Happy Blogging

A friend recently sent me the blog address of a young lad who has gone to New Zealand to work - farming with cows - to have a look at with the comment "this is proper blogging", or words to that effect.  The recommended blog is www.flinnz.blogspot.co.uk - it really is good and the photos he takes are great.  Didn't realise New Zealand had such cold winters.

Since that email from my friend, everything seems to have been set-up to get me blogging again.  Homes and Antiques' (the magazine) newsletter came onto my in-box.  Headlines? 50 Best Blogs 2012.  So had a quick peek at some of them - a bit out of my league as they are a bit arty and crafty.  Am still sorting out my collection of mags, and picked up Prima with the article that set me off blogging in the first place.  Rejoined Wife in the North (her last blog was in 2011 - but she won a book deal so is probably still busy writing books) and Charlie Beth - she has since lost her weight, got married and has two children, and back on her diet!

So, I got to thinking about what of interest I could blog.  I did think that no-one would want to know the (rather boring) details of my day to day activities now that OH and I have retired from farming.  We don't have anymore funny stories of lambs running about, calves up to their hide and seek tricks (setting off their mothers come back moos), or disasters that turn into quite humerous stories once you sit down and go through them.  My gardening isn't so good that I produce prize winning produce, mowing the lawn does my head in!!

But then I got thinking about "Housewife 49".  She was Nella Last who wrote a diary for Mass Observation in the 2nd World War.  Her diaries have been published and are now available in book form - Nella Last's War and Nella Last's Peace.  Who would think that Nella would have much to write about?  Victoria Wood played a very good Nella in the tv production of "Housewife 49".

Pages and pages of blogging also leaves me cold.  Rightly or wrongly, I think blogging should be short, sweet and relatively simple.  Not many people have the time to sit and read mini-books in their coffee breaks.

But I do wish that blogging had been popular when we first moved to France.  It would have been quite nice to record my thoughts, doubts, fears and longings, and to have, hopefully, some support during my early years here.  After 16 years here you just get on with life now.

However, I did come with one husband, got divorced and married someone else.  One of the 3 children, now young adults, is married, another has returned to the UK, and we no longer work from dawn 'till dusk.
Perhaps there are some blogs there after all!

And photos?  Will leave you all with some of our extended family. Theses baby hedgehogs were on our lawn when we got back from holiday in the Spring.  Enjoy!

You know when you have made it!

There are times in you life when you reach certain goals, standards or you've just plain made it.

I suppose my first experience of having "made it" was many, many, years ago when I voted in as Social Secretary of our local Young Farmer's Club (could it have helped that my parents kept the local hostelry where we all gathered and used for our (drunken) discos?).  So, number 1 was achieving the dizzy heights of Social Secretary.

Another many, many years passed.  I went to secretarial college, mother wasn't having any of "I want to work with horses" lark, got my first few jobs, doing "temp" work and moved to Lancashire with my then partner.

I got an interview with a local carpet company, and subsequently got the job of Secretary to the Board of Directors - Managing, Export, Financial, Sales and Personnel.  I had a couple of other secretaries working for me, but I was Senior Secretary.

With that title came responsibility for the Directors' Dining Room, and their drinks fridge, and ............ the Directors' Toilet!!!!!! Don't let your mind go overboard with this one - I only held (?) the spare key!

So number 2 holding the key to the Directors' loo.

And so I came to France.  What accolade could be in store for me here?  No, getting divorced was no big deal (if I'd known how easy it was I would have done it sooner).  Getting remarried?  No. Retiring?  That was quite a milestone, especially as I get no pension yet so have to look after OH as he is the breadwinner.

None of the above came close to........................becoming Secretary of our Farm Women's Club!!!!

You may laugh, but we all have to aim high in life.  Perhaps the next pinnacle will be becoming a grandmother, oh joy!

The photo shows our outgoing Secretary and her husband at one of our FWC lunches........ gotcha!!!!!

A moving experience.

OK. so my blogs are like buses - they come all at once - and yes, I apologise for using a.n.others subject, but I couldn't resist it, and it's too much for a comment.

My moving experience was when we were trying to sell to come to France, or rahter ex-OH wanted to sell.

We had a couple come round - they had loads of money, wanted to turn the barns into garages for his collection of cars, wanted isolation, loads of bedrooms for her many furs and gold jewellery (got the picture?).

