MilkJam

Chilly

2012-01-16T13:00:00.001+01:00

Better late than never I guess! We finally have hit cold winter temps (only 2months late... I hope the gods don't have any nasty payback in store for us!)
I went up to the market to get my veggies, those cold crisp winter mornings do make great pictures!

Numbers..

2012-01-14T23:42:00.001+01:00

At work I've had to get used to long rapid fire series of numbers (in French of course!) but also to French handwriting. Inspired by a post written by Gwan a few months ago I present the kind of stuff I'm faced with everyday.

A prize goes to the lucky reader (non-French of course!) who gets it right!

Workin'

2012-01-13T22:35:00.001+01:00

My job is keeping me busy but I'm really really enjoying myself. The colleagues are fantastic (there are only 3 of us) and the customers are friendly too.
On top of it all I'm working in a beautiful seaside town which is flooded with tourists in the summer but in the winter retains is magical charm. Lunchtime walks are a treat!

January walk

2012-01-09T18:04:00.000+01:00

Yesterday Mystery Guest and I took advantage of the mild winter we're having (unlike the horrible snow from the last two years!) This winter we had a few days of frost back in October but nothing since then. But don't think I'm complaining! Living out here in the countryside where people aren't used to snow, where no one has snowtires and the roads are rarely plowed I'm perfectly happy with the mild temps!

But yesterday you would have thought it was an early spring day once the sun came out. We drove over to Carteret which isn't too far from where we live. We walked down by the church ruins (which you can see in yesterday's post) and since it was really low tide we walked all the way down to the water passing by some crazy shellfish which we found out later (thanks to Facebook!) are gooseneck barnacles and apparently a delicacy in Spain and Portugal. In the center picture you can see how clearly we could see Jersey yesterday, beautiful.

We were playing the goats scampering over the rocks by the point when we realized the tide was coming in so we made a mad dash over the rocks to get to the other side. Once along the main beach (where those cute beach cabins are) we hiked back over to where the car was parked following the Sentier des Douaniers and saw one of their old stone shelters overlooking the sea.

It was a beautiful day, every five seconds that came out of my mouth but I couldn't help ooohhhing and ahhhhing! :) Work has been off to a great start but being stuck in an office all day it sure was nice to get outside and have the sea air deep in my lungs.

Afternoon walk

2012-01-08T16:52:00.001+01:00

2011

2012-01-02T20:06:00.001+01:00

I wanted to post this earlier but I started a new job Tuesday and haven't had much free time especially since the cell connection in the old stone building is really bad.

I've been meaning to do a recap on 2011... It was a good year. Some of the highlights were finishing my call center job with its grueling 3 hour daily commute, meeting my new nephew in Mystery Guest's clan and becoming a French citizen. I also got to help dear friends celebrate their marriages and had my first (but not last!) experience working in a 'real' French job.

Looking back one of the real highlights of my year was spending quality family time. Seeing my little sister after 4 years all grown up! My parents and especially my grandparents. Back in February I spent 4 days with them in Southern California listening to stories and doing puzzles. I'm so lucky now that I was able to because after a bad fall on Christmas day my Grandmother was hospitalized and subsequently operated on. She sadly never woke up and passed away Monday night.

It's so hard not being able to be there for my family at a time like this, the service is going to be this afternoon in my Grandma's church and I've been thinking about them all day. But with a new work contract and California so far away I just can't make it back and am trying to say goodbye in my own way.

I know she'd understand, she was one of the strongest women I know. A nurse, always telling me what nice veins I have.... :-) She was full of pride and commitment to her family. I have such wonderful memories of her. And to quote my uncle, "while this is a sad time, let's try to remember to celebrate Mom's life: Kansas farm-girl done real good."

Christmas lights

2011-12-29T17:35:00.000+01:00

When I was in Caen the beginning of December I got to test out my new remote that Mystery Guest gave me for my birthday. It was freezing cold that night so we didn't hang around to play with all the options/lighting modes but this picture came out pretty good. They did a nice job of "painting" the front of the Mairie with a light display.

Christmas recap

2011-12-26T12:32:00.001+01:00

Well things went really well for our first time hosting Christmas. Everyone arrived at the end of the afternoon for an apéritif (my MIL brought lots of bottles of bubbly for the occasion!) I served Deviled eggs which went over well, along with some bought puff pastry nibblies.
For dinner I made a Chapon which MG and I thought was a castrated turkey - turns out it was a castrated chicken but given the size of it (3,5kg!) I kept calling it a turkey anyway... So that turned out yummy and we had it with mashed potatoes & gravy, polenta, green beans & bacon, stuffing and carrots!
Afterwards sticking with local tradition we had a trou normand to help us digest before attacking the cheese and then dessert. I made a hazelnut/blackberry cake that my FIL adores and a pumpkin pie which everyone loved. I snuck upstairs for a 6 way google hangout with my dad, sister, uncles and grandparents which was SO fun!
By then we were stuffed and exhausted so we opened our stockings (it was my little surprise this year - I made personalized stockings for the family! I think it's a tradition that should take hold here!!) and I think they all liked them along with the goodies inside! Then we watched a movie.
But we voted 3 to 2 to open the rest of the presents the following day (Christmas morning).
After a relaxed breakfast of challah and lots of coffee we finally got into it ;-) and there were fantastic gifts all around!
We kept it simple the rest of the day, leftovers for lunch and Carcassonne all afternoon.
I called my mom after they had left and did another FaceTime chat with my sister in Oz. I love technology!!

So all in all a great Christmas weekend. We're seeing some friends tomorrow & invited for NYE so between now and then it's time to relax a bit because I got offered a 3 month contract starting January 3rd :-)

Merry Christmas!!

Happy Holidays!!!

2011-12-23T16:35:00.001+01:00

We're getting ready for Christmas! For the first time Mystery Guest & I are hosting Christmas! Luckily it's a small Christmas this year, just his parents & brother. I'm putting my American spin on things this year but we're still doing Christmas on the 24th instead of on the 25th - some things you can't change! Especially when it comes to asking them to wait to open presents!So the house is clean, desserts done yesterday, all that's really left is a little decoration and popping the castrated chicken in the oven... :-)Have a wonderful weekend & celebration!!!

Caroling

2011-12-19T19:29:00.001+01:00

On Sunday afternoon an American friend invited me to go caroling in a nearby church put on by the local franco-british association.
I got there before she did (a branch was stuck on her car with all the storms we've been having!) and was immediately reminded why haven't been to one of these events in a long time. Last time was probably 5 or 6 years ago when I was living in Caen. I dragged MG & Béné to the local Anglican church for carols.
The problem each time has been the same: old churchy carols played too slowly in the organ. I have nothing against the old fashioned carols but they were SO slow!!! Plus the lyrics weren't the same as what we learned. And to top it off the French ones that they sang were REALLY churchy!!
I was so glad when my friend turned up and we snickered like naughty schoolgirls in the back pew.
Then afterwards we were invited to a 'pot' and the mulled wine hit the spot!

I got a chance to meet my friend's lovely daughters but didn't enjoy the conversation interrupted by old English ladies wondering where I was from. And then the horrified look when I said that I didn't live in Paris but live here full time. Yeah, that's right we haven't met before because unlike you I don't hangout with other Anglos all the time...

Sigh. I say next year my friend and I organize our own carols!! Jingle Bells biatches!! :-)

champagne!

2011-12-16T19:16:00.000+01:00

On Wednesday night I was invited to a ceremony which wrapped up my journey of becoming a Franco-American. I officially became naturalized in May but because there ain't many of us furrenginers out here in the countryside who go about asking to be naturalized they only have a ceremony once every six months. Mystery Guest and I were invited to go and I really had no idea what to expect especially since some other naturalized Americans didn't go to their ceremonies. I guess to be honest I assumed it would just be in the main prefecture waiting area! But I did have my fingers crossed for champagne and champagne I got!

We were asked to show up 15 minutes early for a 6pm ceremony. There were about 30 people there plus their families/friends. But then we were lead out of the main prefecture and to the official residence of the "prefect" (who is basically the head of the "departement" or "state" that I live in).

Classssy! Beautiful tapestries, fairly modern yet tasteful decoration.

The prefect came out dressed to the nines in his military uniform and after a short informative video about being French (the only thing I found odd is that they tell you what it means to be French after you've been naturalized! what if you change your mind???) Then he gave a short speech and the European anthem was played. Afterwards we were invited to join him in singing la Marseillaise. When Mystery Guest asked if I knew all the words (we were given a photocopy of the lyrics just in case!) I said of course not, I know the few key lines but that's it - not that that's a bad thing don't ask me to sing the whole Star Spangled Banner off the top of my head either! (I'll always have a soft spot for the American national anthem, it's just so poetic and not so bloody...)

