2020 Vision: a quick look back.

Hello Everyone

I am posting a little later than usual, as last week there were a few unexpected events that slightly overtook us. Sadly a lovely local lady died very suddenly and unexpectedly. Such a huge sadness and loss for her husband and family, and for our little community. Of much less importance, the weather was and is so cold it is hard not to just sit as close to the woodburner as possible all the time. Even the pool froze over, so we had to install a flotteur – a string of floats that prevent the pool from icing over completely and thus potentially damaging the liner – a real first world problem! We also had a bit of a drama when I woke up one morning to find I was soaked. My first thought, a sign of the times I guess, was that I must have had a fever and was I ill? Then Max realised he was the same – had we both simultaneously aged dramatically overnight and lost control of our bladders? However it was a short-lived panic – one of our hot water bottles had burst during the night! Weirdly we slept through it. You have to laugh.

As the bed was quite wet, we had to move rooms. The bedroom we are now sleeping in adjoins the ‘kittens’ room’. The kittens, as you can imagine, are thrilled as they now get to sleep with us. We are slowly getting used to providing space for 4 growing kittens – very cosy, in fact I have been quite warm overnight. It is lovely apart from when they decide to play or fight in the middle of the night. Last night they decided to use my folding screen as a climbing wall – that is being relocated today! The joys.

All these things made me think about what matters in life. 2020 did not turn out as anyone expected. Sometimes it is hard to remember all the good things that happen along the way. With this in mind, as a family we have decided to create 2021 memory jars, having seen this online:

This inspired me to look back at our first full year here and some of the things that have happened. Whilst feeling slightly fed up with how cold the house is – I even slept in a hat the other day – I had a good look through photos from last year, which reminded me of the good and not so good, funny and sad and just new experiences, and the fact that the cold weather doesn’t last too long. So here are some of our many memories from 2020:

• Rescued 4 kittens from death row and a young Little Owl who fell down the chimney (no harm done)

• Learned that the collective noun for a group of kittens is a kindle.

• Had lunch in the garden from mid-February as the weather was so warm, 25°C!

• Caused our village to go without water for an afternoon due to an accident with the water mains at our house – Max fell through the rotten cover.

• Had no electricity thanks to some very foolhardy bees (see Electric Bees and Autumn leaves)

• Coaxed our pool from a very dark brown on opening to a beautiful blue – it only took 2 weeks. A steep learning curve but such a great luxury to have a pool.

• Sadly lost our lovely cat Minnie to illness. (see Making the Move)

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• Got married, pandemic style with family on Zoom (see Proper Introductions)

• Spent a lot of time planning our renovation project, some renovating, but mostly repairs and maintenance jobs.

• Started a potager and grew some melons (amongst other things) (see Food Glorious Food)

• Cleared our guttering of leaves to stop a huge leak through the one last bit of old roof – well Max did by leaning out of the attic velux window 4 floors up with a 6 metre long pole to push the leaves out – scary.

• Discovered yellow kiwis, persimmons and bergamot lemons.

• Visited some lovely places, mostly before the pandemic: Carcassone, Castres, Najac (our half day honeymoon!!) as well as revisiting Toulouse, Albi and St Antonin Noble Val.

• Went to a gig in Toulouse with my son (pre-pandemic) – his favourite French singer Pomme. Great fun.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• Developed lots of vegan recipes, but enjoyed the occasional steak frites too!

• Learned so much new vocabulary on subjects I never thought I would need when I studied French: septic tanks, roof joists, land drainage, veterinary terms for illness, operations and cat sterilisation, pandemic amongst others.

• Enjoyed the beautiful countryside around us and sharing some of the huge number of photographs I have taken.

• Experienced lockdown birthdays and life – like so many

• Forgot to bury the dog – Bess our old dog’s ashes I hasten to add, not Bear.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

These are just a few of our many experiences, helped along with a good supply of coffee and chocolatines. There are many more stories to come.

I hope you enjoyed the recipes over the festive period? Let me know if you tried any of them.

I will be back again at the end of the week with this week’s fun and laughter. It is too cold to paint at the moment as it is constantly below freezing. We do, however, have plenty of other jobs to do, when we can drag ourselves away from the fire…

Have a good week.

A bientôt

Ali x