Veggies, Packing and a Surprise on the Landing

It’s the Fourteenth of July – Bastille Day, and a public holiday here in France.  No-one is out it seems.  The roads are deserted at the moment around my village.  I haven’t heard a single vehicle except for mine going up to the field to do the animals and pick some vegetables.  Yesterday I picked runner beans and spinach.  My runner beans are only just coming ready but most have reached the top of the frame.  You can see from the photographs that I love my vegetables, so I shall have lots of ingredients for soups after my mini gastric bypass.

It’s a lovely day again today.  Sun shining brightly and strongly even though, as I write this, it’s only 10.00am.  I picked broad beans, courgettes and more spinach, which I have already prepared for cooking.  

 My bargain purchase of tomatoes is bubbling away gently in a very large pan with cider vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and garlic.  

 When everything is soft and gorgeous I shall whizz the beautiful red concoction and then pass it through a sieve.  It will then be ready to freeze,`for soup or sauces - if I can stop myself eating it all immediately.

I'm pleased with the part of my veggie plot behind the polytunnel this year, it seems to be really productive. 

Last night when I got off my stair lift on the landing, there was what appeared to be a small frog on the floor.  The cats often bring them in, so I wasn't surprised.  However, when I wrapped my hand gently around it to pick it up and take it back downstairs and into the garden, it tried to fly away!  It was a bat.  I was amazed.  I placed it on the outside pane of my velux window in the bathroom and shut the window.  I checked again before I went to sleep and it was still there, but this morning had disappeared.  It was quite a coincidence really.  Yesterday, I was visiting, a friend while there was a powercut in my village, she said that a bat had flown into her suspended sticky fly strip overnight.  As we didn't know the French translation for bat we looked it up in the dictionary, it was chauve-souris - for which the direct translation would be, bald mouse.

Mid-morning, the same friend came round to help me finish my hospital packing.  We packed from my computer-saved list into supermarket bags, which seemed easier than a suitcase. 

Apart from the few items I shall need right up until I leave home, everything is packed.  Result!

I feel alive today, which is why I have already achieved so much.  I was told that after my parathyroidectomy I would regain my energy and not feel so tired.  It didn’t seem to have happened.  At bowls on Tuesday one of the girls said I seemed to have more stamina and not be huffing and puffing as much.  Today although my back and knees are still difficult, I do feel as if I have some oomph back and it’s a great feeling!  Hopefully, this feeling will stay with me and as I lose weight I'll feel even more like being active again.