More pictures from Brittany

Earlier I posted these pictures, but I didn't get the chance to put a little note about them because there is far too much competition for this laptop at my parents' house, and I just didn't get it for long enough!

We went on an outing today, to another little Breton village, and again there were a lot of cute artisan shops and cats. In fact, as I was taking the photo of the above cat, her owner arrived and starting chatting to us; I think she was very pleased that I was photographing her cat, but I felt too embarrassed to take any more pictures of her. Isn't she gorgeous? In the photo with the tree, you can see nests of mistletoe, there seems to be a lot of it growing here. Brittany also has a lot of folklore and legends, and many shops selling little figurines for the tourists. Veggie Hubby bought a little gnome/goblin/elf-type souvenier (apparently called a Korrigan) and I found a natural habitat for it in the garden, check here to see him in another location. I am not particulary interested by witches and mythical creatures, but I did like the pink witch outisde the 'Phil and Luna' shop (something to do with her colour...). I even think we saw a group of real witches (a group of women, wearing black with lots of cats around) in the square...scary!

Tank Mortuary

Don't children say the funniest things??? I was watching some old videos of my family back in 1988, some 20 years ago... I was aged seven and my sister three. We were in a tank museum, climbing up into a tank and she was looking really scared.
'Is it real?' she asked, pronouncing it weeeeal.
'Yes.'
'Does it move?'
'No, it's in a museum, it doesn't move anymore'
Then, my sister looked really frightened with big eyes, 'Is it dead?'

Shrines

You don't need to walk very far here before you see a shrine. I really liked the unusual shrine by the lake, and the other one is a cross that was preserved from an old cemetery. Even my parents have their own shrine (!) - a little celebration of my wedding. So despite abandoning me, I am pleased to learn that I am not completely absent from their house.

Around Brittany

We went out and about in the small town where my parents live today. There wasn't that much to do or see at this time of year, but I did take a few photos. I found it all quite quaint, with little artisan shops that just wouldn't survive in England, where it is mostly big chains. In fact the town seemed so quiet I am surprised that the little shops even survive here. Many of them weren't even open. The staff in the few shops that were open were so friendly and talkative with native French-speaker Veggie Hubby, it was difficult to leave!

P.S. I find it weird that I am in France whilst French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his new wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy are having their first state visit to the UK, with Sarkozy saying that France and Britain have 'never been so close'.

Blogging from Brittany

I have sailed across The Channel and am now in the lovely Brittany, France!! The cruise was pretty fun, it was overnight, and somehow lasted 11 hours. It may be slower than travelling by plane or Eurostar, but it certainly was fun. The boat was huge, and the journey was like a mini-cruise. Veggie Hubby and I had our own little en-suite cabin (with the most dirty toilet brush I have ever seen in it, but I won't mention that again). There were restaurants, shops, cinemas and live entertainment onboard. We watched a magic show. Of course, being French the chefs didn't quite understand the concept of vegetarian. I had a nice main meal, but rather than being offered a choice from the many side dishes (different potatoes and vegetables) I was given a bowl of salad leaves. I really hate salad leaves, I just find eating a whole bowl of them too bland and boring. However, apart from this the journey was enjoyable, and went surprisingly quickly. I have to say the motion of travelling by boat is rather strange, with the endless circling motion of the waves, and I could still feel the motion for at least 12 hours after I got off. It was good to be back on land again. I am really looking forward to the return journey, which will be by daytime, so I'll get to see the sea more, rather than just feel it.

When I arrived in France, I was greeted by my parents and dog Sky! It feels great to see them again, as I hadn't seen them since I got married nearly seven months ago...They have been spoiling me since I arrived, with lots of nice food. It is strange to think that I am actually in France and not England, as we haven't explored much yet, and it just feels like home. We can even get British TV here, and more channels than I can get back in my flat in England. The only thing that reminds me that we are in France is meeting some of the people here. A very friendly, pregnant French lady bought me a coffee at the port when we were waiting to be picked up (how generous and hospitable as we hardly knew each other, shame I shall never see her again) and a nice French girl, a new friend of my parents, came over to visit today.

I can't wait to leave the house tomorrow and see some of Brittany itself though... I will be taking pictures and keeping you posted!!!

Happy Easter!!!

Well today we had some snow for Easter, how lovely! I'm also surprised how little chocolate I have consumed so far, just one small Lindt egg and now two chocolate rabbit ears(!). Meet Max the bunny- with and without ears, poor Max :-( The only kind of rabbit I will eat anyway.

Veggie Hubby and I had our Easter roast dinner tonight. He had lamb with mint sauce, and I had a vegetarian roast, and we both had steamed broccoli, roast potatoes and gravy. The frying lamb kept setting off the fire alarms in the house, such a deafening noise. It was a quiet Easter apart from that though, with it just being the two of us. We also still need to perfect the roast potato, as ours weren't crispy enough.

