Kitchen renovation

As Janny was a week in Holland to visit her sister in law for her 60th birthday, her dad and our son and his wife, I had a good opportunity to repaint the kitchen. Having changed the ceiling from bare wooden planks to a smooth white with beige beams, the cupboards and walls looked tired. So, time for a fresher look.

The pictures above show the kitchen as we found it(top), changed after a couple of months living here (middle), and the most recent renovation.(lower picture)

All we need now is a new woodstove / gasstove combination.

Barcelona

Last weekend we went by car to Barcelona for the weekend. From our house it is about 500 kms. We had lunch in Carcassonne, a medieval town worth seeing. A bit touristy, but that was to b expected.

We had another stopover at Girona on the Costa Brava, just 100 kms north of Barcelona, where we picked up Tony and Karin, who flew in from Holland.
We spent the weekend in Barca, lovely hotel, good food, (not as good as in France though) and visited all the touristic sites, including the Segrada Familia from the famous architect Gaudi. Beautiful and weird at the same time.
And we had paella with beer of course. (or was it beer with paella?)

Harvest Time

With fall approaching, it's harvest time.

We have plenty of nuts, figs and porcini.

And of course related products:

Jams, chutneys, dried porcini, dried figs.

Pity that the leaves start to fall as well,

plenty of work to keep the garden neat.

The last guests will be leaving this week and we will

then also take a break, 5 days to Holland, also for

Janny's dad, who becomes 92 on the 20th.

Wedding of Tony and Karin

On the 16th of june our son Tony married here in France with Karin.

They got married in de festivity hall of Sainte Mondane as the town hall was too small.

From there we went for a wonderful lunch at La Villa Romaine (recommended!) to conclude with a party in our garden. The weather was just perfect, and so were the guests.

Another day to remember.

Janny has become Sarah, part 2

The friday after Janny's birthday we went for a lovely dinner with neighbours and friends to La Villa Romaine. Dad came along and enjoyed the French food. He does not look like 91, does he.

Janny has become Sarah

Last week Janny became 50. Nothing big was planned, but around noon, our son, Janny's father of 91 and her brother and his wife, arrived out of the blue. We, and especially Janny, were thrilled and it became a day to remember.

Spring (or early summer) in the Dordogne

The vegetable patch, potager, as they say here, is coming along just fine.

The catalpas are very early, normally they don't start until May, and I am afraid to look behind the lawnmower, as the grass grows so fast I may have to start all over again.
The snowball (is this English?) flowers abundantly, just beautiful.



We already have roses! What a spring!

And this is a Maythorn, the name says it all.
And what about this, a beautiful Rhododendron.

Even the pool is already 21C, last year this time it was 16C. I was always very sceptical about the greenhouse effect, but start to doubt now. Anyway, we have done our bit, we changed to more fuel efficient cars and burn more firewood, which the French government promotes.

Sure hope it helps, although I like the weather for now.

Forest maintenance

My brother and his wife visited us again last week. They tend to come over last week January. Usually a week of forest maintenance, good food and wine. (not necessarily in that order.)
My brother can chop a tree down with a sigar in his mouth. (!)

Janny and Irene are pyromaniacs.