Onslaught (2)
We survived the ‘people arriving for a holiday’ period - which all went very well, as we basked in glorious sunshine, the garden was looking good, the barbecues had been scrubbed, and everyone was happy. Then, disappointingly, on the day that the holidaymakers arrived, the temperature fell about 15 degrees, and the rain arrived.
This is not what people want of a holiday in France, even in May, and it is really quite unusual. I scuttled around trying to find kindling for the wood-stoves (difficult because all the wood is outside in the rain), and they tried to stay warm and dry. Happily that only lasted a couple of days and usual sunny weather has now resumed.
We are now getting ready for another invasion, and battling against a third.
The invasion we are preparing for is a party that we are having on Saturday night. Having lived here in France for five years we thought it was high-time we had a knees up, and the coming Saturday is the last free weekend we have (that is, a weekend without holidaymakers) until October. So it’s now or never.
The problems with a party in France are twofold. First is language - we are keen to avoid having an English side to the party and a separate French side. I think all the English coming can speak French, but time will tell. The second problem is culture and expectations. The French will have high expectations of the food provided. The English will have expectations of plenty of alcohol. Sorry to generalise, but it’s true. So Mrs B is working on the food, and I’m in charge of drink, and preventing unruly drunkenness.
The other problem I referred to is mother nature. The grass and weeds (and plants) are growing inches every day, and require constant controlling - we have several acres to control so it’s quite time consuming. The rabbits are arriving in droves, digging up the garden and generally causing trouble. The partridges seem to have multiplied over-night, and now amble around the courtyard as if they own the place, and the lizards move away in waves as you walk.
And to cap it all, the snakes are back. Big and harmless, they like to sun themselves on the newly mown grass and frighten passers by. The only time we had trouble with a snake was last year, when one tried to eat a toad in a toy cupboard (outside, not in the house), giving a fright to a small child who went in to find a ball. But they are stalking again, and it is only a matter of time before I hear an ear-piercing scream from the garden.
Just a usual French spring, and I love it all.