We tried going to Church, but the time advertised outside the Church was wrong as when we went there, it was all dark and obviously closed. This was a shame as we had been looking forward to it, as we haven't been to a Catholic service together before, only Anglican ones (Veggie Hubby is a lapsed Catholic). We then tried to make it to the Anglican service, but missed that one too :-( We'll have to go another time. Neither of us are convinced Christians either to be honest, and we are not regular Church goers. I'm more of an agnostic really. We just thought it would be good to celebrate Easter properly, and there is always something quite nice and welcoming about going to Church. So there is my confession for today...

Food for thought

What horrible weather today... lots of hail/sleet, and even some snow for Easter! How bizarre to have winter-like weather in Spring. Similarly, is it strange to eat some things during the 'wrong' season?

We went to visit some friends who made us a delicious 'autumn soup.' Here is the question, should autumn soups really be eaten in the spring? Veggie Hubby (who actually I should re-name Carnie Hubby as he is a carnivore) had no problems eating this tasty soup, but I mentioned that he often likes to eat seasonally. For instance, he will only eat clementines in November/December, whilst we were all happy to eat them still in March (probably not in summer though, when there is nicer fruit available). Carnie Hubby also wouldn't be happy to eat a heavy pie in the summer, when he prefers to eat lighter meals. He also eats his Christmas meal at midnight, like the French Catholics, which seems quite strange to us.

Is this really so strange though, to only eat certain things at certain times? Surely it is better for the environment, and also more natural to eat seasonal produce. Also, there are certain times of year when we eat certain things, for instance, hot cross buns at Easter, but not at any other time. People also tend to eat certain meals at certain times of the day, for instance, it doesn't seem right to eat a big steak or roast beef in the morning, or eggs and bacon at 10pm (not that I would ever eat these things at any time). Why is it though that we eat certain meals at certain times of the day? It certainly seems to be better for us if we breakfast like kings, giving us more energy throughout the day, and dine like paupers; yet a lot of people have the largest meal of the day in the evening.

Do we eat at certain times of day just because it is a 'residual rule' that we do so (Scheff, 1966)? Scheff defined residual rules as being different from explicit rules, the latter of which are written down (e.g. rules of etiquette, laws). Residual rules are social rules of behaviour, that are not explicitly defined, but are are so embedded in society that they 'go without saying,' and violation of these rules seems strange or abnormal. For instance, we look at other people when we talk to them, rather than staring into space, and failure to do so, or 'residual-rule breaking' may be a definition of being mentally ill according to Scheff. By breaking the residual rules of not eating certain things at certain times, does this make us abnormal and why there such undefined rules in place in the first place?

(By the way, if you're reading this autumn soup and hot cross bun makers, thank you, we really are very grateful and enjoyed it a lot!)

Random ramblings

It is 10.30pm and Veggie Hubby is watching Jesus of Nazareth. It is a loooong film (some 6 hours in total) and I'm totally bored. I feel like writing a stream of consciousness for the sake of it, as I have nothing better to do.

Well, actually I could read 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' which I am really enjoying but I have read a lot of it already today, and it is actually quite depressing. It angers me how women are treated in some cultures; that they are treated based on WHAT they are rather than WHO they are. For instance, one of the two main protagonists in this book, Mariam, is even treated like dirt by her own parents and much older husband, who was forced upon her when she was aged only fifteen, because her father was too ashamed of her to allow her to live in his house. The reasons they seem to have for treating her so appallingly are a) because she is a woman b) because she is the result of an affair, neither of which she (obviously) had any choice over. It does not matter to them that she is a sweet and trusting, if somewhat naive girl (because she hasn't received the education that she should have been entitled to). They seem to have no empathy at all for her, or her situation. OK, this is just fiction, but many women all around the world are quietly suffering at the hands of men. Reading this book makes me feel pretty lucky that I am a British woman, married to a 'modern' man.

Today, we have been preparing for Easter. This afternoon, we were looking at/photographing an Easter egg display in a shop window, which was really cute, with bunnies and sheep. Then, I looked up and noticed a beautiful rainbow. All of a sudden, it started to rain and not just rain but heavy sleet, with lots of hail and ice. So much for it being the start of Spring, but Veggie Hubby thought it was rather appropriate as it is Good Friday. The ground was quickly full of ice and slush. I haven't seen such a torrential downpour for a while. It gave a nice community feel, as everyone was huddling together in shop doorways, waiting for it to stop. However, I don't mind the rain much, I felt happy to run (it was raining too much to walk) through the empty streets, as it is not often they get that empty. We stopped in a coffee shop to dry off and have a drink. Tomorrow, we are going to visit some friends, and then on Sunday, we are going to spend our first Easter together, just the two of us. We are going to try to make our first Easter dinner together, and we may go to Church.

