Spring Cleaning?

What happened to the plan to write my blog more frequently? It is now the middle of April - 3 months since the last post and there has been plenty to write about but I just never got round to it somehow.

The Moulin du Clout has now been finally sold and handed over to Bernd Kaiser but not without problems and last minute dramas. Our sadness at losing it has been ameliorated by relief at not having to worry about pipes freezing, EDF billing us for large amounts etc. However, we can't quite let go and we have plans to go back to the area in June, staying in Den and Caro's farmhouse in Lassal, a neighbouring village, for a week. Maybe we shall call in on Bernd and see how he is managing.

Jim, Lincoln and I went down to the Auvergne with a transit van to collect things that we didn't want to leave there. A busy couple of days including a pleasant evening at Den and Caro's who kindly asked us over for supper.

Taking a last stroll along the Nature Trail - Matthew, Lincoln and Jim

The packed van - what have we forgotten?

Supper at Chez Caro - Lydia, Caro, Self and Den

Joni was ten in February and I had the task of making a birthday cake in the shape of Merida, heroine of the Disney film Brave. She had a party with her friends in an archery and hawking centre. 

At the end of March we spent a few days with Matthew and Co in Antwerp. During our stay we saw a performance of the Picolini Circus with the children from Bo and Tess's School. Bo was an acrobat and Tess a Pierrot Clown.

Tess right

   

Tess centre

The Acrobats

Bo standing on head right

The Stilt Walkers

The Unicyclists

Bo centre

Saskia

Saskia, Bo and Tess's mother received a well-deserved accolade for designing and organising the making of the costumes.
A lovely show which we thoroughly enjoyed.

This is Poes - now an acrobat on three legs - she is doing well after having her leg amputated following a fall which badly broke her leg:

I found that I was getting applications for 'Workawayers' as I still had my host page on the site, so I removed it, but then I had the great idea of updating my profile instead to that of our home here in Cowbridge. We had/have several chores - mainly decorating and a little gardening that we felt we could have help with. I have been inundated with requests! Over 35 in about three weeks! I have made a small selection and during the last two weeks we have hosted Giovanni, a physics graduate, from Messina in Sicily. Naturally we asked him if he was acquainted with Inspector Montalbano but no luck.

Giovanni has painted our front door and railings and tidied the garden and helped Jim down at the Market Theatre with painting the set. He also helped on performance nights in the kitchen and bar. He said he found the experience interesting and having watched the play - The Business of Murder by Richard Harris, - five times in all and he just about understood the plot at the end. What a way to improve your English!

Giovanni and Jim - Bartenders at CADS

We took Giovanni on a couple of trips to see our Welsh scenery. Firstly a trip up to Brecon via the Rhonnda valley. We gave him a run down on the demise of the coal industry as we went and contrasted the affluent Vale of Glamorgan with the industrial landscape of the valleys. 

The view from the Bulch was a bit of a let down muffled as it was with a scarf of mist but Giovanni said he liked the British countryside for it's greenness. My comment was that another couple of weeks after all the rain we were getting and the rise in temperature he would see an explosion of green.

For Giovanni's last day with us we went to Ogmore and showed him the sea. We walked along the coastal path for a while as Rufus explored the rabbit burrows.

Giovanni was due to leave for a placement on a farm near Salisbury. He was looking forward to this but on the morning of his departure his host rang to say that due to a family crisis they were unable to take him. He later contacted another host in London who agreed to take him and he left to make his way to Walthamstow. We wish him luck with his future career.

I was not involved with production of The Business of Murder as no costumes were required but of course, I was on hand to provide the food for the Rotarians night and the Saturday night party. Jim did sterling work with the set successfully trying out a new thing using a semi-transparent gauze wall which when lit from behind revealed another room. The play was excellent and all praise to cast and crew.

Jeff, Rachel and Gethin in The Business of Murder