Author Archives: frenchsheshed

At the weekend our next door neighbour died. It was very sudden. The day before she had been walking up and down the road discussing the flowers with my husband. She had been ill on and off but she was 92. I always think a quick death maintaining a certain amount of their lifestyle untilContinue reading “Marcelline and Féline”

Last weekend we started on some jobs on the gîte thinking that they’d all be finished in a weekend. The reality is that things have taken considerably longer than we thought. And as with all of these things one job inevitably leads to another. We have now finished the ground floor. I do want toContinue reading “Quite some success!”

I have said it before and I’ll say it again, social media has a lot to answer for; particularly when considering the mental health of young people. I am aware that blogging and vlogging can be both self indulgent and create an impression of perfect lives that followers may strive to achieve. The reality isContinue reading “A curated life, or warts and all?”

I am not going to pretend otherwise, today has been challenging. I am grateful to those around me who have provided support. Life can be like that. There are good days and bad. Thus I have very little to say. This evening I am going to the cinema. This will be the first time inContinue reading “Challenges”

Today has been gloriously sunny all day. I find that sunshine always does make the world look a better place. Though I’m not sure that the people of Ukraine would necessarily agree at the moment. More of that later. We are continuing to work on the gîte. My role today has been mostly explaining whatContinue reading “Knitting, nattering and the Ukraine”

The other day I saw a même on someone’s Facebook page. I rather liked the sentiment. It seems on further investigation that it is a quote that is related to mindfulness. Part of the purpose of this blog is to reflect on mindfulness and to consider how it can support change in our lives. IContinue reading “The three C’s and crochet!”

We have achieved quite a lot over the weekend however at the moment it looks as though we are going backwards. The new units are in place. We have managed to buy a fridge freezer. Things are going quite well but there’s still quite a bit to do. On Saturday I was despatched to MorlaixContinue reading “Going backwards!”

Today has been extremely busy. We have been working on the gîte. One of the things that they have in France which is rather marvellous are kitchen units complete with worksurface. We bought three yesterday and managed to put them all together this morning. We continue to work on how they should be arranged. WeContinue reading “Short and sweet”

After dinner last night I noticed that there was an impressive pink sky. Unfortunately by the time that I photographed it, it was already a little dark. The savoury bread pudding however, was a hit. I will be making it again. So if you are interested this is how I did it. IngredientsSmall loafMilkRed onionsCourgetteChiliesGarlic2eggsBrownContinue reading “Time for a refresh”

Each day I try to consider what I want to achieve. Sometimes that is easier than others. Wednesdays are easier because of the fact that I always have an opportunity to be creative. Yesterday as part of mindfulness we discussed the notion that stopping isn’t a weakness. Actually it can be a strength. Being ableContinue reading “Stopping isn’t a weakness”