Here’s hoping that we can all take some time out of this crazy Covid world to celebrate and enjoy the time of year. Wishing all friends old and new a Very Merry Christmas 💕
We’ve been lucky enough to meet up with a few neighbours despite restrictions and have received welcome gifts from freshly dug carrots to bubbles and gingerbread men! We look forward to a more active social life with our new English speaking friends and the opportunity to develop our French with our farming neighbours.
This week we’ve also bought ourselves a Christmas present. “When in France……………..”. You just have to have a little white van. So neatly tucked in alongside Parsley the Peugeot we have Renee the Renault. Little more than a motorised wheelbarrow, a Kangoo is an essential piece of equipment here in France. A 2 seater with a sliding side door and double back doors, ideal for picking up furniture and goodies from the brocantes or loading up with garden waste for the dechetterie.
Will take Renee out for a spin along the country lanes today, time to get used to driving on the wrong side of the car as well as the wrong side of the road!
So, winter is now putting in an appearance with some greyer damper days however there’s usually a burst of sunshine at some stage and it’s certainly not what I’d call cold yet – that’s to come. Thanks to our neighbour Jean-Guy who delivered a load of chopped wood, we’re set up for a few weeks of log burning. The two wood burners keep the house toasty warm and you can even cook on one of them!
Now that we’ve had some expert advice re the garden, the New Year will be devoted to pruning, thinning, weeding and a certain amount of tree removal. We’ve identified what we have – pear, apple, quince, plum, fig and of course olives. There are also plans to develop a veggie garden. Could be a full time job, but hopefully there’ll always be time to pick up a paintbrush now that “the studio “ is sorted.
Just waiting on the arrival of our container from Oz stacked full of art supplies (and a few sticks of furniture). We know it’s landed and is currently in Amsterdam awaiting delivery. Sadly now not likely to be in time for Christmas, but we’ve still managed to create some Christmas cheer and are keeping fingers crossed that my big bro’ may make it here next week.
I think this final photo depicts our year, from devastating fires in Australia back in January to a Northern Hemisphere Christmas filled with tradition.
Take care xxxx
All looking very festive Sue and those rooms are a lot brighter now they’ve been repainted.
Starting on the kitchen now Dave😊
You look wonderfully settled Sue, and how wonderful to be making new friends. Looks like our Christmas is disrupted with Em and family in lockdown. Waiting to see if Joe can get here from Victoria and luckily Nicholas is not far away. Wishing you every happiness this Christmas and look forward to a chat in the new year. Hopefully we will be able to connect with zoom or whatsap.
Oh Robby, that’s a real pity with another lockdown, hopefully Jo, Nick and families will make it🤞Would be great to have a New Year chat although I’m not familiar with zoom! WhatsApp and FaceTime I can do😊xx
That all looks so good Sue and Chris. I hope you have the most wonderful Xmas in your new home. I wonder what you will be eating on Xmas Day – do the French have the same traditional meal as we do????? It would be good to have a zoom catch up sometime in the New Year if you are all computerised yet. I am sure you are looking forward to all your things arriving from Oz. All good here. Weather quite nice. Have a great time. Jim and Liz
Slight hiccup Liz with Dave unable to make it over for Christmas, but we’ll just have to do a re run in June (hopefully) it will just be a reverse of our Aussie “winter” Christmases 😊We’re having a gammon ham on the 25th, not sure what is a traditional French meal at Christmas although I do know they have Bouche Noel – a Christmas log dessert rather than a Xmas pudding! As mentioned to Robby, zoom is not something I’m familiar with so may need some instruction on that! Love to you both
Yippee, just absorbed and loved all your news! So, so good to talk to you both and now I know how to work this I will keep in touch.
All love, Gillian
Just great to have a chat, stay safe Good Luck ☘️💕
Happy with whats ap Sue. Will send message via same once the family has headed home. Although I will need your new phone number. Mine is the same as always so you could send me a message and that way I will have your number.
Hi Robby, hopefully sent through a WhatsApp message today – New Years Day.
Hi Guys, thanks so much for your Card, sorry not replied sooner but both Pete and I have been quite bad with Covid, never want to experience this again, it’s been awful. We are slowly slowly getting stronger. Not sure where we caught it but it wasn’t Jersey as we never left the house. I think it was probably Miami on the way back or here soon after we got back. Anyway after fantastic treatment here we are at last in the mend. Hopefully we can make it to France to see you this summer or let us know if you will be in Jersey at some stage. Love from us both. Pete and Penny xx
Hi Guys!! That’s terrible that you caught the dreaded Covid, but so good to hear you’re on the mend. Let’s hope that travel will be back on the agenda this Summer and we’ll certainly catch up either in Jersey or France. Loads of love xx