Behind Our House

We went for an evening stroll up the hill behind Bertie's sister's house (Evs might remember having taken much of the same walk with us a few years ago). Not a bad view really!

It was a much longer walk than we had thought so quite a lot of complaining from one LissaLou on the way up, but a bread and nutella stop improved things vastly! JoJo was particularly excited by the cows below - animals are definitely his thing right now.We decided to take a short cut over the above field, only to be met by a wire fence between us and the path. Uh oh! Nothing for it but to squeeeeeeeeze on through! Then we met another one! This time we caught Bertie in the act of squeezing!

Two hours later we made it back - 8pm and the sun still high in the sky. Can't get used to this northern hemisphere! (Nor can the girls, they are convinced they shouldn't be going to bed until it is dark....)

Photo Time!

Cousins Siblings

Siblings amongst the corn Helping Daddy

Looking beautiful in her new dress from Tatie

More Cousins

In The Marne Vallée

It really is so beautiful and peaceful here (except for our kids of course!). Out the window we look down onto fields of corn that are being harvested, further beyond is the Marne river weaving its way along, and beyond that the occasional train coming to or from Paris.

Bertie's sister and BIL moved here the summer we got married, and in 8 years it has been lovely to come and see what changes have taken place in their home and garden, which were pretty much a new-build shell to start with.
(taken by CassCass)

This time it was the guest room that changed, with a very comfortable bunk bed, the lower part acting as a couch in the day which is a great space saver. The walls are now yellow and green and the bouquet of lavendar and mint my SIL kindly left for us are a wonderful finishing touch.

In the garden, Bertie has been hard at work ever since his arrival. The most important thing he has done (in our opinion!) is put up the remaining parts of the swing set. For two years there has been one sole swing, now there are also two different boat swings, meaning five cousins can have the time of their life swinging away! Very useful when you have as many small nieces and nephews as this family!
We visited Meaux a few days ago by bus - the girls almost exploded in excitement boarding the bus, much to the amusement of a little old lady waiting there! We wandered around (accompanied by much complaining from LissaLou - she does not do wandering!) and visited the cathedral. The girls were very taken with the stain glass windows and statues - LissaLou expressed shock at the latter, telling me they weren't allowed. On further investigation, she had remembered our recent reading of the Golden Calf episode in the OT. So good to know some of what she hears sticks! One thing we loved in Guadeloupe was picking and eating fruit for free, and we have been delighted to carry on this tradition here. We have enjoyed little plums from by the river and pears from the nearby wood, and shocked the SIL by eating elderberries by the dozen! (Are you sure they are edible??!) Today has been Party Day, with all the family here en masse, celebrating a nephew's birthday. Food and drink in abondance, sun sun and a little bit of rain, and little girls running excitedly all over the place with their cousins. Topped off by a very late night - good job we all still all on Guadeloupe time!

Going Going....Gone From Gwada

Well our year has come to an end, sniff! Our final three days were quite manic, getting the packing done, the flat emptied and cleaned, the car cleaned etc.

Due to waiting for Mamie's boxes to be packed, we were an hour off schedule on Monday for our checking in and trip to the beach, so we missed the farewell lunch that we hadn't realised was happening for us!! However, it was lovely to be checked in nice and early, comfortable in the knowledge that we were within our kilos and that nothing more could be slipped in our bags.

Then we made a final trip tp Ste Anne, where is POURED and the wind BLEW! We could have been on a UK beach! That made the transition back home much easier! As you all know, the best place to be when it rains is...in the sea! It did feel like hail was hitting us though. Just a short dip before we headed back home for more cleaning and preparation. And just in case you are wondering, people still managed to slide a few more things in my hand luggage!

If I am foolish enough to move again, remind me that it will take at least twice as long as I estimate, so I shall start well in advance! It would have been nice to have had more time to sit chatting with people rather than rushing around. I am not even sure that Bertie had time to cry, but his parents very kindly said how much they had enjoyed having us and both specified that they liked me very much, which was sweet of them.

However, we made it to our plane on time and were whizzed through security thanks to all these children. The girls were hyper, bouncing around the place in their excitement at going on the plane. We didn't get a baby cot so JoJo slept on me all the way back, which meant I didn't sleep very much at all. I was thankful for my ipod, and for everyone else sleeping!

Apart from a bump on takeoff and various bits of turbulence, the flight was fine, the meal edible. After an hour of waiting for our 8 suitcases (I was waiting for someone to ask, are you moving or something?!) we were met by Patrice and Richard, who then took an hour of wandering around the various Orly car parks to find their cars!! The girls and I fell fast asleep on the way home.

