If you dont laugh, you cry!

It happened to us yet again!

We made elaborate plans to go and buy a trailer. This is becoming a bit of an obsession, I have to say. We are getting to the desperate stage of the NEED!
This time, we weren't going to dicker around and go local, but drive for an hour to THE SOURCE of all trailers in the Charente. Civray and the Blanchard Motoculture  was our destination, and so with the 'girlfriend' (GPS) talking to us in her clipped English accent, we hit the N10, past Angouleme and out into the interior going east.
We passed from the vines of the Cognac region to the wide open plains of crops, sunflower fields that went beyond what the eye could see, and machinery going non-stop harvesting, spitting hay bales out the back end either in great rectangles or baled golden marshmallow rounds. We delighted in all of it, exclaiming rather pointlessly (as you do) each time there was a new vista filled with bright yellow sunflowers.

 The hay rounds look like exotic animals out there in the field...well, they are, aren't they? lol.

We needed this day out, and we knew, when we left home at 10am, that we would be there (destination)  for 11.15, enough time before noon to suss out what we wanted in their yard, and to return in the afternoon to take it home. Yeah riiight!
We had discussed how we might pay for it (and if they would need time to clear a cheque...that they appear to prefer, in these parts...bah!), and that we didnt really want to have to return for it another day, if that was necessary. Who knows how it is done, this is our first trailer purchase. We do know that they circumvent the law in mysterious ways to make them road legal and to avoid having to pay for and administer (them, not us) a number plate of it's own, vs having the car plate on the back....THAT my friends, is a whole OTHER story!
 Not today!

We got stuck behind this tractor on the undulations in the Deux Sevre, where we now were. We had passed from the Charente into the higher country of the Deux Sevre and then into the Vienne Sud.

 We should NEVER listen to the GPS lady. Even though Waz had given her instructions to take us the most direct route, she didnt. I think she likes to trick us, and even though we both pointed down the road at the turn right, and said that if we just went one block further we might have an easier time of it....but...She has a persuasive way about  her, and follow her we did....through this, and other places like it!
As always, these places are pretty, if convoluted, and this route sure was. It brought us out to the same point, but ...you get the picture.
The houses on the left are building into the rock, and the house on the right is actually a mill, with a water race on the other side of it that was glorious. I couldn't stop the car to photograph it, because there was traffic and skinny road and people walking along the edge of the water.

 Just 500 metres down the road was our destination. YAYAYYyy…..maybe not!

It wasnt lunch time, so why is it all closed up??
Merde!!….Ok, Plan B. Waz had written down all the addresses, and the phone numbers, but we hadn't called. We laughed a good deal about what we would say to a machine that spouted (typically) their opening hours, without you ever reaching a warm body. So, even if we HAD called, we probably wouldn't have known they would be closed on this, a Friday. Unusual....the story goes on...

So, now Waz is putting the next address into the GPS, and we are off. Not before we stopped down the road for a foot long (they are all foot long baguettes) sandwich...this one, was a Nouveau. Roasted chicken, onion jam, gouda cheese and a small bit of lettuce (emphasis), all for 3,60 (Euros) each.
One good thing about where we were....we had intended to do a tiki-tour of this area at some stage, so here we were.
Small towns, cute hamlets, small(Skinny) roads with big trucks, with us being the ones to slow down or stop so that they could pass!!!...and OLD buildings in towns with no commerces of any kind because they have all left. No business! There are usually bright and shiny new supermarkets on the outskirts of these towns, which of course has killed the small business. Usually all you find is a Mairie (Mayors offices), a post office or depot, and a boulangerie or depot de pain. Sometimes not even that. A shame. It reminded us of similarly barren small towns in the USA.

This is what we are looking to purchase, just so that you know...only we want a dual axle trailer, but with the same kind of cage on top.

Ok, lets move on...We arrived at the next Blanchard Motoculture store to find that it also was closed....guess why??
On Vacances! On holiday.
This store will be closed from the 14th thru the 22nd July inclusive. Ok!

