When a school phones me about one of my troops, I don’t expect it to be anything other than child sickness. Well you don’t with my lot. I don’t want to show boat or anything but they’re never been in much trouble at school. I’ve never sat in the Head’s office discussing my child’s behaviour. They’re well behaved at school (can’t say the same at home!) and if I ever got a phone call from the school – it was to say one of them had thrown up. Continue reading “Master Normandy Gets Into Trouble”
Break A Rib
Yay, the week that was #camiongate (see this post) just got better when it transpired that Master Normandy (my eldest age 14) decided to mix it up a bit with a broken rib or two. Now he didn’t do it on purpose. Just like my daughter didn’t get bitten by a dog and slam her thumb (still growing back) into the car door on purpose. Kids are kids and accidents happen wherever you are in the world. Continue reading “Break A Rib”
Living The Dream?
Mmmm what does that even mean? What does it mean to live the life you dream of? Answers on a postcard. I have come to ponder that of late as it’s an expression that is bandied around quite a bit. For me, it would be to live in a country that 1) I love (check) and 2) not to have to do any of the day-to-day crap as you’re an adult god damn it. No tick there. Continue reading “Living The Dream?”
The Roof Comes Off
Having done a two week stint in 2014, Mr Normandy headed back out in 2015 to crack on with the works. This time to take off the roof. Initially we had plans for dorma windows but subsquently decided against it due to time constraints and various problems with rentals etc. By the way, the plaques on the building were made by Mr Normandy – we had a whole range of them which we used to sell and some pet RIP headstones. Another blog post for another time!
This time the weather wasn’t so kind and whilst he is an astonishingly fast worker, even he ran out of time. He had to leave the roof and cover it with tarpaulin. This wasn’t ideal at all and, after a fierce storm, we received an email from our neighbour to say this was hanging off together with the baton in April 2015. Continue reading “The Roof Comes Off”
The Trouble With France Forums
Okay so gone are the days when you simple log onto Anglo Info and chose your particular region in France for research purposes. Sorry Anglo franchises the world over but it’s true. Yes, they are still a relative good source of information but nowhere near as good as the hundreds of facebook groups out there for living in France. Or any country for that matter. Continue reading “The Trouble With France Forums”
And Then He Was Back – 2014
Recently I posted about the renovation works that started in 2013. If you missed it you can read it here
Mr Normandy went back out a year later in 2014 to spend another two weeks working on the house with a young chap called Tom. Tom set up his tent in the garden whilst Mr Normandy roughed it in the house. The house that had no water, heating or toilet facilities. I remember him saying once that we could all camp out for two weeks with the kids in the summer. Needless to say that never happened. There’s camping and there’s camping – call me old fashioned but having a wash and somewhere to go to the toilet are this gal’s basic requirements. Continue reading “And Then He Was Back – 2014”
Top Ten Tips To Learn French
Okay, so let’s be clear, I am no where near being fluent on the French front. In fact, even when you ask people how long did it take you to become fluent – you won’t get an answer. Why? Because you never really are. It’s never-ending. A bit like ancestry of which I am a bit of an ancestry nerd – we can talk another time and I can bore you then. There is no real beginning and no real end. You see, I will know what someone means when they say, for instance, Mrs Slocombes’ pussy or “I’m free” or “Betty” or if someone was to say “it was so farcical I could hear the Benny Hill theme tune being played in the background.” Continue reading “Top Ten Tips To Learn French”
The Consuel and Enedis
Now, I haven’t really braced myself for this post. I’m just going to write and hope for the best with regard to my mental state at the end. The scars run deep so they do.
So for those of you that haven’t glazed over on the intricate details on how to get electricity in your French home – here’s your next installment. And for those that missed the first one – put the kettle on you can read it here
So, we had a temporary supply in August. However, temporary means just that and we now had to start the process of obtaining a permanent supply. Now initially we thought that this would be September 2017 but the sheer amount of work involved meant that this was a tad optimistic. Given that Mr Normandy was more or less doing it on his Jack Jones. Continue reading “The Consuel and Enedis”
Carry On Doctor
Now, at some stage in your new life in France you will need to pay the doctors a visit. Unless, of course, you’re a bloke as they tend to only visit when they’re actually dying or have been dragged there. The rest of us tend to go willingly and with kids in tow. Continue reading “Carry On Doctor”
The Building Works Take Off..
It has not escaped my notice that whilst I’ve been writing about all sorts of stuff – I haven’t really shown you the progress of the house. So without further ado and somewhat of an album filler on the blog (although I don’t do many of those #promise), here are some pictures to keep you going. I will keep popping up pictures over the next few weeks until you are up to date. Continue reading “The Building Works Take Off..”
Our Normandy Life 