Autumnal assessment

And voila- summer over, equinox blew by and here we are in autumn!  Right now that means a freezer full of goat, a potager that just won’t stop producing chard and courgettes, and now a nice little pile of pumpkins.  I still can’t find the secret chicken nest- so only 1-2 eggs a day.  Aaaaand …

Potager year one: hmmmmm

Harvest time! Sort of. Not the most abundant potager harvest this season- and that isn't just because I am being greedy, which I probably am, but a couple other reasons as well: Unusually hot dry summer (most people we know with a veg patch are grumbling)Hey – it is the first year…we are bound to …

A summer taste of home: bread and butter pickles

A number of people have asked for my recipe for Bread and Butter Pickles so I thought I would share – it was given to me by an American friend who lives in Clun which is a village on the Welsh border in Shropshire (thank you Linda!).  Apart from a little bit of patience it …

Idea evolution and transformation

So, you know when you discount the first idea that pops into your head (either as way too obvious, or way too unrealistic)….and then it keeps stalking you? Yep, that is me right now.  Without replaying the full history of the last year…part of the ‘dream’ in France was to run a cooking school.  For …

Learning a new language…and I think it is Noël time!

And no I am not referring to French but rather ‘build-speak’.  I have a French-English dictionary of building terms, which is very helpful- but it seems more and more when I look up a word I don’t even know the English meaning. So things like “plaque de plâtre ignifugée” (fireproofed plasterboard)  and “pieux battus en …

A small rant on “wouldn’t everyone like to run away to France”

Without going in to tedious detail that just gets me shouting at inanimate objects….this was a statement made recently to Dom.  I think there are more important things for people to focus on than our decision to move to France and the fact that it doesn’t fit in with a particular picture of ‘responsible life’. …