Sardines and ping pong and trouble getting in the sea

Our adventurous eating knows no bounds! Today's lunch was sardines bought fresh from

Waiting for the tide at La Flotte 

the local market which we griddled and served up with toasted slices of our home-baked bread. I don't think the fish were caught by any of the boats pictured in La Flotte harbour though. They are all completely stranded by the lack of tide which was a pretty odd sight.

Yesterday afternoon saw the opening of our new Table Tennis set packaging and we played two games, both of which Dave won. My best score was 13 to his 21 so not a complete whitewash. Today we have played two lots of three games, one this morning and one this afternoon. Dave was still totally triumphant but my best score has crept up to 15! We also played our first games of boule with the fab set I bought at St Wilfrid's. Now this game I can win! We played 14 ends and I won 9 to 5.

We didn't go back to the beach swimming today as it wasn't so hot as yesterday. After having got myself into a bit of a tizz trying to get into the sea yesterday, perhaps this is for the best. There is a stony strip of sand at the tideline of the Plage Les Gollandieres so my footing was unsteady and a strong wave knocked me over. This wouldn't have been a major problem except that it was followed by a half dozen similar, each timed to not allow me to get up and further out in time to avoid them. Exasperating! Once past the breaking waves, it is easy and fun to bob with them, but the first few feet need careful timing. When leaving the beach car park, we saw a car with a new-to-us country letter on its numberplate: OC. Most cars here are F and there's a smattering of GB, D and NL, but we'd never seen OC before. Any ideas? We tried to think of countries all the drive home and eventually had to give up and Google it. It's not a country after all. OC is the unofficial lettering for the Occitane region of France!

St Martin is the next small town along from La Flotte. It is perhaps even more picturesque ( and it's harbour has water in it!) and has an incredible proportion of expensive clothes shops compared to any other products. We wandered around for a couple of hours this afternoon. Practically all the houses are whitewashed with their doors and window shutters in similar shades of green or blue. The overall effect is of perfect tranquillity but I wondered if homeowners only have certain proscribed colours from which they can choose? I liked one particular type of shutter latch in the shape of a behatted woman. It reminds me of the dolls that Nana used to stitch to the tops of knitted loo roll covers. Does anyone still knit, or even have, them? Dave treated us to a gorgeous ice cream each at La Martiniere, a shop claiming to be in the top five ice cream makers in France. Big claims indeed but certainly justified. Dave had a scoop of cherry and a scoop of pear flavours, and I had pistachio and coconut. The pistachio was much smoother and richer than the Sheringham one.

Got to go now. Sunday night is Deadwood night and we need to find out if William is ok ... !

Ile de Re shutter latch 

In One Person by John Irving / Kissing In Manhattan by David Schickler / Take Me To The Castle by F C Malby

In One Person by John Irving
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've just finished my second of two back-to-back five-star reads! Not only was Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood fantastic but so was In One Person and, coincidentally, both books had similarities in their stories while also being completely different. Both are first-person narratives of growing up despite influential people around.

In One Person does tick a good selection of 'John Irving novel' boxes: New Hampshire, boarding school, sexuality, and wrestling. There's rather a lot of wrestling! However, although these common factors were included, I was completely hooked by the story of William Dean's life from very early in the book and had to force myself to set it aside periodically so as not to be bereft of that world too quickly. I loved the style and flow of the writing, the repetition of italics indicating the importance of visible gender, the claustrophobia of the closed school environment set against the expanse and possibilities of 'Europe', and the desperately sad series of epilogues that made up the last portion of the novel, each building up emotionally and persuasively.

Irving discusses a number of other novels and plays, several of which I already knew but a key few that I had overlooked. I'm going to be adding those to my Goodreads list now before I forget, just so I can understand all of In One Person before it fades from my memory.

Buy the paperback from Waterstones.


Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've just read Kissing In Manhattan for at least the third time as there's something about the story collection that completely appeals to me. I'm not sure whether to describe it as linked short stories or whether the book is more a novel. Certainly there is some repetition of description as if it was originally intended as separate stories or to be serialised.

