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Winter Food
Hello everyone It has been a long time since I posted about food. Don’t think for a moment that I have given up on sharing foodie thoughts, recipes and produce. Food still remains at the forefront of every day, including of course enjoying coffee and chocolatines from time to time! The winter months have seen some unusual discoveries – not always of foods that I didn’t know but of new ways to cook some of the foods we love. Pink lemons and green tea cake were new experiences, roasted steaks of celeriac a new approach to a firm favourite. Citrus fruit has of course been a focus during the cold…
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Leap Year
Bonsoir to you all on this special day February 29th comes but once every 4 years. I was reading today about a man celebrating his tenth birthday, even though he was 40. It must be curious to have a real birthday once every 4 years. Do you choose 28th February, 1st March or some other date on which to celebrate? This leap year day we were treated to a dry and occasionally sunny day, after a lot of rain on and off, but mainly on, for ages. Our drive has a steady supply of water running down it to the drain, a lot of squelchy mud where we should have…
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Pancakes and Purchases
Bonjour to you all How are you and how is February going? I can’t believe we are half way through February now! It really does seem as though time has sped up. I am trying to slow down a little, enjoy the ride rather than racing through each day. Easier said than done most days, what with work, the house, the garden, general life stuff and everything else. Our February fortnight has been filled with work, household chores and that never ending renovation list, as well as pancakes, books and some brocante finds, amongst other things. Max has been getting the bannisters ready for the main staircase, as my Mother…
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Brocantes and bistros
Hello Everyone Late again I know. I am time-challenged at the moment with everything going on. How was the second half of January for you? We had some amazingly frosty mornings, some stunning skies as ever, my eldest son turned 30, my younger son is finishing his Masters, the first snowdrops and my sister came to visit to help with our Mother and her recovery from her hip operation, which is going pretty well. Mum has graduated from a walking frame to a very jazzy stick, chosen by my sister at our local pharmacy – who knew you could get such great sticks and partly on prescription. I thought it…
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Remembering Raoul
Hello Everyone This is two days late I know – but for a reason. A year ago today one of our lovely rescue cats, Raoul, disappeared without a trace. Sadly he was not the only handsome cat to just disappear. A number of neighbours’ cats went too – all of them bizarrely quite distinctive cats. So I thought I would delay my post to remember my lovely boy. To those without pets this will sound bizarre, but our animals are family. It seems to be harder to accept the loss of a cat if there is no cat to bury and mourn. We will never know what happened. While he…
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A snapshot of 2023
A few of my favourite 2023 sky moments – same day different hours. Happy New Year/Bonne Année Welcome 2024. We got up to watch the sunrise today only to find clouds and general grey all around, but no rain for now. All the week I have been in bed ill the sun has shone – so much to do in the garden but sometimes there is little you can do about that. 2023 has had its share of ups and downs as I am sure is the case for everyone. We have had flat tyres, a major leak, too little water, too much water, pool problems and the heartbreak of…
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Derailed by December!
Bonjour Everyone I do hope you have all had a lovely Christmas? Ours was not quite as we had planned. I often seem to start blog posts these days with an apology for my absence. I had planned everything and was all set to post every fortnight and had prepared lots of extra bits on wine and our renovation to share. However December was having none of it. Why let life go ahead as planned when a few bumps along the way make it all so much more interesting? Where to start on what has been an eventful final month of 2023. My father died on December 1st, alone in…
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November bits and pieces
Bonjour to you all Here we are mid-November already – how did that happen? A moment ago it was October. The year seems intent on hurtling to its close and we are running to catch up. So many plans for this year, many accomplished, many not. The list of jobs the house would love us to tackle grows almost daily. Just as you think you are coming up for breath, off you go again. I have even started thinking of Christmas and the things that need to be prepared in advance – Christmas cake and pudding being two such examples, neither yet done; my citrus wreath needs a scent boost…
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Raindrops keep falling.
Hello to you all from a much chillier petit château. My posts have become a little adhoc for various reasons lately. Days speed by and we are often diverted by the latest challenge here at our renovation project. What a project it is. We moved into a house that was absolutely liveable in, with running water, electricity and a couple of woodburners, as well as an amazing swimming pool. The décor wasn’t too awful and we had plans aplenty! But as is the case for everyone, life changes and plans have to change accordingly and small renovation jobs have a habit of surprising you with the enormity of the tiny…
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Autumn’s arrival
Hello to you all So Autumn has finally arrived – a bit of a shock to the system. We have got so used to the warm weather that maybe we just thought it would go on. Whilst the evenings have been getting cooler the days have remained lovely. Now suddenly summer clothes need packing away to be replaced by warmer layers. The pool has hit 17°C, so maybe swimming days are over for this year. Perhaps one last cold water dip? We were in Albi last week and noticed that Christmas things are beginning to make an appearance. How quickly the year has flown by, so full of plans, some…
