Gites South Brittany

Between the unseasonable weather and my on-going convalescing we have been un-characteristically house-bound of late. Looking on the bright side it has meant that Paul has been able to catch up with some much needed DIY about the place. We are still waiting for the permission to erect our shed, but we have now installed 3 water butts – giving us a total of 600 -700 ltrs of water for the garden. We bought a pump which fixes onto a hosepipe and gives very good pressure even at several metres. The boules pitch has, at last, got a wooden border around – the French rules allow for a boule to be bounced off the sides in order to sneak past an opponent's boule, which adds another facet to the game.

We have also acquired some "traverses SNCF" (railway sleepers) to edge our planned vegetable plot, or "potager", which will be situated next to the shed (eventually!!).

Yesterday was the date of the local "Kermesse" (school fête). This began with a sit down meal (outside – we declined in view of the weather!). Next came a "défilé" (parade) headed by the local "Fanfare" (brass band). The school children ("maternelle et primaire") followed in costumes depicting the sea – "baleines et requins" (whales and sharks) for the "Petite et Moyenne Section" (Nursery), "des pirates" for Years 1 - 3 – GS (Grande section), CP (Cours Préparatoire) and CE1 (Cours Elementaire 1) and fishermen/women for the remaining three year groups (CE2 , CM 1 + CM2 – Cours Moyen). There then followed a dance by each class (only 3 classes in the school!) to sea shanties. The usual school fête games were then played – French style – bet on a guinea pig race to win either a rabbit or a guinea fowl for fattening! Personally, I find it rather cruel the way they treat the poor animals, which they seemed to hand them over very roughly – you only had to look at the terrified expressions and the fact that they did not even try to escape due to being rigid with terror! Needless to say, I didn't buy a ticket. We did, however, come away with a slightly better raffle prize than the last 2 years – 2005 was a washing-up bowl, 2006 a cheap brollie .... 2007 a 30 cm terracotta pot for the garden!

The weather deteriorated again this week - heavy showers, wind and some thunder and lightning! I'm having a break from physio treatment for a week following more tests on my shoulder. My doctor sent me for more x-rays and even an ultra-sound scan on my shoulder (aparently a new thing) - all I could see was a grey mass, but the guy seemed to be able to learn from it! I won't be able to start work again now until September, which is a bit of a blow. However, it would appear that all the schools are keen to have me back again next (school) year, so that is a relief.

We are waiting with baited breath for our permission to put up a garden shed. This involved submitting scale drawings of the location of the property, the existing buildings and the shed itself - in quadruplicate - attached to a lengthy form. We have heard so many horror stories of 3-4 month battles with the planning office (who will even haggle over a 10cm over-hang of the roof of the shed!), that we decided to go straight to see the organ-grinder herself. She has in the past been very helpful to us (recently granting a change in the original plans for our houses and the coverted "Certificat de Conformité") and this visit was no exception. I can't help thinking that the fact that my French is fluent helps - they must get fed up to the back teeth with Brits going in and expecting them to understand English interspersed with very poor pigeon French! Anyway, the said permission will be granted very quickly - we have her word for it!

May was a complete washout – the weather was diabolical and I have been stuck at home bored stiff due to my injury. The highlight of my days has been the visit to the physio!!?? My rehabilitation is painfully (in both senses of the word) slow – I am beginning to spend an hour here and there without my sling and can now lift my arm slightly higher, but I am very limited as to what I can do for myself.

However, the sun came out briefly this morning and I managed to sit outside for a while and watch the Kestrels feeding their newly-hatched chicks through my telescope. We are incredibly lucky to have such a wealth of wildlife on our doorstep – there is always something to watch. If you enjoy tuning into Springwatch at the moment (as I do), then imagine what it would be like to have access to such wonders daily on your own doorstep. Hares play in the field next to our garden, deer are regular visitors, red squirrels are easy to see in the nearby woods. Black Woodpeckers, Hoopoes, Cirl Buntings, Black Kites, Hen Harriers, Kingfishers ........ I could go on ........ are all easily seen either in our own garden or within walking distance. Swallowtail butterflies are regular visitors (in season) to the garden. I used to visit nature reserves every weekend when I lived in the UK – no need to now!

I often wonder why things are so different here from where we used to live in Portsmouth – it isn't so far a distance, but it is a different world. Is it down to climate? I don't think so. Is it down to the fact that I live out in the sticks? That certainly makes the birds more accessible, but then I used to spend all my free time out in the countryside looking for wildlife. Is it down to the fact that there is more countryside (a much bigger country with the same population)? That must have something to do with it. Is it down to different farming practices? I'm not qualified to know. Let's hope it continues! I know I used to see many more birds as a child – Tree sparrows, Bullfinches, Song Thrushes, Partridges etc – than I found as an adult living in the UK.

Today is La Fête des Mères (Mothers' Day). Cheryl works in a large hypermarket in Vannes. Every customer was given a rose yesterday. As Cheryl works on the Customer Reception Desk, she was able to bring home a few of the leftovers – 100 roses!!!! It gave me great pleasure to be able to do the rounds of our neighbours with armfuls of flowers and I still had 3 vases full myself!