All went well, with the usual "we'll do this, knock this down, do that" etc. until they asked about the neighbours.

Those of you who watched the first series of "The Lakes" will have seen George, the egg man.
George was our nearest neighbour, about a mile away as the crow flies. He, too, was a farmer, and when ex-OH broke his leg one December, was a good friend and help to me.

George would come and help me with the sheep and lambing (we had about 500 ewes then), and literally could clock me leaving the lambing tunnel in the field, walk down the yard, take my boots off and go into the house. He would then phone me to see how my day went.

Now, I knew he had his binoculars trained onto our yard for his timing to be so precise.

So when the prospective purchasers of our farm asked about the neighbours, I told them that I was getting mugs printed with TEA and COFFEE on them! Why - if we stood our on the back terrace and George had his binoculars on us he would know what we were drinking!!

She obviously also wanted to sunbathe naked (judging by the tan that too cost-a-plenty) so George and his binocs. didn't go down at all well.

Ex-OH was amused either, he thought he had a sale in the bag there!

How they grow up!

The bride and groom.

Summer has been and gone, drought has gone, rain has rained and drought has returned.

Must be a poem here somewhere.

As can be expected, it rained during the main summer months of July and August. The (spring) drought returned just in time for the autumn, and here we are, 30th October, beseiged by flies!!!

The warm sun has woken them up - if they ever went to sleep - and now all the sun-facing windows and walls are covered in the things, getting into the house via any nook or cranny. Even though I'm not renowned for my cleaning up, I'm sweeping flies up daily - some doing those funny dances on their backs (can't remember the name for them).

This photo is of my three - Laura, Louise and Thomas.

We've had some visitors this year. My mum came in the summer when we all went to Louise's wedding in the south, and OH's daughter, Tara, and her boss, Liz, came over from Ireland just a couple of weeks ago. Oh, and Thomas, my son, and his girlfriend, Holly, flew into Limoges to go down to the wedding with us.

As is normal, mum had a good time when she came (and cleaned my cooker). I took her to the new Family Village shopping complex near to us as she wanted to buy a digital camera to take photos at Louise's wedding. A bit annoying as my sisters and I thought it would be a good pressy for last christmas, but mum thought otherwise. Can't remember what we, or I, actually did buy her.

After buying the camera - a neat Nikon Coolpix in red - we went on to Limoges Airport to collect Thomas and Holly. It would be nearly a year since we last saw Thomas, and the first time we had met Holly. I'm sure he, at 23 and 1.96mts, is still growing!

So, as you may have concluded, the wedding was the main item of the summer. We had a great time.

My sister had booked a gite only 5 minutes away from the reception venue. More by luck than judgement, but it worked a treat, with her 4, and my 7, really having a good laugh. Heard the one about the mummy balloon, daddy balloon and baby balloon? It's much better after a few bottles of wine! Talking of which - if you get the chance to try rose wine with a dash of grapefruit liquer do so. It's like coffee with Baileys in it - rather moorish!!

The actual wedding day was fantastic. Louise and her new husband really did everyone proud. The weather was great, though a bit hot, their local village where they got married was very pretty with flowers everywhere and the reception Chateau was super. The bride looked a million dollars, as did Jessy (her husband) and the bridesmaids, and of course all the guests.

She asked me about music for the wedding. Fight the Good Fight was suggested (but turned down) as a hymn, and Simply the Best as they left the church. She compromised with starting the evening dancing with Simply the Best (of course the bride's mother, after consuming some champers, gave it some welly!). Rumour has it that Thomas and one or two of the lads did the fully monty, but fortunately, for the guests, most of them had gone to their beds by then. My niece got plastered, sobered up and got plastered again. Not advisable when catching the plane home next day! And, Holly, Thomas's girlfriend, caught the bouquet!!

All in all, a good time was had by all, and I hope you forgive me for putting a couple of photos on here.

Come rain or shine

The recent early heat-wave came to an end earlier this month and the weather is now a bit more normal, wet, thundery and showery. Sometimes cooler, then, just before a storm, stiflingly hot.

New farmers to France often ask "is this normal?". The problem is none of us know what "normal"is. Since my family and I arrived in France 15 years ago, each season has been different each year.

