Merry Christmas to all

There was a moment on Tuesday morning that we thought Christmas was going to be cancelled. Rebecca and Matthew were booked on the early flight from Gatwick to Toulouse on Tuesday and at 5:00 AM Matthew received a 'tweet' to advise him their flight had been cancelled! A very quick check on the Easyjet website informed them that there were no seats on any flights until after 25^th December. Time for us to get the bags packed and head back to the UK earlier than planned? Well not quite yet as the good old ferries are still sailing and it was back to Matthew's to pick the car up and head for Dover. So 24 hours later than planned and a little tired from the 900 kilometre drive they arrived safe and sound and settled in for their first Christmas in South West France. To get the Christmas festivities off to a flying start we'd booked a table for Christmas Eve lunch at a new restaurant in VDR called 'Cote Saveurs' and what a great decision that turned out to be. The food was fantastic and it's definitely in my top 5 restaurants, we'll definitely be heading back there when we get back from the UK in April.

The snow I mentioned in the last blog only hung around for a couple of hours but returned last Friday with a vengeance and with 12 guests arriving on Saturday night expecting to be fed thank goodness the Land Rover was back on the road. It may be low on high technology etc, but it did get us to the shops and Barbara was able to conjure up a wonderful meal that everyone enjoyed and I'm sure had our French guests doubting all those horror stories they've heard about British cuisine. What, with the excellent meal we had last week at P & P's they must be thinking 'sacré bleu what ever happened to mint sauce and jelly?'

Christmas shopping French style lacks that little something that has become all too familiar in the UK, crowds. This picture was taken on the Tuesday before Christmas (we should have been in Toulouse picking R & M up) and as you can see there's no mad rush to pick up tonnes of food that won't be eaten. I suppose the French are used to shops not being open 24/7 and don't go into panic mode at the thought of not being able to pick up essential items on Christmas Day.

That's it for 2009. Have a good Christmas and all the best for 2010. Hopefully the next blog will be from that hotspot of the North West of England, Blackpool.

Bonnes fetes!

Let it snow

The global warming theory has gone right out of the window this week. It's now snowing here and I'm wondering weather there is anything in the Climegate scandal of the last few weeks. It's now fingers crossed for a white Christmas, although I think Rebecca was hoping to be able to catch a few rays of sun when she and Matthew arrive on the 22nd. With snow on the ground it's proving very difficult to get on with the garden so Barbara has turned her attention to snagging and painting. It's amazing how many 'little' jobs get overlooked when the sun is shinning and it's only when the weather takes a turn for the worse that it becomes apparent that there is always something that needs a little tweaking and so it was out with the varnish, paint, plaster, sandpaper and mastic again. The change in weather has also meant that the job T and I were about to start has had to be put on hold which is a shame as time is fast slipping past and it'll soon be time for us to head back to the UK for a few months. It has however given me some time to explore the delights of my new MacBook and all the goodies it came with. I've been experimenting with iWeb and have been working, or should that be playing, with a website. Fingers crossed that the next blog post will be on the new website but in the meantime if you click here you can see 'a work in progress'.

The drop in temperature has also meant that the vache that caused so much damage to

Barbara's lovely lawn last week have moved on and she was more than happy to wave them goodbye. It was only when the farmer turned up with a large piece of veal as a thank you for having the cows that there was a slight pang of guilt for the thoughts she'd had about what should have happened to them after they'd trampled their way over all her hard work. Anyway must get on and prepare some horseradish sauce and open a bottle of this delightful red wine which is easy on the palette and has such a delicate bouquet.

With Christmas fast approaching there's been plenty of activity on t'internet. I know it's pretty sad but with delivery to France being only £5.00 there were one or two items that just 'had' to be ordered from M & S. The order was placed on Tuesday and it was quite surreal to see La Poste lady walk to the door on Friday with a box labelled 'Your delivery from Your M & S'. Whilst on the subject of Christmas it looks like these six have heard rumours about the fate that awaits them and are making a break for it!