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Fruit and Fabric
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,…
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Greener Grass and Garden Gates
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…
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The best-laid plans..
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…
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Places to visit: Varen
This month we are paying a quick visit to Varen, in the Tarn et Garonne departement, not far from us. We first stopped to explore this village on our way back from St Antonin Noble Val one October day in 2019, as it looked so interesting with a towering castle and large church. We wandered through streets spotting half-timbered medieval houses and down by the river the most beautiful very grand house – all shuttered up – with an immaculate garden overlooking the river Aveyron and beautiful wrought iron railings on steps up to the imposing front door. Even the chimneys are stunning! Since then we have walked the dog…
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It’s the little things!
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!…
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Spanakopita
At the market in Cordes sur Ciel this weekend, the fruit on offer is beginning to change. Local kiwis are giving way to hints of summer, with delicious strawberries and cherries in abundance. Vegetables too are changing, with different varieties of tomatoes making an appearance, along with yellow and green courgettes and new potatoes. I spotted some leaves called oseille at one of the stalls. I had no idea what they were but they looked interesting, not dissimilar to young spinach. The producers explained what they were, but sadly I was none the wiser. They told me they were delicious in soups, with fish and could be cooked a little…
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The Angle Grinder Incident
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…
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Statement staircase
Hello everyone and thank you for taking the time to find out what we have been up over the past week. This week was insulation week (see post: Mysterious Objects). A van backed down the drive on Wednesday morning filled with fab insulation to make this house a little cosier – all part of the French government’s scheme to reduce energy waste. Kittens scattered and Bear had to be tucked away as he doesn’t really like people he doesn’t know visiting the house! (A bit of an understatement but we are working with him on this!). Attics had been emptied, Max had been toiling to fill holes in attic floorboards…
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Fixing up furniture
Hello everyone and so sorry this post is rather late. Hopefully these beautiful sweet peas from my garden will make up for this. We had our first Covid vaccinations on Thursday, and I have to say I didn’t feel great that evening nor the next day, so various things were put on hold including, I am sorry to say, this post! Alongside work, I have been busy this week renovating a couple of bits of furniture, as well as cleaning up a very tarnished old brass lamp base and the front door bell. We also had a lovely evening with some friends, in their garden after a dog walk, staying…
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Places to visit: St Martin-Laguépie
We live half way between Cordes sur Ciel and St Martin-Laguépie. As places, they couldn’t be more different. Cordes sur Ciel is a medieval hilltop bastide village (see Places to visit: Cordes sur Ciel) whereas St Martin-Laguépie is actually two villages nestled in a valley where the rivers Viaur and Aveyron meet. St Martin is on the Viaur River and in the Tarn département, Laguépie is on the Aveyron River and in the Tarn et Garonne département! The small market town has a lively market twice a week and the ruins of an old castle looking over the valley on the St Martin side. On the Laguépie side there is…
