The Wedding Day Part 2

Photobooth time

With some of my witchy friends

Ian and Clare

The evening reception was held at "La Marechalerie" (blacksmith's forge) very near the lovely village of Camembert. It has recently been opened by a couple who have renovated a beautiful timbered barn and offer accommodation for the night of the festivities. It has a huge area outside with amazing views over the countryside and that is where the aperitif cocktails were served whilst the two hog roasts were being barbequed. Naomi's partner Neil made two wonderful cocktails -Bramble and Le Normand which were served out of milk churns along with many tasty nibbles made by Remi's mother. The photobooth was in action which was (made out of plastic pipes and a sheet) and although I was still in the kitchen preparing the final salads whilst our dear friends Kate and Mark were busy preparing the starter of smoked trout pate, I was finally able to go out and socialise and enjoy a bramble cocktail.

Kate in the kitchen

Apero cocktail time

At around 8.30 we went into the reception area and found our tables which were themed around love songs. After the delicious starter the hog roast was served in platters and when we heard "our song" we were invited to go up to the buffet. Our table's song was Stevie Wonder's "Isn't she lovely" which was the song we played when Lisa was born so rather an emotional one for Andrew and me! The next course was an apple sorbet with calvados known as a trou Norman. Everyone was asked to bring cheese from their region so there was a huge spread of different varieties from all over France and Britain. There were a few speeches and even some games in between courses and then finally around midnight the wedding cake came in.

Remi

The wedding cake!

Jam and name tags

 I could feel myself flagging around this time but fortunately Patrick (DJ) started the music and the dancing started. I continued to about 3 am but many of them continued until 7 am when the 7 hour playlist stopped!

macarena

Mother and daughter dancing

We drove home so that we could be ready for the next part of the wedding which was "Curry at La Ferme des Vallots". I had forgotten to defrost it but by the time everyone turned up in various conditions and states of hangovers it was nearly ready. The only problem was it started to pour and the marquee tent collapsed with the weight of the rain!  However all the work and preparation of the barn proved worthwhile and we all went and enjoyed the curry inside the barn.

My big brothers and me

The Barn 

 Many people went home after but for others the festivities continued and the sun came out and somehow with all the food left around we managed another meal and everyone squashed into our living room to watch the World Cup Final. The firework display for the 14 juillet provided by the Mairie of Livarot gave the finale of the weekend and I collapsed into bed on Sunday night exhausted.

A full house watching the world cup final!

  It was a wonderful happy celebration and thank you all - friends and family for helping so much. I didn't feel sad about our daughter getting married as I feel Remi is already a part of our family and I can only feel joy for them both. I feel very blessed to be welcoming more members to our international family in the future.

The Wedding Day Part 1

 After a wonderful barbeque and pre-wedding party on Friday night I woke up at 6 am to go through the final "things to do list". There was still my wedding cake uniced, my dress unfinished, flowers for the Mairie to do, and the decoration of the hall to be completed - HELP! Matthew and Anne Flore went down with me to the hall which was about 20 minutes drive away. We had mostly completed the setting the day before but we were short of some ties for the chairs, needed to bring the cake down, check the flowers and make some salads. The first thing that we saw as we entered the kitchen was the amazing croquembouche that Matthew had spent days making and assembling had unstuck and fallen everywhere. It was one of those moments you either cry or laugh and with all the nervous tension around it could have been either but we all had a good laugh and Matthew was wonderful about it and decided to scoop the choux pastries into a bowl and smother it with a chocolate sauce. Anne Flore made my interesting wedding cake look amazing with sugared rose petals from the garden; the ties were finished ; most of the salads done; the 80 chair covers that I made were in place; it was time to head back to La Ferme to check on the flowers, decorations etc. for the Vin d'honneur. While driving through Livarot I saw Patrick holding a bouquet of flowers that had been forgotten about and needed to be paid for - we had forgotten tablecloths for the marquee - a quick grab of our bedspread and material in my store solved that and it looked fine. My dress for the wedding was still unfinished so I sat down at 1.30 pm and finished it as best as I could...

Lisa and a very proud father

The kiss!

  Fortunately for my beautiful daughter Lisa there were many of her friends and sisters who were helping her with her hair and make-up and keeping her calm and serene. Her mother was of course her usual last minute self with no time for mother of the bride things but hey we made it to the Mairie in time and Lisa looked radiantly beautiful. Her dress was bought online and it fitted her perfectly and her hair and everything about her were lovely. When we got to the Mairie there were LOTS of friends and family there to share in the happy event. We squashed into the Mairie and Mr Le Mayor performed the ceremony efficiently and the papers were signed and out we went again to great cheers and wishes of happiness for the newly married pair.

The married couple

A Family group

We drove through our village tooting our horns and waving at everyone and then went back to the farm for the vin d'honneur. There was traditional music played; delicious tarte aux pommes and poire and cidre served along with fresh apricots and cherries. A vin d'honneur is traditionally the event that everyone in the village is invited to and then closer friends and family continue in the evening with a meal and more celebrations.

Sisters, brother and partners..

Friends...

Parents

and family

 We were lucky as there were only a few spots of rain and everyone mingled and chatted in the garden and went out to the field for the "sofa photo shot"which was great fun. Phoebe our 15 year old dog was in her element being very sociable and wearing her wedding bow and lots of people commented on the lovely garden and didn't even notice the weeds! At 6 pm the musicians stopped and it was time to drive off to Camembert for the rest of the festivities.....

Phoebe

The musicians

The Week Before the Wedding Day

The new canopy.....

and tent for Vin d'honneur

 I'm back on my computer and  have so much to tell you all that I'm going to have to condense it into instalments. I flew back last night and am feeling rather disorientated in hot, humid Kuching but for some unknown reason I was upgraded for the first time in my life to Business Class and had the pleasure of the seats that extend into beds and so the experience was a very different one to the usual economy sardine squash.

Painting the barn floor

Decorating and making pompoms!

 Anyway I will not go on too much about the build up before the wedding but it was very busy and everyone in the family plus partners all mucked in and helped. On Friday 4th July there was just Andrew joined by Lisa and me on Saturday. On Sunday Patrick,Gen and Mathew arrived joined by Remi, Naomi and Neil on Monday. Tanya and Anthony arrived on Thursday and then my brothers and wives and about fifty other people from all over France turned up in dribs and drabs throughout Friday. There was cooking, cleaning, painting, sewing , gardening, decorating and about 100 other things going on and Lisa had jobs written on post-its on a door for everybody to get on with in case there was a spare slack moment.

Games in the evening....

except when there are labels for the jam-pots to do

Holes in the lane to be filled

  I can't tell you all how marvellous everyone was and how cheerful and willing too about all the chores that had to be done. I know I really enjoyed the buzz and excitement of the first week and we did have lots of fun especially in the evening when the aperitifs started. Thank you my dear family for being so good about helping and never complaining. We will all have some very funny moments to remember and I just want to say a huge thank you to all the helpers. I love you all.

Cleaning stones?!

Cake decorating and rose petals

Sue and Clare blowing balloons

The Start of Ramadan

 I'm not sure what the etiquette is for the start of Ramadan but anyway my thoughts are with you, my friends, for those of you who are starting the fasting. This is now my fourth Ramadan in Sabah and each time I understand a little more about what is going on around me. In the shops there are huge sacks of rice on special offer and dates to break the fast and the trolleys are full of food that will fill you up and keep you going through the day. The shops suddenly start having sales and there is a buzz in the air before it starts. The other food that suddenly appears everywhere are the delicious biscuits and baking items for those who get into baking in preparation for the end of the fasting season. I remember biscuit catalogues would appear in the staffroom and some teachers would have a baking business going on selling for Hari Raya celebrations. It is a time where the feeling of hunger makes people more aware of what it is like to be hungry and it is a time when Muslims are expected to show more compassion to people less well off than themselves and try to be better people by not gossiping and praying more often. I know that everyone is encouraged to pray more than 5 times a day and the mosque nearby certainly seems to be calling more often at the moment. The women often rise at 3 am to prepare the meal for the family which must be eaten before 4.30 am and if they don't get back to sleep that is why dozing during the day is quite common during Ramadan. By law all Muslims are allowed to work 1 hour less per day during the fasting and schools also reduce  their timetables.

Taken from the suspension bridge

 I was saddened to hear on the radio today that there has been an increase in hate related crimes against Muslims in Britain. I am not a follower of any particular religion but I would just like to say that in my experience in Sabah the Muslims seem very kind, peaceful loving and generous people and far more community minded then many Christians I have met. It would be a better place if we could all respect each other's beliefs and treat everyone the same I think -  here endeth Fiona's lesson!

The ford

Going to work

 I have had an interesting week welcoming and "settling" in a new mentor into an area along the Kiulu River which is very pretty in the foothills of the Crocker Range. One of his schools is reached by a suspension bridge over the river and  a 20 minute walk and another is reached by a ford over the river or a very rickety bridge. The schools are very small and there is one class with only 2 pupils and only 42 in the whole school.

A new bridge

An old one

  Apart from that I've been sewing chair covers for the wedding this weekend and I'm not finished by any means. I fly back to France at midnight on Friday with as many as I have done in my suitcase. Wish me luck!

The North Sabah Eco-Warriors!

Sunset at the Tip of Borneo

One of the lovely things about my job is having a really great team to work with. Since we don't get together socially very often we are trying to make an effort to try and meet up every couple of months in different parts of the zone and l'm just back from a great weekend in Kudat in the North of Sabah. The weekend was conveniently organised to coincide with the Sunset Music Festival at the Tip of Borneo, a 7 year old's birthday party and also to be involved in the beach clean organised by the local "Save the Turtle Society".

The briefing

The area around Simpang Mengayau is full of stretches of beaches which have always been used by turtles for laying their eggs. Sadly over the last twenty years the numbers have dwindled due to several reasons but humans are responsible for all of them. There has continued to be dynamite fishing going on despite being illegal and this kills the coral and lessens the feeding ground for the turtles; the fishermen are using trawling nets that don't allow the turtles to escape so they end up being drowned; the huge increase of plastic in the ocean is sometimes confused as food for the turtles causing them to choke; the plastic can get caught up in their flippers and injure them; the rubbish on the beach prevents them from laying their eggs...... I could go on.

A dead adolescent green turtle

Anyway thanks to Fran who is a very passionate lady about protecting the turtles, certain things hopefully will be changing. She has been fighting for over 10 years to try and have some parts of the area to be protected as a natural park with areas designated for fishing, as she recognises the importance of that in the local economy and also the enforcement of fishing-nets that allow turtles to escape. She spends much of her time cleaning beaches and lobbying politicians about the turtles' plight and although she is very modest about her role, I do admire people who try and make a difference.

Just the start

An eco -warrior!

  Anyway, most of the North Sabah mentors were ready at 9 a.m. to start the clean up and after a briefing from Fran we set off armed with black biodegradable bags and gloves to do our bit for Pantai Bak-Bak. Despite actually looking relatively clean we collected 376 kg of rubbish - 200 of that being plastic - in about 2 hours. We not only found tyres and a gas cannister but sadly we also came across a dead green turtle on the beach. Fran didn't know the cause of death but it made us work harder and feel very guilty about the amount of plastic that we all use. Can't we just ban plastic? We humans are so short sighted about so many things aren't we? After our tiny contribution to the care of the beach we were rewarded by a lovely relaxing swim followed by a barbeque and birthday party at Brenna and Michael's. Starting to feel the effects of sun, sea, over-eating and physical activity, it was difficult not all fall asleep, but we all managed to raise ourselves and get to the Sunset Music Festival for sunset.

Fran (centre) with her stand at the Festival

Some local musicians

 It is a small , very relaxed festival with mostly local artists but it does have the most spectacular backdrop of the converging Sulu and South China Seas with a wonderful view. The music was ok but I feel that if the Festival is to continue then it must try and encourage traditional Sabahan music and less of the karaoke style that we can listen to anywhere.
  Today was a pleasant Sunday morning with a late breakfast and swim and relaxing on the beach before we all started to make a move back to our various homes. It was a lovely weekend and a big thank you to the Kudat mentors' who were such wonderful hosts.