Must do regular updates!

In an effort to keep up the re-blogging just a quick one to update on what is going on...

I am now ensconced in the lovely Chateau du Faudade along with my sidekick, we have a lovely first floor corner room, double aspect to any estate agent types, have a lovely view down the Save valley and a nice walk from the Chateau to a small lake that does nicely for an evening stroll.

Bailey has tried to make friends with Rio the resident collie, it has met with some resistance and not a little aggression on Rio's part. Bailey is more wary but is still all wagging tail and bounce in the hope Rio sees sense...

Rio has now started to join us on the evening walk, it is quite amusing to see the two dogs suddenly finding themselves trotting along together and double taking on how close they are, a little more time and I am sure all will be well.
Bailey has already learnt not to mess with ANY stick that Rio may lay a claim to!!!

Work is just about to get busy with a software update to upload and return the systems to Airbus, after that there may be the opportunity to pause and plan for a Sep trip to take Bailey to my sisters... Wonder if she reads this as might be news to her...

Spent today planning and booking trains, hotels, and shows for November when I have my graduation for my BA(Hons) in Graphic Design taking place in Edinburgh castle. A truly inspiring venue for such a special occasion. Inspired by the 'pay it back' campaign, I have the support of two 'special' friends for the event, fun times to be had by all I am sure!

http://www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/

By the time of that weekends events I will have been back in the UK for a month! With fridges and cupboards full of all the goodies that it is hard to come by over here without resorting to bizarre rituals involving rendezvous in car parks, no doubt accompanied by secret passwords.

I really should start a countdown of days to go, but it is something like 45ish...

Next plan is for the leaving soiree that seems to have defeated me in getting organised despite the best efforts of Clare and Karen to kick me into action... This week it will be done!!!

Adieu

Two Years!!!

Two years since I last wrote here, how remiss.

Where to start, well after the old girl cat had moved on to pastures new things were all change, it had been a hard year and I really was not inclined to write the blog, then out of the habit never returned to it, which is a shame as I did enjoy doing it and sharing what was happening in a more personal way than on other social media.

What has happened in these two years...

Well the biggest change for me at home was the introduction of Bailey, a chocolate Labrador, I had expressed an interest in some 'half baked' puppies that were cross Labrador 'and the dog next door', but having umm'd and ahh'd too long they were no longer available. However, Margaret who had them said she would keep an eye out amongst her breeder friends, she does a fantastic job breeding Labradors that go on to be guide dogs for the blind in the UK.

Then in the middle of a Panto set build in the Theatre, I get a message passed to me from El Presidente that Margaret needs to speak to me... and that was the conversation about this 12 week chocolate Labrador that urgently needed a new home... well the photos sold it to me without hesitation it was a YES!

Helliot Diamond Du Chai - Or Bailey

He is now as of July 2014 twenty months old, he is gorgeous and lovable, sometimes over enthusiastic but just wants to be everybody's and every dogs friend.


First night in the house on the left, and about twelve months later on the right!












There have been lots of other things happening over the two years, two Pantomimes where I was Artistic Director, responsible for Poster, programme design along with set design and painting. Two fantastic years the first was for "Jack and the Beanstalk" and the second "Robin Hood".
A selection of pictures below probably says more than words...

Pics on public Facebook albums

Robin Hood 2014

Jack and the Beanstalk 2013

The final 'event' that is currently in progress is that the company decided at very short notice to close the Toulouse office at the end of the current lease period at the end of September. The original plan despite my protestations that it was unworkable was that I would return to the UK for the 1st of July, this was notified at the end of April.
Why would it be a problem? I might imagine you asking...

1. My tenants in the UK were on fixed term until end of September
2. I was heavily involved with my department in a software development with Airbus
3. I have to give three months notice on my French rental

So with all this information the company still managed to come up with a date to move back that was one month ahead of my French tenancy finishing and THREE months ahead of my UK tenants having to vacate.

They insisted that I would be out of there at the end of June, they would pay the rent on the French empty property, they would pay rent on temporary accommodation in the UK and storage for all my worldly goods.

