Dinner ?

Yes, dinner.

 All that remained of our delicious rabbit with mustard 

lovingly roasted in the oven.
(a bit blurry, but that's it's head by the way…)

last weekend of vacation….

 tipi building….check…

 putting up the beautiful white ceiling…..check….

cutting the grass…..check.

Also made some smores, roasted some chestnuts and enjoyed the last of the autum weather.

Back in civilization…..it is pouring rain!

Happy Monday to everyone! The not working sure was fun while it lasted.

feels like autumn

 Georgous weather yeasterday and today

 so the beach and 5 hour bike ride were in order.

 I wasn't brave enough to swim unlike nutball Sebastian.

The water was COLD!

 Working on his tan.

 One of our many stops along our 20 mile bike ride

our weekend

A cozy little fire...

was followed by breakfast where we all simultaneously looked 

out the kitchen window when we heard a sheep baah. 

And sure enough there was an escapee sheep standing there 

looking at which of my bushes he would like to sample first. 

With no time to loose…

Seb donned the sound amplifying headgear to pursue

 the wooly beast who had by then ran off down the road.

 With the sheep eventually located and chased back into his own field 

we moved onto the horses and donkeys.

The last adventure of the day consisted of harvesting chestnuts.

 And what a harvest it was and would have been if only the hunters hadn't been out in force. We found a shotgun shell casing and then saw a deer (alive and well walking through a field). After seeing the hunter and his dog we decided to pack it in since we had no fluo clothing or ringing bells and were afraid to be mistaken for some wild game. The chestnuts are the largest and most beautiful we have found in years…..I'll let you know how they taste! 

cooking with Sebastian

So aside from me making the dough and peeling the apples

 (Seb claims he is incabable of peeling apples 

and when I stated this might be a good time to practice he just flashed me that, please just peel the flipping apples look) Seb was in his element making his apple tartes.

 A bit of background…Seb spent the night at Annick's and helped her make an apple tarte for dessert. So he was all excited to reproduce what Annick had taught him on home tuff.

Seb chose his own ingredients at the supermarket cruising the aisles by himself.

Of course, it was unthinkable to not sample the chocolate. 

Seb insisted on adding some lemon zest for just a hint of lemon. 

Ready for the oven….

And just before serving, it wouldn't be complete for the food lovers 

of the household without adding  some whipping cream. 

Jolly good tartes mate!

 Sebastian is available for catering parties…

as long as the recipes involve dark chocolate.

Here's to Coca Cola and stuffed badgers….

our harvest

the boys picking blackberries

 The finished product. 

Note on the label, Seb wrote confiture de murs (a wall) not mûre (blackberry). 

Delicious, no seeds, pure love.

Look at that golf course grass.

 Weeks of anguish ensued after coming back from the states to find 2 foot high grass, we finally have the upper hand. Really, it was painful, but now we can finally golf. Too bad no one golfs!

My red onion and potato harvest.

 Some fall colors and my second potiron squash which 

will be turned into soup, soup and more soup. 

our little man

Heading out to his first day of school, 4th grade.

Finally posting it…..6 weeks late,

 but better late than never.

Bike Ride

Every summer Seb and I go for a long bike ride (20miles) and this year was no exception. Except that it was cooler this year than last. Felt like October.

 Anyhoo, on our way out of the city we saw this young deer running around this fenced in area right next to the Caen expo center. If you look very closely you can see the deer in this shot…middle right. I talked to a man who was working here and he said the deer has been trapped in there for three weeks! Anyhoo, just thought I'd share. Anyone think about unlocking and leaving the gate open?? Just a thought….  

 So on to the bike riding….

and horses along the way….

and old markers near the railroad tracks….

and good scrap metal fences….

and picnic preparations. 

This guy must have smelled our lunch

 because he was all over our blanket and basket.

Taking a break on the way back. 

Put us down for another run next summer.