Where to next? Well, lets look on the GPS map, shall we...pick a place.....ok...How about Sauze Vaussais?? (So zay vo say).This place had been on my list of places to visit.
And, lets sit under a tree in the shade and eat our sandwich. Why not!
Opposite our seat is the Mairie. They are usually very imposing buildings and this was no different.

 At the end of the parking lot is this lovely bell tower. You can see that it is now 12.30pm.

 Not much going on in this town...we watched tourists driving past, turning 360s in the parking lot of the Salle des fetes opposite us before carrying on. No obvious signs of life to attract them to leave their vehicles.

 The seat we sat on outside empty shops, all along the road. Waz is off to discard our trash in the bins you can just see under the trees.
We did a short walk to the sign above and took a look at where else we might go. Nothing inspiring, and we were getting a bit in need of a coffee by now. We walked down the road to a bar that had chairs and tables outside. Hmm...maybe not....but there is a boulangerie just down the road there....dessert?? ok!:)
 Our Religieuse was so old that it was weeping. The custard didnt look or taste like custard anymore, and while it was supposed to be coffee flavored, it wasn't. All the coffee had flown out the door. The choices in the store were few, and it took a while for the owner to appear. We found him returning to the bar down the road, after we made our purchase, lol.
 There really was very little activity in this place.

 We were happy to leave that place behind.
Most of the towns in this region we had looked at with a view to living there. The Haute Vienne and the Deux Sevre are well known to be sunny and with an otherwise good climate. They are also at elevation, which was attractive to us.
We were on a high plateau, and the next choice of town was Chef Boutonne. We had been attracted to many homes in this place and now that we have visited, we could possibly have enjoyed living there. Lovely parks, larger town with active Centre Ville, and pretty views out over wide open countryside. Some forests on the way there and out, and pretty towns.
We didnt stop to take photos, with there being too much traffic on the roads, and nowhere to stop per usual.
Further down the hill now and we went through the small towns...Longre had this interesting church in the middle of it. We love the white stone buildings, but were interested to find that the soil is red/brown.

 Aigre was lovely. We would return there and do some more investigating. Where Chef Boutonne is on top of the high plateau and therefore no river at all,  Aigre has water running through it.

I missed stopping for the money shot of this Chateau , but you might appreciate how lovely this is.
The tower in the middle of the photo is one of three that I saw, on the corners of the walled property. It is in the middle of nowhere, but there were enormous outbuildings with machinery inside, and newly harvested fields all around, so we assumed it was very much a working farm.

Next village was St Fraigne . I swear Waz's eyes are permanently going to be looking skyward any day soon...he did 'that thing' with them again, as I quickly stopped off the main drag to take a photo of this fun display outside the Mairie, obviously depicting what this town is all about....hard work in the fields, I would say.

 It is a lovely little town on a river.

 I have always called this tree the Helicopter Tree. I dont know it's real name, but those pods have wings that they float away on, going around and around as a helicopter blade would:)

 This house is for sale. It has a lovely walled garden with a huge Grandiflora Magnolia in the middle of it, and lovely big gates (just out of the photo on the right). I took the time to stop and photograph. Must look it up!!! All kinds of lovely details carved into the stone.

 On our way home now, and going via the SuperU supermarket in Rouillac. We are back in Cognac country, and just passed the HUGE modern facility that is Martell Cognac. This is the Chateau owned by the Martel group. There is another distillerie open to the public, on the right side of the driveway, here.

 Undulating countryside around here...glorious!

 We kept getting flashed by our car display, telling us that the key card was running out of battery power. Not wanting to find that our car wouldn't start in the near future, we stopped off at the SuperU for some batteries.
Batteries changed, we came home via St Cybardeaux, where the home is that we wanted to purchase and made the first offer on. Still a lovely place! That home is now under offer we are informed.

The back roads are lovely, going through little hamlets, small towns and most of all we are in home territory. Every time we leave home and return, we are reminded of why we chose this location to call home. Hard to beat, in our opinion.

