FAMILY LIFE IN A FRENCH COUNTRY VILLAGE
For us it is that time of year again, when the whole show moves outside. For the next few summer months this is where we will socialise, eat and drink. Creating a pretty, welcoming outdoor space is just as important as making a beautiful area inside the house, and I tend to treat the terrace as just another room, an extension of our interior space.
‘Curb appeal’ is a term I first became aware of in the States many years ago. Recently a very dear friend from the USA came to stay with us here, and I will never forget her shock at how so many of our village houses are right on the edge of the road. Many have no front gardens, despite the fact they are not in a town but in the country. I had never really given it much thought, as it is something that is quite normal in both France and the UK. Cottages and houses that were built alongside tiny tracks centuries ago might have once had some grass in the foreground, but as roads were widened to take modern-day traffic, so the tarmac has crept ever closer to their front doors. Read more
Last year I wrote you all a letter. Last week we sat chatting to friends, reminiscing about school days and later. How letters were sent home to the family. Not for the first time I have realised how incredibly lucky we are to have the internet and social media. When it is used the right way it is utterly fabulous. But, and there is always a but, let’s not forget the power of the written word and I hope the power of the pen and the old fashioned letter will never be forgotten. So today I thought about writing to you again. Read more
Sometimes life goes by so fast, we find ourselves running on autopilot and it takes a special occasion or a comment from a friend to make us stop and take a look at what we have actually achieved. Read more
When a three day weekend involving a bank holiday Monday becomes something totally unexpected. When the family spring the most enormous surprise. A plan they have cunningly hatched and a secret they have kept from me for two months. Read more
Sometimes dreams do turn into reality; for some that dream might be a passion to live in France and to own a small piece of French real estate. It sounds simple enough, but (and trust me, I know from first hand experience) the planning and amount of work required to move countries and continents, and to set up a new home in a foreign land where the spoken language is not one’s mother tongue is never easy. One thing is guaranteed however – it is always going to be a grand adventure. Read more
It was always planned; that late in the winter we would find a suitable mate for Evie, our little Jack Russell, with the idea that she should have puppies in the spring.