It was so nice to step into the fresh air and enjoy the different climate, and to see the beautiful scenery, to play out in the garden without being burnt by the sun, to pick fresh strawberries, to have a long summer's evening, to see the bees buzzing around my sister-in-law's lavendar bush...Ah, it is good to be back in France! The guest room has also been done up and is beautiful, with a top bunk for the girls and a bouquet as the perfect finishing touch.

We popped off to the shop this evening and almost collapsed at how cheap everything was. Bertie and I both got a bunch of grapes and they are both nearly finished, yum yum!

We all slept this afternoon so it was awfully hard getting the kids to bed before midnight (!) but they are finally there and we shall head off now. Oh, and we had a lovely anniversary meal with the family, thanks to Bertie's sister. 8 years, hurrah!

The Kids Part One: LissaLou

LissaLou is now five and a half, amazing! She will be a six year old before you know it! She is a great little girl, sorry, I mean big girl!

I have noticed that as I think about and record the younger children's development, it is all about what they can do now, whereas with LissaLou it is a lot more focused on her attitude and shaping her character.

You'll remember from this post that obeying straight away has been our recent priority and she has got the hang of it very well. We try and chat and pray about it each morning with the girls as it seems to help remind them, and now that LissaLou has (generally but not absolutely) mastered that step, her daily challenge is to obey with a smile (as opposed to the constant "yeah but" that became her mantra, only to be replaced with kissing her teeth!!). Her other one is to come to me about any problems with CassCass (usually) or someone else, rather than hitting/pushing/screaming at the other person... She is so pleased when she has done a good job! (As am I!).

I think she has found it strange not being at school or having a routine over the last few weeks, as she has constantly been coming and asking "what can I do now?". I look forward to getting back into a routine with them and having all our toys and things back!

LissaLou is still deeply devoted to Hamie ("I love Hamie SO much mummy...) and will often retreat to her bed and suck her thumb whilst holding him. He has a very dinky house bag from mum which she loves carrying around with her too.

Reading is coming on bit by bit, and I think she might actually be better in french than in english right now. As for writing, her big dream is to write en attaché (the very impressive cursive style so beloved of all French people) which we have started on. But she gets very frustrated when she can't get things straight away - I can't tell you how much we struggled with k!

She adores JoJo (rather too violently at times!) and has a more love-hate relationship with CassCass. They will play beautifully for hours (always in french!) then end up fighting over something or another. I like the idea that shaping a child's heart is more important than shaping their external behaviour, but it is a challenge to know how to do so. However, it is really easy to chat with LissaLou about issues like this, for example today we discussed that it was more important to love CassCass (by being patient) than to have her play in a particular way.

LissaLou is a chatterbox. Oh boy. But (like her mother before her!) she is apparently very quiet at school, as the maitresse wouldn't like it otherwise. (Oh yes? and what about her poor mother?!)

She loves counting, particularly in french. I pity anyone learning to count in french, having to cope with their forty-twenty-seventeen, that is in fact 97!

One thing I have loved recently is every morning that we get up early and find ourselves on the balcony as a family, she will come along with her French Bible and get Bertie to read to us! A great example to us all!

The girls haven't really developed the same relationship with their Mamie as with their Grandma, as she, in common with parents and grandparents in general here, doesn't spend one to one time with them doing activities and involving them. So I have been pleased to see LissaLou joining Mamie in her sewing room and watching Mamie as she makes her a dress. Hey, perhaps I won't need to learn to sew after all....!

Oh, I stopped the pocket money (she hasn't noticed!) as inexplicably, the money kept going missing, wherever I hid it.... She didn't really enjoy doing her daily tasks so we will work on that in the autumn. She loves washing up with me though, so we can do that more often when we are away from fizz sinks!

LissaLou is looking forward to coming home and seeing her family and playing with her BF! I am looking forward to homeschooling with her and getting to know her and appreciate her even more.

Activities

I have been trying to do at least a couple of activities each day with the girls - as most of their toys have disappeared with the shipping, they have been a bit more at a loss as to what to do with themselves!

Lots of my ideas come from Trish Kuffner's Busy Books which I really would heartily recommend. I have the Toddler and PreSchooler ones and they have ideas that have been great from 2/3 year old CassCass through to her 10 year old cousin.

A few months back I spent a while cutting out photos of familiar folk (yes Grandma, Grandpa, Tatie Evie, Uncle Malc, you are all there!) and different scenes/objects then sticking them on cardboard. I could cover them in sticky back plastic but haven't got round to it. Then I wrote out cards with the name in french on one side and english on the other. We have used these cards in a variety of ways (mostly with LissaLou for the moment):
*matching the picture with the word in different games
*playing a version of Guess Who, where we each select a card and the other person asks questions to find out which card it is - not only did LissaLou manage to read each card by herself, but we also learned about different categories (man-made is our newest one)
*I tried a game where we guessed the card from clues, but that was a bit challenging
*with CassCass we played shout out a card and run and collect it
*when I run out of inspiration we make up stories involving the different pictures!