 The soil is chalk-like and white. The views are stunning. This is five minutes from home.
We had driven through St Meme les Carrieres, which is just above the Charente River and the lovely town of Jarnac, just 13 ks from home. We are now on the road that runs past our house.

 This area is known as the Etapes de Cognac (The steps or stages of Cognac). Les Vignes et Pierres. The vines and the stones (literally). As I have said before, we are in the Grande Champagne area of Cognac.

Home just after 3pm. Having driven for the past 5 hours, stopping in various places, but mostly just passing through, we were pooped! Coffee, a new book and more unpacking.

I was desperate for some cole slaw for dinner. Cold sausages and veg for dinner. Lovely to be able to pick the herbs straight out of the pots on the terrace.
I chop white and red cabbage. I like a slightly chunky cole slaw. Mint and chives are essential. No raw onion for me! Apple, walnuts, red/green or yellow peppers, some plump cranberries for their sweet/sour...not too many and just as a surprise in the mouth. The mint gives it all a lovely fresh taste, and often I will put lemon zest in the mix too. The dressing is a light Crudite dressing from the supermarket...I dont have the ingredients yet to make my own. Next time.

 Voila! That food I cooked yesterday came in handy for dinner after a full-on day. We love the Toulouse style sausages, and even cold they tasted amazing with the nectarine accompaniment. Of course Avocado are in season and reasonably priced right now.

 Sitting in the front terrace enjoying our meal, we were closely supervised by one of our pigeon pairs. Mrs didnt come down off the wires to visit, but Mr was very interested in our activities:) We both pointedly licked our lips at him, and talked about roast pigeon. He wasnt deterred!

As Blanchard Motoculture is going to be open on Monday we MIGHT go back there. We might not too, and in the meantime, the pile in the middle of the yard grows. Never mind, it isnt going anywhere until we take it there!

The hilarity of this trip was that we are heading into French Holiday Season...yes, capitals are necessary! We just didnt think they would be starting early, in July, lol. AND it appears that we are obviously NOT MEANT to be buying a trailer right now. We keep being thwarted in our quest. Hmm....perhaps we should take note??

I'm off to open some more boxes. I have been hanging 'things' on the clothes line to air, not wanting to do ANY more laundry in the machine. Our water and electricity bills will be sky high because I have been laundering everything fabric coming out of the boxes. I hung plenty of items on the line yesterday, and propped them on the table, hung them over chairs on the terrace so that they might air nicely in the breeze, thereby ridding them of that ghastly smell they have all accumulated.

It appears to have worked for most items. I have now folded and put some of them away. Dont ask me where the rest are going.

I also sprayed one cabinet completely with anti-mold, yesterday and left it on the terrace to dry out. It doesnt appear to have damaged the wood, but it was absolutely covered in mold. Yuk!
Fortunately my efforts with our leather sofas appear to have worked. No mold smells this morning, and it has been cleaned twice with leather cleaner, AND with anti-bacteria wipes. Let's hope that with use and good air circulation, mold will stay away.

I didnt know I had SOOO many tablecloths....and today I had forgotten how many of our grandmother's beautiful crocheted doilies I have. Now what do I do with them? I see so many lovely cloths being sold at Brocante sales, and swear that our grandmother's efforts wont end up in one of them. Hmm….

Onwards with my trusty box cutter, and to deal with the increasing mess...yes, it is increasing as we open each box and wonder where to put it all~!:) Quite a good dilemma actually, as we weed through a lifetime of collections...and we havent yet started on the artwork! aiee!! Another day!

Memory Lane

What a beautiful stroll it is down Memory Lane.