The characters are generally all odd in one way or another. My favourite is probably James Branch who is quiet, shy and spends time talking to the elevator in his building, The Preemption, to which all the characters have some connection. His housemate, Patrick, is fantastically psychologically damaged which makes for interesting reading! I've seen other reviews describing Kissing In Manhattan as misogynistic but I don't agree as the main female characters are better balanced and stronger than their male counterparts. Throughout, the humour is dark and sexy and I love how the overall story arc advances via different viewpoints. Perhaps the only thing lacking for me is a story starring Sender.

Buy the paperback from Waterstones.


Take Me to the Castle by F.C. Malby
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I discovered F C Malby via Twitter and was interested to read her book set in the new Czech Republic at the time of its transition from Communism as this is a country and period that I don't know much about.
Our heroine, Jana, is a young Czech woman whose father died struggling against the former regime. Jana has absorbed his belief in democracy but is unable to adjust to the speed and breadth of the changes sweeping her homeland. This is a fascinating situation for a character to find themselves in and I was disappointed that it was not fully explored. Instead the main angle of the novel is Jana trying to decide which of two potential suitors she wants to begin a relationship with.
I enjoyed the descriptions of Prague and this is now definitely a city I would like to visit one day. The more rural Letovice was also easy to picture and it would have been nice to have learned more about it.
I was frustrated by the extensive repetition of both Jana's and Lukas' thoughts, especially when they were used in lieu of direct conversation that would have advanced the plot more successfully. At one point, Jana demands to know why Lukas betrayed her father, yet as soon as he begins to speak, she decides she won't listen after all and we read yet more meandering thoughts. I found this quite infuriating and was also disappointed that the story I really wanted to learn - that of Tatinek and Lukas - only ever played second fiddle to a traditional triangular romance that I don't think was convincing.
I think Take Me To The Castle is a reasonable read and I passed a pleasant couple of sunny afternoons with it, but it wasn't completely satisfying.

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Walking forest and dunes on Ile de Re

One of the weirdest sights on our forest and dunes walk yesterday was many diddy 'snail

Snail tree on Ile de Re 

trees' just like the ones pictured. I'm sure the tiny snails were resting and feeding on the plants, but it looked just like they were growing there! We wanted to walk from our current home, Camping La Grainetiere near La Flotte, to the beach and discovered a circular route that took us through shady pine woods, out to the shores of the Atlantic, and then back through more trees. The area is called Les Evieres. Within the woods are dozens of fenced off gardens, each with a shed-like structure and a flat grassed area. Some also have brick barbecues and a couple had caravans parked on them, but they seemed more of temporary places for extended family to get together than permanent residence areas. It was fun to spot them half hidden among the trees and, perhaps if we had walked on a weekend, we might even have seen the owners.

La Grainetiere is a fab campsite with a mix of touring pitches and static homes. There is an indoor heated swimming pool with a retractable roof, a library room, and a games area. It's less than a half hour stroll in to town too. The wifi is free, albeit still slower than dial-up. Sadly no tennis court, but there is table tennis so we splashed out on a 6 euro table tennis set at the Intermarche this morning. We're yet to open the packaging though because we went swimming this afternoon instead. Plage Les Gollandieres has wide sandy beaches with more stones than at Carnac and bigger waves, but the water is just as warm and, a plus for me, it stays shallow for a long way out so I can swim confidently.

Dave has been for a couple of rides on his bicycle. Ile de Re is just perfect for cyclists as it's practically flat and there are dedicated cycle routes everywhere. I got to try out a hireable tricycle today for a few minutes. However, my cycling nerve has definitely vanished again. I did feel stable on the trike but it was a nightmare to steer so after a few minutes of failing to ride around the campsite entrance I gave up. It was sweet of the guy to let me try it out, but I guess a trike won't be the answer. The roads are much safer if I'm on foot!