Recently we also had a session on bird's eye views (which funnily enough was a phrase that even Bertie, the English expert, didn't know!) - thanks to Mum for this idea. We matched objects with their shape and then drew a plan of the verandah and placed an object according to where it was on the plan. I think we are still grasping this one! However, it made for a lovely treasure hunt, where Stella had proper clues, CassCass had drawings with a cross, and LissaLou had a bird's eye view plan of the room with a cross for the position of the clue. They also got a tamarind with each clue. That went down really well!

We tried north south east and west this week. Once I explained which was which, LissaLou was supposed to run to the right side when I shouted it out. She claimed to be too tired, so I gave her a passion fruit to chuck in the right direction instead, which she then ended up running cheerfully after!! I would like to do a treasure hunt with directions ie walk three steps north but that will have to wait!

What else.... the girls had great fun cutting out scraps of paper and sticking them onto sticky back plastic today and it made for beautiful pictures. In fact, anything involving sticking goes down very well, but they have used up all the glue and lost all the pritt stick now!

Ah, and thanks to Tatie Evie for this popular one - we each cut out a postcard of Guadeloupe stuck on a piece of cardboard in jigsaw style then had fun putting them together again, then getting the other family members to do so! Last time we did this was Christmas 2007 and CassCass had a two piece jigsaw - she has sinced moved on!!

When we have had enough of all this creativity, we have been enjoying the computer by singing along to Cedarmonkees (!) on youtube or watching Balamory and Charlie and Lola. It's a fine life!

I shall go into more details about the kids in upcoming posts, for those interested...

Out And Abouts

LissaLou said how nice it was to have Daddy at home and to go out together as a family, and I have to agree! We are profiting from these days!

Other recent trips have included...

Walking down by the sea to watch the Tour de Guadeloupe by boat which arrived into our port one lunchtime. As we walked through the trees to get there, we stepped over mango after mango and picked up a few to add to our picnic. Bertie spent most of his youth going down that way to the sea (rather than the less muddy and hilly route by road that now exists but is much longer) and walking through smelling the very strong fragrance of fresh and rotting mangos reminded him of those days.

One of our churches had a Campfire out in the country and we enjoyed singing mostly creole songs around the fire, whilst being eaten alive by mosquitoes! Unfortunately by the time we left at 10pm with one sleeping and two tired wee ones, the food still hadn't been served....

Last Friday at the girls' special request we returned to La Ferme Ti Bou, this time with two other families. Needless to say the girls had a fantastic time, seeing the animals, trampolining, bouncing but most of all going round and round and round and round...(you get the idea!) on the go karts. The cool pool water was very much appreciated as was our water melon! Jojo was also able to appreciate it a lot more this time and had good fun in the ball pit.

Yesterday was a family outing to Port Louis to visit Bertie's nephew at a holiday camp he is working on. Not a job I would wish for!!! I thought they were camping but turns out their tents have bunk beds inside, easy life!

We then went on to the beach and enjoyed splashing and diving with all the family. Well, we would have if LissaLou hadn't had a meltdown and cried out the whole visit... These are few and far between now but still painful to live through!

Not many days left now so we shall see what they hold.

Bits And Bobs

No Wimbledon coverage here, but we are following Andy Murray's progress (and Roger Federer's outfit) with interest.

Tomorrow is the final day of school for LissaLou! Hurrah! She has been moaning about going for weeks now so I am looking forward to that stopping and having fun at home with whatever activities we come up with. We have to sign her livret scolaire tomorrow and then get to take her books home. Most schools have finished now and there is a holiday feel in the air. Very soon they will all be getting ready for 3 week long colonies, holiday camps either here or abroad, or simply attending activities and soutien scolaire for July. I am impressed at how hard the French work to ensure their parents can get back to work and not have to spend much time with their children...!

To the triumphant sound of La Marseillaise, President Nicolas Sarkozy is honouring the island of Martinique with a visit and will touch down here tomorrow. Bertie already recognised his special plane flying over with his advance team. Unfortunately, my request to go and photograph the occasion was met with a firm no from the staunch anti-Sarkozyite! On referring to him in conversation with his mum as "ton president" she retorted "ou anglais!" (You're English!)

On the moving plans, Bertie checked out the shipping company AGS. Coming over we had half a metric cube of stuff so that is what we paid for. Going back, we have to pay for a whole metric cube whether we like it not, so we are busy going around seeing if anyone wants to slide in a few more items. Unfortunately, people mostly like to send over fruit and veg and frozen things which we are certainly not shipping! I have sorted through the bags of stuff I need to give away - sadly there is no such thing as charity shops here! I did have a good 40 or mor pair of shoes for the three kids - WHY??? I have resolved to be far more fussy in what I accept in the future! All that clutter only leads to more mess! (Additional goal - reduce significantly CassCass' wardrobe. She wore FIVE separate outfits the other day! That is not necessary - and does not help reduce our extortionate water bill!!)