Today I cooked. I cooked not because we needed to eat...we do, but because I had my familiar kitchen utensils around me, and cooking is a creative and joyful thing for me to do always. I had bought (as I told you yesterday) some minced beef in order to make what I made today. It is a process that takes time, but the result is always worth it.
I needed to cook some Toulouse Sausages for cold meat lunches, boil some eggs, which are useful when needing instant food and for salads on the fly, and cook some lardons to go in the bacon and egg pies...later. I had four chicken thighs/legs to bake, and we enjoyed  those delicious crispy skinned yummies with some salad for lunch, straight out of the oven. The cooked beef mix had to cool completely before I could make the pies, so all this cooking happened mid-morning alongside me doing several loads of laundry (things coming out of cartons after 6 yrs smell rather horrid, so they are immediately laundered) and hanging them on the line out back. They dried in a flash.

Beef mince with mushrooms, garlic, peas, flavoring (My secret!) and liquid to make a gravy.

 Sausages

 Lardons on the left, eggs boiling back right, and savory minced beef on the front burner.. Those sausages are on the top right, cooling before going in the fridge.

 Delicous crispy skinned chicken with rosemary from the garden.

Yesterday I unpacked my pie tins. These aren't just any pie tins. They are my 'Kiwi Pie' tins, the ones I have used for as long as I can remember, to make the savory delights we kiwis relish and long for when they aren't available. They are the first thing Waz and I eat when we return to NZ. Yes, they are that good, most of them, and they are ubiquitous. Of course they are much better than Aussie Pies...of course!
This pie thing and I goes way back.
When I was a trainee chef, back in '74 (ok, you can count!!) I used to make thousands of them. I made the savory meat mix the day before and refrig. it for the following morning. At 5am the next day I was in the kitchen alongside the little man who was a wonderful mentor to me. Carl Pika was a Czech refugee married to an Englishwoman (called herself a War Bride) who also mentored me in a different kitchen in a different place. They were a wonderful couple. She taught me how to make good cakes and how to ice/frost them. I made plenty of pocket money over the years making cakes for various celebrations, including weddings.
 Carl taught me to make the best puff pastry in the world (so he said!), and I had much to boast about in later years when my pastry was sought after. I worked alongside Carl in the mornings, making the pastry first, of course, so that it could rest and cool between rolling. When it was ready for the final roll, we placed the gazillion pie tins (already on their cooking trays) on the long counter, and he would put the pastry through the roller as we pulled it through the other side, placing it over the tins. A fist full of pastry pushed the sheet pastry into the tin, making an impression for the meat to go in. Next came the meat mix, now cold. One spoon each tin, followed by egg wash around all of them (picture a long line of tins, six deep, probably a couple of hundred at a time) and then the next roll of pastry on top. No pushing pastry down, just get the rolling pin, roll it over the top and the sides all seal in the process. Straight into the oven, and on with the next batch. We usually made about 2,000 each day. Then it was lunch time, and they were served.

I love the processes involved in cooking anything. I like to do it the long way. Slow food is made with love, thought and attention to detail.
One thing I didnt make today, was the pastry. When you can buy sheets of pastry for so little, and it is so good, why make it yourself...ok, slow food and all that, but I have not sussed out the right flour to use for pastry, yet.

The sheets come ready rolled, but I needed them to be a little thinner. I dont like a huge amount of pastry, so less is more, but it still needs to contain the filling so that it doesn't come spilling out.
All my American oven trays and tins had to be tested on this oven. Most of them fit, but a couple will have to be ornamental from now on. I will keep an eye open for a large American oven for sale!
I lightly oil the tins. I use walnut oil for everything.

  The cool but not fridge cold mixuture is placed into the pastry depressions. Too much and it will burst out of the confines of the pastry. a little egg wash around the edges, and another sheet of pastry over the top...

 Roll over the top and they seal themselves. No need to do anything else.

 Voila!

 I did press my thumbs into the pastry on these ones because the underside was a little low in some places on some of them. 4 sheets of pastry made 10 pies. 8 savory minced beef, and 2 bacon and egg.

Egg wash the whole of the top of the pies, cut some decorative steam slits in the top and put them in the oven at 200C until golden brown. Dont ask me how long, I was too busy  doing other things while they baked. I dont time things unless absolutely necessary, and go by the look and feel of them.

