WEDDING FEVER

I've read that as a blogger you should post at least one entry per day, if not MANY. This is to keep your readers active and excited and make sure they don't lose interest! Well, my readers - maybe you have lost interest (I don't think so though) - but here I am again anyway. In a bit of holiday mode, a bit of stress, a LOT of wedding fever - mixed with apprehension and uneasiness at my husband's latest scan results.

Yes, the last brain scan results came through after our trip to France - on the 18th June - and I must say again that this period between the scan and the result, in this case two weeks and two days, is absolutely nerve wrecking. That's why we went to France for a week in between - to try to relax and keep a distance.

Bad news - and not so bad news. The tumour has started growing again… but slowly. Only 4 millimetres, and in the same place as it was originally - so not yet spreading by its "tentacles" - which is worse of course. The overly handsome tall and dark doctor, who is the total Dr Kildare - cut out of any hospital series - until he opens his mouth and speaks with a hilarious caricature accent (for me as an Oslo girl anyway) - is a very positive person and always focuses on things that can be done instead of things that can't.

So. Back on the chemo. In cycles of 28 days - 5 days on, 23 days off. But because of the summer holidays he gets to have a pause until August 13th - this will give him a good summer break. Unfortunately the chemo treatment shows its effects straight away - both physically, mentally and not least on his appetite. But not as bad as before!

I am at the family summer house in Kragerø - "enjoying" those mixed emotions of holiday mode, big work load, stress, anticipation and not least - the excitement that my daughter Julie is getting married! In only one week and two days from today, she and Josh will be husband and wife.

I am so incredibly grateful to my brother-in-law, who - with the help of my brother - has managed to rebuild the veranda! At Easter they came down to a completely wrecked and ruined railing and foundation and have patiently and meticulously built it up again. It's my oasis with the late evening sunlight, and is so presentable again for the wedding party - which takes place here on the 8th July.

Garden, mowed by me, new pennant - and rain much needed on upper lawn. But please, dear weather gods - no rain on 08.07.14!!

Our very loyal and good friend Per came down to the summer house with us on Monday, stayed for a while and helped roll out the boat and put it on the water. A trip with the boat into the idyllic town of Kragerø a few days later baptised us all in salt water for the first time this summer. As everyone knows I'm prone to serious whimpering when a drop of cold water hits me. Water okay when swimming - cold spray when fully dressed not okay. I've been called everything from drama queen to crybaby and prima donna to wimp. I don't care - I want my ocean trip to be pleasant - not an action sport challenge! But Per is a perfect boatsman, and it could definitely have been worse. And I was a good sport, but snuggling up into the comfy and warm terrace corner afterwards was quite all right.

Sooo much braver than me, though soaked through - kept offering their old grandmother their seat, their towels, their jackets. But I made it! Don't know why I'd bothered to wash my hair that morning though….

At last I'm doing something for the bride and bridegroom (not having been available actually - until now…) - so this week I've been ordering flowers and wedding cake, collecting shells for place cards, writing them with granddaughter Jelena, talking at length with the toastmaster, buying ingredients for the wedding dinner (cooking as of tomorrow), sorting plates and cutlery and discovering I've left one whole bag of stuff in Oslo, but contacted daughter Sophie to bring it down when she arrives, making the beds for the Australian family, who will be arriving three days before the wedding… and beginning to plan my speech. Our speech - my husband's and mine. 

What we do appreciate - the both of us - is that our daughter and her fiancé decided to speed up the wedding and hold it this summer. The original plan was to get married after Christmas, in Australia. But we don't know where we'll be then, in our lives, and certainly not where the progression of the brain tumour will be. Josh's whole family immediately got plane tickets for the Norwegian Stunt Wedding of the Year. The ultimate Norwegian/Australian union. 

I'm deeply touched.

Not revealing much if I say Norwegian shrimps are on the wedding menu…

Not revealing much if I say trampoline jumping is on the menu… Jelena teaching us how it should be done….

HEAT WAVE

My husband and I are still in France, and if you take a quick look at the above photo, top left, you can vividly imagine the kind of weather we've been having. For several days there was a good old heat wave, but more than forty degrees all day Friday culminated in a spectacular storm that appeared from nowhere and ended before you could shout "HELP!" Which in fact I did, because what looked like a few summerly raindrops, suddenly - and I MEAN suddenly - turned into thunder, lightning, hail the size of snowballs, gales with hurricane force and horizontal rain. I literally threw everything - towels, books, clothes, shoes, cushions inside and bolted all doors and windows. My flowers lost most of their petals, and the sun umbrella was discovered later behind a palm tree. It had simply flown away, like a crazy Mary Poppins - even while folded down.

Calm before the storm at St. Cyprien Beach

Storm brewing over Mt Canigou

A bit closer and a bit more threatening - but I didn't get it yet

Wham, bam etc - I notice that in this photo the sun umbrella has already disappeared

Serene calm again after the storm - like nature is saying: "Me? What did I do?"

I have written before about the winds down here in this southernmost part of France - they can literally blow you away, and you can forget about any kind of elaborate hairdo. Last night we went to dinner at our favourite restaurant - Can Marty - and I decided to simply blow-dry my newly washed hair in the wind during the ten-minute walk to the village. Arriving at Can Marty I met the multi-lingual Mario who runs a fabulous B&B and conference centre here in Thuir - La Fauvelle. 

I do lie. I didn't recognise him at first, and he tried his best to smile, wave and catch my eye - and then suddenly I realised he was speaking Norwegian to his two fellow guests. Mario is Portuguese, but speaks Norwegian, English, French and I don't know what other languages - to perfection. When he showed us and our French neighbour Jean-Marc around La Fauvelle a couple of years ago I was in awe of the way he juggled three languages - easily. I've been in the same situation several times - but oh, to have his effortlessness!   