What actually happened...

The software development was slightly delayed, the project manager who was not involved in the decision on the office, had assured Airbus that the office and the support manager (Me) would be here until mid September...

Where does that get us...

I have to move out of my rental at the end of July as notice had been given... I now have to move into temporary accommodation, with the dog, for two months... My 'goods' are going into storage... My tenants move out end of July, so I am missing two months rent, the company will be getting some 'advice' on what will happen there!!!

I find that my last few months in France have been fraught with issues and incompetence that are non of my doing, it is a shame that they didn't listen at the start...

Will sign off now, I need to add some pics to the post before publishing and will then try and start regular updates again... lets see what happens...

Eighteen years is a long time...

Sadly after eighteen years little Ella has finally come to the end of her adventure,  it is around 89 in human years, so Ella had a good long and I think full life. There are not many cats who have lived in two countries, more than some people I know.

She has been a constant in my life since 1994, not always a welcome one at times she could be utterly infuriating, but she had real character, the runt of  a litter I had her and her brother Murphy from the moment they were old enough to leave their mum. Picked up from a pub car park by a friend they made their way across Oxfordshire to Tring and then onto Milton Keynes for 3 years. In MK I lived in a house next door to a hairdressers and Murphy being the bold, friendly cat spent most of his days in there 'looking after the clients'. Ella was independent, determined and just a little bit mental, the number of cups of tea I have spilt as she 'nudges' my elbow to let me know she is there I could not count, being the runt I think she had had to fight for everything including attention and she certainly battled with life over the last few months here.

After MK we moved to Chesham and spent 11 years there, where she guarded the tiny garden out back from any cat/dog foolish enough to try and venture in, seeing her in action was like watching  an Alien face hugger with claws launch itself across the garden spitting, hissing and tail in the air.

In 2009 she moved here to France and quickly settled in... albeit the sight of the biggest bowl of water ever (the pool) caused her endless enjoyment stretching to have a drink, she did only fall in once and I missed it!! I opened the door one hot dry day to find a small cat soaked through to the skin sitting on the mat looking a bit sheepish.

On the whole she was healthy and happy her whole life with no vets or illnesses to speak of, so it was sad to see her turn from a rotund little ball of a cat into a skinny frail old girl, but she still had the attitude in bags.

Spending the majority of her time living outside, more to do with the temperature here than anything else I think in early 2012 she went missing, we had had a very heavy snowfall and she had been in and out and when last out disappeared. Fearing the worst after two days and having checked the pool a number of times, solid ice so unlikely she had fallen in, I was resigned to the fact of either finding her when the snow melted or maybe never finding her. Then one morning having a coffee on the balcony I could see a small black shape very still at the end of the neighbours garden, a good 100m away I looked with binoculars and it was Ella!

Going down to get her with some food to encourage her back to the fence, no amount of rattling the food would attract her attention, then she glanced over and like some sort of lunatic traffic cop I was waving and jumping to get her attention - nothing... climbing over the fence I went ti pick her up at which point she jumped, hissed and tried to get away... on getting her inside it was evident that she was now completely blind and deaf.

She was very much an indoor cat now and it was amazing how she coped with the loss of her sight and hearing, navigating around by bump and lean where you bump into something and then lean against it as you move around it. The only time this was an issue was when she got stuck in an endless loop around the coffee table, I felt compelled to move her after three circuits!

She did cope brilliantly and as she still had attitude and could find the food, water, litter tray and couch! There was no reason to think about anything other than letting her live her days out inside.
So a good six months like this and she has had as good a life as I could imagine, I am not sure I would have coped as well in a similar situation.

Then late last week she started to weaken, just slight signs at first and she was still eating the little she did eat and making it to the tray, then over the weekend she had a huge relapse and faded away over the next few days.

Today 1st Aug 2012 at lunchtime I came back from work and sat with her as she gently faded away, there was still some fight left in her and she tried to the end but at 18 I think it was her time and for the best.

I did not realise quite how bad I would take it, I thought I was ready, I thought I would just move on, but there is a empty place now where this little runt of a cat existed and it is going to be a huge task to fill it in.

