See you all in 2010!

Have been frightfully busy that I've not been able to blog some of the stories (and the travails of someone overseeing construction of her country home from afar) I would've liked to print here... But never mind. I resolve to do better next year...

Meanwhile, am now officially on leave but have got a few things to do out of town... will be away until the end of the year; shall have no access to the net, hence will find it difficult to blog.

Wishing one and all a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Country house: Work in progress

Mon cher Blog,

Spent a few days in Brittany amidst the howling gale and showers... But we enjoyed every bit of it.

Despite the 50-knot wind that lasted albeit intermittantly for some 48 hours, we were blessed with a beautiful gentle sunny weather in between the incessant showers.

Renovations on our lovely stone retreat are in full swing and our friends in Lézardrieux wouldn't let us check in at a hotel so we took up their invite to use their lovely guest house for four wonderful days.

The main house has been completely gutted with literally only slate roof and 4 walls remaining (stone walls are 90cm thick as seen in pic number 2); part of the ground floor has been dug with the other parts to be dugged yet, eg., living room, library, laundry room, wine "cellar" room, etc., although floor insulation and damp proofing have bee laid in the future dining room.

It was heartening to see work finally in progress in our home but had to change specs on the ceiling front in both the living room and the dining room, i.e., sound proofing -- good thing we came to visit the site so were able to put things in order. Sadly, the old ceiling beams everywhere will be half covered by the sound proofing. As in all old stone houses in Brittany, there's no ceiling insulation of any kind, hence the only way to deaden sound from upper floors, which are all in old wood, is to put in sound insulation.

We also discovered that the antique stair case (110 years old) made out of old solid timber had to go and a new one in oak has been ordered for all 3 flights. Kitchen, or where we decided future kitchen should be installed has been completely gutted, new slate roof put in and "Velux" windows put in too. It will be extended to make way for pantry.

Bedroom walls have been torn down to be re-built and insulated; fireplace in one of the bedrooms will be rehabilitated but will be shut; down pipes for two en suite bathrooms have been put in too, etc. A third bathroom will be built on the top floor. Bedroom and bathroom doors have been ordered from England while the main entrance door and kitchen door as well as library door will be supplied by French door makers.

French-windows (portes fenêtres) in one of the gable ends, master bedroom side (as well as in the dining room directly below), will be built too for a direct and superb view of the future gardens as well as to bring in more light. Again, many old stone houses in Brittany have relatively few windows (to keep the heat) and our home is no different but with modern 'window technology', we can now poke holes everywhere to bring in more light while keeping the heat or keeping the cold out.

Fireplace man came to confer with us for the 2 fireplaces he will be building by beginning of next year; one of the fireplaces, in stone, is new but is ugly so has to go. We've already purchased the mantelpieces, a stone fireplace for the living room from the Loire Valley and a 19th century Brittany "bourgeois" mantelpiece (that we purchased from an antique trade fair last summer) will adorn the open fire in the dining room.

Altogether, things were looking alright...

Meanwhile, Darling, ever the staunch gardener, didn't mind the gale, the rain and the cold... he (with yours truly and Bodyguard in tow) just had to do some weeding, dead-heading, re-planting (of the 3 grown plants we had initially planted when we purchased the property), and of course, planting daffodils (for Spring) and other varieties of flowers...

Can't wait to go back in a couple of weeks!

Celebrating Granny's 90th birthday

Was in England last weekend to attend Mum-in-law's 90th birthday and watch her blow the candles on a cake that was made for the occasion by her youngest grandchild, 11-year old Emmy.

It was a fabulous family get together over a wonderful lunch with admirable Granny, who is as spritely as ever, bubbly, gracious, but most of all, kind and generous.

The long drive for the short visit was tiring. Pity we couldn't stay longer but kiddies had school and Darling had to go back to work. But it was well worth it. There's nothing like a family get together around Mum-in-law whom I admire and love dearly.