Veggie Dinners

It is nearing the end of Lent, and therefore the end of Veggie Hubby's period of being a real Veggie Hubby, rather than an Almost Veggie Hubby. He is ready for Easter; he went out and bought some 'dead baby lamb' from Waitrose tonight. I don't really think he has struggled with being a vegetarian for Lent (well, actually a pesctarian, as he still eats fish on Fridays). He has even managed when we have eaten out. A few times, including after tonight's meal, he has said that he could cope with being a vegetarian here, but not in Quebèc as there isn't as much choice for vegetarians there. Having Quorn products here really helps, as we can enjoy for instance mature cheddar and brocolli Quorn escalopes which are as good as meat. We can cook tasty things without Quorn though; yesteday we had creamy soft cheese and pea garlic pasta which is really cheap and easy, from a recipe by Rose Elliot. You just mix the garlic and herb soft cheese in after the pasta has cooked, and sprinkle pepper over it. Tonight, I tried a new recipe, gnocchi with roasted butternut squash and feta cheese (I replaced the goat's cheese, chèvre, with reduced-fat feta as I prefer it). Veggie Hubby really loved this dish, but I found it a bit salty. I think that it was a light, colourful meal for the first day of Spring though.

Weddings

I hink that recently my posts have been too many words and not enough pictures (as I haven't been baking cakes recently!) Here are some of my many wedding day photos, from last August. They bring back nice memories. It was difficult to find some picutres that a) were only of Veggie Hubby and I, and b) were not the official ones which I don't have copyright to. I might write about my wedding day in another post....

So here is another secret love of mine - weddings!!! Not just my own wedding, which was the best day of my life but other people's weddings too. Since seeing everything that goes into planning a wedding myself, my appreciation of weddings has significantly grown, and I am desperate to go to another. We've been invited to a wedding in Spain in May (a friend of Veggie Hubby) and a wedding in Greece in July (a friend of mine) but unfortunately I don't think we'll be able to make it to either. I'm also looking forward to a particular wedding that will take place in I'm guessing Ontario. This is the problem with having friends and family around the world.

Guilty pleasures

Following on from my post asking for suggestions for my blog, I would like to thank Shop Girl who wanted to know about a secret love of mine.

I would love to hear about something that you secretly LOVE but don't normally tell other people about. It can be a thing, a food, a hobby, a band... anything.

This 'secret love' implies to me something that I am embarassed/ashamed of, but yet enjoy. A guilty pleasure. I don't know if I have anything so secret from my friends and family, but there are perhaps things I would rather not admit to. Like, a love of trashy TV. It is shameful, but sometimes I just like to leave my brain behind when I watch TV. I will probably give any reality TV a go. Big Brother is incredibly popular here in the UK, a bunch of wannabes living together in a house. It surprisingly entertaining..... as it is interesting to watch their relationships develop, watch them argue etc.

I wouldn't say that all of the reality TV that I watch is so embarrassing as this one, I am not ashamed to admit that I enjoy Strictly Come Dancing, or The Apprentice, and these are my favourite programmes of the genre. They are much smarter, and the contestents actually a) are not completely shallow b) actually learn something, and improve themselves. So I wouldn't say these are secret loves, but watching Big Brother definitely is. In fact, I even watched it on the first morning as a married woman; as the 2007 final was on my wedding day so I missed it, and so I watched the repeat. I look forward to Big Brother 2008.

Imagine...

Thanks to Frankofile who challenged me to find memorable words:

Memorable words: Do you have favourite poem, something you learned as a child perhaps? Or do you find the words of song or a saying particularly memorable? A jingle from a TV ad? - Tell us what it is, why you like/don't like it, why you think it's memorable.

I actually found this incredibly difficult. There was a poem I read at school, but I couldn't remember the words, only the rhythm - hardly the most memorable poem! There are other poems that I can remember more clearly, but I cannot honestly say that they are particular favourites of mine. A jingle from a TV ad may be memorable in an annoying way, but I am not going to choose my memorable words as those that cynically endorse a product. Regarding songs, it usually tends to be the tune rather than the words of a song that I find memorable. Of course, the lyrics are important too, but I can often hum a tune without remembering them.

After a while though, I did manage to think of a song that does have memorable lyrics. In this song I believe that the lyrics are more important than the tune. It is not my intention to be controverisal here, but I have chosen 'Imagine,' by John Lennon:

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

It is the meaning behind the words of the song that I especially like here, rather than their intrinsic beauty. I think Lennon is right; a world without possessions, religion and land boundaries would most likely be a more peaceful one, as there would be little to fight over if everyone had the same harmonious view. I like his idealistic vision of world peace. Unfortunately in reality though, I am sure that there would always be something for people to fight over. I also think that many peoples' lives would have a lot less value without religion or national/cultural identity, so I am not completely endorsing Lennon's opinion. Nevertheless, I think that it is a memorable one.