Then they handed out our new paperwork individually and took back our carte de sejours. I'm pretty sure they read us out in terms of the size of the cities we were from because I was dead last! Some of the mayors came to the ceremony - one even gave a lady a bouquet of flowers!

Then there was a pot, drinks and lots of yummy things to nibble on. Glad to see my tax euros being put to good use - that champagne was tasty!

I'm really glad I went (even though the capital city of our departement is about an hours drive) and that Mystery Guest could join me. Sometimes a ceremony is really nice, it really finalizes something, takes shape and becomes more meaningful than a letter saying congratulations. Plus it didn't drag on for ages, short, sweet and to the point which was perfect. :-)

I was interviewed by the local radio and on the drive home everything just came together. Still feels a little odd to say that I'm French - but in the same way that it feels odd to say that I'm 30 - it hasn't totally sunk in yet.

But I'm sure it will - I can't wait to vote in two presidential elections next year!

The Grinch

2011-12-12T20:45:00.001+01:00

Just kidding, Mystery Guest isn't stealing Christmas! But I do have a question for you faithful readers..

As a kid growing up in the US of A we always had real Christmas trees that we picked out each year and brought home. Dad would fish out the Christmas stand from wherever it was being stored and we'd have to screw it into place before putting the tree skirt around it and decorating it. Now a key part in my memory was to make sure there was always water in the stand so the tree wouldn't dry out. I finally found such a stand in France and this year when we were picking out our live tree (at a nursery, not the grocery store) I asked how long ago it had been cut to make sure we weren't getting an old dry one. She said well it doesn't matter, once it's cut it's no longer a living plant but wood. So I explained that we'd always put water for our trees. She said it was a myth and that there was absolutely no point in watering a cut tree.

Thoughts???

I'm torn, she seemed very knowledgable and qualified but I just remembering the tree "drinking" a lot more water than could have naturally evaporated...

What I do love is that they put it in the net after you pick it out - SO much easier to transport!!

Winter beach

2011-12-10T18:47:00.001+01:00

Went for an afternoon walk in between November-like showers (what's up with the weather? It was snowing this time last year!!).

I adore the deserted beaches in the winter!

6 years!

2011-12-07T21:15:00.001+01:00

Happy 6 year anniversary my Mr Mystery Guest!

Cookies & Turkey

2011-12-04T17:30:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I went to Caen to sell my 300+ cookies that I made for the Greedy Guts Christmas market. Everything went really well! I had plate of cookie samples that I'd get people to try and almost everyone that tried some ended up buying cookies! I sold all but 12 (1 box of a dozen) in about 4 hours so I thought that was pretty good! Plus I had sooo much fun doing it :-)

When we got home last night I threw a pumpkin pie in the oven (thanks mom for the canned pumpkin! A real life saver!!!) and then this morning I got up early to put together a December thanksgiving lunch. We had wanted to invite some friends for thanksgiving but they were busy last week. Turns out that moving thanksgiving back a week is perfect timing! As it is impossible to buy a turkey in November in France somehow waiting until the first week of December they magically appear! Got a great deal at 4.50€ /kg too! It ended up being cooked perfectly and I realized as Mystery Guest was carving it that this is the first time I've ever cooked a turkey! After all these years celebrating in France either someone else has been in charge of the bird or I've made a chicken. So I was very proud of myself :-) we also had homemade cranberry sauce, mom's fantastic stuffing, carrots and mashed taters (mystery guest did the gravy, yum!) now we're sitting on the couch vegging while it continues to pour down rain outside. So lucky that the rain miraculously stopped for the few hours that the Christmas market was on yesterday - thank god!

drool

2011-12-02T17:27:00.001+01:00

My new creation - Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies (Cx4? does that work as a nickname?) Anyway my mom sent me a little care package and only a few of the candy canes made it intact. Rather than eat all the little pieces myself I decided to re-create my alltime favorite combo: chocolate and mint.

My favorite ice cream.
My favorite candy (junior mints & after eights).
My favorite tea (peppermint with a square of chocolate on the side.

Yup, been my favorite since I was a kid.

Since I'll be selling my cookies at the market in Caen tomorrow I thought it was the perfect opportunity for a new Christmas cookie!

(anyone notice it's been photographed on my new cookie stand??)

DIY cookie stand

2011-11-30T15:28:00.001+01:00

The weather is being bipolar this week after 3 weeks of beautiful sunny and almost spring like weather yesterday we had a rain and windstorm whip through and today the sun is out again. Fingers crossed that the weather will be half decent on Saturday when I go to Caen to have my cookie stand in the little Christmas market!

(seriously, fingers crossed! I'm making mad cookies and if no one comes I'm not eating them all!!)

To get ready I wanted a way to lift up the cookies instead of just having them on plates on a table. I got some ideas from other DIY bakers and came up with my cookie stand! I think all in all it cost me 4.50 euros to make and is rather classy looking if I do say so myself!

I displayed some mince pies that an English friend gave us. His wife made them so I tried one at lunch today. The only other time I've tried mince pies was last year working in the British office (store bought ones, not very good in my opinion.) So even though I thought I might not like them I gave them a shot and they weren't bad. The pastry and frangipane topping were yummy but the filling had an odd vinegary taste to it.. So I had to have a second one to confirm.

I also think I might end up eating numbers 3 and 4 because a) Mystery Guest doesn't like dried fruit and b) he thought they were savory and when I said they were sweet he just got that "oh crazy English people" look on his face....

Saving Christmas

2011-11-29T12:12:00.001+01:00

Not much new around here... the weather finally is icky (wind is howling outside!) it's crazy to think that this time last year we had snow!!!

I just wanted to hop online and share with the world that I finally found an xmas tree stand! I saw it at Casa for 10€ so for all you expats out there stop by your local Casa to see if they've got any! I think we'll wait a little longer before busting out the tree (still haven't seen them sold yet, maybe our area is a little behind?) and decorations but once we do this little elves workshop will be steaming ahead! woot!

Code de la Route

2011-11-18T13:36:00.001+01:00

For anyone looking to pass your French driving test just an FYI, one of the code de la route apps is free for today. http://www.appiday.fr/2011/11/18/revisez-et-testez-votre-code-de-la-route-avec-lapp-iphone-gratuite-aujourdhui/

shameless

2011-11-17T17:43:00.001+01:00

In case you don't follow me on twitter or on facebook... some shameless self-promotion (heck it is my blog!) for my cookie website and my holiday special! What else would make a cookie fanatic happier than a personalized cookie jar filled with homemade cookies? Honestly, I can't think of anything!

Oh, and for anyone in the Caen area I'll be at a mini Christmas market put on by Greedy Guts on December 3rd!

christmasy

2011-11-09T16:31:00.000+01:00

I'm getting in the Christmasy spirit around here and working on a new gingerbread recipe. It's a really different kind of cookie dough (no eggs!?!) but it really cooks up well. I made them on the thicker side then I normally do (and tried really hard not to over bake them - I swear I check on them, turn my back and my oven decides to cook faster? wtf?).

Still trying to decide if I prefer them chewy (as above) or more "gingersnappy". I think I'm leaning towards chewy and it seems as though facebook friends agree with me!

I also got a chance to do something I love - cookie decoration! I practiced my "flooding" technique which worked out well and is so easy once you know how.

I've also got a Christmas surprise up my sleeve but MIL has my blog address and churns it through google translate so no sneak peaks unfortunately!

lunch

2011-11-05T13:36:00.001+01:00

Just a little snapshot of our lunch today. We stopped by the in-laws yesterday and my MIL gave me some fresh cod filets that my FIL caught (he loves to fish). For lunch I breaded them with breadcrumbs flavored with lemon zest and herbs de provence and pan fried them. A little soft polenta and voila - lunch!

Yum.

intouchables

2011-11-04T07:32:00.001+01:00

Last night Mystery Guest suggested going to the movies, I'd like to see Tintin but refuse to see anything in 3D and the times didn't work out anyway. He had heard about Intouchables, French movie that had just come out and looked good.

I haven't written about movies much in the last couple of years, there have been some good ones and some absolutely horrible ones but this one blew my mind.

It was funny, touching and from the first scene you were in the movie. Here's the trailer, I won't say anymore :)

Birthday Surprises!!!

2011-10-31T13:14:00.001+01:00

My birthday was last Thursday, I knew things were planned for the day (it was a milestone birthday if you will... ) but I didn't know what. We had a delicious lunch at the creperie, drove over to the cookie store to show the family around and then had a relaxing afternoon at home (with presents, I was WAY too spoiled!) before some friends surprised me when they dropped by for a champagne apero before we headed off to have dinner in a castle.

