Thursday, 16 August 2012

Good news

I don't know if you remember, but a while ago I asked you to send good thoughts to a dear friend who was very ill, hanging in there by a thread. It worked! He and his wife are staying at our friend Hilary's (in the next village) for a few days. We saw them yesterday and he looks great. Today we have plans for a day at the beach with them, so the garden will have to wait...

Here's a quick funny picture to celebrate our good mood:


Wednesday, 15 August 2012

A day at the races

We're back from the races, 25€ richer! It was my very first time at the races and I really enjoyed it. We picked up a poster, but it's too big for my scanner, even trying to do it in halves, so Peter made me stick it to the wall and photograph it. He was adamant that you should see it. He even thought about going back to the stand where we got it, help ourselves to a load of them and send to all of you by post! It was starting to rain quite hard and we would have arrived home with a lot of papier mache, so we passed on the idea...

There you are, courtesy of Peter:


[I'm sorry it's bit out of focus. Piroutte kept bumping my arm while I was trying to take the photos... this is the best of the lot.]

Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Too hot and tired for a proper post...

We have just arrived back from a day of shopping for food and some more bits and pieces for the garden. Exhausted doesn't start to describe how we feel. It's incredibly hot and humid, very tiring...

Tomorrow a big bunch of us Brits are heading to the races in Pompadour, loaded with hampers for a big picnic and to try our luck on the horses. It will be nice to have a day off from all the hard work in the garden. Hey, we might even win something to offset the expense of building the steps, buying plants, etc.

Chat away, my friends. I have to cook some chicken and make salads for tomorrow's picnic, so it's ta-ta for now.

Pompadour racecourse



Monday, 13 August 2012

We have steps!

We managed to (almost) finish the garden steps. We found a bargain nursery yesterday and were very surprised to discover the owners are Brits!

I took the photos from the patio area, so there will be more pots dotted around to make the patio a bit more colourful. The plants on the steps look a bit stiff, as they haven't had time to relax and become accustomed to their new home.

When the patio starts looking decent, with table, chairs, parasol and some plants, I'll post more photos.

We are pleased with results so far. There are still bits and bobs to be done around the steps, like planting tallish shrubs to the right of them to hide the ugly concrete blocks, but that will have to wait a while. The important thing is that we have easier access to the garden and it looks much, much nicer than before...

(I didn't plant anything in the chamber pot in the end. We simply filled it with sand and use it as an ashtray.)




Sunday, 12 August 2012

The ostrich

Today's joke came from Mrsgunka:


A man walks into a restaurant with a full-grown ostrich behind him. The waitress asks them for their orders. The man says, "A hamburger, fries and a coke," and turns to the ostrich, "What's yours?" "I'll have the same," says the ostrich.

A short time later the waitress returns with the order. "That will be $9.40 please." The man reaches into his pocket and pulls out the exact change for payment. The next day, the man and the ostrich come again and the man says, "A hamburger, fries and a coke."

The ostrich says, "I'll have the same."

Again the man reaches into his pocket and pays with exact change.

This becomes routine until the two enter again. "The usual?" asks the waitress. "No, this is Friday night, so I will have a steak, baked potato and a salad," says the man. "Same," says the ostrich. Shortly the waitress brings the order and says, "That will be $32.62." Once again the man pulls the exact change out of his pocket and Places it on the table.

The waitress cannot hold back her curiosity any longer. "Excuse me, sir. How do you manage to always come up with the exact change in your pocket every time?"

"Well," says the man, "several years ago I was cleaning the attic and found an old lamp. When I rubbed it, a genie appeared and offered me two wishes. My first wish was that if I ever had to pay for anything, I would just put my hand in my pocket and the right amount of money would always be there."

"That's brilliant!" says the waitress. "Most people would ask for a million dollars or something, but you'll always be as rich as you want for as long as you live!"

"That's right... whether it's a gallon of milk or a Rolls Royce, the exact money is always there," says the man.

The waitress asks, "What's with the ostrich?"

The man sighs, pauses and answers, "My second wish was for a tall chick with a big ass and long legs who agrees with everything I say.."

Thank you, MrsG.