Weekend

Still quite chilly but blue skies so hope it will warm up. Nigel did yet another run to the tip with more cardboard boxes and garden rubbish. It's not like Carol where we could dump all the garden rubbish in the field to rot down! I sat and looked at the garden and the birds. We seem to have a lot of bird life round here, tree creepers, blackbirds, robins, doves, wagtails and in the distance we see egrets flying over the fields. The doves are the most noticable and audible and are quite tame. I have seen them, several times, sitting on the patio outside the kitchen door.
The afternoon was devoted to trying to set up the satellite dish for UK TV. We have been told that this is quite a difficult and fiddly operation and may take some time! A whole afternoon was spent on this, mostly by Nigel, but no success as yet.
Sunday morning we went to a boot sale, vide grenier as they are called here, about 20kms away in a little town not far from the cottage we were living in before we moved in here. I didn't think it would be a large one but it was, lots of interesting stalls. Despite the fact that I said I wouldn't buy anything, particularly anything decorative, I bought a Crown Devon wash bowl in perfect condition. It is the first time that I have seen any Crown Devon for sale in France and I just couldn't resitst it despite Nigels' moans and groans. I have no idea where I can put it, it is far too big, but am sure I will find a home for it somewhere.
After the boot sale we had lunch in Eugenie les Bains. Eugenie is a little town about 15 kms from here and is a spa town. It's a place that I am very fond of, beautiful gardens surrounding the town. There is a hotel and restaurant there that is owned and run by Michel Guerard who is a very famous, and very expensive!, French chef. I believe dinner costs around 140 euros so we shall not be going there very often!! The spa is run by the French health service and is for people with rheumatic and obesity problems. The bistro there is very nice and we had a very good and extensive lunch accompanied by a couple of glasses of good local red wine.