It was a great birthday, all of my favorite things wrapped up in a day! Plus on Friday we had our faux-Thanksgiving, a great way to finish the week and my family's time here. Friday evening after dinner I we were talking about the week and how quickly it went by when Mystery Guest asked what time we should leave for Paris Saturday.

We?

Yes, we.

You can imagine my shock because I knew my family had to leave on Saturday to catch flights home on Sunday but we weren't planning on going because I thought they were just going to crash at an airport hotel. Instead I packed Friday night and we left Saturday morning at 7am for a day in Paris! Those secret people organized the whole day without me having any clue!!! We dropped the rental car off and took a cab into the city where there we rooms reserved at a hotel in the 5th for MG, myself and my sister. I called Ksam as we were getting hungry for lunch and asked for a recommendation.

OMG.

El Sol et La Luna.

Speechless - but here's a picture.

Then we had a whirlwind guided tour of Paris (courtesy of yours truly) to see the main monuments starting with Notre Dame.

The Eiffel Tower

The Arc de Triomphe

We also walked around the outside of the Louvre and tried to go to the Orangerie but even though on their website they said they were open until 7pm when we got there they were closing at 6pm..

Here are a couple of other shots from the afternoon and Sunday morning.

I knew there were plans for dinner but I had no idea what. We walked over to île de la cité where Mystery Guest had reserved the coolest restaurant. Not only that but he surprised me by inviting some wonderful friends to celebrate with us! So much fun!!!

My feet were killing me by the end of the day but it gave everyone a good taste of Paris and probably an excuse to come back :)

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-10-30T17:48:00.002+01:00

I haven't celebrated Thanksgiving with any of my family members since I moved to France (8 years ago!!!) so a few weeks ago I thought it would be fun to do a faux-Thanksgiving! Chicken instead of turkey but otherwise all the other fixins were there and with the grey weather that day you wouldn't have known it was October and not November :)

I just can't get enough of my iPhone app so here's a 60's version of our dinner...

sharing Normandy

2011-10-26T18:59:00.001+02:00

Part of my family is in Normandy visiting for a week. My little sister flew in all the way from Australia! We've mostly been hanging out around here and I'll go through my pictures later but I wanted to take my sister down to Mont Saint Michel just because it really shouldn't be missed! The weather was beautiful today so we jumped in the car this morning and drove down.

It was a little crowded because of the school vacation but we got to visit the abbey in relative calm and I got to use my new app - AutoStitch to do some panoramas!

And of course I played around with the video app again too... Makes a boring video a little more fun :)

just a little laugh

2011-10-24T21:15:00.000+02:00

We ate with some friends a few weeks ago and their son who is not yet two got served his pasta and ham. But what amazed me was the fact that he had his own little knife and fork and as you can see he's really mastering them! How many kids do you know that at two years old are taught how to use a knife and fork?

(I used an app to add a little fun to the video :) and to take out all the random conversations happening around the table)

Day Trippin'

2011-10-19T21:17:00.000+02:00

Today I went to Caen for the day. When I left the hardware store there was a huge menacing black cloud but by the time I reached downtown the sun came out and everything was glistening.

I parked down by my old haunts and got a twinge of nostalgia walking down my old street where I had my first (tiny!) studio. The sun is shining on the front door on the left side of the street.

The view I used to have looking out the front door of the building. I always thought this alley had a certain mystique about it and with the bright October sun and the wet cobblestone it sure did!

I made my way over to Greedy Guts which opened this summer. It is a 100% homemade 100% vegetarian cafe with totally yummy lunches and to die for desserts!

My last stop of the day was in Bayeux where I met up with the lovely LouLou for a tea and hot chocolate. She is just as beautiful and as delightful in person as she is on her blog and the afternoon flew by as we chatted about anything and everything.

Fall

2011-10-16T10:36:00.000+02:00

Fall is officially in the air. We've had several sunny days but not the hot sun that we randomly had the beginning of October but a crisp autumn sun - we've even had frost the last 2 mornings!

All this makes me want to pick up my knitting needles - so I finally finished a project that I started back in April, my first attempt at a linen stitch and it turned out beautiful if I do say so myself!

We've also started eating all the fall squashes, here are a few that are just dying to be turned into soup or pureed... (the one in the back is from MY garden!!! little mini jack 'o lantern!)

Last night we went out with some friends to dinner at an amazing restaurant in Bricquebec. The old castle has been turned into a hotel and the restaurant is downstairs. I think they've really beefed up their menu and everything was just perfect! I had an appetizer of sautéed shrimp with a spicy mango dipping sauce, main course was duck breast with an orange sauce, a mushroom cap stuffed with carrot puree and a stuffed baked apple. YUM. Then there was of course the local cheese plate (some of which LouLou is going to be tasting soon!) and then dessert... oh my god dessert... It was the most fantastic chocolate cake. The crust was a sort of marzipan base and then there were layers and layers of different chocolate mousses topped with a silky chocolate ganache. I'm drooling just thinking about it! The best thing is that out here we don't have big city prices and the whole menu ran for 29 euros - not bad me thinks!

When we arrived the last bit of sunlight was fading away... you'll have to excuse the iPhone camera but it didn't do such a bad job of capturing the moment. :)

I've got to get back to getting things ready... the family invades in a week!

carrot

2011-10-14T17:36:00.000+02:00

I bought purple carrots at the market today. They are more expensive than the normal carrots but I just couldn't resist...

I also planted all the bulbs I bought last week. I always told myself that if I were to put money into gardening that I would first buy things that were actually productive, that you could eat. But this spring I found myself pining for some color with all the dreary grey skies we were having.

So this year I bought 3 bags of bulbs for 14 euros; narcissus, hyacinths and irises and planted them down by the mailbox. It was totally worth the 5 euros for the hand bulb planter. Now I just need to wait for the spring to see if they bloom!

fall harvest

2011-10-12T17:40:00.001+02:00

I harvested a few things from the garden this afternoon. The zucchini are still producing but the little zucks are rotting before they reach maturity so I figured why not harvest the tender zucchini babies? (did that sound as violent to you as it did to me?

I also pulled an ear of corn to give it a test run tonight. I read that if the top kernels don't mature it's a problem with fertilization. Given that I planted my corn over 6 weeks late I think the little mini corn doesn't look half bad!

I'll let you know how it all tastes though!

out of the oven

2011-10-08T10:37:00.004+02:00

saturday morning baking

2011-10-08T09:53:00.000+02:00

This afternoon we're headed over to a friend's family summer home where they are staying for the weekend. We'll go in the afternoon and stay for dinner.

I said I'd bring dessert.

I don't think they'll be disappointed....

Unfortunately I've started a tradition whereas everytime we go visit them (or crash at their house outside of Paris before catching a flight) I bring my double chocolate chunk cookies. There is now an expectation (and addiction!) to uphold!

I've been dying to try a new recipe that my friend Aimee keeps putting up amazing pictures of and if I lived in Paris I'd probably live IN her teahouse where I'd eat cake and knit all day.

Here's a before shot of my version of her tart.

summer's over...

2011-10-05T15:07:00.001+02:00

What really cracked me up when I was in Paris last weekend was all the bloggers asking how my garden was going! So I'm happy to report that even though we were basking in the summer sun last week the weather has decidedly turned to autumn. But my garden isn't done yet! I've picked over 2kg of wild blackberries that grow EVERYWHERE! Every other day I go out and pick a small handful of raspberries.

Nothing is better than raspberries still cool in the morning.

My spaghetti squash is starting to change color with a yellow hue slowly replacing the green.

And my pumpkins! I've got 3 that are starting to turn orange! They won't win any contests for the biggest pumpkin but I'm hoping they'll cook up nice 'n tasty :)

I also have a little mini forest of wax beans that I planted the beginning of August. I've snacked on a few while touring around the garden and they are tasty even raw.

(Mystery Guest thinks I'm nuts for eating raw beans...)

My mini harvest of wax beans! Last night when I got home there was a big bag of green beans on our doorstep (love the neighbors) so I think we'll be eating some beans tonight!

Other than that the corn is slowly coming along. I had a peak inside one husk and the kernels haven't quite plumped up yet - I'm hoping they will before long!

Dreaming of Wicked...

2011-10-04T10:56:00.001+02:00

Just dreaming of how cool it would be to go to London for a weekend in December, see the Christmas lights and a show...

Anyone know of fabulous internet deals? :)

Celebration

2011-10-02T20:14:00.000+02:00

This weekend Mystery Guest and I jetted off to Paris to be a part of a wonderful celebration - Miss KSam's wedding!