The Bacon and egg pies have 2 eggs each. You just pierce the egg yolks on each egg before putting the top on . These pie tins are new ones and larger, so the egg and bacon pies are more substantial. I pinched the edges to kept the tops and bottoms togethers. Besides, they look prettier!

 8 gorgeous kiwi pies! They sat in their tins for about 15 mins to set, before I turned them all out on to a cooling rack. We ate one each for dinner while the bacon and egg pies cooked. I used left over pastry to make both of them.

 Waz is happy! He put the lea and Perrins on the table, much to my disgust, but didnt feel the need to indulge in that. The pies were excellent without any further embellishment.

 Yum! I enjoyed a non-alcoholic beer, and Waz had a rose to accompany our meal. Too tired to do anything other than cut a couple of tomatoes onto the plate to go with the pies.

 The Bacon and egg pies. The pastry benefited from some extra layering and then rolling. More leaves on this puff pastry.

 Cooling and about to be bagged and frozen. Instant dinners! yay!

Waz is down in the workshop putting up shelving and organizing his domain. It is time to call him in for a coffee/tea.
He is really getting organized down there and reveling in the discoveries he is making. I love hearing the radio on, in his workshop, and the sounds of enterprise coming from that direction.

Speaking of coffee...we were delighted to discover our Senseo espresso machine today. What we didnt like so much was that there was still some water in the system and a coffee bag in the machine. Really??
We used to have this Senseo at work (at the Gallery) which we closed in 2010, so help me if that coffee bag has been in there since 2010! I have a feeling it has been. Yuk! Dont ask me how come we didnt clean it out first??? We vacated the premises in a hurry, when our lease finished, so it is entirely possible we meant to deal with this later, and it never got dealt with.
The whole machine and its parts got a thorough cleaning with cotton buts, bleach, vinegar etc, and we enjoyed a 'clean' tasting espresso just to prove we had done a good job.:)

Hmm...mummified coffee pod! Could it really have been there for 8 yrs??

 All sparkling clean, all systems run through with a rotor rooter (as it were) and the proof was in the drinking. Excellent.! This machine is common in Europe, and it already had a French plug on the end, thankfully. We bought this one in NZ from a Dutch woman who runs a Cheese shop in our home town. One of our clients introduced us to this system and we love it.

Getting to the front door, both in and out, has been a bit treacherous lately. Rather than collect all the cardboard inside the house, where there is NO extra room right now, we have folded it all and landed it at the front door. The pile was four times that size by the time Waz and I took it down to the garage, just as we suspected we were going to have a shower or three. It didnt happen, fortunately, but the wind was blowing everything around.

Stacks on...and I didnt attempt to get through there. Waz has made an alternate route around this. This is why we need a trailer...well, one of the reasons. At the Dechetterie (dump/land fill, but it isnt) they recycle everything. AND they are super picky and watch you like a hawk to make sure you aren't dumping the wrong thing in the wrong skip!

The packing material is legion. I have saved some for a rainy day, and dont want to tempt fate by keeping too much, but it cost a fortune to purchase all this, and I am reluctant to just throw it away. I might try to sell some of it so that it is being reused by others wanting to pack and ship. Plenty of UK people selling up and moving back there due to Brexit.

So many small bits and pieces that bring back so many memories. Each one that we have kept has meaning to me and us. I bought this quirky piece, about 3 inches high, from a gallery in Lake Taupo, NZ. I still love it, and now am looking for a special place to hang it.

I have had this collection of chamber pots for a very long time. They are all the same, and I bought them on Maui over time, constantly searching for po's with the same pattern. Eventually (I think it took a couple of years) I found these three. Who would have thunk I would find the same pattern in a small place like Maui!

  When I was leaving Maui, my lovely friend Candle (who was also my wonderful massage therapist!) gave me this guardian angel. I treasure her. She represents a time in my life when I was spreading my wings to a whole new life.