As we unloaded the removal van in January 1996 in heat of 25-30 degrees, out came the sledges. The Frenchman we bought our original farm from said "you wont need those here". Famous last words! Within almost a week the weather was cold and snowy, and continued to get colder and snowier. That winter we had frost at -10 to -15 below. I hated it. To me it was colder than Cumbria, and far more hostile. At least in Cumbria I had my friend and neighbour, George, keeping an eye on us from the other side of the valley (about 1 km away). Didn't go much on it then, but sure as hell missed it in France.

However, in March of the same year I was lambing the sheep - well, those that didn't abort their lambs - in temperatures of about 20-odd degrees, and managing to get in some early sun-bathing. Out of 350 sheep to lamb that year, we ended up with only 100 lambs. We are of the opinion that the journey from Cumbria, unloading overnight somewhere in Dorset, to France didn't suit them. Some that were loaded in an iminent state of lambing fared much better.

Every year there are fears over the haycrop. Is there enough rain, is it warm enough and (especially) when will this bloody cold wind stop?

April can be awful. I remember moving the kids in with (my new) OH in April 1998, it was wet and cold, the kids were miserable, the washing piled up, the tumble dryer never stopped. I thought he might send us all back to (old) OH again! But we all survived and have lived to laugh about it and look forward to Louise's wedding in August. The photo is of us all in 2001.

Winters are unpredictable too. OH says France is a cold country that gets hot. Not a bad analogy. We have certainly been able to use that sledge that was unloaded in 1996, on more than one occasion. Some winters are wet, moving the sheep from one soggy field to another chasing non-existant grass is one memory that springs to mind. At least the young sheepdog had some repetitive work to help with his education. Feeding the cows that we had to winter outside, losing my welly in the sucking (yes, I said sucking) mud is another happy memory. Probably didn't say sucking at the time though! Running, after retrieving said welly, to the safety of the fence in my sock. There's no time to mess about when there's 500 kilos of cow - with horns - after the empty bucket.

This winter hasn't been too bad. Some snow and frost early on before Christmas. Then we had just housed some of the ewes before OH fell down the stairs and had a plaster on his leg for 4 weeks (plastered in more ways than one). But I didn't get too wet whilst doing the sheep. Not that I can remember anyway. If it had been exceptionally wet it would have stuck in my mind, or certainly in my throat.

And now we're back to haymaking time. Most of the farmers round us have done the majority of their hay. Those fields that are left have been waiting for some rain in order to thicken up in the bottom. The rain has dutifully arrived and obliged. We now need some sun so we can all get on with it. We're never satisfied are we?

Spring is sprung

After quite a heavy shower last evening, spring is definitely in the air today.

It doesn't seem to matter how much watering you do with tap water, rain water has an immediate effect on plants, and hopefully our grass.

Because we have been so short on hay, most of the ewes and lambs have now been put out. Only the pets and thinnies are inside, but if this warm sunshine continues they'll be out too. Not only did the shortage of hay force the sheep out, but OH and his plastered leg. He fell downstairs in January and I've had all the lambing to do. I say all the lambing - it could have been far worse had we had the 350 sheep and 30 cows that we used to have. But on the positive side - I've lost 5 kgs in weight due to all the exercise. Let's hope it stays off until eldest daughter's wedding in August. Sadly, to achieve that it will mean very strict diets and lots of dog walking to keep those extra kilos at bay. I was never meant to be sylph-like. Born for comfort not speed, me.

Happy new year!!

Christmas has been and gone since I last blogged. Thank goodness. I'm not a fan of christmas, perhaps because I have always had to work - my mum had a pub when we were young, and since then farming has taken priority.

With the pub we had private christmas parties - firms dos etc -from mid-November, and then we had our own christmas eve party. The pub then had to open christmas day lunchtime, so masses of cleaning up had to be done before mid-day. Pressies were either opened very early or put on hold until the afternoon.

New year's eve was also party night, with the hangovers for new year's day when we opened again.

Of course with farming the animals don't know it's christmas, so it's easier to do them and again open the pressies later. Christmas dinner is also a problem - do we have it (rushed) before we do up at night or do we wait until afterwards when we can have a drink or two, or three, and not have to go outside again. As the kids get older it is easier. Or is it?

