Recycling

MrsM likes to encourage responsibility,
she believes it enables personal development
resulting in greater self confidence.

MrM is in charge of sorting the recycling.
There is a blue box for glass and tins,
a black box for plastics and cardboard.

Every week MrM asks:
"What goes in the blue box?
What goes in the black box?"

Every week MrsM replies
slowly and carefully
"The clinky-clanky stuff
goes in the blue box and
the squishy-squashy stuf
goes in the black box."

MrsM remains optimistic
that MrM will learn.
Eventually.

Out in the Dark

On another night, in another château,
we crept out after dinner
to follow the sounds of distant music.
The village was en fête
and we stood in the dark
at the edge of the marquee
watching the dancing.
After a while we danced too
we did not know the steps but it didn't matter
we whirled and laughed until the music ended
and then we stepped back into the darkness.

*****

There is more...
when we returned to the château
we found all the doors were bolted
and the shutters to the windows locked
We walked around the great house,
wondering what on earth to do.

Then MrM pointed to a window on the upper floor
and said in a low voice
"there is someone watching us"
and MrsM looked up and saw to her horror
that there was a ghostly white figure
peering through the window.

And when a small side door was finally opened
by guests who were going out for a stroll
MrM and MrsM scuttled in
and hid in their room.

Christmas in July

MasterM
We are having a party tomorrow
"Christmas in July"

MrM
I don't want to be picky
but it is August tomorrow.

MasterM
Whatever.
All my best friends are coming
and we are having stockings
and a tree...

MrsM
Don't take a tree from somewhere obvious.

MasterM
Don't worry
we are taking a truck to a forest
and cutting down a tree with a saw.

MrsM
What are you going to wear?

MasterM
Obviously, we are all going to wear
our Santa outfits.

MrsM
It sounds really fun.
Have you got some tinsel for the tree?

MasterM
I am not sure about tinsel
but we are thinking about
borrowing a reindeer.
There is a reindeer farm quite nearby...

Exploring Château Saint Paterne

We arrive at Château Saint Paterne in torrential rain.
It is rain that splashes up from the gravel
soaking you from the ankles upwards
as you run from the car across the drive.

Inside the château we are shown our room...
through a door in the panelling
and up 52 steps to the top of a tower.

When we come back down it is dark outside
but every room sparkles with candlelight.
MrM is entranced by the aperitifs
which are more gin than tonic.

Dinner is prepared by the owner of the château
and it is simple but delicious.
The next day I persuade him to give me the recipe
of the extraordinary melting asparagus mousse.
He says it is nothing special.
I disagree.

After dinner we walk through the candlelit rooms
and go back to our Chambre de Mystères.
We have discovered that the last guest
proposed to his girlfriend in the bath.
I admit that I decided to have a shower instead.

In the morning the sun is shining
and we are alone in the dining room.

We explore the gardens before we leave.
When we return to Saint Paterne
I shall swim in the pool surrounded by lavender
and drink a kir on the terrace.

And we shall return one day.
It is not far from Dieppe
and a perfect place to start a holiday in France.

This is exactly what you imagine
staying in a château should be like:
you are welcomed as guests in a family home
and great care is taken to ensure
that you are comfortable and enjoy your visit.

with many thanks to
Charles-Henry et Ségolène de Valbray
owners of the Château Saint Paterne.

Party Tricks

MrM

Do you remember when MasterM learned
"The Owl and The Pussycat"
off by heart?

MrsM

Yes!
He was only 3!
He was SO cute!

MrM

We made him do it as a party trick
which is probably why
he never ever learned another poem.

MrsM

I know!
We were shocking parents!
I think I still have the book.

And MrsM found the book
and began to read to MrM...



***
with many thanks to
Jenny and the Young Academic
for technical assistance.

Crackington Haven

If you turn at the edge of the sand
and walk up the steep path,
through gates and over stiles,
breathing in the salt air
and the sharp fragrance of gorse,
you come to the Cambeak
between Pencannow Point
and the Strangles.

You can look onwards
to the great sweep of coastline
or you can look back
at the headland and beach.

I looked back, of course.

In a green field, I lay down

We went to the fabulous Port Eliot festival

it is smart,
it is quirky,
it is fun

writing about it
is like trying to paint moonbeams

it was wet when we arrived
but it didn't matter

we watched the flower show
being 'curated'...

said hello to the lovely dovegreyreader
and drank a cup of tea in her tent

and fell in love, just a bit,
with Flats & Sharps.

and then it was time
to eat pizza cooked in a tent

and ponder the concept
of the Poetry Takeaway.

I must up my festival chic...

how I wish that I had made a T shirt!

and a hat,
I should have bought a hat!

and next year, I am staying in a gypsy caravan.

In the end I was exhausted
with enjoying myself
and lay down...

Roll on Port Eliot 2012!

Aunty Alice comes to tea

Aunty Alice made a picnic
for the Little Boy Cousins...

she chose special picnic boxes
and filled them
with sweet green grapes,
a tiny box of raisins,
miniature biscuits
and one enormous strawberry...

she had so much fun
packing the little boxes
and watching them being enjoyed
that she realised how long it is
since she last made a carpet picnic.

Too long.

Widecombe-in-the-Moor

And on the fourth day of their holiday
MrsM said to MrM
"Is it STILL raining?"
and MrM said to MrsM
"No, don't worry...
that is the splashing sound
of someone washing the roof."
And gloom settled damply upon them.

And so MrM and MrsM found a wayside inn
with flagstones, low beams,
excellent food and local cider
and lo, the rain did not seem quite so wet.

And when they came out the rain had stopped
and they congratulated themselves
on the excellence of their wet weather plan
and set off for a walk on the moor.

*****

The internet connection died half way through our holiday and I have some catching up to do including this post which I intended to publish on Thursday. After a sunny day at home it feels strange to write about this very wet day on Dartmoor but I wanted to mention the lovely Rugglestone Inn and recommend it to anyone visiting Dartmoor this summer. I also wanted to show a proper English pub to my friends who have never visited this country.

Little Boy Cousin (aged 2)

Lovely Sister-in-Law
Have you been jumping in puddles?
LBC looks shifty
Which shoes are you wearing?
LBC looks down at feet
Are they your Wellies?
LBC shakes head
Or are they your Posh Shoes?
LBC is silent
Look very carefully.
LBC is silent
Wellies or Posh Shoes?

LBC says in a teeny, tiny whisper

Posh Shoes

And MrsM tries very, very hard not to laugh.