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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 so will sit in a bag for a few weeks bathed in a wonderful Christmas essential oil product I have just for this purpose – an instant Christmassy smell. My great plan is to find some time each week from now to be a little creative for gifts and decorations. Christmas liqueurs are already infusing and chutneys are maturing beautifully. I did spot a recipe for Vin d’oranges the other day in a beautiful book (Gifts from the Kitchen by Annie Rigg), so that is next on my list – made from rosé wine, brandy, vodka, oranges and lemon with cinnamon and vanilla. It needs a month to be ready so I just about have time! Next I am tackling a project with corks – watch this space!

Back to daily life and we managed to close the pool last week – in record time this year. Max disappeared off to help a friend when the weather was good and then we had a week of solid rain. Last Wednesday the skies cleared, the sun shone and we set to on this annual challenge, clipping the flotteurs (floats) together and pulling them across the pool, putting the straps across to hold up the cover. We then wheelbarrowed the very heavy cover up to the pool to be unwrapped once again and dragged across the pool, trying not to fall in or let it drop into the pool and take on water, which makes the job a bit of a nightmare! We seem to have got this seasonal chore off to a fine art. All done for another year. Now we wait for the moment to open it up again and enjoy the luxury of having a pool in the garden. Actually it isn’t seen as that much of a luxury here at all and so many people seem to have pools – I guess as we are far from the sea and it gets very hot that it almost becomes essential! I joke of course as it is still a luxury, and not one I expected to own.

The last couple of days have been quite warm – 20°C – not what you expect in November, but the weather continues to surprise, some days very chilly and then today warmer outside than in! We have even had lunch in the garden for the last 2 days and not wrapped up in multiple layers. We have played pétanque for the last 2 Monday afternoons, one freezing and one so warm we were playing in T-shirts – well almost! I have managed to get out into the garden to continue the monumental task of pruning and am slowly (so slowly) making a tiny bit of headway. The skies have, as ever, been magical, night and day. I, as you probably now realise, never tire of them.

Thursday is the Gaillac equivalent of Beaujolais Nouveau day – with Gaillac Primeur – a fun time for some of the vineyards as they bottle and serve their first wine of the season. Many put on a bit of an event, so we may pop off to visit one or two at the weekend. Last year we came across a white version, having only had red up to that point. It was rather lovely so we are on the look-out for what this year has to offer! We have had a couple of wines recently that we have bought at vineyards locally – some of the slightly more expensive wines. They were both utterly gorgeous. I keep saying I will write a bit about the local wines and so I will. We are also off to a vineyard we haven’t visited before with some friends so I will report back on their wines too. It’s tough living in a wine region! With over 200 vineyards locally, I don’t think we will run out of choice any time soon.

Renovations continue, an update is coming soon. To make us feel better, we stop from time to time to add a picture, a mirror, a feature so the house looks a little more like our home. It is a bit more creative than filling cracks in walls, painting or cleaning. The cooker is finally fully up, splashback and extractor fan. Actually there is still one bit to do but it is wonderful to have some lights over the hob now, and the whole thing looks amazing. I am really enjoying having a new cooker and gradually getting used to its high level of cooking efficiency. There have been a few overcooked items as our last cooker was so slow I have grown used to long cooking times, so it seems that I switch off a bit when things are in the oven. Not the best idea. I have also invested in a new food processor following a bit of a soup disaster as my blender is cracked. My old processor must be at least 15 years old if not more, so has served me well. It is now cracked, chipped, leaky and has probably reached retirement age. If we can make some more progress on the kitchen it would all begin to look quite smart.

So back to the rather sporadic posts which I am sure is a little irritating but does maintain the element of surprise. Will she write something or won’t she? I am going to post updates on the 15th and 30th of each month and intersperse them with renovation posts, some seasonal food, local lovely places and of course add to the All Things French section. I hope that you will dip into our often chaotic renovation from time to time.

Have a great weekend and enjoy each day.

A bientôt

Ali xx

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