At Pika, we are enjoying pomme d'eau and the first of the carambole, the very last of the mangoes and a very occasional cythere. Plus the pineapples are through, hurrah! They all go straight to JoJo but he kindly shares the odd one with me!

Speaking of JoJo, and in fact speaking of speaking, he is now much chattier and great fun to hear. He makes a sound that is very like "ca va?" though it could be "papa", for now the jury is out. He stands and says it as he watches people pass by the house so it could be the former. He generally gets a reply though! He imitates really well, and does a great lion noise when he sees one (tends to be in books as opposed to outside....). He also snaps his hands for a crocodile and makes a clicking noise for a rabbit. So cute!

Bertie is preaching on Gideon this Sunday so we actually have this laptop to type his sermon up. Best give it back to him....

Mother's Day

In France, we celebrate Mother's Day on 7 June and Father's Day is coming up on 21 June. It is taken very seriously by the school, where the teachers spent the week before working for it. Everytime I asked LissaLou what she had done at school, she replied she couldn't tell me as it was a secret!

On the day itself, I received a lovely card with a poem which she recited to me, and then she sang a sweet song. I filmed it so I shall add the words sometime. Her Tatie at school had helped each child make a lamp (minus the bulb!). Bertie spoiled me with three roses - in Guadeloupe! Bliss!

At church we received beautifully decorated pencils and cards from the girls. Then we went for lunch with Bertie's sister, but strangely enough it was the women who did all the work and who gave gifts - I received two lovely bags from my two SILs. I questioned why the men did nothing (perhaps they feared the results?!) and explained how in the UK we got spoiled and everything done for us throughout the day. My SIL was most impressed and decided to come to the UK for her next Mothers Day!

We look forward to another poem and song from LissaLou on Sunday and Papa's present (a bowl - but shhh, don't tell him! It's a secret!)

Daily Life

It is hot hot hot now! I made it to the park at 8.15am this morning with JoJo and CassCass and the thermometre said 28 degrees - so who know what it reached by midday! There are more mosquitoes out as a result and also we have had an influx of cockroaches. Grr! Downstairs they have had mice so the poison was put out, and a few dead ones have been discarded of by the brave men of the house.

Speaking of poison, I watched a cat across the road writhing in agony yesterday and asked Bertie if they had rabies here. He replied that it must have eaten the poison. It was a sad sight and I said if I had a gun I would put it out of its misery. Later I saw it on its side and felt glad that it was at peace. Then Bertie pointed it out the next day walking along with no worries in the world!! Apparently cats really do have 9 lives! Good job I have no gun! He added that when he was younger, he always saw poisoned cats when it rained (it was torrential yesterday) and thought that it was the rain that poisoned them! Well, that may be a fair conclusion in London....

I would add that that very same cat is believed to be responsible for the recent mysteries in our house, where we have awoken to find a chicken carcass tipped on floor, but oddly enough other things too which you wouldn't associate with a cat! Thankfully my initial fear of giant cockroaches has proved unfounded.

One final cat story - the cat opposite caught an iguana today! Amazing, they are big creatures!

Back to the rain - following the incredible torrents yesterday morning, we had an infestation of flying ants, that got everywhere, even down my top! But they disappeared by the afternoon so I am not sure which predator got them but am very grateful to them!

Away from wildlife, Bertie's lessons are all but finished now, though the school term carries on till the start of July. Apparently no one bothers going to school after our town's fete which is next week, in honour of St Jean. Today in the town we saw them painting the town hall, putting up red and yellow banners and the podium. They have also resurfaced the road by LissaLou's school, a sure sign that the fete is on its way. Bertie says the town has to look its best!

Bertie does have one pupil every morning from 8-10am however, which has meant that LissaLou is late for school every day. No real loss, as the teacher is always chatting to people for the first quarter of an hour anyway... This pupil is hoping to be a footballer and has just been to France for a selection game. How exciting to think Bertie may have taught the next Thierry Henry!

Bertie's biggest excitement is his one and only water melon that reached maturity this week - a beautiful and tasty specimen it is, I can assure you. Now he is waiting for his melons and marrow. Papy brought home the latter weighing 5 kilos but apparently has had one weighing 22 kilos! Wow!

LissaLou has started to learn writing en attache (cursive) which is such a french thing. It really is impressive how nice it looks and that even small children manage it. I am not sure why we are so against it in the UK - I remember we were not allowed to write like that (or with pens) until perhaps year 5 and Bertie says that hasn't changed. We are doing her learning via a Dora book (what else!) and she is making a great effort, presumably as it is on her initiative.

