Joyeux Noel et bonne année

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

May 2017 be a happy, wonderful, healthy, happy and safe year.

We have now been in France for over 5 months. How quickly it has gone. We are loving every minute of it.

Christmas decorations are up in the shops and so very well displayed. The french seem to go to so much more effort. The flower shops are all amazing.

Christmas markets are in most villages around France.

Visited the Christmas Markets at La Chartre for Bill's birthday - then, of course went straight to the hardware shops.








The price of seafood seemed quite high at these markets. The lobsters were selling at 78 euros per kilo.

Decided to have Roast Lamb for Christmas dinner this year.

Seemed more appropriate anyway seeing as the temperature only 8 degrees.



We made a trip to Montmorillon a few weekends ago to purchase a second hand wheelchair in case my Mum needs one when she is here.

That's some more wonderful news that we had a few months ago. My elderly parents will be flying across the world to visit us for 3 months next year. We are so excited and planning out places to take them. We can't wait.

We went to the Bourganeuf markets a few Saturday's ago and we had the lovely opportunity to meet a lady called Deni Ibbs. She and her husband, Doug, renovated a derelict Chateau about 60kms from us in La Creuse and it was filmed by Grand Designs in 2004. They are both an inspiration and it was lovely to meet her. Ended up having a photo taken and buying her book. They have since sold the Chateau in Vidaillet and moved on.

We had our Christmas luncheon at the Parish on the 20th Dec. The place was rockin'.  Interesting for the entertainment - there was a guy dressed up with a red cape, texan boots wearing a texan hat, playing Abba's "Waterloo" on his loud speakers. Complete with a strobing ball in the background.

Christmas "Cafe Franglaise" night was a hoot. Lots of food, wine, Santa and we got to practice our french.

During these winter months there never seems to be enough time in the day to do what we need to get done. Maybe it's the shorter hours of sunlight or maybe it's that we are cramming too much into our days or being too social. Whatever the reason, it's still fun and what we don't get done today we leave for another day.

Some pics of the projects Bill is working on around the house and barn.

Fixing up the walls in the wardrobe.......

 Organising his workbench and shelving in the barn.

Christmas day was a quiet day for us. Reminiscing with photos of family and friends, making phone and skype calls back home and then playing some french monopoly (I won of course).
Followed by a rather large lamb roast and vegies.

Today (Boxing Day) received a beautiful Christmas cake from Deb and Graham - thanks heaps guys.

Looking forward to munching into that once we do the Christmas pud thing with the gallon of brandy (it's called cognac in France) that Bill just has to put into the pudding sauce.

And of course the obligatory Christmas tree - hand made by none other than the very talented Bill Mackay and decorated by me.

Bonne année

Wendy

A little look through our house

This blog post is for those of you that haven't seen pics of inside our house.

Enjoy.........

Front door - note the map of Australia on the wall to the left.

The top part of the door opens up seperately to the rest of the door.






Front door and dining room.

Both the front door and the dining room doors face toward the main road through the village.

Lounge Room













Dining Room

Kitchen with window that opens out to the street.

2nd Bedroom with four poster bed.

3rd Bedroom - The Pink Room.

Staircase to first floor.













More pics to follow in a later post. We are doing some work in the attic master bedroom. Bill is making shelving and hanging robes to install.

Wendy

So much to do....so little time

Another very busy week for us.

I had a go at drying lavender to use in the soaps that I made.

I picked the lavender from my garden and dried in bunches first (which I hung around the house whilst drying).

Then dried some grated lemon rind to combine with the lavender.

The soap making process using pre-made Melt and Pour Goats Milk soap base.

The soaps turned out okay but still working on the technique.









Finished the quilt for my Mum - pretty pleased with the result.

And still more socialising. After our "Cafe Franglaise" evening last Wednesday, a few of us went to the local Kebab place for a meal and to practice our french.
















Le Musique night on Saturday night at the local Pizza joint in Boussac.

It's an annual event that allows local musicians/singers to perform.

About 11 people had a go, some were really good.

We were taken to this church at Moutier d'Ahun (about 20 mins from our house) on Sunday.

Our french neighbours, Rejane and her mum Jane, were very kind to show us this part so close to our house that we had never been to before.

Jane is 97 and just amazing.

They are a both wonderful people.

Rejane suggested that we get together with some other neighbours and practice our french.

So now there is a group of 6 that are meeting weekly.

She gets to practice her English at the same time so works for everyone.



First constructed in 997. The dates are just incredible.

So hard to fathom anything that old.

The church was stunning with the alter, lecturn and choir chairs made from oak.

Each chair has a different face carved onto the underside of the chair.








We then drove to a place called Masgot.

A village full of sculptures.

All the sculptures done by one man using granite.

Another amazing place.

Thankfully the weather was kind to us that day. About 8 degrees and sunny - perfect.

Bill has been busy making a recyclable Christmas tree - I just love it.

I will be busy decorating it tomorrow and putting it at the front of the house.

The cows in the back paddock were on the move yesterday.

They were being herded up the road.

It's a real novelty for us to see them being herded up the main street and past our front door.

We saw more of the cranes flying south for the winter.

The first lot we noticed on 5 October and there have been many flocks flying over since then.

We are in their flight path and to see them is an amazing sight.






My next blog will have pics of the inside of our  house for those of you that haven't yet seen our house.

Till then....

Merci for taking the time and interest in reading these posts.

Wendy

Busy doing fun stuff in France

Projects are underway for the winter months.

Bill has been busy out in the barn.

He is making himself a workbench from timbers found in the barn.

Looks like he's having fun but it's only 3 degrees outside.



Might have to consider installing a wood burner out there to stop him freezing to death.

This is where the new workbench will be located.

We need to get more lighting in there as it's quite dark.

We have a lot of old doors that were left in the barn.

Some will be used as garden benches for potting.

I have inside projects in front of the fire (lucky me).

I have started a quilt for my Mum.

There are quilting classes that are run in Boussac which I may join.

It will help improve my french and I can learn new techniques for quilting at the same time.

Also a chance to meet new people.

Plus drying fruit and herbs in my food dryer.

I have discovered using baking paper stops the bananas from sticking to the hard plastic.

I have now picked the herbs and dried them, storing them in glass jars that were in the barn.




I tried drying some figs but am still testing different techniques.


We attended the Armistice Day commemoration in Boussac on Friday 11 November (It's a public holiday here in France).

A very moving ceremony.

The French uniforms are very smart and dapper.

And still more socialising.

A lovely lunch at Sandy and Pete's place in La Sciauvre.

Then followed by a lovely walk down to the river after our very big, yummy lunch.













Plus a wonderful night at the Salle Polyvante (local village hall) on Saturday night (2 doors up from our house).  It is held by the Comité des fêtes for the Nouveau Beaujolais 2016 (the first wines of the season).

They hold a number of events during the winter months to bring the locals of the village together. We have put our names down for the New Year's Eve celebrations - should be a hoot.

Jusqu'à mon prochain blog....

Wendy