February has been a strange sort of month really. The weather has continued to be cold and miserable with some snow falling every week. Even the locals are thoroughly fed up with the long winter now and we are all longing for a bit of spring sunshine. The garden is just beginning to show some signs of life with some of the spring plants daring to stick their heads through the frozen ground at last. The bushes were badly damaged by the heavy snowfalls and we have taken the opportunity to cut a lot of them back – something which needed doing but they do look awful at the moment until they start to sprout again. Fortunately we managed to avoid the terrible storms which hit the south West of France earlier in the month. We got off very lightly – just one very windy night – but it must have been terrible for those poor folk whose houses were so badly damaged by falling trees etc. The gale did make me realise just how close to the house one of our trees is and we have decided to investigate its removal, much as we hate the thought of chopping down trees. We will make use of the wood for firewood and it will allow more light to get to the fruit trees at the side of the house too.
Fortunately, both of the families who have stayed with us during February were in search of some snow! They both enjoyed their visits to Super Besse and got some good skiing done. We were not convinced until this year that we could attract people for the skiing as we are about 50 minutes drive away from the resorts, but both families wanted to be a bit further away and enjoyed the peace and quiet we can offer. Good news! Geoff hasn’t had an opportunity to take to the slopes yet but with some birthday money burning a hole in his pocket now, I suspect he will be there next week when the school holidays are finished. He has to try out the great ski goggles Matthew and Christine bought him for Christmas after all! Methinks that he will look really “chic” in those and his new Buff ( I dare you to look that up on the internet!) on the nursery slopes!
We had a real problem with our fire at the end of January. I banked it up one night before going out, and set the chimney alight apparently. Our neighbours took great delight in telling us all sorts of lurid tales about the damage that we could have done, but all seemed well for the next couple of nights so we were not really worried. We had had the chimney swept last year so we thought we would be OK. Not so..two nights later we had terrible problems with smoke belching back into the living room and this continued for several days. Not using the fire is just not an option here in winter so in the end we had to seek the help of Bernard our neighbour who dismantled the pipe which goes up the chimney, removed the offending rubbish which was causing the blockage and then reassembled the whole thing again. All fixed! What a boon to have nice helpful knowledgeable friends like that. We were dreading having to pay a big bill to get it sorted. The dog was also relieved to have a smokeless sitting room again!
I am very pleased to report that our long awaited signs for Les Hirondelles are now in place. We have done rather well, really, as we have a sign in St Etienne sur Usson, another by the turning at Sauxillanges and two at the end of our road so they are visible for people arriving from each direction. Very smart they are too – although they only show us as a B&B location rather that a gite and B&B. However I am not going to complain – it has taken them 18 months to arrive after all! We were going to remove our home made sign at the end of the road and relocate it in the hamlet itself but the very kind council blokes have cemented it in place! Typical!
Another good and totally unexpected thing that happened this month was the return of some of the stuff we had stolen in Marseilles at the end of our holiday in November. We got a phone call from the Marie one morning to say that it had been delivered there and would we come and collect it. We got the jackets (including Geoff’s beloved old leather jacket) and the rucksack back complete with toiletries, my holiday diary, books, etc. which was good. Of course all the saleable stuff had disappeared so there was no camera, Blackberry or binoculars but we were really pleased to get some of our belongings back. Geoff sent a letter to the policeman in Marseilles who had been so nice to us to say thank you – I bet he doesn’t get many of those kinds of letters!
Socially this month we have been quite busy once again. We went to the annual Foire de St Paule in Issoire and also enjoyed the meal with my Red Cross friends there. I avoided the traditional tripe as usual and even Geoff decided this year to forego his tripe breakfast invitation from our friend Phillipe. He did eat it at lunchtime though! Ugh! We also attended the round of Gallette de Roi meetings which are prevalent here in January including that of the Croix Rouge. This turned into a sort of impromptu concert as some of the ladies and gents “did a turn” – singing, telling jokes etc. Before I could stop him, my darling husband informed the gathering that I was a very good singer and much to my horror I found myself being volunteered to sing something! Goodness only knows what the assembled gathering made of the Northumberland folk songs which I managed to warble my way through but I was given a rousing ovation at the end of them and have been told so many times since what a wonderful voice I have, which is very gratifying seeing as how I haven’t sung anything in public for many years!
We went to another of Liliane`s evenings the other night at the restored bread oven in St Etienne sur Usson. It was a good evening and Jean Pierre and Phillipe were on good form as they explained with the help of a power point presentation, how they had gone about rebuilding the ruined four. It was very interesting – as was the food which emerged from the oven when the talking had stopped!
Geoff has been kept busy with his English teaching too. He now has several private clients whose ages range from 13 to 65! He has been teaching a very interesting elderly lady who wanted to improve her English before she undertook a trip to India and Nepal to visit the children she sponsors. She is there now, hopefully staying in the monastery accommodation which Geoff helped her to sort out! We are really looking forward to hearing her stories on her return. The Café Anglais is still going – but it struggles at times. We just get a good group of people coming regularly and then they disappear for no good reason! It’s very frustrating!
Another good thing which has happened on the English teaching front is that we have our first booking for a three day intensive course using the B&B accommodation. It was supposed to happen at the beginning of February but had to be postponed as the guy had to go away on business unexpectedly. Hopefully it will go ahead next weekend.
It is just as well that the English teaching is going quite well, as Geoff’s consultancy work is not really flourishing just now. It is a struggle to find new clients here and the financial climate at the moment is definitely not helping. We always knew when we came here that the B&B and gite would not make enough money to support us and that Geoff would have to work. He seems to have found a real affinity for the teaching thank goodness and hopefully that side of his business will grow even more. We would really like to do more residential courses – we do have the accommodation after all!
I am looking forward to the visits of the children who are coming out to stay in March. Matthew and Christine are coming in the middle of the month and Hazel is hoping to tag a visit on to a “work” trip to Nice at the end of March. Those of you, who know my son, will not be surprised to hear that he has only just managed to inform me that their plane gets into Limoges at 9am when they arrive! Remember it’s a three and a half hour drive from here to Limoges..and guess who is picking them up? It’s a good job that I love them!