Of markets and men...

Da man Darby loves da markets..
Bordeaux-books






Aiguillon - fish

Marmande-meat







Basil and parsley in the rain






And in the Marmande sunshine wine from Cocumant Co-op


Markets are the inspiration of what to cook, what to eat and what to plant.

Some Photos at Pecile

We just love the dogs but its hard to get them to always do what they are told. Hence this haphazard attempt at a pose on the front steps.

The kitchen is big and bright so I did a Rick Stein apron modeling while cooking an adaptation of a Jeremy Oliver Recipe.



In this region goose and duck fat is used instead of olive oil. That's why the Department of Gers, just over the river from us has the highest life expectancy in all of France. I am working on adapting my aioli recipe to substitute the healthier duck fat for the olive oil.

A day out at Condom

Had a great day last Saturday at the fesstival de bandas in Condom. We went with our friends Liz and John from Hannan St/Viella



We arrived early, say 11.000am just in time to see last nights drunks staggering to the bars for a heart starter. There is a firm rule that the bars close at 4 am. but I'm not sure what time they are allowed to reopen. There were open urinoirs everywhere in the street and all shops in the centre were boarded up, except for the bars which had special Heineken extensions outside. See this version of events here,

Pinned up on the wall of the main cathedral was a sign saying "We respect the environment, please dispose of empty bottles and glasses (all plastic) here. Use the Condom" Next to it was a 3 metre tall netting condom to serve as a rubbish bin. I'm not sure the guy in the vatican would approve.



The crowd was mostly young and partisan and the bandas were brassy and more spanish sounding than French. They were enthusiatic but the standard of the Marching was not quite up to Edinburgh Tattoo standard.

All in all a wonderful days entertainment but we didn't stay for the serious drinking to recommence.

Rural Life

We are back on line after finding out that the farmer over the road nipped our telephone cable when ploughing his field. There are no fences around paddocks and cultivation continues right to the roadside. No long paddock here.
Living on a 100 hectare farm is providing many opportunities for us to be close and comfortable with nature.

Darby has a way with Baptista. He stands quietly while stones are removed from his hooves. Darb was disappointed with the progress of the vegetables so he made up a potient of donkey poo and the results are fantastic!


The cherries are coming into season much to the delight of the cherry eating dogs.
Other rural activities have included shooing away a swarm of bees betwen the shutters and the window. And a deer was killed at our entrance much to the delight of Zulu. So our resident butchers son chopped up what was left for the canines. Mind you a frenchman had already got out his hunting knife and taken the best bits.

So if you were thinking of applying for this job in 2010 make sure you've got the necessary qualifications.

We hve been offline!

France telecom seem even worse than the OZ version. We have been offline and sans telephone since last wed arvo. Where is Sol Trujillo when we need him; Maybe we will get it fixed this week when there are no public holidays;

Meanwhile we are having a great time, dealing with animals, grass, boozy french festivals, sightseeing, local visitors and of course eating and drinking;

More stories and Pix, I promise, when we get back online at home, we are in an internet cafe in Villeneuve sur lot today;

The building in the photos was the law courts; Each of the four 'retorts' was a separate closed courtroom. wierd those french, as are their keyboards;

What is this?

Something we saw in Bordeaux.

It was in a public building but we had to go thru an airport style metal scanner to get in.

Another Picture.



You'll never guess what it is but let's have some fun trying! Make a suggestion in the comments.

Well we did come here to drink wine!

Just had a nice sunny Sunday and an outdoor lunch with visitors. With some wine if you're interested in what we drank.

The picture above is the view from the terrace, but without the grey clouds on Sunday.