It is set close to several pretty walks, so one sunny day we went over. Descending to the woods we came alongside a beautiful stream, the beginning of the Baïse, which passes through Trie. Perry's hands itched to get fishing since he was convinced that this would be a perfect spot for trout and grayling. Having fished often with his grandfather, as a child, he and Caroline will soon be buying a couple of rods and tackle for some idylic days by the babbling waters. Anyway, onwards and upwards through the daple light and into the open fields. The Pyrenees suddenly coming into view and taking our breath away, so clear and so close. Our Summer visitors often don't see the mountains, but in the cooler months they are so magnificent.

A bientôt.

Diary for May

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