Before she became a full-time military wife and mother to military sons, Mum-in-law herself served with the medical corps of the British Army during WWII that took her to battlefronts in North Africa and Italy where she eventually met her future husband, Darling's Dad. Dad-in-law (RIP) had been wounded in battle and was recovering in a hospital in Messina, Sicily, one of the great WWII battlefronts that pitted Montgomery's army against combined German and Italian forces.

The children adore her and if they had their way, they would be spending all their free time with her over in her beautiful and historical 16th century home in one of the most pittoresque regions of England.

Here's to Mum-in-law... many happy returns of the day and looking forward to having more birthday celebrations with you!

Blog en vacances -- hectic month -- lots of travel to do

Mon cher Blog,

Basically, had this only opportunity to put up my sign post in my blog so here it is:

Will be doing so many things this month until beginning of November that I will perhaps have no chance to blog another post save maybe one or two in a jiffy.

We are actually in England, in Dartmouth for a long weekend (Monday included) to be exact for Darling's Britannia Royal Naval College batch reunion. Before the crack o'sparrow's fart, we will be inching our way out to Wells which is some 2.30 hours to see Mum-in-Law for a couple days.

From there will be returning to the Capital of Europe but will be stopping over in Brittany for a couple of days to check on the builders/renovators and the garden and what they've done. Will be back home after that for a busy week to prepare Baby Girl's major house move to a uni home we have rented in England which she will be sharing with 5 other roommates. Knowing Baby Girl, we might have to drag a trailer full of her bric-a-brac. As soon we get to her uni house, we will have to help her settle in, buy a few other needed stuff and generally help her and her room mates get started in what will be their new home for the next one year.

After the move, it will be trek back to the Continent via a sleep over at brother-in-law's and catch up on the latest in horses and sailing then take the ferry at the crack of dawn.

Back home, I will have a busy couple of days sorting out Baby Boy and his school work, things, other stuff while Darling attends to important work at the office. Darling goes back to work for a few days, then off we fly to Rome for an important NATO meet. Will spend the weekend in Rome, just the two of us, and I thought I should not forget to do a bit of Christmas shopping already while I'm there...

We then fly back home for only a couple of days because we need to trek to England (AGAIN!) for Mum-in-laws 90th grand birthday party that her children and grandchildren have been preparing for her for the last 6 months. We will back in the Capital of Europe by 1st week of November but not before dropping by Brittany to check on the builder's progress.

I reckon we will have clocked a few thousand miles by the time the trips finish.

Without much ado (as I am a bit dozy already), I will have to say adieu (or au revoir) to my visitors.

I shall be away for a for a good 4 weeks and so, mon cher diary, by tomorrow, this blog will be temporarily but officially en vacances.

Take care y'all!

"Hangovering" over Kouign-amann

Mon cher Blog,

Am having one of these hangovers -- a post holiday hangover! Feasting on a portion of Kougn-amann, a popular Breton pastry that's 100% fattening... I know it's a "sin" -- I promise to be contrite tonight by eating nothing but green salad without the vinaigrette at dinner...

Here's here's the recipe in English!

Kouign-amann

Recipe - Dessert

Kouign-amann

From an original recipe of Douarnenez, Kouign-amann means “Butter Cake”. It is made from risen dough, with the incorporation of salted butter, using the same method as for flaky pastry. The quality of the salted butter and the time the dough is allowed to rest are vital elements in the successful preparation of this Gateau.

Serves 6 people
8 ounces of flour
2 packages of yeast
a cup of water
8 ounces of sugar
8 ounces of butter
1 egg yolk

Put the yeast in with the water and a teaspoon of sugar. Let it rest for five minutes. Put the flour in a bowl and stir in the yeast and water a little at a time. Stir the dough until it's just sticky to the touch. Let it rest for a half an hour. Roll out the dough into a big circle, add flower if it sticks to the rolling pin. Cover the dough with butter cut into little pieces, sprinkle on the sugar and fold the four sides over the dough. Roll out the dough again, and fold the four sides over the dough again. (Same idea as for puff pastry dough). Flatten the dough to give it the shape of whatever pan you plan to use (rectangular or round with 2 inch sides). The dough should be touching the sides of the pan. Brush the top with the egg yolk and bake in a hot oven for 25 minutes. Serve warm.