My eldest buys herself an advent calendar if I forget, and they moan like anything when they come and there is no christmas tree.

I now buy them an Asda or Tesco bag - one of the pretty canvas ones - and put lots of stocking fillers in (unwrapped of course). They still get pleasure from wondering what is in it, I think. Their big pressy is money. So, as you can tell, I don't make a massive effort for one or two days.

Now that new year is over the (sparse) decorations that I did do are down. The cards took no time at all - we only received 5, 4 were from OH's family!

On a lighter note though. All the barns are ready for the sheep to come in for lambing, but with the scarcity of hay do I keep them out or bring them in before lambing? Nothing is easy, even when you are supposedly retired. At least the pre-christmas snow has gone though, but I wish it would warm up a bit.

Time to do up again. Happy new year to you all.

I should go away more often!

Well it is really good to be back home. It's great to go to England to see my mum, sisters and their families, and of course Thomas my son, but it is exhausting trying to fit everything in.

It starts as soon as we get off the boat. Traffic, endless streams of it. Going where - who knows? Even at 11 o'clock at night the motorways are still full. Cars and lorries travelling at breakneck speed, going where? On travelling up to the Lakes we decided Windermere must be full, it was. But not with all the lorries we had been following.

Anyway, it's good to be back (just wish the weather would cheer up again).

Whilst I was away, however, OH was really busy. He'd arranged a painter and decorator to finish the painting downstairs rooms. So now the hallway up to our bedroom is done, and the mirror the girls bought us is up. The massive window wall in the dining/kitchen has been painted a beautiful fig colour - and it looks great, not at all dark like it did in the hallway when I tried it. The sitting room is now an off-white/yellowy colour with a lovely clean white ceiling.

I still have the guest side to do, I could be doing that now, but's bank holiday here today, so perhaps next week. OH's family are coming for a few days over christmas so I'll really have to get the bedrooms done.

We have even put the pictures up in the newly decorated rooms, and are fetching the curtains tomorrow. I bet they'll be up by Saturday night.

Oh, and the water-but (which I bought in July) has been installed and we're saving loads of water now all the summer plants and veggies have died! But it all goes to help water the sheep.

Happy Hols.

Would put bonne vacances, or is it bon vacances? I'm sure someone will put me right.

Depart this morning for the UK, but can't sleep anymore, so instead of tossing and turning thought I'd do a quick blog. Am picking LD up at 9.00 a.m.ish and going with the satnav up to Dunkirk. It was a worry last week with the diesel situation, but I managed to fill both the van (for OH while I'm away) and the car up last week.

It's good going with Laura as she is very easy company, and she looks after the music en route. As we go through Paris, though, I don't think we'll have Tina blasting her tonsils. I need concentration music, if any at all.

I hope that when we get to the port the weather is not too bad, no wind. I'm not a good sailor, in fact I could get sick on a lake! Anyway, we'll have a meal and a small glass of something to soothe the tummy, and then set off for Leicester once we get on the other side. Mum has already got the whisky ready!

And tomorrow? We're off to the Lakes for 2 days to see Thomas.

Did I say bonne vacances? These trips back somehow don't seem like a holiday. See you all when I get back.

Brocanting we will go.

When we sold our last farm and I had the task of packing up all the kids bedrooms etc. I was amazed at all the stuff (yes, ok - junk) we had collected. It seemed such a waste to chuck it all away in the dustbin or take it to the "decheterrie" (our re-cycling centres). So, two large packing boxes later, I had the start of my "vide greniers" - car booty. LD insisted she didn't have much junk, it was "memorabilia" she said, and took it off to her dad's (so he now has more junk). Note, these two large packing boxes are just from their bedrooms. The rest of the house harboured much more.

I have only done 1 other car boot sale, when we were in England, before the move to France. Pride of my car boot sale - my wedding dress! Gasps of horror? Don't forget those were the days before e-bay and all the other on-line auctions, have since divorced him who the wedding dress was worn for, and the damn thing didn't sell anyway and went to the local jumble sale!

So in early September this year I loaded up the trusty Berlingo, borrowed a pasting-table and some boards and stands, organised LD and set off for my first "vide grenier" in France. I never slept a wink the night before, worrying about what time I should get up and get there, and also about seasoned bargain hunters that accosted you as soon as the van doors were open - if not before. I shouldn't have worried. I got there about 7.30 a.m. and was placed next to and opposite other Brits (LD was not arriving until 9.00 a.m. so I was pleased to have some moral support). The seasoned bargain hunters must have clocked the van as soon as they saw it - and left me alone!

