As our St. Patrick’s night gig neared, things just seemed to go from bad to worse. First Nellie, then me, followed by Alain and Yvonick, all went down with a virus that left us thin and weak.

Nine days to go and we had to cancel our rehearsal. One week to go; we had to cancel a small gig in a local bar as only Jacques and Hervé were well enough to go. Two days to go; only four of us able to go to rehearsal. One day to go; our sound man had to fly back to England due to a family bereavement. Saturday arrived and Hervé succumbed to the virus.

My plans for making the dessert were long dead; there was no way I was well enough, so a crumble was ordered from the caterer and I was told to rest and conserve my strength.

Nick met Jacques at the salle des fetes on Saturday afternoon. The room had been transformed by the teams of volunteers from the walking club; balloons, garlands, bunting, all in orange, white and green, adorned the room and the tables were set with orange and green serviettes and table runners.

Fortunately, Jacques has some idea of how to use a mixing desk, as we unwrapped our shiny new purchase and plugged in mikes, monitors and speakers. Nick and Jacques set up the new system, labelling each entry with the name of the person and/or instrument it was for, methodically from left to right, to make it more intuitive to use.

7pm The sound system was working and Nick felt he had some idea of how to use it, the basics, at least. Everybody but Hervé was there, including Yvonick, who’s very adaptable and was able to play Hervé’s percussion where necessary. The room was filling with people, friends from the walking and cycling clubs and from the village, as well as lots of people I didn’t know. There were lovely smells drifting from the kitchen. At last we were able to relax and begin to believe it would be alright.

1am We finished playing, packed up and went home, content that the evening had been a success. The food was excellent, the ambiance great and even if Nellie and I felt our voices weren’t quite up to scratch, nobody seemed to mind. I think everyone who went enjoyed the evening.

With just eight days to go till our big gig, which must be the raison d’etre of Irish bands the world over, our St. Patrick’s day bash, things are moving on apace. All the tickets are now sold, food is ordered, Guinness is bought and the band is rehearsing hard – well, we should be. The reality is, however, that Nellie has a virus and can hardly leave her bed, Alain has flu (the man variety, I hope) and I have bronchitis and a voice more reminiscient of Elkie Brooks’ than my own. We’ve now bought our own shiny, new mixing desk, which Ade is going to teach Nick to operate; I’m just hoping that we all recover in time to put it to good use!

Il ne reste que huit jours jusqu’à notre grand concert, qui doit être la raison d’être des groupes irlandais dans le monde entier,  notre fete de Saint-Patrick, les choses évoluent à grands pas. Tous les billets sont vendus, la nourriture est commandé, Guinness est acheté et le groupe est en train de répéter dur – eh bien, nous devrions repeter dur. La réalité est cependant que Nellie a un virus et ne peut guère quitter son lit, Alain a la grippe (l’homme variété, je l’espère) et j’ai une bronchite et une voix plus reminiscient de celle de Elkie Brooks que la mienne. Nous avons recemment acheté notre propre table de mixage, et Ade va enseigner à Nick comment l’employer; je espère simplement que nous aurons tous rétabli  pour le mettre à bon usage!

It took us ages to find floor tiles we liked; neutral but interesting, non slippery and a mix of sizes so the design can look random. At last we found what we wanted and they’ve sat in the carport Perth for months now, till the plasterboard joint filling was finished.

It takes1 big tile, 2 medium and 3 small to make up the design, an interlocking L-shape, and there are numerous ways of arranging the tiles within that pattern; so Nick drew out all the possibilities and is working with his templates.

The weather’s miserable at the moment, there’s no incentive to do anything outdoors, so Nick’s making amazing progress; he’s finished the spare room and partly done the hall. It looks great.

I’ve started learning Spanish at the CLAN, where I teach English. It was supposed to be a beginners’ class, but I’m the only beginner, the rest of the group having already done 3 years, so I’m struggling to keep up. The fact that the course is held in French doesn’t help; the teacher keeps offering me extra help in the form of vocab handouts and thinks it hilarious when I turn them down, saying I’ll go online instead.