We had a fantastic time! I got to finally meet in person some wonderful people and see some other friends that I have not seen in several years who came in from all corners the world. I know the bride and groom where probably a little stressed but it didn't show; everything was so seamless! The bride was radiant, the groom all smiles... The weather couldn't be better, especially for an October day, even the evening walk home was warm and summery. Champagne in the park was lovely and then the dinner and the afterparty were just a fantastic way of getting to know people and celebrating the happy couple!

The weekend went by too quickly - all I want to say is congratulations to the happy couple and may your future be very sweet!

contrôle de papiers

2011-09-29T15:51:00.002+02:00

A random little anecdote... in France the police are allowed to ask for your papers for no reason. I've never had anyone ask for them on the street (it's not often you see cops asking a young, blond woman for her papers...) But you'll often see the police at a roundabout where they will randomly pick cars to ask for their papers (pink slip (carte grise), driver's license and insurance). I've never been singled out but yesterday as I was driving out of Caen I got the wave and pulled over. Happy that I had all of my papers on me (and didn't leave my carte grise in another purse etc...) I handed everything over.

Then the cop took me by surprise, "So you have a new license?"

Awww crap. I forgot that I have never put the "A" on the back of my car and you can get a fine for not having one.

So I pulled my American smile out and explained that the Prefecture "told me" that even though I already had my American license they were required to put the date on the back of my French license because I only just passed it here but that "they said" I wasn't required to put the "A" on the back of the car. I handed over my American license.

He asked a lot of questions about my American license, why the date when I passed my license wasn't written on there, why it expires etc... Then he said that he was just curious, that it wasn't a problem :)

I looked it up and according to the different fines and loss of points I would have been required to pay 150 euros! Eeep!

So the moral of the story, always have your American license on you just in case!

Oh, and ladies, make sure it's a nice warm day with a low cut tank top...

carte 12-30!

2011-09-28T19:27:00.003+02:00

Just to publish the news that's flying around facebook and twitter: to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the TGV the SNCF is selling a limited edition of the Carte 12-30!

For us old farts (I'm turning 30 the end of October! Eeek!) we can now take advantage of all the wonderful benefits of our youth... for the next year anyway :) I'm SO excited you have no idea! I foresee many train trips in the next year...

deux americaines dans la manche

2011-09-25T11:15:00.001+02:00

I met one of my good friends, Sarah, when we both lived in Caen and worked at the university. Since then I moved out to the countryside and Sarah moved to Paris to get her Masters and then as of a few months ago, get an amazing job doing what she loves in Paris.

But every hardworking Parisian girl deserves a break in the countryside! This weekend happened to be one where her boyfriend was on a business trip and where my Mystery Guest was gone helping some friends with their house in haute-normandie.

So girly weekend in Normandy it was! Luckily for us the weather is the best we've had this September, beautiful sunny skies, no cold wind but a gentle warm breeze and of course the scenery around here is pretty spectacular!

It was mademoiselle's request to eat at the Auberge des Grottes which is a charming restaurant out on the very tip of the peninsula a the Nez de Jobourg. They didn't have any place left for dinner so we decided to go for lunch. What an amazing lunch, oysters on the halfshell, sauteed scallops, lamb, cheeses and dessert... YUM. Plus the restaurant is literally out on the tip and our table had one of the best views overlooking the sea.

After lunch we decided to take a hike and we ended up at a quiet little cove where you could hear the waves rolling over the pebbles making the most delightful tinkling sound - Sarah said it should be the sound you put on those machines to fall asleep. I agree. I was too lazy to take off my shoes to dip my feet but Sarah went for it. I had my camera all prepared to catch her screams as her feet hit the ice cold water but she said that it was not cold but refreshing - a true Normande :)

I had wanted to take her to visit a Cidrerie in the area but apparently you had to reserve the guided tours in advance... oh well next time! We still go to wander around the orchard (full of ripe apples!) and sample some of the apple juices, ciders etc and bought a couple bottles of course.

When we got home we took a little walk around to enjoy the end of the day and ran into my neighbor. When we mentioned that we had been out to Jobourg she asked if we had seen Paul.... ummm... didn't know any Paul... Turns out there was a book and then a documentary written about a old farmer and his life. She gave us a lesson in patois and then lent us the DVD and we watched it last night. It was so sweet and it was fun to see the same scenery that we had just seen that day. The only problem was that Paul really mumbles and half speaks in patois so I think we missed quite a bit of dialog!

Blackberries!

2011-09-23T18:40:00.000+02:00

No no, don't worry I haven't switched to a CrackBerry, I still have my trusty iPhone!

But it is blackberry season! They are ripe much earlier than last year and they are big and beautiful! I just went to go pick for 20 minutes or so just around the house and came back with a big bowl full. The weather is just stunning today, warm and sunny with no wind - my kind of September day!

Don't you just want to lick the screen??

Milk

2011-09-22T18:36:00.001+02:00

I was chatting with my neighbor (who has left goodies such as potatoes, rhubarb, eggs etc on our doorstep and I leave cookies, apple jelly etc on hers) and it came up that she goes down to fetch milk from her friend's farm. She offered to get me a litre if I wanted.

Of course I jumped at the chance! Her friend has a non-registered organic farm but doesn't sell to individuals so even when I offered to pay she wouldn't let me.

As promised when we got home today I saw this little mini milk jug on our doorstep full of whole raw milk! Yum!

Thanks neighbor!

fall garden

2011-09-20T08:50:00.000+02:00

I took these pictures 3 days ago as a little garden update more to chronicle how things are moving along rather than as a fascinating blog post for you readers! First up my one lone spaghetti squash seems to be doing great, it's huge! It stopped growing so I'm hoping it's going to start changing color soon.

I had planted butternut squash in between the pumpkin plants - a mistake not to make next year! The pumpkins totally tookover and it is only now that the pumpkins are dying back (powdery mildew) that my butternut is escaping but it's too late in the season. The little dead butternut made me so sad!

I planted some wax beans the beginning of August and they are doing well, lots of flowers and I'm hoping to get a fall harvest of beans! :)

The corn stood up to a HUGE windstorm we had last week, the ears are looking good but are still really small, I hope they mature before October when we have a risk of frost...

The zucchinis are still producing a few and my baby basil is fluffy and cute, I might try to make a mini batch of pesto...

Chickens and rainbows

2011-09-18T11:00:00.000+02:00

Last night I looked out our sliding glass door only to notice a chicken out for a stroll on our newly paved road. It must have flown the coop - literally.

As we were cracking up I looked over and there was the most beautiful double rainbow on either rise of the house; the first one I've seen since we moved here.

I take the escaped chicken and rainbow as good signs :-)

finishing up...

2011-09-16T19:45:00.001+02:00

My job contract was supposed to just be for the month of August. Then the end of August I found out that I was renewed for 2 more weeks. Then last Saturday I found out that they added 1 more week. So technically I'll finish up tomorrow. I'm replacing a woman that comes to work maybe a month or two out of the year and as she has a CDI contract they can't really fire her. But as she is often out "sick" she might come back and then leave again.

The other good thing is that now that I've "proven" myself in a local branch the chances could be good that they call me for another position in a different town. In the meantime I'm on the look out for that dream job cause I don't hate this one but it isn't a job I see myself doing for the next 5, 10 or 20 years either... hard to say because the money and the advantages are quite good!

iphone posting

2011-09-10T07:47:00.002+02:00

Yea!!! After a few years of waiting they have finally released a blogger app for the iPhone! (Android of course has already had one for a long time)

No more sending emails to blogger where half of the text doesn't show, pictures are out of order and no way to add labels!

pulling my hair out

2011-09-09T22:38:00.001+02:00

I was a sub back in June for a couple of weeks. Then in the middle of the summer the Pole Emploi requested a copy of my pay stub. So I called the admin office - the phone rang and rang and rang. I finally went on the website (which happened to be updated!) too bad, they were closed for a month in the middle of the summer.

Then I started working in August and by the time they reopened the only times I remembered to call were either first thing in the morning before they opened, at lunch or in the evening. Had I remembered to call at any other time they probably would have been on their coffee break anyway....!

So today I call. "Oh, I'm sorry, this is the wrong service, you'll want to call this number.." Ok... I look at my colleague and say, this is going to be like that scene in the Auberge Espagnole...

I call the second number. "Oh, no, this isn't the right service, please call this number..."

Finally the third number. "Oh, we can't send you your pay stub without a written request." Me: Can I send an email? "Sure, here is our email address."

I send an email requesting that my pay stub be sent to my house asap. At the end of the day I get an answer: "Your pay stub has been sent to the school where you were subbing..." Umm.. notice the past tense? Yeah, thanks, I DON'T WORK THERE ANYMORE. Why on earth would you send a pay stub to a place where the person is no longer employed?? So I wrote back a rather terse email demanding that a copy be sent to my home de toute urgence. Honestly, I'm not going to drive 45 minutes to pick up a pay stub, it is the job of the administration to do that, god knows they don't do much else!