LD (Laura) arrived and organised me and the tables. I always say I would rather work with her, than for her. She then went off to get some breakfast - I'm not that domesticated that I do sandwiches or the like at 7.00 in the morning. The van had been loaded the day before so I just had to get up, have a cuppa and go.

The day went very well, only for LD telling me how much that item that I sold for 2 euros would be worth in the shops. It was hot and sunny, thank goodness I had the forsight to pick up a bottle of sun cream on my way out, and we actually did quite well, saw loads of people we knew and met other car-booters who will no doubt be there with us next year.

We also had some laughs - one (old bat) French lady was quibbling about a large-numbered telephone, went away, we sold it, she came back to find it gone - then when she went to leave the event her car wouldn't start as she'd left the lights on! I know you shouldn't laugh, but wouldn't you? The photo shows LD with some of our booty.

Auction fever

We have a new "attraction" in our local village. It's an English-style auction house - or shed. They do house-clearances, and anyone with something to sell can put in through the auction. I entered an outside streetlight style thing with a matching wall light. It got to 70 euros!!! Would have been chuffed with 20! But at the time of blogging still waiting for the cheque.

You meet all sorts of bargain-hunters, English and French. It's a pity the "Essex" man who does the auction can't speak French. The lowest you can bid is 2 euros, so it's not that out of the way. At the first auction I went to I saw a lovely blue pot that would adorn my new dresser, it was lumped in with other bits of pottery.

Auction day - I duly went and got my registration number, saw other would-be bargain hunters and took my seat. A quite nice mirror went through, with another one to follow. "Where can I put a freestanding pine mirror?" thought I, and got the next lot, a freestanding pine mirror, for 3 euros! That is now in a guest bedroom on top of the pine chest of drawers, as if it were part of a set!

A silver-coloured photograph frame and clock came next. Now LD had bought us one for Christmas one year, I put a photo of OH and I on our wedding day in and it was great. "LD needs a clock" thought I. Snapped it up for 2 euros.

My blue pot came along. No-one was interested (except moi). Another massive 2 euros!!

Well chuffed with my purchases, I paid, collected my purchases and went home (after the lamps got 70 euros). On getting home I showed OH what I had bought, and justified them all. Well, girls, you know what it's like. Short of saying "couldn't afford not to buy them" he was quite happy.

I then inspected the pottery I bought for 2 euros - the blue Stilton pot that I actually wanted, a soap dish with a cracked lid, two naff teapots, wait for it ...... two Wedgewood egg cups and two Royal Worcester trinket dishes! All, but the teapots, are now proudly displayed in our house and have their own tale to tell.

The teapots have now gone into "stock" as I am also bitten by the Brocant bug. This is out of necessity as my eldest daughter is getting married next year and I have promised to buy her flowers and wedding cake. The dress is already hanging upstairs (waiting for her to slim into it). It's amazing what you can get just selling "things". I still have boxes waiting to be unpacked, so don't think I need to buy too much stock yet. Anyway, can't sit here blogging. Have to prepare the "stock" for the next brocante/vide grenier. Wish me luck!

Back by popular demand!!!

Yes, someone actually reads my blogs, and asked to be reminded of my site (their old computer had lost my previous ones). Now that I have actually done a new layout, which was confusing in itself, and have a follower, I will be doing more. So watch this space.

The title of my blog now seems to be somewhat misleading though, now that we have retired. If it didn't cause too many problems I would do a new title, Farming-frenchstyle Retired, perhaps. I think I'll sidestep those problems and leave it as it is.

This week, however, I have actually done some farming. Well, I've driven the tractor and wormed 100+sheep, so surely that equates to farming. Doesn't it?

