Blowing The Cobwebs Away


We have been in WA for nearly a month now. Having travelled out from the UK to support our daughter following the passing of Steve, her husband.

Up until now, our time has been filled with preparations for the funeral and general mundane household shopping trips and, most recently, collecting Steves ashes from the funeral home.

To be honest the weather hasn’t been the best but yesterday we managed to get out of the house for a couple of hours. This is the  first time that a trip out hasn’t had a purpose. By that, I mean it was, just to get some fresh air, for a change of scenery.

Interesting Sculpture – Rockingham, WA

We opted to drive down to Rockingham, forty odd kilometres south of Perth, to walk along the foreshore. After a forty-five minute drive, we found ourselves on the prom.

The sun was shining, and the sky was blue, and with a temperature of 20°C it really was very pleasant. We had already planned to have fish ‘n’ chips, and so it was we found ourselves sitting in the sunshine enjoying an al fresco lunch.

Gerry, Denise & Molly on Rockingham prom

Freshwater Cobbler in crispy batter with crispy but fluffy chips. The Cobbler was a first for me. The lady who served me in Nae’s Seafood & Grill informed me that it was a kind catfish. It was very tasty, but it’s not Cod or Haddock. However, it did hit the spot.

View From Rockingham Foreshore

Then, it was time to head back along the prom and back to the car. And, after a forty minute drive home, we were soon sitting in the lounge with a very welcome cuppa.

The brisk, but not unpleasant, sea-breeze definitely blew away the cobwebs we had accumulated.

Shame the weather forecast for the next few days shows a temperature drop and plenty of rain and thunderstorms.

Slow Sunday In Serandon


Today, Sunday, was designated a no drive day. Not quite a duvet day as we were both up and dressed. Not even a pottering day since we are not in our own home.

A bit of toast with a cup, or two, of coffee.  Meandering around the gite and grounds, a bit of blogging and a sunday roast.

Blogging and /or checking in via Facebook has proven to be problematical. We haven’t had any WiFi and mobile signals have been very much touch and go. Back home I am on Vodafone but here in France my mobi switches  providers, seemingly by the hour. Randomly connecting to Orange F, F Bouygues and F SFR. All with very little signal strength.

Still, we chose to come to a remote gite, so no complaining from me.

Gerry was happy for us to be home based as she wanted to watch the tennis. Andy Murray vs Novak Djokovic in the French Open Final. That left me to cook the dinner and potter around with my camera.

So,first of all, here is the gite ……

Gite
Gite, Serandon, France

It is perfect for our needs.Bedroom, bathroom and kitchen on the ground floor. Two steps up from the kitchen to the living / dining space. There is also a second bedroom and lounge area, up on the mezzanine, which we are using to store our suitcases.

On the other side of the gite there is a nice terrace with table and chairs and a stone built BBQ. The terrace has a triangular canvas wing to provide shade along with the grape vines and the Wisteria.

Gite_view_east
View East from the Gite, Serandon, France

The gite is surrounded by fields and forest. The photo above shows the view to the east, where the sun rises and also where a storm was rolling in  from on Saturday afternoon. Although the thunder rumbled we only received a few spots of rain.

Gite_flowers
Flowers – Gite, Serandon, France

There are some lovely flowers around the grounds. These lilies greet us by the door to the lounge. There are some beautiful roses under the kitchen window with a lovely scent.

Of course, lovely scents attract flies and bees and other beasties. This fellow decided to take up residence. Unfortunately, for him, I was prepared.

wasp
Wasp ?

He was like a British Wasp on steroids and I have since discovered that there are many more like him around here.

After our roast dinner I left Gerry watching the tennis and went for a walk down the lanes in front of the gite.

weather_vane
Weather Vane

The following were all encountered on my gentle stroll down from the gite into the forest.

Of course I forgot that what walks down has to eventually walk back up. The route into the forest got steadily steeper. When I eventually turned about, I had a twenty-minute steady climb back up to level ground. It was very nice, what with the birds singing away, their calls echoing though the trees.

Even better was the glass of Pelforth Blonde waiting for me in the fridge. A fitting end to a good day.

Unfortunately not so good for Gerry. Andy Murray lost !!