Bonjour! I have made it to 40 weeks of blog posts, with a few delays here and there. I am really pleased. Not too long until I have been at this for a year! Are you enjoying the ups and downs of our life here in France? The renovation part is moving very slowly. We seem to do so much just to stand still. The house keeps on giving us more things to fix rather than finish! It can be quite frustrating at times as I can see how the house will look eventually and want it all done NOW! I am a total renovation novice with little patience. In…

Doors, doors everywhere with even some to spare! Hello Everyone Another week has flown by, the strange weather continues with thunder, rain, cool days and warmer days. Nothing like last summer. Some great skies though with stunning clouds: Did you enjoy the vegan cherry clafoutis recipe (see post: Seasonal Food and Recipes: July)? Do try the chocolate version – it is delicious! The front hall continues, not finished yet but I do now have the paint I need for the hinges. I think I am a would-be architect, as I may have mentioned before. I am fascinated by buildings and love different styles of houses and décor. When we were…

Hello to you all, In a week where the getting the car fixed saga continued (see post: The best laid plans) and we had our second Covid vaccinations, exciting news our vine has grapes! Obviously this is what you would expect, but last year we had none, and given the late frost this year I was expecting the same. Imagine my excitement when I saw all these lovely bunches of grapes growing. It’s the little things as I frequently say! We also paid a visit to St Antonin Noble Val market and had another coffee out! It is lovely to sit outside a café again watching the world go by,…

Salut Everyone Some weeks just whizz by with seemingly not much happening, even though we have been busy each day – me mainly with work and admin, which is not something I want to write about each week, nor I am sure do you want to read about it! The lilies have all come into flower now, adding a delightful splash of colour to the garden. We were chatting the other night, after I had had an odd and quite sad conversation with our neighbour, when Max suddenly said something really quite funny about blogs on Life in France, of which there are quite a few! He decided they could…

Hello Everyone I started writing this in the midst of a violent thunderstorm here in the Tarn on Thursday between power cuts. Wow what weather and what a week! Do you remember I mentioned last week that things often get in the way of our plans? Perhaps I shouldn’t have said that as this week has been one of those weeks when nothing, and I repeat nothing, has gone according to plan – apart from this rose, which has done its best to produce the most beautiful blooms. Last weekend the weather was great, we swam and we managed to watch the Roland Garros final on Sunday between Djokovic and…

Bonjour to you all. Earlier this week, I was sitting in my kitchen after some hard work in the garden. The weather has been amazing and the pool beckoned that afternoon. As I was finishing the slate edging to another flower bed, I could see the water sparkling in the sunshine – very tempting to just spend the day by the pool. One day… Everyone who has ever renovated a house will know that sometimes you look at the enormity of the project and feel like you will never get there, or you will be 103 and doddering around paintbrush in one hand, clutching the walking frame with the other!…

Bonjour once again I hope you have all had a great week wherever you are? June has arrived and brought some sunshine and warmth to the Tarn and then lots of rain on Friday. The light on the fields (which are actually green) after the storm was amazing. However, during the storm, whilst we were out collecting our latest find (more on that later), rain water began to come through the ceiling again in the room my son is using as a study. The gutters were obviously blocked. On our return, Max was off to the tower attic to put the very homemade gutter cleaner to work! Quite hysterical to…