• Blog posts

    Frogs, fruit and flat tyres

    Bonjour! Wow it is hot at the moment, heading for 42°C today and tomorrow. I think we would all like to spend the day submerged in the pool, although it is only shady from mid-afternoon. I have been making jams and chutneys in the kitchen – not the ideal time but essential to preserve the huge amount of fruit our trees are offering. We will appreciate the compôtes of plums and pears in the winter, especially knowing the fruit came from our garden. On Sunday morning we had ‘Operation Pool Frog’ as we have a guest in the pool. You would think it would damage the delightful little creature but…

  • Recipes

    Plums and pears galore!

    For the first time since we moved here, our fruit trees are absolutely laden with fruit. I have to say slightly frighteningly so, although at the same time wonderful. Everyone is saying that this is a bumper year fruit-wise. The sugar shelves in the supermarkets are beginning to look at little sparse, bags of sugar lacking, people searching as they try to make the most of the precious harvest. We have already been out and filled tray after tray with plums, pears, and pretty yellow and red wild plums. The house has been filled with the sweet aroma of jams and fruit cheeses and now with the acidy smell of…

  • Blog posts

    Adventures galore!

    Hello to you all from the Tarn I hope you having a good summer wherever you are? A busy fortnight for us, hence the delay in posting. My Mother has had a friend staying, so there were lots of outings, as well as a trip to Plum Village, near Bordeaux, to drop my son off for a retreat and then collect him and take him to his next location, stopping off for supper with some friends on the way back. We did manage to finish a few jobs before the arrival of my Mother’s friend, including some gilding (see the post: Pétanque and Pastries) and the splashback for the cooker.…

  • Blog posts

    Pétanque and pastries

    Hello Everyone How was your week? We have had a really lovely week. As I mentioned last week, we were off to the village meal last Saturday. An annual event when the village comes together for drinks and a meal and this time some theatre, all outdoors, although the tables are under the cover of a very spacious open-sided barn space. Everyone brings along a starter or a pudding and the Mairie provides drinks and the local chasse (hunt) provides the main course. This year quite a lot of people came along, we stopped on the way to have a quick aperitif with some friends who were also going. The…

  • Blog posts

    Wildlife and Waste Water

    Bonjour to you all I hope you are all well? Living in the countryside has many advantages, the peace (most of the time), the space and being surrounded by nature. I have posted many a photo of the skies and views. We are also lucky to see a lot of wildlife and have had a few wonderful wild visitors over the last week, including a deer and a sweet young hare, I think. I took the hare by surprise when out watering the garden early one morning, ahead of a very hot day. It took refuge, rather scared, behind one of the plant pots on the terrace which gave me…

  • Recipes

    The trusty courgette

    Summer is here, the skies are blue and the temperature is currently soaring to the mid 30s. We have had plenty of rain so the gardens and fields remain green and my courgettes are unstoppable – for now. The downside of the perfect garden weather is that it is also perfect mosquito weather. So this year we have all embraced mosquito repellent! A nuisance but from a positive point of view, the fruit trees are currently laden, so much so that our wild plums and quince are bent to the ground with the weight of all their produce. I really should lighten their load, but am rather looking forward to…

  • Blog posts

    Le 14 juillet

    Bonjour to you all from a very sunny and hot South West of France. Today is a French national holiday, known in France as la Fête nationale or le 14 juillet.  It is often referred to as Bastille Day by English speaking countries but not really here in France. What does this mean? I am sure you all know but in brief, it commemorates the storming of the Bastille in Paris on July 14th 1789, which preceded the French Revolution. Many events led to this uprising, including food shortages and raised taxes following wars, all while watching King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette continue their extravagant lifestyles. The Bastille…

  • Blog posts

    Owls and Outings

    Bonjour everyone I hope you have had a good week or rather fortnight as I missed posting last week? We have had the usual array of the unexpected, some good, some not so good. We have also had a houseful of family staying which has been lovely, and also the reason for the lack of post. I hope you enjoyed the renovation update though? There is much more to come in that area very soon. In the last update, I mentioned that the plumber was coming to connect our gas supply to the cooker. Well he came, it is done and we are legal now! It is wonderful having the…

  • Renovation projects

    Renovating Returns

    Hello I have long promised an update on some of the many projects we have lined up. Each room is, of course, a project on its own but over the time we have been here, and even before, we have acquired numerous articles to renovate, update, upcycle or repair. There are chairs, tables, an old French sofa found in a barn, lamps, mirrors and even a baguette box! These things, one person’s rubbish, another’s treasure, have been bought at brocantes, found at vide-greniers (the French equivalent of a car boot or yard sale) or given to us. Some items were found here in the attics or came with the house.…

  • Blog posts

    Sunshine and storms

    Hello again I hope you are enjoying the blog? It is great to be writing it a little more regularly again. I would love to hear your views and find out what you would like to hear more about. Our week has been filled with thunderstorms, sunshine, renovation work (more on that shortly) and of course regular work. We have to pay the bills after all! There are times when I would love to stop work for a while and focus on making better progress with the house, write more for the blog and get on with my upholstery course (there are a lot of upholstery projects dotted around the…