OH is busy fencing (again), so that we can put our fields into hay production next summer, and keep some control over the animals. Talking of which, we had another "bonding" session with our neighbours again. Even though the river on the limit of our land is fenced on our side, with the river actually being dry again and said neighbours having no fence (??) on their side, one of our tups and some of his women jumped our fence and went visiting the neighbouring ewe-lambs! The French neighbours are very good about it all, but short of slapping a saddle on the tup and waiting for the river to fill up, which means rain, rain, rain, am not really sure what more we can do. Our fence stops the cows (all 2 of them) and the horses, but not this Grand National tup. Encasing him in the freezer seems to be a good idea. Must ask the Chambre d'Agriculture what the rule is on fencing rivers. So, I've had a proper farming week.

Yes, we are still waiting for the rain. The ground has been as brown and as flat as our dining room table this summer. However, the memory of last winter's snow has not been erased. Let's hope we don't have snow like that again. Looking at the BBC weather forecast there seem to be swathes of rain over France, but it all goes over England, or perhaps the north of France. I'm sure when it does start it will forget to stop again.

Have booked my annual week to England for the last week in October with Laura again. I enjoy the week when she is with me as she is such easy company. Just keep feeding her and she's ok. She has already asked my mum to book the local Deli Belly for Sunday lunch while we're there, they do a buffet-style come again lunch, and we certainly take advantage. Let's hope we don't come back with Deli-belly!

Summertime blues

Well summer has come and nearly gone again. Since my last blog - April (I really must try harder) we have had visits from my family, been hit by the ash cloud, had more kittens, chicks and pea chicks and both daughters have moved house.

My niece called in to see us on her way back to England from a winter job in the mountains. On her way to us she was vicitim of a French rail strike, and had to go right up to Paris to come back down to Limoges, but she made it. She was very grateful to be taken to the Chinese restaurant not far from Limoges station. As she tucked in I thought "blimey, she can eat for a little 'un."

She and my girls got together during the week and had a good time, Louise saying "can't you stay over the weekend?". She was supposed to return to the UK on the Friday. Enter ashcloud. Louise got her wish and a good time was had by all, with plans to fly back on Monday. Ash cloud remains, so flight plans on hold until Thursday. By now I was thinking "what on earth can we do now with my niece?" Both girls were working, but plans had been made for the following weekend. Wednesday - cancelled flight for Thursday had been "uncancelled". All arrangements made for the Wednesday night were rapidly re-jigged (we were going out and niece was to be entertained by Laura). Anyway, Thursday morning arrived, the girls arrived back at ours at 7.45, and we left for the airport at 8.00 a.m. My niece was last seen getting on Ryanair flight after her extended holiday with us, with promises to come back again!

My mum came back in July for her second visit this year, and again loved it. The weather was great, we had some lovely meals out and an impromptu picnic at home! We had arranged to go to the races with a load of friends on 14th July, but the day was horrid, so we got everyone to come to us with their picnics. A great day was had by all.

Again, we have got kittens and chicks a-plenty. Sadly with dogs about their numbers are soon reduced. Laura chose two kittens for when she moved house, but the mother took them all hunting and some have never come back. We now have a kitten in the utility room that is bound for Laura's new home, the mother cat is doing a great job in keeping all the dogs outside.

The peahen hatched 3 peachicks, but the fox has been responsible for 1 so we are now down to 2 - a male and female I think.

We are deperately wanting some rain. Everywhere round here is brown, and we will soon have to start feeding the sheep. Hopefully they will be ok until we get back from La Rochelle next Monday. We are treating ourselves to a mini-holiday to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversay, so Laura is (again) farmsitting.

I should've kept my mouth shut!

Following my last blog it has rained, and it has rained! But - we did need it. So now the grass is looking slightly better, the spring flowers are looking lovely, and the weeds are racing on!

I have also sold the last of the pea-chicks. They were both bought by a very nice French family last weekend, after being advertised on a French small ads site. I did get quite a bit of interest, but most people were wanting pea-hens, I only had peacocks. Let's hope she hatches more females next time.

Why is it when I get time to sit and do a blog my mind goes completely blank? When I'm out and about I mentally prepare a blog that, to me, sounds quite witty and entertaining, only to be gone when the computer is in front of me. If I dry up next time, I'll fall back on "name that silly tune".

Just when you think it's getting warmer..

At last the snow and cold have gone. We've even had some nice warm days, and have been heard to say that we could do with some rain! So this weekend it's gone a bit colder again, but we have some much needed rain. You can almost see the grass freshening up - I am reluctant to say growing because as quick as it grows the sheep eat it. The spring flowers are now starting to appear in the hedgerows, and the birds are singing away. We have got one of those (annoying) clocks that have birdsong at each hour, so having identified all the birds on it, I can also identify some of the birds as I hear them.