I will bury her tonight beneath the cherry tree near her brother who died two years ago, and hopefully somewhere she will be staking a claim to a little bit of something...

Catch up... June - Aug 2011

Will post a load of pictures to try and catch up with the last few months, have really got to try and get back in the swing of this...

Saddest time in late June and early July as my Mum fell was diagnosed with a brain tumour after having a couple of collapses at home, she was admitted to Bronglais hospital in Aberystwyth and sadly never got out of there, we had hoped to have her at home for a few weeks/months that were originally predicted. However, things took a turn for the worse in late June and in the first week of July Mum passed away peacefully at night.

I had managed to get back a few times to see her and spend time with my Dad before then, but it was a very difficult time.

The family all came down for the funeral from far and wide, and I will do a separate entry on that with some pictures.

For now here are the latest wildlife updates from Levignac... also a few in here from Ynis-hir in West Wales, where they have successfully had a wild pair of Ospreys breed for the first time in 400 years.

Lizard on the balcony - this was still quite cold outside...

The biggest moth I have EVER seen 14cm wingspan
- must get that 100mm Macro...

Pepé (Le Pew) - the tramp cat that has turned up

Butterfly... with a bit missing

Osprey chicks (taken from the live video link display) - Ynis-hir

Never did get close enough for a great Osprey shot, so this will
have to do for now...

Water Buffalo - in Wales at Ynis-hir

Young deer

Bullrush - Ynis-hir

Young deer, spots still evident - so this must be So and Ti...

Another beautiful view from the balcony

First Hoopoe in three years here.

First home-grown Peaches in three years

Camera to Hand... No :-(

Typically when it is most needed the camera is sitting on a table about 15 meters away, and moving to get it will undoubtedly scare off all the amazing wildlife that is currently visiting...
Saturday morning and a bowl of porridge and coffee on the balcony that has a large Cherry tree next to it is providing an experience on a par with Springwatch...

Firstly the normal motley crew of Blue Tits, Jays, Nuthatch and Blackbirds are enjoying the feast of overripe cherries on the upper parts of the tree. They are then joined by around four Blackcaps, what fantastic little singers they are, with the Golden Oriels in the background unseen with their melodious song it is a real treat to just listen.

Then bounding across the grass from the pine stand comes a small - I never realised how much smaller than those bully boy greys they are - and fabulously coloured Red Squirrel to join the cherry bonanza... making short work of reaching the top of the tree - which is about 1 meter higher but only 2 meters from my seat on the balcony - he throws himself around on branches that are mere twigs in reality. His powers of balance are being tested to the fullest as he goes for the plumpest and blackest cherries that are on the ends of these twiglet like branches, he then sits in the iconic squirrel pose and makes short work of the cherry selected.

Meanwhile on the ground the female Roe Deer has made an appearance and is grazing on the grass around the tree and the leaves on the lower branches, not sure if she is sampling the cherries though...
The squirrel eventually runs back to the pine trees and leaps through the branches and I have the Mission Impossible music running through my head... Next to visit is a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker again seems to be the cherries that are the attraction.

Then briefly a flash of yellow and a greener yellow as two Golden Oriels briefly fly between the pines and then again they disappear... probably never going to get a photo of them at this rate!

As I write this Sunday morning, I have just had the male Roe Deer outside the French doors with my old cat Ella sitting outside looking fascinated by it, a short while later I see a flash of black and white and then brown in my peripheral vision, looking around I see the cat being chased by the female Roe Deer - not sure if it is trying to kill the cat or play... - Ella bolts under the balcony area and dives under a workbench that sits there, with the deer the other side front legs splayed as she puts her head under the bench.

Cornered Ella's fighting spirit kicks in a lot of hissing and waving paws at the deer ensues, the deer backs off and then stands watching the cat, with to be honest what seems to be genuine curiosity rather than malice. As I have the camera to hand this time I managed to get a couple of shots of her here - although unfortunatly not any of the Cat/Deer encounter.

