Bonjour
Hope you had a good week.
It’s been a noisy old week in my village. The snow disappeared rapidly and suddenly the place became a hive of activity. The men laying a new road came and finished the job and the roofers turned up to mend my neighbour’s house. This is somewhat unusual in my village. Much of the time you might think it was abandoned here.
Walking the cows
When I first moved here, the farmer at the top of my little road used to walk his cows past my front door, not for fun of course, not like walking dogs, but to get to their field about 300 yards away. I was both charmed and appalled in equal measure. As a townie, seeing cows passing your bedroom window was for me not unlike going on safari and coming face to face with an elephant. However, they left reminders, large dollops of them. Changing regulations mean that the farmer can no longer walk his cows on the road but must drive them to their field. But the tractor dragging the trailer full of cows damaged the road surface so now, a rather clean looking (for now) very smooth road has been laid. Just around the corner I’m happy to report the farmer has only to walk his cows across the new road, not down it, so he is allowed to carry on, at least a hint of the past remains.
My neighbour Claudette has the biggest house in the village, a sort of manoir but with a farmhouse vibe. In July last year pretty much every house in the village suffered damage from giant hailstones. It was the most bizarre experience and has never happened before here (and I hope it doesn’t ever happen again). Anyway, many of us now have new roofs and this week it is Claudette’s turn. It has changed the look of the village, I’m quite sad that the old tiles are going, I liked their patina of age, green from moss and dulled by much rain.
Spring is coming
As I write this, it’s a beautiful spring-like day, the sky is a deep Wedgewood blue, the sun is warming up the soil. People are out cutting hedges, painting fences and digging gardens over. I’ve been painting the walls of the house ready to put my new shutters up. It really does feel like winter might just be coming to an end…
Wishing you a very Bon Weekend
bisous from France
Janine
Editor
ps the top photo is my dog Ella sniffing for spring on our morning walk!
Read the whole letter here with a round of the week’s most fab features.
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