However, said clock is a little confusing as since the clocks changed in the autumn and I put it back an hour, the clock has been 6 hours out with the birdsong. We now get the cuckoo at 12.00, and the owl at 6.00 o'clock, and it's a nightmare trying to work the others out in between. Let's hope when the clock is put forward tonight it right's itself.

Lambing is all but finished, though we have had two more born this week. Those born earlier have all gone out and are eating their creep-feed well. The sheep are still having to be fed concentrates as they are short of grass - nice gentle warm rain is still needed. So our work load is much better now, we even had time to go to the Sunday market at Poitiers last week.

OH is doing great with the fencing, especially along the river. Hopefully there will be no repeat of last summer's escapes across the river over to the neighbour's lush fields. I do have to say though, the neighbours were very understanding - especially as there was no fence on their side either.

My mum has been over to see our new place. It was the first time she'd been to see us for two years. Luckily during that time she hasn't lost her knack with the washing line, cooker cleaning or pet lamb feeding! She enjoyed her stay so much - I wont say holiday as she never stops when she is here - she is coming back when the weather is better. She was a bit dumbstruck when she saw the house, but in no time at all she was finding her way around, and finding where everything lived. She just has to go and see my sister in her new house now.

You can never tell with sheep

This snowy cold weather plays havoc with the sheep, as it does with all of us. As we are short of barn space for them, we are bringing ewes in as they lamb. Not ideal, but the best we can do in the circumstances. We were feeding outside the other day and we spotted one that was definitely doing death kicks, so along with another that was thin, they were duly caught and taken inside. The thin one was given a dose of wormer and as I had the wormer handy gave the "death-kick" lamb some, expecting it to be dead next time we looked.

Ilater asked OH if "that lamb has died yet", to which he replied "no, it's running around like a good'un!". As I said, you can never tell with sheep (the thin one is also still alive).

Is there no peace?

Just as the builders finish - there are 2 days work to do when the weather is better, visitors start arriving. Frist of all OH's cousin comes. They are trying to kid me that he is here for 6 months. Please, please let it be a joke. Then at the end of Feb my mum is coming for 2 weeks. At lease with said cousin here I've already started on the "mucking out" of the house - even though it is newly renovated, it still gets filthy. An industrial vacuum cleaning is needed, not the piddling domestic things you can only get in the supermarket, or shares in hoover bags.

OH gave in and hoovered up the other day, jammed the hoover and then decided it was time for a new one. Just a new bag was all that it needed. And his new Domestic God status stopped at hoovering, there was no putting out the washing or cooking. I suppose you just have to accept what help is given, look on the bright side and get on with strawing up the sheep.

So before mum arrives there is painting, garden tidying and a thousand and one other jobs to do, as well as the daily sheep chores. Perhaps if the weather improves I can do the sheep chores this week, and then start on the others. But if cousin is here for 6 months, he could give OH a hand with the hoovering!

A bit of peace and quiet

Even thought the computer is now in the office and not in the kitchen/sitting room/dining room (they were all one), p&q is still difficult to find. However, OH has gone off on a social morning (or to collect the bread), and there are no builders here. Even though it's Sunday they did threaten to come and finish our job, which has taken so long due to the naf weather we have had here in France. It snowed again all day yesterday. Again and again I ask OH "will we ever get warm again?".

I really should be doing some cleaning, or even decorating, as we have OH's cousin arriving this week. He arrives Wednesday, but has not given us a departure date. Should I be worried, I ask myself. The frightening thing is he is wandering around the UK, visiting his kids for about 5 months, hopefully the 5 months will be nearly at an end. Anyway, as we have bright warm sun today at least the bedding is on the washing line.

Lambing is well underway, with only a few bottlefed lambs. We seem to have had a spate of old, infirm ewes lambing - those lambs are definitely bottle-fodder. One poor little thing, named Arfa (as she is only half a lamb size), has a broken leg, which Laura and I splinted up with ice-lolly sticks. She is doing well, holding her own and "sticking it out".

