Houses, Holidays and Celebrations

 We have been active in our search for "that" property and we did find a very well done barn conversion but when we called the owners for a second look they had already accepted an offer. So much for a slow market! Recently though, we have seen a 12th century monastery belonging to a man from Martinique who decorated the bedrooms with the bright colors of "the islands" invoking an unusual mix in setting and culture; a house built in 1895 which had been converted into two homes for family needs and in doing so upset the balance. It included a never ending set of seven outbuildings, one barn storing 5 caravan/motor homes;  a house built in 1845 with original pigsty walls! still inside one of the two to-be-renovated buildings. All appeared to be in  need of quite a bit of work and, therefore, overpriced. The land was amazing at the last two and as we have found, land is cheap so houses usually come with an acre or more. Another house was charming, great grounds with a beautiful detached rental cottage, ground floor beautifully tiled, kitchen adequate. Then the upstairs. So disappointing. My worst fear -Low Beams!  Some of these renovated properties were never meant to have a living space on the 2nd floor - it was the hayloft or for grain storage - consequently, the structurally necessary beams cross the rooms  at  4 1/2 to 5 ft heights. Can you imagine getting up in the middle of the night and BOOOF! BANG!! WTF!!!!? This one's beams were in the middle of the bedrooms  at a height of 5 feet. Some houses have beams in the hallways and again ducking would be obligatory for adults. One house even had yellow cushion pads tacked on to the beams to prevent head injuries. The only way to correct the height is by an expensive raising of the roof...........


Poor wee Angus was in desperate need of a grooming. We had put it off and off and finally contacted Gloria at Mucky Pups Mobile Grooming, a woman Linda had found on AngloInfo, a community newsletter and forum with all sorts of things advertized for sale.  Since we didn't have a large space to bathe Angus we thought a Mobile Groomer would be best. So, much to our surprise a week later up drives Gloria in her small car........where was the big van with the mobile washing and grooming station? Oops!! That is not how it works here!

   The Indignity of it all!

 After receiving permission from Linda, Gloria set up shop under the shade. She relieved Angus of his longish hair then we took him inside for a wash in the shower stall. Gloria was very good with him and did an expert job. She is a kindhearted person giving complimentary grooming to rescued dogs.  She finished the cut with scissors  and a brush  and - Voila - a new dog!

One Sunday we went to a village vide grenier literally translated an "emptying of the attic" and  bought 1 kg (2.2lbs.) of chestnuts for 1€ ($1.40) and gave them to Roy to roast. I bought a fuzzy/borg-ish hat for 2€ to keep my ears toasty for when the weather deteriorates, although now it is mostly sunny and in the mid 60's but coldish at night. We've had to purchase some winter woolies in anticipation of the dreaded cold.

And so October is on it's last day - Halloween or All Hallows Eve. The American/Canadian style of celebration , "Trick or Treat" is gaining more popularity. From what I have read, Limoges, which is fairly close to here, has the biggest Halloween party but the celebration seems  sporadic throughout the country, not on the same level of commercial madness as USA/Canada. 

Our little group decided to dress up, with one caveat, you must use whatever you have in your home or from nature. Susan was the most creative making a witch's hat plus cape from garbage bags and a broomstick from twigs. Add a sense of humor and you have one very good witch!

One could very much celebrate Halloween well into the night as November 1st is a National Holiday - All Saints Day - (La Toussaint) a Catholic remembrance of all saints known and unknown which is also celebrated in predominantly Catholic European countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy. All the stores and businesses were to be closed for the day, however as we drove through the village the butcher and baker were open. This holiday also starts a two weeks off school vacation for the students.

Flowers at Barro Cemetery November 1, 2011

 La Toussaint is celebrated by attending Mass then the lighting of numerous candles in cemeteries and the decorating of graves with plaques and chrysanthemums the flowers associated with death and therefore never given as a gift or on Mother's Day as is custom in the USA.   
The Père-Lachaise in Paris is one of the most visited and decorated cemeteries in the world, and the final resting place of many famous people, including Honoré de Balzac, the French novelist; the Polish composer, Frédéric Chopin; Jim Morrison, the American singer with the Doors; and Oscar Wilde, the Irish writer. One can only imagine what kind of a wild bash these famous dead must have on November 2nd -  The Day of the Dead (Le Jour des Morts).

Salads have given way to fall and winter dishes most made with our organic vegetables. Soups and frittatas, roasted chickens and juicy pork chops all just oozing with flavor.

One night Brian made chicken fajitas with El Paso seasoning - not nearly as good as Taco Bell-make-at-home or Jacksonville Beach's Campeche Bay's but the tortillas were excellent and it pacified the Tex-Mex craving. With no sour cream available we checked the Internet and it provided the method to make our own. 

 There is a woodpile in the back for our use and Brian brings wheelbarrow loads in and stacks the wood next to the burner. Thank goodness he is a very good fire starter as this is our main source of heat augmented by portable electric heaters.

 Now doesn't that look warm and cozy??