After the drama of the dentist, Bertie finally took LissaLou to the doctors to see about a kind of fungal wound she has had for a while now (a recurrence of the one she had last November). You know you are in France when you go in for one wound and you come out with a prescription for....
Antibiotics for 6 days (disgusting despite its pinkness!)
Disinfectant spray
Cream
Plaster
Sellotape stuff
Doctor's visit: €26
First 3 items on prescription €20 !!!
We explained to our BIL how you would get sent away with a fly in your ear and empty hands in the UK! I told Bertie if all that doesn't do the trick then we will obviously have to amputate the foot...! (Joke, mum!)

CassCass currently enjoys playing with toothbrushes (don't ask!) and cycling Meddy's bike which now seems to live here, and taking lengthy afternoon siestas which mean she is up and about till waaaay too late at night!

As for JoJo, well he is into everything, climbing everything, risking his life and our sanity at every turn! He delights his Mamie and Papy with his little noises and by stuffing into his mouth with gusto any food they give him. He gets all excited when given food now and holds it, looks at it, turns it around, all the time whilst laughing and smiling and making oooh noises! He has a very cute crease between his eyes when he laughs, which I do believe is the same as his tonton who is here right now!

As for me, I have managed 8 letters this week so am feeling very pleased with myself! My BIL will post them in France for so much less than the €3 they extortionately charge me here (not to mention the hour long queue thrown in for good measure! I was so pleased at our last visit to the Post Office to see Mamie at the desk, so I nimbly joined her there and got seen to hey presto!)

I am also working on my packing up list, though it is best not to mention our departure to Mamie, it is the source of much sadness for her...

As it stands, we need to...
*Work out what we are sending by cargo, pack it up and send a good month in advance
*Change the Phone bill to Bertie's mum
*Get travel insurance
*Paint the house
*Bits of shopping
*Persuade Mamie to make us some ponch a coco and confiture de goyave
*Give away additional clothes etc (I will count one of these days, but would you believe these girls have amassed about 20 pairs of shoes between them!)
*Make a list of all the things to do on arrival

Definitely not as long as the list I had before coming!

Update On The Kids

Sorry I have not worked out how to put photos on here!

The kids are all well. LissaLou has been off school for a few days as it is closed to deal with rats! What really made me laugh was the rumour that they resulted from the grandmother of one of my nephew's cleaning out her house.... She has my sympathy though, we have had an invasion of cockroaches this week after arely one a week all year. I now walk around eyes constantly scanning for any unusual dark shapes and then it is out with the flip flop and....wham! It is really hot now and we wonder if that is causing it. There are certainly far far more mosquitoes. Guadeloupe is far nicer Nov - April, believe me!

Back to LissaLou....she and CassCass spend hours playing together with their Happyland/trains/polly pocket toys and it is lovely to see and hear them creating stories and personalities together as well as discussing and checking with each other for approval. Still fights and disagreements but it is much better now.

LissaLou came home from school and told me 2 + 2 equals 4 and a few other sums so we tried some addition and subtraction and she got the hang of it really well. CassCass and I have been singing the alphabet together and she can do perhaps a third of it now, plus she recognises maybe ten letters and loves writing names.

With all the recent rain I invested in some playdough which has been much enjoyed, by the teenagers in the house as much as the small ones!

Both the girls have lovely new sandals, pink for LissaLou (of course!) and yellow for CassCass. LissaLou also has new trainers for when we go walking. She has improved vastly in her walking, dating back to the 5 hour trek up the Soufriere which I yet to blog about. She didn't moan for four hours of it would you believe!! Since then we have done a few more walks - it really is a beautiful island and lovely to discover this way - and she has been great. I have high hopes for our return home! Now we just have to work on CassCass who is not quite so obliging....

Healthwise CassCass seems to have heat rash poor thing and LissaLou FINALLY got her filling at the dentist. Only for it to come out few days later. So she returned and got another one, brave girl. Only for it to come out a week later. So I think we will see if we can hang on till we return for a better quality dentist...

As for JoJo, he continues to be a delight, and his Mamie is already telling him how sad she will be when he is gone... He went through a horrible teething patch recently and that was no fun for anyone - I have never had teething problems in the girls so it was a real shock. I think it must be because they suck their thumbs and that assuaged the pain. But we didn't see a smile for a good few days and it did not help in the gradual stopping of breastfeeding process!!

However he is over that and back to his sunny self (except when hungry). Actually, if he is thwarted in his desires or efforts he will scream! He loves wandering around exploring, trying new things, climbing the most dangerous things. But his favourite activity of all is...reading! Ah, he is his mummy's son! He will bring book after book out for us to read to him, but if no one is around he will sit in the corner and leaf through piles of them. So cute! No words yet but if I roar like a lion he copies me!!