Yesterday was a Very Special Day as it was Davey's Birfdee! Hugs and thanks to all who sent greetings. Instead of the (superb, we have heard) Carrie Elkin gig which we would have attended had we still been in Sussex, we treated ourselves to a few other delights instead. Lunch of delicious locally smoked haddock from a little fishmongers in La Flotte was eaten with freshly baked bread from our breadmaker. We're getting to use all our extra kitchen gadgets so it was definitely worth bringing them. An unexpectedly successful new purchase is the Folding Drainer suggested by our friend Lye Kin. The flat drainer that came with Bailey was useless as stuff didn't dry in the heap it necessitated. I heartily recommend all Bailey Orion owners invest in a foldy one instead!

Birthday dinner was at an Italian restaurant off the harbour front in La Flotte. Dave almost managed to finish a Four Seasons pizza with more topping than we'd ever seen before, and I had a delicate Fusilli Fleurs de Courgette which had a beautiful creamy flavour and seemed simple, but I know I'd never get it quite the same at home. We walked back to the car along a promenade that had been strung with fairy lights and was quite magical!

La Flotte promenade 

Rescuing a turkey and making a new flyscreen

One of the attractions here at Fairfields Farm is the opportunity to meet some of their

Friendly Kune Kune piglets 

animals and fowl. As well as a lovely pond with geese, the aforementioned ducks, and some coots/moorhens (we're not sure which), there is also a small fishing lake and between the two is a wide grass path with enclosures either side. We wandered along yesterday afternoon in the sunshine and saw various chickens, peacocks and turkeys, Pygmy goats, brown sheep, shetland ponies and a much bigger palomino pony, and Kune Kune pigs. These pigs are apparently a particularly friendly breed and we were delighted when three piglets came enthusiastically rushing over to meet us as we approached. They do have very wiry coats though so weren't very enticing to stroke and lost interest when they realised we had no food for them! We also saw a vividly striped dragonfly that stayed perfectly still long enough for Dave to get the great photo below.

My turkey rescue was of a young white feathered bird which had somehow managed to get out onto the path. It was anxiously running back and forth trying to get back through the wire, but without the ability, or perhaps the sense, to fly back over. Dave has previously kept chickens so knows the theory of catching birds! We slowly moved in from opposite sides and I managed to catch it and help it back over the fence. The episode reminded me of one time years ago when our cat had brought a starling in and let it go. The poor bird was hiding behind the toilet pedestal and I had to retrieve and lift it to the open bathroom window from which it flew away with a happy chirrup.

Also on an animal related note, I walked into Eastbourne yesterday - four-ish miles in about an hour and a quarter - partly for some last minute shopping and partly to see my friend Kerry's new shop. She has recently taken over a unit in the Enterprise Centre (behind Eastbourne station) and opened Grand Wagglys pet shop. There's lots of equipment and toys for dogs, cats and other pets. If you're passing, pop in and say hello!

C and H Fabrics was another stop off yesterday for some white velcro to complete my new homemade flyscreen for the door. I was inspired by one I saw on a nearby caravan when we stayed at Tavira in February. It was a curtain of pale chiffon-like material with glittering gold threads running through it which looked great as they caught the sun. Unfortunately, when I tried to get a similar fabric, it was surprisingly expensive and needed to be ordered in. I hadn't left enough time for that but was lucky to spot the right sized offcut of a Manhattan design net curtain for just £2! I've hemmed the two rough sides and sewn velcro along the top. The other side of the velcro is self-adhesive and is now stuck across Bailey's wall above the doorframe. The pack was £3.69 so we now have a flyscreen for the door for jyst £5.69 and a couple of hours' work. As the only one on the official Bailey parts website is nearly £200, I'm pretty pleased with that! It does need a bit more weight at the bottom so I might try and fing some nice beads in Spain and maybe embroider it with simple designs like the Indalo Man.