Last time I work for them!

.... rant over

Gate

2011-09-05T14:37:00.001+02:00

I decided it's about high time for a house update! Mystery Guest has been hard at work the last few days putting together the threshold and pillars to hold the gate that was bought several months ago. I'd come home from work to find all the boys (his dad, brother and friend) hard at work and up to their elbows in concrete. It's looking pretty fantastic!!!!

kayaking to dinner

2011-09-04T10:15:00.000+02:00

(please excuse the bad pictures, my cell phone camera doesn't do well when I'm moving and trying to take a picture at the same time! Didn't want to take my big camera on the water so you'll get the idea...)

One of our friends invited us to join them and their friends/family on an outing last night. After a summer of fairly crappy weather it turned out to be a hot and beautiful day Friday so we had high hopes for Saturday evening. The skies finally cleared and a nice warm September sun came out when we hit the water and kayaked 17km downstream.

We saw cows.

The view from the river, in the winter this river floods the surrounding wetlands.

The sun setting behind us.

We arrived at our destination about 2 hours later just as the sun was getting low in the sky. Apparently this auberge and the surrounding houses used to be a port in the wetlands back in the day...

It was the most amazing still evening, not a poil de vent, not a wisp of wind and the sun was warm and toasty as we enjoyed a rosé apératif as we watched the sun set.

Then we moved on over to the auberge and had a nice tasty meal.

The best part? They came and picked up the kayaks and so we didn't have to paddle back at midnight when we finally finished eating dinner! That and today it is now pouring buckets outside, torrential rain I tell you! Lucky us, it was a wonderful way to start the weekend :)

My neighbor's house... How French :-)

2011-09-02T18:42:00.002+02:00

Baby corn!!!

2011-08-30T19:00:00.001+02:00

You can feel that summer is on its way out... the mornings are crisp and the wind has changed (yes, spoken like the true profound gardener! haha). This Summer was a big disappointment with Spring having the summerlike weather and too much rain in July and August... I'm hoping for Un bel été indien ...

In work news the woman I've been replacing is coming back to work September 13th so my contract which goes until September 10th most likely will not get renewed. That said she's coming back part-time so who knows what may happen. I'll have to wait to see with the director as well as HR. In the meantime I'm getting ready for some family fun in October. I'm so excited my little sister is coming to visit! She hasn't been here since I lived in Caen back in 2005 (pre-blog!!) I think it was... and I haven't seen her since I went to Australia! She's coming all the way over here for only a week so I'm planning things to do... hehe

2011-08-29T15:01:00.000+02:00

Garden progress

2011-08-26T20:09:00.001+02:00

Sadly my tomatoes kicked the bucket with some mysterious (to me) disease... The rest is doing well though!

Corn!!!

Baby pumpkin!!

Teenage spaghetti squash being a typical teenager and trying to escape!

Monday beach walk

2011-08-23T13:08:00.000+02:00

peach pie 2.0

2011-08-21T11:47:00.000+02:00

I made peach pie this morning. The last time I made one was two years ago according to my blog! We're invited to a friend's house for lunch and I wanted to take a dessert that wasn't too rich and chocolaty. I got some white peaches and even made my own crust this time around. I'll let you know how it tastes... I can't really cut a slice out before we go... although I'd love to!

Squeeeee!!!

2011-08-18T13:40:00.000+02:00

Garden update

2011-08-15T21:36:00.000+02:00

Yup, garden update. I ran around taking pictures of my garden to blog while Mystery Guest started up the BBQ! We had his family over for a good 'ol fashioned American BBQ for lunch. On the menu? Homemade burgers (this ain't no MacDo!), marinated chicken, potato salad (with purple potatoes!) and his mom brought over some salad and some carottes rapees. Unlike a French lunch there was no entree nor cheese course but we did start off with an apero before hitting the cheeseburgers and fixins! Of course for dessert I had to go a bit nuts with not only cookies but a big Red Velvet that always impresses people :) Yum.

So everything was yummy and we had a great time sitting outside enjoying the sun (which decided to show itself after a good week of rain around here - good timing!) and I gave a couple tours of my garden:

Blueberries on the left, tomatoes in the middle and a combination of pumpkin, butternut and corn to the right.

Monster pumpkin!

Love the little tendrils that hook on to anything and everything!

Zucchini!

My garden is going bonkers!!

2011-08-13T19:21:00.001+02:00

It's official! I've got my new birth certificate!

2011-08-12T18:50:00.001+02:00

job update

2011-08-07T10:37:00.000+02:00

This week has been busy, a huge learning curve and on my feet all day. Plus I'm working Tuesdays through Saturday so now that it's Sunday I'm totally confused!

This have been going well. Luckily I'm familiar with the computer system from my experience with the Company last year but it's a whole new world other than that. Before I was on the phone all day, in English. Now I'm on my feet all day and dealing with customers face to face in French - aside from the random English person coming in and then asking where I learned my perfect English (haha).

I think the hardest thing is dealing with numbers. I know my numbers in French but have always had a hard time with rapid fire telephone numbers etc. So when someone comes in and spits out their number I'm trying to catch up on the quatre-vingt-douze etc by typing in a 8 first then deleting it for a 9 and then missing out on the rest of what they've just told me. But I'm getting better.

Surprisingly I haven't had too many comments on my accent, maybe once a day but never criticizing, just curiosity which is nice especially considering that I'm not working in a big city so people aren't exposed to that many foreigners around here and country folk can be extremely wary of foreigners. Luckily here in Normandy Americans still have a very good reputation from the war (not like the English and their more recent, and well deserved I might add, reputation) so when I do say I'm American people smile instead of giving me snide comments.

So the job it self is going pretty good so far. It's a one-month contract for now but there is a chance it could be prolonged. But at least it's a great experience, my first 100% French job for a big French company and that will be nice to put on my CV in any case.

First zucchini of the season!

2011-08-05T18:58:00.001+02:00

Blueberries from the garden for dessert!

2011-08-03T20:18:00.001+02:00

Weekend O Fun

2011-07-31T12:40:00.000+02:00

Blue room!

2011-07-29T10:17:00.002+02:00

FYI I am a loyal Auchan customer, love their products and actually prefer their store brand to many national brands. I decided to try their paint.... I do not recommend it simply because it is not monocouche!! I love the color but honestly having to put a second coat made it not worth it...

back to the grindstone

2011-07-26T22:02:00.002+02:00

I got a call on Friday from the DRH from where I used to work in Caen offering me a 1 month contract locally for the month of August.

I jumped at the chance - not only does it look good for the unemployment office to see that I am "actively seeking work" but it might be my foot in the door working for them in the future.

I start August 2nd.

And am totally nervous.

See the thing is that I've never worked in a 100% French environment, all my jobs here up until now have been to utilize the fact that I speak English and therefore there is a certain leeway when it comes to language stumbles etc. It will still be an asset that I speak English given that there are English customers and tourists around but it will not be the focus of the position. And it is a customer service position so I'm going to be face to face with (French) customers all day long.

I am totally looking forward to the fact that I'll have an 18km commute each way instead of 118km commute each way!

The good thing is that if it all goes well it gets my foot in the door and if it really is not my cup of tea then it is only a month (and with decent pay, no SMIC this time!)

decoration help please!

2011-07-25T10:26:00.000+02:00

Ok faithful listeners we are in need of some decoration help! I've been painting all weekend and it's looking great but for some time we're stuck on how to decorate - specifically window treatment. We've got 2 big sliding glass doors facing south that we'd like to add a little something to but not block the view.

(Please ignore the mess, I just took a quick picture!) The thing is that basically all of the windows in the house have volet roulant which are fantastic metal blinds that are outside and you can roll down either by hand on the smaller windows or electrically on the big doors. They block out light really well and help keep the house warm during the winter nights.

The problem is that it was much cheaper to put the coffre inside instead of outside. From the outside it looks much nicer but on the inside it poses a huge problem for curtains/window treatments! These things are big and while they don't bother me to have them visible would it look weird to put curtains etc under them?

We don't need to block out the whole windows, something sheer or just on the side etc. I like having huge windows to look through and we don't have a lot of people driving/walking past our house (we're down at the end of a dead end). If we do want total privacy we can always drop down the blinds anyway. I'm really looking for something just to give it a bit of decoration more than anything else. I really like the Japanese panels but again it's how to go attaching them, around the coffre? under? above?

Does anyone else have this problem? How did you fix it?

garden update!