This year we have had to clear out the barns of workshop stuff and furniture, the weather has been too bad to leave the lambs outside. Consequently, the controlled incoming of furniture and boxes that still need unpacking did not materialise, and there are boxes and furniture everywhere. Once the builders and snow have gone I will have more enthusiasm to get on with the painting, unpacking and sorting out rooms (she says). The trouble is, the garden will need attention then. Ah well, better get on and have something to see for my morning.

What's new (again)

Building work virtually finished, though it is still waiting to be painted. We've had a nice big terrace doing this week - at the expense of the lawn and some bushes. The digger driver "thought" the perimeter of the lawn was just a load of weeds! The problems come with men "thinking"! OH reversed the tractor and trailer over a willow tree. I agreed it was not a nice tree, but it did stop drivers of vehicles (and OH) hareing into the yard and hitting anything in their way - hens and chicks, peahen and chicks and dogs and cats.

We had one or two "it's obviously your house" moments, followed by "do what the h..l you want". From me to him that is.

The cat left home. Well, Whitey took to straying, went over the dried-up river after girls, and either couldn't get back or found somewhere better. The latter I think as he was gone for about 6 weeks. Ater telling a neighbour about it, her sister-in-law phoned to say they had him. It's amazing how many people you get to know through straying animals. When at our last farm, Whitely Mark 1 also left home (after girls again). The neighbour I was talking to had found him and taken him in, and was a bit worried that we wanted him back as that day she had taken the cat to the vet to be castrated! I assured her she could keep him, but privately thought that would serve him right! Not long after that he had an accident and lost a leg. Am not sure if he is still going strong.

Talking about losing legs. Not far from where we live now we have seen from the roadside a lone calf on its own in a field. Obviously a pet calf being reared on the bucket, but when Laura and I passed the field recently saw it only had three legs! (This is not a joke.) We have also seen it since, looking very well and obviously cared for, but sadly our French, or nerve, doesn't stretch to stopping at the farm and asking what has happened to it - the leg, that is.

The pea-chicks are now nearing weaning from the mother, and going on their way. The only things that are prolific here are the hens and cats. There seem to be more hens hatching eggs than laying for food - they lay there eggs in places that are impossible to locate. I am getting a hen-house before the summer to preserve the garden and eggs and cut down the number of cockerals.

Farming-frenchstyle retired

Is it really 3 months since I last did a blog? Well it must be as the date of the last one was 31st May.

The only excuse I have is that the computer - yes, it is still working on it's last legs - is in the living room, and not hidden away in an office. As soon as I get on the 'net OH appears with the words "what's that you are on?" "Who's farming-frenchstyle?" he asks - he doesn't know that I blog. So consequently until I'm back in splendid isolation the blogs could still be sporadic. He's gone off on a social jaunt at the moment. He often goes off now, on the pretence of getting the bread. I have threatened to tag him so I know where he is, but generally he returns after a hour or so.

Summer has come and soon to be nearly gone in a flurry of building work, painting, some haymaking, and lots of village fetes and markets. Though I have not been to any brocants yet, there is one left at Lathus in September which is quite good, so I will get the bread that day.

Building work came to a near halt when we sacked the builders we had. I say a near halt as the plumber, electrician and joiner all did their bit to help out and get us moving on again. We also found a very good friend to finish the tiling for us, in half the time and at half the cost. So at this point in time we are now in our new bedroom and bathroom (even decorated), the new kitchen is in and operational, and the new builder and joiner start on Monday to complete the other bedrooms and bathroom. I should be frantically painting so that we can move furniture out of the sitting room and into the new kitchen as the ceiling is being renewed.

The new kitchen is fabulous. One daughter put in a request to come back home, I'm not sure if the boyfriend was coming too, a friend saw it and called me a "jammy cow", and others just say "oh my god!". Laura, youngest daughter, saw my tap in the bathroom and declared that it is not a tap, but a water feature! I've also got one of those in the big water trough outside, water feature not tap.

We are also going back into cows. We have a heifer that went to friends to be fattened for the freezer. Unfortunately she put on calf-weight, and had a lovely daughter by caesarian in June. They are both doing well. Bertrand (remember we went for lunch and bought a bull) was the father, so we are quite pleased to have his daughter. We'll just have to get some more to go with her.

Must get back to the painting because I want to do some weeding when it cools down a bit - hope this late sun ripens the melons.