At the start of the last post, I said we’d ‘seen the year round’. Of course that was the case only in that Sunejo has been our home for a year. We didn’t ‘see’ October last year because we were busy with a wedding, a birthday, and meeting Grandchildren in England and Wales! We’ve had a beautiful month with very little rain, and autumn has really only just arrived. Sonnac’s only real ‘industry’ is the orchards and harvesting the apples has been a major activity, with trailer loads of fruit passing the house (behind tractors!) almost every day. That’s although most of the orchards are on the village side of ‘Sunejo’, so we wouldn’t be aware of activity there.

The field on three sides of the house has been harvested, ploughed, harrowed, treated and possibly sown, we’re not quite sure. What has surprised us is how much of that work has been carried out late at night – as late as 1 in the morning the night the clocks changed! Maybe work in the orchards has to take priority in daylight whereas the tractor’s lights are adequate for working the field.

The sunflower fields turned black before being harvested, which has just taken place, but most of the maize is still standing. The swallows have gone, but the wagtails and redstarts are active and today (October 30th) we saw the robin for the first time since spring. As it happens, today was also the first day when, travelling home from Limoux, I noticed there had been a significant snowfall on the High Pyrenees.  Maybe autumn is here. Nevertheless, as late as this Monday – the day the storm hit the UK – our poolside thermometer showed 35° in the sunshine and the water was holding up at 23 / 24. There has been a significant drop in temperature since then, so maybe swimming is over and we must learn about winterising the pool. Still, we’re hoping to entertain Nick and Carolyn to a lunch-time barbecue tomorrow – earlier this month they entertained us to a lovely evening with apéro on the square in front of ‘Chez Maison Bleue’ and dinner inside.  

A few days later Nick came round with his rotovator to make a start on my planned vegetable patch. Before:

During:

After:

That really was a great start, and I’ve done a bit of digging since to break up the soil so that the frost can get at it over the winter. Just a bit at a time so as not to aggravate the hip; I haven’t done it all yet.

As for that hip, the consultant thinks it’s too soon to do a replacement, so he’s going to see what an injection can do. I can only hope he’s giving good advice! Before that, another consultant is going to operate on my nose! Not really a ‘nose job’ but an attempt to help me breathe more easily and sleep with my mouth closed, so not waking with a sore throat every morning. That’s set for next Friday.

Now here’s a thing! When we were in Mirepoix with Trevor and Pam (see last post) we noticed that the ‘Mad Hatter’ restaurant was having a Fish and Chips night! Orders were to be placed via the internet – a visiting Fish and Chip Man (English) came and took over the kitchen for the evening. Everything was as authentically English as it could be (except the wine!); the frying, the bread and butter, the paper, the mushy peas:

Someone seems less than happy with the (small) quantity of wine!

but it still put a smile on his face!

We found that this event was part of Mirepoix’ “Fête de la Pomme”. Evidently the region, including Sonnac, though strictly speaking we’re in a different county, produces such an excess of pommes that a novel use must be found for them:

Hundreds of apples, individually secured by elastic bands to metal frames on the square represented all types of means of transport. We just had to go back next day and have another look. After parking the car, as we got near the square we heard sounds of Country and Western music, then we found a troupe of (French) line dancers performing to an ever-faster version of ‘Pick a Bale o’Cotton’:

Had to take a closer look at the ‘Apple Steamer’:

‘The Sirens of the Hers’  Hmmm …….. Is that Carol and Carolyn?

On yer bike, Carol!

Apple decorations were everywhere, while the market place was full of stalls selling (mainly) apples and apple-related produce.

Time to take off:

Stop chatting up the pilot! (And give me my stick back!)

We’ve been disappointed by the lack of progress in getting Harry’s skylight repaired. The place we went to in Pamiers – two months ago! – haven’t even given us a price and ordered the part yet. So we’ve given them the elbow and turned to the very well reputed motorhome centre in Narbonne. It was a longer drive and there’s still a wait, but at least the replacement skylight is on order now.

At home, time to relax and enjoy the sunshine – and the pool!

Finally, a view of the Square in Sonnac Sur L’Hers – as we left Chez Maison Bleue (and Nick tidying up) after that delicious dinner earlier in the month.