Crooked House

A country life in France

Cusp

Here we are, on the cusp of the year. It’s been a funny one, all told, but one in which I have been grateful that we chose to live here, of all the places that we might have settled. Throughout the pandemic, our Region and our Department have featured at the lesser end of the virus scale. At present our Department, Vienne, is one of only 8 “green” departments remaining (and one of those isContinue readingCusp

Home Comforts

Today is a day for seeking comforts: a blazing log fire, favourite old clothes, a good book, a hearty homemade soup… Unfortunately we have run out of carb-loaded goodies for having with hot chocolate. We have no drinking chocolate either, but I can make a Keto version with cocoa powder. Is it too early in the day to be adding rum to it? Although it is several degrees warmer than yesterday it feels so muchContinue readingHome Comforts

Brr!

The weather was vile on Thursday but that did not stop us from jumping in the car and going looking for some of the locally-produced gin. By “local” I don’t mean in the next village but it is a Limousin product. The Limousin is a large area. We needed a run of about an hour’s duration to get to the first stockist that was likely to have the flavour that we were seeking. In theContinue readingBrr!

Non!

We had an impromptu trip to Limoges today. It was good to be out and about again at last. We remain confined for the next few days, not because of any Lockdown, but because of impending deliveries and so a Sunday Escape was just what was needed. The Crooked Man was trying to buy something online and complaining that it would not be delivered until the 29th of this month, when he spotted that weContinue readingNon!

The Gates are Open and they’re off…

It’s a Big Day today and a reminder again that I am failing on my Covid Diary updating. Lockdown v2.0 is over and from today we can go anywhere we wish to without let, hindrance, or Attestation… at least between the hours of 06:00 and 20:00. We are allowed to travel between Regions and also out of the country. We might have seized the day but the car is unhealthy. Nothing major, we hope. WeContinue readingThe Gates are Open and they’re off…

I think that this may help

When we bought a load of handmade furniture from some local Brits who were selling up to return to the UK (yes, I know, folly in the extreme but we all make personal choices) amongst the pieces was a little bureau. I haven’t made best use of it so far and it has so far been a simple repository for “stuff”. We recently moved the location of the bureau in our sitting room (to makeContinue readingI think that this may help

Greedy, Greedy

Regular readers may recall that one of my ways for dealing with Lockdown has been to have a weekly Date Night. The planning, preparing, shopping, cooking, and finally the eating of a three course (or more!) meal has added structure to my weeks and the effort has occupied my time and speeded the weeks along. I hope that it pleases, to know that the Crooked Man and I are still dating on a Saturday night.Continue readingGreedy, Greedy

I see some light at the end of this tunnel

Having been terribly slack about keeping my Lockdown v2.0 diary up to date, it is now time to make a few notes. I have been busy blogging away elsewhere so will have something to look back on in the future. The French PM spoke to the country last night and although the news was not the best that we had all hoped for, we do now begin to see an end coming. Lockdown v2.0 finishesContinue readingI see some light at the end of this tunnel

December Reflections 4: Red

Nature is red in tooth and claw and nobody knows this better than a person that shares their life with cats… At 4 am today there was a thud, followed closely by another thud, and another. It sounded curiously like a rather fat cat pouncing on something. “Has Dusty brought some prey in?” The Crooked Man went to investigate. Dusty had indeed brought some prey in and when he saw his dad, he let goContinue readingDecember Reflections 4: Red

In a pickle

Shops are now open to sell anything on their shelves and we are no longer restricted to purchasing whatever some government official has deemed to be “essential”. We popped out to The Shed yesterday as I needed some parcel tape to package up some things that I need to be posting off. We had to hunt, it wasn’t in the Stationery section, but we eventually found it in the DIY area. It’s not of greatContinue readingIn a pickle