1st Communion

My kind BIL, knowing my plight, has come over for a family meal with his laptop, all for me!!

Last Sunday was a Big Occasion as our niece Stella went through her 1st communion - this is a massive thing here, accompanied by a huge party and lots of presents etc (they made far more of a fuss of it than of her birthday for example, which passed almost unnoticed). It is the culmination of months of catechism and 50 children went through the occasion at Mamie's church. It will be followed up in years to come by Profession de Faith and then Renonce.



The party was kept for this weekend, as it is bank holiday (yup, yet another one!) which gives plenty of recovery time. Well, more like another opportunity to finish the enormous leftovers in family! And those still left after today will be for the Mother's Day party at Nadia's next Sunday!

Preparation for the party has been going on for weeks, and this week got serious as Wilson painted and spruced up the house, a huge mutton was brought home (it looked like a bag with a corpse!!), we filled baskets with dragees (favours?) - LissaLou was a dab hand at this - and Mamie's sewing room looked more like an off licence! Saturday was spent cleaning cleaning cleaning (or in my case entertaining all the children, including Meddy!) and the place looked great at the end. The mairie lent us some tables and chairs and it looked like a restaurant with Mamie's fine china and glasses out.

Lunchtime was a family meal so there were a mere thirty of us! Then in the evening all the friends and family of Stella's father came so it was a much bigger affair, carrying on into the wee hours. My BIL laughed at me for going to bed early - I took the girls up at 9pm and fell asleep with them! Fortunately there were still some cakes left this morning that we tucked into (note: cakes - there were at least five or six HUGE affairs to begin with!) None of us feel that we should be eating for another week!

It is a major issue for Evangelical Christians here as to whether or not to attend such parties - many have a clear stance that they don't, and their point of view is known among their Catholic friends so they are not invited. We were happy to attend the party and help out where needed, and have been involved in numerous debates with others as our position was discussed.

I worked furiously on my photo albums over the past days and put them out for the family to browse through. It was nice to hear people remarking that they had never seen this or that photo before, and it is certainly a big improvement on the last. I used up all the acid-free sticky stuff Evs brought me and had to resort to pritt stick to finish, much to my sorrow!!

During the party, upstairs became the kids' hangout, and they were particularly impressed with the flying pig mum brought over for us! LissaLou got her hair done by her tatie and now has little beads for the first time - cute! But a nightmare to sleep with!

Bun Overload

I meant to put this in my last post and forgot, but Mum's post on LissaLou's birthday reminded me...

If you are a busy mum of three already overwhelmed with cooking, cleaning, caring for little ones etc, and (most importantly) you only own 10 very hard to clean bun holders, here is what not to bake for your eldest daughter's belated birthday celebration at school...

It seemed like such a good idea beforehand...but took all morning of slaving away, wasn't helped by me miscalculating the cake mixture and only making half the amount needed, and was only ready 3 seconds before LissaLou left for school in the afternoon! See, even the picture was taken in a hurry!

Next time I will make a cake.

Plage du Bois Jolan

Sunday saw us out for a West Indian speciality - church on the beach! I was particularly looking forward to it as we were visiting a new beach for me, just a bit further on from our favourite of Sainte Anne.
I asked Bertie en route why he had never taken me there before and he shrugged and replied that it was just a flat beach. Well! Try telling that to half the Guadeloupean population and tourists alike who were there en masse that day! As we drove along off-road looking for a parking space (this is one of the few beaches where you don't park right next to where you swim) I was amazed at how long the beach was and how many cars there were already there. We were at the very far end where it was much quieter, but otherwise every single (and there were several) little picnic area had been taken over by huge groups equipped with tables, chairs, even electric motors and sound systems! These people take their Sunday picnic seriously!

This beach is particularly famous because at Easter it is where everyone goes for four days to camp, and the areas were already marked off and reserved. It looks like it would be quite an event, but not one I am desperate to experience as it must be manic. In fact, I would like to see the beach in the week when it is a bit quieter.

The other thing that struck me about Bois Jolan is that it is the nearest thing to a European beach that I have seen here. Yes, I can imagine that isn't the first thing on your mind as you look at these pictures of golden sand and coconut trees! But what I mean is it was long (usually they are pretty short) and the distance out to the sea was also long (usually the sand is a tiny strip and the sea straight away). In fact, as I went for a long walk along the beach with LissaLou (that in itself is an unusual thing) it felt just like walking along West Sands in St Andrews! Well, almost! LissaLou was delighted to enjoy her Mum's exclusive attention, asking if I had invited her along so we could chat together!

