Ladies what lunch(!), dinner dates and super suppers!!

Whilst we have been very, very busy with our nursing, market researching and hanging out washing and bringing it in again(!) in between the torrential downpours we have found time (you will not be surprised to hear!), to fit in several scrumptious meals out and in with family and friends.

This past weekend was a real international extravaganza which kicked off with a Chinese meal with our dear friend (you know who you are!!), down in Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset. The restaurant offered a buffet of a wide variety of chinese goodies which we took no time to tuck in to!! Lousy grammar but we like the sound of that last sentence!!

We also had the opportunity to get together with the girls for an Indian meal at the local Taj Brasserie which was a real bonanza of poppadoms, dips, rogan josh, naans and aloo sag and gobi galore! Not to mention good old fashioned girlie chat!

The foodie fest reached its climax on Saturday evening when we entertained chez nous and, without blowing our own trumpet too much (oh well, alright then!), we did ourselves proud!

We started the evening with aperitifs of Cava, G & T's and warmed nuts (steady!). Our starter dish was wild scallops in a lime, chilli, ginger and coriander marinade on a bed of watercress and rocket leaves, accompanied by a Sauvignon Blanc to die for!
Our entree was organic salmon fillets which we served with baby salad potatoes and asparagus. A surprisingly "light" Shiraz went down extremely well with the salmon. We cheated with dessert and enjoyed individual shop-bought zesty lemon cheesecake. Yummy!! There were the obligatory after dinner chocs (Green & Black's), and some coffees to go with the single malts..............boozy yes, over-indulgent absolutely, brilliant.......without a doubt!!

Sunshine, showers and Swine flu!

Since arriving back here in the UK the weather has been a real mixed bag, as is typical of an English summer. Living out of a suitcase is not so easy when the weather won't play ball. We had packed for a summer in France and optimistically hoped that our selection of shorts and summer tops would suffice back here in Blighty - how wrong could we be? We have obviously been away far too long!

In early July we sweltered in summer gear, by the second week of Juillet our shorts were soggy and sandals were sodden! They, (whoever "they" are), say that "there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes". Well, we certainly have the wrong stuff packed!

We have been looking after "the Old's" place since returning to the UK whilst they holiday in the States and the sunshine and showers have kept us busy in the garden with hours of watering being replaced by hours of mowing and weeding!

You may know that Dad has had major surgery and unfortunately, had to spend much longer in hospital than expected due to post-op complications and, despite being discharged from hospital a week ago, he continues to have a number of problems and pain. We are hopeful that this coming week will see some significant improvement in his condition.

Our house and pet sitting "schedule" has, as a result of the above, been modified so that we can be around to help where and when needed. We have been very lucky and have organised house sits locally until almost the end of August.

We have also been busy "working" as freelance market researchers! Basically, eating, drinking and shopping and being paid to do so! Some of our "assignments" involve visiting pubs (oh, the hardships!), and sampling traditional real and cask ales.

Now, as a rule, we are committed wine and continental beer (lager!), drinkers by nature but, this introduction to all things hop-like has been a real revelation and we are becoming serious fans, we may even join the Campaigners for Real Ale gang! There will be a separate post(s), with more detail later. Della in particular, has discovered her hidden real ale side(!) and has vowed to try as many different types as her liver will allow! Bring on the "Fursty Ferret" is what I say!!

An unexpected yet very welcome "reunion" mid-July, with some familiar and not so familiar faces from our school days took place at the local pub (where else?), and a good time was had by all. It was really lovely to catch up with everyone.

Swine flu outbreaks here in the UK have now taken on pandemic proportions with most people having it or knowing someone that has had it. Tamiflu is readily available and most cases seem to be mild to moderate. Jokes abound mainly involving oinking, crackling and porky goings on! The English sense of humour at its best!!

Latest.....

Firstly, apologies to our regulars(!), it has been a while but, in our defence lots of stuff has been happening. Whilst in France (yep, we are now back in Blighty!), we spent a superb last few weeks enjoying the delightful warm, sunny June days and balmy evenings, we pottered in the potager, met up with old friends and made new ones.

We had a fabulous month and we were very lucky to enjoy beautiful summer sunshine throughout the month of June without the usual stormy conditions that are common place at this time of year in SW France. The lack of rain was not so good for the gardens and did keep us busy with the hose!

We travelled to Toulouse for a lunch date with some of the girls who became friends when we were living in L'isle-en-Dodon and, we made a trip to the Aveyron to meet a lovely couple who may use us as sitters in the future. We also had the opportunity during our last weekend in France to meet up with our French "family" and enjoyed a marvellous 3-hour(!!), hike in the French countryside followed by a scrumptious lunch - tres bien!

A selection of photos will be published shortly (we are not using our own computer at the moment!).....(here they are!!), but these pics can only but hint at the beauty and the super time the wife and I had during our all too brief visit back to France.