another Saturday night and ...

another week under the belt ... got a little of this and a little of that going on.

Jean-Yves and I have spring fever and winter is on its way back (maybe another round of snow in the coming week!!) the minute the sun peeks out we drop everything and follow the rays ... as deceptive as they might be.

we chase rainbows and brainstorm and plot escapes and dream even bigger dreams, giggling as we conspire.

We had a truly disheartening lunch ... we were on our way to a favorite little café near the river in Perigueux when monsieur decided he craved "Thai" (HA, like that exists in Perigueux) and dragged me back to a pseudo-chinese/thai/suzy wan affair. To make matters worse, it was close to 2:00 and they serve buffet-style, consequently everything had been sitting there for awhile. Their 'nems' and 'spring rolls' were past their prime. Their gloppy sauces were congealing. There was one semi-tasty chicken dish (basically fried chicken pieces) and some noodles that were passable. There was a dry fried prawn dish that might have been okay when first it was served ... but had gone a bit damp and rubbery.

somebody needs to clue me in to the asian hole-in-the-wall, authentic restaurant that must exist in Perigueux. There is a sufficient number of Asian inhabitants to warrant that. The 2 I know of are industrialized, watered down messes with horribly cranky (asian) employees.

Afterwards, we died of thirst all afternoon, most likely due to the high salt and MSG content. erg.

then we went over to Decathlon (a sporting goods store) and tried on a million things for a thousand different sports and cracked ourselves up. purchased nary a stitch! on to another shoe store ... where for a millisecond I was aflutter, viewing the sign 'troisieme pair, 1€'... only to realize that I had no need nor budget for 3 pairs of new shoes ... even if the 3rd pair were only 1€! my how times have changed!

we then meandered through Grand Frais (the closest thing to Whole Foods in the French countryside ...), I bought some cilantro and lemongrass (!!) and then we shared a coffee and more laughs.

another day, JY brought lunch here ... heh heh ... we started with pickled pig's trotters, french style (!) ... continued with rabbit and cepes in creme sauce. I pitched in a salad and rice. After coffee, we hiked up in the hills behind Brantôme for about an hour or so... there are at least half a dozen well marked routes surrounding our village ... most with some fine views and all in the country air.

This week I've pretty much wrapped up garden clean-up in my big yard ... I've burned several huge piles of clippings. I planted four espaliered apple trees. I have lavender and hydrangeas to put in ... but I'm waiting a week or 2 in case the predicted snow arrives. I've also got potatoes to plant. JY started to rototill (tested the tiller to make sure it survived a winter partially exposed to the elements) and all systems are go to dig up this year's garden plot.

We're working on getting a little online shop up and running ... where I can post some of my favorite frenchy finds at good prices ... and maybe some furniture stuff for locals ... and who knows what else?

Today I biked 20km, spent 3 hours in upholstery class working on my chair, made a pot of chicken tikka masala ... and I'm still debating if music is on tonight's agenda.

I've got to be in the garden, on the bike, or doing some physical labor in the shop daily ... spring is just around the corner which means summer (and swimsuits) are not much further on the horizon....

wheeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!