We were rather late so missed a lot of the service but enjoyed the picnicking (our quiche was meagre compared to the canaris (huge pots) of rice and meat that were brought out! Happily there was plenty to share. Especially as JoJo turned his nose up at ours and headed for the rice!)As I have said before, people are so well equipped here, with table and chairs and table cloths and everything you could possibly need! (One person told me her friend's church always brings a portable loo - now there's an idea....I hate bushes!)
Afterwards we took the girls and JoJo into the chilly sea. Whilst the main sea with fierce waves is very far out, there is a huge expanse of shallower water that was perfect for the children - at least, till I was warned about the ursin that inhabit it and give fierce stings! There were also bits of sand in it great for playing on.

The folk separated into their usual men and women groups, the one chatting, the other enjoying the Guadeloupean past time of dominoes. Bertie and his friend disappeared to try and find bernard l'hermitte for their fishing expedition this week but came back empty handed. As we finally left at dusk, there were still plenty on the beach and the party with the traditional gwo ka music was only just getting started...

Pictures from our walk - our picnic spot was right at the far end

And this picture really doesn't show how far on the beach went in the other directionI was fascinated by this coconut tree which had started life on a slant and then suddenly one day decided to grow straight!And just look at all the roots it takes to keep one of these standing! Amazing.

Our Kids

JoJo loves....dancing...putting things in boxes or tubs or water....splashing....climbing (the more dangerous and precarious the better)...yelling for food....giving you things....taking them back again....and giving you them again!....knocking over building blocks....

Here he is placing some objects in a pot with great precision and concentration!
LissaLou had her Conseil des Parents last Friday which I duly attended. I was not very impressed though, as it was all about targets targets targets and how they have got behind as a result of the strike (they are four and five years old!!!) so a week of the Easter holidays and the May half term as well as all school outings (including swimming) have been cancelled. Honestly! Don't they realise there is value outside of sitting at your desk and colouring pictures in? When we came out, another mum and I looked at each other in despair and asked "but when do they play?" They even want us to do workbooks at home to ensure the kids don't get behind!! Groan...
Here is a picture of our family

This is all fine for LissaLou as she loves these kind of activities but what about those kids who don't and would rather discover the world in a different way? I was also annoyed by the teacher telling us that one child has been promoted to the Champion's group (LissaLou's) for hard work - what is that telling those not in that group I wonder? And finally she told us that those in the Support Group were doing really well, especially LissaLou who has made great progress. Fantastic! Er, hang on, what support group? Nobody mentioned this to me! I discovered she has been seeing the Language specialist twice a week to enrich her French vocab (other children in the class are creole only speakers).
LissaLou learnt to draw a Poule from using her hand at school - note the ou sound that they learnt at the top in red.
CassCass comes out with the funniest things. This week she asked for a biscuit because "it is shouting CassCass at me!". When we discussed that we liked the same food, she told me "nous sommes copines Maman" - ah!

I can't believe how good her pen control is - presumably due to copying LissaLou in part. Her pictures of people are coming on well

And here is her writing (I think she was writing her name).

She likes to walk to school with LissaLou and me carrying LissaLou's bag like a proper little schoolgirl! She keeps telling me she has her own school too! At home it is lovely to see her and JoJo playing a lot more together (when she is not stealing his toys from him) and they provide each other with a lot of laughter. And CassCass' day is not complete if we have not had a Dora storytime!

Out And About In Basse-Terre

Today we headed off to Sofaia which is known for its thermal springs, great for those with arthritis and rheumatism (for readers with a map, it is just a bit below Sainte-Rose on the northern part of Basse-Terre). It was very exciting as the route there was one that not even Bertie had ever taken before. We were expecting a basin to bathe in but on arrival we discovered that this has been replaced by a communal shower! Okaaaay....we decided to leave that for a day when the water goes off and headed off to the beach instead.

[I was going to photograph the shower but there was a lady taking a shower - in her bikini I hasten to add - so I didn't quite like to!]

On the way down we got to enjoy the most marvellous views of the Grand Cul Sac Marin (the big bit of sea to the north of Guadeloupe) and Anse-Bertrand over to the right. Unfortunately the photo can't convey how wonderfully fresh the air was too, bliss!

We decided on the beach at Deshaies - Mum and Evs will recognise from our photos that this is the second beach we stopped on with them on our whistlestop tour around Basse-Terre.

The sea along this side of the island is very rough and though it was a bit calmer here, we still had to hold tightly to JoJo to stop him being swept away and the girls kept close by. At one point all five of us stood in a row holding hands and being battered by the waves! JoJo was esctatic each time he got smashed by a wave (strange boy!) and kept going back for more!

After drying off we wandered around the town of Deshaies (two streets) which is very pretty - I like the way you get a glimpse of the sea between each house, it reminded me of Mousehole in Cornwall.

