We have had
the most emotionally charged June 2017, filled with fun and laughter then into the upset of experiencing the loss of a
good friend and our brother in law within a week of each other.
Early in June
we had a visit from Shirley and Mark’s grandchildren to play in the pool. Fearless and happy splashing about in the warm
June sunshine …..What fun and how lovely to hear the squeals of youngster and
their Mum in our garden……!
Our lovely
Monty Morris car had to come off the road in April with a slipping clutch and
as expected, 1936 clutch spares and repairs come to order very slowly and at
some stages, seemingly impossible. As the day approached for the D-day vehicle
parade in Carentan Mike and I had to resign ourselves to being left on the pavement
as on lookers this year. Happily for us, friends Lisa and Kevin stepped forward
and offered us the lend of their jeep as they were unable to attend themselves…..WOW…
what a fabulous gesture and one we embraced with enthusiasm and huge appreciation.
We donned
appropriate attire to present ourselves as jeep participants and joined a group
of likeminded enthusiasts to do a convoy run from Perier to Carentan to meet up
in Camp Arizona for the parade of over 100 WW2 vehicles.
A drive out
in convoy to the local countryside and over our famous Baily Bridge just
outside Brevands. Here are our friends
Elaine and Pat with dad Ernie on board following us in the parade. We ended the run going through the streets of
Carentan filled with people waving and enjoying the spectacle.
It is a
treat to be an attraction for a few moments in the year, we must have been
photographed a million times and featured in a number of videos that showed on
u tube, totally hilarious and very enjoyable.
At the end of the parade we all gathered in the centre of Carentan and the crowds come to see and chat about the vehicles and costumes. The weather was fantastic and we are already looking forward to Monty in good working order for the Carentan 2018 parade
Kevin’s Jeep
took pride of place in Monty’s garage as Monty languished on his red ramps in the outhouse,
looking forlorn next to this brave and shiny upstart…….!!
A group
selfie to celebrate a good D-day June 2016 with our enthusiastic mates who love
to drive out in their vintage vehicles, dress up in 40’s style and have fun…….thank
you chaps and chapesses, looking forward
to our regular rallies and fun times out together for the rest of the year xx
My faithful
blog followers will know that over the years I have storied with great
enthusiasm at having big Lorries on the drive. It always means there are plans
a foot and things are getting done and on this occasion it was a change of
contract on the gas supplier which, to our utter amazement, meant a gleaming
new Gas tank …..
Hoorah.
We are promised far cheaper gas for the next 3 contracted years and that can
only be good for our finances. So far, so good, the tank is installed and
working and the bill that came with it is half our annual fill up charge…great!
We have this year connected the cooker to the big tank so we now have better
pressure and I am finding the joy of cooking on an 8 ring range with loads of
sized jets, double ovens and separate grill…..I guess this has to be a girl thing
but it certainly is pushing my buttons at the moment
For all you petrol heads out there, Monty’s
clutch plate was returned through the post with all its 52 new corks in place
and ready to be remounted in the clutch housing. This old technology is getting
hard to source but the more we do, the more we learn and people with knowledge
and good solutions come out of the woodwork to offer support and help. This is
a hobby and I do have to keep reminding Mike that he is supposed to be having
fun when it all goes wrong and he has to start again. When the car is back on
the road the frustration will become an oily rag memory, until something else
fails…..!!
We got a
very odd message from Shirley and Mark asking us if we wanted some grey Gavel
and there is only one answer to that …..YES …. We went over to their holiday
cottage and cleared their drive of the gravel in about 6 x 500 kilo trailer
loads and deposited them here by the side of the barn. What a fantastic
difference a bit of gravel makes and where we had slippy mud and weeds we now
have the beginnings of a new parking area behind the barn. Our lovely barn is now surrounded by gravel
and sits in it’s own splender screaming Normandy character. …
Sitting at
table on a summers evening just enjoying good company and a few glasses of
something red white or pink is a treat beyond our dreams. Our recycled window wall keeping the evening
chill off and later as the sun went down we put the gas heater on the table to
give us a Caribbean glow, and we sat out till the sky went dark…great. Thank you
to Sarah and Peter for the windows, good recycling project …..