2011-07-23T11:44:00.001+02:00

For those of you interested my little garden is coming along! It's just been just under 1 month since I planted (some seedlings and some from seed) and it's looking pretty good! We've had alternating hot sunny weather and really really rainy weather and apparently it makes for happy plants.
I've got sweet corn, spaghetti squash (flowering), zucchini (baby zucchinis!), pumpkin, butternut squash, cherry tomatoes (taking over the garden!), normal tomatoes, basil and blueberries!
Yesterday I planted some wax/butter beans cause the box I saw in the store said they could be planted through August. I thought I had missed my chance with beans but I thought why not, let's give it a try!

Mexican lunch!

2011-07-20T14:21:00.001+02:00

Inspired by the rainy weather (and Masterchef Australia!) I decided to cook some sunny Mexican food.
I marinated the chicken thighs overnight in lime juice, tomatoes and salt. Then I rolled them in a little taco seasoning before pan frying them. Oh my god that chicken was heaven!!!!

I also made Mexican rice by cooking plain rice first and then in a separate pan sautéing onions and garlic before adding tomato paste, salt, pepper and cumin. Then I mixed it all in with the rice - yum yum!

Finally I made some spelt tortillas inspired by Andi & Homesick Texan. They came out yummy too!

Then it was just a matter of pulling the chicken off the bone and putting together a burrito with fresh tomatoes & avocado! The only thing missing was cilantro & sour cream... Oh and a picture 'cause I ate too fast! :-)

celebrations

2011-07-19T19:37:00.000+02:00

I'm still trying to recover from a HUGE weekend! On Wednesday we drove up to the région parisienne to attend one of Mystery Guest's best friend's wedding. Thursday was the bachelor and bachelorette parties (respectively!) I was lucky enough to be invited and had an absolute blast with the girls!! They were all so nice and fun. We drove into Paris and went to a hammam where we melted away and then enjoyed a fantastic lunch on their terrace. Afterwards we took the bride back to her house (blindfolded of course!) where we surprised her with a chef à domicile for a cooking class.

Friday was lots of prep getting things for the wedding organized and helping them out as much as possible and wouldn't you know it, the beautiful weather on Friday turned into huge thunderstorms ALL DAY LONG Saturday. They had booked a stunning manoir just over the border in Haute Normandie (near Vernon) and were disappointed that instead of walking around the grounds we were huddled under umbrellas. But it didn't ruin anything for the guests, we had a great time. The ceremony was simple and sweet and they booked in 3 acapella gospel singers which really got the audience in the sprit of things. The cutest thing was when their little 18 month old son brought up the rings and then stayed to boogie with the singers :)

Dinner was exceptional delish guinea fowl trou normand for the boys and violette granita in champagne for the girls! plus all the desserts... the table we were put at was just the best. Great people, fun to talk to and have a good time and then dancing the night away. Mystery Guest even busted a move and taught me a thing or two! I have to say I'm always in shock when I see 60 French people hear a song and all of a sudden line up and bust out the line dancing... cracks me up! They didn't understand why I was laughing so I said imagine you're in the States and all of a sudden a group of Americans jumps in a circle, joins pinkies and busts out the Breton dancing - I think they understood ;-)

The weather Sunday was iffy but we still had a great post-wedding BBQ before hitting the road. The bride's mother made my day with a huge pack of Ghirardelli chocolate that they had brought back from their recent trip to the US... yummmm!

Good thing there are no major plans this weekend because we've got to get ready for the Danish invasion in 10 days!

Bachelorette party in a hammam? Sounds like my kind of party!

2011-07-14T23:45:00.000+02:00

Sark

2011-07-11T22:00:00.000+02:00

Wow Sark... It really was amazing! We totally lucked out with the weather - beautiful sunny skies and a smooth crossing over. We took Manches Iles Express out of a nearby port. There was a quick stop in Jersey and then the boat continued on to Sark. We arrived around 10ish local time (UK time) and the boat left Sark at 7pm local time so a full day to explore! Our round trip ticket on the boat came to around 47 euros per person. The other way you can get there is to fly, I think most of the flights leave out of Saint Malo though.

It is a tiny island and with no cars allowed, only tractors, horse-drawn carriages and of course bikes! I had take a look at some of the different bike options before leaving and found a good deal at A to B Cycle Hire which was 6£ per person (but they had an ad in the map from the ferry terminal which gave us a discount making a total of around 10£50 I think for both of us. After that we basically explored the island! Given that there are no cars there are also no paved roads! Even the "main drag" is a dirt road and felt like a cross between the Wild West and Victorian England! We enjoyed a fantastic cream tea, "toasties" for lunch and then a snack at the gardens in the afternoon.

I wouldn't say there is much "to do" there other than enjoy the wonderful countryside and views the island has to offer. There is a little micro-climate around the islands so they often have better weather than we do just on the other side.

It was a fantastic day, a great way to clear your head and to really feel like you've gone really far away (even though you can see France in the distance!) The people were really friendly and welcoming and all in all a great atmosphere on this little remote island. Highly recommend it!! The other thing that would be fun to do is island hopping between Jersey/Guernsey and Sark, one of the other operators from Normandy was offering a type of package and often times has special offers on, Vedettes du Cotentin if you're interested.

an egg

2011-07-10T09:05:00.000+02:00

I know what you're thinking, it's an egg - a boring white egg.

Actually no, it's an egg from our neighbor's chickens, free range happy chickens. What happened was on Wednesday I made a big Red Velvet cake.

Yup right?? You betcha!!! It was a friend's birthday and he would have spent it commuting and not celebrating so we invited him over for dinner and to celebrate his birthday. Birthdays in my book are special, they are celebrations that can last for a good week if need be. So I made a BIG special cake - for three of us... I don't know if you can tell but that is one big mofo cake! The friend took about half of it to work the next day to pawn it off on colleagues and I divided up the rest and went over to the neighbor's.

That's always the tricky thing when you "stop by" the neighbor's, you are always invited for a coffee and it can take quite some time to actually leave. I wanted to make it quick so Mystery Guest stayed at home ("I need to get back MG is waiting for me to eat") which worked pretty well. But my neighbor said since I couldn't stay would I like a couple of her eggs?

Yup!! She gave me a dozen eggs!! That's not a couple but as she pointed out, a couple to eat soft boiled, a couple for a cake, a couple for a quiche and pretty soon no more eggs! I always like getting eggs from her, they have the yellowest yolks possible! I made pancakes with them and I swear it looked like I had added corn flour to the batter!

Whew! All that to say that the thing that really struck me yesterday is that the eggs are mostly white.

White you say? Of course!

In my America (to use a KylieMac expression) store bought eggs are always white and eggs from the farmer's market are more "rustic" and tend to be brown. In France I have looked high and low for white eggs to decorate for Easter (try decorating brown ones? yeah, the dye doesn't do much...!) and here I find them, fresh from the neighbor's chickens!

In my mind that's all sorts of backwards. And the end to my long winded story...

... about an egg.

Green tomatoes!!

2011-07-09T14:26:00.001+02:00

payday shock

2011-07-08T12:56:00.000+02:00

I finally got paid today for the substitute teaching I did for the last 2 weeks of June. It was the second time I was a substitute teacher but the first time doing it in the private sector.

Mystery Guest had asked me at the beginning of my contract with them how much I'd be earning... I didn't know, I assumed it was fairly well paid as I remember being pleasently surprised after being paid for my subsitute teaching in the public sector.

Alas I spoke with a friend yesterday who has been doing longterm subbing in the private sector for the last two years. She confirmed my worst fears - you get paid SMIC (minimum wage). Granted there are other "benefits" according to some forums when I was looking things up (you can get unemployment benefits after working in the private sector etc) but come on people - MINIMUM WAGE! They ask you to be at least Bac +3 and have teaching experience and then they pay you the same as a housekeeper or cashier (maybe even worse depending on where you are housekeeping or cashiering...)

Yeah, that's the last time I work for them. Come on, I'm Bac +5 (from a French uni) and have over 6 years teaching experience here in France. I think I'm going to rethink my plan of subbing in the fall and take the job teaching adults that was offered to me this spring. It's not paid well either for what it is and the qualifications that they ask for (20 euros an hour gross) but at least I can try to get as many hours as possible and make some money.

Cause 9 euros an hour isn't going to cut it.

Sark Flowers

2011-07-05T08:34:00.000+02:00

I'm sorting through a million pictures of beautiful scenery... for now just a little teaser of the beautiful flowers on Sark.

Fog lifting in Normandy

2011-07-05T08:24:00.000+02:00

Geocaching on Sark

2011-07-04T14:34:00.001+02:00

Off to Sark/Sercq on the 4th of July!