 It got VERY hot in the kitchen with the stove top and oven on. The sun was belting in the window and I ended up closing half the shutter, but I hate darkness, so put up with the heat and finished cooking, retreating with a cuppa to the front deck where the wind was cooling. Yes, that mess ALL got put away today! Every last box is now OUT of the kitchen:) That was today's goal. I also cleaned out existing cupboards, rearranged everything (as you do) and then couldn't decide if it was going to work. I like a kitchen that I dont have to work to find things in. It is a process, and it will take time for me to finesse this room.

 WOW! THREE sets of pyrex jugs, of different shapes. I use them all the time. Not sure that this isnt overkill though, lol

 Waz put together my new kitchen cart. This is wonderful to have as I have limited counter space, which nearly drives me nuts. In the kitchen on Maui, that I designed for our new house (me and the ex) I had 21 linear feet of counter space. It was DIVINE!...not all in one long line, but over three different counters.
You can see that I am in the process of rearranging those cupboards.:)

 Pilings of yukky smelling, formerly stored for 6 yrs linens etc. Blankets will also have to be laundered. Yes, that is my French sunflower table cloth, now clean! It will go on the table in the morning.

While I have been baking, Waz has been appearing at the door with 'items of interest' to me. lol. These are things he says "You wont believe what I have found" with a smug grin on his face. Of course I have no idea what he has found, and sometimes I send it right back where it came from. Being rather overwhelmed by the magnitude of this unpacking job and the things we have to find homes for....well, I might take tomorrow off.

Oh, I didnt tell you about the phone call...in French!
We have been expecting some paint for the outside deck (south terrace) which is concrete. It needs to be resealed. The paint is special, and from the UK. Dont lets talk about shipping costs, ok!!!
Anyway, DHL man calls in French, cant find us according to the address of the package...this is a good lesson to us, so I listened carefully when he spoke. Asked if I spoke French...a little! He said he was lost, where were we. I told him the house number, the road (which was on the address) and then I said the Hamlet name...AHhhhh! Yes~..that helped!!!. Not just that, but the road number, also. We will amend our address from hereonin because according to the delivery address, he would not have found us. So, he arrived, had a wee conversation in which he told me that in future if we wanted anything delivered, we should use the information I gave him over the phone. Good thing I know my numbers!!!! in French!! been practicing, I have! lol. Can you say quartre vingt dix? Know what number that is?? Some of you will. 90! Oui!... four twenties plus ten =90. Only the French would do that to us! lol

So, successful delivery, new information that is important, and we have our paint.
Waz can now clean off the terrace, waterblast it, dry it out and then we can roll the new sealer on. This has to happen before next winter. This past winter we got some leaking into the garage underneath.
We also got the quote for all the new windows and doors. I wont tell you what it was, but it kind of made us sit down and breath slowly.
The other night our English neighbor in Touzac, David, came by with the man who is quoting to redo the Septic Tank...did I tell you about this??
Pascal can do anything apparently...including but not limited to taking out dead tree down. That is the tree the other fella wanted 250 euros to cut down. We will see what Pascal will charge to cut it (or push it??) and take it away. I have a feeling it might be free firewood for him!
He is quoting on the new tank, placing it exactly where we thought it should go, and with a field where it wont interfere with anything else. More money, but if we can get this 0% loan from the bank, we should be ok. We will need help to fill out all the forms, and David's wife Nicole is apparently the person to ask. They have been here 17 yrs and with kids in school here, are pretty fluent.
 I followed most of the conversation David and Pascal had, but lacked the confidence to say too much. It will come! Already I feel more confident on the phone, as evidenced today, despite the fact that I could hardly hear the driver over the engine noises.

Ok, time for me to walk in my garden with my dearly beloved in hand, and enjoy the birds making a racket, and breath the rapidly cooling air.
It is gloriously cool in the mornings when we throw open the windows, and I LOVE that time of day, standing at the open window looking out at the glorious view below us, relishing this special place we now call HOME!

A bientot.