Another knees-up

Where does the time go? I can’t believe it’s been a month since the Carnival here in Bize. In comparison to last month, these last few weeks have been relatively quiet. There has been one function at the Salles de Fete I attended – a lunch / dance. Some friends in the village Margaret and David have joined ‘The Club’ - new partners in crime. And this was their first experience of the Bizois and Bizoise having a damn fine knees-up. Margaret also writes a blog and here she has done a great job in describing the many courses that we managed to get through [again …. groan …] during the afternoon. So once again, an afternoon of good food and drink, good company, interspersed with dancing.

And here comes confession time. I did my first [and very likely last] bit of line dancing!

This is the slow version with a handful of people:




And then more people joined in, and it livened up a little. Margaret thought it would be a good idea if we got up together and had a go. We did. Let’s just say that I’m not very good, and leave it at that....

Progress out the back:

A handy gadget for raising buckets of cement and packs of tiles:

The garage has been cemented over, all the plaster dividing walls are in place and the floor tiling is nearly complete.

And there’s been lots of sand carted through the garage – this lot was dumped out in the street, blocking half the roadway. The deputy mayor had words with the builders about it – and of course I kept right out of it. But it wasn’t there long – taken out the back with a bobcat.

The next post I do here will be lots of family stuff – because the good news is that my sister Nic, Duff, and the three kids (who live in British Columbia, Canada) arrive here on Monday and I’m very much looking forward to it.

At the moment they’re in Paris for a few days – including a bit of time at Disneyland. Then they catch a train to Montpellier where they will pick up the hire car and head this way. We’ll have a week here in Bize, and then all head off to Aix-en-Provence for a week where they’ve rented a house – well, it’s in a tiny village just outside of Aix.

I’ve been trying to get this house in order – I have had a lot of ‘stuff’ just stored all over the place – bits and pieces, furniture, flat-packs (an entire kitchen!) that will shortly be headed over to the barn.

And I can’t store any of it in the garage because the builders need the drive-through access to the building site. So, that’s my job for the next few days …. Create a semblance of ‘tidy’ in my very crowded house, ready for the influx! Roll on Monday …..

Oh, and speaking of builders – a little ‘faux pas’ of mine. My French really is not progressing very well at all. It may have something to do with the fact that I’m not very disciplined with the work I should be doing at home on my own. I never was one for homework.

However, I digress. Until recently (definitely sorted now….), I have been confusing two words: gentil (nice) and jolie (pretty). Pronounced roughly “zhontee” and “zholee”.

So I arrived home from Narbonne the other day, backed my car into the garage, loaded to the roof with three toilets (!)… There were three builders on site, and I asked them if they could help me unload them.

"Oui, madame … but of course ……. "

And I thanked them profusely – and basically told them they were all ‘very pretty’ …… They looked suitably stunned…..

And a few pictures from the Narbonne Sunday Market last week:

A stall selling Scottish doggie outfits …

With the real thing wearing one: