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12 months 12 views
Hello/Bonjour, Happy February. How are you? I hope you have had a good weekend? I mentioned in my last post that during 2025 I undertook a little photography project. On the 9th day of each month I took a photo of the same view at the same time to see how that view changed over the year. Whilst my positioning was not entirely accurate each month, the difference each time is noticeable. I love this view from our terrace. It is East facing so watching the sunrise is an almost daily occurrence. It is a wonderful place to have a coffee, listening to the birds, hoping to catch a glimpse…
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A few of my 2025 favourites
Hello Everyone When I started this post, I was on my way to Manchester for a quick visit to watch my son Alex’s gig. I managed to pick a bad weekend weather-wise to travel. It was touch and go whether we would get to the airport, whether the plane would take off and whether there would be any transport once I got to the UK courtesy of Storm Goretti. I had already greatly reduced the length of the trip as our car broke down on Christmas Eve and was finally repaired and ready for collection on January 7th! Anyway long story short, we got to the airport in plenty of…
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Happy 2026
Bonjour/hello and Happy New Year/Bonne Année Each time I wrote a post in 2025 I made promises that I didn’t keep. I have plans and then life gets in the way. I watch the awful things happening in the world and wonder if it is even appropriate to write about my life in France, food, gardens, weather, etc. I am sure many of us are deeply affected by where the world is currently. Scary times. We may feel quite helpless, unable to comprehend what is going on. I think that just makes us human. We do also need things to hold on to, a belief that things will improve. Perhaps…
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Food for thought
Hello Everyone from a very warm SW France Last Friday, having dropped one of my sons off at a retreat in the Dordogne, we had supper in the delightful town of Eymet. We ate (not for the first time) at the wonderful La Maison d’Amour, a creperie serving the most delicious buckwheat galettes (savoury crêpes) I have tasted. It was an incredibly hot evening, storms were brewing, the air molten and still. Before setting off for the 3+ hour drive home, we decided to cool down with an ice-cream. None of us wanted a whole pudding as the crêpes were incredibly filling, so we shared 3 scoops of their local…
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Maybe this time
A long overdue ‘Hello again’ I wonder how many times in the last couple of years I have attempted to restart my regular blog posts only to be hijacked by events? Too many. I am sure most of the people who once read these posts have moved onto better things by now. There are plenty of blogs to read, many centred around renovations in France, Italy, and other places. My intentions are good but time has a habit of being swallowed by the needs of others, work, renovation tasks and life in general. So here I go again. Maybe this time? So I started April, my birthday month, with brave…
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Greetings from a frosty corner of France
Happy New Year/Bonne Année to you all I am off to a slow start this year, but a start nonetheless! This blog rather took a back seat last year for various reasons, which is a shame as I enjoy writing it and sharing our adventure with you. It has been quite an adventure so far, with many twists and turns along the way. It has definitely not gone according to plan at all. The country B&B is no longer a thing as we have my Mother and son living with us. The rural location, whilst wonderful, is also proving an issue with two non-drivers and no public transport. We have…
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Focus on food
Hello again I started this post on 5th November and as is often the case these days, other more pressing matters took precedence. Now here we are at the beginning of December and all plans to post this before the end of November are forgotten or overtaken! Christmas thoughts are beginning to inch their way into my consciousness. However before they do it is high time I finished this post which is all about food – a subject dear to my heart and stomach! One of the true pleasures of our life in France is the food, and wine of course! Food and the making and eating of meals remains…
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Don’t cross the motorway!
A long overdue bonjour from our corner of the Tarn This blog has really taken a bit of a back seat to life lately. Sometimes you just have to let go of some things to vaguely cope with everything else. So much has happened this year that I seem to have been thrown right off the blog writing track. A while back I said the posts on this blog are a bit like buses, you wait for ages and then a few turn up at the same time. Well, that wasn’t entirely truthful. The buses have had a complete shutdown! I am hoping that normal service will resume now. There…
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Blown off course!
Hello Everyone I can’t believe that I haven’t managed to post anything for such a long time. What a few months. Home duties, several deaths and all that is going on in the world have had quite an impact on me. Life can feel a little full on at times with all the things we have to do for everyone here. The downside of living in the countryside with no public transport or places that non-drivers can easily get to. A friend and one of my cousin’s dying at 58 was quite sobering and enormously sad. Another friend finding life just too hard to continue was heart-breaking. Life has thrown…
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Five years
Bonjour to you all Five years ago today we completed on our lovely French home. Where has that 5 years gone? The decision was made, the deed done and we owned a tiny corner of South West France. A new life, an adventure beckoned. A house to sort out and pack up in the UK, our life to be transported across the Channel and down to the Tarn. Here we are 5 years later, settled in rural France – something I never saw myself doing – the rural part that is! The house has been a roller coaster of events and experiences, just like life really. Good times and challenging…