Tuna steak with Maître d'hôtel beurre

So I went over and said hello, and he complained in his charming Latin way that he thought I was angry with him since I was not responding to all his efforts of contact - but I've only met him the once before, so I don't think anger would have had time to enter into our relationship! Well ah - the wind... We'd reserved a table outside, and so had Mario & Co, and napkins, tablecloths, olives, plates and glasses were flying. While I talked to them it struck me - I hope you people don't think I normally have this kind of hairstyle… But it's all what you get used to, and a mere raised eyebrow across restaurant tables signals that you're oh so familiar with the Tramontane in this part of the world. 

But I always carry a hair clip with me down here.

The world is so small though - Mario's friends - who were accompanying him at the restaurant last night - have a son who rented our house some years ago. But his parents have been to Thuir many times - so that's why he decided to rent here, I suppose. I simply love these coincidences!

Interesting hairdos

We've been busy clearing weeds, trimming palm trees and cutting bamboo on our little property. We keep as much as possible simply paved over, so that it won't become a jungle in between stays, but wow, oh wow, how it all grows! Everything Sophie cut and trimmed so meticulously in April is unrecognisable and had to be done again. Oh, Sisyphus - what do you do to us?

April

June

Off to the dump - in a rental car (!)

Can someone please supply me with dynamite, so that I can get rid of those bamboo roots once and for all? This time I tried to spray the remaining little stems with weed killer the second I'd cut them (I read this on Google). Will it work? Well, new roots will sprout in no time anyway. The girl at the garden centre provided no comfort - "Once you have it, it will spread partout, partout, partout!" The best way to get rid of it apparently is to dig up the whole infected area and kill, kill, KILL! How can something as pretty (and as useful) as bamboo become such a pest and a plague?

France is good for us - my husband and I are both putting strenuous times aside and enjoying life immensely, just the two of us. Tonight he's off to the Casino to play poker. The viewing of the house in Oslo this weekend will just have to be administered by the estate agents.

The full moon on the characteristic red roofs of the Roussillon, the lush abundance of flowers everywhere, delicious ripe cherries, fabulous seafood at the beach - yes, and the football World Cup from Brazil. I love soccer! Every day I support a new team in these opening matches. First day Croatia, then the Netherlands, yesterday England and tonight of course - la France!

The Queen kindly waves and asks you to show your support for England 

My homemade flag for today - blanket, my top and sheet. Vive la France! Allez les bleus!

FRENCH FOOD FUN

Lost in France, and very happy about it too.

I've spent two days watching the above view, in 38 degrees - no reason to move actually, except into the pool. Our estate agent thought we were meddling a bit and was happy to see us on our way and not stay around for the second viewing of our house in Oslo, so we listened to him and left.

We came down here late Monday evening, and as everyone knows restaurant kitchens in France close at 10 pm. So arriving at the ungodly hour of 10.30 pm you have two food choices in the Perpignan area - 1) Processed cheeses and ham at a motorway petrol station or 2) For those of us who are on the inside of things - the Pizza Napoli in Perpignan, a really old establishment with un-French opening times, which has saved us from nightly hunger many a time. We chose numéro 2.

Of all edible things I managed to pick from the menu a long-forgotten specialty called Pizza Napolitana, which consists of, well… SALT. Okay, my Mum taught me that you need salt in hot weather - living in the tropics as I did as a child and teenager - but the second I set my teeth into the Napolitana it struck me: I'm going to be thirsty tonight! Anchovies, capers, olives - and then of course I drenched it in "huile piquante." Well, why not, while you're at it…

So… awakening many times during my first night here and reaching for the water glass, though things could've been worse. Getting up late in the morning to my husband cutting up a warm baguette on the kitchen table, and spreading out freshly sliced ham and cheese - what could be better?

I find myself focusing intently on cooking while I'm down here, even while standing over my saucepans in 45 degrees (indoors). My shelves here are crammed with cook books - my favourite is Delia Smith's one - but I use the internet just as quickly and easily to find recipes. Cooking again for my husband is FUN! He's got his appetite back, and even shopping food with him now is a completely new experience! (No, not new - rediscovered).

And this time I've brought with me Nigella Lawson's "Forever Summer," as if that book didn't weigh enough in the Ryanair expensively bought baggage allowance.

This is a simple Catalan lunch for sure: Fruit from the region - nectarines, cherries, apricots, melon - then Pan con tomate: Toasted bread rubbed with garlic and tomato pulp, sprinkled with coarse sea salt and olive oil - some with Serrano ham and homegrown basil and some without. Oh bliss - I just about managed to grab myself a piece of bread before my husband ate it all!

Pastis in the sunset

Catalan spring onion!

Above all I find food beautiful. Colours, shapes, combinations, tastes - well, simply the excitement of it all. Tonight I cooked this:

Small lamb chops with red wine/cream sauce
Fried mushrooms
Garden peas
Baked beef tomatoes topped with breadcrumbs, olive oil, parsley and manchego cheese
Thinly sliced potatoes with charlotte onions
Nigella Lawson's "Rainbow Room's Carrot and Peanut Salad" (my friend Grete's specialty)
Gremolata (made this for the first time - don't know why I haven't done it before as I love parsley)!
Green salad with Dijon/cream dressing

Very pleased about being in France and can't care less about bad hair day, no shower (just pool-dipping), no earrings, sunburn and no make-up. Very pleased too about husband with appetite!

View from my terrace at 9.30 pm - no wonder the light here has always attracted artists