GETTING INVOLVED.

Friday night saw Al involved in his first match in the local pub pool league. They lost 6-4 but Al won two and lost one of his games. The game lost was on purpose after he discovered that the winner of each game buy's the drink, unlike in the UK.

Forgot to take the camera, so have a puppy picture instead.

Tonight Al is helping with the food for an 18th birthday party. I just hope the French are ready for Pot Mess, Oggies, Cheesy Hammy Eggy, and Kromeskies!!!

LEARN FRENCH WITH AL & MARIE.

Cette nourriture est merde chef.

=

This food is shit chef!

VISITORS.

Terry & Ann came over for a couple of nights. The weather was not too warm for this time of year, but a couple of meals were enjoyed outside, and many drinks enjoyed.

Terry got up in the middle of the night to go to the loo and stepped in a puppy offering. We didn't laugh....Honest. Funny thing is, neither dog has left a "whippy" in the house since and they seem 90% trained.

2 photos had to be taken because we can't work the timer out on the camera!

AL GETS A JOB.

It's not a paid job. But it's a start. I am now a linesman for some St Potan football matches next season. Looks like I will be getting the stick from about 100 Frogs each weekend. I have done a crash course in French for all the terms needed on the pitch. I now know the French for "Offside, Throw In, Corner, Stop diving Drogba you cheating ****.

Pictured below is another Frenchman giving the linesman stick.

LEARN FRENCH WITH AL & MARIE.

Ou est le branleur dans le noir.

=

Who's the wanker in the black!

PUPS COME HOME.

We were meeting Celine who was selling us the pups at 2pm at Quimper rail station. She was early, Marie was in the loo as I saw this large estate car pull up and Celine pull out Bella, Then came Kip, slightly larger with a bit of a beer gut!

After a chat for an hour, they were ours. Celine was sad to see them go, but delighted they were coming to a loving home.

John arrived to pick us up, and the pups slept most the 2 hours back.

We got home about 5pm, and released the hounds (As Mr Burns says in the Simpsons) into the garden then the house. The living room was christened with a "Mr Whippy" minutes later.

They have settled in well, playing hard for an hour, then sleeping for 2.

Bella (red collar) seems to bully her brother a bit, but Kip gives as good as he gets. They seem very gentle dogs with a lovely nature, and really love people.

I am going to post a selection of first week photos. It's been fun in the Gard house again.

FOR ALL IN NORTHWOOD.

For all of you who have been for a curry at Northwood's finest Indian diner..The French version is sited in Quimper .

QUIMPER CATHEDERAL.

The 13th century cathederal dominates the city centre of Quimper. Lots of bars and places to eat, which made for a pleasant evening.

JOURNEY TO QUIMPER.

Monday was time to make the journey to pick the pups up. Quimper is about 100 miles west of here, where the next day we were due to pick up Kip and Bella. We had decided to go by train, but as there were problems with a national strike on the Tuesday we were a bit stuck. Luckily John from the village was heading in that direction, so we got a lift. We stopped at Rostrennen, just over half way for a decent lunch.

SORRY SORRY

Not been doing this blog for a few days, but hang on. We are off to Quimper tomorrow to pick up the Puppies. Will do something on here later this week.

Thanks for your support all of you!.

FUEL PRICES

At Dinard airport there used to be a huge fire engine for emergency cover. Probably got too expensive to run, what with the fuel price rises. This is all they have now! Great if a microlight crashes...but a boeing?????

7 DAYS TILL PUPPY ARRIVAL.

Extra fences are going up soon. Meanwhile, the countdown has begun. 7 days of peace left!

THE LAWN.

It took 6 hours to hand mow the manor gardens today. As you can see it has been worth it. One more go with the heavy roller, and Monty Panesar will fancy his chances of a few wickets !!!

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Been a tough week after losing Gruff. All the advice is "Get another dog quickly, it helps."

Well why not stop at one dog....Introducing KIP and BELLA.

They are about to be the most spoilt dogs in France.

4 DAYS ON.

Still missing our buddy like mad, but we have sat down and decided to get to St Malo rescue centre next week to see if they have a new friend for us. Mornings are hardest as we miss the welcome, and most of all the fantastic walks around the countryside.

SOMETIMES...

It's hard right now, but talking helps.

Once again thanks for all the kind words, it has helped.

Anyway,on another thing..guess who has been elected to the AFC Bournemouth supporters trust. Yep..Me!!!!!

I'm back in the UK Thursday for the weekend to attend a meeting..Jesus!!!!! I almost feel important again.

Regards to all..

Al & Marie

IT STILL HURTS.

Gruff was the reason for getting up in the morning. The first 90 minutes of everyday was a walk to the bakery or the stream. The house is empty and quiet and it doesn't quite seem right.

It will take us a long time to get over this.

Thank you for all the kind words that have been posted.

GRUFF. RIP

We held a dinner party at home last night for our friend nextdoor, Karen and the girls

plus Tim.

At about 10pm Gruffy chased a cat right through the back garden and was knocked down by a speeding car on the road.

All we could do was pick him up and with the help of Yves nextdoor, bury our beloved dog by our vegetable patch.

This morning, we miss the moaning wake up call, the barking at the rain, the stealing of socks, the non stop ball playing, and the total love that Gruff gave to us for 5 years.

We type this through real tears, and his loss is massive to us who loved him with a passion. We had plans for all sorts of summer days out,and much more.

I hope he is chasing everything in heaven.

RIP Gruffy, You were the best!