Wednesday 23 April 2008

Ten things I want to do before the next big 0!

Not an original idea but one that I borrowed from Caroline (of "in search of Adam" fame) read it here who in turn borrowed it from "40 things to do before I'm 40."read it here. So as I have another biggy coming up in three years I thought I would give myself a wish list. I don 't want to be greedy so just 10 things I want to do before the next big one.
Oh and I'm not telling you how old maybe I will when I make it!!!

1 Finish my novel and get it published. This one is maybe too easy but I thought I should include it!!!!!!!
2 Try cross-country skiing. We are only about 1 hour from the Pyrenees so that shouldn't be too difficult to achieve.
3 Visit Venice.
4 Wear high heels again. I seem to have lived in wellies for the past 15 years and it has played havoc with my feet. But I haven't worn wellies for 6 weeks now so it's looking more hopeful.
5 Join a Salsa band. This may be a bit trickier as I have no rhythm and I'm tone deaf but they might let me have a triangle or a tambourine!!!
6 Learn to dance. Proper dancing such as latin american jive etc.
7 See an Ashes tour in Australia or the Cricket World cup somewhere exotic. Now I don't like long flights as I am Claustrophobic but I reckon some tranquilisers such as I gave the dogs should do the trick, in fact I've got a few tablets left so that's okay.
8 Go to the Super League Grand Final between the Leeds Rhinos and anybody else. Obviously I need Leeds to help with this one.
9 Do a Triathlon. Just a short one, I already run, I cycle a bit in the summer and I swim but only breaststroke. But hey I only want to finish I don't expect to win.
10 This one is for my eyes only but I may tell all when I reach the big one!!!!

So there it is my wish list for the next three years. Now all I need is some cooperation from the OH and for me to stop procrastinating and they should all be possible. I will try and put a short list in my sidebar to keep you up to date as to how I am getting on. So wish me luck and if you want leave your wish list.

Wednesday 16 April 2008

Sunday Market






















As promised here are some photos I took last Sunday. One of the musicians is sporting a fine example of a mullet and the stalls are all in addition to the usual wonderful selection of fresh fruit and veg, flowers, cheeses, charcuterie, wines, hardware goods, more conventional clothes and shoes and much more. It really is a fabulous Market that runs throughout the year although it is obviously much busier in the summer months.

Tuesday 8 April 2008

Settling in.

Thanks to all who have welcomed me back to the blogging world, it's good to be back. It hardly seems possible but we have been here over 4 weeks already!! So it really is time to stop my favourite past-time of PROCRASTINATION and start blogging and more importantly writing again. I have been sitting at my laptop for the past hour messing around, deleting e-mails, checking out other websites, you know how it goes, anything to avoid actually doing anything remotely connected with blogging or writing. Anyway I have finally run out of things to distract me so here goes: blog number two in our new house.



A few words about where we came from and where we are now. We had been living in the Poitou-Charentes region of France for the past 18 years, sheepfarming, hence the title of the blog!! Our farm was completely isolated which suited us very well, but eventually we decided that we were ready for a bit more life without having to drive 30/40 minutes. So now we have moved to the Aude departement, we have settled in a large village about 40 minutes south of Carcassonne. What a contrast!!! We are only about an hour from the Pyrenees and the Med and so not far from Spain either. We are looking forward to wine buying trips across the border.

We are within walking distance of 3 BARS plus all the other shops etc, but we are on the edge of the village and manage to have found a really tranquil setting. The house requires a lot of work including a extension to provide a new kitchen, but we enjoy a challenge and have already started on the top bedroom. In the meantime we are fairly cramped compared to what we had before, lots of boxes will not be opened for some time and we have a lot of furniture in store, where it will stay until the extension is ready.

Luckily the village provides ample distractions for when we get fed up with DIY. Every Sunday morning there is a huge Market with people pouring in from miles around. Market stalls selling everything you can imagine plus quite a few selling the unimaginable. The village and surrounding area has a large hippy population which means the Market is very 'colourful'!!!! I have never seen so many mullets, on the young and not so young!!!! I have suggested the OH grows his hair so that he can blend in . We shall also look out our Indian cotton dresses[for me] and shirts[for him] plus anything else from the dressing up box. It does however give me an incredible range of characters that I can draw on for my wip. I always have my notebook handy when we stop for a beer or two, all in the name of research of course. I will take some photos of the more colourful stalls to give an idea what it's like here.

It looks like we are in for a tough life here but hey we'll do our best to cope!!!! More Sheep stories will appear from time to time along with updates on life amongst the Beautiful People.