Vivid dragonfly 

A windy weekend in Westham

We're back down south again now having had just as good a journey back from Norfolk as

Optimistic ducks at Fairfields Farm campsite 

going up. Fortunately the traffic was fairly light everywhere except around the M25 but even there we kept moving at a good pace. I did forget to get into a middle lane for the Dartford bridge crossing so ended up on the far left, able to see exactly how high up we were, and not loving it at all. Gripping the steering wheel, looking only straight ahead and underbreath mantra chanting got us over safely. At least the bridge is considerably shorter than the road to Sopalmo.

Our current campsite for this week is Fairfields Farm, a nice green space with open pitches and a good little shop. We continued our Buy Local spree with some of their Pork, Apple and Cider burgers which went nicely with more of our Norfolk cabbage last night. On the (presumably) non-edible side, there is a flock of about a dozen ducks here that route march around all the pitches each morning, peering in doorways in the hope of sharing breakfasts! We have also seen a few pied wagtails and the obligatory seagull. Otherwise, not much in the way of wildlife worth observing - unless I include the slender guy on the next door pitch who was sunbathing naked for most of Saturday afternoon. He and his partner packed up and left this morning though so the remaining scenery is that much the poorer!

Dave and I went for a stroll that became a walk early yesterday evening. We avoided the cycle race earlier in the day as our friend Marta visited, (Hi Marta!). Walking through the Pevensey Castle grounds was interesting as the space looked so much smaller without all the Food and Wine Festival stalls of a couple of weekends ago. While I remember to mention it, we tried the Kush Cuisine spice blends I bought there. Chicken marinated in the Bajan Fish Spice for a few hours has a lovely rich flavour and isn't too chili hot for Dave. However, our hour-and-a-half wandering was seriously put to shame by the fantastic achievement of Dave's daughter, Carrie. She walked 30 miles in eleven hours along the Thames Path yesterday, all to raise money for The Eve Appeal. Well done Caz! If anyone else wants to make a donation to this important charity, her team's JustGiving page is here.

We're going to stay here until Wednesday when our boat sails to St Malo. The house sale is now completely completed and the final transfers all went far more smoothly than the previous few months - thank goodness. So we are now essentially rootless for a while which is an interesting thought to muse over. I'm still actually getting used to the idea but having the whole of driveable Europe open to us is tremendously exciting!

Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane / Love In The Time Of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez / Laughing Policeman by Sjowall and Wahloo

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Red Badge of Courage is the earliest dated book I received via this summer’s AudioSYNC programme. An American classic, it was first published in 1895 so is even before the first segment of theBookcrossing Decade Challenge I have joined on Goodreads. Young Henry Fleming has enlisted to fight in the America Civil War. Naïve to what awaits him, he flees during his first battle, finding himself among wounded men whom Henry sees as displaying their red badges of courage – their bloodstains. After being hit by one of his own side, Henry returns to his regiment where, believing his previous cowardice unnoticed, he seizes the flag when its bearer is killed. Suddenly brave beyond his experience, he leads through intense fighting, remaining unharmed. Red Badge of Courage is written in an impersonal fashion which I thought both helped and hindered its impact. By not particularly detailing people’s or places’ names, it can be a novel of any low-tech war, as relevant now as then and all across the globe. However, devices such as continually referring to Henry as ‘the youth’ made it difficult for me to really invest in his story and I found myself frequently drifting away from listening. I am also not sure whether Crane’s message was meant to turn readers on to or away from war. The descriptions of fighting and casualties are powerful, but our protagonist redeems himself by rushing headlong into battle, glorifying the bloodshed in order to 'become a man'.



Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12747709

I probably didn't pick the best time to start Love In The Time Of Cholera as we were in the last throes of moving house so its first few chapters had to compete for space in my mind. However once I was able to read without interruption, I was totally drawn into the story.

I love Marquez's beautiful emotive writing and can easily imagine Florentino through his many years of waiting. The locations are eloquently described too and the flawed characters are all real people, whether being naive, irritating or poignant. There are so many depictions of different loves in the novel that I wondered which came first, this or Florentino's imagined work. I have already downloaded another Marquez novel and look forward to discovering more of his writing.