It was good to note today, that I’m not the only one struggling; two of the other students are also in my English class; Nadine arrived with her English notes instead of Spanish and Henriette, when asked a question in Spanish, replied “Yes. Non, non, si”, and not just once. We had an article to read aloud, which wasn’t too difficult, but translating it into French, through English, was something of a challenge. I suppose it will keep the little grey cells busy – if it doesn’t wear them out entirely!

Olivier arrived last week to sand the floors downstairs, in preparation for tiling them, so Nick ordered the tile sticky. It should have arrived on Friday, but the lorry didn’t turn up at the depot; Nick’s done pattern designs, drawn parallel lines on the floors and swept till it nearly shines, but the sticky still hasn’t arrived. He’s not good at waiting and has now resorted to cleaning his workshop; I hope it’s here soon, before he goes completely mad!

Valentine’s day

For all those who are wondering what’s become of Hermione/Herman, he’s now known as Norman and is living very happily at Tracy and Tony’s.  He spends his time with his girlfriend, Clementine and several ducks, in a field with access to a large pond.

He is unrecognisable as the bully who prevented me going into the garden, so meek and mild is he now. He occasionally attacks Tracy (but she can handle him), but is completely smitten by Tony and the attraction is obviously mutual!

With a little under 4 weeks to go, more than half the tickets for our St. Paddy’s night bash have already been sold.

It should be a great night. The meal looks excellent; potiron soup, green, white and orange crudités, daube de boeuf, salad, cheese and guinness and chocolate cake with crème irlandaise, wine and coffee included. The band is playing during the aperos, then between courses and, of course into the wee small hours after everyone’s finished eating and are ready to dance off the calories.

The members of the walking club, who are organising it, are all really enthusiastic; people are being assigned jobs, decorating the salle des fetes, preparing food, manning the bar, waiting on table, washing up, etc., etc. As for the band, we’re rehearsing hard and trying to learn a couple of Celtic numbers favoured by the local line dancing clubs.

So if you’re in the area and haven’t already reserved your place, don’t wait too long!

Bien qu’il reste presque quatre semaines, on a déjà vendu plus de la moitié de places pour notre fete de  St. Patrick .

Il devrait être une bonne soirée. Le repas semble excellente; soupe de potiron, crudités vert, blanc et orange, daube de boeuf, salade, fromage, gâteau de  chocolat et de guinness  avec de la crème irlandaise, vin et café compris. Le groupe joue pendant les aperos, puis entre les plats et, bien sûr, jusqu’aux petites heures du matin après le repas, quand quelques uns seront prêt à danser.

Les membres du club de marche, qui organise cette evenement, sont tous très enthousiastes; des gens ont leurs metiers assignés, décorer la salle des fêtes, la préparation du repas, travailler au bar, faire service aux tables, faire la vaisselle, etc., etc. Quant au groupe, nous répétons dur et essayons d’apprendre quelques numéros  celtiques favorisée par les clubs de country.

Donc, si vous êtes dans la région et n’avez pas déjà réservé votre place, ne pas attendez trop longtemps!

The cycle club has a new president, who’s making little changes, such as at the monthly dinner, where each group of eight has to elect one person to help the ladies who’ve made the meal serve and clear away afterwards; an excellent idea. He’s also started writing a weekly report on the Sunday run, distributed to all club members.

He’s very keen on having a website for the club too, and Nick has been working on this. But Nick, not renowned for his literary skills, was not expecting to be asked to write the weekly report, and write it in French of course! Kieran has installed a French keyboard on the laptop for him, complete with all the accented letters, but that didn’t help a great deal as Nick is pretty oblivious to where accents go, having had years of using the excuse that his keyboard doesn’t have accents. I suggested a French spell check, which, once installed, has made his life so much easier as it adds all the accents for him. I think he’s nearly enjoying writing the report now!

The club is taking part in an organised ride from Bordeaux to Sète in May, but need someone to drive the van to carry the bikes to the start and back from the finish, and to provide support along the route. Jeanneau was going to do this, until he realised he had double booked; so when Jacques phoned me to see if I’d do it, somehow Nick and Kieran persuaded me that it’s a good idea, and no, it won’t be at all difficult, it’s just a big car really. Evelyne will be my navigator and Jacques will lend us a satnav too. Not being a confident driver at the best of times, I’m not at all convinced, but we’ll wait and see. I hope we don’t get lost on a tiny road with no way of turning round!!!!