We have
friends who decided to sell up here and head for the home country and Christmas
was the last we saw of them, until now. Ron and Kay came over for a visit and
we all sat in Shirley and Marks garden celebrating friendships and catching up
on each other’s news. It was as though
time had stopped, the only regret they had on their move, was this…… sitting in
a garden eating with mates and just enjoying the moment. We wish them both lots
of happiness in their new life in the UK.
On father’s
day Elaine and Pat threw a party to celebrate their new life in France and the
fact that Elaine’s Dad was with them to join in with the D-day
celebrations. We all met in their garden
to feast on wonderful food in great company
The men
talked about cars, gardens and interesting things like that and we girls just chatted.
There was a race for the shade as the sun was fierce but we we’re not
complaining and a delightful afternoon was had by all.
We
got the sad news that our brother in law, Dick, had lost his battle for life
and we needed to arrange our visit to the UK to attend his funeral. We wanted
to be with my sister Mim and her family for our final goodbyes. Mike and I had
not been back to the UK in two
and a half years and in all the sadness and upset realised just how stressful
and difficult it can be. We did not want to take HOSS as he was just recovering
from a habitual bout of mange. He was on the mend and our good friends Shirley
and Mark volunteered to have him so a quick visit to the UK was arranged with
such a kind and thoughtful offer on the table.
We
delivered HOSS in the white van as a mobile kennel with instructions not to
worry if he does not want to get out as he is in his own little bit of heaven
and will sleep there , eat there and
only come out to chase cats and sun bath, of which he did all.
Funerals
are sad occasions and Mim and her children did a fabulous job giving Dick a
good send off. The Downshire crematorium in Bracknell has the ability of making
a sad and final gesture into an occasion and we are very grateful that our
goodbyes to Dick were in good sprit. Afterwards
a wonderful opportunity to meet up with lots of family and friends. We were so very happy to see our son Chris
for a few hours and that is always a treat. It is at times where family reunite that we
find ourselves feeling isolated and far away from our roots, but for us it is
an emotion we learn to manage so we can continue our good life in Brevands.
My brother
Billy pre booked a table and we siblings met up for a meal on the terrace of a
local pub. The loss of a friend and member of the family is hard and we wish
Mim and her children a ton of strength to see these next few months without too
much sadness and lots of love……x
During all
our family loss and upset we got the dreadful news that our friend Graham also
lost his fight for life. We had seen him out and about with his son at camp
Arizona in Carentan during DDay Sunday and had no idea he was so very
unwell. We were unable to attend his
funeral as we were on our way to the UK. Funerals in France are a 7 day schedule
and our sad occurrences collided and crashed all at once. This is us out with
Graham in April 2016, we will miss that jolly smile…..
Our
dear sailing friends Pauline and Ron, who have come to visit us in their camper
every year for the past 10 years or so offered us a bed in Portsmouth so we
could roll in and roll out with ease. We had a full day in Bracknell with our
family and then a day to catch up with eye tests and shopping for all those
special things we have learned to live without but given the chance to stock up
become treats and essentials.
Tea,
custard powder, gravy granules, English beer, clothes, cheddar cheese, poppadum’s and curry
condiments are high on our shopping list, nappy bags for dog poo, branston pickle and oats, squash, vimto ,
Danish bacon….. the list is huge. A visit
to the largest supermarket I know was worthwhile, jumpers for £3 and jeans for
£8, there is no way we can find those sort of prices in France. But then we see
so many more things that the UK over pay for and we smile and say ….vive la
difference…… Mike also did an hour of retail therapy in Machine Mart in
Portsmouth ….. Mike misses a real tool shop with helpful staff where he can
speak his mind and explain his tooling needs……but it is a small price to pay if
you can get all your chores and purchases done at least once in a while 
And finally
…….Happy memories, happy times xxxxx
