The phone suddenly burst into life with a jolt of energy, and picking it up, I heard a distant voice asking, “Susan? Susan? Is that you? I think I may have found something………”and my heart gave a lurch of excitement; the dread I had been feeling for a week lifting tantalisingly off my chest. There were more words on the other end of the line, but I was already gone, drifting back to France and the sound of cicadas. Continue reading “The Story of How We Bought Our Home”
When I fantasized about living in France many years ago, I imagined a shared passion with new found French friends for the simple pleasures in life; I never dreamt it would actually come true. Continue reading “Listening to the Locals”
From time to time I view houses for sale on behalf of friends who are looking to buy in the area. It’s purely for fun, nothing more than being able to offer a helping hand and the ability to impart a little local knowledge. It’s easy to rave about beautiful manoirs set amidst rolling parkland but rarely do I come across somewhere that I simply can’t stop thinking about. Something that really strikes a chord. Continue reading “Will We Be Neighbours?”
Blogging for me usually follows one of two forms. Often I think of exactly what I want to say whilst in the car or in the shower (or somewhere else equally inconvenient where I am far from the keyboard!); as soon as I can I quickly write down my thoughts and then head out when I have time to search for photos to illustrate what I have written. At other times though the photos come first and then the story follows. Today’s post is definitely a case of the latter; it was just another regular early morning search for vegetables in the market, and as always I clicked away with my camera, fingers growing numb in the cold. It was only when I got home that I thought the humble winter vegetable might be deserving of a little more attention.
Mother Nature has us in her icy grip and when we step outside winter smacks us in the face, with the icy chill raw against our cheeks. This week much of France is shivering within a frozen landscape. Driving through our village early in the morning I see little children walking to school, clutching an adult hand in thick gloves, their little bodies bundled up against the cold. All that is visible are bright red noses, rosy cheeks and eyes sparkling with excitement, and even though it’s not snow on the ground the weather is still just a little out of the ordinary, enough to create a frisson of anticipation.
Continue reading “The Big Freeze, French Plumbing & Who Won Those Toffees!”
I took a long time coming up with this simple title; I tossed all sorts of things around, French Country Kitchen, Farmhouse Kitchen, but none seemed to fit the bill. You see, although we live in an old farmhouse, I don’t consider our’s a true farmhouse kitchen like the type I grew up in; in fact our kitchen doesn’t resemble anything from my childhood at all. I toyed with the idea of a French Country Kitchen, as we are after all in France and living in the country, but still I wasn’t convinced. So finally I settled on a compromise; The Family Kitchen. For this is exactly what our kitchen is. Continue reading “The Family Kitchen”
The freezing weather of last week has been replaced by rain. For much of this week the village has been shrouded in low lying clouds. As the thermometer rose on Monday so an assortment of grey skies moved in and took up residence, all fifty shades of them! But it’s only a temporary stay, as supposedly cold air from the Arctic is coming to visit at the weekend.
2017, how did you come around so quickly? The children are back at school, and I’m not sure who is feeling sadder, them or me. The decorations have but one more day and then they will be boxed up and put back in the barn for another year. But you know what, I have a fabulous feeling this is going to be a good year, an awesome year, hopefully for the world and mankind too.
Sometimes after so many festivities it’s easy for this first month of the year to seem a little dull, we can feel a bit flat. December is full of anticipation and excitement, February we have skiing to look forward to, and as it’s a short month anyway we quickly get into March, and then, well, we’re in spring mode and there’s no holding us back. But January can be a little tricky, so to chase away those Janvier blues I thought it would be fun to start off the New Year with some light hearted entertainment. A fun competition.
Sometimes things just don’t go according to plan! I had a great post lined up for today but I haven’t managed to take all the photos, I’ve been having far too much fun with the family. So for once I told myself it was ok. We’ve been walking and running and cycling. We’ve eaten delicious meals and cooked so much food. We’ve sat around a roaring fire chatting. We’ve been gardening, a little bizarre at the end of December but the weather is gorgeous. We haven’t done anything remotely glamorous or travelled any distance but we have had such a good time, all of us, together, just enjoying my favourite holiday of the year. So I changed plans and I am giving you the final part to my Christmas story. I really hope you enjoy it. Continue reading “A Christmas Story – Part II & A Happy New Year To You All”
There was something of a glitch with my last post for which I sincerely apologise. However, many of you found a way around it and still managed to read the post, well done and thank you! If you were unsuccessful you can see it again here! But now, moving on, it’s Christmas week, and getting into the festive spirit I hope you will have time to relax and read my two part Christmas story, as you probably know by now, I love writing these and I can’t wait to share the second half with you next week; but first part one! Continue reading “A Short Christmas Story”
Our French Oasis 