Half a year gone !

Spot Graham in the crowd

Yes, we have been here for half a year already.  We’ve achieved quite a lot with the house, we’ve met some lovely people, and we are still very pleased that we made the move.

Through the summer months with crowds of tourists everywhere we discovered some beautiful villages, pillaged brocante markets and vide greniers, joined in country village life with the locals and enjoyed watching our garden as it produced too much for us to possibly use for ourselves.

Our win at Franco-British quiz night

Just one day's loot at a vide grenier fair

Through autumn we have learned to cook jams and marmalades, stocked up on wine for the cellar, made cushion covers ( at least I have) and hunted for more fittings for the house – who knew it would be so difficult to find decent light fittings and bedlinen ? We have even almost mastered Ikea assemble yourself furniture without world war 3 breaking out – almost.

Another seven jars of marmalade !

We have had a few visitors from Australia , including Flyn who managed to fit us into her european itinerary. Hope it has given her a taste for more european travel, there is so much here to experience. We are already taking bookings for 2014 so get in early with your dates if you are planning to visit us.

On a Gaudi rooftop in Barcelona

I know you always hear that life here is ‘seasonal’ but you don't realize what that means until you see it in the shops. In summer they are full of pool toys, outdoor furniture and barbecues. The markets are selling hats, baskets, strawberries, melons and tomatoes. Everywhere is crowded with holidaymakers and all the restaurants are open and busy. 

In September there is the vendage ( grape harvest) so all the shops have sales on wine to make room for the next bottling in storage. This is one of the best times to stock up the cellar. The shops are full of conserving equipment - giant pans for cooking jams, chutneys and tomatoes, packs of jars, enormous bags of bottle corks, corking gadgets, and mincing machines for making sausages.

In October the hunting seasons begin so the shops and markets are full of camouflage clothing, guns and knives. The Bricos and garden centres are full of netting to protect plants from frost, enormous bags for collecting leaves and pruning, chainsaws, axes and various wood burning paraphernalia. The cafes stay closed some days and you can always get a table when they are open. As the french are creatures of habit, they also start wearing coats and boots, no matter the weather, after all it's autumn.

By mid October beside all this in the shops is endless pots of chrysanthemum and fake flower arrangements - All Saints Day is coming. The first of November is when families visit the graves of their ancestors so chrysanthemum is the flower for the dead. Remember that next mother's day ! 

In November the temperature is dropping each day and the shops are filling with warm coats , scarves, woolly hats and boots. We are grateful for our central heating.
The temperature dropped to -4 degrees one night last week and boy did we notice the damage in the garden  - it looked like a hailstorm had gone through. 

Our poor fig tree after the first big frost

Now as Christmas approaches we have bought a Christmas tree and are busy decorating, made a Christmas cake, sent our Christmas cards and thinking about gift shopping and planning what to do on Christmas day. The local commune workers have strung the Christmas lights in all the streets and we’ve been invited by the mairie (town hall) to a “welcome to newcomers” soirée this week. Our french teacher has organised lunch at a local café for all her English and French students ( she teaches both, and maths) so we will be stumbling along trying to be polite and not offend anyone with our clumsiness with their beautiful language.

The street outside our house

Our little town hall looking festive

Even the bridge is lit up for christmas

Graham has joined the local rugby club, Stade Foyen, and has a couple of English friends to keep him company on those freezing Sunday afternoons, complete with his Hills Rugby coat and Wallabies scarf just so everyone knows his allegiance.

I have joined Phoenix Association and volunteered at my first fundraising event last week. This is predominantly an english organisation based in France that cares for abandoned and neglected animals – cats, dogs, horses, donkeys mainly – and tries to find new homes for them. I continue to try to convince Graham that we need a dog.

Our friend Jane has launched her first book  “ An Army of Judiths”  which I am reading and recommend to anyone who likes historical novels. It’s based on the true story of the siege of Haarlem in Holland by the Spanish during the 16^th century. Her partner, Richard, who has done so much work on our house that he almost lives here, also makes wonderful sausages and is going into  chicken breeding so has promised to keep us supplied.

Our friend Kate keeps us in organic eggs and her home made jams. I’m still trying to find more people to take our jams as we can’t eat it all. Just the same I made clementine marmalade this week, just for the practice. It is excellent with the local duck.

Various people keep Graham informed when yet another sale of wines is imminent locally. Such good friends !

The cranes have descended on the Dordogne valley from the north to regroup for their trip south for the winter. We have been warned that there will eventually be thousands of them flying overhead and making an enormous noise. Hope we can get some pictures if there’s not too much cloud.

We are such regulars at the local dechetterie (free waste station) that we have our own swipe card for the boomgate and one of the workers there even greeted Graham and shook his hand this week. Our most visited shops are the Bricos (DIY) of which there are four in our neighbourhood. We are hoping this situation will improve now that work in the house is almost finished and restaurants and cafes can take their place in our routine.

My online shop Rustique France went "live" on 1st December on Etsy, so please take a look if you haven't already and I'd appreciate if you shared it with everyone you know. I had my first sale yesterday ! Yeah !! A lovely lady ( must be)  from Scotland bought one of the Villeroy and Boch jugs.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/RustiqueFrance?ref=shop_sugg

We are so accustomed now to greeting everyone with two kisses and a “bonjour” when we arrive and a “bonne journée” or “au revoir” when we leave that we will probably not be able to stop ourselves when next we visit Sydney so be warned.


à bientôt mes amis et Joyeux Fêtes