Good road conditions on a Sunday and being in the car also helped me to arrive in Ambrieres just before dark.
FRANCE - July- August 2009
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The afternoon fast cat
was late arriving in Portsmouth, but after an impressive
turn around and a fast crossing, the arrival time at
Cherbourg was not too bad. Good road conditions on a Sunday and being in the car also helped me to arrive in Ambrieres just before dark. |
| One of the scheduled jobs was to finish off the fireplace, with another fire cement lining and a wooden shelf. It is now usable, but I shall put a restrictor in the chimney itself, with a lining tube for a couple of metres or so. This will also cut down any noise coming down the chimney ( like a speaking tube ! ) and help protect from the odd raindrop at certain times. |  |
One of the non sheduled tasks was the building of an external store to help clear the house of wood ends, tins and plastic containers, etc., apart from tidying up the area. Later it may become a fuel store.
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To mark the 14th of July,
there were firework displays in many of the surrounding
towns and villages. In Gorron, on the 13th July, there
was also musical entertainment beforehand. In Mayenne on the 14th July, there was the usual firework display down by the river. |
Videoclips of the Mayenne fireworks, and of other musical events in Mayenne, and the Leisure Park in Vaux ( Ambrieres ), are, or will shortly be, on Youtube - under patrickclips . A link to all the " patrickclips " Youtube videoclips is on the main Index page. There were free evening concerts, by Monsieur Melon, Amélie-les-crayons and Surya ( among others ).
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Amélie-les-crayons .......................................... The Surya group at Vaux
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The concert in Mayenne - Monsieur Melon
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In the garden the pears
and the grapes were doing well. However, during the stay I lost about three carrier bags full of grapes. Just like last year they were being attacked, turning brown and shrivelling. Eventually I used a household flyspray, which seemed to halt their decline. But time will tell ....... |
| Tone and the Tonettes,
complete with new T shirts, were playing in The Red Lion
at Desertines one evening. A link to their website is on the main Index Page. |
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The second scheduled task
was the creation of storage space in the fireplace of an
upstairs bedroom. This was constructed having first added waterproof sheeting to protect from any possible damp. Final plasterwork, squaring up, and the provision of doors remain for my next visit. |
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The second ( unscheduled ) task was the creation of a cupboard store downstairs: it was built under the main beam. Again, this will permit final tidying up of the entrance room - which has been the workshop of late. The opportunity was taken to add a further electric socket. As with the room above, cupboard doors will be a job for the next visit.
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| It was the 20th wedding
anniversary of Sara and Tony during my stay. It is strange to think that over a third of their married life has now been in France. The children, with half their life or more in French schools, and participation in other activities, jabber away in French probably more than they speak English ! Local, and not so local, friends attended a lunchtime feast, cooked in the pizza oven. |
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One of many houses which
" blossom " in the late spring. It is just
round the corner from Le Local, Couesmes Vaucé. Le Local puts on a good buffet Sunday Roast meal .... it is also the venue for Steve's Fish and Chip van on alternate Wednesdays ! Chris and Julie, who were over for a week joined me for Sunday lunch on the Sunday before my return. |