Why Tilling?

EF Benson is a favorite author and some of his work is set in Tilling, an English town of gossip and little scandals. Here is what the Guardian says of Mapp and Lucia, a particular delight;

"Mapp and Lucia" is the centrepiece of E.F. Benson's series of Lucia novels - bringing together for the first time the eponymous middle-aged doyennes of polite 1930s society Miss Elizabeth Mapp and Emmeline Luca (Lucas to her friends). Lucia, recently widowed, is the newcomer to the village of Tilling and eager to wrest the reins of social supremacy from the incumbent Miss Mapp and install herself as its benevolent dictator. In their polite acts of sabotage and ruthless jockeying for the position of cultural arbiter Mapp and Lucia tear up the conventions of drawing-room bridge evenings as their deadly weapons.

-Which doesnt quite explain why we called the blog Tilling-sur-Aude - better read the books:)

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All far from quiet here.

Claer has been visiting with Captain Bob; yesterday we drove up up into the mountains and had an extraordinary day in bright sunshine, with glittering snow and views that were breathtaking; air so pure it made your body feel capable of any (minor) feat.
Lunch in a daft cafe in a village by a stream... this isn't the cafe, this is the stop to inspect the especially despoiled church. Shudder.
Here is the Captain at lunch in the garden today, trying to pass as The Green Man -
This next photo is for Pam and Janie especially, showing that the road to their house is getting there - rebuilt though not yet resurfaced. There are large boulders in place to stop persons driving, presumably until the surface is fit for use. This has the advantage of stopping the hunt from racing up and down the hill:) Happy boar skip about in the sunshine, tra la
Bob and Claer have left for London, poor things. Bieke has gone back to Ghent. For those that remain in Tilling the thrilling news is that Annie and Pete arrive tomorrow, yaaaaho!!

Anyone coming to draw tomorrow morning should sharpen their pencils good - there are TWO models booked.

Anyone fancy a conference at the Maison des Memoire next weekend? Called La poesie des troubadours, quelle resonance dans le temps? Interesting programme covering female troubadours, Ezra Pound, Dante, Simone Weil, the role of the troubadours in the invention of the sonnet - hmm, that'll be a challenge- looks great, in short. Its free but you have to reserve a place, its limited to the first 80 people.
Ring them on 0468 72 50 83 or email centrejoebousquet@wanadoo.fr

Last but never, never least; here Ole-Bendik takes breakfast in the market this morning. Oysters and a dry white wine.

Kats nine lives....

...are slightly lessened today after she pranged her car. The wrongdoers will be caught and punished when the insurers realise that our Kat is blameless.
Came back from Carcassonne on the train, alone, (Kat had dropped me and gone off on her errands before being attacked by a car on a roundabout) so saw the new tarty train, seen here below. Most exciting, part of the new network with Perpignan. Here also is a bit of the cathedral at Carca - place was deserted, brill to have a look around without fearing that you are disturbing someones sensitivities.

Leo under the table

Farewell to Leo till May - aaaah - seen here under the table at the Creperie with Elaine. Me and Kat were there too, having an excellent final farewell dinner. All wish him a safe journey.

Tilling Top Quality

http://www.u.tv/News/Princess-Anne-admires-local-artwork/7197513a-d511-4389-8a0a-e93a1d2d3e9a

press on the above link and look quickly - to see Margaret and Anne looking good!! Continue watching to see Kenny talking to Princess Anne about his portraits. Quelle Class, eh... many congratulations to him.

kats soiree

Great evening:)) Kat opened her gallery and many happy folk arrived, vying with each other to grab xmas pressis for the family. Loads of people, lots of blanquette, great fun; then en masse off to the new Frites de Normandie who coped very well and gave us a bonne repas, in my case moules frites, very good, and dunno what everyone else ate. But there were lots of us under a full moon (not enough room inside) and l loved them all. Hic.

onzianism

Tilling is in the 11th department of France so it was with trepidation that we waited for the 11th minute of the 11th hour on this the 11th month of 2011 - one of the projected dates for the end-of-the-world and the arrival of the giant green lizards.
At the time Kat and I were taking coffee at the Pont. It was quite exciting - the ex-combatants and followers and the mayor came over the bridge after the lest-we-forget ceremony at the war memorial - but that was all.

Perhaps the merde will frappez the fan at 11.00 tonight? All is possible. Tonight is of course the party at Kats gallery in the Rue de la Republic, bring a bottle and prepare to die.

Photo shows autumn by the post office.

Leos Last Supper

Leo is leaving to skate the Amsterdam canals. His friends will miss him and HE WILL MISS US. Cant imaging what Amsterdam has to offer that beats Tilling. Here is a group photo of his dinner last night taken with a dodgy automatic timer without flash - me, Leo, Kat, Chris, Ian, Pete.






The food was brill, Leo is such a great cook; he gave us crudities with the blanquette and oil and herbs to dip 'em in, then a thick salmon soup followed by warm chevre, honey and walnuts, see pic., then a sturdy spag bol followed by cheese.

During dinner the Captain rang up from a restaurant in Elizabeth Street (behind Victoria Station in London) where he was dining with Annie and Pete. Managed quick chats - lovely to have dinner together again :)

















The last picture was something to do with testing Leos new sound system - we were using bread as a treble dampner, I think.
Leo doesn't actually leave till Sunday so there may be more opportunities for excess before he leaves.