Since Sunday, JoJo has been more on his feet than his knees - much less wobbly and not always with his hands out front like a zombie! So today I decided to get him walking and dug out a pair of ... sandals! He was so cute tripping over them at first but then got the hang of it.

In any case there were plenty of folk on hand to keep him upright!

Our next stop for lunch was another beach visited previously - Plage des Amandiers near Ste Rose. There are great picnic huts here - though it has to be said the kids spent more time wandering around than sitting and most of JoJo's lunch ended up covered in sand.

Here is the inspiration for the name of the beach - one of many amandier pays on the beach with leaves in glorious shades of red right now. The girls helped Bertie collect the amandes and then he broke them open with a stone - closely watched and imitated by JoJo. A tiny but tasty amande is the resultThis is probably the nearest we will see to autumn here - just look at all these leaves from the overhead amandiers!

The nearest the girls will get to sledging here!

Enjoying a rare moment sitting

I am quite pleased with this one - that was the view from our picnic table. Since I didn't have my camera last time we came it was nice to make up for it todayYou may remember that last time we were here, LissaLou's sandal got swept away (we reckon it is over in New Zealand now visiting Esther!) so we learnt from our experience and all removed our shoes before enjoying a game of How Close Can You Get To The Sea Without Getting Wet! The huge waves swept in and had us dashing up to shore, which had JoJo in fits! LissaLou loved the game but CassCass (remembering our past experience perhaps) kept a safe distanceThe world is a safe place when Daddy is holding your hand

We got home to discover....the water has gone off! (And remained all day and night, meaning cold showers for those poor girls). Hmm, we should have stopped by Sofaia after all!

What The Girls Have Been Up To

And we thought the Carnival was over! The girls have had great fun dressing up with whatever they can find and marching round the house with their Carnival song (very realistic too) and barely a day goes by without it

This was last Thursday when we had a friend of LissaLou's over. After the Carnival, we went on to Activity Time and they had a great time making birthday cards for a cousin, puppets, daffodils, drawing...all with Mamie's new ducklings in the background! (We are looking forward to Duck a l'orange...)

A Nice Day Out

Our church organised a morning walk and afternoon bathe for Ash Wednesday - happily everyone had petrol to get us there and our friends gave us a lift to sort out our lack of car space. We began the day at a place called An Ba Bwa La (looks exciting but simply means In The Woods!) which actually begins at the train station for the little Beauport train we took through sugar cane fields. No sign of the train though - presumably on strike for a better way of life.
Our walk was a good two hours and (we reckon, based on our exhausted feet and burnt arms and necks) at least four miles. At least! The scenery was beautiful, with all sorts of delightful plants to admire and photograph. On the far right top and bottom is the mahogany tree and its seed - looks nothing like the wood I must say. The bottom left photos are of a baby version of the passion fruit - delicious! No idea about the names of the others but they look pretty.There were also plenty of sugar cane fields to admire - these should be being harvested right now but...you guessed it, they are not due to the strike! However, the owner was driving through and he kindly gave Bertie a couple of canes to enjoy. Mum enjoyed using them as a Lechy stick!
The second part was through the woods and much cooler to our relief. Unfortunately, LissaLou spent a good hour of the walk moaning and crying - must work on her walking skills, as it is something we love and intend to do lots of in the future.

Baby JoJo was in our backpack for the first time and loved it - look at the cheeky boy stealing a bit of bread from the pocket!

After completing our walk and enjoying our well-deserved sandwiches, we set off for the beach. We returned to Porte d'Enfer a place that Bertie and I visited as a young, carefree couple in 2000 and have never been back to since - what a difference a few extra children makes!

It is a beautiful calm lagoon, great for children, with a grassy area all the way down the side complete with trees for shade and huts for picknickers (though you have to get there very early to bag one of these!) and a distinct lack of sand, hurray! At the end of the lagoon is the actual Porte d'Enfer, or Gate to Hell, where the Atlantic and Caribbean meet and the sea becomes ferocious. Venture along here at your peril! For some interesting details on the name (in french) have a look at this blog I happened upon.

Mum and Evs went for a walk along the cliff to Trou a Man Coco where you are meant to see water crashing in but for some reason they didn't (oh of course, it was on strike!). I must look at my photos from 2000 and see what it was like on our visit. The girls enjoyed the sea, Baby JoJo had a happy time scrabbling in the dirt, and Bertie made a great comeback to triumph in a game of Petanque with some of the other guys!

We stopped off at a viewing point of the magnificent coast before returning home.
Ah!
Mum and Evs have the proper Mother & Daughter photos but I quite liked this angle! Can you guess who is who....
We all slept very well that night! The only downside is that Bertie lost his mobile phone somewhere on the 2 hour walk...so we may be doing it all again!