Back from our Breton farm holidays!!!

Cher Blog,

Just got back from a wonderful holiday in sunny and hot Brittany (Yes! It was amazingly sunny and hot, hot, hot, during the last 15 days of our sojourn!), northwest coast of France.

The whole family and some guests spent a great 4 weeks in our lil Breton farm, part of which we are converting into a mini-park, clearing the woods, cleaning the stream, taking down dead trees, chopping logs, planting, mowing, putting up fences, helping the farmer with collecting straw, etc., etc., etc., and spending time in antique trade fairs and village festivities in between...

Despite the ultra basic comfort the house had on offer (house renovations ain't finished yet - builders on holiday, kiddies and their friends simply loved the country life... everyone endured the absolutely simple "amenities", cooking on an old oven and barbecuing most of the time (while downing Breton cidre most of the time!); they helped with most of the clearing up of the stream at the bottom of the future mini-park that had been neglected for at least 20 years!... It was just great to have so many hands on deck.

Because it was hot, hot, hot, we knew that the kiddies needed to jump into water and since we haven't got a proper pool yet, we got them a huge plastic family pool to play in meanwhile. Beaches are all over, the closest at 1.5kms away only but when you are sweating like a pig, it's good to just be able to splash in a "pool" of water nearby.

There were so many things to do! But nobody complained... It was truly a busy, and sometimes physically exhausting but exhilirating experience for everybody.

Paradise! Alas, holidays are over! But we intend to spend every bit of school break we can get in our "farm" and work on it some more!

Photo captions:
1) Finally, a temporary gate is put up!
2) Sunbathing tools right in front of the house
3 & 5) Baby boy cleaning temp pool
4) Painting the newly built temp gate
5, 11 & 12) Building a temp fence
6) Checking what to do with the roof of one of the old, virtually dilapidated sheds (shed will be rebuilt to proper standards, hopefully soon); there are so many of them; most will have to be simply torn down.
7) Darling stripping one of the trees of ivy (now I can see the wood from the trees)
8) View of the future mini-park from my bedroom window
9) Baby girl with one of her close friends posing by the kitchen door (which will soon be converted into windows! The house has too many doors!)
10) View from the cleared up portion of the garden by the stream
13) Kiddies playing with bodyguard
14) Kiddies and friends barbecuing chipolatas (French sausages) on a really tiny barbecue grill
15) Baby girl helping Daddy sort out newly chopped logs
16) Marianne Faithfull who used to be an internationally celebrated singer in the 60s singing at a village fête in Paimpol
17) And guess what? US Pres Obama has a great following even in this remote northwestern coastal town of France; a drinks joint in his honour by playing with words: La Baraque Obama (baraque is a French slang word for "home" or "building")
18) Chants des Marins (Sailors song fest) feast in the port of Paimpol
19, 20, 21, 22 & 23) Property's woodland by the stream being cleared up; some "before" and "after" shots... (woodland skyline in middle pic)
24 & 25) Another village feast in nearby Loguivy-sur-Mer, Brittany
26) Bales of straw finally "baled"!
27) Part of the stream that was at the bottom of the future mini-park in clearing up stage (after 20 years of neglect); we were told that there used to be trouts "plying" the stream but with farm fertilisers, insecticides, chemicals that have "infected" the waters, it's no wonder, the only living creatures to be found in the stream are flies, mosquitoes, etc.
28) Darling overseeing planting in my "personal terrace"
29) A portion of the fencing done!
30) Baby girl still hard at work
31) Darling still hard at work clearing up bottom of garden -- at least4 meters deep of those irritating thorny weeds -- using old sythes found in one of the tool sheds! We have since bought some urgently required garden tools.
32) One of my favourite pastimes during the holiday (besides going to the golf driving range) was going to antique trade fairs in the region! Got myself a new collection of antique French silver items, 3 new cigarette cases to add to my collection and one had my initials to boot!!!

Off for a few days to Port Saint Louis...

Off for a few days to Port Saint Louis...