As I am taking a few shots of her I can see rippling under her skin around her belly, the only thing I can think is that although she doesn't look that big, she must have a pretty active fawn inside her and as it moves around you can see the leg/head or whatever it is bulging out under the skin - maybe there will be a new addition to garden deer shortly?

Crazy for...2

The real reason to be back in the UK though was to help on the crew of Crazy For You, the CMTC Spring production. What a great week it turned out to be, not only being back, backstage in the UK, but catching up and meeting up with so many people, some of whom I had not seen going on for two or more years!

The show itself was superb and a real testament to the hard work that everyone had put into the production both on stage, in the pit and behind the scenes.

It was great to work with Andy on the lighting again, and we both seemed to fit back into those roles well - neither of us knowing what was going on but managing to come up with a convincing show look somehow!
We had the usual fun and amusement that I have certainly missed these last couple of years in a theatrical environment. It was great to see such a large new contingent of people both in the cast and crew, and also refreshing to have tea made for us by a couple of cast members - thank you Lauren and Richard, George may have been involved but the rumour remains unconfirmed...

I had some great lunches too - especially good old English sausage, mash and onion gravy at Andy's along with Rachel and Nicola, I think this was a real highlight as it is the first time in a long time I have been invited into a girls bedroom - of her own free will...

Umpteen other parties and lunches over the week were all great although it does make you realise what you have been missing out on - the whole show experience - although the French Panto is doing a good job of filling that gap at least once a year.

I guess I cannot pass the week by without mentioning the unfortunate LoriBeth on the Friday night, the dreaded Tea Tray Tap claimed a victim, after falling backwards and landing on one arm she suffered a significant fracture, George should be commended on the way he looked after her immediately afterwards, and kept her calm and talking about anything but the excruciating pain she was in hopefully with the banter of George, Sally and Myself we managed to keep a few laughs coming, although this improved once the gas was administered! Although Lorraine seemed very reluctant to share it...
luckily (in context) it was the end of the first act, the incident delayed the start of act 2 significantly - in fact so delayed that even though we finished before 11pm the Theatre had closed the bar!! The one night drinks were definitely in order!
The good news was that Lorraine was taken to Stoke Mandeville (well done Sally - she didn't drive the ambulance but was there...) and on Saturday had surgery to repair the damage.
I am looking forward to comparing scars as I had a similar incident when I crashed off a mountain bike and had to have a plate fitted to my right wrist! - oh and don't believe the Urban Myth about it happening at the end of a beer crawl (ride) on bike (avoiding numerous canal incidents) and not wanting to leave a "fallen" (broken chain) comrade behind...

Sunday I managed to get over to the PEPPER set build - observing not building - and say hello to the good folk over there, and Sunday afternoon a few drinks and a nice meal in a pub.
Anyway all in all a pretty successful week (for me not Lorraine of course!) and it was great to catch up with so many friends. Looking forward to doing it all again!

Crazy for...

Well will see if my memory is good enough to do this update, so much happened it is hard to keep it all in order as well!

I got back to the UK on Friday the 8th, unfortunately my hosts were going to be very busy on the Saturday and Sunday, so left to my own devices on Saturday and having not been able to arrange any meets for the day, I took off early from Amersham to spend the day in London town - no plan, just me, a camera and an idea that going to Greenwich might be nice at some point.
Luckily caught the Chiltern line to Marylebone as the Met line was shut - nothing changed since I lived here then!.

Arriving at the station, I decided to head towards the Embankment, so a couple of tubes later - and oh the joy of a still functioning Oyster card! - I arrived and took a wander up towards the London Eye across the river, first thing I found was the amazing Battle of Britain memorial, a superb piece of art and the start of a project for the day... all the photos are here

On reaching the London Eye it seems as if they have installed an "Extreme Pod" I guess for all those bungee jumping extreme sport type tourists...

During the day I came across some wonderful architectural displays, and some amazing "hidden" artworks, so what started as a stroll along the embankment turned into a hike all the way to Surrey Quays, then a tube to Greenwich Peninsular and the Dome, then another hike up to Greenwich Observatory.

Some selected images from the day here, more at the album