2011-07-04T08:54:00.001+02:00

Can't wait for my French ID card...

beat the heat

2011-07-03T22:04:00.000+02:00

There were mangoes on sale at the store the other day so I went ahead and got two. I haven't eaten a lot of mangoes fresh before but I love them.

I decided to test out making a smoothie with them to beat the heat. It hasn't been too hot here, just right but the house with all its windows heats up fast so we've got the blinds drawn during the day to try and keep the temps down. (so excuse the crappy cell picture in the dark room)

I do have to say the smoothie was AMAZING! It was as rich as a milkshake but all I did was blend 1 mango, 1 yogurt and a splash of milk to loosen it up a bit.

Ahhhh... yum.

Friday market & coffee

2011-07-01T09:56:00.001+02:00

veggie patch

2011-06-25T14:23:00.000+02:00

My garden is finally in the ground! The landscaper delivered the dirt (for free!) about two weeks ago and last Saturday I bought a whole bunch of plants (advantage to getting a late start? 30% off!)
Here you can see my transplanted corn (that I grew from seed, I also planted more seeds in between just in case the transplants don't survive), there are spaghetti squash plants, cherry tomatoes and I planted some seeds for butternut squash in between the corn rows).

In the middle are a whole slew of tomatoes! I need to buy (or make) some stakes for them, the one stake in place is for a plant that got knocked down in the wild winds we had last week. On the left corner there are 2 zucchini plants.

And at the end you've got 3 big blueberry bushes (buy 2 get 1 free! at 8 euros each = yea!) and the tiny blueberry plant I got at Lidl... I also stuck in some butternut squash seeds in the middle too.

blueberries!!! I need to put up a bird net cause I have a feeling the birds are going to have a great time as these bad boys ripen!

Fingers crossed my first attempt at a garden goes ok... !

CT

2011-06-23T21:16:00.000+02:00

This afternoon I had the controle technique for my car. I was a little nervous as my car is getting older (2001 Volkswagen Bora with 232,000km on it!) But it all went ok, a few things to change soon though... boo.

The funny part isn't the test itself but how I sold myself for 7 euros... let me explain...

Last month I called up a few places nearby to find out how far in advance I need to book an appointment and to ask about a discount. At my previous job I saw that several different CT companies offer employees a discount so I thought well, I'm no longer employed there but only since February so I thought I'd tell a little white lie to see if I couldn't get a few euros off.

I called a few places and they said, sorry but no discount. Then I called the last place on my list. The guy who answered didn't know but passed me to the boss. He heard my accent and got all interested and asked if I worked at the local agency, I said, no the one in Caen but name dropped a few "colleagues" in town. Ohhhh! He's been there to the Caen branch, they are so nice blah blah blah. He kept me on the phone for quite some time and then said that when I came in for my CT to ask for Stéphan specifically and he'll give me a discount.

Fastforwards to today. I dropped off Dora and went for a little walk around to kill time. When I came back the employee said that everything was fine and went to print up the bill. I'll paint you a mental image of what happened next; this large smarmy guy with a big beer belly, tight black t-shirt unbuttoned to show some chest hair with a gold chain nestled in there was talking with his buddy. You know the kind right? I think of an Italian used car salesman or something.. I turned to him and asked, Stéphan? He turned and smiled.

Oh yes, I had found the boss man.

So there I was spending the next ten minutes putting up with his small talk, where I was from, how I ended up in Normandy etc... but I walked out only paying 53 euros instead of 60...

How is it that I felt so icky and wrong?? ewww.

start of summer

2011-06-22T19:04:00.003+02:00

I took a trip into our local town to go to the post office this afternoon. I parked right in front of this fountain and decided to snap a quick picture. I love the town, it is very charming, right on the river where we went kayaking this weekend and with a large medieval castle in the middle. It's really too bad that it is pretty much dead, even in the summer! It has so much potential and I wish that there was a way to revive it...

I've been substitute teaching for the last week in a local junior high school. It's rough being a new sub the last two weeks of school but the colleagues have been really nice and sympathetic. I was asked to go along on a field trip to Jersey yesterday with 60 6th graders, fortunately it went very smoothly and loved being chez les English.

I've got one week left until the end of the school year and although I'm only teaching the last 2 weeks of the whole year this last week has left me feeling like I've been doing it for months - I'm exhausted!

oh la honte

2011-06-19T11:04:00.002+02:00

Now I can be ashamed of both of my countries.... egads...

Homemade cookies!

2011-06-14T16:37:00.001+02:00

My new secret project which has been underway for a few weeks now is finally up and running!

All of those yummy cookies you've been drooling over are now for sale!

Head on over to my new website to check it out!

The first 10 orders will get 50% off shipping costs :) Spread the word!

registering

2011-06-14T08:11:00.001+02:00

Filling out the form to register to vote! Yippee!!! :)

morning munchies

2011-06-12T10:38:00.001+02:00

bunnies in our front lawn this morning. munch munch.

country life

2011-06-10T15:41:00.001+02:00

Another quirk living in the country - the bakery truck! Think the milkman but for bread! In some areas there is a bakery truck that stops by every day or multiple times a week. Ours comes on Tuesday and Friday afternoons around 3 or 4pm. I've never bought bread from the truck, although I have bought it from the bakery it comes from.

I didn't buy any today either because a few weeks ago we bought a bread machine so I've been playing around baking my own bread. I know it's another "kitchen gadet" but we've been buying more and more whole grain, spelt and other "fancy" breads which can cost a good 2 or 3 euros for the small loaves (300grams or so). With the bread machine I can make a 750g spelt bread for 1.15 euros and they've been turning out pretty good! Plus, I mean come on, how good is it to set the timer and wake up to fresh bread?

I make the dough in the bread machine, it takes 1 hour and 30 minutes but does all the kneading and rising for you. Then as the last few minutes are ticking down I turn on the oven to get it nice and hot and pull out the dough. I shape the dough and then let it sit for 5 minutes or so while the oven is finishing preheating then stick the bread in. It takes about 20 minutes or so to cook and voila! Fresh bread! I guess it is time consuming but because you're not having to sit over it or anything you can start the machine and then go do something else.

I'm curious to try Ksam's monkey bread one of these days... oh and there's a "jam" function on it too...

American cake

2011-06-06T09:13:00.000+02:00

For our weekend away near Etretat visiting friends for the long weekend I was in charge of bringing desserts. To celebrate my new Frenchness (received my confirmation letter in the mail today!!!) I brought a bottle of bubbly as well as cookies and a Red Velvet cake :) I was hesitant bringing an American style cake (not worried about the cookies, they've proven themselves time and time again) because they have a tendency of being too sweet with cloying icing. But with all the rage of Red Velvet these days and help from a Jamie Oliver recipe (which I like since it is in grams instead of cups) I busted one out.

The batter was unbelievable, silky smooth and so sexy. I made the cake at home as well as the frosting (cream cheese with real Philadelphia! YUM!) and then put it together once we arrived with some fresh charlotte strawberries from the market on top.

Needless to say it was a huge success, even those who were not the biggest cake fans really enjoyed it and the cake itself was very chocolaty but not too sweet. I had avoided making a layer cake thinking that too much icing would have been overkill but everyone said that next time I should do it :) Happy days.

The weekend was really fun, relaxing and just hanging out. The weather turned into thunderstorms with wild flashes of lightening on Saturday night and then it poured buckets all day on Sunday which was too bad. But with yummy desserts, fantastic coffee and their new "tea machine" we managed to suffer through it :)

Red Velvet - Jamie Oliver (serves 24, I halved it)

Cake
200g unsalted butter, room temp
600g sugar
12 eggs
4 tsp vanilla
12 tbsp red food coloring (I didn't add this)
8 heaping tbsp cocoa powder
600g flour
500ml buttermilk
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tbsp white wine vinegar

Frosting
300g unsalted butter, room temp
600g powdered sugar
450g cream cheese
3 tsp vanilla
lemon zest and juice

Preheat oven to 180C. Line the bases of 2 x 25cm cake tins with greaseproof paper. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, vanilla, food coloring and salt. Fold in cocoa and flour carefully then stir in buttermilk.
Mix the bicarb and vinegar together in a small bowl until it fizzes, then stir into cake batter.
Divide the mix between the two tins and bake for 25-30min until risen and cooked through. Let sit for 15 minutes to cool and then remove from tins and cool completely.

For the frosting, cream the butter and powdered sugar together. Beat in the cream cheese. Fold in vanilla and lemon zest/juice. Chill until needed.

When the cakes are cool top one with a layer of frosting, carefully place the second layer on top and using a spatula spread the rest of the frosting on top.

