Edith & John come to visit (2)

And more of Edith & John's visit. Here's Edith proving she went into the sea (a couple of days later we went for a real swim and it was delicious)!

Every morning I help Matt set up the terrace for the day. Here John is showing me how to put the parasols on but I can still carry six stools at once!

Photo 4 shows the real me - what a shame Eddie Windass has the same apron on Corrie (not that I'm a fan of course)!!

Photos 5, 6 & 7 were all taken in the crypt in the church at Curzon. Some of you will remember an earlier post in 2008/9. I was busy preparing grub for the masses!

Finally a couple of photos on our local beaches - Tine & I on the dune at Veillon and a great photo of John & me near les Conches.

A big thank you to E&J for their photos here! Come back soon...

Edith & John come to visit (1)

This September will mark the 40th anniversary of my start at Bingley College of Education and it is amazing how many friends we've kept from that pre-decimal, black-and-white era. All that is a long-winded way of saying Edith & John finally came to see us in our new home!

The weather wasn't perfect La Tranche weather but it slowly improved and we managed to get out and about. Photo 1 is on the new wooden promenade near to Le Pavillon. Photo 2 was taken after visiting La Rochelle, taking a short cut back to the car park. We have finally managed to grow a hollyhock from seed and next year it will hopefully be as tall as these!

The rest of the photos were all taken at Bourgenay where there is a mysterious air to the trees. I'm sure they wander about when no-one is looking!

Clouds, birds & changes

It's glorious weather as I type this - just about to set off to the beach for my first dip of the year. It's good to have the sun back after quite a while of disappointing days. However as you know we do make the most of any sunshine...

The first two photos can't quite capture the magnificent clouds we had recently: they're much better to see from a distance rather than under them!

The next three photos were taken at a bird-spotting place not at all far from here and you can see a stork and a heron but we also saw échasse blanche (black-winged stilt) which were very impressive. Too much Springwatch methinks!

More changes along the beach: first of all it would seem that the monstrosity next to Chez David is going to be developed - let's hope it's sooner rather than later. The next three photos were taken a week apart and show the work the council is doing to protect the houses to the north of le Pavillon - it's a huge undertaking. Finally Tine dropped my flip-flop whilst I was taking photos. We thought it was lost but later found it further along the coast, wet but no worse for wear!

Food glorious food

Here's me trying to keep my new slimmer self and there's Tine baking far too many wonderful goodies! So, on the menu today we have:

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(1) Home-grown strawberry flan

(2) The solitary peach on our tree

(3) Apricot flan - Matt bought a big tray of them and we've had some great grub including buns and jam!

(4) Our first crop of courgettes (about to get our third tomorrow)!

(5) Cherries on the tree - the whole neighbourhood has been eating them

(6) Clafoutis - a traditional batter sponge with cherries.

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Ah well, back to the exercise!!

Adam & Lisa's wedding (2)

And on to the evening do with lots of fun times catching up with the old Bingley massive!

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(1) Steve, Tine & Sue

(2) Steve replacing Matt in the Cleggy & the Clegglets pose

(3) Steve, your faithful bloggist & Mo - Bingley beer monsters reunited

(4) Tine & Helen with a 'nice cup of tea' (and putting the world to rights)

(5) Cool dudes Phil & Si

(6) Mick with Katie & Laura - what a great photo!

(7) Shouldn't this be the other way round?

(8) Your faithful bloggist with Tine & Lindsey - what a lucky fella

Thanks to Nad for most of these photos. These and more can be seen on

http://picasaweb.google.com/PapamanPicasa/AdamAndLisaSWedding

Adam & Lisa's wedding (1)

It might have rained but the smiles on Adam & Lisa's faces tell the real tale - what a happy, relaxed day in fantastic surroundings. Walking up the aisle to the theme from Star Wars and down to Guns'n'Roses certainly set the scene!

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We got to meet James' girlfriend Alex and hope they'll come and see us in La Tranche before too long (and Adam & Lisa of course, when they've completed their next travels). Proud father of the groom Mick is beaming alongside James and Laura, head and shoulders above everybody as always! Next there's Mick welcoming his new daughter-in-law with a big hug.

Katie, Laura and James are all enjoying watching on as the bride and groom are showered with confetti, and don't Lindsey and her Dad looked 'splendid', to use one of Lindsey's favourite phrases? The fascinator was a real hit.

Proud father of the bride Gino is helping a very happy bride to get on top of the situation in order to say a few very happy words.