We woke to snow this morning! Yes, it had been forecast, but we didn’t expect 8cm of the cold, white stuff. It’s been getting very cold in the new house recently; even wearing four sweaters, two pairs of socks and tights under my trousers, I’ve struggled to stay warm enough while painting. Nick mysteriously disappeared to Nogaro this morning and returned triumphant with what he calls a Jackie-warmer; a little stove that attaches to the top of a gas bottle. It’s remarkably effective; after only half an hour or so, we were basking in the balmy temperature of 10ºC – what bliss!

Being warm enough, I had no excuse not to finish painting the walls and ceiling in the first bit of the upstairs, before I went out teaching, or to wax all the woodwork within reach when I got back. That’s the most difficult, scary part done, above the stairwell; tomorrow we can move the scaffolding to the next section, still the stairwell, but lower.

Dinner tonight was a two and a half egg omelette, made with goose eggs donated by our neighbour. They’re enormous, compared with one of our hen’s eggs; we struggled to eat it all!

Nous nous sommes réveillés à la neige ce matin! Oui, c’etait prévu, mais nous n’attendions pas 8cm. Il a fait plus et plus froid dans la nouvelle maison récemment; même quand je porte quatre pulls, deux paires de chaussettes et collants sous mes pantalons, j’ai eu du mal à rester assez chaud pendant je fais de la peinture. Nick a disparu mystérieusement à Nogaro ce matin et revint triomphante avec ce qu’il appelle un chauffe-Jackie; c’est un poêle qu’on peut attacher à une bouteille de gaz. Il est remarquablement efficace; après seulement une demi-heure, on nous a dorer dans la température douce de 10°C – quel bonheur!

Être assez chaude, je n’avais pas d’excuse pour ne pas terminer  la peinture des murs et le plafond dans la première partie de l’étage, avant de sortir au CLAN pour ma classe d’anglais, ou pour ne pas cirer  toutes les boiseries à portée de main quand je suis rentrée. C’est la partie la plus difficile et le plus effrayante à faire, au dessus de la cage d’escalier; demain, nous pouvons bouger l’échafaudage à la section prochaine, toujours la cage d’escalier, mais moins haut.

Dîner ce soir était un omelette à deux oeufs et demie, fait avec des oeufs d’oie de  notre voisin. Ils sont énormes, comparé à une de nos œufs de poule; nous n’avions pas faim après tout manger!

Nick’s continuing to work hard on the house, though cleaning up beams and sanding plasterboard joints are hardly photogenic activities. The progress is invisible, but progress it is; we’ll soon be ready to start painting the walls on the first floor. He and Kieran have also installed drainage behind the house, to take away excess water from the garden. You can buy slotted drainpipe, but it’s twice the price of the normal stuff, so they buy the unslotted version and take a saw to it. It’s then wrapped in geotextile and buried under gravel and actually looks quite good. The far end runs into the ditch, so our garden should be less swampy this year than last.

A few weeks ago the walking club asked if the band would be interested in playing for a St. Patrick’s night celebration; of course we would! There was a meeting of a few members of the walking club committee and myself, to decide on a date, a venue and whether we’d do a meal or just drinks and music. It’s the first such meeting I’ve attended and I honestly wonder, if all French meetings are like this, how anything ever gets done. Everybody talked all the time, and nobody seemed to listen to a word anyone else said! It was held in the gite belonging to the cycle club, which was freezing cold as it’s closed for the winter, and by the end of an hour and a half, I’d lost the will to live. However, it was decided that I’d ask if the Caupenne salle des fetes was available, that we’d do a meal and that we’d have another meeting with the whole committee.

The next meeting was similar to the first, but with more people. I was able to report that I’d booked the room, so it’s all go. Each person was allotted a task; Chantal, Josiane and I went shopping for decorations for the room and the tables yesterday, lots of green, white and orange serviettes, balloons and crepe paper, and I’m experimenting with different recipes for Guinness cakes for the dessert. I made one last week and took it to the walk on Sunday morning; Christian brought coffee and the walkers, all very willing volunteers, subjected themselves to the arduous task of assessing it. They liked it, but Nick and I found it rather dry, so I’ve found another recipe for this weekend; a chocolate and Guinness cake which sounds lovely – we’ll see.