LEARN FRENCH WITH AL AND MARIE

With thanks to Monty Python, I am now able to translate this useful phrase in to French.

This lesson comes with a free video English translation.

Just click below.

In French we say..Votre mère était un hamster et votre éperlan de père des baies de sureau.

And the translation is here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAy4zULKFDU&feature=related

AND BACK TO DARTS

After a shaky mid season where we all lost form, things have changed a bit.

2 wins in the last 2 nights against Jurgon and Longaulnay have pushed us up to 3rd.

It's the tightest league we have ever played in, but it's only our 2nd season in National Division 4 and we have done better than last season.

Top 3 are promoted to Elite League which will involve massive travel arrangements which we are not sure we can commit to, as 3 of our squad work weekends.

Still, the season has been fun and the ambiance at all games has been fantastic.

Top 4 in the league go to Champions League day in L'Orient in mid may. We will be delighted with that.

My own personal ranking has dropped to 23. Am struggling to win my individual games right now, but in the doubles I am not losing. Very bizzare!

JARRET FRITTES NIGHT

Saturday night was the annual Jarret Frittes night, sponsored by the village football club to raise funds.

About 100 attended, so they haven't raised enough to buy Carlos Tevez just yet.

Us Brits had our corner of the village hall, sharing with a few locals.

The locals are enjoying themselves despite Mr & Mrs Le Meldrew on the left of this picture having just discovered Napoleon had died!

Jarret is a boiled smoked ham hock. Healthy I know!

Soup first, the jarret, cheese and dessert. All washed down with wine included in the price.

After the meal there was a disco playing those fine French Disco hits, which was obviously enjoyed by the locals so much that "Personnes de Casseroles" turned up.

(That's Pans People in French by the way)

RNA FEBRUARY LUNCH

Today was the RNA lunch at Auberge des Tisserands near Cametours in Normanday.

A fair old lick of about 90 miles from us, but thanks to Bill and Sharon we made it.

24 attended lunch, enjoying:

Salmon Cassoulet,

Pork Cheeks or Confit of Duck for main,

And Tarte au Pomme or Pear Charlotte for dessert.

All washed down with plenty of wine.

Great value for 15 euros a head.

The next event is the AGM at Pontorson on 15th March, where I shall be making an official complaint (In writing of course) about not winning on the raffle today.

Thanks to Ray and Liz for the organisation.

Very enjoyable.

DOUBLE RUSSIAN BIRTHDAY

Mikhail and Natasha have birthdays 2 days apart, 12/14th February , so we all went up the the Auberge du Manoir in the village for a fine 3 course lunch.

And inviting the head chef/owner for a drink afterwards had predictable results.

MICE IN THE LOFT

This scratching could be heard in the loft this week.

We knew it was a mouse and being animal lovers, we bought a humane trap and hoped to catch the savage beastie!

Thanks to a few tips on the AFC Bournemouth website, we decided the best bet was a bit of soft apple covered in peanut butter.

The old myth about Mice liking cheese is total rubbish, as people who bait their traps with cheese always forget the selection of Jacobs crackers, and pickles. Hence the mice are not tempted.

Anyway, 2 days later, this dangerous animal has been caught and duly given to the dogs to play with.

Only joking...We are just off to release the little chap a couple of miles away.

TRY CHANGING THE QUILT COVER...

So it's bed change day.

You take the quilt off, pop downstairs and throw it in the machine, then go back to the bedroom to strip the rest of the bed.

Oh..Hang on..It's been occupied by a couple of squatters.

We really are too soft with these two!

LA CHANDELEUR

Thursday we were invited to the village bar to celebrate La Chandeleur, or Candlemass as us Brits call it.

The first time we had heard of this in France.

Locals eat sweet crepes with jams, chocolate, and the like.

Then we had a bit of a darts practice for an all round enjoyable evening.

If you have never heard of Candlemass, further reading is available here.

http://french.about.com/od/culture/a/chandeleur.htm