MilkJam tip: top with fresh strawberries and call it "velours rouge" :)

remembering

2011-06-03T13:12:00.000+02:00

You know you're an expat in France when you see tons of American flags popping up the beginning of June throughout the Norman countryside and you think to yourself "well that's good timing, D-day also coincides with our national holiday..."

BEEP. Back that train up, yup the 4th of June is coming up tomorrow, need to wait one more month for the 4th of July... Opps. Oh well.

Anyway about the flag in the picture. Our neighbor gave it to me when she found out I was American. It was a flag given to her and the other extras in the 1962 monumental film: The Longest Day for them to wave. You can tell it's an old flag, the colors are faded and the white is a soft cream color and there are two missing stars. It is sitting atop Mystery Guest's piano for the time being, I think I'll take the little stick out and frame it flat to hang up somewhere - it is too pretty not to.

It is a funny feeling driving around these little villages only to be greeted with American flags flapping in the breeze. Yesterday my bike ride took me past Camp Patton where there were banners of French and American flags lining the street in anticipation for Saturday's ceremony. I went last year and it brought tears to my eyes seeing all of these elderly men and women with their children and grandchildren along side them proudly celebrating an event from so many years ago. I looked at those banners yesterday and thought, wow that really is me now isn't it?

I've been reborn

2011-05-30T15:50:00.000+02:00

That's right this ain't no April Fool's!! I found out that on the 26th of May 2011 I became French and didn't even know it! :)

I just called the Préfecture because my carte de séjour will expire the end of June and I've been starting to wonder if my dossier had just fallen into the dark hole of paperwork... The nice guy I spoke to back in April confirmed everything was validated 4 days ago! I have yet to receive the official paperwork but am officially Franco-American!

I still can't believe it and probably won't until I get that paperwork in my hot little hands!

Time to pop open the champagne!

Tété 2011

2011-05-27T09:14:00.006+02:00

Last night Mystery Guest and I went to Caen to see Tété in concert. The original date was back in February but it was postponed (we think he had broken his arm) until May. This is the third time we've seen him in concert - the first was back in 2006 and the second a year later.

The only downside to the concert was the opening act, some guy who opened for him... He got up on stage, said nothing (no introduction, his name or anything) and proceeded to play a few songs. The thing that kills me (besides his incomprehensible English) is that he was so full of himself and not that great. I know a few friends who have been working so hard these last few years trying to get into the music scene and who have a million times more talent than he does and it's this guy who gets a break...

Anyway back to Tété who gave a fantastic performance, as always, once he came on stage. He played for a good hour and a half and had a good set list of older and newer songs.

Sorry for the poor quality but they were taken with my iPhone. The videos aren't too bad though!

For a final encore he gave us a preview of a new song! Love it when they do that!

All in all it was a great concert, he is so animated on stage and it makes for a fantastic evening :)

fresh out of the oven

2011-05-25T17:39:00.000+02:00

Did I hear someone say cookies?

wild roses

2011-05-24T22:46:00.002+02:00

Walking around the other day I noticed some wild pink roses nestled among the thorny blackberry bushes. They are not going to win any prizes based on looks alone but they smell absolutely amazing!

newborn

2011-05-22T22:34:00.003+02:00

Yesterday we went on a long road trip with Mystery Guest's parents to the Paris region for the day. The first grandchild in the family was born to Mystery Guest's brother and his wife Thursday morning so we had to go meet the little bub!

It was a long drive (we left at 7am and got home at midnight) but we got to spend some great quality time with the new family. He made a few little newborn cries but mostly lots of yawns and was so quiet and hardly stirred when passed from one pair of arms to another but he did open his eyes from time to time so we could check out his baby blues.

The best part was when he was moving around wanting to nurse and finally found his thumb and started sucking away :) Cutest little thing and he made MG tonton for a first time and me an auntie for the first time!

blogging twice in one day!

2011-05-15T16:37:00.002+02:00

But I can't help it - look at what Mystery Guest put up today!!!! Happy Dance!!!

We found these fans on sale at Brico Depot for 20euros each - I thought well a light fixture is going to be that price anyway and this way we have a multiple light fixture AND a fan!!! It is up in our bedroom and works like a charm! We bought a second one that we might put in the main room downstairs but for once Brico Depot has a great quality product. Very impressed.

Also very impressed by my own Mr. Bricolage :)

Frugal Sunday

2011-05-15T11:18:00.000+02:00

Emptying and filling nespresso capsules...

ABF (anti bunny fence)

2011-05-14T21:39:00.006+02:00

We've made lots of progress getting my garden up! :) But first remember the seeds I sowed? Yup they've sprouted!!! The sweet peas I put in our hanging baskets have sprouted and looking great, I swear they're growing 1cm a day!
I worked on attaching the fencing with little wires - like twisting a babbillion twisty-ties while Mystery Guest built me beautiful raised beds.

Isn't he the cutest??

Now what to plant and where... on the top of my list are: squashes (pumpkin, butternut, zucchini etc), tomatoes, corn... ??

tale of a fence

2011-05-11T21:32:00.003+02:00

These last few days have been crazy... all about a fence.

See the thing is that I wanted to have a little veggie patch this year - grow some things and spend some time outdoors (now that I've got tons of free time on my hands!)

First step - build a fence. Although the countryside is pretty, birds chirping, frogs croaking, bunnies jumping. Yes, bunnies jumping. We have hoards of bunnies living in the bocage which surrounds the property. Very cute as they bounce around in the morning fog and have cut little bunny babies that look like spastic hamsters.

So yes, first thing, build a fence.

We went to Point Vert (fantastic garden store in all little towns and villages in the area!) and the salesman suggested a plastic coated soldered fence. We bought all the posts, the fencing and the jambes de force (the angled thingies you see to hold the posts up). Everything was going pretty peachy as we (er... MG) hammered in the posts into a fairly dry earth as we haven't had much rain recently. Then we tried to put up the jambes de force. No luck. Turned them this way and that, couldn't figure out how to make the holes line up.

Went back to the store. Sales guy was not the greatest and was like "well if you do it like this it is good enough" and "well just drill an extra hole in the post." Dude, it came with holes drilled and it doesn't work. But we tried what he said, no luck.

Yesterday we went back and returned the jambes de force and the fencing (the fencing only because MG saw that it was cheaper in a different store which also had better jambes de force). Managed to get cash back and not store credit (woo!).

Bought new jambes de force and fencing. Although it was no piece of cake to put them up we managed to get them up this afternoon and half of the fencing put up as well! Amazing how quickly you can get things done with the right products... !

Next step, finish the fencing and build the raised beds! Then it is gardening time people! Just in time for my sprouting seeds in the greenhouse....!!!

With a little luck I'll be having grilled corn on the cob this summer baby!

living expenses

2011-05-08T10:18:00.004+02:00

There have been a lot of recent posts on living expenses in France done by several different people in very different situations. LouLou lives in the south of France and owns her home outright. Jennie lives in the Alps and rents. We live in Normandy and are paying off a mortgage on the house we built.

I don't believe in converting Euros into Dollars simply because it doesn't make sense, we're paid in Euros and spend in Euros so it twists things the wrong way to be converting all the time. Here are some figures to give you an idea - they are all monthly to make more sense.

Mortgage 570
Food 400 (I don't skimp on food!)
Internet 32
House insurance 27
Electricity 75 to 100
Car insurance for 2 cars 32+47
Cell phone for two phones 44+42
Mutuelle (additional health insurance) for each of us 20+20
Gym 40

Because we built a h.ouse we are exempt from taxe fonciere and taxe d'habitation for the next few years. We just did our income taxes for the year 2010 and will not be paying any (actually getting money back) because I could deduct all of the km I drove with my insane commute last year as well as the interest paid to the bank for the house (again temporary reduction for a couple of years). What kind of heating you have also makes a huge difference in your bills, the heating here is a pompe a chaleur with underfloor heating which really doesn't cost very much to heat the house, no gas or oil to pay for.

Gas depends on how much we drive, both cars are diesel. Mine gets about 5.3 l/100km meaning I can go about 1,000km on a tank of gas which these days costs about 60 or 70 euros. MG's car gets better mileage about 4.2 l/100km.

waiting game

2011-05-07T09:17:00.005+02:00

Ever since my conversation with the Préfecture last month I have been obsessively checking the mail...

We live towards the end of a dead-end road and you can hear the cars coming. So then I rush out to see what the mailman has left for me... usually junk mail, sometimes a magazine but never what I'm looking for...

On an anecdotal side note after coming to our house and the neighbor's the mailman stops at another neighbor's house "for coffee" and his car is there for at least an hour... hummm... small town gossip. However that neighbor is elderly and more likely his mother than anything else...

PS made a fantastic new banana bread today - YUM!