The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahloo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another excellently plotted police thriller by the Swedish duo of Sjowall and Wahloo. I discovered the Martin Beck series during last year's travels so it's appropriate to continue now with the fourth, The Laughing Policeman. I particularly appreciate the cast of characters and it's amazing to think that the dysfunctional detective began over forty years ago with these books. Stockholm almost becomes another character as descriptions of its streets and weather provide unusually vivid atmosphere. The cases aren't solved quickly either and the other important facet is the depictions of time passing which makes the whole novel feel realistic. Leads are as often misleading as helpful and I didn't see the ending coming until it had all but arrived.

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Setting off in almost completely the wrong direction

After last winter's Big Adventure, we started out on this year's Even Bigger Adventure

View from cliffs above East Runton 

this week, even though there is still a day's work to do back at the house before we hand it over to its new owners and set off for good. We are currently at a nice campsite, Woodhill Park, up on the cliffs above the village of East Runton. Before the less geographically-challenged of you go rushing to your atlases to confirm your suspicions, yes we have gone north. East Runton is on the North Norfolk coast! We were somewhat surprised by the lack of physical security around the campsite as it doesn't have fences around it, but other than their own gate, the only other way in is on foot so I guess it's safe enough. We appreciated the opportunity of having a nose at two other sites the footpath traversed too!

Saturday afternoon we were treated to a great family lunch at my Dad's house and now we're visiting Dave's dad in Sheringham. I've been to the town a couple of times before and love the variety of little shops and cafes. Today we worked up an appetite by walking from East Runton into Sheringham along the cliffs and over the famous-in-Dave's-family Beeston Bump. It's about three miles each way and we walked back along the beach. The views out to sea are so pretty and there are wide sandy beaches all the way. The sea was mill-pond smooth today so it was hard to imagine the destructive power it does have along this coast. A hint at the wind's potential around here is indicated by the big offshore wind farm in the distance off the coast. We could see dozens of individual windmills in neat rows fading into the distance - the neat rows reminded me of the hammer army in The Wall.

We ate generously portioned veggie lunches at Mulberry followed by a stroll around the town and along the prom. Having unsuccessfully searched Hastings for pistachio ice cream a couple of weeks ago, we found it here - at the appropriately named Ice Cream Shop. Plus we indulged in a spot of Local Shopping which is something we plan to make much more of an effort to do in Spain this time around. Here we spotted packs of four stuffed lamb breast rounds at J & D Papworth farm shop for £2.55 and paired them with locally grown white cabbage from the greengrocers opposite. Dave remembered a good way to prepare the cabbage - shredded and pan cooked in a little butter with salt, pepper and herbs until it begins to go translucent.

We're heading back down south tomorrow all ready for a final day's intensive cleaning on Thursday. I'm looking forward to that part being finished!

Finally getting a completion date and being steamrollered by Medea

Yes, you read those first title words correctly! Dave got the eagerly anticipated phone call this afternoon - contracts were exchanged today and we complete a week on Friday. It's

Temporary TV stand! 

such a relief and so exciting to get an email at work with a whole row of smiley faces. I actually squeaked!

We gave up on hiring a van when the one we booked wasn't available after all and the others were much more expensive, especially the excess charges. How can these firms justify an £800 excess? So instead Dave has taken boxes to storage in the car. This Saturday we have the fun of trying to get his reclining chair in the boot, but fortunately there's already not much left here.

You might we wondering what we did to celebrate the Good News. Did we clink glasses or go for dinner? Nope. We went to see an ancient Greek tragedy and it was some of the most intense theatre ever. Tonight was the National Theatre's cinema broadcast of their first ever production of Medea. I had read reviews absolutely raving about Carrie Cracknell's production and Helen McCrory's performance and they were quite right. I loved the blend of traditional chorus with modern physical movement, the contemporary touches such as the family photo, and the sheer power of Medea's breakdown left me breathless. Simply superb.

We did go out for a meal last night by the way - fish and chips at the excellent Holiday Inn, just off the seafront in Eastbourne. It was one of the places we made sure to visit when we arrived back in the UK in April - not so very long ago.